Dr. J. V. Remsen, Jr., Great Scientist

I just wanted to make a public note that LSU has a truly great ornithologist working for them. Dr. James Remsen responded immediately to an email inquiry about a large woodpecker I had been observing in my yard for the past few weeks. I had heard news about the infamous Ivory-billed Woodpecker being spotted in Pearl River WMA and thought that this may be a sighting, but that it was probably a more common Pileated Woodpecker. I gave him as much detail as possible and he was able to confirm it was a Pileated.

The point of this is to say that this person is a "baller" at LSU and in the ornithology world. Maybe it would be better to say that he is regarded highly in academic circles. Regardless, he took the time to respond personally to me. I think that's the kind of scientist I want to be. I want to be a scientists who embraces the larger community and is an ambassador for my field.

Dr. Remson, I salute you.

Contemporary Christian Music

I have a couple of controversial views towards contemporary Christian topics. The first is that I don't care for The Passion of the Christ. That caused quite a stir when I said that in the pastor's office. I'm happy I didn't lose my job over it. The second id that, for the most part, I don't care for contemporary Christian music.

The main reason is that most of it is too pop-y for me. I like classic rock more than anything else. Second is that I like listening to it during concentrated worship. I just don't like listening to it in the car. At that point, it's just music. The third thing is that I have problems with many of the artists. That's what this post is really about.

I like Switchfoot. I like P.O.D. These are both Christian bands who made it big and still spread the Good News and gave their testimonies. However, for every one of these bands, there are 10 artists that use contemporary Christian music as a platform to make it into popular music. I know that there was a South Park episode about this that was horrible, but that doesn't invalidate my point. I am always questioning how genuine an artist is due to this. There is no better example than sweet little Katy Hudson. Isn't this a good song:



Well Katy Hudson had to change her name when she signed with Capitol so she wouldn't be confused with Kate Hudson the actress. She changed it to Katy Perry and produced this, well ... interesting music video:



That just annoys me so much. It's a shame that it affects my enjoyment of other contemorary Christian artists... but it does.