Dial-Up News

I did something this afternoon that I very rarely do, if ever. I stopped at Speaker's Circle to listen to Brother Jed, the resident preacher of strict Christianity and other Biblical truths. I don't know much about him, but I can tell that he takes a very literal interpretation of the Bible and can find sin where many think it does not exist. Jesus said that all humans have sin (that's why He died for us) but I think He meant in different ways than Brother Jed seems to think. Anyway, I don't know why I stopped, really. Maybe it was to watch Brother Jed debate another gentleman who had "stepped into the ring." Maybe it was because I think that Jed speaks some truth, however viciously it may be presented. At any rate, today I stopped to hear what was being professed.

For anyone who hasn't been to Speaker's Circle or don't know what it is, let's start with some background. Speaker's Circle is known as one of two places in the state of Missouri where absolute free speech exists, the other being the steps of the Capitol building in Jefferson City. I use absolute free speech to mean freedom to speak one's mind as well as freedom from consequences, both physical and emotional.

But some people don't get this. Some people will turn their disagreement into disrespect. They'll do nothing for the debate, but rather shout random, off-topic, stupid comments into the center of the circle merely for the purpose of antagonizing. They'll harass Brother Jed (or whoever is speaking at the time) with ill-intentioned, unsupported remarks. Today was no exception. There was a group of males sitting together throwing out such moronic statements as "You remind me of the Taliban" and "Hey Jed, have you ever seen Star Wars?" Brother Jed, always the bigger man, will take (and at the same time ignore) these remarks, letting them slide off him like water off a duck's back.

So one of these Star Wars nerds finally speaks up with something close to an intelligent argument by bringing up what he called "postmodernism". Brother Jed, even though he takes crap every day he's out there, will address a comment from anyone (even the crap-flingers) as long as it's presented as a respectful argument and he'll present an equally respectful argument in return. Though many disgree with Jed, one thing everyone agrees on is that Brother Jed is a very good debater and is unbelievably logical in his argument. So this guy brings up postmodernism, which, as I understand it, is the rejection of an absolute truth.

Although a difficult term to pin down, postmodern generally refers to the criticism of absolute truths or identities.
--Wikipedia

He wants to know what Jed has to say about this movement, which pretty much just butts right up against Brother Jed's proclamation that the Bible is the aboslute truth. So in response to this, Brother Jed says something so mindblowing that I'm forced to powerwalk back to my room and write it down in my online blog as fast as possible. He says "to reject an absolute truth is to accept a truth." "Your statement cannot be," he says. It's a contradiction. To reject the fact that an absolute truth exists is, in itself, stating an absolute truth.

Wrap your head around that one for a while. When Jed said that, I just stood there thinking about the bomb that had just been dropped. I heard someone in the crowd say "I hate to agree with Jed, but he's gotcha there." Indeed he had. Logic had once again been Jed's sword and I stepped away smiling as Jed continued to use that sword to say suck on it, postmodernism.

The music's back up. Expect a SOTW next week.

So I've been addicted to YouTube.com lately. They have a bunch of videos that people upload, which means it's a bunch of random crap, which means I LOVE IT. So I'd like to share with you some videos which I find hilarious and/or amazing. Which means you'll probably see them and go "what in the hell?" But that's okay too.

The Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia

Kenny Muhammad beatboxing with an orchestra

Jewish rapper Matisyahu

No doubt this bakery's got all da bomb frostings.

And the Oscar job goes to ... Jon Stewart

So Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscars. Not too shabby. I think he'll do well following in the footsteps of Billy Crystal and, most recently, Chris Rock. I just hope he won't make the Oscars suck. Like the Grammys. I think the Grammy awards host is required by contract to make the show suck. Jon Stewart, please be Mr. Daily Show up there, we all love him.

And maybe the Academy will actually give Best Picture to this year's best picture.

Hahaha, now I'm just being ridiculous.

"In My Life"
Nelly, ft. Ma$e and Avery Storm

[Ma$e]
Yo, Turn the mic up
I haven't been in here in 5 years
And keep the lights on
We got company

[Nelly talking]
Wooooo
Yeeeah
Uh Uh
Yea
Oook
I don't think they gon' really understand this one right herre man
Not at all, not at all
We got a special guest in the house tonight
Who is that?
But first, Ohhh

[Nelly]
You see Nelly ain't the one that'll pay for your phone
Way you lookin ma, I might just pay for your home
Right out the ceremony give you the throne
Put you somewhere you know birds cant come

I don't wanna be your man boo
I wanna be the one
To get inside your brain
And give you my last name
I swear I can change
I put that on er'rything
You aint happy while happy wit me boo
Then gimme the blame
Different color ring for erryday of the week
You can go on and set it up for me 'n pops to meet
Cuz I'ma ask him for you hand
And show that I'm a man
(What if he say that you can't)
I'ma tell him my plans because

[Break]
Me and you was meant to be as one now
Me and you we gon have some fun now
Me and you from sun up to sun down
Me and you that's one thing I know for sure

[Hook]
I still love you
I still want you
(LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!)
I still need you
In my life
In my
(MISTER)
I STILL
(This gon be real fun)
I LOVE YOU
(You might know him as)
I WANT YOU
I think I'ma let you introduce yourself
IN MY LIFE

[Ma$e] One man, one cat, made to win
[Nelly] I heard your hear to change the game again
[Ma$e] Mason Betha heaven sent
[Nelly] No game can change what you represent

[Ma$e]
You can't call me with no money that I never spent
They don't make planes no more to go where I never went
And I ain't gotta keep sinning to keep spinnin'
I prefer pink dice with peach linen
I teach these women what they in the shirt for
Search yours, find out you really worth more
I change your esteem
You was made for a king
Do he really love you?
He ain't give you a ring
I e-rase the hate
That made you mean
Got you 20 lookin' 50
And you only 18
Then ya slate clean
It's not a fake dream
Bye bye hatas
We off for high hatas

[Hook]
I still love you
I still want you
I still need you
In my life
In my
I STILL
I LOVE YOU
I WANT YOU
(They gon be mad at this one lil derrty)
IN MY LIFE

[Break - Nelly]
Me and you was meant to be as one now
Me and you we gon have some fun now
Me and you from sun up to sun down
Me and you that's one thing I know for sure

[Avery Storm]
So girl, tell me is there something I can do to see you
Maybe you can make a little time for me to meet you
I just gotta tell you what I'm goin' through
Gotta let you know I still love you
There's so many things I wanna share with you
So much is there to make me miss you
For what its worth girl
I swear its truth
Girl I wanna let you know
I STILL LOVE YOU!

I still love you
I still want you
I still need you
In my life
In my
I STILL
I LOVE YOU
I WANT YOU
IN MY LIFE

I still love you
I still want you
I still need you
In my life
In my
(It's Fo Reel)
I STILLI LOVE YOU
I WANT YOU
(Ain't no way we should be on the same track lil derrty)
IN MY LIFE

New NBC Drama Show Mocks Christianity

If you've ever talked to me about TV, you know that I don't watch network television. Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.) is full of pointless, dumbed down trash made specially for people to simply absorb without thought. They make it so Americans can shovel this worthless time-wasting crap into their minds as easily as they can shove their microwaveable fried chicken into their mouths, all from the comfort of the living room couch. The only network that actually gets good shows every now and then is FOX, but they have a penchant for quickly cancelling them (see: Titus, Family Guy, MAD TV, and Firefly) and keeping the junk.

So network television sucks. Apparently this wasn't enough. NBC, the bottom of the network TV food chain in my opinion, has come up with a brand new show designed to mindfuck the American public even more. What's it about? From the above article:

The main character is Daniel Webster, a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her mid-day martinis. Webster regularly sees and talks with a very unconventional white-robed, bearded Jesus. The Webster family is rounded out by a 23-year-old homosexual Republican son, a 16-year-old daughter who is a drug dealer, and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having sex with the bishop's daughter. At the office, his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law.

Sounds intriguing, no? Now I'm no scriptwriter, but I can tell that this was meant to offend. It is obvious that this show was written to mock those that hold certain beliefs. This was brought into existence for the sole purpose of picking a fight. But NBC won't tell you that.

NBC and the mainstream media call it "edgy," "challenging" and "courageous."

What about "blantantly offensive"? Or, everyone's favorite buzzword, "controversial"? It's one thing to mock stereotypes or pop culture, but it's completely different to attack people's values and beliefs. It's absolutely inappropriate and has no place in prime time.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not for censorship. I disagree with a lot of what the FCC says. I think that if you don't like it, don't watch it. Turn it off. But a large corporation backing publicly broadcast attacks against personal values and beliefs is borderline defamation and isn't necessary at all.

So for those of you who are prone to action, click on that link above and do something about it. For those of you less action oriented, quit watching network TV, it's bad for you. And finally, if you have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them, just click the comments link below and fire up a discussion.

I thought my laptop was fixed. It's not. And my new desktop doesn't have internet yet. So I'm hopelessly disconnected for a while. More later.