LaneDenson.com

I’m disappointed – I only scored a 79 on this test… after getting the answers and going back through to answer the ones I know, I got a 98. But even so, there were a few I had never heard before…. check it out:

This auction made me chuckle…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3146042998

One of my gripes about live concerts is when the musicians seem to think that we care about their opinions. I’m not particularly interested in Natalie Maine’s thoughts on the President or Zack de la Rocha’s fascination with Communism. We all paid to hear your music – not your inane political ramblings.

Likewise, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend online of reviewers taking shots at Christianity that have nothing to do with the subject matter at hand… for example, Dan Rainer’s review of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at DVDFile.com has this gem:

[Morgan Freeman] is the most civilized and wisest character in the movie. Freeman instills a sense of honor into Azeem while demonstrating that the Moors’ culture was quite advanced before self-righteous crusaders attempted a forced conversion to Christianity.

Now what in the name of Kentucky Fried Chicken does that have to do with the movie? It is NEVER mentioned in the movie itself and is not even touched upon plotwise – this is just a petty little man trying to get his shots in. And another example, from a review at the iTunes Music Store:

The Passion Worship Collective here assembles and potent plethora of powerful songs in praise of their chosen deity, in yet another in what is rapidly proving to be a cornucopia of worship albums. While most of the material on offer here has probably been better expressed in several books of the Old Testament, these simple songs of praise are a reflection of the simple faith practiced by exponents of the worship movement…. Thematically (and presumably theologically), however, the PWC treads a narrow path….

Is the condescending language necessary? First off, who assigned this album to someone who obviously has disdain for the genre, and secondly, what kind of editor would let those kind of jabs through?

These sort of comments are incredibly unprofessional and immature, but increasingly more common in our Christian-hostile society

There’s an article at Slate about R.E.M. and their descent into irrelevance during the 90s…

During R.E.M.’s commercial peak, its members openly fretted about aging gracelessly, and the ’90s were their decadelong struggle with approaching middle age. “Hopefully, we’re not going to put out Chicago XIV,” Michael Stipe told Rolling Stone in 1992. “That would be my worst fear, that we would turn into one of those dumb bands who go into their second decade and don’t know how bad they are and don’t know when to give it up.”

Now admittedly, Chicago XIV was one of their worst albums, but it also marked the beginning of Chicago’s second run at the top which saw as much commercial success as their first, and introduced their music to a whole new generation. In retrospect, considering that R.E.M. has done absolutely nothing of note in the past decade, I’ll bet Michael Stipe *wishes* he had a Chicago XIV to put out.