I’ve got 12 minutes until my frozen pizza finishes cooking, so I’ve decided to start a blog. Those of you who know me laugh, because yes, I am renowned for my finely tuned taste for frozen pizza. Really though, this new campaign is mostly Switchfoot’s fault.

My personality demands attention, and while I’ve been trying to kill that (with no avail), this will be my shameless attempt for my 15 minutes of fame. It’s also a way for me to try and keep a few of you more up-to-date on my life than I’ve been. It’s hard to call and/or write with any frequency to family and friends in North Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, Washington State, Costa Rica, Washington DC, Ohio, and wherever else God has taken you all. I’ll try to update daily, though I can forsee this hobby waning to a weekly activity.

Today though, Switchfoot. I pre-ordered their new CD, and got it in the mail on September 13th, the day it hit stores. (How do they do that?) I was giddy with excitement, popped it into my computer, vacant-mindedly clicked on some EULA (do YOU read them?), and was instantly listening to the latest from this great Christian/Secular band. Boy, was I in for a few disappointments.

As I cracked open the lyrics, I opened up CDex to rip these newfound tracks to my mp3 library, excited to get started making myself a new ringtone. Much to my dismay, the tracks wouldn’t rip. I tried tweaking some settings to the program, to no avail. Then I saw all the anti-piracy/Digital Rights Management stuff all over the CD case. It seems that although I had just paid $15 for this music, I didn’t own anything more than a very limited license to listen to it. No way to sync it to the iPod I’m begging Lisa to get me for Christmas, no way to put my favorite tracks on a mix CD. It also seemed that I should have taken more precautions before clicking on that EULA.

But hey, I could still listen, right? So I did. By now I was about halfway through the lyrics, and not too impressed. It seems that this Christian band isn’t all about lifting up God’s name. (So much for Jeremiah 20:9) In fact, by the time I perused the whole booklet—and this includes the “thanks” section—I hadn’t read Jesus’s (beautiful) name even once, nor seen the name “God.” There was “Lord” in there three times, along with a very vague reference to Him “the shadow proves the sunshine.” And the music was pretty heavy. Good, but heavy. I give it a 4 out of 5 on musical merit, and even though there was no profane or objectionable content, I’d give it a 1 out of 5 for message due to a complete lack thereof of hope/the Gospel. (Mom, was that a comma splice? Sorry.)

OK, that’s enough for today. Come back soon! Enjoy the new Switchfoot CD for the music, but don’t hold your breath waiting for your favorite worship band to pick up any of their stuff for your next praise session…