Salt and Light in Blogger u2.0

And I've converted to Blogger 2.0. Why? Cause it wouldn't let me do otherwise. Sigh...I've "Made the Switch."

Two thoughts tonight. The first...I've noticed that it is getting easier and easier to not go to church. Part of it has to do with the schedule I'm on. Having been up for work since 3 am, unless I manage to grab a few hours nap in the afternoon, come 7, 7:30, I'm dragging. I'm sure I'd feel really good and coherent come the end of church around 9:30.

I know I need to be at church. I want to be at church; preferably on Saturday night so I can see my friends, but Wednesday works just as well. Pray that God will change my work schedule so that I can begin attending regularly again. There is a possibility I might get a part-time baker's position, with hours closer to 1-6 pm than my current 5am-10am. Pray that something works out.

Ok, the second thing for this evening. I was reading through One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God by Christian Scharen (actually a really, really terrible and poorly written book), but some scripture he used struck out to me. Specifically, Matt 5:13-4 (salt and light of the world).

(EDIT- Ok, the book is not horrible. It's by far not the worse book out there. I've just noticed some errors with it, both factual and textual, that I didn't like. I apologize if I came across as unduly critical. I guess it's the editor in me...)

What is meant here by "salt" and "light?" Since they are two different words, defining two different objects (one physical, one quasi-physical...lol), I'm gonna assume that they are referring to two seperate things. But the usage of both words is similar, and really kinda mean the same thing. So what is that thing (or things)?

What put this thought into my mind was the way the author of that U2 book, as well as Jesus, used these examples. Right now I'm lacking the words to explain what I was thinking, but these words sort of stuck with me and I can't seem to get rid of them. I'm just really curious what is being referred to specifically here. I've always heard these verses/words interchangeably, but I somehow doubt that is the case.

I'm wondering if a proper Biblical study will yield some answers.

Any thoughts?

Demo of new U2 song

I think Blogger really, really wants me to switch to their new version. It's "Make the Switch" all over again...

Anyways, this is a fan made video of a new U2 song/demo. Basically a guy with a camcorder hung around outside Bono's house in the south of France (summer home) back in the summer and recorded some tunes. This one is actually my favorite of the ones I've heard so far.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling this is far from the finished product. The song just seems to start abruptly and not have an ending, two things U2 needs to fix. But otherwise, it's perfect!

The Evolution of Dance

As told by a white man who can dance.

What is the Art of It?

Jelani posted this on his blog recently. I managed to convince him to let me borrow it.

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WHAT IS THE ART OF IT?
What is the sign of the end
The time of unperil
The time to descend and rise
The time of acting and..
The art of living and letting
At least I have my homie
What else do I need to live?
I hope the Lord Hears me!
Can you Hear me?
Or is it just a vain imagination
Or is it just plain concentration
The Free will of choice
To do evil or do good
What is the art of living this life?
Is it a formula or a ritual?
Rituals brings religion
Religion brings legalism
Legalism bring death
What is this relationship that I choose to be a part of ?
Is it hopeless for me as a slave
Or am I a friend?
Can you answer that
I hope I hear from you soon
I know I have drifted away a little
Well maybe alot like I alwayz do.
What about everyone else?
I am not seeking man approval but yours
But maybe you can't see that
I hope you do and all I want is to please you
But in my demise I fail
Unspeakable thing which are told
Am I worthy to speak of those things?
You tell Me ?

Another Window In the Skies video!

Two videos in two weeks. Pretty good for the guys.

This one is also pretty unique. Essentially, they took a bunch of old photographs, and did this quasi 3D thing to them were you are zooming through the photos, so close you can almost touch them!

The song never gets old, and you get a look at the biggest rock band in the world when they were in their early 20's just getting started. Worth checking out!

Blogs must be evil

Found this on Cruel.com. Thought it was kinda funny...in a sad way. Reminds me of some people's comment I've heard regarding copyright laws.

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Bloggers are going to hell one entry at a time, according to Kevin D. Denee of the Restored Church of God's Ambassador Youth magazine:

Should teenagers and others in the Church express themselves to the world through blogs? Because of the obvious dangers; the clear biblical principles that apply; the fact that it gives one a voice; that it is almost always idle words; that teens often do not think before they do; that it is acting out of boredom; and it is filled with appearances of evil -- blogging is simply not to be done in the Church. It should be clear that it is unnecessary and in fact dangerous on many levels.

Let me emphasize that no one -- including adults -- should have a blog or personal website (unless it is for legitimate business purposes).

Photo sharing is acceptable to the Restored Lord in some circumstances:

Some questions naturally arise: "Can I have a photo gallery?" For example, maybe you visited an exotic country and want to share your photos with close friends. This can be done, but certain guidelines apply. Of course, there should never be any inappropriate pictures (again, be careful of the appearance of evil); it should be private and password protected, and only shown to family and closest friends.

Official video for Window in the Skies

Interesting video. The band only make cameo appearances...the rest of it is carefully editted footage of old singers "singing" the new U2 song. Clever.

Creepy PS3 ad

Does this make anyone actually want to buy a PS3? All it makes me want to do is go find a shotgun...

A key to being a good leader

I've been having some problems with my current supervisor at work recently. I say current, because up until a few days ago, he wasn't the only supervisor; our head manager is now gone for a few months following her knee surgery. And honestly, I do not know how long I can last with this guy fully in charge.

Then I ran across this quote, and it basically explains perfectly the problem I have with him and some managers from my past.

"You don't get to be a leader until you learn how to get people to trust you enough to follow you. And the way you do that is by learning to get along with other people, understand them, learn their needs: cooperate. Effective leaders are people who can build communities, not people who defeat all rivals." -Orson Scott Card

My managers are the exact opposite of this. It's them against everything else, and it is their sovereign duty to make sure that the universe runs according to their plan and schedule. If you don't fit, then you get booted or forced to fit.

So now my problem is having to live and continue to work with them. The Bible talks about treating them with respect, heaping "burning coals", doing the work unto God, etc. All great things to have in mind.

But how do they help in the practical every day occurences? Especially when you get so frustrated and full of anger that after you count to 10 you are looking for a bat to hit something with...

ThanksgivWiing.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

For some reason, I feel the need to blog. Not really in a sentimental way...no, I'll let others do that. And not in a need to list a bunch of things; that'd be too cliche. I really don't know...just need to blog.

Well, I suppose I can get sentimental on one little thing. There are quite a few coworkers of mine who have no place to go for Thanksgiving. A box of pizza, some cocoa, and a dvd are all they have to look forward to, for whatever reason. I'm not really in the best of positions to invite them over; it's not my house, not my food, and my parents had already invited another family over (the Forteza's). Still, I wish I could do a little something for them. I know that if I had a place of my own, and one with a little bit of space, I'd have just invited them over; probably have even gone to all the trouble to cook and everything.

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I know I should be thankful (here we go...) about my job. Well, some days I am, other days I am not. It's a little disappointing, but with my job, the bad days outweigh the good days. That's not to say that the majority of days I work are really bad days; they're not. Most days are just work days; blah days. But the really bad days definitely outweigh the really good days.

As I'm writing this, I'm very conscious of the fact that today has been my only day off in quite a while, and that in less than 12 hours, I need to be back at work. I'm one of the "lucky" few who get to go in an extra hour early tomorrow. So while the rest of my family enjoys a halfday and two days off, all I really feel like doing is just sitting back and resting and trying to overcome all the physical pain that has developed in the last week or so. Mainly in my arms and ankles.

Although too much tylenol makes me feel the veins in my arms...which is creepy...

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So I said I'd blog about it, so I might as well right now. Made two major purchases recently. The first one being an HDTV. The second one being the Nintendo Wii. (Yes, I'm one of the chosen elect.) I might post pictures later if I decide to take some.

Ok, first...the tv. Samsung 27" Slimfit HD. Slimfit meaning that it's not plasma or lcd, but it's about 17" deep. Very small, very light. On just regular rabbit-ears, I'm already picking up most of the HighDef channels for free around town (although for some reason WCCO seems to be having issues with theirs...). I even get several bonus channels, like a weather channel, and The Tube, which is the coolest music television channel I've ever seen. Not only does TheTube play new videos, but I've seen stuff going as far back as The Doors, seen lots of live concert footage, and even videos that feature mashup songs! So far I've only seen U2 once on there (Vertigo live from Chicago), but they did play the Frank Sinatra/Bono video (I've Got You Under My Skin).

The tv has been working great. There is one little problem with it though. On the left hand side, about halfway down, the picture starts to curve. It wasn't too noticeable watching or playing games when I first got it; but now that I have the Wii, it has become more pronounced.

The Wii is awesome. Serious. It comes with Wii Sports (baseball, tennis, bowling, boxing, and golf), and the package deal from Costco that I got also included Zelda: Twilight Princess and ExciteTruck (which sucks, so I sold it and got Call of Duty 3). The Wii also plays Gamecube games, can use the old GameCube controllers and memory cards, and eventually, I will be able to connect it to the internet and download old Nintendo and Sega games (for a small fee, of course).

You know, the Wii needs it's own blog in a while. Besides, it's starting to hurt to type.

Upcoming on STU2's blog: a look at why I can't seem to, for the life of me, raise my hands in praise during service. Is it fear, lack of praise, or too much exercise? And as a special bonus, I might finally reveal my "test" that tells me which dating couples I know will stay together or not. Stay tuned...

Oh...one final thought for now. I've been meaning to get my hands on a copy of the New Living Translation for a while now, mainly sense it's what we use in church. Well, I was going to just go to one of those Christian bookstores and pick one up for WAAAAAY too much, but I decided to check out Half-Price Books instead. Managed to find one fairly cheap there, and ironically, it happens to be the Spirit-Filled Believer's version. Coincidence or divine proof?

Hmm...ok, a coda thought/bit o wisdom. If you have wisdom to offer someone, don't just give it freely; wait until someone asks or is ready to hear it before you speak up. Til then, keep your mouth shut.

More OkGo

What the heck. Here's what they performed at my concert a year ago.

Ok Go - Here It Goes Again

Have any of you seen this video? I caught it on tv the other day; simply amazing; "brilliant!"

I actually got to see OkGo perform over a year ago. They opened for Kaiser Chiefs at First Ave. At the time I had no idea who OkGo was...but they almost stole the show. They were amazing. They did a dance routine for the song "A Million Ways To Be Cruel," and it was one of the more hilarious things I have ever seen.

OkGo was actually back in town at FirstAve last Wednesday night. I would have gone to see them again, except I hadn't heard they were going to be in town until about 30 minutes before the doors opened. Plus by that point I had already committed myself to going to church. (Although, in hindsight, and with no disrespect to the Nuttings, I had already seen those slides and heard that lecture, so the concert would probably have been a better choice.)

OkGo will be in town in a few more months again, opening for I believe Snow Patrol. Eh, I'd just rather see OkGo...Tickets for that concert go on sale this Saturday.

I'm not sure what it is, but I just really like the bald guy in the group. He's incredibly entertaining while they are performing. He's actually the bass player too...

U2-Window In The Sky

The new U2 song, Window In the Sky, is now online.

All I can say is wow...

And kudos to Bono for the line "the stone has been removed"...

Ok, I'm told the old link I had on here is invalid now. Need to update that, so here are a variety of locations you can find the song.

iTunes, obviously...

AOL is streaming the song:

Here is another site where you can find it... U218.com

Here's another one...didn't check to see if it works though. Right here...

I unfortunately cannot find the link where I originally downloaded the song (it's been removed), but if you want to hear it, you can go to

www.myspace.com/stu2

I have it in my mp3 player on my page.

FINALLY! I figured out hyperlinks!!

The Saints Are Coming music video

Well, the new music video for the U2/Green Day collarboration "The Saints Are Coming" has been released.



Interesting video, and yet I'm torn about it. The footage of the two bands playing is amazing. The sight of all those jets dropping relief supplies is also amazing...and saddening.

But aren't they rewriting history here a little? Yes, the "Bush Administration" was a little slow helping out. But then again, this was a big catastrophe. Even if relief had been sitting around waiting BEFORE Katrina hit, I doubt it would have made a difference in people's minds. Bush caused Katrina to come hit New Orleans, same as he caused 9/11 and AIDS and other things.

But let's ignore the Bush thing for a second. Featured pretty prominently in the video are mockups of the troops redeploying from Iraq to New Orleans. Obviously this is something that did not happen, as the video says at the end (in a nice way too). Of this I really am of two minds...perhaps even three or four.

As a US citizen, the idea of all those troops coming home to help and bring relief is a great idea. But is this the ideal thing? The way the video is set up, it implies that ALL the troops must come home to help. As a US citizen, I say "Great!" But as a US citizen who values freedom, I cannot help but think that it was a good thing that all the troops did not come home.

Despite the image the "drive-bye" media has been painting, we really have done some great and amazing things in Iraq. And some terrible things too. Mistakes have been made, and Bush has said as much. Maybe not in exactly the words everyone seems to want to hear ("I f*cked up, impeach me."), but he has said it; on national tv too, if I remember correctly. But overall, I'd say the "US occupation" of Iraq has been a great thing to many people. So in that sense, I disagree with the idea that ALL the troops should have come home.

But my third mind is also in conflict. The spiritual, Biblical mind that is. I know Christians should definitely be invested in politics, and we need more serving in politics, helping to create and mandate policy, etc. But are the majority of us too invested in politics? The "rightwing Christian conservative" group, or whatever we have been called. Politics seems to take our mind and eyes away from things that are more important; spiritual matters and the like. Plus if we aren't capable, politics can instill hatred in us, or bigotry or prejudice or any number of nasty personality tics.

How do I view the Katrina disaster and the War in Iraq through spiritual eyes? Well..."blessed are the peacemakers" is one way. Helping the poor and needy in general is another way; but that can go for either Katrina or Iraq. Then there is always the option to ignore the physical and just focus on the spiritual (witness only); 1 Peter (or was it James?) warns us against this, but it seems the angle that many Christians seem to take. And it's a view I obviously disagree with.

So I don't know. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I wonder though how this video/collaboration will affect Bono's relationship with President Bush. I know they aren't exactly buddy-buddy, but Bush has been very instrumental in helping Bono with debt relief and AIDS supplies to Africa.

Still, there is one thing I am 100% in agreement about:

The song rocks!!

THE SAINTS...ARE COMING!

A genuine post...about Star Wars

I wrote this way back on Nov 4 of 2005. I feel I've been neglecting blogging recently, mainly due to my work schedule, so thought I'd repost this.

Judge me kindly now.

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If any of you bought the soundtrack for Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, it came with a bonus dvd, The Musical Journey. Basically, each of the major Star Wars songs with scenes and audio clips from the movies. Really amazing quality...even has introductions/story telling by Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine). So I have that playing in the background right now, and while I can't actually see it, the music is enough for me.

Star Wars is an amazing entity, and a very important part of my life. I have so many thoughts on it right now that putting it all down would take time and an editor, and possibly even an monetary advance, but lets see what I can do right now...

I don't know why people hate on Star Wars. I don't know why people call people who like it "nerds." I just don't get it. But heck, I'm a nerd, maybe I'm not suppose to. I even know people who have never seen any of the movies, and don't know a single thing about them. Then again, these same people also don't know who Nixon was...sad.

One of my earliest memories was watching Star Wars. The first one, not any of the sequels or prequels; the one commonly called "Star Wars." I remember the scene vividly, but to this day I can not find it. There was a scene where Darth Vader was walking down the corridor at the beginning, and he was stopped by some officer, and they stuck a chip or something into those slots on his vest. Now, I might be getting the chip scene mixed up with when Leia stuck that chip into Artoo, but I really don't think so. I know for a fact that there are multiple copies with multiple scenes out there; it wasn't until the VHS copies that Lucas nailed one down as the "official" version.

My mom also likes to say that as a kid I would run and hide in the other room whenever Darth Vader would come on the screen. That might be true, but by the time I was 8 or so, I was acting out the movies. There was a wallswitch in our basement at the time that I would pretend was the controls for the wall where Han was stuck in carbonite (Return of the Jedi). I'd even run around with sticks; lightsaber battling, of course.

Once I had a fairly massive collection of Star Wars action figures...the old ones. The ones that cost a fortune now. And I got them all for relatively cheap...few bucks for a pair, or so. However, since I had been having recurring nightmares back then, my mom decided Star Wars was to blame, even though we never owned the movies, and sold them all to some guy during a garage sale for maybe a tenth of what their actual value was. She only kept a landspeeder vehicle; it's still in her dresser drawer, I should go and take that sometime. But yeah, we never even owned them. When I wanted to see them, I had to go to the local library to rent Star Wars, and to the only video store in town we would go to to rent Return of the Jedi (believe it or not, it was a Hardware Hank, eventually to become an Ace Hardware. We use to get tons of movies and video games from them). Empire Strikes Back, which I now consider the best of the Originals, was at a store we would go to once in a few years, so it was always a treat to be able to actually see that one.

One of the very first cds I ever bought was the Special Edition collection of Return of the Jedi; still have them, still listen to them fairly regularly. I remember when Hollywood Video first started carrying the Special Editions on VHS. I was just amazed that an entire wall was devoted to Star Wars. Never did get to see the Special Editions in the theatres, to my regret. I remember seeing, by chance, an Entertainment Tonight special on the making of Episode 1 (they were covering a sandstorm that had destroyed all the sets, and Lucas claimed it a good omen cause it had happened on the first movie too!). One of the first novels I ever read was The Last Command, book three in what can be called the book trilogy by Timothy Zahn that really kickstarted Star Wars up again, waaaay back in '92. Still haven't read books one and two of that trilogy, but I heard the audio books millions of times.

Perhaps one of the reasons I don't hate on the Special Editions is because I was so in awe of them when they came out. I remember us renting them one by one and sitting down as a family in our basement to watch them. And I loved it. So while now I might dislike little aspects of them (Han shot first, dangit!) , at the time, I was like "cool! they made it better!!"

Taking a little side detour from the memories - if you ever want to really experience Star Wars, find the Radio Dramas, preferably on cd or mp3, although they are out of print and cost a bundle when you do find them, but most libraries have copies. These are Star Wars at its best. I own the first set, A New Hope, if anyone wants me to burn them a copy. But with expanded storylines, Mark Hamill doing his own voice work, newly recorded scores by John Williams, they are simply amazing. I use to lie in bed at night with a pair of headphones on and just blast them. If you ever want to actually get transported to a galaxy far far away, this is the best way to do. Hands down, still my favorite Star Wars anything. Radio dramas; nothing can touch them.

Let's see...I saw Episode 1 in theatres, with my family, the same day my friends Jon and Jim had their highschool graduation party. It had rained all day. Afterwards, the parents took us to see it. Once again...blew me away...although I had cheated and read the comics so I knew the basic story. On the way home, we stopped at Taco Bell, picked up the original Bell Grande (u know...when it had those 10 tacos/burritos plus the pizza PLUS the nachos, all for $10), watched some tv while eating that, and then my parents went out and bought a new tv! Still have it too, it's sitting unused to the right of me.

Episode 2 was an amazing experience. I had been at church, knowing it was having a midnight showing. This is at Fourth, 2002, so not too long ago. I was planning on going to see it on the weekend probably. Jason Webster, friend and youth leader at the time, came up to me, and was like "my friend has an extra ticket...want to come?" I hit the roof, literally. Jumped and touched it.

I cannot begin to describe that experience. I was, what...16 maybe at that time. A bunch of 30 somethings, a group I always tended to get along with better than people my own age, invited me to go to a MIDNIGHT SCREENING of STAR WARS!!! I was going insane! Met some really cool guys (2 of them owned gaming stores in the Mpls area, and one of them worked for Bioware, a highly respected video game company), stood outside for two hours with a bunch of people dressed up, just having a great time, and then running inside to get good seats. Saw the Matrix Reloaded trailer for the first time (loads of cheers!), couple cool other trailers, and then the movie started. LOTS OF CHEERING! This screening, luckily enough, had mainly older people at it, no stupid pre-teens running around to ruin it. Throughout the entire movie there were cheers (Yoda coming to lay the smack down on Dooku!), some jeers (jar-jar...), and some great oneliners (the fireplace scene- "Time to make some Luke and Leia!"). As a side note, I found out two years later that Kevin Brick, one of my Davanni's friends, was at the same screening! I walked out of that theatre on Cloud 9.

Now Episode 3, just last summer, was a little different. As opposed to the first two movies, I said "what the heck" to knowing anything, so I learned it all. I kept checking the sites every day for any new info. I was pumped for this movie. So let's give the sequence of events leading up to it:

-maybe 3 weeks before it opened, I bought tickets for the only digital theatre in Minnesota, at Eden Praire Mall. 4 tickets, for me, david, joe, and jelani. Two of the three still owe me. Guess which ones...

-wednesday, one week before it opened, i had my final biology test at school. within two hours, i was on the road for chicago.

-thursday, six days to go. U2 UNITED CENTER!!! my first U2 show, a story in itself.

-friday, five days. within an hour of coming back to town, went out with a girl to see a movie, then went to dena's party, dead tired.

-few days of nothing.

-wednesday, Episode 3. Stupid, stupid highschoolers running around being loud. While it was a midnight showing, it had nowhere near the energy or excitement that Episode 2 had. my only regret that night. But once again, I was blown away. The movie was amazing. And now I have the dvd.

To this day, Star Wars has had a continual impact on me. I've read almost all the novels and comics, own most of the cds, own nearly all the home video releases (including those crappy, crappy dvds from last year...ugh, horrible job on those, they did). There are very few things that effect me really deeply, but Star Wars is one of them. If I let my guard down, if I just sit back and think and reflect, Star Wars can make me cry. Especially the music that plays while Luke is burning Vader's body at the funeral. That music is so bittersweet, and just thinking of all it implies, I could easily just break down and lose it.

As for which is the best Star Wars song, hands down, I have to go with Across the Stars, the love theme from Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. It wasn't until I really, really listened to that song did I understand exactly what George Lucas was trying to do with Anakin and Padme. But I got it, and I appreciated it. If there is one song that I might fight to have on a cd at my wedding, it would be that one, even above anything by U2. The song is their relationship; it IS Star Wars. This mighty and powerful love that has such a sad ending to it, like it was doomed from the start, but burned oh so brightly while it was alive. And when the harps chime in...magic.

Second best, The Imperial March. Gets the blood flowing, that it does.

I know one thing; when I get married...I want them to understand. They don't have to like Star Wars, but they need to understand. It is very important to me, it is precious (without the creepiness), and it is a huge part of who I am. It embodies some of the best things of my childhood, and it's continuing into my adult years. No one can take away from me what it all means to me, and no one should even try. You'll be fighting a losing battle. It remains a source of wonder and amazement and innocence, even if all the rest of my life is spiralling down the drain.

Just a few of my thoughts...

Anyways, thanks to you who actually do read blogs on Stu Station, and thanks for going through this one. I appreciate it. And at the risk of sounding like a nerd,

May the Force be with you.

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One final thought from nowadays...The Prequel Trilogy (1,2,and 3) is brilliant. While it has some problems in the directing, acting, production, and ESPECIALLY THE EDITTING (Lucas!!), it is otherwise better than the Original Trilogy. I realize that is heresy, but I believe it to be true. They are different movies ultimately, graded on different scales. But if you delve beneath the surface of the movies, into the books, comics, cartoons, etc...Brilliance.

Aight. I'm done with the Star Wars love for now.

I'll think of something genuinely serious to write about next time.

Wow but I LOVE Star Wars

Seriously, I really do. The last track on the soundtrack for Attack of the Clones gets me every time...

(Yes, this is a stupid blog post, but it's what I'm thinking and feeling right now).

May the Force be with you.

Working and Reggie

For some reason, I've been thinking about Reggie White recently. Might have something to do with the fact that I've joined a Facebook group or two dedicated to him. Anyways, decided to do a Wikipedia search on him, just to see what was there. Turns out his son Jeremy wrote a book about growing up with him.

Most of you probably don't know this, but I went to school with Jeremy and his sister. And I don't mean your typical "student body of hundreds" type of thing. I'm saying, a small classroom of 20 for a couple of years. I want to say 3 years, but I could be wrong. Anyways, I knew the kids and Sara, Reggie's wife. Didn't actually know Reggie himself, which I regret.

I remember Jeremy and I didn't quite get along all the time, although we had our moments. I'm not even sure what it was about, but we got into a fight once on the playground. This had to be around fifth, sixth grade. We just started punching and wrestling around on the ground; I remember winning, but it's irrelevant. I don't even know what the fight was about. The funny thing was the instructor watching us didn't seem to care; he just watched us fight. I didn't even get in trouble or anything.

So I guess he's written a book about having Reggie as a dad. I'm thinking I might pick up a copy sometime, and try to track down a copy of the movie Reggie made, "Reggie's Prayer." What's unfortunate is that it is only available on VHS...I saw it once a long time ago, and while I know it's a really crappy movie, I still want a copy.

We lost a great man with Reggie.

Ok, moving on. At work Sunday, one of my coworkers, we'll call her B since I can't spell her name (and shouldn't), told me about a bunch of guys trying to get her to come to their church yesterday. She didn't know what church they went to, but after I asked a few questions (JW? Suits and ties? A huge wooden cross carried by some weirdly dressed people? etc), found out that they were Mormons. Then she dropped the question on me: "What do they believe?"

Sheesh. What a loaded question. I tried explaining to B the big thing first, the entire "Jesus was not God but only a man" issue. Well, she sided with the Mormons; doesn't believe that Jesus was God, and for some reason, kept on repeating that "dying on the cross proves he wasn't God!" Oh, and she denied the resurrection too, when I asked her about that. B says she based these opinions of hers on the Koran. I know she grew up around Islam, but she tells me she got away from all of that.

For some reason we started talking about Moses...and how Jesus was Moses or some such nonsense...and how when Moses saw God he was struck blind...whatever...and then I tried explaining to her the concept of the Trinity, trying to get off the rabbit trail and back to her original question about the differences between Mormons and, well, me.

She didn't understand it. Three in one and one in three. The Beatles is one band but four musicians...ok, maybe five if you count Yoko. She claimed that God is "unknowable", and cannot be male, first of all, so he can't be a father. And there can't be a father, a son, and a holy spirit! After a while of me just trying to explain the concept to her, she got a little frustrated and pretty much ended the conversation, citing that "logically" I could not be right.

I went up to her later and apologized, told her I wasn't trying to attack her beliefs or her "logic", but only just trying to explain myself/Christianity to her. She told me she reads a lot, so I'm probably gonna give her a book or two to read later, but I wonder where even to begin!

Still, this shows promise. It was refreshing actually to just talk about stuff like that with someone. I hope it happens again. While I'm not exactly wide-open with my faith at work (I don't go telling everyone that Jesus loves them, or preaching at them), I've never shied (shyed?) away from denying anything, and I'm quite honest about going to church and stuff like that.

Already I can imagine several people at my church spiritually "tsk-ing" me for not being more open or evangelistic...but then I remember Scripture and who I'm accountable to.

I'm thinking of giving B a copy of The Case For Christ first. It's been several years since I read it, but I remember it gave a strong argument, as well as being written for normal people. Any other suggestions? Maybe a copy of the Message too...

White and Nerdy

I believe Weird Al has redeemed himself for Poodle Hat with this new song and video.

Yes, I'm still alive

Zoo Station is no more. Long live Stu Station.

Sorry that I haven't been posting in a while. Life has been getting pretty busy, which I guess is a good thing. Been working more at the bakery, learning new "skills" (although "new" should really be in quotes), watching Lost Season Two on dvd (such an amazing show), and slowly destroying my social life by going to bed early afternoon and waking up mid early morning.

Life ain't fun at times, is it? While I'm glad I'm keeping busy, and definitely glad I'm earning some money now...I've been on such a "me" schedule for over a year that I'm definitely feeling the withdrawals now. I miss having time for doing things. I miss being able to be up late at night and spend time with friends. I miss being able to set my own schedule and not really have to be anywhere at a set time. I miss sleeping.

This past summer has been an eye opener in many different respects. Summit was the kickoff, of course. Lots of things happened there, friends were made, ideas were planted, and inspirations were...inspired. Then came reality and the return to Minnesota. I've definitely gone through some different things in the past few months; many good, a few, not so. I'd count the surgery as a good/bad thing, since it all depends on your point of view on it (don't ask).

This summer has also marked my first experience, first real experience at least, with the local party scene. (I'm going to be fairly open on this blog, since most of the people I know who are my age don't know how to read yet...or like tomatoes) I could make a living just by being a designated driver, I've figured out. It saddens me to see people my own age just slowly poisoning and destroying their lives, all in the pursuit of fun. I've made several "friends" (friends in a familiar sense) at these parties, and I alternately pity them and pray for them.

I found myself driving home from one of these parties late one night feeling very heavy in the soul. Driving on the freeway, I just started praying for each and every one of them that I had just been with that night. Praying for not only their souls/salvation, but also just for their safety getting home that night. I also had this feeling that I needed to be there for them, either physically or just in spirit.

The Bible says we are in this world but not of this world. Is it even possible to be in this party scene, walk through it, shakes hands with people, maybe play some pool, share a drink, and still be a witness or a positive impact in their lives? To truly make a difference in someone's life? The easy way out is to avoid the parties; the easy way out is to sit in judgement and condemnation on them.

I'm not that easy it seems.

The saddest event was when, at one party, we (our heroes in this story) came across a mutual friend of all of ours. Someone we had poured our life into, and thought we were getting a beneficial return from. Seeing this person in their original, native environment was hard for me. I still love my friend, and will do anything whenever for them. But it still hurt, and the hurt will continue in my prayers.

Ask you can see, despite my work schedule and busyness...my mind is still everywhere.

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One moment of fun that I've had recently came two weekends ago when my friend David and I went to Green Bay to see the Packers game. While something this monumental probably deserves its own blog post, what you see is what you will get. Maybe some pictures later, once I sneak off to NorthHenn and "borrow" the computers to do some cropping and resizing of said pics. Heck, they owe ME money...I think the least they can do is let me use the PCs free of charge.

Trip went smoothly. Surprisingly, we got down there in about 4 to 4.5 hours. I don't think thats a new landspeed record or anything, but with just one stop for gas and
"refreshment," it felt like we had just left by the time we arrived. And despite the accusations that we "sped all the way down," I was driving, and I purposedly kept the speedometer a mere 5 mph over the speed limit. Minnesota plates in Wisconsin - I Ain't Stupid.

Events up to the game were few yet memorable. Got to stop at Take 2, the greatest store on the earth. Basically, Take 2 is the ideal for places like Disc Go Round, EB Games, GameStop, etc. A store where you do not get ripped off for selling things to them ($2 for a $35 game? No Thank You!!). Take 2 - a haven of used VHS, DVD, video games, computer games, tv shows, electronic parts, strategy guides, CDs, you name it! I love that store, but it's lost a little bit of its awesomeness since I moved away from GB: they no longer carry racks and racks of used computer games. Bummer.

Decided to go into Lambeau early and get some lunch. We stopped at the Lambeau Grill or something inside. $15 for buffet. BEST FOOD EVER. Grab one of the ribs by the bone, and you could pull it out, the meat was that tender. Oh, we were dying. Awesome stone baked pizza too.

The game was fun too. I saw Favre. I love Favre. I hate Favre. See Favre score touchdown. Favre a big man. Rest of team suck. Backup quarterback suck. Third String better than Second String. Beer and popcorn: official food of Lambeau. My writing is getting worse and worse.



  


The oddest thing about Lambeau Field was the size of it. While I know there was close to 80,000 people inside (with probably as many people walking around outside), I just got the sense that it was really small. And this is the improved and renovated Lambeau. I just got this sense that places like the Target Center or the United Center in Chicago were bigger. Lambeau was just spread out more.

It was nice to see that Reggie White's number had been retired up on the boards. I never really knew the guy, although I did know his family. I hadn't heard that they had retired his number, but it still was a little sad to see the great 92 hung up there.

The game itself kinda sucked. Very little excitement. And Favre only played 2 plays, scoring a touchdown, before he sat down.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Swimming in the pool at the hotel, ordering some local pizza, watching Stargate SG-1 on tv (an episode I've seen like 12 times, and still love, Seasons 4's "Window of Opportunity"), 12 hours of sleep almost, and the eventual drive back home to Minnesota, but only after an hour or two of Guitar Hero at the local Best Buy.

The most important lesson learned from the trip though was: What Happens At Lambeau...Stays At Lambeau.



  

The funniest thing on television

"KEIFER!"