Instead of talking about how awesome it is that I made it to 150 consecutive posts, I'm gonna throw out a salute to all those in the armed services who've given their lives in the name of what they believed in.
*salutes*
So, expect a long entry tommorrow. I'll compose something while I'm at work tonight.
In the meantime thank those who've served in the military. Thank 'em for their sacrifices. Give 'em a free steak at the barbecue you're all at.
Oh, and happy Monday to the non-Americans reading this. =P
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Insert Annoyed Grunt Here
I'm going to be honest with you right now... I don't feel like typing up a quality entry today.
I got struck with a wave of insomnia that didn't pass on until well after 0800. Ended up falling asleep and waking about... oh, I'd say an hour ago.
As such, I'm feeling sleep-deprived and not in any condition to type anything coherent other than these sentences.
I apologize for this, but hey - I'm entitled to these kinds of entries. That, and - more importantly - I'm apologizing for it. *shrugs*
Doesn't that count for something? No? Well, sad face, then. =(
I got struck with a wave of insomnia that didn't pass on until well after 0800. Ended up falling asleep and waking about... oh, I'd say an hour ago.
As such, I'm feeling sleep-deprived and not in any condition to type anything coherent other than these sentences.
I apologize for this, but hey - I'm entitled to these kinds of entries. That, and - more importantly - I'm apologizing for it. *shrugs*
Doesn't that count for something? No? Well, sad face, then. =(
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Not Just a Financial Investment
I have calculated that this sentence will end... NOW.
CURRENT MUSIC:
Infected Mushroom - "Suliman"
Vicious Delicious
Yerps. Psychedelic trance music. Woo. All the fun of trance with the unique versatility most other electronic music can't provide. (That's what I think, anyway.)
While I could probably use this for background music in a movie - action sequences,street racing nighttime driving, training montages, to name a few - I honestly believe the sound of this piece feels right at home with space-based fighter combat. (The vid here proves its compatibility with Star Fox 64, but I've field-tested and confirmed "Suliman's" compatibility with the Gradius series. =D)
Rammstein - "Sonne"
Mutter
Probably my favorite Rammstein song out there. Despite the divisions amongst the online community (still) attempting to find out what the meaning is behind this song, I could care less - I'm too busy enjoying this song.
To people looking for some PvP background music, I'd recommend this song. Works even better if you're a stealthy kind of character who destroys the competition. =P
Yoko Shimomura - "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms"
Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version
As my generation of gamers got to experience the Super NES in its heyday, this piece should bring back memories of those good old days when we'd blitz our homework so we could play our beloved video games. Of those Super Nintendo games, a great portion of us would have to rate Super Mario RPG as one the best out there.
My reasoning stands by the music - Shimomura did a fantastic job with the soundtrack. It's just musical wonder from start to finish, but "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms" really takes the cake. It's probably the most well-known piece from the game.
"A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It's the testing point of our character and competence."
- Stephen Covey
True. With so many (bad) choices surrounding so many people it's quite interesting to see that some people haven't given in to lying about themselves.
You ever take the time to just go over your finances and notice that something's missing?
Mind you, I'm not talking about fraud or companies double-charging your card. I'm talking about overspending and being gluttonous with your spending habits.
For some ungodly reason, I ended up doing that while I was at work. I pulled out some scrap paper during lunch, whipped out a pen, and began crunching the numbers. After calculating all the necessary expenditures, bills, taxes and service fees* I ended up with a positive number that was much higher than I thought it would be.
That left me baffled enough to ask the rhetorical cliché "Where [the [expletive]] is all my money going!?" I'm quite concerned - according to the math I should have "X," but instead I'm pretty much clinging to life at "-Y."
I asked myself, "How are you going to get '-Y' to start looking a bit more like 'X,' you financial blunderhead?" I came up with a few theories, and I don't like any of them.
* = I didn't count food in this equation. I figured that if I wanted to eat at a good place (which I do a lot), it'd be out of the "remainder" part rather than "necessity."
** = Pretty hard to perform correctly, but I suppose anything's worth trying at least once. Right?
So, time to test my character and competence, I believe. I'll see you all later.
CURRENT MUSIC:
Infected Mushroom - "Suliman"
Vicious Delicious
Yerps. Psychedelic trance music. Woo. All the fun of trance with the unique versatility most other electronic music can't provide. (That's what I think, anyway.)
While I could probably use this for background music in a movie - action sequences,
Rammstein - "Sonne"
Mutter
Probably my favorite Rammstein song out there. Despite the divisions amongst the online community (still) attempting to find out what the meaning is behind this song, I could care less - I'm too busy enjoying this song.
To people looking for some PvP background music, I'd recommend this song. Works even better if you're a stealthy kind of character who destroys the competition. =P
Yoko Shimomura - "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms"
Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version
As my generation of gamers got to experience the Super NES in its heyday, this piece should bring back memories of those good old days when we'd blitz our homework so we could play our beloved video games. Of those Super Nintendo games, a great portion of us would have to rate Super Mario RPG as one the best out there.
My reasoning stands by the music - Shimomura did a fantastic job with the soundtrack. It's just musical wonder from start to finish, but "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms" really takes the cake. It's probably the most well-known piece from the game.
"A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It's the testing point of our character and competence."
- Stephen Covey
True. With so many (bad) choices surrounding so many people it's quite interesting to see that some people haven't given in to lying about themselves.
You ever take the time to just go over your finances and notice that something's missing?
Mind you, I'm not talking about fraud or companies double-charging your card. I'm talking about overspending and being gluttonous with your spending habits.
For some ungodly reason, I ended up doing that while I was at work. I pulled out some scrap paper during lunch, whipped out a pen, and began crunching the numbers. After calculating all the necessary expenditures, bills, taxes and service fees* I ended up with a positive number that was much higher than I thought it would be.
That left me baffled enough to ask the rhetorical cliché "Where [the [expletive]] is all my money going!?" I'm quite concerned - according to the math I should have "X," but instead I'm pretty much clinging to life at "-Y."
I asked myself, "How are you going to get '-Y' to start looking a bit more like 'X,' you financial blunderhead?" I came up with a few theories, and I don't like any of them.
- Starve.
Seems like one of the things I throw my spare money at would be food. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a bit of a food connoisseur who'd prefer good food over everything else, but that's a costly route that I simply can't afford at this time (or rather, shouldn't afford). By cutting off a major amount of gluttonous spending and refocusing on cheaper food (possibly bought in bulk), I could save a lot of money. However, by doing so I risk jumping off the bandwagon very swiftly (too much bland food in my system = me bugging out for something BETTER) - and not to mention that cheap food equates to unnecessarily-high amounts of sodium and carbs - something I'd much rather not have due to "Operation: DREAM EATER."
- Cut off every source of monetary-based entertainment.
By this, I mean stop buying all the ridiculously fun toys I get for myself (and sadly, I've got a lot). This would obviously start pulling me out of the red, but at the cost of me getting bored and slowly wigging out from monotony. I get bored easily, so I figured I'd counter it by surrounding myself with a plethora of fun things. It's worked so far, but... there's gotta be a line, right?
- Work more hours.
So far this seems to be the one choice I'm leaning towards at the moment. I could try to grab more hours. However, what I'd gain in money I'd lose in free time and sanity - two things I just seem to lack lately in life. I'd end up financially stable, but I probably wouldn't be there in one piece at the end. I've done this before (that end road doesn't look pretty at all), and if I have to go down this road again, then... so be it.
- Do the "impossible" and find a healthy balance of the above three options.
I say "impossible" because I think it is. I've never been one to balance my life around, and those who claim that they're able to have yet to realize how thin the tightrope they're treading on actually is. (I give them a year before they lose their stability and begin burning out.) However, if done correctly** this would be the best option. In theory, of course.
* = I didn't count food in this equation. I figured that if I wanted to eat at a good place (which I do a lot), it'd be out of the "remainder" part rather than "necessity."
** = Pretty hard to perform correctly, but I suppose anything's worth trying at least once. Right?
So, time to test my character and competence, I believe. I'll see you all later.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Longest Short Entry Ever
An off-Friday. This has been a loooooooooooooong week. I can only assume that this weekend will be longer.
Yay for short, right-before-work entries, huh?
Yay for short, right-before-work entries, huh?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Aural Focus
Tags:
music
"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be."
- Peter Gibbons
Office Space
Sometimes, I think we all need a day like this. I got one today, and it felt GREAT. =)
Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the first blog here that just might throw you off... mostly because I willingly detract from the usual norm*.
Why? It has to do with two things: what happened to me when I woke up, and what I did for the day afterwards.
I woke up and for the first hour of consciousness or so, I had zero sense of time - for some odd reason, my sense of time was not active. I had trouble convincing myself today was Thursday, and it took me about ten minutes' worth of staring at an analog clock** and roughly fifty minutes of me mentally arguing with myself about whether today was actually Thursday or not.
After that weird... episode... I decided that I would just take it easy for the rest of the day. As a result, today was mostly uneventful. For starters, I was asleep most of the day for some unknown reason, and when I was active, it was either to react to a power outage that nearly messed up my external hard drives (I was defragging my laptop and the externals at the time) or eating a meal that would give me a pleasant food coma.
I wanna say that I pretty much became Peter Gibbons incarnate... y'know, if I actually had work today at a desk job I hate oh-so-much. That's not to say that I did absolutely nothing - I had a personal day that I thoroughly enjoyed (and currently still enjoying) sorting music, listening to said music, sorting TCG cards, and sipping various suicides*** and cleaning my room. It sounds uneventful, but paradoxically I think I actually got a decent amount of things I wanted done. Made me happy and - from a mental standpoint - fully recharged. I like that. It's going to be worth it being in a state like this when I go into work for the Memorial Day weekend.
So, what does all that have to do with today's entry and it "detracting from the usual norm" that I go by? Well, that's where the footnotes come in. (Well, the first one, at least.)
* = For God's sake, I threw up the quote as the first thing on here! How does that NOT detract from the usual norm? Also, notice that the bulk of today's entry is first as compared to the pre-blog things I usually tout off when I throw up something decent. Come on... PLEASE tell me you're not this dense...
** = A lazy American? Using analog clocks to tell time!? HAH! That sounds almost as preposterous as card games on motorcycles!
*** = I associate the term "suicide" with two different things. The first is the obvious one everyone knows it as (the taking of one's own life). The second (which I was using in the footnoted sentence) is a self-concocted beverage that consists of your choice of whatever drinks are readily available - combined, modified, and served at your disclosure. This can be done as a virgin drink (if you wanna be experimental, kid-friendly and highly caffeinated) or as an alcoholic cocktail that's a wary step up from an Adios Motherfucker (if you wanna be experimental, "kid-friendly" and highly drunk). Just don't use milk. EVER.
Now, seeing as how I had loads of fun going through my music collections, I think that will be today's entry's primary focus. Play the music along with me or search for these things online so you can - if anything, it'll provide you with interesting ambient music.
Who knows? You might end up becoming intrigued by one of these tracks as well. *arches an eyebrow*
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: For your aural pleasure*, I've provided a YouTube link to each of these tracks. Now you don't have to go through a painstakingly difficult search to find out what it sounds like - the only painstaking task you have to go through would be to bear with the annoying advertisements. I just hope you're using an Internet browser that supports tabbed browsing as that'll be much easier to use. Oh, and in regards to finding you links: you're welcome. =P)
* = Heh. "Aural pleasure." Sounds dirty. *snerk*
CURRENT MUSIC:
Bear McCreary - "Prelude to War"
Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack
Wow. I just love how this track opens up. I heard this and I'm sitting there thinking of a gazillion different scenarios I could use this in when speaking from a movie perspective.
This track (along with the rest of Battlestar Galactica's music) now has me somewhat intrigued with the show . While it possessed the "space operatic" feel I was expecting from a sci-fi series' soundtrack, the overall ethnic sound carefully woven into the music was a welcome surprise. With the numerous (combat) scenes I imagined in my head as "Prelude to War" played in my head, it made me wonder how the track was actually used in the series.
I've yet to see the actual show itself, but from some of my friends keen in the science fiction department, they say it's a pretty good program. Judging from my reaction to the aural quality of its soundtrack, I think I might have to give the series a shot.
George Michael - "Careless Whisper"
Make It Big
I know a few of my readers were either old enough to listen to music during the 1980s or are fans of '80s music are cheering a bit because of my song selection. Knowledgeable people (in regards to popular music or me) will probably be arching an eyebrow. Of course, the rest of you are probably asking me or yourselves, "...the hell is this song?"
Subconsciously, if you're around my age or older, you already know "Careless Whisper" - either you heard it on some radio station doing some '80s throwback when you were a kid, or your parents listened to this enough.
Regardless, I'm quite sure everyone knows of its famous riff.
Jazz rendition of Super Mario Bros. 3 music aside... *clears throat*
Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda - "Bombardment 2"
Eternal Arcadia Original Soundtrack
Quite the track to use for an aerial-based fight (or any fight, for that matter). Not only that, but it has a bit of a pirate-like feel to it, which makes it all the more fun.
I mean, after all... pirate ships. Airships. Pirate airships. Pirate airship battles. OOO.
Try imagining a pirate ship fight using your choice of vehicles (historical pirate ships, wooden sail airships, spaceships, etc.) and try to use a different track afterwards.
I can guarantee few come close to how... epic... "Bombardment 2" sounds with that.
Koutarou Nakagawa - "Beautiful Emperor"
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Original Soundtrack Volume 1
God, I love this piece. It screams heroic dominance - kind of an announcement to the listener that says, "Hey! Pay attention to the guy/girl who's currently using this as their entry fanfare!" Perfect for byronic narcissists and power-hungry would-be global conquerers alike.
Which means that every once in a while, this'll be blared by yours truly. I might be at work walking into the team member service center to clock out, or I might be stuck in heavy traffic in the city. No matter the situation, you will know... that the person blaring this believes themselves to be of high value to society.
*blares "Beautiful Emperor" and sets the speakers to 11*
The Lonely Island - "I'm on a Boat (f. T-Pain)"
Incredibad
Probably one of The Lonely Island's most known songs from their debut album. Every time this comes on, I can't help but sing along. (It's better if more people are present with you when it does go on. And for future reference, dibs on T-Pain's lyrics. =P)
Anyway, what's NOT to love about this song? Absolutely brilliant - it's a great satirical take on rap songs out there today. Hell - even the music video does the same thing. Incessant swearing, lyrics and film clips that have nothing to do with the song itself, a sick beat, and backing vocals by T-Pain? What more does a rap song/video need?
Well, that'll be it for tonight. I'll see you all tomorrow, I suppose?
- Peter Gibbons
Office Space
Sometimes, I think we all need a day like this. I got one today, and it felt GREAT. =)
Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the first blog here that just might throw you off... mostly because I willingly detract from the usual norm*.
Why? It has to do with two things: what happened to me when I woke up, and what I did for the day afterwards.
I woke up and for the first hour of consciousness or so, I had zero sense of time - for some odd reason, my sense of time was not active. I had trouble convincing myself today was Thursday, and it took me about ten minutes' worth of staring at an analog clock** and roughly fifty minutes of me mentally arguing with myself about whether today was actually Thursday or not.
After that weird... episode... I decided that I would just take it easy for the rest of the day. As a result, today was mostly uneventful. For starters, I was asleep most of the day for some unknown reason, and when I was active, it was either to react to a power outage that nearly messed up my external hard drives (I was defragging my laptop and the externals at the time) or eating a meal that would give me a pleasant food coma.
I wanna say that I pretty much became Peter Gibbons incarnate... y'know, if I actually had work today at a desk job I hate oh-so-much. That's not to say that I did absolutely nothing - I had a personal day that I thoroughly enjoyed (and currently still enjoying) sorting music, listening to said music, sorting TCG cards, and sipping various suicides*** and cleaning my room. It sounds uneventful, but paradoxically I think I actually got a decent amount of things I wanted done. Made me happy and - from a mental standpoint - fully recharged. I like that. It's going to be worth it being in a state like this when I go into work for the Memorial Day weekend.
So, what does all that have to do with today's entry and it "detracting from the usual norm" that I go by? Well, that's where the footnotes come in. (Well, the first one, at least.)
* = For God's sake, I threw up the quote as the first thing on here! How does that NOT detract from the usual norm? Also, notice that the bulk of today's entry is first as compared to the pre-blog things I usually tout off when I throw up something decent. Come on... PLEASE tell me you're not this dense...
** = A lazy American? Using analog clocks to tell time!? HAH! That sounds almost as preposterous as card games on motorcycles!
*** = I associate the term "suicide" with two different things. The first is the obvious one everyone knows it as (the taking of one's own life). The second (which I was using in the footnoted sentence) is a self-concocted beverage that consists of your choice of whatever drinks are readily available - combined, modified, and served at your disclosure. This can be done as a virgin drink (if you wanna be experimental, kid-friendly and highly caffeinated) or as an alcoholic cocktail that's a wary step up from an Adios Motherfucker (if you wanna be experimental, "kid-friendly" and highly drunk). Just don't use milk. EVER.
Now, seeing as how I had loads of fun going through my music collections, I think that will be today's entry's primary focus. Play the music along with me or search for these things online so you can - if anything, it'll provide you with interesting ambient music.
Who knows? You might end up becoming intrigued by one of these tracks as well. *arches an eyebrow*
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: For your aural pleasure*, I've provided a YouTube link to each of these tracks. Now you don't have to go through a painstakingly difficult search to find out what it sounds like - the only painstaking task you have to go through would be to bear with the annoying advertisements. I just hope you're using an Internet browser that supports tabbed browsing as that'll be much easier to use. Oh, and in regards to finding you links: you're welcome. =P)
* = Heh. "Aural pleasure." Sounds dirty. *snerk*
CURRENT MUSIC:
Bear McCreary - "Prelude to War"
Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack
Wow. I just love how this track opens up. I heard this and I'm sitting there thinking of a gazillion different scenarios I could use this in when speaking from a movie perspective.
This track (along with the rest of Battlestar Galactica's music) now has me somewhat intrigued with the show . While it possessed the "space operatic" feel I was expecting from a sci-fi series' soundtrack, the overall ethnic sound carefully woven into the music was a welcome surprise. With the numerous (combat) scenes I imagined in my head as "Prelude to War" played in my head, it made me wonder how the track was actually used in the series.
I've yet to see the actual show itself, but from some of my friends keen in the science fiction department, they say it's a pretty good program. Judging from my reaction to the aural quality of its soundtrack, I think I might have to give the series a shot.
George Michael - "Careless Whisper"
Make It Big
I know a few of my readers were either old enough to listen to music during the 1980s or are fans of '80s music are cheering a bit because of my song selection. Knowledgeable people (in regards to popular music or me) will probably be arching an eyebrow. Of course, the rest of you are probably asking me or yourselves, "...the hell is this song?"
Subconsciously, if you're around my age or older, you already know "Careless Whisper" - either you heard it on some radio station doing some '80s throwback when you were a kid, or your parents listened to this enough.
Regardless, I'm quite sure everyone knows of its famous riff.
Jazz rendition of Super Mario Bros. 3 music aside... *clears throat*
Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda - "Bombardment 2"
Eternal Arcadia Original Soundtrack
Quite the track to use for an aerial-based fight (or any fight, for that matter). Not only that, but it has a bit of a pirate-like feel to it, which makes it all the more fun.
I mean, after all... pirate ships. Airships. Pirate airships. Pirate airship battles. OOO.
Try imagining a pirate ship fight using your choice of vehicles (historical pirate ships, wooden sail airships, spaceships, etc.) and try to use a different track afterwards.
I can guarantee few come close to how... epic... "Bombardment 2" sounds with that.
Koutarou Nakagawa - "Beautiful Emperor"
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Original Soundtrack Volume 1
God, I love this piece. It screams heroic dominance - kind of an announcement to the listener that says, "Hey! Pay attention to the guy/girl who's currently using this as their entry fanfare!" Perfect for byronic narcissists and power-hungry would-be global conquerers alike.
Which means that every once in a while, this'll be blared by yours truly. I might be at work walking into the team member service center to clock out, or I might be stuck in heavy traffic in the city. No matter the situation, you will know... that the person blaring this believes themselves to be of high value to society.
*blares "Beautiful Emperor" and sets the speakers to 11*
The Lonely Island - "I'm on a Boat (f. T-Pain)"
Incredibad
Probably one of The Lonely Island's most known songs from their debut album. Every time this comes on, I can't help but sing along. (It's better if more people are present with you when it does go on. And for future reference, dibs on T-Pain's lyrics. =P)
Anyway, what's NOT to love about this song? Absolutely brilliant - it's a great satirical take on rap songs out there today. Hell - even the music video does the same thing. Incessant swearing, lyrics and film clips that have nothing to do with the song itself, a sick beat, and backing vocals by T-Pain? What more does a rap song/video need?
Well, that'll be it for tonight. I'll see you all tomorrow, I suppose?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Lack of Communications
My friends know me currently as someone who will purposefully lag when it comes to cell phone-based communications, which makes planning things with me quite difficult. (Barring times when I'm the one spearheading the plan, of course.)
Of course, it only gets worse when I actually lose the phone in question.
My cell's been M.I.A. since yesterday afternoon. Or before that, possibly... my memory's not that good.
Current theories suggest that it's probably at work somewhere, stashed safe and sound.
So, to those of you who read this and have my number: if you've been calling or texting me since... oh, let's say... Monday night...? ...then now you know why I haven't responded.
...hey, at least this is legitimate...!
*clears throat* A-Anyway... time to work! *leaves*
Of course, it only gets worse when I actually lose the phone in question.
My cell's been M.I.A. since yesterday afternoon. Or before that, possibly... my memory's not that good.
Current theories suggest that it's probably at work somewhere, stashed safe and sound.
So, to those of you who read this and have my number: if you've been calling or texting me since... oh, let's say... Monday night...? ...then now you know why I haven't responded.
...hey, at least this is legitimate...!
*clears throat* A-Anyway... time to work! *leaves*
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Snuffing Self-Doubt, Artist-Style
Discovering who I am and what I've done to get myself where I currently am at seems to be my biggest trend these days.
Naturally, one can assume that a decent entry will contain some amount of "facts" I've discovered about myself.
So, three guesses as to what today's entry will discuss. ("Wine, women and song" would be incorrect - although hedonism would be an interesting topic to discuss...)
Naturally, one can assume that a decent entry will contain some amount of "facts" I've discovered about myself.
So, three guesses as to what today's entry will discuss. ("Wine, women and song" would be incorrect - although hedonism would be an interesting topic to discuss...)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Seek the Answers Through Work
It's another Monday. Another workday for myself, which means an off-day is soon to follow.
And usually, with off-days come good blogs - so the sequence would say.
Oh, I don't know. I'm just throwing words up here as I think of them. Perhaps this is the simplest form of blogging (and in that regard, writing) out there? Why can't I do that now with my own writing?
Hm. Perhaps I'll ponder it over work. And while I eat my lunch.
Why do I think freely when it comes to simple matters such as thinking of what to write on today's entry, yet fail to get anything done when an actual writing project comes along?
Maybe I'll get the answer to you tomorrow. For now, work awaits me and the crowd of people who didn't get raptured on Saturday! (Wait... nobody got raptured. HAH!)
And usually, with off-days come good blogs - so the sequence would say.
Oh, I don't know. I'm just throwing words up here as I think of them. Perhaps this is the simplest form of blogging (and in that regard, writing) out there? Why can't I do that now with my own writing?
Hm. Perhaps I'll ponder it over work. And while I eat my lunch.
Why do I think freely when it comes to simple matters such as thinking of what to write on today's entry, yet fail to get anything done when an actual writing project comes along?
Maybe I'll get the answer to you tomorrow. For now, work awaits me and the crowd of people who didn't get raptured on Saturday! (Wait... nobody got raptured. HAH!)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Late-Night Snacks
Some say that food tastes better after midnight. I subscribe to that theory (and to great gusto!) and highly recommend my fellow night owls that're hungry to go off and get food as well!
Unfortunately, I'm kind of pulling a double-standard - I'm eating a burger at the moment. While it tastes awesome, it's not as awesome as it would be past midnight.
However, if I waited until then to talk about it here, then I'd miss today's deadline, and THAT wouldn't be good.
So, I'll just eat it now while it's still warm and oh-so-tasty. *noms*
Unfortunately, I'm kind of pulling a double-standard - I'm eating a burger at the moment. While it tastes awesome, it's not as awesome as it would be past midnight.
However, if I waited until then to talk about it here, then I'd miss today's deadline, and THAT wouldn't be good.
So, I'll just eat it now while it's still warm and oh-so-tasty. *noms*
Saturday, May 21, 2011
End? Um. No.
Tags:
opinions
In light of today's (supposed) current events, I figured I might as well join in the "festivities" that I think will be going on.
If that sentence confused you (or at least boggled your perceptions of me), then good - you might get something out of this post today.
CURRENT MUSIC:
Halestorm - "I Get Off"
Halestorm
I remember first hearing about Halestorm (and then listening to them very soon afterwards) at last year's Rockstar Uproar Festival. They had a great sound, and sure enough I ended up
Anyway, moving on from expository background. This song's just brimming with energy. Lots of it. While the lyrics may seem sexually charged (with the less-intelligent and closed-minded thinking this), I saw something else embedded within the song - a metaphor for (the singer) being on stage, giving an amazing show to the fans (who Lzzy is singing to) and feeding off of each other's positive energy.
In that same regard, I can relate to this song. Artistically speaking, I kind of do the same thing when it comes to my literary work. I feed off of the positive reinforcement that I get from comments and constructive criticism, and the readers in turn get something fun to read.*
* = If we ignore all those short entries I post almost every other day on here and the occasionally-depressing poems I touted off back in high school, then this statement is true. =3
Muse - "Uprising"
The Resistance
The opening track to Muse's most current album is actually the song that got me into listening to them in fervor. (Yeah, I know - what the hell took me so long to like them?)
Truth is, I heard a few songs by them in the past back in high school and I thought they were just "pretty decent." Then last year I was exposed to The Resistance and I ended up purchasing a copy. Some time later I found myself parked in a car underneath a shady tree with time to spare, so I popped in the album as I sat there reading. Ended up repeating the album because I loved it so much.
Anyway, I found this fitting with today's entry because a good portion of the world is so wrapped up with today that it's snuffing out the more important aspects of life - like, oh, I don't know... LIFE? Enjoying the day anyway? Not giving a damn what anyone says or judges about you? Disregarding negative and untrue comments about your performance? Taking pride in the fact that common sense exists in your level of rank while it runs scarce higher up in the chain of command?
...wait, we're not talking about work? Oh. OH... *clears throat* uh, well. "We will be victorious," anyways. =3
R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
Document
Something tells me I'm going to hear this song being blared by somebody on my way to work, assuming we don't hear strange alien signals first. *snerk*
"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal - or at least wildly inaccurate - it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important aspects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover."
- Douglas Adams
(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Strangely appropriate for today, don't you think?
Sadly, though, I have yet to read this book. I really want to, though.
So, good day to you ladies and gentlemen! Today's a bright and sunny day, which contradicts with what some say could be the start of "the end of the world" - otherwise known as "the rapture."
To those who, like me, don't really pay attention to current events or just say "I don't give a damn"* about the news, here's the nilly-willy:
Today - Saturday, May 21, 2011 - is supposed to be the day of rapture. According to Christians, God's chosen people (the believers) will ascend into heaven while the rest of us normal folk will get hit with a worldwide chain of earthquakes.
...what.
* = Oh, that's our shortstop!
Now, some of you are wondering what I'm doing relaying current events to you readers. A few of "some of you" are probably even more perplexed due to the fact that you know I'm an empirical and apathetic agnostic.
Truth be told, I wanted to share my two cents on the matter, and I know that if I did so on Facebook, I'd end up looking like some sort of (counter-)troll who's metaphorically slapping the faces of every devout Christian friend I have on there.
So I decided to post here - not only would it count as an entry, but at least here I can say what I want with little repercussion. But just in case...
DISCLAIMER:
Now, as a person who believes that anyone and everyone - including myself - is a fool (or will be if they aren't yet - as if), I will do my best to not express my true opinions. By that, I mean that I'm censoring myself from sounding truly offensive, because at last analysis, my opinions on this supposed rapture were half-insult, half-research - all parts lampooning Christian beliefs. In short: THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT TODAY'S SUPPOSED RAPTURE. If you don't like it, then don't accept it. If I offend you, I apologize, but hey - this is what I think of this whole spiel. That's all.
So, like I summarized up above, today is yet another supposed rapture. Devout and faithful Christians will be taken up into heaven as a reward while the other non-believers will be left on Earth to either repent and hopefully ascend as well... or suffer the impending doom that the apocalypse will bring - starting with a precise chain of earthquakes hitting each area at roughly 1800 hours local time. All this has been predicted by radio evangelist Harold Camping*.
Now, I say "yet another" primarily because in the past, there have been numerous raptures that have come and gone. Predictions have been made since the days of modern Christianity, with the earliest rapture "occurring" in 1844. Since then, numerous people and groups have touted off years or days for "the beginning of the end."
1844's rapture was touted off by William Miller).
Jehova's Witnesses claimed that 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1942 were rapture years.**
And more notably, since the 1980s numerous people have said that those years would be the promised rapture (1981, 1989, and virtually every year of the 1990s - thank you, televangelism: you've created sheep out of men).
Even famed physicist Isacc Newton made a prediction that a rapture will occur - albeit that his calculations ended up pointing to 2060.
Now, with all those years coming and going and their respective predictions being proven untrue (minus Newton's***), I have to ask the Christian community: "Do you REALLY think it's going to happen today? Do you REALLY believe that Harold Camping is right?" Seriously, if each of these past "raptures" already occurred, then I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be over six billion people on this planet by now. (At worst, we'd probably be down to about 300,000 or so.)
As of today, there is no scientific proof that there will indeed be millions of people suddenly rising up and earning eternal life in the heavens and stars above. The only "proof" that these false prophets have been claiming comes from some little holy book that says that judgment is coming. This "Judgment Day" doesn't exist anywhere else but in theory papers and publications by Christian groups.
Of course, with today being what it supposedly is, skeptics and disbelievers living in time zones far ahead of me (GMT-8) have been a very good resource in terms of debunking the crap out of this. New Zealand isn't in a state of post-earthquake emergency, Londoners seem to be tweeting that nothing has happened, and the New York Police Department isn't even expecting a mass panic.
Of course, my friends who aren't buying this prediction are hosting rapture parties, with some of my Facebook friends joining in a "post-Rapture looting" that'll occur... if the rapture indeed happened.
Now here's a fun fact for you: even other Christians are denying any truth to Camping's claim. Level-headed believers cite Matthew 24:36 (KJV: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.") by stating that there is no possible way anyone would know an actual date for any (pre-/post-) apocalyptic event. Christian-operated website RaptureFail calls Camping yet another false prophet as its users and friends report in worldwide that nothing has happened to them. (If I wasn't going to be at work, I'd be reporting in as well.)
I've been quoting others' views on today's "rapture," but I've yet to voice MY response. (Brace yourselves, easily-offended Christians.) I'm sorry to say this, but to you Christians ditching work and friends to go off and pray and prepare for your ascension: you are blind, petty fools who were easily swayed and swindled by a crazy and potentially-megalomaniacal and zealous Christian. I hope you get fired or suffer some horrible sickness or hangover or get some punishment that seems fitting for your transgression.**** Perhaps one day there WILL be a rapture, but it will claim you when you're not even expecting it. I only hope you're not driving a vehicle that anyone I care for's riding in.
So, to those of you who, like me, aren't buying this crap: let's just continue our lives as normal. We'll probably end up getting beers or something later and talking trash about everyone else.
To those of you who did: the rest of us will be making SO MUCH FUN OF YOU over a few rounds of beers. Fair warning, because I'm sure there's a few messed-up individuals who'd do far worse to you.
* = I would have linked Camping's official biography on Family Radio, but it wasn't loading. Hell, Family Radio itself was having problems loading for me. I checked my connections and found that my Internet is operating normally - which leaves me to assume that traffic's getting higher due to the numerous people who're now debunking this and lampooning Camping. Go, Internet!
** = I suppose this could be true. I mean, look at the numerous amounts of God-fearing people who lost their lives during World War I, the Roaring Twenties and WORLD WAR II. *scoffs sarcastically*
*** = Who's got a DeLorean with a flux capacitor? Go to 2060 and see if the world is gone for us, will you?
**** = I could have said "Die in a fire," but that just seems too mean - especially if one of my friends actually believed in this.
Now, I'm not sure if you read all of that. Fortunately (for you bastard skim-readers out there), I fashioned a TL;DR for you that will easily summarize this whole spiel:
If that sentence confused you (or at least boggled your perceptions of me), then good - you might get something out of this post today.
CURRENT MUSIC:
Halestorm - "I Get Off"
Halestorm
I remember first hearing about Halestorm (and then listening to them very soon afterwards) at last year's Rockstar Uproar Festival. They had a great sound, and sure enough I ended up
Anyway, moving on from expository background. This song's just brimming with energy. Lots of it. While the lyrics may seem sexually charged (with the less-intelligent and closed-minded thinking this), I saw something else embedded within the song - a metaphor for (the singer) being on stage, giving an amazing show to the fans (who Lzzy is singing to) and feeding off of each other's positive energy.
In that same regard, I can relate to this song. Artistically speaking, I kind of do the same thing when it comes to my literary work. I feed off of the positive reinforcement that I get from comments and constructive criticism, and the readers in turn get something fun to read.*
* = If we ignore all those short entries I post almost every other day on here and the occasionally-depressing poems I touted off back in high school, then this statement is true. =3
Muse - "Uprising"
The Resistance
The opening track to Muse's most current album is actually the song that got me into listening to them in fervor. (Yeah, I know - what the hell took me so long to like them?)
Truth is, I heard a few songs by them in the past back in high school and I thought they were just "pretty decent." Then last year I was exposed to The Resistance and I ended up purchasing a copy. Some time later I found myself parked in a car underneath a shady tree with time to spare, so I popped in the album as I sat there reading. Ended up repeating the album because I loved it so much.
Anyway, I found this fitting with today's entry because a good portion of the world is so wrapped up with today that it's snuffing out the more important aspects of life - like, oh, I don't know... LIFE? Enjoying the day anyway? Not giving a damn what anyone says or judges about you? Disregarding negative and untrue comments about your performance? Taking pride in the fact that common sense exists in your level of rank while it runs scarce higher up in the chain of command?
...wait, we're not talking about work? Oh. OH... *clears throat* uh, well. "We will be victorious," anyways. =3
R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
Document
Something tells me I'm going to hear this song being blared by somebody on my way to work, assuming we don't hear strange alien signals first. *snerk*
"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal - or at least wildly inaccurate - it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important aspects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover."
- Douglas Adams
(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Strangely appropriate for today, don't you think?
Sadly, though, I have yet to read this book. I really want to, though.
So, good day to you ladies and gentlemen! Today's a bright and sunny day, which contradicts with what some say could be the start of "the end of the world" - otherwise known as "the rapture."
To those who, like me, don't really pay attention to current events or just say "I don't give a damn"* about the news, here's the nilly-willy:
Today - Saturday, May 21, 2011 - is supposed to be the day of rapture. According to Christians, God's chosen people (the believers) will ascend into heaven while the rest of us normal folk will get hit with a worldwide chain of earthquakes.
...what.
* = Oh, that's our shortstop!
Now, some of you are wondering what I'm doing relaying current events to you readers. A few of "some of you" are probably even more perplexed due to the fact that you know I'm an empirical and apathetic agnostic.
Truth be told, I wanted to share my two cents on the matter, and I know that if I did so on Facebook, I'd end up looking like some sort of (counter-)troll who's metaphorically slapping the faces of every devout Christian friend I have on there.
So I decided to post here - not only would it count as an entry, but at least here I can say what I want with little repercussion. But just in case...
DISCLAIMER:
Now, as a person who believes that anyone and everyone - including myself - is a fool (or will be if they aren't yet - as if), I will do my best to not express my true opinions. By that, I mean that I'm censoring myself from sounding truly offensive, because at last analysis, my opinions on this supposed rapture were half-insult, half-research - all parts lampooning Christian beliefs. In short: THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT TODAY'S SUPPOSED RAPTURE. If you don't like it, then don't accept it. If I offend you, I apologize, but hey - this is what I think of this whole spiel. That's all.
So, like I summarized up above, today is yet another supposed rapture. Devout and faithful Christians will be taken up into heaven as a reward while the other non-believers will be left on Earth to either repent and hopefully ascend as well... or suffer the impending doom that the apocalypse will bring - starting with a precise chain of earthquakes hitting each area at roughly 1800 hours local time. All this has been predicted by radio evangelist Harold Camping*.
Now, I say "yet another" primarily because in the past, there have been numerous raptures that have come and gone. Predictions have been made since the days of modern Christianity, with the earliest rapture "occurring" in 1844. Since then, numerous people and groups have touted off years or days for "the beginning of the end."
1844's rapture was touted off by William Miller).
Jehova's Witnesses claimed that 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1942 were rapture years.**
And more notably, since the 1980s numerous people have said that those years would be the promised rapture (1981, 1989, and virtually every year of the 1990s - thank you, televangelism: you've created sheep out of men).
Even famed physicist Isacc Newton made a prediction that a rapture will occur - albeit that his calculations ended up pointing to 2060.
Now, with all those years coming and going and their respective predictions being proven untrue (minus Newton's***), I have to ask the Christian community: "Do you REALLY think it's going to happen today? Do you REALLY believe that Harold Camping is right?" Seriously, if each of these past "raptures" already occurred, then I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be over six billion people on this planet by now. (At worst, we'd probably be down to about 300,000 or so.)
As of today, there is no scientific proof that there will indeed be millions of people suddenly rising up and earning eternal life in the heavens and stars above. The only "proof" that these false prophets have been claiming comes from some little holy book that says that judgment is coming. This "Judgment Day" doesn't exist anywhere else but in theory papers and publications by Christian groups.
Of course, with today being what it supposedly is, skeptics and disbelievers living in time zones far ahead of me (GMT-8) have been a very good resource in terms of debunking the crap out of this. New Zealand isn't in a state of post-earthquake emergency, Londoners seem to be tweeting that nothing has happened, and the New York Police Department isn't even expecting a mass panic.
Of course, my friends who aren't buying this prediction are hosting rapture parties, with some of my Facebook friends joining in a "post-Rapture looting" that'll occur... if the rapture indeed happened.
Now here's a fun fact for you: even other Christians are denying any truth to Camping's claim. Level-headed believers cite Matthew 24:36 (KJV: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.") by stating that there is no possible way anyone would know an actual date for any (pre-/post-) apocalyptic event. Christian-operated website RaptureFail calls Camping yet another false prophet as its users and friends report in worldwide that nothing has happened to them. (If I wasn't going to be at work, I'd be reporting in as well.)
I've been quoting others' views on today's "rapture," but I've yet to voice MY response. (Brace yourselves, easily-offended Christians.) I'm sorry to say this, but to you Christians ditching work and friends to go off and pray and prepare for your ascension: you are blind, petty fools who were easily swayed and swindled by a crazy and potentially-megalomaniacal and zealous Christian. I hope you get fired or suffer some horrible sickness or hangover or get some punishment that seems fitting for your transgression.**** Perhaps one day there WILL be a rapture, but it will claim you when you're not even expecting it. I only hope you're not driving a vehicle that anyone I care for's riding in.
So, to those of you who, like me, aren't buying this crap: let's just continue our lives as normal. We'll probably end up getting beers or something later and talking trash about everyone else.
To those of you who did: the rest of us will be making SO MUCH FUN OF YOU over a few rounds of beers. Fair warning, because I'm sure there's a few messed-up individuals who'd do far worse to you.
* = I would have linked Camping's official biography on Family Radio, but it wasn't loading. Hell, Family Radio itself was having problems loading for me. I checked my connections and found that my Internet is operating normally - which leaves me to assume that traffic's getting higher due to the numerous people who're now debunking this and lampooning Camping. Go, Internet!
** = I suppose this could be true. I mean, look at the numerous amounts of God-fearing people who lost their lives during World War I, the Roaring Twenties and WORLD WAR II. *scoffs sarcastically*
*** = Who's got a DeLorean with a flux capacitor? Go to 2060 and see if the world is gone for us, will you?
**** = I could have said "Die in a fire," but that just seems too mean - especially if one of my friends actually believed in this.
Now, I'm not sure if you read all of that. Fortunately (for you bastard skim-readers out there), I fashioned a TL;DR for you that will easily summarize this whole spiel:
DON'T PANIC
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