I'm a sucker for chips. Barbecue, original, tortilla, I really don't mind. Any and all chips can and usually will find their way into my stomach at any given time, and I'm really okay with that. I'm not really sure what it is about them that causes my longing for them, perhaps I'll never know...or perhaps it's addictive chemicals, preservatives, and additives that tell my brain to chase after them insatiably (disodium inosinate I'm talking to you!!!). Anyway. I ended up giving up chips for Lent this past season. I think that was a good idea. One aspect of my chip indulgences I find particularly troublesome is the fact that I always eat them at those times of the day where you're just kind of hungry, and so you snack to make that little feeling go away. And so when I gave them up for Lent I enjoyed those times once again because I had to find some (ideally) healthy alternative to consume. But, alas, Lent is over for this year and I am back to square one.Music for me this week has been defined by one man: M. Ward. I had first heard about him a few months ago when I read a review of his most recent album Hold Time in Rolling Stone magazine. I got it, listened to it a bit, enjoyed it, and then put back on the shelf. And then for one reason or another I got it back out again...and I must say, I am thoroughly hooked. This guy is the real deal. One song in particular has really moved me, it's called 'Rave On'. The cool thing about this song is that it is originally a Buddy Holly song from the late 50s, one that really hearkens back to the days of leather jackets, little deuce coups, and blissful post-war optimism. But on Hold Time, M. Ward makes this song into a work of art. A lush pop arrangement that still pays respect to the original tune, but adds a whole new landscape and sound to this record. The rest of the album is just as fantastic too, I would say. M. Ward does something I admire a great deal, he acknowledges that you have to be steeped in the past if you want to make something that is truly forward looking and current. Rave on, people, rave on.
