Saturday, December 31, 2011

Song of the Day #29 - Mat Kearney

This song of the day I heard while watching the Google year in review video.  Mat Kearney's voice sounds a lot like Chris Martin of Coldplay which I like.  This song is off his 2011 album "Young Love."  This is a great song.

"Sooner or Later" by Mat Kearney
YouTube link

Friday, December 30, 2011

2012 End Of The World Is A Joke...

Some people believe that 2012 is the end of the world.  A lot of people don't understand the basis of this.  I don't know much about it, but it has something to do with the Mayans.  They had some way of figuring that this particular year that the world was going to end.  I don't get it, but they did.  Other people believe that the world is going to restart itself and be the way it is meant to be or something along those lines.

All I know is that people have bought into this doomsday crap and it hasn't come true.  In the year 2000, people thought the world was going to end.  But here I am posting on my blog.  May 21, 2011, the world was supposed to end and again, here I am.  Apparently Harold Camping miscalculated the date and the actual date of the world ending was October 21.  But here I am once again...

This whole end of the world crap is a joke.  The world will end when it's ready.  We don't some crackpot or Mayans to tell that this day or during this year the world will end.  All this is just a scare tactic.  There were commercials that showed people running for their lives and that they had to get entered into some lottery to get a spot in some underground shelter so you survive the end of the world.  Like I said, it's all just a big scare tactic and people shouldn't buy into this.  It's just sad that there is a portion of the people that do.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Occupy Wall Street Movement

I've been sitting on this for a while now and have been just trying to collect my thoughts.  This post stems from a status on Facebook.  But now I've decided to actually finish this post...

Apparently the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is still happening.  What I want to know is, what has it accomplished?  Has Wall Street took notice and thought "lets change things?"  Have corporations changed how they run?  No!  They are still doing what they have been doing for eons and not batting an eye.  They are making money, so why do they care if they stay the same?

I understand there are a portion of the people that protest to try and get changes to happen (which may never happen).  But there are a portion of the people that protest because they think it's cool to protest and try and stick it to the man.  I'm all for sticking it to the man if it accomplishes something, but I have yet to hear or read about it accomplishing something.

I've been saying that if they truly want to make a change, than they should do it from the inside by working their way up through a company or corporation and try to bring about change that way.  I would think that this is the smart way to go.  Or so one would think, but people would rather be unproductive and complain about things being so shitty instead of trying.  I am all for protesting, but doing this is a cop out to not having to do anything from within to bring about change.  Sure you'll feel satisfied (for a lack of a better word) knowing that you brought through protesting.  But wouldn't you feel better if you brought about change from within knowing you worked hard to bring about that change?  Maybe it's the fact I grew up being told to work hard (even though I don't a lot of times) that I feel that change should be brought from within.

It's not only all the above stuff I mentioned, but also that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement has been funded by the wrong people.  People don't realize who it's funded by.  George Soros has funded the movement yet he is in one of the groups (Wall Street) that people are protesting against.  Isn't this the biggest heir of irony?  People like to be oblivious and think their particular "Occupy Wall Street" protest is not funded by a guy like Soros, for exmaple, but in reality they don't know who is funding it.  Their particular protest could be funded by the crookedest people in corporations or Wall Street and they wouldn't be none-the-wiser to it.

In some places I've heard about that have these protests, they have been violent.  Isn't being violent taking away from the intent of why you are protesting?  Isn't the counterproductive and change the focus onto something else other than the intent of the protests?  Plus it only takes one person to get the crowd violent and whatnot.

Maybe I'm looking at the surface of this issue.  Maybe it goes much deeper.  Either way, I have yet to hear or read about their protests bringing about even the slightest change.

Oh and to the Saskatoon man who didn't buy Christmas presents for his children because it is supporting the corporations, you can buy presents at businesses that are not corporations.  I may have bought Christmas presents at corporate stores, but it wasn't at mega corporation department starts like Walmart.  There are alternatives and it can be done.  Just saying...

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Random Fact #7

Roger Ebert tweeted today that today, December 28, is the birthday of movies.  So to all, past and present, who who have made a career making movies, in some way or another, or just enjoy watching movies, we say happy birthday movies.

Monday, December 19, 2011

In The Age Of The Internet

Here is a poem I randomly started to write as a status on Facebook, but decided to post in a blog instead.

In the age of the Internet, news travels fast and five seconds later it is old
In the age of the Internet, people will believe anything
In the age of the Internet, people will have their nutty convoluted views and opinions affirmed
In the age of the Internet, there are ways to get things without paying for it
In the age of the Internet, jokes and sarcasm are not easily picked up by people as they are too dense
In the age of the Internet, the stupidest shit becomes popular
In the age of the Internet, people will start rumors on social networking sites because they seemingly have nothing to do
In the age of the Internet, people act differently than they do offline
In the age of the Internet, people think it's a big deal to hide their identity when you can easily be found
In the age of the Internet, people act like they know everything and don't like to be proven wrong
In the age of the Internet, people post statuses on Facebook saying they are bored yet they are on the Internet
In the age of the Internet, people say they support charities and causes, but in actuality, they don't do anything to prove that
In the age of the Internet, we have crafted a language specifically for use online because we've become too lazy to type complete words
In the age of the Internet, people like to label people without knowing them even if it is true
In the age of the Internet, things have changed for the good and for the bad

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Song of the Day #28 - Andrea Bocelli

Here is one of my favourite traditional Christmas carols.  Andrea Bocelli is very good.  This version is so damn good.  It is in Italian.

"Angels We Have Heard on High" by Andrea Bocelli
YouTube link

Reflections On Sunday

Looking back on this past Sunday, I can say that there was a lot of emotions.  There was sadness, joy, thanks, praise, and love to name some.  It was just a great time to reflect on what Brandon and Jessica have done for the church.  The impact they had on the community will never be forgotten.  You could feel the spirit of the Lord moving throughout the service, the way the music way played, the gathering around Brandon and Jessica praying for them.

There were tears shed, thanks were given, and it was just a great to sit back and reflect.  Sure there will be a void now, but at the same time, I know that College Park Covenant Church will be alright!  The groundwork that Brandon and Jessica have done will continue to go on.  We have great ministries within the church that were started when Brandon was here.  I've noticed that a lot of new people and families (a lot of young families especially) have started coming to the church and they have connected with the church through Brandon.

Overall, Sunday was a great celebration, a great sendoff, and more of a "see you later" rather than goodbye to the Shurr family.  They will be missed and we all thank them for their selfless work at College Park Covenant Church!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Song of the Day #27 - Johnathon Coulton - Two Versions

This song of the day is my new song obsession.  It's from "Portal" a great video game.  I like both the original featuring classically trained soprano Ellen McClain from the game and the new version recorded by Johnathon Coulton featuring Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara for Coulton's 2011 album Artificial Heart.  I shouldn't forget Dorit Chrysler.  She plays the theremin.  Coulton was approached by Valve to write a song for a video game which was "Portal."  Being a fan of the "Half-Life" series (which is an amazing video game series), Coulton jumped on the opportunity.  This is what Coulton came up with.

"Still Alive" by Johnathon Coulton featuring Ellen McClain
YouTube link



"Still Alive" by Johnathon Coulton featuring Sara Quin and Dorit Chrysler
YouTube link

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Bluegrass Goodbye to the Shurr Family

Sunday is Brandon's final day.  His family and himself are moving back to Indiana to plant a church in his wife, Jessica's, hometown of Bloomington.  I am playing in worship and it will be awesome.  It is a bluegrass themed worship where we take old hymns like "I'll Fly Away," "Softly and Tenderly Jesus," "Amazing Grace," and others and put a bluegrass spin on them. I am playing the kick and snare.  I will also sing.  I am just so pumped.  It will be a great time to celebrate Brandon and his family and all that they have done for the church.

We will have another practice on Friday evening.  It will be awesome.  I feel the spirit of the Lord when I am playing.  I've never felt it this strong when playing music.  We will do a quick run through on Sunday morning.

I thank the Brandon for all he has done for the church.  Please keep them in your prayers as they plant a church in Bloomington and get settled.  The Shurr Family will be missed.