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This week’s recommendation is a band which I think has a very unique sound – I think the best description is “indie rock with a flair of jazz” (so this may be straight up teewee’s alley :P)

I really can’t pick out a specific work that is very representative of them, so here are three songs that are somewhat different in style, yet the same genre…

The Reign of Kindo – Let it Go

The Reign of Kindo – Just Wait

The Reign of Kindo – Breathe Again

Oh and I think they’re a Christian band too (but maybe doing mainstream style music).
Leave some comments as to what genre you think they should be classified as…

It’s been quite a long wait for this bag and finally it is here!

It all started a few months ago, in September, when I started to look for a new camera bag that was small enough that I could take around daily, but not too big (and padded) to the point where it’d be cumbersome. For the past few years, my solution has always been outfitting regular bags (gap canvas messenger, timbuk2 classic messenger, and crumpler considerable embarrassment) with domke padded inserts and then using that to carry a camera and lens.

The problem however, is that these bags tend to become large and bulky with the camera+inserts, so I started to look around for a smaller one. The first obvious choice would be a bag similar to Jon’s, Tamrac Velocity 7, which is a great bag, but in the spirit of trying to not have the same everything, I decided to look around some more. While on my Montreal trip with Sarah, we went to L.L.Lozeau and they had a large selection of crumplers. It basically boiled down to the million dollar home (MDH) series, either the 3, 4, or 5 MDH. The 3MDH was so small that the flap could barely close with the 5d2+24-70. The 5MDH was too big with all the stiff padding, and really fat; I didn’t like how it looked like a blatant camera bag. I almost bought the 4MDH, it could fit the 5d2+24-70 mounted and the 35f2 on the side, but that was tight. Furthermore, if the lenses were reversed, they would not all fit in the bag. So instead of buying on impulse, I held off in hopes of finding the perfect bag.

Fast forward to months of boring work, I started to look into domke’s. As I mentioned before, I have a few inserts by them, and they weren’t all that cheap (around $24USD each), for a bit of foam padding; but they were/are very useful. I also liked the fact that their designs aren’t flashy, nor are they commonly seen, which is an extra plus since I really didn’t want to be another guy with a crumpler MDH (they are good bags, don’t get me wrong, just everybody who owns an SLR seems to also have a MDH). I found a few people on flickr who had it, and found a few reviews, and all the comments on forums seem to confirm that THIS was the bag. It wasn’t too big, nor too small, it fit the right amount of equipment, low profile, not fat, so what’s wrong with it? The price, in canada, where Henry’s and Vistek dominate the camera market, this bag sells for $149+tax.. ridiculous! when at B&H it’s $83USD. So with that I decided it was too expensive to buy… until now! thanks to Sarah for buying this bag as my christmas present! This was not really a review, as I just got the bag tonight, so I’ve not taken it out or anything; time will tell whether this is in fact the perfect bag or not. But I am really excited at the bag’s versatility thanks to the velcro dividers. And now without further blabbering, here are the photos! (with a few different setups):

2. close up of the badge

3. 5d2+24-70 mounted, 70-200f2.8is in the bottom compartment

4. 5d2+50f1.4 mounted, 24-70 with an extra divider on top compartment, bottom compartment can hold the 70-200 or a flash+small lens

5. view of the bottom compartment: 24-70 and 35f2

Edit to add: The bag comes with 2x 3-section dividers, I’m currently only using one divider, which is used as a base to form the top and bottom compartments. Once the flap is opened, the bag has two small front pouches that can hold wallet, phone, CFcards, batteries and sorts. The most I was able to fit was 5d2+24-70 mounted, 70-200f2.8is, and 50f1.4. The quality of the strap is excellent, and the strap actually has grippy rubber sewn into the strap to prevent the bag from sliding on the shoulder. It’s little details like these that tell you it’s a well thought out bag, with little flaws.

LINKS: Here are some of the links to the different forums I checked out for reviews of this bag: flickr photo set , japanese review, korean review (this one is my favourite, because they even do a shower test to see test its water resistance =P) and photog-on-the-net review

This week’s pick definitely comes as a surprise – super uplifting piano music by Jon Schmidt!

I came across him in a completely random incident… so I am leading worship this Sunday and doing a “Viva la vida” arrangement of “Come, Now is the Time to Worship”, and a girl on my team said there’s this really cool Coldplay/Taylor Swift remix of the song, I should check it out… so lo and behold this is the amazingness that I find…

He has a website here, with more of his piano stuff… some free mp3s and free PDF sheet music too! weeee….

If there is one thing I’d like to do more (in light of the new year with everybody making resolutions); it would be to spend less time on the computer and more time reading (which is rather ironic since I’ve spent all night on the computer doing nothing productive and now it is already 10:30p). Here are a few books that are currently on my reading list (in no order):

1. Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
2. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
3. Worship Matters – Bob Kauflin
4. Crazy Love – Francis Chan
5. GMAT Review 12th Edition =P – author: Graduate Management Admission Council?

I think the purpose of me posting this is to make some sort of declaration, so I can look back to see if I’ve accomplished my goal later on in the year. Maybe if/when I finish each book, I’ll post a short review. While all of these books (save for the no.5) are definitely good and interesting reads (thus have made it on my list), I’m most excited to go through Worship Matters. I though YFA once posted a photo of steve jobs-look-alike from a worship conference he attended few years back; that was Bob Kauflin. I think YFA may have bought this book when we visited Mars Hill Church in Seattle, but again don’t remember exactly. This book was recommended to me by a friend last weekend and I was able to order it on amazon shipped to my door in just two days! The book is split into several parts, covering different aspects of worship: the leader, the task, healthy tensions, and right relationships. Doing a quick search online, there’s a blog by Bob Kauflin: Worship Matters

A tad late posting this week since I was all caught up with… “The Real Deal” :P.

This week’s pick is Sonicflood’s new Christmas song “When Love First Cried”:

Pretty good new Christmas song, I was thinking of doing an a capella arrangement for it for my a capella group, maybe next year… and once I figure out how to use Logic’s score editor…