Song of the Week: “Fix You” by Coldplay

“Fix You” is a lot of things.  It’s a beautiful song, it’s a moving song, and it’s also a very tricky song.  At first glance, there are some problems with the lyrics.  After all, no matter how hard we try or how well-meaning we are, we can’t fix each other.  We can support each other, we can be there for each other, but only God can repair the flaw all of our souls.  Nevertheless, at its core, “Fix You” has a positive message, one that is uplifting and well put.  When everything goes wrong, when your life falls apart, the value of a friend, someone who will give of themselves until they have nothing left to lift you back up to your feet, is immeasurable.  It’s that kind of selfless love that ultimately shines through in the music and lyrics of “Fix You”, a song that exudes so much triumphant, hopeful energy that you can’t help but smile and sing along.  Video and lyrics after the page break.

Song of the Week: “Oh Canada”

Everybody kept telling me that there was some kind of major holiday a few days ago, so I Googled it and found out that it was Canada Day this past Friday.  I may not be Canadian, but some of my favorite TV shows were filmed/produced/created in Canada, and they have cool accents, so I thought I’d extend a friendly happy birthday to our northern neighbors by featuring their national anthem as the song of the week.  Still not sure why all of my American friends were so psyched up about the whole thing, but whatever.  Keep being awesome, Canada!

And Then Cellos Were My Favorite Instrument

Just… just listen to this.

Yes, that just happened, and yes it was that awesome.

Because I’m not letting Tim take the time to do an actual blog post…

— Adam Beckmeyer

Song of the Week: “See the Glory” by Steven Curtis Chapman

Special edition with embedded video!  And also on Tuesday!

A big shout-out to Tek for introducing me to this fantastic song.  “See the Glory” is everything that a great song should be.  The lyrics are smart and thought-provoking, addressing our far-too-often apathetic response to God’s overwhelming, all-encompassing, glorious grace.  On top of that, the music is catchy and invigorating, Steven Curtis Chapman gives a splendid vocal performance, and it features a Game Boy solo.  Yes, you read that correctly.  A Game Boy solo.  Click through to give it a listen.

Mind Dump – Pony Saturday and More!

Thanks to my friend Adam Swensen (he has a great blog, The Next Generation, you should definitely check it out) for inspiring me to write this mind dump post with his original mind dump post.  That said, this post is basically a bunch of things that I’d like to say that didn’t fit anywhere else, in no particular order.  Since this is all essentially off the top of my head, expect a lot of randomosity and the like.  Here we go!

-As you may or may not know, I have a deviantArt page.  If you knew about that, you probably know that I recently took up a challenge from Tekaramity to draw a pony version of myself in 48 hours.  I had a whole lot of fun drawing the picture, so today I drew two more ponies based on my brother Jonathan and my sister Christiana.  They wound up looking amazing, but since our dial-up is painfully slow, I can’t upload them to dA until Monday when I go to Lake Ann Camp, the promised land of milk and speedy Wi-Fi.  Still, I was so happy with the final product that I felt like telling someone, so there you go.

-I have discovered a substance more addictive than any drug.  They are called “Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips” and they will take over your life.  You’ll eat until your tongue is numb, but you’ll still want more.  Turn back now before it’s too late, don’t wind up like me.

-The Hub knows who we are!  They made a 30-second “Equestria Girls” promo for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic  a little while back (yes, it’s a parody of “California Girls” by Katy Perry, and yes, that is as great as it sounds).  The promo was written and produced by the MLP:FiM team and performed by the official singer for Pinkie Pie, and according to Equestria Daily they aired an extended version this very evening that included a direct shout-out to the bronies. The Hub even contacted Equestria Daily and sent them a copy of said extended promo in advance!  That’s right, the production team essentially made an official PMV with an original parody song, used the term “bronies” in it, contacted the main hub of brony activity on the Internet to let them know, then aired it on cable television.  There are no words for how stupendous that is, so I’ll just do a celebratory dance instead.  *Dances*.  In case you hadn’t guessed, I love this fandom.

-I am psyched beyond psyched to work in the kitchen at Lake Ann this summer with all of the amazing people there.  Two more days, and I finally get to see such stellar individuals as Adam Swensen, Megan Schuitema, Adam Beckmeyer, Scott Buchholz, Dan Hayton, and Chefy again, as well as many, many more.  My excitement cannot be contained in any container!

-I need more Salt and Vinegar chips.

-Oh, hey, remember that post where I asked people to ask me questions and I said I was going to make a vlog answering them?  It turns out that I’m not very good at making vlogs, so I’m going to answer those questions in a post instead sometime very soon.  There were some pretty amazing questions, so be on the lookout for that post.

-Speaking of videos and things I mentioned a long time ago and then never again, I’m almost finished with Project Reading a Book.  Again, I can’t post it until next week thanks to the serious lack of Interwebs at home base, but expect a fresh, shiny, Julian Smith/Twilight Sparkle PMV on YouTube early next week.

-Windows Movie Maker was created by an evil scientist bent on driving financially challenged video editors to the brink of insanity then attempting to control their severely weakened minds and take over the world.

-The ridiculous evilness of Movie Maker makes it all the more satisfying when you finally overcome its ridiculous evil and bend it to your will.  I feel like playing “We are the Champions” by Queen every time I successfully save part of my project.

-EVIL!

-Psych is one of the funniest shows ever written.  The only show that’s ever made me laugh more consistently is Corner Gas, may it rest in peace.  If those two shows were ever to meet, they would create an explosion of hilarity that would overcome the whole universe.

-My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius… no, wait, my name is Tim.  Never mind.

It’s probably time to wrap this post up before it spirals completely out of control.  After all, I need to vanquish some more evil and whatnot.  I’ll be back with one last post from dial-up land tomorrow, then it’s on to Lake Ann and a whole summer of PostADay awesomeness!  Much love to all of you, and thanks for reading The Author’s Apprentice and making my life more fun!

An Unexpected Party

Earlier this afternoon, my roommate was sitting on the couch behind me staring at his computer.  I can’t imagine that you find this particularly interesting; trust me, I didn’t either.  Then, suddenly, he let loose with a sharp gasp of excitement, regained his composure, and said, “Tim, get over here right now.  You need to see this.”

He had been watching “Minute to Win It”, so my expectations were understandably sub-par when I turned around to look at his screen.  I was expecting to see a young couple standing on one foot and trying to fill a bucket with window cleaner from thirty feet away while only using the “mist” setting on their spray bottles or something.  It turns out he was watching a ten minute featurette from Peter Jackson himself about how he and his crew are in New Zealand right now filming the Hobbit.  Yes, you read that right.  They are finally filming The Hobbit.  In New Zealand.  With Peter Jackson.  At this moment.  Just when I was losing hope that Tolkien’s stellar prequel would ever come to the screen, the Internet brings me this.  Thank you, Internet!

I tip my hat to Jackson and his crew for soldiering through the most formidable and foreboding of obstacles and dedicating themselves to once again bringing Middle Earth to life for us to enjoy, and I urge you to go watch the video now.  Yes, it’s ten minutes long, but it’s ten minutes of Bag End, Gandalf, the new, younger Bilbo, Rivendell, dwarves, Andy Serkis, Peter Jackson, and even a look at the Goblin caves where Bilbo finds the Ring and the greatest fantasy epic of all time is born.

After Dan and I finished soaking in all of the nerdy bliss that is this featurette, we turned and looked at each other for a moment, broke out into the silliest of grins, and started screaming in celebration.  I don’t think he’s stopped screaming since.  I know I haven’t.  Leave your incoherent shouts of nerdy joy in the comments below, and I’ll flip you on the catch side.  DFTBA.

Positive Pranking

The Vlogbrothers, my latest favorite YouTubers, are the dynamic duo of best-selling author John Green and his brother Hank.  They’re both marvelously nerdy, side-splittingly funny, and endlessly creative, and when I stumbled on this video, one of their many suggestions for decreasing world-suck, I knew right away that I needed to post it here.  Basically, the idea is that people take classic pranks, like TPing houses, forking lawns, ding-dong ditching, or making prank calls, and they put a positive twist on them so that instead of getting pleasure from someone else’s discomfort they are getting pleasure by brightening someone else’s day.  Both John’s idea (his own version of TPing) and Hank’s idea (positive prank calls), as well as the idea that inspired them in the first place (Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Hostess Ding-Dong ditching), are fantastic ways to perform some random acts of slightly silly kindness for other people, and I hope to try all of them at some point in the near future.  Who knows, maybe after you see John, Hank, and Amy’s successes you’ll be inspired to try a few positive pranks of your own, too.  Go ahead, watch the videos below to see some positive pranking in action, leave a comment telling about the best prank you’ve ever seen, heard of, or participated in, and don’t forget to be awesome!

Questions Part Two

So last week I posted asking all of you lovely readers to give me a few of your favorite questions so that I could use them in an upcoming blog.  Two or three of you responded with some excellent questions, but I’d really love to hear from more of you, so tonight I am shamelessly creating a second questions request post.  I’m looking for all kinds of questions, especially ones that are fun and creative, so feel free to ask whatever you’d like.  I’ve always enjoyed asking you guys questions and reading your answers in the past, so I figured it would be fun to try it the other way around, and the questions I’ve gotten so far have been great.  I can’t wait to read your questions and have fun answering them, so don’t be bashful – let me know what’s on your mind!  Leave your questions in the comments below, and have a great night.

Also, because I feel bad for the lack of actual content, have some laughter courtesy of Julian Smith:

“With Child” – One of Julian’s funniest skits

“Racist Coffee” – One of Julian’s most endearingly quirky music videos

Question Mark Exclamation Point

Last week I made a post full of questions for you guys to answer, and I had a lot of fun interacting with you in the comments and reading both the silly and the serious things that you had to say.  So tonight, I decided to open the floor and ask you to ask me a few questions of your own.  You can ask me one question or you can ask me a dozen, they can be deep or lighthearted or unusual or revealing or funny or random, they can be things you want to know about me or just things you thought would be funny to see me try to answer, just fill up that comment section below with your questions.  Once I’ve collected a considerable collection of queries, I’ll gather them up, whisk them away to my secret writer cave/laboratory, and throw them into the all-purpose, super-scientific diabolical device which will create a vlog with the answers to each and every one of them.  So step right up, drop your questions in the slot, and help me make a video – for science!