tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14241778242348658472024-02-19T17:03:46.992-08:00The boring life of another boring homeschoolerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-17479023125958998282012-12-08T07:33:00.001-08:002012-12-08T07:33:34.391-08:00Everything is Smaller<br />
I suppose since it's about midway through my stay in this fair country, I should update y'alls on what goin on.<br />
<br />
Normally I wait until some extraordinary to blog about anything, but since my arrival here, everything's been that. I've just been waiting around for a few seconds of normalness so I had enough time to write a bit. Also, since giving you all the details of everything that's happened since I last blogged would take close to two weeks, I'll just give you a few highlights. I'll start with my main findings about the country in general:<br />
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<b>Everything is smaller</b><br />
<br />
Well, it's shorter at least, and that makes sense considering the majority of the population could legally be considered midgets. This is something I don't think my 5 foot-nothing sister ever really took notice of, but for normal sized Canadian people like me, it's been a little different to get used to. Most of the stuff that's been "downsized" hasn't bothered me so much as the kitchen sink in my sister's house. Every stinkin' time I go to do the dishes, I end up with a horrible back cramp for the next couple hours. Not sure if it's just me or not, but I seem to have that kinda crap happen to me when I take on the posture of the hunchback of Notre Dame for more than 20 minutes. And yes- it does take longer than 20 minutes to cleanse the ceramic aftermath of a Vanderberg/Fraser sustenance inhaling session. Much longer.<br />
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<b>The traffic isn't traffic, it's chaos</b><br />
<br />
I've heard it said that traffic in the Americas is as to wood, as china traffic is to water. We have traffic laws, and obey them. China has something more like "traffic guidelines" and they're in no way similar to ours. It's practically a requirement to cut people off pretty regularly in traffic if you want to make it any further than ten feet from whence you came. It's sort of a "eat or be eaten" driving culture here, although the phrase might more accurately be verbalized "drive, or be driven over".<br />
<br />
<b>You can get away with nearly anything if you smile, ignore people's Chinese ramblings and pretend you don't understand the universal hand signal for "STOP!".</b><br />
<br />
It also helps that since I'm Caucasian, everything I do is more entertaining to the Asians simply because my skin color is different than theirs. If I were to try to limbo under a security gate in the US, I'd probably get yelled at, but here? Nope. I just get laughed at. I don't even mind that, because as I don't live here, I have no form of "self image" to try to keep up. I'm just the goofy white guy who plays ukulele and sings really loud in falsetto in public. Dignity, you have no power over me here. MWAHAHAHA!<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Piracy is so common, I'm under the impression no one here even knows it's illegal. </b><br />
<br />
It's pretty basic knowledge here that any file you buy that's being held on a compact disc is going to cost around 10 RMB (just less than 2 bucks). I believe this is due to the fact that people don't actually pay to have movies, video games, various software install packages, or music albums shipped in from legitimate distributes Everything here is illegally burned to a disc, and sold in strip malls all over the place. I now feel significantly less guilty about the various files I've torrented through the years. I know, two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.<br />
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<b>The food is simply heavenly</b><br />
<br />
I believe this is self explanatory If you need further details about the amazingness of the food here, just imagine, like, deep fried goat ribs marinated in papaya juice. Are you imagining? Great, now imagine something even BETTER than that! That's Chinese food.<br />
<br />
There's more, but I'll save it for some other time. Right now I'm super tired. I'm going to go get some sleep (and if you know me, you'd know that when I say this it actually means I'm going to go waste another hour or so browsing the internet and listening to music, and then end up watching a movie or something).<br />
<br />
Anywho, 'night world.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-46773588034051601342012-11-25T05:43:00.000-08:002012-11-25T12:37:52.190-08:00CHINA ADVENTURES: PART 1 - The ascent, descent, and landing<br />
It's 22 minutes into the flight, and I'm already bored... Sure flying is fun- at least, taking off and landing is. The 14 hours in between isn't quite as amusing. I stupidly spent the evening two nights ago uploading some movies onto a computer I wasn't even bringing with me so I would have something to watch on the plane. Now I'm stuck with about an hour and a half of battery life (there aren't any outlets on this jet, unfortunately) and a few old GBA roms to kill a bit of time.<br />
<br />
I have made a few friends though. The flight director (I think that's what his position was) was really nice, and smiled at everyone as he helped them find how to get to there flight and check their bags in. I met a woman as I was walking to my seat who had an extremely cute son with a crazy haircut. I didn't ask, but I assumed he was about 6 or 7 months old. As I waved and smiled at the little birthling, I could only thing of my own nephew, Aaron, who I'm going to get to be hanging out with in a matter of hours.<br />
<br />
I also spent a while getting to know the man sitting beside me, who is an electrician. He seems like he's good at his job, although he says he doesn't like it much. Apparently handling hundreds of watts of energy that could easily be used to electrocute any person that stands in his way is a little more boring than it sounds.<br />
<br />
I have to say, I'm kind of disappointing with the state of the jet. I was under the impression there would be outlets and WIFI, but I guess we didn't pay enough for our tickets for anything like that. There's still some sort of console in the seat in front of me that you can apparently watch movies on and stuff, but I've yet to take the time to figure out.<br />
<br />
Anyway... There isn't much going on right now, so I don't have much of anything interesting to write about. I should probably use all this free time to do something productive. Maybe I'll write a short story? Maybe I'll write a song? Maybe I'll sleep? Yeah... I'm sleeping. Sleep sounds really amazing right now.<br />
<br />
<br />
... *13 hours later*<br />
<br />
<br />
Remember how I said I was going to sleep? That didn't happen. I realized today that I can't sleep on planes. I did, however, spend some time writing music and stuff. I listened to at least 8 or 9 full albums of music (which I always love doing) and watched a few movies on the in flight entertainment system, but no, I didn't really sleep.<br />
<br />
As of now, I'm in a hotel bedroom in Beijing because the flight took too long to get us our baggage so we couldn't get on the connecting flight to Kunming. When we first landed, we spent a good 40 minutes waiting for our bags to arrive, thinking that they might have just been tossed on the next flight without us. I entertained myself by planting my feet on one side of the baggage claim room, sprinting to the middle, and then sliding the entire rest of the way of my slippers. It was great fun, and I'm glad I had a chance to experience the airport to it's fullest potential.<br />
<br />
After we finally got out bags, the airport crew was supposed to drive us to a hotel. The thing was, we had 10 suitcases and 5 carry on bags all two fit in 3 mini buses Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but when you add about 30 natives to the vans with all of their baggage too, you begin to wonder if that tiny space left in the last taxi is actually big enough to fit a human being in. Somehow, we got everyone loaded up and to the hotel, though nearly all of those who got on last were either sitting on someone's knee, or the arm of someone else's chair. It was a very intimate experience, and I feel like I got to know the many Chinese strangers on a deeper level than I usually get to know strangers. The language barrier didn't even seem to matter when we were all piled up together within an inch of actually crushing one another.<br />
<br />
Anywho, we got some help from the hotel crew and ended up getting all of our baggage hauled off the mini buses and into the hotel. Now, I'm going to actually try to sleep. We'll see how this goes. Until morning, this is Garrett Signing off.<br />
<br />
...*3 days later*<br />
<br />
Huh, I still haven't posted this on my blog... I guess I should write about what went on since where I left off.<br />
<br />
We all got up fine the next morning, save for the fact that the younger ones' alarm clock went fast and woke them up at 3 in the morning. We got all our suitcases packed up into yet another undersized vehicle and filed into the airport to grab some breakfast before the flight. There wasn't any western food in the whole place, so the few of us who actually liked Chinese food gobbled up our dumplings and noodles while the others ate the two Mandarin oranges that came with our meals. When we finally got ourselves seated in the plane, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that because the people who booked the front (most spacious) seats didn't show up, we were allowed to sit there instead. Words cannot explain how nice it was being able to stretch my legs right out during the flight instead of being cramped up into the completely inhuman posture the stewardesses of the previous plane called "sitting".<br />
<br />
We arrived in Kunming late, but Deanna and Drew (my sister and brother in law) were more excited to see us than upset about having to wait in the airport for 2 hours. We finally had a chance to get some slightly more western tasting food at the Chinese version of KFC. With the help of one of Deanna and Drew's friends, we loaded all of our 10 suitcases, 5 carry-ons, and 2 computers into their van. The ride back to Deanna's apartment wasn't nearly as unbearable as the flight to Beijing, especially since I was finally reunited with my sister. We were a little cramped in the van, but the ride was only around an hour and a half.<br />
<br />
We piled out of the car into what still seems like some sort of resort. Honestly, the place is beautiful. I thought I couldn't be any more impressed until we actually set foot in my sister's apartment. This place is great, I'm so happy to be staying here. For some reason I originally had the impression that it was going to be super tiny and crampy with no extra room to walk around, but there are 3 bedrooms, two decks, and a really spacious living room. As usual, I ended up being the one voted to sleep on the couch.<br />
<br />
The next day was pretty interesting as well. We took a tour of the local market just down the street from Deanna's apartment. I brought my ukulele around writing songs about the people I saw and singing to them in high pitched voices. I got a lot of weird looks, but hey, I'm in China. I have no identity here, and thus, have no reason to cling to any form of dignity.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after making friends with countless dead animals and taking pictures with them, we made the monumental mistake of taking a walk down the alley with a certain fruit vendor who sold a certain pineapple to a certain me, giving me a certain food poisoning sickness that has been tormenting me since then. I guess the trip down that alley wasn't all bad, though. I did buy a really cool hat that I wear all over the place now.<br />
<br />
This morning was when I woke up to find I was actually sick from the pineapple, and wasn't just suffering some stomach cramps from eating it too fast. I threw up in the shower... so that was fun. I had promised Deanna that I'd drum for the band today day, and was pretty determined to keep that promise. I ended up exhausting myself mid-way through the set-list and getting one of her friends (who is also a drummer) to take over for me. I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping and listening to some Christmas music.<br />
<br />
I finally woke up a bit more around 3 o'clock or something, which was just in time to watch the rest of the fam decorate the Christmas tree. I could say I really wanted to join them in decorating, but honestly I enjoyed sitting there watching everyone else do the work instead of having to get involved much more. It sort of gave me a feeling of authority knowing that I wasn't helping anyone do anything, and they all still appreciated having me there. We watched Elf after, and everyone else ate pop corn. I was really annoyed that I couldn't eat any, but I guess I'd rather recover from this food poisoning illness than eat a few kernels of caramel diabetes.<br />
<br />
It's now 9:32 PM, and I'm going to bed... Maybe I'll go watch some Sienfeld first. 'nightAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-76548274905304039302012-10-06T20:15:00.003-07:002012-10-06T20:22:56.268-07:00My Gorgeous Golden Nails (OMG!)I will begin by firmly stating that I am NOT, in fact, gay. I actually am very strongly attracted to the female gender, and vice versa, many woman are very attracted to me.<br />
<br />
About a month ago, I was chatting on a forum that I help run called <a href="http://www.odysseyscoop.com/forum/">"The Soda Shop"</a> and for some reason we got on the topic of what the superior color would be to paint a certain user named "Kaida"'s nails. User Ben C. stated that "Coral" would be a good color, but seeing as coral is an undersea plant, not a color, I argued against Ben's opinions with the idea that maybe orange, or perhaps green might be a better choice. The discussion went on for some time, and got quite heated. Of course, being an administrator of the site, I new it was my duty to preserve the peace, so I attempted to redirect the conversation with the suggestion that I, myself, would look pretty good with a set of golden nails. This redirection of the conversation was a success! Now I no longer had to worry about people fighting, I just had to justify my statement without sounding like a liar, but also making sure I didn't end up looking like a flaming homosexual. Somehow, the conversation ended with me agreeing that if one of the other users would send me a container of gold nail polish, I would oblige by painting my nails.<br />
<br />
Legit though. I was so down for this. YOLO. Long story short, he mailed it to me. I painted them. Pictures.<br />
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Also, a while ago I made a post about this wonderful mythical creature that I conjured up, tentatively named "the platycorn". In this post, I challenged anyone reading to draw their own picture of what they think one might look like, and I'd post it here. Only one person took me up on it, but it was epic. The following is the incredibly legit sketching of a platycorn portrayed by the wonderful "Angela Kalmar". Give it up folks!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-55115704160963451492012-09-01T12:27:00.004-07:002012-09-01T12:27:50.273-07:00The Music That Fills Up 96.6 Gb of My Hard Drive<br />
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<span lang="EN">Last I checked, my iTunes library sat somewhere around the length of 35
days long. That, plus a few dead files on my music folder add up to exactly
96.6 Gb of audio, taking up approxamately 21.7568 percent of my entire 444 Gb
hard drive. That's all well and good, but who cares? Maybe not that many
people. In fact, other than the slight chuckle you may have experienced while
reading this and thinking about how much of a music nerd I must be, you
probably weren't much more amused than if you were listening to my 11th grade
english teacher talk about garunds. She was a decent teacher, but Grammar just
isn't that interesting. Kind of like my life is about to be. After a summer
chalked full of awesomeness (which I'll post about very soon) I'm now back on
the road again, where the most interesting thing to do is... analyzing my
computer iTunes library and listening habits. Hence, this article.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">I've noticed that the music I have, and how I treat it can be broken down
into about 5 catagories. The reason I feel it's necesary (or more, at least the
way I justify writing an article about files on my computer) is because I think
a lot of other people have simillar listening habits, and probably think about
this kind of stuff too sometimes. I'm just here to let you know that you're not
alone, I think about stupid stuff too. Either that, or I'm the only one who
thinks about dumb stuff, and everyone else is normal. Anyway, catagory 1:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN">The music I love<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">This is the stuff that I've either just recently found out was totally awesome,
and amd now listening to it constantly, or old classic stuff that you just
never get tired of. Some of the albums that fit into this catagory for me are
"Mmhmm" - Relient K, "The Silever Cord" and
"Phoenix" - The Classic Crime, and "This Means War" - Attack
Attack. These are all albums that I can pull out just any time of the week, no
matter what mood I'm in and listen through them to just get me all happy
inside. <i>Likelyhood of any or all of these albums being on my iPod at any
given time - 99%</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN">The music that I listen to sometimes, but isn't really my favorite</span></b><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">There are a lot of albums that I own, that I like listening to sometimes,
but I just can't digest them on a daily basis. I like to kind of keep them on
the shelf for when I'm in the mood, and then ejoy them for what they are. it's
sometimes harder listening to music like this though, because then you don't
really get a chance to know all the words to the songs and stuff, and end up
just not enjoying the listening experience as much. <i>LIkelyhood that any or
all of the albums in this catagory being found on my iPod at any given time -
70%</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN">The music that I rarely listen to, but still keep on, because I may want to
someday</span></b><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">You know those albums that you buy sometimes just because your friend
suggested them to you, but you don't really care about that much? Or that band
you went to see play live that one time, and got their album, but they sounded
way better live? I do too.. These are the kinds of albums that tend to crowd my
iTunes library a lot of times, and I usually overlook them when trying to find
something to listen to. Sometimes it's good stuff even, but I'd rather listen
to something that I really like.<i> Likelyhood that any or all of the albums
that fit in this catagory being found on my iPod at any given time - 30%</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN">The music that I purchased, but haven't listened to yet<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">I don't know how many people have this problem, but recently I've found
myself buying a lot of music. like, a LOT a lot. So much, that I can't even fit
all of it on my iPod along with my other music that I already know I really
like. So many times, I find myself scrolling through my iTunes library and
seeing one of these albums and thinking "Hey, I was going to listen to
that someday!". After that thought runs through my head, I generally will
go grab my iPod and try to sync it up, only to find that it's already full and
I'll have to delete some of the music that I hold so dearly to my heart off of
it first before I can put on this new meterial. That generally leads to the
heartwrenching, tear droppingly tramatic experience of trying to figure out
which music I just need to "let go" of. After a few hours of chewing
through my fingernails and crying my eyes out, I can usually find one or 2
albums that I'm willing to set free. Of course, I often then find out that the
new music wasn't even that good anyway, and I could have just previewed it on
my laptop speakers before commiting it to my pocket. <i>Likelyhood that any or
all of the albums that fit in this catagory being found on my iPod at any given
time - 50%</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN">The music I actually dispise, but I keep on my computer just to show people
how horrible it is<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">There's a possibility that I'm the only one that does this, but I actually
mantain a decent chunk of audio on my computer that I genuinly dispise
listening to. Sometimes just because I can't bare parting with it because
there's the slice of a possiblity that I may actually like the band someday.
Other times because I simply need to keep it so I can show everyone in the
world how awful the band is. Unfortunately, a lot of this music turns out to be
stuff I made in the past. <i>Likelyhood that any or all of the albums that fit
in this catagory being found on my iPod at any given time - 20%</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">So that's it. That's my music. How do your various libraries compare?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Also, if it concerns anyone, here's a list of the various styles and genres
of music that all of the music discussed above fits into (in no specific
order).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Metal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hardcore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Progressive hardcore/punk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Punk core<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Djent Metal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ambient core<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Punk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Indie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Progressive Indie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Jazz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Folk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Progressive Folk/Alt Rock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Acid Jazz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Trance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Electronic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Electro-punk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Dubstep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Slowstep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Metal / classical<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Worship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rap core/crunk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ska<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Heavy Rock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Classic Rock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Poetry/Spoken word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Indie Folk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Trip-Hop<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Pop<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Drumstep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Heavy Electronic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Soundtrack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Videogame<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Reggae/heavy rock/rapcore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Acoustic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Easy listening<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Comedy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Childrens Music<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-81551419737990896742012-06-23T19:32:00.005-07:002012-06-23T19:32:50.400-07:00Minipost - LOVE 2<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;">Last Saturday evening I just finished reading what I now
believe to be one of the most astonishingly well written parallels to the
concept of true love that has ever been written. C.S. Lewis’s “Perelandra”
proverbially “Took the words right out of my mouth” when it comes to my
thoughts on what love is. I’ve tried to explain it to many people through
different stories, but this fantastically crafted tale displayed it so well and
in so many relatable forms that it would be hard for anyone to walk away from
this book without a better understanding of God’s true purpose in temptation,
sin, and its converse: Love.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did my best to try to explain the concept of love in a
previous blog post, but I ended up (accidentally) abusing my own story to cover
up for one of my own misconceptions. After I wrote the original post, I had a
long conversation with my older sister about it and she straightened me out a
bit. I had planned on writing another post to explain the faultiness of my
first example (and did), but even after explaining it, I don’t think I really
did the concept justice. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The truth is, I could spend another couple months typing out
all my thoughts on what true love is, and what God’s intention for it was in
us, but that would be pointless, since all of my thoughts can already be
displayed in a single book, written and explained in far more detail and
clarity than I could even dream to. This book, Perelandra, is simply amazing.
Read it now. C.S. Lewis, I salute you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It is like a fruit with a very thick shell… The joy of our
meeting when the we meet again in the great dance is the sweet of it… If we had
listened to (the evil one) we should now be trying to get at that sweet without
biting through the shell…. And so it would not be ‘That sweet’ at all” – C.S.
“Jack” Lewis in <i>Perelandra</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-91899392734532723772012-06-18T11:35:00.000-07:002012-06-18T12:58:27.770-07:00DALLAS<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The journey there<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This last Friday, began one of the most amazing and exciting
adventures I’ve experienced in my life: “The Adventures in Odyssey Live show”.
The air travel alone would have been exciting enough to make me want to post
something on here, but getting to meet and shake the hand of these voices that
I’ve grown up listening to was simply awesome. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll skip past the most of my trip to the airport and whatnot,
since that’s not really the most interesting part. My favorite part starts
right after I landed, so that’s where I’ll begin:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I arrived in Dallas, for some reason I was expecting a quaint little
old west’y type of town with a few horses and some cowboys and stuff… I couldn’t
have been more wrong. When we landed, I was astounded to find myself surrounded
by hundreds of sky scrapers and stadiums knitted together by this maze they call “the
highway”. Never before have I been caught in such a tangled mess of roads
so obviously inspired by Italian pasta. It was a preverbal “spaghetti junction”,
as my good friend Eugene would say.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After getting hopelessly lost for a couple life times, we finally arrived at the first event of the day at Mardel’s
bookstore about 2 hours late. I don’t think we missed <i>too</i> much, since I still got a chance to talk to Will Ryan, and harass
the Mr. Whittakker puppet a bit (who actually turned out to be Bob Smithouser).
After having a great time meeting and catching up with some friends from Focus
on the Family, we decided to go get some rest before the big show the next day.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next morning around 9 AM, we all began to slowly drift
back in to the real world, and out of the state of unconsciousness. The day was
christened with the nostalgic listening to of a couple Odyssey episodes, and a
few old TCF bloopers that hadn’t ever been shared before. We had a lot of fun
with that, too much perhaps, because we almost ended up being late for the show. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The show (article for
the Adventures in Odyssey Scoop blog)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>June 16<sup>th</sup>, 2012 the AIO live show (This article DOES contain
spoilers, so be warned!)</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Kevin, his sister and I pulled into the parking lot
around 20 minutes before the show was to start, we were surprised to see how
incredibly vast the venue was. The church itself was practically the size of a
football field crossed with a couple concert halls. We were even more excited
to see almost all 3,000 of the seats (in both shows) in the auditorium packed with enthusiastic
fans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The show began with the two hosts we’ve all come to
know and love from the Official AIO podcast (Bob Smithouser and Jesse Florea)
introducing the show. Considering the idea that the whole thing was a “Birthday
Bash” for Odyssey’s 25<sup>th</sup> birthday, they decided to kick off the
event with a birthday cake, and a larger than life birthday card signed by
hundreds of fans. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon after the devouring of said cake (which I didn’t get to
partake in, unfortunately) Chuck Bolte took the stage and systematically
introduced the actors in order of relevance to the show. When all nine actors
had arrived on stage, and director Nathn Hoobler gave the signal, the lights
went down to begin one of the most entertaining stage events I’ve been to in a
long time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first scene started out, already flaunting the
impressive skill of the production team, with Dave and his son Landon Arnold masterfully
operating the miniaturized stage edition of “the foley room”. It was incredible getting to see so much of what goes into making an episode of Odyssey all in real
time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story seemed normal enough in the beginning; however, as the show went on, the script started to get more and more, well… strange. I was a little confused at first, wondering how they could get
away with letting a villain from the captain absolutely comics escape from
KYDS radio and begin attacking all sources of art throughout history via the
Imagination station. It seemed a little far fetched for Odyssey. After the show
got closer to the end, though, I didn’t really care how "out there" the story
was, because it gave the cast and crew so many opportunities to show just what
the team was capable of. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a breathtaking (and even more ridiculously silly) finale
sequence where the entire town was blown to smithereens by an atomic bomb, I
was finally and hilariously reassured that Odyssey was still the same show I’d
come to know and love when the line came out of Jess/Wooton’s mouth: “so anyway
Mr. Whittaker, that was my dream”. Incredibly cliché, but it had everyone in
the entire audience rolling on the floor.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The show was filled to the brim with stunning audio and
visual effects and hilarious dialogue. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much
at an Odyssey episode in my life (I also never knew Dave Arnold could tap dance!).
Everything about the show was as good as I could have imagined it to be, and
judging by what I saw of the footage from the last live show, a million times more
fantastical. The venue, the acting, the writing, the production, everything
about the show was top notch, and really showed the world how talented the team
behind the show is, and just how much fun the actors have in the studio.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My only negative comment, and I’m not even really sure it
should be considered “negative”, is that the show overall was quite a bit more
silly and over the top than you’d normally expect in and Adventures in Odyssey
episode. But really, I’m glad it was. It gave the cast and crew so much more of
an opportunity to have fun with the episode, and keep the crowd involved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I guess if I were “rating” it, I’d give it a
9.9/10. (I would have rated it 10/10, but I had to take a point off for the one
line Will messed up on. That’s right Mr. Ryan, you can’t just get away with
stuff like that. :P)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>After the show<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the hours in between and after shows, I was very
surprised and excited to see how many fans of The Ceiling fan and the ScoopCast
came up to both me and Kevin wanting our autographs and pictures with us. It was
such an honor to be there with all these famous actors, and having people recognize
US, fans of the show, and wanting to have their pictures with us and stuff. I’ve
never really had people recognize me from something I’ve done on the internet
before, so I was super excited to have people knowing who I was. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I got plenty of chances to interview lots of fans, and even
some of the crew about the show. It was such a blast meeting so many people all
at once who are interested in the same things I am. I also met quite a few
creative people who also do stuff on the internet. I ran into some really cool
guys from Youtube under the username “Blimeycow” who do a show called “Messy
Mondays”, you may have seen their video about homeschoolers. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJHt-m3VX6o">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJHt-m3VX6o</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll add a link a video
blog of mine and Kevin’s journey’s as soon as he finishes editing it. <o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-18901173034392025522012-06-13T13:07:00.001-07:002012-06-13T13:07:59.183-07:00@#$%!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, the full blog post you've all been waiting for/dreading!<br /><br />Let me first start of this post by saying that I will no
longer be following the original format that I made for myself. I’m not often
inspired to write anymore now that I’m not required to for school, so when I
am, I don’t feel like restricting myself with some stupid set of writing rules.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me also mention this before I get into what I really
wanted to talk about in this post:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my last post, I told a story about the love of God, and
then I mentioned at the bottom as an “edit” saying that I didn’t entirely agree
with myself on that point anymore and that I would post again soon explaining
why. I’m going to do that now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story I told, was actually a pretty good representation
of the way I feel about the subject of God’s Love, or really just “love” at
all. The thing was, I used that story to explain away the highs and lows of my
relationship with him. I was trying to say that my love to God meant more
because I still chose to read my Bible even when I wasn’t that close or
inspired to talk to God. I said that I was glad that I wasn’t always in that
super close relationship to God because it made me work harder to love him,
thus: making my love mean more to him. After talking with my oldest sister, I
realized how incredibly silly that idea was, and laughed at myself for thinking
it. *sigh* Ahh past self, what an idiot you were. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, I realized that God
doesn’t want us to go through those “spiritual lows” where we aren’t as
passionate about him and stuff. He wants us to be in that place where he’s our
closest friend 60/60/24/7/52/10/10/10! (sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes
an hour, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year,
ten years a decade, ten decades a century, ten centuries a millennium!) Anyway, that’s it. On with my real post.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here we go. Sorry for taking so long, but what the #%$@, who
really gives a $#@! Anyway? I can start any time I #$%@ well please thank you
very #$%@ing much.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are you offended yet? Yeah, maybe, but at least I’ve got
your attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About a year ago, I began to allow myself to use some
language that most Christians wouldn’t consider to be very “holy”. I honestly
couldn’t see any problem with it, since I didn’t really see anywhere in the
Bible that it said that it was wrong. I just figured “As long as I don’t say
anything like this around people who are all strict about this sort of thing,
I’ll be fine. I just don’t want it to become part of my vocabulary”. I didn’t
really see any problem with it other than other people thinking I was “immoral”
or something because it went against their personal convictions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After that, I began
living by that rule, “to never let it become part of my vocabulary”. The thing
is, no matter how hard you try, it gets harder and harder to not be affected by
something the more you open up yourself to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I since I made that
rule for myself, I began to listen to a lot of music that contained such
language. Read a lot of media that contained that kind of language, and talk to
a lot of people that used that kind of language. Like I said though, after a
while it became harder to keep that more vulgar version of the English language
from melding with my own version. I began to get all these songs stuck in my
head, humming along to them. The other day, in fact I thought to myself “Man,
it’s a good thing I’m only humming, or else all these people would think I’m
some sort of heathen with all this ‘bad’ language”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may be saying to yourself now “Ok, that’s great, but
what does that matter to you Garrett (you flipping pagan), I thought you just
said you didn’t think it was a sin or anything?”. Well, that brings us to now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been thinking a
lot tonight about this dilemma of how to keep enjoying media that contained
this language that wasn’t accepted by “my people”, and still not using that
language myself. I’ve never said anything among my family that would be
considered overly vulgar, but I had a few times around other people that didn’t
really know me that much. I didn’t really even care that much at the time
either, but I was just thinking about it tonight. Even though I don’t really
find these words so offensive to myself, if I used them around anyone else at
all, either their view of <i>me</i> would
change, or their view of ‘cussin’ would change. I would be an influence either
way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If my previous philosophy were correct, that still probably
wouldn’t matter to me. But I’ve now come to realize something: this language of
vulgarities isn’t only considered offensive among Christian circles. It is, in
fact, a way of being rebellious in nearly all social settings. Even though it
may not be considered a sin, the initial idea when you begin to swear as a
young teen is that you want to break some rules. You want to be known as
someone who makes their own choices, and not just some kiddie who only does
what his parents tell him. It seems like it the rebellious attitude behind the
language that’s the real problem here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So that’s what I was doing, in those situations where I
would use this language around maturing young people. I’d be planting a spirit
of rebellion when I’m supposed to be the ultra-sheltered goodie-goodie
preachers kid, I was the cause of a spirit of rebellion against authority. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In light of this (and a few other Bible verses), I
deductively reasoned out that I should cut off my intake of vulgar media. This
media includes (but is not limited to) all my music on my computer with such
language (I truly will miss you Ben Folds, you were an inspiration to me
musically and in song writing style). I’m not sure how far I’m going to take
this yet… I’m going to have to do some more thinking and praying… Either way, thanks
to that stinkin’ old Bible of wisdom and and junk, I just lost a butt load of
my favorite music. Thanks a lot God for being so perfect and wise and stuff or
whatever. Gosh.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recap: I'm not keeping music with vulgar language in my musical library any more because of the influence it may have on people who falsely assume that I am a good role-model.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until next time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- Garrett </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Is this weird? I don't remember if I used to sign posts or not. Oh well. Maybe it'll be a thing now. We'll see)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974581806184748187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-63279186677898971022012-06-13T00:44:00.001-07:002012-06-24T19:04:04.593-07:00MAGIC<br />
I've been thinking about this a lot recently:<br />
<br />
We all know that the two most magical animals on the planet (unicorns and platypi) were created as hybrids between other animals (duck/beaver, horse/norwall).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/380294_4063807035022_879630714_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/380294_4063807035022_879630714_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Since the conception of these two angelic beasts, the world has been a brighter place. But imagine with me for a moment, something even more magical than either the unicorn or the platypus. I present to you, the "platycorn". A <i>combination</i> of them both.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/Gr7nP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i.imgur.com/Gr7nP.png" width="320" /></a></div>
(Feel free to send me your own picture of a platycorn, but don't expect me to use it here, since I'm obviously the best artist that will ever exist in the history of this planet.)<br />
<br />
There you are world, thanks to me you are a more perfect place. My only remaining goal in life is to hunt down a choice specimen of both of these wonderful speices and breed my very own flock of platycornen. I'm just not sure if I'll have to take a course in mythical husbendry first. I shall update you when I am more informed.<br />
<br />
Post script:<br />
I tried the name "unipus", but it sounded far more like a new gender than a magical animal with the power of rainbows and webbed feet. "Platycorn" is far more descriptive, and sounds flashier too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-26411993376433932172012-06-13T00:20:00.002-07:002012-06-13T00:21:40.220-07:00Late Night Thoughts that Make Very Little Sense - with Garrett Vandenberg<br />
Have you ever noticed how pickles are the ONLY vegetable that actually taste good pickled? Pickles are amazing, which is why it baffles me so much that genius who decided to start the whole trend of pickling stuff had to go and ruin his own quite obviously divinely inspired idea by taking it 7 steps too far. Who in this WORLD actually wants to eat a pickled tomato, or a pickled beet? Who in their right mind even wants to eat a beet in the first place? What's wrong with you?!<br />
<br />
That was only the beginning though. I've heard horrible tales of so called "chefs" who have abused this method of enriching the taste of vegetables to the extent that they've dropped the idea of using it exclusively on vegetables altogether. Have any of you heard tell of the despicable substance (and I shutter to even ask) known as "pickled pig's feet"?<br />
<br />
Even the idea of that phrase, is more than just animal cruelty; It's a disgrace to humanity. I ask you, fellow breathers of oxygen: Can we live with ourselves anymore when our very own race has defiled our planet with this substance? I don't think so ladies and gentlemen. I DON'T THINK SO.<br />
<br />
Anyway... I really do need to sleep.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-40904892597670928252012-06-12T23:16:00.003-07:002012-06-12T23:16:43.420-07:00#POOPLOL<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">In my continuous journey of searching for Bible truth, and revising my worldview as I come across more, I have come to this realization: Though the Bible may be against making sexual jokes, I can find nowhere where it condemns the usage of poop jokes. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">In light of this fact, I hereby announce that poop jokes, shall officially be my new primary default source of humor when I can't think of somethi</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">ng sufficiently ironic or outrageous.<br /><br />(If you can find me a verse in the Bible that convincingly proves me wrong, you get a free pony)<br /><br />Also, poop.<br />- Garrett Vandenberg<br /><br />FULL BLOG POST COMING SOON. YAY</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-71206947266282920192012-04-11T09:48:00.006-07:002012-06-13T16:55:01.464-07:00LOVE<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>My life (and also some random stuff that I read in school that may or may not interest you as well)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
What I learned in Canadian Lit today: back in the ol' days, PDA was so unacceptable that if you were caught kissing your WIFE in public, you'd be put in stalks for a few days. Sounds fine right? Yo have to wear socks for a few days? Yeah, no. These are stocks. http://clio.missouristate.edu/chuchiak/New%20Webpage%20Images/Stocks.JPG The worst part is, this wasn't just a stupid law that no one followed. Guys actually got caught on charges of PDA and put in these things for days. If your legs were too big to fit in them, they didn't care, you'd just have to deal with it and hope your legs didn't fall off. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
So my conclusion is: The 1500-1600's sucked. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
This was just one of the Levitical laws that they completely over-interpreted. They took many other laws from that book and over exaggerated them in a similar stupid with similar stupid punishments. They lived by this deal called "theocracy". Basically, they pretend their government was ruled by God himself, which would have been a good idea if their theology of God himself wasn't so screwed up. *sigh* Oh people of England in the 1600's, you were so dumb...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>My spiritual life (CORY ASBURY IS DA BOMB)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Just a few days ago, I got back from FreshWind youth conference in Toronto. It was amazing (Cory Asbury was there! HECK YEAHZ!). It was kind of that “spiritual energy drink” that I needed. <br />
<br />
But the question I ask myself now is this: How long with this “spiritual high” last? I’ve been inspired, and have worked hard on my spiritual life before, but I never seem to stay in that exact state where it’s just <i>easy</i> to spend time in God’s presents. Somehow, I don’t think it’ll be any different this time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Man, I must sound like such a downer right now, just talking about how even though I was just inspired I’m already preparing for that inspiration to leave. But I don’t look at this as a negative thing. Sure, inspiration is awesome, and it’s definitely a necessary part of the Christian walk, but I’m actually really happy that being a Christian isn’t easy. Let me explain with an example.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Let’s say there were two people: Henry and Bob. Ok sorry, those are awful names. How about “Hercules” and “Everett”? Better? Great.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Both of our two friends reached a point in their lives where they began looking for companionship. On one hand, we’ve got Everett. He was a fairly nice person, but his real strength was computers. One day Everett decided to begin a project to create a robotic companion; someone with whom he could share his ideas, or play mini-put. He worked on it hard for over a year, but finally it was done. He had a friend to call his own. A friend he could control and <i>make</i> love him. He decided to test out his new artificial friend by going on a trip to Jamaica. They had fun, surfing and bungee jumping and whatnot. Anyway, let’s move on to the more important guy in this story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br />
So Hercules was a really great guy, also looking for a partner to live his life with. One day met a really nice girl. They got married and went on a honeymoon to Jamaica. It was great, they spent all day hanging out at the beach and stuff. All in all, a really healthy relationship.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
One morning while in Jamaica, both Hercules and Everett had a similar idea. They both decided to go out and purchase a gift for their corresponding partners. They both got up early in the morning, and got into a taxi. The same taxi actually (Yes, they get around via taxi in this part on Jamaica. Shut up).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
While being driven to the local market they ended up in a horrible accident, and both of their faces were mutilated being recognition. When they woke up from their comas, they were so beastly ugly, the hospital staff wouldn’t let in their companions at first, but both Hercules’s wife, and Everett’s Robot argued so hard and passionately that they finally let them come into the rooms where they were being treated. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
The two bodies were completely and totally covered in bandages. Fortunately too, since underneath, they were broken bloodied messes. Both destined to be paraplegic “beasts” for the rest of their days.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
When Hercules’s wife first saw him, she couldn’t even bring herself to fully believe <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
who it was. But when he opened his mouth and began to speak, she knew it was him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
“You don’t really want me anymore. I’m disgusting. I’m totally broken. I’m not the man you married”. In disregard of his totally dis-figured face, she embraced him and told him <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
“No! That’s not true! I love you more than anything! I’ll never let you go!” (yada yada yada, more mushy crap.. So basically, she still loves him even though it’s going to be really hard, and she’s going to have to take care of him like a baby for the rest of her life). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
On the other side of the room, our buddy Everett was hanging out with his pet robot. He quickly did some minor adjustments to his robot’s personality, and his partner once again accepted him. <br />
“I love you. I will take care of all your needs. I will never let you go” (in generic monotone robot speak, obviously).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
THE END<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Wasn’t that touching? Ok no. Kind of weird probably. But look at both of those relationships. The bond between a healthy relationship of a man and his bride is beautiful because she chooses to accept him (hard as it may be). The bond between the man and his robot is flat, and boring since his robot has no choice, and it is not difficult for it to accept him since it has no preference. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
If your relationship with God were the same as one of these two, which would you prefer? Would you rather have no choice, and no difficulty accepting your partner (like the robot)? Or would you rather <i>choose</i> your companion out of love (like the woman). Even if it was hard, Even though she wouldn’t be as successful in life, Even though she’d have to spend the rest of her life working to support her husband, she chose to accept him out of love.<o:p></o:p></div>
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God chose the second option. He didn’t want his creation to simply love him because they had to. He wanted to make it difficult, so it MEANT something. And it does! I’m glad God makes it difficult to love and trust him, because then he knows so much more how much I really DO love him when I put my trust him.<o:p></o:p><br />
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I feel like I need to explain myself, and slightly change my "view" on this subject. But.... i'm really lazy and it's 1:41 AM... So I'll just write a super long blog post again soon and you can all hear about how much God's love is awesome, and how I'm trying to understand it better.</div>
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<b>My stuff (that I record and produce... for other people usually)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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So I'm finally trying to start this space show that I've been wanting to do since early 2011/late2010. If it all works out the way I want it to, we'll start airing episodes this summer (on the internet) and will hopefully air on some radio stations too. Again, if it all works out the way I want, the first season will be around 11 episodes long (including a shortish pilot episode to introduce the show and the characters). Almost all of the scripts are written, and just need some polishing up, but most of them need some finishing up. Some of them are just outlines or even ideas that haven't been turned into scripts yet. I hope this all works out, because the scripts we do have are pretty awesome. Don't get too worked up about how awesome it's going to be, because I'm still not sure of details and how everything's going to work out, but I really hope it does so everything can be awesome and stuff. It'll be awesome. Hopefully.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Also I'm done AE’s new demo that I was working on for the last ever. You can download a free single from it here : <o:p></o:p><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://tinyurl.com/cxco7q9</b></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-18758654867466690532012-03-23T14:13:00.000-07:002012-03-23T14:13:17.354-07:00Soooo stinking bored....<div><b>My Boring Life (and other things that upset me in this time of being lame and depressed and stuff because of being ill)</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>So now I'm really angry and sad. I've been sick since Sunday, which has sucked a lot. I basically just spent the days being really bored and watching lots of tv shows. I spent the whole week looking forward to finally feeling better and being able to go to youth; that beautiful place where I could finally be social again and be with my friends. Alas, the infamous "Friday" has arrived, and I'm still sick. I'm not allowed to go to youth because I'm too likely to get everyone else there sick. Screw them, they can all get sick if they want! Then we can all be sick and miserable together.... *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh* Now I'm back to being incredibly bored again.... So this is awesome. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Ok, I'm done ranting about how annoyed I am that I'm sick and am having such a hard time getting better. Grrrrr.</div><div><br />
</div><div>...</div><div><br />
</div><div>...</div><div><br />
</div><div>I also have nothing else to write about. ON TO THE NEXT BIT.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>My Spiritual life (and how I'll probably make you feel guilty for being almost as bad as me in it's upkeep)</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>Just the other day I started praying for some of my unsaved friends, and I remember saying something like "help him to see that there's so much more to life than just the simple earthly pleasures". I stopped after saying that, and thought about what I was saying. I wanted my friends who don't even know God to begin to understand something that I don't even grasp that well. I got down again and started praying the same prayer again, but this time about myself.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I get caught up so often in my own short sighted goals. I focus on little things that bring earthly pleasure all the time. It's so easy. The uphill journey to have an afterlife focused mind is a lot more steep than I always expect it to be. I feel like I'm making progress sometimes, so I just kind of let myself coast for a while. Coasting in your Christianity is never really a good idea, since you end up coasting in the wrong direction. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Focus on God. Even though it's harder, it's worth it!</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>My stuff (usually just an update about how far I am in the production of that AE album)</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm almost done that AE album.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We just finally took down almost all of the excess musical stuff that was set up in the loft. The Vocals are all recorded, all the electric guitars are recorded. I just need to record the acoustic guitars for one song, and we should be set. Just a little bit of mixing and mastering and it'll be ready to ship out for their first show. Of course, they'll still need to burn a couple hundred copies, print the label on, and put 'em in cases. I don't think that should be too hard, since the current plan is to pay my little brother to do it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>In other news, I'm helping out on another music project with a friend of mine who lives in the states. I'll give you some more details when I get them, but I think it'll be a lot of fun when it gets going.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-63037601664260644612012-02-20T14:47:00.001-08:002012-04-12T09:23:27.460-07:00OVER THE ICE AND THOUGH THE HOOD<div class="MsoNormal">MY LIFE (AND ALL THE OTHER FUN STUFF)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">As of yesterday evening, we've finally arrived in said remote community that is still yet to be named- by me at least. I’m sure it was one, but as we all know, I’m not really much for details.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Ice road = driven across, no problems. I wasn’t half as scared as I thought I was going to be; mostly because the ice turned out to be literally 4 feet thick. No risk of sinking there, at least, unless you’re driving an obese motorized blue whale, which we weren’t (thankfully). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">We weren’t sure where we were staying until literally the minute we started staying there. We’ve bunked up in a kind couple’s cabin. Again, I don’t know their names currently so, for now they shall be known as “Steve 0.5” and “Steve 0.5’s wife” (They would have gotten “Steve 2.0” and “Steve 2.0’s wife”, but nobody achieves a higher numeral than that guy without at least planting a few churches. Hey, the guy set the bar high, what do you expect me to do about it?). They foster a young girl named Angelina, who literally has no other facial expressions than “MASSIVELY CUTE SMILE MODE”. It’s impossible to look at her and not be happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY SPIRITUAL LIFE (AND EVERYONE ELSE’S. WHY DO I HAVE TO GET ALL THE ATTENTION?)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Ok, now for the heavy stuff. I want to ask right now that you stop whatever you’re doing and get ready to pray, because you’re going to feel like it after reading the next few paragraphs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">This place is screwed up. Not just screwed like “Hey, this place is kinda’ messed up” screwed up. It’s more “Hey, This place makes Sodom and Gomorra look like a nursery run by the Brady Bunch” screwed up. Homosexuality is rampant, Young girls are mothers by the time they’re 12 or younger. The church is in total anarchy. The suicide rate is higher here than any other area of Canada. The government would be more just if it were run by my 3 year old sister. There are more illegal drugs being passed around here then a- ok I can’t think of a good metaphor that isn’t incredibly racist, but you get the idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">This kind of crap happens all over the place, but even in the church, they’ve had to replace the pastors I don’t even remember how many times because they were sleeping around, or the people simply decide they don’t like the way they teach. The worst part is; there doesn’t seem to be an answer. There isn’t a simple fix for this place. Even if they had a whole team of missionaries come in, it would take years to straighten these people out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I don’t say that to make you feel bad about where you live, and how great you have it. Scratch that, I do. Feel bad if it makes you pray more! Anyone and everyone that has two knees and is acquainted with our heavenly daddy would do well to get down on them for a god hour and pray for these people. My dad and I will do our part, but there’s going to be any real changes made here, there’s going to have to be some serious Divine intervention going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">That’s it. I’m done. I dare you not to at least get on your knees just for a second to pray for these people before you read on. Go on. I’ll wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY STUFF<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Still working on a few things since I’ve been out here; nothing in the last two days, since we’ve been driving and stuff, but I did do a pretty cool cover of “All the Right Moves” by One Republic the other day. I’ll get back on the “production work” pony’s back when I get home. Now, I rest for a few days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">There are also two possibilities for this March, that’ll be pretty exciting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">POSSIBLE – I’ll be playing guitar, and singin’ a little bit with my buddies “Atmosphere’s End” on March 30<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">ALSO POSSIBLE- I’ll be going somewhere else to do something I probably can’t tell you about as of the current moment. Trust me though, it’ll be huge. If this happens, I’ll probably also unfortunately have to skip out on the AE show, so sad face. That’s all I can really tell you until I find out more on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Last thing I should also mention that could also end up being pretty big. Not necessarily so much for me as my good friend “Tracy Lynn Holland”. The current plan is that within the next couple of weeks, we’ll meet up (In real life!) and do some acting (In real Technicolor!) of some scene (by a real writer who at this moment should also remain nameless). Sorry for all the secrets. Did I mention I’m a spy by the way? Yeah.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">OR AM I?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-50988607523843911992012-02-15T16:02:00.000-08:002012-02-15T16:20:41.811-08:00BORED.... A LITTLE BIT<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY LIFE (AND I'M TO LAZY TO THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE TO WRITE HERE)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Wednesday, Feb 15th<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">It's been a few days since I last updated the world on what I'm doing. Main reason: I haven't been doing a whole lot. On Sunday, there was supposed to be 2 services, but people just didn't come to the first one, which was fun. The same thing happened on the Friday before as well. As far as the current plan (which may change at literally any second, I'll keep you posted) is concerned, we'll be heading out to a REALLY remote reserve on Friday, but until then we just get to hang out here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">We're still at the church, and I still have no blemishes in my perfect Foose-Ball winning streak. Though my dad is a fantastic Ping-Pong player, he's got nothing on me when it comes to this wonderful game. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The days are kind of long, and are beginning to fall into a sort of format. Two actually. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Format 1 - My dad finds some mechanical work to do for someone, and is gone before I get up. He doesn't arrive home until late evening, and I pretty much sit around all day either writing music, or listening to it (after completing my daily allotment of home-school of course). The day ends with us watching a movie on the wall without projector while devouring a plethora of unhealthy food items.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Format 2 - My dad doesn't find anyone to help, and stays at the church to make phone calls. All else remains the same as Formula 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Sounds great right? Sure, but even so I am getting a bit bored, and kind of lonely, especially on the days when my dad goes out all day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Oh, I should also mention that Desmond has been hanging out with us nearly every day since his conversion. Usually we'll either play a game, watch a movie, or my dad will spend time teaching hime stuff from the Bible. It's great to see him growing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY SPIRITUAL LIFE (DITTO)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">No massive changes, although me and my dad have been praying together more since we've been here, and that's nice. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I have been reading through this book for school called "what is truth". Seriously though, most well written textbook I've ever had the privilege of reading. It's not just like they sit there and tell you information. It's written in the form of a novel, or more, a debate room filled with people of different worldviews: a round table discussion about the flaws and strong points of various worldviews, which is literally right up my alley. (I used to spend a lot of time debating in online forums, especially about various worldviews, since obviously Christianity is something I feel strongly about.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">There are a set of 9 characters (and I haven't learned what all of their viewpoints are yet) but one is Hindu, another Buddhist, another Humanist, another Christian, and there are three kids in the room that basically just ask questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">It's been awesome seeing them battle it out, all with very strong arguments. It's nice to be able to hear what both sides have to say when it comes to these types of things being taught in school. Obviously though, the writers are Christian, and it is written with a small bias, but not half as much as I would have expected. If you haven't read this book (and I'm almost positive you haven't) and are at all interested in this sort of thing, you simply must take the time to read through it. (If you live close by me, maybe I can lone it to you)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY STUFF (...)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">‘Still working on music, although not quite as much as the first few days. I've shifted from dubstep to trying to asquint myself better with dance and straight up electronic. I'll be sure to post something at some point again with the progress I've made. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I've also started trying to write a little bit of "real" music, (with words and stuff) but we'll see how that goes...<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">FAREWELL<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">UNTIL I'M BORED ENOUGH TO WRITE AGAIN.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">No seriously, I'm done. No part two this time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-21326454065296177062012-02-10T14:20:00.000-08:002012-02-10T14:25:24.269-08:00NEGATIVE FORTY<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY LIFE… (10:07AM 10/02/2012 LOCAL TIME)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">It is officially cold out. -20° with enough of a wind chill factor to make it feel like -40° is just enough to make me scared out of my pants to even open the front door. Not running the risk of getting stuck with some incurable cold for the next week.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">That’s another tidbit that should be mentioned: I’ve officially been out here for a week! It doesn’t seem like that long, but this marks the halfway point in my journey through Manitoba. I guess I can’t really say journey though, since we’ve generally been staying in the same place for most of the time here, and just making different trips out to the various places we’d minister.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">We’re planning on going… somewhere else at…. some point today… There are very few details that are open to the public about our travels right now. Not because we aren’t allowed to know, but because nobody really knows until just about the last second. Plans change really fast with these people, which is fine because I just about never know what’s going on until the last second anyways. Now everyone else is on the same page as me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY (AND ALL ELSE THAT INSPIRES IT INTO A DEEPER EXISTENCE)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Robert Mclean has planted 34 churches. 34. That right there is a hack of a lot of church planting! Like, seriously, Oh my gosh. It’s been crazy just listening to him tell stories on the way to and back from the different meetings we’ve been doing. He’s like a super missionary or something. Here is just a tidbit of one of his astonishing adventures:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Robert and his colleagues had just finished building a church big enough to seat almost twice the population of the town it was built in. Some people weren’t too happy about this new church, or the way Robert was now teaching about God in this church. One man was particularly hateful towards Robert; so much that one day after church he threatened Robert outside the auditorium. He grabbed Robert by his shirt and said that if Robert didn’t get out of town right away, he would dismantle Roberts face to the extent that it would not be recognizable again. Robert just looked back kindly with a smile on his face and said<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">“God put me here to do his work, and I’m not going to go until God tells me to”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The man was furious. He tried to restrain himself, but his hatred was just too much. He let his fist fly into the side of Robert’s truck, nearly shattering one of the windows into Robert’s children’s faces.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Robert continued teaching after that, and a short time later was threatened a second time. This time the man said <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">“If I see you on the pulpit preaching next week, I’m going to pull you right off the stage and beat you limb from limb!”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Robert had originally planned to have a guest speaker preaching next week, but after this confrontation, he decided to cancel it and preach himself. What a boss. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">That next week, Robert did teach. I guess the guy who hated Robert so much had a “bark bigger than his bite” because he <i>didn’t,</i> in fact, pull Robert off the stage mid-sermon, but after the meeting the man happened to run into some of his own kind of “bite” when he decided to meet up with one of his friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">That same night, another man got completely wasted and thought it might be a <i>good</i> idea to set up his hi-powered rifle against the door and shoot whoever decided to walk through it, because that’s just how drunk people have fun up here I guess. I guess I can see the entertainment value in that, but personally I prefer to get out my trigger finger attitude in a good ol’ fashioned game of Halo. It tends to be a little more safe… and legal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Anyway, the man who just happened to be the lucky winner of “don’t-open-my-door-or-I’ll-shoot-you- roulette” was none other than Mr. “I-hate-Robert-Mclean” himself. Describing how gruesome it was would be a chore for Shakespeare, but I will use the same adjective to describe the remains of the man’s face as he had used to describe what he planned to do to Robert’s: “Unrecognizable”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">This story is kind of sad, yes, yet also poetic. It really makes you think about that verse in the Bible where God is talking to the Abram in Genesis and he says something like “Anyone blesses you, I’ll bless. Anyone who curses you, I’ll curse”. Trust me; you do <i>not</i> want to end up getting cursed by God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY STUFF THINGS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The montage as promised: <o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.truploader.com/uploads/2_10_2012/191988Montage1.mp3">http://www.truploader.com/uploads/2_10_2012/191988Montage1.mp3</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">If you liked the one with Whit (From Adventures in Odyssey) saying "Right!" You can download the whole thing here - </span>http://www.truploader.com/uploads/2_6_2012/619988Whit%5c'sDrop.mp3</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-49303322180667930772012-02-09T16:06:00.000-08:002012-02-09T16:06:51.914-08:00HOTEL LE CHURCH<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY LIFE (AND WHAT'S GOING ON- BLAH BLAH BLAH)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Day 3 of my fantastic new life in the North Pole. Yes, it has gotten colder than the other day, but I still haven't found need to wear two jackets at once.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">There have been services every day since I get here except yesterday, in which me and my loving father took to watch the 6 hour epic: "The Tin Man" (one of my all-time favorites). Of course, no movie day is complete without getting totally junked up on 'pop, chips, and coke. I'm paying for it a bit today, but not unbearably so. It was definitely worth it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Also, we're not staying a crampy motel anymore, or the camp ground that we had planned to go to yesterday, but the church fellowship hall: living quarters complete with a kitchen, 3 bathrooms, a storage room filled with boxes, a large auditorium, and a multipurpose room, which we set up camp in. By 'camp' I mean we put our suitcases on the tables and laid down 1 air-mattress, and 1 clump of chairs to be used as a makeshift bed (there was only one air-mattress). It wasn't actually that bad though. I'll admit my "chair bed" fell apart a few times in the night, but I think I've set it up now in a way it won't have that chance again. +15 chair building exp.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY SPIRITUAL LIFE (AND ALL ELSE THAT MAY RELATE TO IT)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I had to change the title so I could blog about this, but for the last couple services, I've been leading worship. That's right! Little Garrett, who can barely hold a pitch is now not only singing louder than everyone else, but is required to do it! Fortunately there isn't a whole lot of "musical intimidation" here since the multiple people who sang when me and my dad weren't singing, were reeeeeaaaally (and I mean in the kindest way possible) awful. I'll try to post a video so you can hear at some point, but until I have enough internets to do that, you'll just have to imagine a seal doing it's mating call while playing an accordion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I know this sound horribly mean, but let me try to redeem myself. Even though the pitch, timing, and playing were less than desirable, the people playing it were incredibly passionate. It was like they really meant the words they were saying, even to the point of breaking out into tears, or maybe that was just part of the song.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">But seriously, I find I'm far more inspired when people who can't sing, sing loud and with all their hearts, then when people who are fantastic musician are at work. You aren't so much distracted by how much you enjoy the song, as you’re just pulled into a spirit of worship by watching and listening. It's hard not to join in when people put that much into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">MY STUFF (AND STUFF)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Still working on producing that demo for AE (Atmosphere's End, not American Eagle. You laugh, but it gets old when people think you're playing an instrument for a clothing company all the time), but I've actually been spending a lot of time just working on music in general. Not writing new music with a guitar or piano so much as working on understanding the ropes of Protools' MIDI interface a bit better.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I've been specifically trying to master a style of music known as "Dubstep". I have an appreciation for every style of music, but recently I've really been interested, and have been listening to a lot in this genre. I've got to say though, it's more challenging than anything I've tried to produce before. There are so many specific elements that make up the style, and each are just as difficult to create. It's hard, because I'm not sure I have half of the software required for a lot of it, but I'm making due. I'll try to post a clip or two of what I've been coming up with, although I've ended up with a lot more dance than good beat-downs. Maybe I'll just throw together a montage of them all so you can hear for yourself how much of a hard time I'm having.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Anyway, 'driving down a road that's made of more ice than gravel, so I better go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">UNTIL NEXT TIME.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">(3 hours later)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">OR UNTIL I LEAVE AND COME BACK LIKE 3 HOURS LATER AND DECIDE I NEED TO BLOG AGAIN:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">BISON. About 30 seconds after typing “UNTIL NEXT TIME” We had to slow the truck down to about 20 KPH. Not because of some stupid speed limit laws about school children or something, but because the road had become flooded with a small herd of buffalo/bison. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">I felt like such a city kid, yelling and gawking at the simplest of wild life. Robert was super chill. Oh yeah, did I mention I found out “Steve’s” name is actually Robert? True say. Anyway, the real reason I needed to come back on here was to tell the story of Desmond. Not Desmond from Lost, but Desmond from Manitoba (the less well known show also by J.J. Abrams).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Desmond <i>was</i> a church going guy, but really screwed his life up a while ago, and hasn’t really been living the life of a Christian for a pretty long time. Last night, something hit him. I don’t know what, but the conviction was so strong, he just felt he needed to give his life back to God, and he needed to do so quick-like. He got in his car and drove off to the closest church. No one was there. I mean, what do you expect? People are just going to chill at the church all day on Mondays? Yeah, that’s what all the cool kids are doing… obviously not, because there weren’t any “cool kids” at the church either. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Desmond kept driving, looking around for someone else to ”show him the way”. This guy was just hungry for God. Finally, after searching the back shelf of his brain for any remaining memories of the location of just one more church, success: He spotted a large tabernacle with the lights on. It just happened to be the building that my dad and I were staying in. He pulled into the parking lot and knocked on the door. He was greeted but my ever attentive father, who let him in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">They talked for a while. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know everything they talked about, but I do know that it ended with Desmond giving his life back to Christ, and that’s the important part anyway. Great story, right? But see, that’s not even the funny part, and we all know funny parts are the best parts! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">FUNNY PART: We were originally going to spend last night in a camp site (like I said earlier), but at the last second, some guy (he owned the camp I guess) said he actually wouldn’t have the space for us to set up. We only found this out after we had packed our bags and were driving down the road. Robert offered for us to just stay in the motel again, but my dad insisted we stay in the church since he didn’t like being so cramped up. Robert with cool with that, and I had no qualms, so we “set up camp” (see paragraph 3).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Just around the time Desmond decided to go soul searching, my mom called. Dad picked up, and since he wanted to be all personal and private and whatever, he decided to go into the auditorium. ‘You seeing this now? Had we not ended up having our plans to stay at this guy’s camp messed up, or had my mom not called at that exact time, or had my dad not wanted to be all private-y and stuff, the lights wouldn’t have been on in the auditorium, my dad and I wouldn’t have been there, and Desmond might not have ever gotten his life right with God again.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">God is so boss…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-74780285737353717022012-02-04T21:22:00.000-08:002012-02-09T17:31:27.308-08:00WHINIE-PAGMY BORING LIFE (AND WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND ME)<br />
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O'queso, (see what I did there?) we just arrived in Winnipeg, and contrary to my fathers exaduated warning about the weather, I currently need only one coat. That's not to say it's not "cold", it's just not "freeze your face off cold".<br />
Oh look at that, I'm so adult right? Talking about the weather. Sheesh. Oh well, it`s beautiful here; just miles and miles of white- whiteness in any direction you look. <br />
Anyway, shortly after almost stealing some other womans luggage, we met up with a really nice guy. I can't seem to remember his name, and I'm kind of scared to ask him again. If I'm going to be hanging out with these people for the next few weeks, I need to at least pretend I've been paying attention. <br />
We're now on our way to... ok I don't know that either. You all know I'm not one for details. The important part is: we are on our way! I'm not sure if I'm looking foreward to the next few weeks, or just confused. I'm not suuper sure exactly what the housing conditions are going to me like, what the churches'll be like, what kind of stuff I'll have to do, or what the people will be like. Right now I'm just kind of winging it, and I hope that works out, since I have no other backup plans.<br />
<br />
MY SPIRITUAL LIFE (AND THE THINGS GOING ON INSIDE ME)<br />
<br />
I'm confident this trip is going to do wonders for my spiritual life, partially because of the fact that I've been told the ice roads we're supposed to drive on aren't actually fully completely- frozon... The ever growing possibillity of my likelyness to drown in just less than frozon watar is probably just God's hand at work trying to give me a little shove down the slide to a better prayer life- hopefully. There's is always the possibilty that I'm actually going to die, but let's try not to think about that.<br />
<br />
MY THINGS (THAT I'M WORKING ON.... AND STUFF... OR WHATEVER)<br />
<br />
Surprisingly, I actually have a few things going on in this respect right now. I'd really like to keep it that way and get like, totally famous and stuff. No, but really, The Ceiling Fan Podcast just released a new episode. That's always fun. Coolest part = I had literally 1 line in the whole thing. No I'm not being sarcastic, I'm actually totally ok with that. I'd much rather listen to something when I don't have to pick apart mistakes and know I was the one that made them. <br />
I actually did make a few mistakes though with that one line. In the end, it ended up being so bad that we didn't even use it. Self esteam + 12pts.<br />
I have been doing more music though. I even did some music in that episode, but it didn't actually work out as well as I wanted it to either. But also in the way of music; I just recently tracked a bunch of guitar, vocal, and bass tracks with my buddies Adamm, Connor, and Tyler for their band Atmosphere's End's demo. It's certainly been an aducational experience. I'm having fun, trying all kinds of new things in the program I've come to know and love (Protools). New EQ'ing stuff, and compression settings, oh such fun! <br />
Sorry, I'll stop now. I'm sure very few people actually care about this boring audio and mixing crap as much as my actual life, which I'm sure there are already very few people care about enough to read this. So if you've made it this far, +15 friend points for you! You're awesome! You also probably have too much time on your hands! So -40 Productive points for you! Go do something productive! Gosh!<br />
<br />
I shall blog again when I know more.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
(About 20 minutes later)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sorry, need to jump back on here again because there's something I just can't leave "ublogged".<br />
Remember that guy that I told you about? The one I can't remember the name of? Yeah, I still don't know his name. But the point is: he's awesome. <br />
You know how in tv shows and movies people always make fun of the charactor who starts sharing his life story. Not sure that charactor deserved it after hearing Hewhocannotcurrentlybenamesbyme's life story. He's a reverend, and he's been working hard for this community for years. This man has devoted his life to sharing the gospel with this place. You just tell how much he loves them by the way he talks.<br />
A While ago, he ordained another man (A friend of his I think). He loved the guy and was obviosully really happy to see him taking on this new duty. The thing was, shortly after that the guy somehow got really peaved at the him for no real reason. (I will now be reffering to them as "Steve" (the guy I'm traveling with) and "Not-Steve" (not Steve) to avoid confusion)<br />
Notsteve, decided that just being upset at steve wasn't enough for him, so he began to slander him like crazy. He attacked Steve's very Character. He went door to door speading total lies about him. But what did Steve do? Nothing. He couldn't. As a reverend, Steve was not allowed to argue thie word of another reverend. He didn't try to fight it, he didn't even freak out at Notsteve. Steve is a boss, and probably one of the most humble people I know right now.<br />
After that, Notsteve set up a whole organization to attack Steve's charactor, and destroy all of the work in the community Steve had been devoting his life too. Notsteve is not a boss.. He's not one of my favorite people at all right now. Even after all of this, Steve still didn't even try to go up to the congregation and tell them Notsteve was Lying. After all of this, Steve still loved Notsteve like the brother.<br />
The Lies got worse, and Steve (still wanting to be a bro about it) decided to go by the book for this situation. I don't have my Bible handy right now since I'm cramped up in the back seat of Steve's pickup, but from what I remember, he decided to follow the words of Paul for this problem. Do any of you remember that chapter where he talks about "If a brother has wronged you, you should first go talk to him personally to try to deal with the problem. If that doesn't work, get a friend and throw down some group intervention. Still doesn't work? Go to the Church and address the problem before the congregation. If your bro is still not bein' a bro, kick him out of the church."<br />
Steve followed the Provided steps, but Notsteve didn't respond to anything. When Steve finally reached the final step: "Kick him out of the church" he was still totally cool and still didn't even try to throw him out of the church. Notsteve is still out there destroying Steve's career, but Steve still loves him, and is just trusting in God to do something.<br />
So, quick recap: Steve is super humble, super patient, and such a bro it`s rediculous. I`m officially inspired, so I`m going to go now and be all inspired and stuff. <br />
<br />
<br />
(I haven't read through this and I have very limited internet, so don't mind the spelling and grammar errors)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424177824234865847.post-81786291031222202332012-01-25T17:23:00.001-08:002012-04-12T08:36:50.034-07:00Starting a boring blog about pretty boring stuff...So, here we go. Post one of my incredibly boring blog about- ok sorry I'm going to stop myself here since I don't entirely know what it's going to end up being about; that fact due mostly to the fact that I haven't written it yet. Mostly...<br />
<br />
Since formats are fun, and I need to have at least some direction in writing this, I'll (try to) be posting three bits to every post: "My life (and what's going on around me)", "My spiritual life (and what's going on inside me)" and "My boring things (that I make, and stuff)".<br />
<br />
Welp, off we go then.<br />
<br />
<b>MY LIFE (AND WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND ME)</b><br />
<br />
News! Yes, news. There are so many "news" happening around me, and to me right now. New "stages" of life mostly. I mean, sure, there was new years, but since then I've turned 17, got my beginner's license and became an uncle.<br />
<br />
Yep, I got my beginner's literally a year after I could have, had I cared a bit more about getting a license. I probably wouldn't have even gotten it now if it hadn't been for my dad's constant nagging about having to drive me places, and how if I don't get my license soon, he'll murder me with a toothbrush, and bury me in the sandbox. *sigh* "Dads" amirite? <br />
<br />
Another big thing that happened recently is the big news that my sister's engaged! Well, it wasn't really "news" to me, since I was there for the proposal. On Christmas Eve we were all unwrapping presents, and just as we finished my parents said there was one more "extra special"one just for Katelynn. I was pretty upset, knowing there was only a special gift for Katelynn. For as long as I could remember, I assumed I was the favorite child. Apparently not...<br />
<br />
As I followed them around trying to find Katelynn's special present in the maze of incredibly easy clues (lovingly written out by my mother), I rethought my entire worldview; trying to understand what my life was now that I wasn't the favorite child. Suddenly, just as I was re-organizing the bit of my brain associated with the complete encyclopedia of the secrets of the universe, I looked up to see my sister's boyfriend- putting a ring on my sister's finger.<br />
<br />
I learned two things from that situation. One, that I really was the favorite child. Two, that "extra special" present = husband. I'm actually really happy the present wasn't for me.<br />
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As a side note, I'm now an uncle (thanks to my, already married, oldest sister).<br />
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<b>MY SPIRITUAL LIFE (AND WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE ME)</b><br />
<br />
I decided to add this section too, because it's an area of my life that I'd like to be able to share with others. The thing is, right now there doesn't seem to be a whole lot happening here. Not something I'm proud of. <br />
<br />
I (like most other people, I assume) have a hard time staying focused on this area of my life. I get so caught up with other things, projects, shows, books, music, and just downright wasting time. It seems like it's easier to do just about anything, even things I don't LIKE doing, than to just sit down and spend some time in prayer, or reading my Bible, or listening/reading a good sermon or book. But hey, isn't that what makes it worth it? The amount of effort it takes to get something seems to be what gives it it's value to us as humans. <br />
<br />
So I'm going to start trying to spend more time on all three of those things, beginning with praying that I'll have the strength and determination to work on the rest harder.<br />
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<b>MY BORING THINGS (THAT I MAKE AND STUFF)</b><br />
<br />
I'm too bored right now to write any more... Just go listen to the last 7 episode of The CeilingFan Podcast at tcfpc.com. I co-wrote and starred in all of them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0