Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

I just arrived back from watching the passion. It started at 4 and ended at 6, so dinner was over by the time I got back. But then again, I dont think I feel like eating just quite yet. After that movie, who could? After watching the hotly debated movie, I must say: "It is good." I went in with an open mind. I was ready to accept it, and to bash it. I refuse to be one of those people, that just because a movie is about christ, have to like it. I have seen some terrible movies about Christ and some pretty good ones. I quite liked the low budget "Mathew" which contrary to its name is actually about Christ (the text of mathew narrates the story). "Mathew" has the best 'christ' that I have seen; Bruce Marchiano just oozes goodness without being weird. Anther good movie was "Barabbas," starring Anthony Quinn. After hearing critics bash the film for a year now, I was ready to watch it and embrace it. Then then I watched as evangelical america w...

After years of trying to find my favorite movie (it is hard for me, a film buff, decide), I have finally decided. It is Calle 54 of course. This is the only film that moves me to a physical response EVERY time. I smile, laugh, and somtimes even cry. It is true emotion, color and beauty. No other movie can move me to real emotional responses EVERY time. True, there are some comedies that make me laugh whenever I see them (like happy gilmore and better off dead), but this is deeper. It is a movie/rocumentary/documentary/music video film that really blows me away. A collection of staged performances by famous latin jazz performers, this movie has emotion. Any jazz lover should watch it.... again and again and again. I know I do.

I fixed the title background. It was screwy before, and now it is nicer. I made the castles and windmills more grey, which works better with the background. I also took out some small things which weren't as nice (even though I miss the osborne bull...). I obviously expanded the size, eliminated the tile effect, and some other much needed things. I like the dreamy look that I attained by mixing the clouds and the keyboard keys in the back. I also got rid of the puerta de Alcala and replaced it with the alcazar de segovia. Much nicer dont you think?

I am going to miss the floor I am on right now. I am the RA (resident advisor) so I am sort of in charge of it. I really like it though. I get along with with everyone, and everyone respects me. I have somehow been able to balance the friendship and leadership aspects of the job. I think I am doing a good job. Yesterday one of the guys on my floor said "dude! what are we going to do next year when we get another RA?" A little confused, I said "What do you mean?" He responded "Well, I mean when we get one that isnt cool." I had to smile. They thought I was cool. What is more, they didn't see how anyone else could be as good as I was. You gotta love that.

Here is a picture someone sent me of the time I went out into Boston with some friends... wow, upon looking at the pic I notice that the guy to girl ratio isn't all that shabby! haha, actually I dont know half those people... only the good looking ones. ok... no, not true. and a close up of your favorite blogger! Feel the love of the curls of gold. May the fro be with you... always.

This was sent to me by my friend alex oldfield, from England. He swears that it is true... and it wouldn't suprise me if it was. Charles, I am happy that you are in the airforce. The following is the transcript of an ACTUAL radio conversation in October 1995, between a US Navy ship and The British authorities, near the coast of England. The transcript was released by the MOD on 10/10/95. BRITISH: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South, to avoid collision. U.S. NAVY: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the North, to avoid a collision. BRITISH: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. U.S. NAVY: This is the Captain of U.S. Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. BRITISH: Negative. I say again. You will have to divert your course. U.S. NAVY: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United S...

I just returned from an Idiom meeting. The Idiom is the school literary publication. It is published once a year, and is made up of student submitted poems and prose. I have several friends in the staff and had been invited to join their ranks on many occasions. For some reason I felt that I would be surrounded by literary geniuses, and that my opinions wouldn't be of any significance. Tonight I decided to go though, and I do not regret my decision. It was great. I have not come away from an event or meeting feeling so fulfilled in a long time. What could be better than an hour of reading poetry with a group of people that want to find the good and bad within it? It was a fun time of laughing at bad poetry and really savoring the good pieces. I also learned something about myself: I can recognize both good and bad poetry. Which is good, because I recognize that I have never written anything good. BUT that is a start. Maybe someday I will write something worth reading.

You're Pale Fire ! by Vladimir Nabokov You're really into poetry and the interpretation thereof. Along the road of life, you have had several identity crises which make it very unclear who you are, let alone how to interpret poetry. You probably came from a foreign country, but then again you seem foreign to everyone in ways unrelated to immigration. Most people think you're quite funny, but maybe you're just sick. Talking to you ends up being much like playing a round of the popular board game Clue. Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid .

Here is another strip from CRFH! that I thought you might enjoy. Of course this one doesnt relate to me as much as the other one... heh heh

Why write when you are not saying anything? It is a mystery to me. Isn't the whole point of writing, so that you can "say something?" I have nothing to say except that I like the sound that iced snow makes when you kick it during the middle of the night. I wish I could express that in poetic terms, but I cannot. I have no clue how to write poetry. I like more classical poems. Poems with rhythm and rhyme. I can't stand most of these beat poems that are made up random of angst filled words and phrases like: Despair, hate, frustration, You fill me like an old urine sample cold, vile, dirty I weep on the floor While you leave the toilet seat up. Yes, that is what many people write in college. I am sure that it is not ALL bad, but I cannot take most of the modern poems of this sort. There is quite a bit of poetry that I really like, but not very much of it is modern. Of course this presents me with a problem. The world out there likes this crap, and I don't know how to...

I finished "Lost in Translation" this evening. I am not sure how I felt about it. It was beautifully shot. The directing was great, and the script was awesome as well. The director really knew how to convey feeling with the shots. She did a great job. I am still trying to figure out how I feel about the messages and themes in the film though. Oh, by the way. If anyone can arrange my marriage with Scarlett Johansen, I would be much obliged. Thanks. I have been feeling kind of melancholy and alone lately. I don't know why. I have been going through the motions lately. I don't understand God. I realize this more than ever now. Right when I start to feel like I understand him, his will, his goodness, his control... I realize that I have no idea. I have the MK (missionary kid) retreat coming up this weekend and I am excited about that. Last year, when I went there, for a bit I felt... I dunno... safe. Surrounded only by people who were just as confused as me, and in the sa...

Yes it is done. I am happy. The New England Patriots won. The american football team based in Boston won the Super Bowl, and this is a very good thing. Already being hailed as "the best superbowl in history," the game had me on the edge of my seat. This is only the second time that the Pats have won the superbowl. Fortunatelly I know how the game is more or less played and so I was able to follow without problems. I went over to a friend's house off campus to watch the game and we all ate chilli and chips and ice cream. Let me tell you, I have not seen american sports fans like those found in New England. Remember ever watching those baseball movies that take place in New York and everyone is going crazy about "the big game?" They are all true. People up here take sports (baseball in particular, but football is also big) very seriously. Anyway, it is 1:30 in the morning and I am still up. The chilli is backfired and is keeping me up. However, I am not unhappy. I...

Yesterday I talked to a friend that I hadn't seen since high school. I had not spoken to her for years, and it was interesting to see how our lives had changed since then. We spoke about old friends and caught up on what everyone was doing... it was nice. Funny how you can look at your life and think about how things turn out. Who would have thought, three years ago, that we would all be where we are today. Little decisions impact the rest of your life. I think of things that could (but not necessarily should) have been said, and I try to imagine what would have come from that. There have been times that keeping my mouth shut (which was a rare thing) probably saved me from a completely different life. There are so many things that we toy with doing, and we don't realize all of the possible repercussions. Not all consequences are bad though... Things that we we could have said to someone that would have totally changed the manner of our relationship; friendships that could have ...

Yes, I have been back at Gordon for a week now, but it seems like much longer. I cannot believe that I was in Spain only a week ago. It seems like much more time has gone by since then. This week my dad came up to visit, which I didnt expect. He told me on thursday that he had seen a cheap flight for 150 dollars or something and so he jumped on it. We went to see a movie, which is what we have always done together, on saturday. The movie is called "Big Fish." It is directed by Tim Burton, which automatically assures you that it will be a bit different. Visually speaking it was not as imaginative or bizarre as many of his previous pictures, but it was still different. For those of you who are not Burton fans, I urge you to give it a try. It is not dark like most of his other stuff (Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare before Christmas, Bettlejuice...). In fact it is a bittersweet, feel good, kind of film. However, it is weird and cool. It was well put together. It was good. See it. ...

Today I was sitting in Philosophy class and two questions were raised: "What are the differences between a real and an imaginary dollar bill? And which would you rather have?" Many things were said to the first question: "One is made up of matter," "One has actual value" "One has unchangeable attributes"...bla bla bla. Everyone loved the real dollar bill. However, when the second question was raised, my first thought was: "I would rather the imaginary bill, because no one can take it away." It only struck me how weird of a thought it was when everyone answered that they wanted the REAL dollar bill, because of its physical value. When my first thought is that I want the intangible bill... what does that say about me? Any takers? Any amateur shrinks want to take a gander at that?

Well, this blog has been acting strange for a while now, and I have been to tired to fix it, but today I got around to it... hopefully it loads now, and if we are lucky we can even use the comments. It is bitter cold up here in New England. Wicked cold, as they say in Boston. I dont think I have ever felt frigid temperatures like those we are experiencing now. It is -20 degrees here, which is cold enough as it is, but the wind chill is -42 tonight. That means that skin freezes and suffes frostbite after 10 minutes of exposure. According to the weather map, that is colder than most places in Alaska at this moment. Bitter cold which fosters bitter people, locked in their dorms; cabin fever is soon to hit.

I am in the middle of reading "The History of the Jews," a book whose title is fairly self explanatory. It covers the chronological history of the Jews, from ancient times until today. So far I have plowed through about 300 pages, meaning that I have reached the 1600's. The book is pretty fascinating. I had not really been aware of the whole Messianic culture and belief system and where it came from. It also delves into the growth of the Kahabbalistic mystical movement, of which I knew only bits and pieces. I had never really thought that Jews had had false messiahs come along, but it turns out that they had a couple really big ones that we never hear about. The book covers everything from Jewish culture, to theology, politics, commerce and of course the ever present persecution. As a Christian I have to cringe when I read this book. Of all of the pain that the Jewish people have suffered during the past 1500 years, Christians are responsible for most of it. Even the earl...

No, it actually isnt raining. It is nice. Sunny. Clear skies, not even freezing. I hope you New Englanders are jealous. Time has flown here in spain. A whirlwind of meetings, parties and friends. After a week of christmas cousins, I was left to meet up with all my spanish friends. I have met up with a couple but not nearly all. I saw many of my old ECA (high school) acquaintances and friends at Chris' birthday party. His party went all night long, with different types of "entertainment." People talked and hung out for a while, watched a movie and had a little unplugged concert by Bluemilk and the Autumn Lovelies. Blue Milk sucked quite a bit... they should leave acoustic stuff behind....the Lovelies rock my world though. Seriously, their brand of unapologetically sellout pop rock is awesome. I gotta start a fan club. Then again, I think they tried to make the crowd a little more receptive with the booze that was available before the show.... haha. For new years eve I had ...

I am sitting in MY room here in Madrid, Spain. It is a beautiful day. The skies are clear and the temperature is cool, but not cold. The cold comes later in the day, and at night. It is a welcome change from the constant frigidity of the northeast. I was looking forward to coming back to Madrid for Christmas, but I forgot how beautiful it was. The sun goes down, but everyone is still going to and fro; the streets are alive with people. Eager, and somewhat desperate, shoppers bounce from store to store. The masses of bundled families circulate around the downtown section of the city eating, drinking, and being merry. Churros are dipped in mugs of thick chocolate, as people down their strong spanish coffee. Unlike the US, in spain Christmas day is still a religious holiday; since presents are given out on epiphany (Jan 6). There are few santas around, and wise men are more common. This is the Christmas I like. No plastic "frosty the snowmen" on front lawns, no empty songs about...

Yes my friends, I am still here. Despite what my recent amount of posting has shown; I am alive and kicking. What am I kicking? The dog of course. But that is beyond the point. Christmas day has come and gone here in sunny spain. My cousins were here for a week and that was a great privilege. They used to live in Spain 8 years ago, before they moved to the USA. It was the first time that they had been back to the motherland and it was fun to see them enjoy the fine pleasures of this beautiful country. There were 3 of them: Andrew, who is 24 and is a bon a fide artist. Caroline, who is 21 and is studying psychology at the University of Santa Cruz (or somewhere in california). And Bethany, who is 18 and is doing something with her life. It was marvelous to have them all here. We were also blessed to have my friend Kenny's family over for a couple of days. They are full of energy and kept the house lively. I have not seen a family that likes to play games as much as them. I think they...