Blog of Josh Hall

A gentleman always has a speech prepared.

I’ve been meaning to post a review of Joy Ike‘s new Album, Rumors, but I’m just getting around to it now.  If you’re already a fan, this album reminds you why.  If you’re not a fan yet, here’s a review through bias eyes and an unprofessional (and unapproved) opinion.

In retrospect, Joy’s first album, Good Morning, was coming from someone who loved to play music and write songs and was entertaining the idea of people actually paying to listen to it.  It was…but, it also worked.  Joy’s sound was original, familiar, raw, and somehow catchy all at the same time.  I was hooked right away, and I’ll be the first to admit her style is certainly a departure from my normal listening.  She had heart, believed in her music, and it showed.  Something about someone doing something they are passionate about is so engaging.

With Rumors, I was expecting more of the popular sound that I was used to from Joy.  What I got, was something a lot more serious and a lot more -real-.  That isn’t to mean that the previous songs were superficial at all, but I think they succeed at being the catchy, groovy songs they were meant to be.  The songs, and more specifically, the lyrics, on Rumors, are not as secular or topical as her first album.  Where we talked about children growing up too fast (“Hey, Where are the Kids?”), we’re now honestly talking about faith and personal struggle (“Untitled)”.  Where we were talking about getting lost in the city (“City Lights”), we’re now confronting the earth’s mystery and that man alone doesn’t have the answers (“Power”).

The result is a more potent message and it’s delivered with more powerful melody.  She stays true to her stripped down mixing, going with hand drums and a piano and the occasional strings, so we still have the same Joy Ike sound, but she’s pulling us closer by revealing, what I assume to be, herself, and her own thoughts.  An undeniable Christian philosophy is threaded through her lyrics, which wasn’t present in Good Morning. In tracks like “Power” and “Rumors” (not to mention the “Amen” at the end!!), we hear a progression that is something similar to a hymnal.  It’s moving.  It’s great.

To put it simply, I think Joy’s matured, as well as her music.  She’s giving us quality tracks, original and inspiring lyrics, and an honest message that’s not somber, but engaging.  If I had to compare her to someone more mainstream, I’d say Sarah McLachlan, which is appropriate seeing that Joy has been selected to join her in the Lilith Fair line up for Philadelphia on July 28th.  That’s going to be a big show for her, and I’m positive that we’ll hear a lot more of her, sooner than you think.  Better get your gear on while you can.

I am officially converted over to wordpress 3.0 now. The old site is still operational at http://joshuadhall.com/nukeindex.php, but wordpress is handling all the traffic by default now.  I’ll work on getting polls back up and the download section converted.  I’m a little sad to see the statistics reset…but what are ya going to do?  If you’re reading this on facebook, check out http://sixf00t4.com and tell me what you think!

When I first brought my LEGO collection from my mom’s house to my house, I created a large scale LEGO man.  It was a little smaller, didn’t have moving arms, it had a baseball hat, and it had a double pocket torso, but it was very similar to this one.

I had a few difficulties finding enough blue pieces to get this done.  I made 3 special orders on bricklink to get more 1×4 bricks, slopes, and also peg and hole joint piece to let the arms and legs move.  Everything else was already in my inventory.

It probably took me 10 hours including rebuilding hours.  It’s pretty heavy, even though each section is pretty hollow.  It’s crazy how fast weight and pieces used add up with LEGO creations.

more pictures here.

THE END

Hockey is great.  Hockey fights are sweet.  Hockey fights reach epic status when the goalies fight too.

I had a pretty wicked dream last night about my step dad, Chris.  It was more like a short film itself.  It took place in this old time chinese town, with a royal family.  The first scene had this mother in a kimono at the door of a house on a rainy night, kissing her ~6 year old son good bye.  She was sad to see him go, but there was an urgency for his safety that he had to get away.  The boy is taken away by a guy in a long cape.  There was a guy with camera across the street that kept trying to take pictures of the boy, but was never able to get a shot of his face.  So there’s this theme of mystery around the son of the lady.

Next scene is years later, and a 20 something year old man, who is trying to find out if the lady is his mother.  They walk down a narrow path behind some houses with a waist high white wall to their left and these 1 story white houses/apartments with big windows to their right.  They’re walking and talking about their history, and she knows who he is, but she can’t admit who he is right away.  So, I’m like this bodyguard person walking with them, and every time we pass one of these large windows, I throw out my arms, grabbing my cape and blocking people from inside seeing the two together.  Then, one window has the same camera man behind it.  I bust through the window and try to chase him down, but I’m not successful.  He’s not able to get a shot of the man’s face though.  So I’ve done my job.

Then, we flash to modern day in my mom’s house.  I’m sleeping downstairs and I hear a noise upstairs.  I rush upstairs all ninja like, check the back bedrooms are clear, and when I come to the main door, it’s open.  Someone made their way into the house.  I’m yelling for Chris to let him know that the camera man is in the house.  I locked the door and start to make may way through the livingroom into the back bathroom.  Then I see the guy with the camera standing in the door way.  It’s friggin creepy to think about it right now.  So i lunge towards him, he goes into Chris’ room, where Chris and I try to corner him, but he slips back into the bathroom, still not being able to take a picture of Chris’ face.  When I go back into the bathroom area to find him, he had disappeared into piles of garbage bags of clothes that are all over the floor.  Our old dalmation, Dante, is there, and he sniffs him out and the dude jumps up out of the bags with his camera in hand and I throw out my arms with my cape and block a picture of Chris again. 

I woke up somewhere after that.  This dream is a little foggier than some of my dreams I write about, but the concept seemed pretty cool.  I could see a little short movie being made where the identity of the heir to the throne must be kept safe.