Your Right - It is Ludicrous.

Tonight, on The Hour, George Stroumboulopolos interviews Ludacris and asks an interesting question:

George: “You thank God all the time but your lyrics and video’s are not what God and the pastors want to hear. Why is that?”
Ludacris: “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”

Find the whole interview here.
Interesting. Now go shake your moneymaker!
-Jer

Hazmat Leftovers

The rock opera of the year finally landed in stores last week Tuesday and has enjoyed phenomenal success; the third and much anticipated release of My Chemical Romance was every bit of theatrical emo/punk as the hype leading up to the release claimed it would be! Lead singer Gerard Way and his cast of supporting characters have outdone themselves in creating an experimental album that forces you to listen more then just once. The sounds and progressions of this album reminds me a lot of Green Day’s American Idiot album (same producer) mixed with the clever poetry brought to you by Ben Gibbard and Death Cab for Cutie. If you’ve seen the Black Parade video you can expect more of the same throughout the album’s dark review of life. What’s captivating isn’t so much the dark themes that surround it, but rather the passion, commitment, and craftsmanship that went into this record. The searing emotions, arena style sounds, and storytelling of this album makes it a keeper. Go get it!
-Jer
tags: My Chemical Romance, rock opera

postalpedia

According to postalpedia, the word ‘qualitify’ represents the idea of ‘measuring imagined quality.’ It is the distinctive characteristics that everyone knows are there but can’t quite see because they are feeling based, conceptual, and live only in the realm of imagination. It is very hard to give standard measurements to anything that is qualitified.
We now return to regular programing.
-e.d.

How Much Iron is in Your Diet?

Ok - so here is something interesting; Iron Maiden - Iron Freaking Maiden - their new album debuted at number 1...read that again just to make you feel good. Old timer stadium rockers who gave preachers plenty to preach against in 80's and 90's debuted their newest album at number 1 on the INDIE charts! INDIE?! What the heck! Who runs these things? Unfreakinbelievable! Iron Maiden is not indie....
Run to the hills!
tags: Iron Maiden

Time to Run for Governor

If there was an all time low in the history of film it would be Clint Eastwood directing movies. If you haven’t been put through the agony of “The Flags of our Fathers” yet…I would recommend, for my sake, that you go and share in the same dismal and slow storyline that I sat through. If this film had been any longer I might have shot myself or, at very least, tried to stare into the projector’s bulb to burn out my retina. This film has set a new standard for low in the WWI genre of film and will hopefully inspire Eastwood’s retirement from Hollywood.
tags: Flags of our Fathers, Clint Eastwood

Come back...later.

All posting will be at my other blog for now unitl later.
Appreciate everyone who reads and comments!
Have a remarkable day.
-Jer

Bearly Legal

There is an area that we rockclimb in called ‘skull rocks’ so named for the two bear skulls that we found a couple of years ago. We had set up these skulls as the welcoming decoration into one of the climbing areas and felt that they somehow protected our area from intruders – not that they actually did…it was just the myth we attached to them. You might be able to imagine our disappointment and growing sense of fear when we found one of them missing and the other one smashed this summer; our icons were gone - the climbing area no longer safe.

Last night, after two weeks of not climbing at ‘skull rocks’, Candace, Andrew, and I stumbled across the decaying bodies of two dead bears. It was really quite sad to see these magnificent animals lying there butchered and killed for the sport or greed of some poacher. The first bear that we found had been dumped there with in the last day or so and was only missing “his boys”; some birds had also gotten into his intestines and dragged them out for lunch. This bear, other then the stench and open belly, was still really cute. The second bear, we found only about 30 feet away from the first one, would have been dumped sometime in the last 2 weeks while we were away and was much further along in the “from dust to dust” process. It was mostly bone with bits of skin and flesh still exposed and black hair laying around the perimeter of what I imagine would have been the mass of its body. One of the hind legs of this bear still had skin and flesh up to what I suppose would have been the knee – hairless, wrinkled, and black it reminded me of the burnt and charred remains of life that you see in the movies. An image I won’t soon forget. This bear was missing all of its claws and its skull had been crushed into small fragments – only the jaw bone still identifiable.

I hadn’t come across a bear since earlier this summer when we both rounded a corner to face each other within fifteen feet. The bear and I were both alone and, I like to imagine, that it was as freaked out as much as I was. We starred at each other for a couple of minutes and, the longer I looked at it, the more comfortable I became. The heart racing fear that is natural in those situations turned to heart racing response to the beauty and power of creation; it was amazing. Moments later the bear ambled off into the forest and I continued on my route thanking God for His beautiful world that He has commanded that we care and tend for.

Fish and Game authorities are investigating this morning.

Yesterday is Forever

The update that all one of you have been so eagerly waiting for:
1. I’ve been climbing likely more then you’ve been working.
2. I’ve been writing like crazy.
3. I’ve read a few good books.
4. I’ve been trying to let creativity be the workshop for my imagination.
5. I’ve been looking forward to a new season of writing at the eclectivity is more fun blog.
6. See ya there in wee bit.

As You Were.

There are words and ideas that should never
ever
be stopped. Behind everything of great and lasting value, deep significance, and counter convention is the idea that will never die. The hope that there is more, the belief that there is something better, and the radical eccentricity to see it happen.
I hope you have enjoyed the comfort of your familiarity.
Take a closer look.
I’ve discovered a lie and I see its cover-up.
I’m finished.
.

Thought Association

If you read past this first little paragraph - I'm sorry. What follows is hardly worth reading and I am sure that it is destined to be another piece of refuse on the blog garbage dump...so again, I am sorry. However, if you do find a moment to read through understand that I go through bits of insomnia-like nights for weeks on end. Last night was night one of what I hope will not see night two. The other thing that you should understand is that I wasn't trying to write so much as I was trying to see where a thought association would take me. If you don't know, it's like a word association; e.g. sky, star, hollywood, brad pitt, troy, war, peace, hippie, etc., but with thoughts. I re-read this today and wondered how I jumped from one thought to another - but it doesn't matter. Try it out sometime...

What happens when you don’t care anymore? How many times should I try and explain myself to myself…if I can’t get me then who in their right mind would? Tragedy and hope live together in the basement of a flooded house in Winnipeg. Mosquito larvae, live downed power lines, and boots with holes in them keep this odd twosome as happy as the grim reaper in a world that loves rationalism. How can I care if everything is an extreme or mediocrity of something else? Did you know if you press your tongue to the top of your mouth your neck muscle’s act stronger? They do. Are they any stronger? Nope. Maybe reincarnation is partially true if we were to consider that the atoms that make you you have been around long before you and will be here long after you are gone. Being you is not a gratifying experience at the atomic level; for all their devoted attention to your existence they actually don’t care about you…they don’t even know that you are there…or that they are there. It is a bit interesting to think that if you were able to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you. Yet for the short stretch of time known as your existence they answer the miracle of life impulse that keeps you you. The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion to you is short-lived; even a long human life adds up only to about 650,000 hours. And when that modest milestone flashes past, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons unknown your atoms will shut you down, silently disassemble, and go off to be other things. And that’s it for you. Did you know that I have finally figured out why dreaming is so hard for me? I can’t sleep. Have you ever been to an honest funeral? It seems that only good people die; if you’re bad do they not give you a funeral or do funerals just cancel out all the debt and bad? I wonder how many times you can die inside before you know you are dead? And what happens when you know you are dead? Do you stop feeling? The same questions haunt sane people who suspect they are insane…but the insane never ponder if they are nuts or not. I have a theory about anyone who asks, “What is my purpose?” If you’ve asked that question then there is a pretty good chance that your purpose is trying to re-connect with you. The difference in life is just a matter of one space; it comes between a ‘w’ and an ‘h’ in a word that you would have trouble finding if it was nowhere. I heard that somewhere once and it stuck in my head. “If a man’s steps are directed by the Lord, how then can anyone understand his own way.” An ancient piece of wisdom. And now my modern (or postmodern or pre-modern or post-christian or whatever the heck) thought: maybe I shouldn’t care so much.