Luge Ride

Last week, while traveling for Christmas, I took a rather wild ride on The Luge. Now, The Luge is a homemade sled run designed and built by my uncle in their backyard. You start up on their deck, slide down a snow-packed ramp, race along the track, and wind up in the woods behind their house. It was way fun. :)

I tried filming the trip once, and it turned out pretty well. I nearly fell out of the sled, but still...

Sometimes I Feel Like An Ent

"I am on no one's side, because no one is on my side."

-Treebeard, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

That's how I feel sometimes about the current state of things in this country. It seems like the government is awash in apathy, corruption, twisted ethics, and totally un-biblical governing. Then I get really scared when I think that the reason these politicians are elected is because the majority of voters supported them.

Even as I think about that though, I'm realizing more and more that God has everything is under control. I don't know what He has in mind, but I know it's way, way better then anything I could come up with. That's awesome.

John Musil is my hero too!

I saw this on Greg Stier's blog back before the election and I thought it was both awesome (go John!) and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it for all of you politically active folks reading this. I can't help but wonder whatever happened to the staffer though. Anyways: John Musil is my hero!

Urban D. - "Un.orthodox"

I saw this video for the first time on Thursday (on a Christian music video show called The Zone). I liked it enough that I decided to post it. Anyway, Urban D. is a rapper and a pastor, and he does both well. Sounds a bit like KJ-52. Good stuff.

The Touchtone Genius

Unlike the last video I posted, this one is just for fun. It's... well, random. Really random. And awesome. Song by http://www.songstowearpantsto.com/

Inhale Exhale - It's Myself Vs. Being A Man

Okay, warning, this video is SCARY. Beds eating children, screaming men with long black hair - yeah. The good news is the song is great, and the title is awesome!

Pictures! (Of Me, Nonetheless!)

I just put a picture on my Twitter profile for the first time (before it was a screen shot of TFCMB). It's a shot of my eye, which I cropped from a shot of my full face. When I was playing around with The Gimp, trying to make myself look as awesome as possible, I made three different versions. The first is a barely edited picture, just cropped:

On the next one, I deepened my eye color and added stars to the background:

On the last one, I kept the face the same and switched the background to a picture I had taken (and already edited...) of some fish. I think the blue contrasts nicely.



So, there you have it. :D

I'm Unique!

The votes are counted (sheesh, even I can count to 5) and the result is that I'm unique! Closely followed by both weird and unique.

Unique Geek or Strange Freak?

In my years of experience with Microsoft Windows, I have never seen anyone with the start bar on the top of the screen. No one, that is, except me. Yep. On my laptop, I have my start bar (or "Windows Bar" or whatever you want to call it), on the top of my screen, as demonstrated in the picture above.

Why?

I like it.

It's unique, and plus, it makes it easier to quickly check what song is playing in Windows Media Player, or for Twitteroo updates. Plus, it's a sure way to impress (or weird out) friends. To discover which, I'm adding a new poll to SSS, asking what you think. Am I weird or smart? You decide. :)

Clever Advertising, Lol

Spamity Calamity!

I've been getting a landslide of spam on TFCMB lately, which, thankfully, has been caught by Akismet. I had 70 comments waiting in my Akismet folder today. As you can see, I seem to have a much bigger problem then spam, by the look of the spam counter...

Update: I guess I wasn't really thinking when I posted this. First, I'm not trying to make fun of Revelation, or any of the events, people, therein. I really do believe that someday this world will end, and it won't be pretty for most people. The reason I posted this is because I'm pretty sure that the amount of comment spam I get isn't connected to the end of the world at all. Still, I probably should have thought through this before I posted it. Sorry!

1 Peter 1:5

"who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

- 1 Peter 1:5

This is a sweet verse I found the other day.  Directly before the verse, there's a promise that our inheritance is secure, which is great, but then it's topped by God promising to shield us with His power until the coming of Christ.  That's awesome, and you're dose of the sword for today.

Flame - Joyful Noise

I saw this video for the first time yesterday, and then again today. I wasn't familiar with Flame before, but I'm definitely going to need to watch for this guy. The video is great (a lot better then most rap videos) and the lyrics leave no doubt about this guys faith. The chorus is sweet, and all around, a great music video.

Book Overview: Unsolved Mysteries of American History

Since books are a huge part of my life, I thought it would be cool to write up a couple of the books I've been reading. One of the books that I finished in the last week is Unsolved Mysteries of American History.

Unsolved Mysteries... is just that, a book about the various conspiracies, disappearances, rumors, and other enigmas of America's history. I first picked it up on a whim, while looking for something to do. It didn't take me long to get draw in by the first several chapters about St. Brendon, Cahokia, the Lost Colony of Roanoke, and Joseph Smith's Golden Plates.

After reading that last chapter, I wanted to get a Book of Mormon. Looks like extremely interesting fiction.

One of the interesting parts about the book is the dry sarcasm the author, Paul Aron, used at times. For example, in chapter 38, where he comes to the conclusion that the Japanese were to blame for Pearl Harbor. A unusual theory, for sure. Another particularly amusing chapter is about the assassination of JFK, where the author systemically lists all of the suspects, including the CIA, the KGB, the FBI, Fidel Castro, anti-Castro Cubans, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Mafia. Not to mention Lee Harvey Oswald.

Aside from the obvious historic value, the two main things I got out of the book are how everyone has "sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Sometimes it seems we put great patriots, presidents, and other heroes on a pedestal, acting as if they could do no wrong. It doesn't take long, after reading Unsolved Mysteries, to realize that they were every bit as fallibly as you or I.

The other major thing I got out of the book is a great appreciate of the Bible. Let me explain. After only 500 years, our view of our nations history has changed thousands of times as new evidence is discovered. We gain greater understanding about the founding of this nation, and re-write the history books accordingly. So when you realize that the Bible hasn't been proved wrong once after 4000 something years, you can't help but appreciate it as the only infallible book in the history of the world.

Anyway, if you want to read the book, it's on Amazon fairly cheap here: Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye-Opening Journey through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events

MP3 Player Photo

The Opening Ceremony

Last night, like much of the world, my eyes were glued to the television screen as the open ceremony of the Beijing Olympics unfolded. All I can say is wow. I watched in awe as...

• Thousands of people moved in perfect unison,
• Fireworks exploded, surrounding the "Bird's Nest",
• And as the torch bearer suddenly flew into the air and ran around the rim of stadium.

The Chinese sure know how to throw a party. The pictures of the fireworks are especially spectacular. It really does look like a birds nest made of flaming twigs. Quite impressive.

"Stay Captive" - Still Remains

I love this song. The rockier bits, the electronica, everything comes together for an amazing song. Granted, the lyrics are a bit cryptic, which is disappointing. The video itself is good too. It was well directed, and the effects are great. Ending could have been better, and the plot is cryptic, but smashing things is always wise choice in my book. :)

Behind the Name (An Introduction)

The story behind "A Song. A Screen. A Sword" is fairly simple.

• 'A Song.' represents music, in any form.

• 'A Screen.' represents digital technology and video, in varied forms.

• And 'A Sword' refers to the Sword of the Spirit, that is, the Word of God, the Bible.

Like I said, it's pretty simple.