Brandon's Articles, Page 1 of 32

Music I purchased in the first quarter of 2012:

• Asking Alexandria – Reckless and Relentless
• Blackout, The – Best in Town
• Classic Crime, The – Acoustic EP: Seattle Sessions
• Day to Remember, A – What Separates Me from You
• Demon Hunter – The World Is a Thorn
• Distillers, The – Coral Feng – Not quite as much angst on this one, but still top-notch (and slightly poppy) punk.
• Four Year Strong – Enemy of the World
• Joy Formidable, The – The Big Roar
• Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math

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Music I purchased in the fourth quarter of 2011:

• Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto – A lot of great tunes with a few blahs – like most of their albums.
• Grouplove – Never Trust a Happy Song – Starts promisingly, but I find it hard to get through the whole album. Particularly when they get all … well, just listen the verses on “Naked Kids” and you’ll see what I mean.
• Nothingface – An Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity – A little like Helmet, but with the hardcore edge.
• MuteMath – Odd Soul – Fantastic indie rock album. (Tip ’o the hat to Zach for turning me on to them.)
• Opeth – Heritage – They abandon the hardcore screams on this one. The album is still really great … but I miss the occasional growl.

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My wife gave me a little binder to hold my ticket stubs a while back. It’s chock-full mostly of faded and worn paper bits from the concert scene of the lat 90s. Growing up in Dallas I went to see either Tripping Daisy, Hagfish, Course of Empire, The Toadies, or Reverend Horton Heat¹ on a weekly basis, it seemed. I still have the Dr. Martens on which I spent all of my extra cash to survive the mosh pits. Yes, I was one of those.

Speaking of stereotypes (or maybe just of types), I put together this list (in the order they occurred to me) of the various kinds of people I encountered at concerts in those days. It’s been over a decade, but something tells me things haven’t changed much…

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DISCLAIMER: For the second time I’m going to post something I didn’t finish – and I don’t anticipate finishing. I’m throwing this out there without even knowing if I even really agree with all of it. But it might generate some discussion … right?

Introduction

I’ve often had occasion to argue the differences in the Latter-day Saint and Protestant/Catholic beliefs on the nature of God, but recently it’s been from a new angle. Instead of arguing the biblical support of LDS doctrine to those securely fastened to biblical infallibility, I’ve found myself arguing to those without religious faith of any kind that differences between the beliefs of Latter-day Saints and “mainstream Christians” do not invalidate LDS doctrine. It’s interesting to note the way the approaches differ when talking to each group. The Protestant/Christian approach is:

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It was just over two years ago that Google launched Sidewiki – a browser sidebar allowing anyone to comment about any site. I liked the idea at the time and immediately made a Sidewiki entry … on the page explaining Sidewiki:

Sidewiki^2 – What the what?! A Sidewiki post about the page explaining Sidewiki … that’s … that’s … just craziness.

I moved on and made more important entries … like this one on OmniNerd:

OmniNerd = Awesome (if you’re a nerd) – If you’re a nerd like me, then this is the site for you. Write about the nerdy stuff you’re into – and then discuss it with other nerds. (Okay, okay. I’m an admin on this site. Sue me.)

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Music I purchased in the third quarter of 2011:

• August Burns Red – Leveler
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Howl
• Centro-Matic – Candidate Waltz
• City and Colour – Little Hell
• Crime in Stereo – Selective Wreckage
• Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys
• Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime
• High on Fire – Death Is this Communion
• Human Abstract, The – Digital Veil

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DISCLAIMER: I started writing this a long time ago and don’t anticipate ever finishing it. It’s possible I don’t even completely agree with myself anymore … but I might as well throw it out there for discussion, right?

I became very interested in Objectivism after reading The Fountainhead¹ and Atlas Shrugged.² After a few years of reflection, I still identify with the ideology set forth by the Russian novelist-philosopher, but I’ve begun to wonder if it is more semantics-based than philosophy-based. In other words, instead of creating her own philosophy, I think Rand might have just made a simple (yet important) point on perspective. The supposed conflict between objectivism and religion is as good an example as any.

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I’ve had countless discussions about the fabulous documentary Supersize Me, but there have always been lingering questions. Why does that one doctor say he is “pickling [his] liver?” Why did the guy who never ate fries not get fat? If you ate this way and exercised like mad, would you keep the weight off? I mean, I had some ideas on the subject – the liver filters toxins, fries were high calorie foods, and that calories in – calories out = weight gain, etc. – but I knew they were just ideas. I wanted some serious education on the subject.

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I received en email from Energy Nation earlier this week urging me to take action against the new Environmental Protection Agency ozone standards. Doing a quick search shows they aren’t the only ones upset at the proposed legislation – and it’s possible they’re justifiably concerned. My point, though, isn’t to get into that. Instead, I want to gripe about their approach.

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My music purchases in the second quarter of 2011:

• …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – The Century of Self
• Against Me! – Searching for a Former Clarity
• A Skylit Drive – Wires … and the Concept of Breathing
• Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2
• Born of Osiris – A Higher Place
• Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
• Converge – Axe to Fall
• Darkest Hour – The Human Romance
• Dodos, The – No Color

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Diversity is a big thing where I work. Every year employees attend workshops designed to instill an appreciation for it (along with its buddy, inclusiveness). I’ve always thought of myself as being fully onboard with the whole D&I thing, but I saw a poster today on my way in today that made me wonder.

As you can see in the image to the right, the poster attempts to convince the viewer of the value of diversity by comparing a typical, multi-faceted pocketknife with one that only only has corkscrews. Now, I know the idea is to show that having various tools at your disposal is generally more useful than only having one, but the analogy breaks down quickly if you think about it.

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If you’ve stayed in a hotel in the past year or two, you’ve likely noticed some new signage in your room – a placard next to the bed or posted in the bathroom asking you to join the hotel in their efforts to save water by washing your sheets or towels only as needed, instead of everyday.

My first reaction to these was twofold: First, this is a great idea! It presents me with an opportunity to give up something about which I care little (not having my towels and sheets washed everyday) for something about which I care deeply (minimizing waste). Second, I was sure the hotel cared less about the environment than they did about saving money.

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Music I bought in the first quarter of 2011. (And you thought I’d given this up…)

• Anberlin – New Surrender – I’ve been one step away from getting one of Anberlin’s records for a while. I’m glad I finally pulled the trigger.
• Bayside – Killing Time – Another consistently catchy emo album. (Er… Am I not supposed to say “emo” anymore?)
• Bear Hands – Burning Bush Supper Club – Crime Pays is insanely catchy, and I like track 9. I could do without the rest.
• Blackout Pact, The – Hello Sailor – Oldschool emo ala Hot Water Music … with a little Promise Ring sprinkled in.
• Decemberists, The – The King is Dead – I could have gone for another (or ten) Hazards of Love, but it this is still a solid album. Be warned: It’s on the country side of things.

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I support causes on Change.org on a fairly regular basis. Their political ideals (in general) aren’t the same as mine, but sometimes they stand up for the right thing in the right way and I’m more than happy to e-sign a petition.

Occasionally, however, a cause rolls into my inbox that I wish I could vote against – and I received just this kind of email last month concerning Senate Bill 1353 in Idaho. According to the email, “[t]he law was intended to allow pharmacists the option to deny women access to emergency contraception, even if the woman in question was raped. … This isn’t a law that protects pharmacists – it’s a law that endangers women. … The women of Idaho deserve better than this.”

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Music I purchased in December 2010:

• Badly Drawn Boy – It’s What I’m Thinking: Photographing Snowflakes
• Nada Surf – If I Had a Hi-Fi -
• Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown – Not as good as their previous (by far), but not as bad as the reviews.
• We Are Scientists – Barbara

< November 2010 – 2011 Q1 >

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