September 8, 2010

Skysailing

By Stephen in Music

You may remember a while ago I confessed to listening to the velvet-chill sounds of the musical mastermind, Owl City. And it wasn’t only listening, but wholehearted enjoyment.

Well, now the same nostalgic, insomniac, and somewhat poetic basement composer has caught my ear again with his side project, Skysailing. It appears as if Skysailing is even more of a chilled out sound than the laid back music of Owl City. I’m not complaining ;-) .

An Airplane Carried Me To Bed is the first album by Skysailing, and features some of the early recordings of Adam Young before he toured as Owl City.

I’ve kept these recordings secret for a long time and they’ve never seen the light of day until now. Long before Owl City was ever a spark of a flame, a lot of blue-collared working days were spent absentmindedly daydreaming about what would ultimately become this collection of songs. From the perfectionist musician’s perspective, a song is never truly “finished” but rather “abandoned” and thus, after a lot of inspiration and reckless experimentation, I emerged from the basement with a 11 song record which I affectionately entitled, An Airplane Carried Me To Bed. -Adam Young

Check out the clip below. Skysailing – Brielle

August 14, 2010

Apparel Coming Soon

By Stephen in Clothing Designs

So it appears that two of my designs have made it to clothing, and, depending on their success, this may potentially sprout into a regular occurrence. We shall see.

The designs are both inspired by the non-profit organisations Hope Rwanda and World Vision. Both of which do such an incredible job in serving the poorest of the poor, and bringing hope to a world desperate for love. It is a huge comfort to me knowing that their are Christian organisations like these out there, making a difference in the lives of so many people who would probably be lost to starvation otherwise.

Available garments and their various sizes will be posted once they arrive, sometime in the next week or two. And no this isn’t a marketing ploy–stocks are actually very limited. (Unless there’s enough request for a reprint).

Any proceeds from this project will go to World Vision.

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July 20, 2010

The Astronaut

By Stephen in Fiction, Poetry, Writing

The Astronaut

Floating out here, isolation my closest
friend of nothing, the reputation of no one
Not that it matters out here, anyway
Thoughts come in drips and splashes; I
can feel something, some kind of significant
presence, thick in the air

Floating out here, isolation my closest
friend or foe, the floating turquoise and jade sphere, impeding
my precarious emotions like a monster
Floating out here, isolation my closest
friend, I look down and spy you there on that
insignificant ball, spinning lonesome like a star in the night
sky, your thoughts and intents a pinprick on the grand plan

I can’t see the sparkle of whitewash, or hear the
ambience of crickets chirping, or smell
the exotic, cultural nuances of the oriental markets, or taste
the exquisite cuisine at my favourite restaurant
It all seems so superfluous up here, anyway

Spinning out in isolation, my closest friend
and nearest companion the stillness in this pale, colourless cabin
Filled with awe, because I could trace this as the most
defining moment in my life
I’ve heard talk of a God who made the world in my
sojourns back on the surface of that distant place
Never would I have believed He was true till
now, seeing home so small, so fragile, so distant
I can put my finger to my eye and blot
it from ever breathing

Floating out here, isolation my closest
friend, I’m lost in the deepest resonances of thought,
my soul is stilled
Every moment sees me feeling smaller and
smaller, because I know someone sees
and He loves
How He loves
those
little
tiny
people

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July 7, 2010

Grooveshark, and a Site Makeover

By Stephen in News

It seems the last site design I had was so sophisticated it had me updating it once every few months. Not so great.

So, while discovering and listening to music at the coolest site ever–Grooveshark.com, go check it out, it rocks!–I’ve been overhauling this site. A long and tedious process, I’ll have you know.

So now that everything is that much simpler and less cluttered, I’m going to try blog a little more frequently, run a few kilometres every morning, and buy that healthy living magazine at the supermarket.

It’s OK, I’m kidding ;-) .

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June 10, 2010

New Music Is Like Medicine

By Stephen in Faith, Music

I know, I know, haven’t blogged in forever. Don’t judge me!

It’s not often that you stumble on a new artist that instantly clicks with you, but that’s how it was when I came across Jonathan David Helser linked to on a friends’ page. Beautiful voice, creative lyrics and a burning heart for God–not to mention the first acoustic-electric grand I’ve ever seen. What more could you ask for?

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