Here’s a great article from the BBC about a 13-year-old giving up his iPod for a week to use the original Sony Walkman. I’m not sure that I would want to go back to using cassette tapes. I use my iPhone to listen to music on a daily basis, whether around the house or at work. I carry all 1,059 songs that I have collected through the years with me at all times.

From the article:

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm

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A lot has been happening lately. Michelle and I have been remodeling rooms in our house since we moved back to Hiawassee. We’ve almost completed the kitchen, and we’re very proud of it. When we finally complete it, I’ll write about it in detail and post pictures of it on my journal.

Also, I was involved in a serious accident while at work yesterday. I hydroplaned and struck a stopped vehicle at 60 miles per hour. I’m incredibly sore, but no one was seriously injured. I’ll also write more about this incident and post pictures of the vehicle once I get approval from my department.

Another one of Matt’s CDs that I “borrowed” during high school was a collection of John Michael Talbot’s songs. Here’s Creed 1 for your enjoyment (just click the play button below). I love the tempo changes throughout the song, and the variety of instruments that are included. I can (and do) listen to this song over and over again. Head over to his website to read about his amazing journey through life and his organization, The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage. 

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A few years back at one of the Angie Aparo concerts Michelle and I went to, Angie played Coldhearted. He said that one day he was sitting around with some country music singer/songwriters talking about music. They asked him if he had a “break up” song. He did not, so he wrote the following:

[qt:video/Coldhearted.mov 160 120]

Angie released Hush on the album The American. It was immediately one of my favorite songs from the album. In concert he always asks the audience to help sing part of the music; not the words themselves, but the music. In this video he starts singing the part at 3:32, but them moves on. During the shows we sing the part throughout most of the song, and at the end (the part where he moves on in this video) we continue and it’s almost a duet between Angie and the audience. I love when an artist uses their voice as an instrument. We seldom think of a voice as an instrument, but Angie Aparo does just that.

[qt:video/Hush.mov 240 180]

Sungha Jung is a YouTube hit that I learned about this past weekend while in Hiawassee for Father’s Day. He’s apparently an 11 year old boy living in South Korea who picked up his first guitar two years ago.

Pachelbel’s Canon in D 

Here’s his rendition of More Than Words by Extreme.

Fields of Gold by Sting