Got this meme from Songstress. Fired up iTunes and here are my results:

HOW MANY SONGS? 841, including a LOT of podcasts and a 35-part lecture series on church history. Seriously -- I've got something like 428 podcast episodes right now -- I need to go through them and get rid of most. I keep the dramatic podcasts that I listen to (like Dr. Floyd) and burn them to CD later, so I need to do that, too. But I've got CDs to rip, so the actual total will probably go up.

SORT BY SONG TITLE: (I filtered out the podcasts for this one)
First: A Balynure Ballad by Christopher Lynch, from an Original Irish Tenors CD I reviewed.
Last: Your Lies by Silas, a Chrisitan indie band that I'm going to play on an upcoming Pewcast.

SORT BY TIME: (again, leaving out the podcasts, some of which are over an hour long)
Longest: Parable Guy by ApologetiX (8:21) (parody of American Pie)
Shortest: Winter Wonderland by Steve Taylor (2:02)

SORT BY ALBUM:
First: Back Home by Eric Clapton
Last: Wide Eyed and Mystified by downhere. NOT the whole album (it's not out until the end of May), but I got the single to play on the Pewcast.

TOP 5 MOST PLAYED SONGS:

"Say Yeah," "The Best I Have to Offer," "A Song About Nothing," and "In Jesus Name" by Three Cord Wonder, and "I Will Sing" by Jamie Rowe. What can I say, Three Cord Wonder is a great band. You can hear them on ... well, you know.

FIRST SONG THAT COMES UP ON SHUFFLE:

Poor Rich Folk, "Leaves Like Eve's." Guess where I've played that one ....

SEARCH FOR: (left the podcasts in for this one)
Sex - 1. A report on turning in sexual predators from Stacy Harp's podcast.
Death - 1. "Death Danced at Midnight" -- a Red Panda Adventure from Decoder Ring Theater.
Love - 23. I'm not listing all of them!

If you want to do this one, knock yourself out -- just hit me with a trackback!

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Right on, right on - I'm gonna have to check out some of these "new to me" bands in the Pewcast, I guess!

Posted by: songstress7 at April 25, 2006 01:06 AM (0zDjn)

2 Why yes, yes you will! And the newest episode was just posted!

Posted by: Warren at April 26, 2006 03:36 PM (DPRNU)

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It's very tempting for me to write a scathing review of this book. I could rant about The Da Vinci Code-esque revisionist church history, and incite Christians everywhere to protest the book. But I won't, for a few reasons.

One - like I could get more than a dozen Christians to actually listen to me, much less do what I want them to. Two - the book's good.

The premise: there is a secret society -- similar to the legendary Grail Knights -- tasked with protecting the True Cross, on which Christ was crucified. They have infiltrated every part of the Church all over the world, protecting the fragments of the Cross that have been strewn all over Christendom, with one goal: To bring them all back together, under their control.

The book begins with a series of robberies, and a mysterious corpse. Pieces of the True Cross are being stolen, and the corpse is one of the thieves. He bears intricate body art -- ritual scarification, the result of his induction into the mysterious group known as the Staurofilakes -- the protectors of the Cross.

Vatican paleographer Ottavia Salina is called on to help investigate the crimes, and bring the Staurofilakes back into fellowship with the Catholic Church - by force, if need be. Accompanied by a member of the Swiss Guard and an atheistic professor, she begins her investigation. Aided by clues provided by Dante's Divine Comedy, they move closer and closer to the mysterious group - even as they receive the very same ritual scars as the dead thief.

There is a growing sub-genre of religious fiction - the skeptical, gnostic-based thriller novel. The Da Vinci Code is, of course, the most famous example of this genre, and is responsible for its popularity today. The Da Vinci Code, though, was originally published in 2003, though -- The Last Cato was originally published in 2001, in Spanish. So this is not an example of an author jumping on the bandwagon. It's a wonderfully written story, with healthy doses of skepticism toward religion. The skepticism is not heavy-handed -- in most cases, it's mentioned in passing, with no 'proselytizing' as Dan Brown tends toward in his book. Readers would be well-advised to get a copy of The Divine Comedy as a reference as they read this book, but the important passages are quoted in the book, so that's not essential. You'll never read Dante the same way again, I can promise you that.

Characterization in the book isn't overt or heavy-handed, but by the end you feel like you really know these three people. You sympathize with Ottavia's struggles and her anguish over the direction her life seems to be taking her. By the end, you're pondering the irony in her statement that "Life doesn't drag you along if you don't let it."

One minor quibble with the book, or actually the translation. Latin names are often mishandled, it seems. Eusebius is left Eusebio, for example, almost as if the Spanish name had been left alone, rather than being translated to the proper Latin name. A minor detail, at best, but it did grate on the church historian in me to see familiar names rendered incorrectly.

One reason I would start a protest over the book is that the result of such action seems clear - people will read the book to see what all the fuss is about. And this is a book that deserves to be read. And it didn't borrow anything from Holy Blood, Holy Grail. That in itself deserves high praise indeed. I didn't read The Da Vinci Code, but if this is the type of book publishers are picking up because of Dan Brown's success, then we owe him thanks. Just remember that the book was written two years before Brown's book, and you'll enjoy it even more.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:54 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Sounds quite interesting - I'm putting it on my wish list or reminder list (depending on if there are any copies currently posted) at PaperBackSwap.com!

Posted by: songstress7 at April 22, 2006 01:05 AM (0zDjn)

2 Unfortunately, it won't be out in paperback for quite a while -- it was just released in English in hardback. Unless there's a Spanish paperback out there, and you can read Spanish.

Posted by: Warren at April 26, 2006 03:26 PM (DPRNU)

3 Great review. I've just picked up THE LAST CATO and --so far-- it seems it's going to be a good read. Already I've caught Aseni in an historical error concerning the "chi-rho" monogram. She claims on one page that its wasn't used after the 6th Century, and on the next page she says it declined in use by the end of the 5th Century. She not only contradicts herself but she is wrong on both the dates. For example, the "chi-rho" is emblazoned on the shields of Justinian's guard-attendants in the mosaics of San Vitale, Ravenna (circa 547 A.D.). The monogram can also be found in the 8th Century Irish "Book Of Kells." By the way, when are you going to delete all of the spam posted above?

Posted by: Caesar Warrington at June 23, 2006 10:17 AM (M0BDa)

4 What spam? And I did notice that she got the chi-rho wrong, though I hadn't gone back and determined the actual dates.

Posted by: Warren at June 23, 2006 10:38 AM (DPRNU)

5 As soon as I read her comments the shields of and standards of Justinian's guards and Belisarius' troops came to mind. Are there any other historical/theological mistakes I should be on the lookout for?

Posted by: Caesar Warrington at June 23, 2006 03:35 PM (M0BDa)

6 Dear Blogger: An ancient prophecy, shrouded in secrecy for thousands of years predicts the arrival of the “Expected One,” a woman who is destined to deliver Mary Magdalene’s gospel, and with it, one of history’s most powerful revelations. On July 25th, Touchstone Books releases a highly anticipated and controversial debut novel by Kathleen McGowan called The Expected One, based on the gospels of Mary Magdalene. As a member of the blogging community, Touchstone is thrilled to be offering you a free promotional copy and an incredible opportunity to interview Kathleen McGowan--the woman behind the book heralded as “riveting” by People magazine. Though The Expected One is a novel, many of the protagonist’s adventures and virtually all of her spiritual encounters are inspired by the real life experiences of McGowan. As she writes in her afterword, McGowan experienced a series of haunting, recurring dreams that centered on the events and experiences of The Passion, which led her to research the legends of Mary Magdalene. From August 15th-17th, Kathleen McGowan will be taking time from her tour and media appearances, which include “Good Morning America,” “Paula Zahn Now,” and “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch,” to chat directly with the blogging community. Although we would like to accommodate everyone, due to the limited period of time available, interviews will be granted on a first come, first serve basis. If you’d like to set up and interview and receive a promotional copy of The Expected One, contact Farrell Dubak at Farrell.Dubak@Simonandschuster.com. To learn more about The Expected One and Kathleen McGowan please take a moment to visit www.TheExpectedOne.com. Read an interview with Kathleen McGowan in USA Today!

Posted by: Farrell at July 25, 2006 10:36 AM (Rql8r)

7 Well done!

Posted by: Ryan at August 07, 2006 11:45 AM (y415J)

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I don't do college basketball, though I paid more attention to it this year than I have before. I'm a hockey guy, and even though the cable deal the league got with OLN assured me of rarely getting to watch the game on TV, I paid attention this season. Now it's playoff time, and it's time for my predictions: more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:29 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Recent reports show that 'Deadeye' Dick Cheney gave away 80% of his income to charities. These reports have been met in different ways by different people.

Democrats are demanding to know what happened to that other 20%. Republicans are considering revoking Cheney's membership card unless he can prove he used at least half of what was left over to buy stock in multi-national corporations.

Ha.

OK, seriously for a minute -- the man donated close to seven million dollars to charity. Now he's getting a HUGE refund on his taxes, and people are mad. Get over it, people. When YOU donate 80% of your income to charity, you'll get a hefty tax refund, too.

In related news, I'm announcing the formation of the Warren Kelly Foundation. Tax-deductable donations will be accepted through the handy PayPal link to the right...

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I haven't done one of these in a LONG time, and probably wouldn't be doing this one had it not come from Dr. Michael Haykin. Which Scottish historian are you?

I am Thomas Boston, champion of evangelistic preaching and the Free Offer of the Gospel. Actually, I tied for first place:

Thomas Boston 95%

James Orr 95%

James Denney 75%

John Knox 65%

Thomas Chalmers 50%

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Bryan over at Spare Change has set up a SBC Bloggers Frappr map. If you are one, go there and identify yourself!!

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Joe Carter over at the Evangelical Outpost has formulated a law of arguement similar to Godwin's Law. Carter's Law of Political Rhetoric is:

As the number of religious conservatives expressing an opinion on a moral or political issue increases, the probability that someone on the political left will invoke the term “theocracy” approaches one.

I've noticed how many people have decided that President Bush's evangelical faith has ushered in a sort of theocracy in America. These are usually the same people who blissfully ignore Bill Clinton's and Jimmy Carter's evangelical faith -- evangelicalism is a pretty big tent, after all. What it comes down to, it seems, is that if you agree with someone's theology, it isn't a theocracy. When you disagree, it's a theocracy that threatens the very fabric of our Constitution.

The only Christians I know who are seeking a theocracy are the Christian Reconstructionists -- and they're a thankfully small group. I've mentioned them before. The rest of us know that only Christ can effect real, permanent change. While we will work for social change, we recognize that there's really only one way for that to happen.

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How to Be Your Own Publicist is written by an award-winning writer and publicist. This made me a bit nervous right away; I was afraid that the book would either be overly technical and thus inaccessible, or extremely basic (I've had some experience with overly basic business books).

Thankfully, I found the book to be neither. How to Be Your Own Publicist finds a great middle-ground between people who just want to get attention for their cause/business/writing/blog and people who are getting ready to head up the PR department in their own small business. The book is easilly accessible for those with no marketing background, with plenty of meat for people with more experience.

The most valuable part of the book for me were the sections on creating press kits and writing press releases. I'm looking at moving my podcasting beyond just a hobby, and I learned a lot that I can use to promote both my podcasts and myself as a podcaster. I'll be making use of those ideas in the very near future. There are also valuable sections on getting yourself recognized as an "expert" in your field -- leading to radio and TV interviews where you can let people know about your product/service/company. Hatchigan also covers what not to do, including the infamous "soup to nuts" speeches where you overload your audience with too much information. She also cautions budding publicity hounds to use "publicity stunts" with great care -- don't let the stunt overshadow what you're trying to promote. This reminds me of commercials that I see all the time -- witty, memorable skits that leave you humming the tune but wondering what they were trying to sell.

Knowing how to attract attention to your business -- or your blog, or your podcast -- is important. Being able to create not only an impression, but also a memory -- and a good one -- is also important. How to Be Your Own Publicist shows you how to do both.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Most Americans don't believe they will experience a resurrection of their bodies when they die, putting them at odds with a core teaching of Christianity."

Only 36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed a month ago by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University said "yes" to the question: "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?" Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.

We've removed belief from Christianity. We've made it so easy to call yourself a Christian that anyone can do it, regardless of what they believe. We need to start defining Christianity the way it is defined Biblically -- people who believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, trust Him alone for their salvation, and believe (and live) according to His teachings. Anything else may be a really cool way to believe, but it isn't Christianity, and we need to stop fooling ourselves.

Christians are proud of the "fact" that our nation is 60%+ Christian -- I'd rather rejoice in the 20-30% who actually know what that means, and live it anyway.

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There will probably be alot of new messengers to the SBC Convention in Greensboro this year. A lot of first-timers who may be wondering what's going on.

There's a valuable resource over at 12 Witnesses (note to self -- get this one added to the aggregator). Just check out the side links (right sidebar) and look at the SBC Primer posts he's got listed.

These posts are also good primers for anyone who is interested or curious. The SBC is a huge "denomination," and it might be a good idea for people to know how things are (and aren't) done.

God willing, I'll be blogging the convention this year. It will be my second national convention (I was at the Atlanta convention in 1999, after being a Southern Baptist for only about a year).

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So I've spent all weekend away from my computer, taking a sort of blog vacation, and the whole Gospel of Judas thing has probably blown over by now. Or maybe not -- people seem particularly susceptible to "hidden Gospels" right now, and this newest one sure does promise a new look at Christianity.

more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:20 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Some have noticed that I left Theater Hopper out of the last wrapup. I haven't stopped reading it, and I will include it in the future.

I'm also adding The Order of the Stick based on a LOT of things (it's funny, it's plot driven, it's funny), but mainly on the virtues of this strip (which has already been Websnarked).

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Once again, it's time for the three-days-late Wrapup.

Questionable Content: We look at Marten and Dora together -- "the music dork version of sloppy makeouts." You get a music education in every episode of this comic!

Antihero For Hire: More exposition about The Froster. AND a "surprise attack." Not sure where this one is going yet -- it may not be 'going' anywhere, since this is an "Interlude phase."

User Friendly: Flavored coffee and Windows Vista are skewered this week. Oh, AND a cruel, cruel April Fool's joke.

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It's never too early to start holiday gift shopping, right? And if you act now, you can grab one of these products that I'm sure will be in VERY short supply by the November/December gift-buying window. more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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