April Insanity: 30 Days of Novel-Writing Music!

Camp NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow! As if the month wasn't crazy enough, I have resolved to post one piece of music every day for the entire month!

Here's how it works. I listen to music whenever I write. Sometimes I listen to different music depending on what or how I'm writing, because it helps set the mood or it helps keep me going. So each day I will be posting a different piece of music that I listened to during that day's writing, with a brief explanation of why I was listening to it and how it helped me write, etc.

And now, a challenge for you: Join me! Post one piece of music per day for the entire month of April! If you have a blog, do it there (just remember to link us to it)! If not, share in the comments! Not doing NaNo? No problem! You can join in anyway, only instead of explaining how or why your music helps you through your writing process, you can explain how it helps you through your day (or whatever)!

Brace yourselves... this is going to be epic! See you tomorrow!

The Breach

I can't tell you how much I love the pacing of this soundtrack! Calm and almost serene at the beginning with that under-watery music, and then the true importance of the situation dawns on you, building up tension for the huge release at the end... It went perfectly with the ending of Pacific Rim, where it plays. Guys, this is one of my favorite movies for a reason...

The sound effects at the ending scene went with the music perfectly. I especially liked when ____ _____'s ____ ____ went _______ and those _____ were ____ _____... So epic!

Music Request: Gollum's Song

"Tabombur" has requested "Gollum's Song"
I had forgotten about this song. The context, I'm told, is Gollum and his sad life. So to me, this song is really sad. Whoever arranged this video did a really good job.

At least it's not an annoying song for once...

Tim Hawkins: Yoga Pants!

...
Nothing to say here! :D Haha!

Monday Music Challenge: People!

This week's subject is people. Specifically, the people in your life. The important people. Let's get right into it!

You know the drill. You gotta find 4 pieces of music that best represent:

1. Your parent(s)
2. Your Sibling(s)
3. Your best Friend(s)
4. Your role model(s)
5. Bonus!

Number 5 is a new bonus category that I've added that allows you to add one more piece of music to describe... whatever or whoever you want, as long as it fits in the week's theme! "Bonus" implies that it's completely optional, so you don't have to fill it out if you don't want to (but I know you will want to!). If I may make a suggestion though... If you can't think of someone who you'd want to do for number 5, try doing me! I'm really curious as to what kind of music you think describes me.

Anyway, I don't exactly have time to make my picks right now! So I'll just post this here for now, and update it later when I've made my picks. Sound good? Great! Start finding that music!

EDIT: I almost forgot: it is perfectly acceptable to pick multiple pieces of music for each number. Like, if you had one for each sibling, that would work fine.

UPDATED WITH MY PICKS:

1: My Parents. I'm not sure what music fits them best, but I do know that they're better than your parents. Sorry. It's just true. I have the best parents ever. :3 Anyway, the Jurassic Park theme fits them well, especially the first half. Which may seem odd, until you've actually heard it. Just ignore the goofy slideshow and listen, while imagining the best parents ever:

2: My Siblings. They're a fine mix of epic and silly, and I think that's perfectly captured by the Lord of the Rings Dubstep remix by None Like Joshua:

3: My Best Friend(s). This is a toughy, because I have several best friends scattered over different locations and time periods in my life, and they're all so different. But they all had a few traits in common, so I think the following song fits them best: Fight to the End, from the Clone Wars. It's got everything. Action, suspense, emotion... Everything I've been through with each of my best friends. From the little Vietnamese kid from Boy scouts, to my formerly-fat squadmate Blake, to an unnamed girl or two, I think there's a spot in this song for each of them. :)

The reason it ends so abruptly is because it's supposed to flow right into this track:

4: My Role Model(s). Well, obviously, my ultimate roll-model is Jesus. But I have several earthly role-models, including Eric Metaxas and Brian Jaques. What they all have in common is that they love to create, inspire, and make people laugh. I think "All of Me" sums that up nicely:

Man, I'm so happy I came up with this challenge thingy. I hope you guys are enjoying them a much as I am! It wouldn't be fun without you!

Shai Linne: Regeneration

Whoa-ho!

I absolutely love this song. Shai Linne delivers a beautiful message about the doctrine of regeneration by the Holy Spirit; set to music as always. The music video is really cool and very fitting: it shows reversed photography of things being destroyed, so that it looks like they're being "un-destroyed" or re-made, the same way the Holy Spirit re-makes us through regeneration.

Hancock

Just saw this movie last night. It had a lot of cussing and other bad stuff in it that prevents me from recommending it, but it was also pretty funny and the story wasn't bad at all. However, I must say, the soundtrack was great! It embodies the hilarity yet seriousness and emotion of the movie.

Monday Music Challenge: Your Dream Come True!

We all have a story in our head which we think is perfect. This dream story typically involves us overcoming some great obstacle or enemy(s) to achieve some kind of prize (usually true love).
This week's challenge? Express that perfect fantasy of yours using music!

You must find four pieces of a music, each one describing a different part of your fictional life story:

1. You!
2. Your true love
3. Your arch-nemesis
4. The story itself

As always, I will post my four songs, and you can submit yours either in the comments, or on your own blog if you like (just link back to me)!

Let's do it:

1. You! This piece of music describes the ideal you, as imagined in your little fictional world. It's fine if it describes the real you. If you're having trouble, think of it this way: if this was a movie, then this music would play whenever you walk in the room. It's your theme song.

My pick is: the Main Theme from Medal of Honor: European Assault. It exudes honor, which is something I want to be known for, even if I don't live up to it now.

2. Your true love. I shouldn't need to explain this one. ;) Find some music that describes your ideal partner (if you pick my last pick, that would be the ultimate expression of awkward).

My pick is: Ghosts of Reach from the Halo 2 soundtrack. The first half shows us my princess' beautiful, graceful side, but in the second half we see that she also has determination and a fighting spirit; not a girl to be messed with.

EDIT: I'm changing this one. Listening to this track again, I'm just not sure it fits. So, I'm replacing it with Hella Bar Talk from the Star Trek XI soundtrack. It retains all the elements I like from the last one, but I feel that it's better defined.

3. Your arch-nemesis. Every great bad guy has a distinct theme, from Darth Vader to Sauron. What theme plays when your nemesis comes on the scene?

My pick is: Just a Memory, from Pacific Rim. Variations of this theme play whenever the Kaiju -- giant monsters out to destroy mankind -- come on screen. It's very chilling, and I get goosebumps whenever I hear this specific version. I like how it lightens up at the end, perhaps suggesting that my nemesis will redeem himself in the end.

4. The story itself. What is the main theme of your overall story? You, your true love, your nemesis, and your other characters interact with each other in a dramatic story. What does that story sound like?

My pick (and this was the hardest one) is: the Battle theme from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Like I said, this was the hardest one. But I hadn't heard this in a while, so when I did, I immediately re-fell in love with it.

What's the soundtrack for your dream come true?

TobyMac: Forgiveness ft. Lecrae

Wow. This is a great song.

Music Request: They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard

The request system continues to be abused, this time by Tabby Hollowell.

At least it's better than PFUDOR, people.

Also, for your enjoyment, a sped-up version:

The Spaceship Verses the Minions

Today on Verses, we have The Spaceship from WALL-E....

Squaring off against the Minions from Despicable Me!

Which soundtrack wins? You decide! Cast your votes in the comments!

Music... Request... Eugh...

Mongoo Lebron had the audacity to request the song "Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows" to annoy her friend Payton. I feel like the accomplice in a crime...

IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN PEOPLE!

I'm going to have to ask all of you to select the "Gross!" reaction button...

Monday Music Challenge: Emotions!

Spicing things up once again... today (and for subsequent Mondays) we have a Music Challenge!

Here's how it works: This week's theme is "emotions" I'll ask for four videos that pertain to that theme:

1. A song that makes you happy
2. A song that makes you sad
3. A song that makes you excited
4. A song that makes you embarrassed

I'll post my 4 songs, and you can submit yours in the comments (or on your blog!) and I will feature your picks under each of the four categories! Make sense? Let's go!

1. A song that makes you feel happy, glad, joyous, etc:

My pick is: Concerning Hobbits, from The Fellowship of the Ring. I mean, come on. How could this theme not make you happy. I actually would've picked Made to Love You by TobyMac, but I just posted that the other day.

2. A song that makes you feel sad, depressed, low, etc:

My pick is: The Great Jedi Purge from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I would post Gandalf has Fallen, but I already know that at least one of my readers will pick that.

3: A song that makes you feel excited, energetic, aroused, etc:

My pick is: The music from the "Base" map in the game Raze.

There are other songs that do a better job at making me feel this way, but I've already posted most of them, and I don't want to have too many repeats so close together.

4. A song that makes you embarrassed... you're embarrassed that you listen to it, you're embarrassed that you like it, and you would be embarrassed listening to it around your friends, etc.

This is... a tough one... my pick is: Lights by Ellie Goulding. I draw particular embarrassment from the fact that I actually like Ellie Goulding's music. I'm not into pop, but her voice... I really like it. For some reason. I think it's the British accent. ANYWAY.

Well, what are you waiting for? Submit your picks!

Simply Trusting/Trusting Jesus

I know I usually say "this is one of my favorite hymns!" but this particular hymn is "favoriter" to me than those others I've posted. Perplexingly enough, I couldn't find any good versions of this song on youtube. It seems to have been mostly forgotten here in the western world, whereas the far east seems to really like it (or at least, that's the impression I was given by my search results). In any case, the best video I could find was this dude playing an organ. Nobody is singing in this video, so here are the lyrics for you to read yourself:

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.  

Refrain:
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all. 

Brightly doth His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall;
Trusting Jesus, that is all. 

Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all. 

Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

I really, really love this hymn. It reminds me so much of Pilgrim's Progress, especially the last two verses.  Definitely one of my "favoritest" hymns, if not my very favorite.

Alpha Team

Don't judge!

This soundtrack comes from a funny yet educational LEGO puzzle game based on the LEGO Alpha Team sets. The soundtrack, like most media to come out of LEGO, is hilarious. Well worth a listen, at least for the laughs (or, if you're like me, for the nostalgia).

This is totally my theme song

Made to Love You!

Not high in scriptural or doctrinal content, but a really good song that always picks me up and puts a smile on my face. :)

Jesus is Alive!

One of my favorite songs by Shai Linne; very catchy, and very true!
This is my favorite part:

"Criminal minded, you've been blinded
Lookin' for the body of Jesus? You won't find it
We never lack spirit, lettin' you cats hear it
Because His tomb is empty like most secular rap lyrics"

My other favorite line:

"No resurrection, Christianity would've never spread
The disciples weren't stupid guys 
Who would ruin their lives
And then choose to die
For what they knew was a lie"

There is another version of the same song, featuring Lecrae! I personally like the original better, but this one is still cool:

Scaling the Cliff Verses No Pulse!

Verses is back, for another exciting battle of the tunes!

In the Blue corner, we have Scaling the Cliff:

In the Red corner, yet another Pacific Rim soundtrack, No Pulse:

The question this time is not "Which do you like better?" but rather, Which soundtrack would you rather have playing during a defining action scene in your life?

You know the rules; cast your votes!

Music Request: Misty Mountains by Dwarf cast and Richard Armitage

Cassie Kwant used the music suggestion form to request this song: Misty Mountains, as performed by the Dwarf cast of The Hobbit and Richard Armitage.

The last music request was for the Song of the Lonely Mountain sung by Neil Finn, and as you remember, I specifically said:

"To be honest, I prefer the version of this song that is sung by Thorin and company."

So I find it pleasing, yet oddly convenient, that this was the next song to be requested. Coincidence? I think not!

What do you think?