1.5 new songs: Icarus and Asheville

Recorded a little bit with Jon tonight. They're up at http://www.myspace.com/moresecretsongs.

Icarus is about a lot of things - mainly about moving from a straightforward, narrative structure to something a little more poetic, more meandering and a little darker, along with the risks involved. Stepping off the beaten path of the familiar leads to new kinds of beauty, but it carries with it an inherent wildness; the deeper and darker woods are often more intriguing than the trail, but it's easier to get lost.

Asheville is about nostalgia, and wishing things could stay. I'll finish it soon.

New Song (It's a Short One)

Already got a song called "Irony", this one's called "Subtlety".

Ireland Report (part 1)

I arrived on Tuesday morning July 1. The rest of the team was scheduled to get there on Friday the 4th, but the complexities of travel necessitated that I get there early. It ended up being a great thing that I was there early (I'll explain why in a second). As I collected my bags and made my way out to the departures lobby, I thought about the next step. This ended up being a major theme for my time across the pond. I learned the practicality of Elizabeth Elliot's brilliant advice: do the next thing. For me, the next step was to make contact with the Boals, interns and other folks at Abbey Presbyterian. I didn't have too specific a plan; I figured that I would find a relatively cheap hostel until the rest my team arrived and that I would keep my guitar and maybe one bag at the church. I called the Boals, caught a bus to Parnell Square, and actually met Alan on the street (Alan Boal is the pastor of Abbey Pres.). We went into the church, and I met each of the interns in person - Liz, Luke, Wes, Jacqueline, Paige, Katie, Steph (whom I knew from Covenant), their team leaders, David and Kathy Fidati, and then Katherine and Christy, with whom I go way back (at least back to December and the previous summer, respectively). The Fidatis, Katherine and Christy offered me the couch in their apartment till my group came, which was a huge help since even a "cheap" hostel is going to be relatively expensive and sleep there is not necessarily a given.

I was able to meet with the interns that day as they went over what needed to be done in preparation for the Arts Festival the next week. Every time I've gone in the past I've seen Abbey's work develop and grow, and this time was no exception. Six nights of the Arts Cafe. Lots of local Dublin musicians, artists, and poets would share their work; the first three nights would be "anchored" by Suzie Young and Soul Connection, a jazz group from Belfast, while the last three nights would be anchored by my team. There were plans for a hip-hop workshop as well as recitals in the sanctuary during the day. A lot of work still had to be done.

One thing that had to be done was the organization, setup and testing of the sound system. Alan's predicament is that the Dublin City Council isn't going to substantially fund arts endeavors based out of Abbey until Abbey gets reputable, established acts and artists to come and participate in the festivals and cafes, but Abbey can't exactly bring those kinds of groups until they get funding. A catch-22, as we Americans might call it. Thankfully, Abbey had managed to get Soul Connection to come, and they were both established and incredibly talented, but as professionals, they had specific needs when it came to sound. This is why it was great to get there early. Steph White and I were able to go through all the equipment available to Abbey and piece together a kind of cyborg sound system that we miraculously got working, complete with monitors and 2 aux mixes apart from the main. Abbey Pres. actually helps facilitate 4 different congregations (including its own), and each time the congregation that meets in the basement (French-speaking African Pentecostal) has been gracious enough to let us use their sound system. So between what was downstairs and what we found upstairs we were able to get it functional.

On Wednesday I took a train out to Kilkenny, where I was planning on meeting the Bennetts, a family I've become close with each time we've gone out there. For the first time on an Ireland trip the team was not scheduled to go out to Kilkenny, so it was my intention to go and see them on my own while I had some time. I spent the afternoon and evening in Kilkenny, making my way to Kilkenny Presbyterian for their midweek meeting. There I got to see some old and new friends from past trips, and after the meeting Cliff Bennett and the boys, Jack and Oliver, came to pick me up.

Cliff Bennett works with a chain of pet stores in Ireland and his wife, Alice, is an established artist (I've seen some of her work and she is very talented). They have two boys: Jack is 12 and Oliver is 9, and they are some of the coolest kids I've ever met. I met the Bennetts in summer of '06, when Cassie Pettit, Ellie Novenson and I went to their house for lunch after church. We learned a little bit about them - they're originally from Zimbabwe (of British descent) and moved to Ireland years ago when things got complicated for white people living there. The boys showed me the ins and outs of Hurling, an amazing sport they play in Ireland. By the end of our lunch, the boys and I had hit it off pretty well, and they gave me a hurling stick (a "hurl" or "hurley") to call my own as well two hurling balls (the "sliotar"). It was awesome.

Anyways, I've seen them each time I've gone back and it's always been a highlight for me. This time I was actually able to stay with them and spend some time with the boys, which was the perfect way to start out the trip. On Thursday I took an afternoon train back into Dublin and hung out with the interns some more before crashing that night on the couch. In the morning I would go to the airport to meet a team composed largely of people I had never met in person and who had only met themselves the day prior in the Atlanta airport.

To be continued.

Made it.

I'm typing this from the yellow internet cafe down the street from Abbey Pres. Made it safe and sound; I connected with Pastor Alan and the interns and it's great. It's funny, it doesn't really feel like another country anymore. For me it's almost just like hopping over to Atlanta or going up to PA. Just another temporary home for this world citizen. Pictures coming soon.

I had an 8-hour or so layover in Chicago, during which time I explored a little bit of the city and the park. It was a beautiful day, and I actually caught a noon-time concert sponsored by the Pitchfork Music Festival. These guys were playing; they were pretty good. Guess they're a local band. They had two drummers - one on a normal set, and one with two floor toms, a trash can, bongos and a cymbal. Got a few pictures and sound bytes.

New stuff

so, I got a new camera, and along with it a flickr account. right now, i've got pictures of new mexico and our little adventure with the tree attacking the Drexlers' cars. soon there will be pictures of this guy tromping around the British Isles. but in the meantime:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattiebrown/

I got it, and it's awesome.

The Political Post

Here it comes. The obligatory political post.

My prediction: McCain's going to win. I may have to eat my words, but I think that people are going to vote the way they always have, and that the Democrats are just louder than they have been in the past. The same people are going to show up to vote.

But I could be wrong. Either way, I think it's interesting how the Democrats are constructing their rhetoric in case McCain wins by labeling his prospects for victory as nigh impossible. Right now everyone (in that camp) is talking about Obama just has to win, citing his popular appeal - interestingly, at one point the article cites an academic who "correctly predicted the last six presidential popular vote winners", a popular dead horse to beat among Democrats. The point is that when (if) McCain wins, the Democrats are going to cry foul (like they always do) and claim that there was no way it should have happened, likening the government and conservatives to everything from outdated, backwards backwoodsmen to the Gestapo.

You know, ultimately, I guess I'm a single issue voter, which is anathema to the average collegiate. The problem is that I read an article in the Bagpipe a while ago by Jared Mollenkof entitled "America's Elms", and the imagery has stuck with me. He used a story in which a German clergyman during World War II crusaded for the preservation of an endangered species of elm in a part of rural Germany, while Jews were being murdered in a concentration camp just outside town. My point is that the economy, the war, the environment, etc. are all important concerns, but as long as I live in a country that supports the systematic elimination of those without power or voice, I can't really think about anything else. They are all just elms in the face of a national crime. On top of that, I am a conservative, so while John McCain isn't exactly conservative, he is pro-life, and he is more conservative than Obama, which makes him at least a somewhat desirable candidate.

On a slightly different note, if I were to talk to someone about the abortion/pro-life debate, the tack I would take is a philosophical one. A common issue up for discussion in Philosophy classes is the defining of "person". No-one can claim to know for certain that the organism inside the womb is NOT a person. Scientific study cannot define something that is essentially spiritual. It's not a clincher, but I think that everyone has to come to the realization that any claims about the personhood of whatever is inside the womb are based on personal feelings and not facts. The truth is that the facts are hazy - you could make a pretty compelling argument that there is a negligible difference in the "personhood" of a baby just born and one in the third trimester, and you could (and I do) claim that the God of the Bible has something to say about babies in the womb, but the first argument is only going to go so far while the second will only appeal to certain people. However, it would be very possible, while discussing the issue with someone, to bring them to the point where they realized that all their assumptions about the unborn are based on social, economic and personal experience instead of what they know to be true about the being in question, which ultimately is the only thing that matters. Then they have to look at two options: if it isn't a person, then there is no problem with "terminating" it. If it is, then it is murder. If we don't know (which we can't, philosophically), then logically, it is the equivalent of (at the very least) voluntary manslaughter. On a national level.

That's why I'm voting for McCain, hoping that he can take us in the direction where it is indeed a crime to murder babies. Even if it's in small steps.