I may be getting older but I still love a great rock concert. Recently I went to a show and was so blown away that I realized that it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.
So what makes a great rock concert? There are many criteria that someone might use to rate a show but it all comes down to one thing for me - energy. Am I moved? Do I get goosebumps? Do I scream my lungs out to the point of losing my voice? Am I utterly exhausted at the end? Is that moment cemented in my mind forever?
I started thinking about all my favorites and then decided to do a little research. To my amazement, I found a handful of videos online from great shows I had been to. So I give you the Top 10 Concerts I have been to. These aren't necessarily my favorites bands but ones that left an incredible impression on me.
1) New Order @ The Reading Festival, Reading, England - August 1993
The setting was everything here. In 1993, my brother and I went to the Reading Festival aways outside of London. The last show of the night was close to midnight. I'm standing in an English pasture. Full moon overhead. Someone asked me today if it had anything to do with anyone I was with. I don't think I even noticed a person around me I was so entranced.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Radosh, author of the new book Rapture Ready. Daniel wrote the book to investigate Christian pop culture and came away surprised at what he found. I highly recommend checking out his book.
Daniel and I had a great time discussing the "Culture War" and civility in the public arena. While I am sure that Daniel and I have many differences, I couldn't have found a better guy to enjoy a morning chat with.
So I am now in NYC for the next ten days. I love coming to NYC because of the tremendous energy in the city. I always feel that great things are happening here.
Hopefully I will have some good things to report on this week including a few interesting interviews that I hope to conduct this week.
If any of my readers in NYC would like to get together, shoot me an email at will@goodwillhinton.com.
If you read nothing else this week, read David Brook's column today in the New York Times: The Great Seduction.
The loosening of financial inhibition has meant more options for the well-educated but more temptation and chaos for the most vulnerable. Social norms, the invisible threads that guide behavior, have deteriorated. Over the past years, Americans have been more socially conscious about protecting the environment and inhaling tobacco. They have become less socially conscious about money and debt.
I lived in San Diego for almost 3 years from 1999-2001. The neighborhood we moved into was intended I believe to encourage community. There were public green spaces instead of individual private yards, lots of sidewalks, and the homes were oriented so as to encourage interaction. Yet somehow there was absolutely zero community. And not for lack of trying. There is only so many times that you can try to strike up a conversation with neighbors as they are trying to escape back into the confines of their home. I'll never forget the day we moved. We had a moving van out front and my next door neighbor walked by. "We'll miss you John." Yeah, that's how close we were.
My friend Jeff Shinabarger wrote a very thought provoking post earlier this week about community in the wake of tornadoes that came through his neighborhood in East Atlanta. His post ended up being a great topic of discussion with my posse this week and prompted these thoughts from me:
I've been thinking about this idea of community for years and I can't quite put my finger on what has caused a general decline in the sense of community. Many people talk about the rise of suburbs or wealth as primary reasons but I think that those are but small contributing factors. Many of my friends grew up in suburban neighborhoods in Atlanta or elsewhere and had a tremendous sense of community. I know that I did in my prototypical suburban neighborhood. In my cul-de-sac infested suburban sprawl neighborhood, I have at one point been inside every single house in that neighborhood and dozens in surrounding neighborhoods. And not just those where my friends lived. There was a sense as a kid that I could get in almost as much trouble with another adult in the neighborhood as with my parents; parents weren't afraid to actually discipline other people's kids even if they hardly knew them. I have talked about these experiences with friends who grew up in other parts of the country, with friends who grew up in poverty stricken neighborhoods, and those who grew up around the country club and while the details may differ, the general experience of community was the same.
So this morning I am reading Wired.com and come across an article "What Is the Ultimate Apocalypsemobile". I am assuming that there are going to be references to Mad Max and descriptions of how to modify cars for what the author and many others fear is a coming world struggling with a lack of oil.
And as far-fetched as this scenario is to some, the author Joe Brown just couldn't resist seeing the Devil at work:
"I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made," said Carter. "That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates."
Carter, who formally endorsed the Illinois senator last night, cited opinion polls showing 50% of US voters with a negative view of Clinton.
In terms that might discomfort the Obama camp, he said: "If you take that 50% who just don't want to vote for Clinton and add it to whatever element there might be who don't think Obama is white enough or old enough or experienced enough or because he's got a middle name that sounds Arab, you could have the worst of both worlds."
I'm sure both Obama and Clinton are thrilled about this. Not.
I really didn't want to be "that guy" always writing about how much he loves his new Mac. I wrote last week about why I finally made the switch. But I read an article at CNNMoney.com this week that I just have to respond to. Jonathan Blum wrote "Why Macs still aren't right for most businesses". Having worked as an IT professional at one point in my career, I could think of a few likely reasons that someone might suggest not using Macs in business. But I wasn't prepared for the lack of substance in this article.
"First off, the packaging is seriously overdone: The slogan "Designed by Apple in California" posivitively shouts at you from the box. Like I care."
Like it matters! Are you serious? This is the first reason for not using a Mac for a business?
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Chris Heuertz, Executive Director of Word Made Flesh. Chris has a new book arriving on bookshelves next month called Simple Spirituality: Learning To See God in a Broken World. In this interview, Chris and I discuss his time in India with Mother Teresa, his impetus for this new book, and how this idea of spirituality can sometimes conflict with common perceptions of Christianity in a Western culture.
For those of you disillusioned with Christianity or those who lament the state of organized religion, I encourage you to check out how Chris and his community is "serving Jesus among the poorest of the poor."
Recent comments
2 weeks 12 hours ago
2 weeks 13 hours ago
2 weeks 15 hours ago
2 weeks 3 days ago
2 weeks 6 days ago
3 weeks 3 days ago
3 weeks 4 days ago
3 weeks 5 days ago
3 weeks 6 days ago
3 weeks 6 days ago