it was a nice run, but we all knew it would have to come to and end somday.
yeah, my hair is short.
got it cut today and it's now back to simple boring asian hair. i'm sure all of you will be like, "oh it looks fine ben" when you see it, but that's not the point. i didn't want to cut my hair, but with shirley back i had to contend with three people constantly berating me, and i just couldn't fight it anymore. and as much as shirley can spout off about how it's for my own good and all that jazz, i know that the big reason she wanted me to cut my hair is that she just doesn't like it and that her preference is short hair for guys. so basically it comes down to: my preference doesn't matter. i can't choose for myself how i want to look. i can't choose to ignore any negative impressions people may have of me and decide to do what makes me feel good. well i guess it's not a big deal. i mean, it's not like free will is a God-given human right or anything. or...wait...um...
i don't know why people don't understand that i wasn't keeping my hair long as some sort of fasion statement or to impress others. i had my hair that way for me. it made me more confident and secure in myself. with that hair i wasn't just another asian stereotype. i could speak up in class and not worry about being seen as just another smart asian kid. i could discuss music and more artistic things without appearing to be a little poser asian boy. i didn't have to fear being viewed a certain way. i was free to create new impressions and really be who i wanted. and don't tell me that it was all in my head and that i don't get stereotyped for looking asian. i do. i did for 18 years. don't try to tell me that i don't know my own life. maybe i get stereotyped with long hair too, but it's a stereotype i prefer, and it's one that i can break through more easily. people tell me that i have to look presentable, well has it occured to them that maybe i was presenting exactly what i meant to? maybe i wanted to look a little like a slacker, that way i could surprise them with my intelligence and integrity. i hate the asian boy stereotype, and i hate being cast into it. having long hair gave me the confidence to be real.
and all of you bastards who don't understand that can bite me.
the worst part of all this is that i feel like such a hypocrite for making such a big deal about cutting my hair when i got so upset before when others were making a big deal about me having long hair. it is just hair after all.
ugh...i'm sick of your social standards.
i'm gonna go cry now.
i'll leave you with this conversation i had with yip last night. it's long, but we discussed some good stuff.
naziriteSOG: ohhhh man
jnyip: what
naziriteSOG: i just got back from hanging out with a bunch of shallow, gossipy, worldly women
naziriteSOG: ugh
jnyip: oh
jnyip: enjoy it?
naziriteSOG: geez...i consider myself pretty tolerant of people
naziriteSOG: and i have friends from all walks of life
naziriteSOG: but i have never felt so out of place and repulsed by humanity
jnyip: how so
naziriteSOG: just the degradation of human morality and decency
naziriteSOG: listening to these girls talk...
naziriteSOG: blah blah sex...blah blah this guy and this girl...blah blah sex...blah blah diamonds...blah blah sex
naziriteSOG: i dunno...i guess i've been back in a sheltered christian world for too long
naziriteSOG: i've forgotten what the real world is like
jnyip: hm
jnyip: I guess I never really hang out with worldly women enough to know
naziriteSOG: yes...you are rather sheltered
naziriteSOG: as are most of the people at church i would think
jnyip: but I would say that's a good thing
naziriteSOG: it often is
naziriteSOG: but we can't change the world if we are ignorant of its ways
jnyip: yeah but the less kids know about crap, the better
jnyip: so be it if they get shocked when they get exposed to "real life"
jnyip: they'll be better for it
naziriteSOG: they know it
naziriteSOG: trust me
naziriteSOG: the kids in our congregation are exposed to more than we know
jnyip: yeah
jnyip: is that good?
jnyip: I don't think it is
naziriteSOG: not at all
naziriteSOG: but you can't just pretend that the world is all rosy and go on living in a bubble
naziriteSOG: that's why the important thing is to teach these kids the right values and strengthen them spiritually in church
naziriteSOG: so they can handle it at school
naziriteSOG: and be a light in those situations
naziriteSOG: instead of being dragged into the dark
jnyip: yeah
jnyip: although being at school is essentially being dragged into the dark already
naziriteSOG: hey...you can't say anything mr. homeschooled
naziriteSOG: you know not of which you speak
naziriteSOG: though you are essentially correct
naziriteSOG: but it's not all bad
jnyip: I can say from what I see in other people who went to school
jnyip: and from berkeley
jnyip: which is about as dark as they come
jnyip: although college is different because at that age you're slightly more established in your own beliefs than like a middle schooler
naziriteSOG: college is much different
naziriteSOG: high school it's all about social interaction
jnyip: yeah
jnyip: the whole system is building up the fear of man
jnyip: image
jnyip: all that nonsense
jnyip: it's no place for a young impressionable person to be if he or she wants to become a godly christian
naziriteSOG: and there shouldnt be
naziriteSOG: christians should be right in the thick of things
jnyip: strong christians
jnyip: and even then
jnyip: not really
naziriteSOG: we should be forced to face the world daily and fight battles at every moment
naziriteSOG: the more we separate ourselves, the less effective we are
naziriteSOG: we are not called to be isolationists
jnyip: yeah but you don't send children into battle
jnyip: you send adults
jnyip: spiritually speaking
naziriteSOG: then it's the failure of the church for not equipping people for battle
jnyip: it's the failure of the family
jnyip: and whoever's failure it is
jnyip: kids aren't ready to fight that battle
jnyip: and therefore shouldn't be sent into it
jnyip: it's a slaughter
naziriteSOG: but being in the world is also part of the training
jnyip: 99% percent of kids will not survive that "training"
naziriteSOG: i know
naziriteSOG: but what can we do?
jnyip: not send them there
naziriteSOG: then where do we put them?
jnyip: at this point it's not worth it
jnyip: I don't know about that
naziriteSOG: we christians are already isolated enough
naziriteSOG: i dunno
naziriteSOG: its all f-ed up
naziriteSOG: im sick of kids not willing to make sacrifices
naziriteSOG: the problem isnt that these kids dont know better
jnyip: I mean just look at kids at our church
jnyip: public schools jacking them over daily
naziriteSOG: its not the schools
naziriteSOG: theyre jacking themselves
jnyip: yes thats true
naziriteSOG: this is why i said what i did in my blog
naziriteSOG: everyone blaming the schools
naziriteSOG: blaming the church
naziriteSOG: blaming the families
naziriteSOG: you made bad choices
naziriteSOG: you're not willing to sacrifice
jnyip: but under extreme high influence from schools
jnyip: they spend like 7 hours a day there for crying out loud
jnyip: more time than at home
jnyip: where do you think their major influence comes form
naziriteSOG: tv
naziriteSOG: haha
naziriteSOG: seriously
naziriteSOG: media
jnyip: tv is by far secondary to peers though
naziriteSOG: nope
naziriteSOG: not anymore
jnyip: dude
naziriteSOG: dependency theory
jnyip: your TV is not going to accept you
jnyip: approve of you
jnyip: disapprove of you
naziriteSOG: but it establishes the norms
jnyip: people, however, will
naziriteSOG: peers just enforce them
naziriteSOG: its a widely accepted communications theory
naziriteSOG: where family, peers, social groups, churches, etc used to set the norms and ideals for people
naziriteSOG: its now media
naziriteSOG: and increasingly so
naziriteSOG: peers enforce those norms, but only because they themselves are influenced by the media
jnyip: yeah but without peers it wouldn't make a difference
jnyip: a TV by itself isn't going to make you buy clothes unless it makes eveyone else buy them too
naziriteSOG: but it all goes hand in hand
naziriteSOG: as long as the media says something, your peers will say the same
jnyip: if you live in a deserted island by yourself, you'll never care how you look no matter how much TV you watch
jnyip: throw a girl into the picture, though, and it all changes
naziriteSOG: yeah, maybe if your peers and the media said something different, you'd follow your peers
naziriteSOG: but we're all so saturated by the media, there's no way you can make that argument
jnyip: yeah
naziriteSOG: it's a moot point
jnyip: true
naziriteSOG: an impossible situation
naziriteSOG: and it all comes back to the corporations
naziriteSOG: and money
jnyip: hahaha
naziriteSOG: always money
jnyip: well, bottom line is I wouldn't blame churches for anything
jnyip: churches are support
naziriteSOG: i don't blame the church
naziriteSOG: i blame satan
jnyip: schools are guilty on all charges but I guess you can't ultimately blame them either
jnyip: families, however, I blame wholeheartedly
naziriteSOG: yeah
jnyip: I mean what else is a kid supposed to do
naziriteSOG: but the degredation of families comes from other things as well
naziriteSOG: like...the media!
naziriteSOG: see a trend in my thinking here?
jnyip: hahaha?
naziriteSOG: and the media is controlled by...the corporations!
naziriteSOG: and the corporations do things for...money!
naziriteSOG: and money is...the root of all evil!
jnyip: yeah well, supposedly, adults should be mature enough to be able to properly educated and shield their children from those influences
naziriteSOG: yeah...you wish
jnyip: at least, enough to keep them relatively unharmed
jnyip: hey, it can happen
jnyip: but schools sure dont' make it any easier
naziriteSOG: adults are just children who have been socialized and conditioned longer
jnyip: and theoretically, wiser
naziriteSOG: yeah, right
you reap the consequences of your own choices.
i wish people would stop blaming others and learn to deal with their own issues before they say and do stupid things.
with that said, time for an update on what i've been up to.
spelbound: good
snowboarding: good
the end.
...or was it just the beginning?
best. movie. ever.
well, maybe not the best EVER, but at the moment The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is topping the list of the greatest movies i have seen.
it's still all swirling in my mind and i'm really tired right now, but i'll try to give a bit of a review.
epic can not describe the breadth of this film. everything from the rolling landscapes to the emotional subtleties drives deep into your heart and mind and stir your emotions. few films have the ability to elicit such emotion from the audience. i laughed, cried, and cheered, sometimes simultaneously. the special effects and action sequences are stunning, but the film does not rely on them. the development of each character makes you really connect and care about them. few films fully develop even its main characters, while ROTK takes the time to delve into the emotions and stories of various characters. you become especially attached to the hobbits in this third installment. of course, the amazing character development can be mostly attributed to tolkein's brilliant writing, but kudos to peter jackson for making the effort to translate these characters to the screen. there are some exceptions; oftentimes legolas and gimli seem like secondary characters. while they are very popular and important in the story, they still find themselves falling into the positions of cavalier action hero and comic relief.
i'm really tired now, so i'll make the rest quick. the battle at pellenor fields took my breath away. it makes helm's deep look like a water balloon fight. action packed and effects laden, but still inspiring strong emotions. sam and frodo's story was told beautifully, with terrific performances by both. sean astin should get a best supporting actor nomination for his portrayal of samwise gamgee. so should andy serkis as the voice and movement of gollum, but the academy isnt ready to recognize a digital character yet. but serkis makes gollum more real than some of his flesh and blood counterparts.
there were a few moments that were a bit predictable (well, predictable even if i hadn't already read the book), and some bits that were fairly cheesy, but none of it detracted from the film. it also felt to me that the end stretched out a bit longer than it needed to, but if it weren't so late and i weren't so tired, i probably wouldn't have cared. i really need to see the film again. i'd love to watch all 3 movies in sequence someday, because i think the story needs to be viewed as a whole to truly appreciate it. ROTK was a wonderful way to cap off what will likely go down as the best movie trilogy ever. truly a technical and emotional masterpiece. good good stuff.
me sleep now.
in honor of the release of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tomorrow, everything in this post is LOTR related.
well, almost everything. i may slip up and include some ranting somewhere.
i've been reading the reviews of ROTK, and they've been glowing. people are not only calling it the best film of the year and the best of the trilogy, some are calling it one of the best films of all time, at least according to harry knowles' review at ain't it cool news. but then again, harry is a huge geek who loves every big sci-fi/fantasy/action film, not unlike a certain movie buff we know *cough*jon yip*cough*. but his enthusiastic description of the film definitely makes it sound like an amazing emotional and technical acheivment in filmmaking. and it's not just harry. ROTK had a 100% rating at rotten tomatoes until today, when stephen whitty of the newark star-ledger gave it a negative review. the man is an embarassment to his profession. his biggest complaint was that the film doesn't work well on it's own and is reliant on the preceding two films. well duh! that's an idiotic statement to make. that's the way LOTR was written. it's not a triology in the sense that indiana jones or the matrix were trilogies. none of the LOTR movies were meant to stand on their own. they are a complete, inseparable story.
you know how we're always making remarks about the sexuality of the male characters? you know what i'm talking about. the gay-golas jokes and the gimli-legolas-aragorn moments. well, apparently we're not the only ones who are seeing this. the philadelphia inquirer's review of ROTK had this to say:
Perhaps it's the Jungian cornucopia of homoerotic symbolism (the swords! the staffs! the towers!) and the endless moony, moist gazes between members of the all-male Fellowship as they gird their loins for battle. There are times in Return of the King, as halfling faces halfling or king faces elf, when you want to stand up and shout, "Kiss him already!"
hmmm. riiiight.
have you ever wondered what the natural intelligent reaction to battle would be? how would we react to fighting a war if we didn't have the pretenses of patriotism or other ideological imperatives driving us? well, according to the special effects guys for LOTR, we would run. for the huge battle sequences in the movies (helm's deep in TT, pellenor fields in ROTK), WETA created software that gives each individual computer animated combatant unique responses and behaviors. from the article:
"So each of these computerized soldiers is assessing the environment around them, drawing on a repertoire of military moves that have been taught them through motion capture - determining how they will combat the enemy, step over the terrain, deal with obstacles in front of them through their own intelligence - and there's 200,000 of them doing that."
Basically, all the necessary information for decision-making was fed into this network of computers without determining for them whether they would win or lose.
But this attempt to ensure that they acted spontaneously almost sabotaged the the battleground sequences.
"For the first two years, the biggest problem we had was soldiers fleeing the field of battle," Taylor said.
heh. so when you give intelligence to combatants, the most intelligent thing to do is flee. sounds good to me.
had korean bbq buffet with jonny, leon, and shirley today. ate until i almost puked. good times.
saddam hussein captured. meh. no comment. he was a bad man. iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. were we justified in invading them? you decide.
movie tomorrow. w00t.
w00t! i'm done with school...for the quarter. wish i could say forever, but i've still got who knows how many more freaking years left. ah well, i don't care at the moment. i'm done for now, that's all that matters. it really sucked at times and i don't know how well i did, but it's over and done with. i've put it behind me and i'm moving on.
so now that i'm on break, i'm making it the responsibility of all you people out there to entertain me. if i find myself sitting bored in front of this computer for the next few weeks, i'm going to blame you guys. call me up. drag me out. this is my chance to be able to hang out and do stuff. i'm willing to do anything: see a movie, eat, just hang out and be crazy, throw rocks at caged monkeys, build flying pickle machines...anything. i just don't want to waste this vacation doing nothing.
most of you have probably heard of the upcoming mel gibson film The Passion of Christ. it's garnered some controversy because of what some call a portrayal of jews as "Christ-killers." but if you want to have an honest look at Christ's death, the fact that the jews were the ones who called for His death can't be ignored. but neither can the fact that Jesus himself was a jew, and most of His followers were jews. anyways, ain't it cool news screened an early cut of the film at their "butt-numb-a-thon 5" film festival. they posted an article featuring two reviews of the film, one by someone who was raised catholic, and one by an outspoken atheist. both found the film absolutely brilliant.
from the catholic's review:
I don’t know how critical I can actually be about this movie because…I wept. It hit me like an emotional anvil and opened up and healed many battle scars I have had with my spiritual convictions. I remembered through this movie that it was all about love and it isn’t the message that turned me off so many years ago but the way the message was presented. The message has been resurrected, the movie made it move and breathe, it made it real yet divine.
from the atheist:
This film is beautiful and ugly, epic and small. And this film is BRUTAL. Christians have turned the phrase “Jesus suffered for your sins” into a cliché. It’s lost all meaning by now. This film does an amazing job of making you KNOW what that phrase means. The MPAA is going to come down on this film like a f****** hammer, but Gibson should show it unrated if they tell him to cut a single frame.
...
This film is amazing. It’s powerful. This film MUST been seen. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, this film is amazing. I just can’t express how important this film will become to cinema history. It doesn’t matter if you follow Jesus or Mohammad, Buddha or Moses, or no prophets at all like myself. This film has to be seen.
wow. i am so looking forward to this movie.
so...to recap: entertain me. support The Passion of Christ. that is all.
haven't updated for a while becaue it's *shudder* finals week.
here's a quick update on what's been going on:
i pulled an all-nighter sunday night. haven't done that in a long time...i was so out of it the next day. for some reason, when i get no sleep i have chills and an upset stomach the whole day. i wasn't planning on staying up all night, but i was so tired after spellbound practice on saturday that i didn't get any work done that night. speaking of spellbound, it's good. really good. the 2 or 3 of you who read my blog that aren't in spellbound should go see it. like most of the dramas we do at church, spellbound is a dance/mime portrayal of the creation, the death of christ, and man's salvation. however, unlike our normal dramas, this is a 20+ minute production with a 20+ person cast. it differs from the smaller dramas we do in its attention to detail and more developed plot. i was very impressed with the performances given by our cast. to be honest, i wasn't all that hyped about this drama before we began practice. i enjoy our dramas, but i was starting to get a little tired of these mime/dance things. i know they're useful for missions and stuff where there's a language barrier, but i'm not a dancer. i love to act, but i do best with dialogue. it's been so long since i've been in a production where i actually get to talk. but spellbound practice was so much fun. and the show is great. so yeah...i'll put up with the box step this time.
so, back to school stuff. i've been complaining a lot about being sick of school and having no focus and stuff, and all that's still true, but i think things will turn out better than i thought. i thought these last few weeks were gonna kill my grades, but thank God, i'm still doing alright. i found out i somehow magically pulled of an A in my critical thinking class (slipped in by 2 points). i had my final for my media class last night, and i think i did pretty well. i've really enjoyed that class and i'm gonna miss it. i had an A in there leading up to the final, and i don't think i did that great on the final, but i didn't think i did well on our midterm and paper either, but i did great on those. i got a 24 out of 25 on the midterm, and a 20++ out of 20 on the paper (which i thought was a total piece of crap). so i think i'll be alright in that class. all that's left is my speech class. i've gotten an A on everything in that class so far (public speaking man to the rescue!), but i've totally slacked off the last few weeks and now i'm way behind for the final. but if everything goes well, i may end up with all A's this quarter. i'm only taking 3 classes, and none of them are particularly difficult, but heck, when you're as poor a student as i am, you'll take what you can get.
yip and i have been talking about getting together a group of people to see return of the king on opening day, so i sent out an evite. we said 11:30am because that seemed to be when jon would be able to go, but very few people seem to be able to make 11:30, and now jon's work schedule has changed, and he may not be able to make 11:30. we'd change the time, but some people have already gotten tickets for 11:30 and i don't know if they're exchangable. argh! i hate organizing stuff! nothing i organize ever works out. it's just not my gift.
i did a little splurging on sunday and bought something off of my dream on list. no, i didn't get the les paul supreme or the mustang. i got the cheapest thing on that list, the mxr dyna comp, which i got for $50 off of ebay. pretty good deal, and it puts me one step closer to completing my rig. up next: either a ernie ball volume pedal or electro-harmonix big muff usa. this is my projected rig, in case you're wondering (which i know you're not, but i'm gonna put it up anyways cuz its my blog dammit):
guitar->
boss tu-2>dunlop crybaby>ernie ball volume>mxr dynacomp>electro harmonix big muff pi>boss ds-1>line 6 dl-4>line 6 mm-4
->amp
those line 6 modelers will be the tough part, at $250 each. originally i wanted to go with all individual stompboxes, but to get the sounds i want, that's prohibitively expensive, and those modelers are pretty good digital emulations. those will probably have to wait until i get a job though, but man, i could really use a delay pedal right now.
no rant today. i wasted my good anti-corporate and anti-military spending rants on yip over the weekend, and once i've given a rant, i really don't feel like giving it again for a while. but you'll hear them eventually, believe you me.
try this: go to google and type in "miserable failure." then hit the "i'm feeling lucky" button and see what comes up.
funny, ain't it?
while i haven't exactly been an outspoken supporter of bush, i do believe that the leaders we put in place through our (kinda) democratic electoral system deserve our support. even if we disagree with his actions, we still need to pray for God to give him wisdom (and in bush's case, intelligence), and for God to bless him so that he may be a blessing to our nation. and if you don't like him, stop whining and vote for someone else next fall.
that being said, this google thing is frickin' hilarious. in case you're wondering, this isn't a random occurence. it is the result of the miserable failure project: a grass roots internet movement whose goal is to associate the phrase "miserable failure" with "george w. bush" in online search engines by mentioning those terms together on their websites and in their blogs. lo and behold...it worked. nice to see political activism is still alive and kickin'.
while i'm in a political mood: the RIAA is up to their silly antics again. this time they're suing 41 more people just in time for christmas. well, this time someone is fighting back. the ACLU is now defending a Univ. of N. Carolina student on the basis that the RIAA's actions violate her constitutional right of due process. here's an excerpt:
The ACLU's interest stems from what it perceives as a violation of the unnamed student's Constitutional rights to privacy and anonymous use of the Internet. By requesting the student's name and contact information before proving any legal wrongdoing, the RIAA is violating the student's rights, Fine said.
that's what i've been saying all along. it's not about copyright infringement (though i do disagree with the RIAA in those aspects as well), it's about the RIAA's mercenary pursuit of file-sharers. these brute-force tactics are getting ridiculous. what's even more ridiculous is that people are bowing to their demands. if all the people that have been sued would gather together in one class-action lawsuit against the RIAA, i think the record companies would blink first. i hope all this crap ends up costing the RIAA millions in legal fees so that those greedy bastards lose even more money.
i know some of you have issues with the ACLU because of some of the choices they've made in what they do and do not defend. well, i take it case by case. the ACLU is a large organization, and they have done a lot of good. to me, the actions of a few people in the organization does not reflect on the whole. i have the same feelings about the christian community. some of the stances certain christian leaders have taken on certain issues i find absolutely preposterous, but i don't judge the whole based on some of the nuts out there.
one last issue before i end this: assemblyman leland yee of san francisco is trying to pass legislation that seeks to ban the sale of first person shooters and other violent games to minors. here's an interview of yee conducted by a gaming website.
HomeLAN - A number of first person shooters, including those in the popular WWII shooter series Medal of Honor are rated "T" for Teen. Would your proposed law also restrict the sales of these games in California from teenagers as well?
Leland Y. Yee - The bill will expand the definition of harmful matter to include video games that realistically depict illegal and serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. The rating system is a voluntary guideline created by the industry, but it is not what we are legislating. So, in essence, yes a T rated game could also be prohibited from children under 18.
this is ridiculous. even the movie industry (which features as much, if not more, graphic sex and violence than video games) isn't restricted by laws prohibiting entry for minors. the theatres voluntarily enforce the mpaa ratings, there is no law that forces them to do so. and we all know how easy it is for kids to get into rated R movie these days. i'm not saying young kids should play violent games. in the same way, i don't think kids should watch violent and sexual movies either. but it is the responsibility of the parents to place restrictions on their children. the reason people want to blame things on video games is that parents don't take the time to teach their kids moral values and give them a good grasp on what is real and what is fantasy. maybe if parents would actually spend time with their kids they wouldn't spend so much time with the tv and video games at all. it's called parenting. gee, what a novel concept.
Leland Y. Yee - I have not personally played these games, however many of my staff members have. I have seen numerous footage pieces of these games, which clearly shows the need for such legislation.
this is the problem. people who blame social problems on video games and seek to ban them don't play them. how can you judge something with which you have no experience? there are millions of gamers out there, and the gaming industry now outgrosses movies. people like yee need to stop being so ignorant and actually learn about what they are attacking before they start shooting their mouths off. but i guess that could be said for a lot of things.
third post of the day! wow...must be making up for 2 weeks of no posting. nothing earth-shattering here (if you want to know how i'm doing, read the first post of the day), just some more stuff i wanted to say, and something you movie buffs might be interested in:
slickdeals.net reports that you can get 20% off at deepdiscountdvd (which already has the best prices online) by entering the coupon code "usatoday" at checkout. plus they have free shipping, and no tax for us californians. if there are some movies you've been wanting to get, check it out. the deal ends dec 5.
i've often complained that a lot of christian bands tend to copy the popular musical styles on the secular charts. i don't blame the artists, its the labels that are signing bands that they think people will like based on whats popular at the time. this is why we've got an excess of modern rock and pop christian bands out there. but i've finally found a christian band that copies a secular band i actually like. they're an alt rock/worship band called telecast, and they have a very coldplay-esque sound to them. theyre not total rip-offs of coldplay, less piano, falsettos, and brits, but theyve definitely got some coldplay influence. they've got the lightly distorted down-stroking guitar sound, and they do the "end the song on the first few lines" thing that coldplay does so much. while i support innovation over imitation, i think this is a band i can get into. they write good worship songs in a style i enjoy, and they've got a great story. the lead singer of telecast, josh white, was in a secular seattle rock band called man ray. he was in a very dark place at the time and the bands album even got a parental advisory warning. anyways, the band's label dropped them when bubble-gum pop began taking over the airwaves (their label replaced them with hanson...ick). in these hard times God inspired white to turn back to Him. white became a worship leader and formed telecast. i love hearing stories like this. we need to pray that God will touch the hearts of more secular artists, so that the world can see that music was created to worship Him.
i haven't gotten telecast's album yet, but i think i will (mostly because i can't find any of their songs on kazaa...heh). i also want to get charlie hall and jars of clay's latest cd's. gotta love jars. they are, in my opinion, the most consistently brilliant lyricists in christian music. while most christian artists are stuck using the same tired phrases over and over, jars weaves lyrical poetry expressing the depth of the christian experience. they describe the joys, doubts, intimacies, and hardships of our daily walks in ways i've never heard anywhere else. some people have complained about their recent albums, unhappy that they've moved away from the mostly acoustic style of their first album. countless young, christian, guitar toting males have modeled their playing and singing after jars' first work. however, i've loved every jars album i've ever owned. they've become more experimental musically and continue to evolve and grow. they even like to redo their older songs to update them to what they've been doing musically more recently. and they maintain their lyrical brilliance through it all.
bah...too much posting for one day. i should've saved some of this stuff for another day. i've probably spent all the blogging energy i've saved up the last couple of weeks in one day. oh well, guess its time to go back into hibernation. see you in a month or so.
ok, so you guys know that i abhor the commercial mess "x-mas" has become, but since i'm lacking content for this blog, i've decided to do what all great writers/artists do when they're lacking inspiration: steal content. and so, inspired by yip's christmas list and kua's wish list, flood is not so proud to bring you:
Ben's "Dream On Cuz It's Never Gonna Happen" List
this is basically all the most outrageous expensive stuff i want, but will never even dream about owning. well, most of it. the guitar effects are actually on my "to buy" list because they complete my ideal rig. so there you have it. it's actually kinda cathartic listing out your material desires. gets it out of your system...or makes you want the stuff even more. *waaaah* someone buy me a shelby gt-500e pleeeeaaaassseee!
indiana jones reaches for the artifact sitting on the pedestal. his heart races as he remembers the trials he had to endure to get his hands on this ancient treasure; the booby traps, the restless natives, the vile nazis, but it was all worth it. he tenderly lifts up the object covered in centuries of dust and grime. he blows on it and sneezes as the dust blows into his face. indy looks down at the prize held in his hands and reads aloud to himself the mystical words engraved upon the ancient tome, untouched for a millenium...
"ben's blog"
ok, so it hasn't been a millenium, but it's been nearly 2 weeks, which is a pretty long time to have not updated my blog. i just haven't felt up to it. why? i dunno, i haven't felt up to a lot of things these last few weeks. to be honest i've been a little depressed, though i never talk about these sorts of things with people. i just let myself be depressed. i don't know what's been causing it, i've just felt really empty and unmotivated. school's been really sucking, except my film/tv:mass media class. i dont think it's the reason i've been unhappy, but i've just been really sick of it. i haven't been wanting to go to class or do any work. i think i can't handle more than a couple months of school at a time. i just get fed up after a while. except for my mass media class. i love that class. i'm doing great in terms of grades and i'm learning a great deal. i think i'm just the kind of guy where if i'm not interested in something, i just can't keep myself focused in it. which means i'm really not cut out for college. any class i'm not totally interested in (like any of my ge classes) i just can't motivate myself. ugh. i was doing so well earlier in the quarter though. getting really good grades and everything, i just couldnt maintain it. i think my grades are still ok, or i can at least pull some miracle out of my rear, but its been like swimming through molasses these last few weeks. it hasn't just been in school though. i just feel like i'm underwater. like everything's muted and hazy. trying to get anything done takes a great deal of mental effort on my part.
what the hell is wrong with me? i need some prozac or something dammit.
yeah. enough of that. did you know that japan didn't have child pornography laws until about 3 years ago? and the legal age for sexual consent in germany is 13? sick ain't it? just thought you'd like to know.
have you guys heard about the master/slave controversy in LA county? the terms master and slave are commonly used in electronics and computing. well, some ignorant doofs found it offensive and LA county now prohibits electronics vendors from using master/slave labels on devices. geez. even standing under a liberal banner as i do i find this overly politically correct jargon total crap. this is like the time a washington dc mayoral staff member was fired for using the word niggardly. niggardly has nothing to do with race. it means miserly or stingy. people take offense to the most ridiculous things because of their total ignorance. if you know nothing about electronics, you get offended by master/slave. if you don't study the freakin' english language, you get offended by niggardly. this is why education is such a key. we could solve so many political and social ills if we could just educate people and teach them to think for themselves.
hmm, i didn't mean to go into all that. i just brought up the master/slave thing because bbspot came up with a satirical list of "other computer terms banned by LA county." here they are:
11. SCSI - Cleanliness impaired
10. Killer App - Socially Maladjusted App
9. USB - USA
8. Floppy Drive - Erectile Dysfunction Drive
7. DIP Switches - Mentally Challenged Switches
6. HyperThreading - Attention Deficit Disability Threading
5. Heat Sink - He/Sheat Sink
4. Winmodem - Funmodem
3. ATAPI Device - Native American Device
2. Motherboard - Non-gender Specific Parentboard
1. Cancel/Retry/Abort - Cancel/Retry/Allow Woman to Choose
you think it's funny, but just wait until someone really does ban these terms.