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Thursday, 12 November 2009

  • Currently
    BoneMan's Daughters
    By Ted Dekker
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    Currently Reading

    Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am reading a book. Feast your eyes on that statement, because you won't see it too often. The book I'm currently reading is called Boneman's Daughters, and it's by Ted Dekker. I can't really say I'm a HUGE fan of Dekker, but most if not all of the few books I've read have been his. Saint was probably one of the best books I've ever read (which can't really be said for the other two books in that series), and the others I've read, Showdown, Sinner, Skin, House (a collaberation novel with Frank Peretti), and Three, have kept my attention enough to carry me through reading them in their entirities. Anyway, I'm into chapter eight of this book, and holy cow is it good. I've got it for 21 days, and there are 37 chapters, so I'm going to read two chapters a day. Two chapters a day is almost too much to digest, though (for me). The picture Dekker paints, and the depth of intimacy I already have with all the characters makes going a full two chapters in a day a feat of it's own. One of the reviews (on the back) says that the book "demands to be read in one sitting" and as intense and suspensful as it is, I can totally understand somebody saying that, but....wow. I can't even think straight. I feel like I've been a silent third party charactar in the book, watching everything that has happened so far. The book goes into the kind of detail that every person notices in real life, without going so far into detail that the reader painfully shouts "Get on with it!!!" It's almost as if the author knows exactly what I want to know about what's happening around the characters. Weird. Either it's really late, and my brain doesn't want to think right, or I'm still trying to take in everything the book has shown me so far. Whatever the case may be, this post has been a sentence-by-sentence ramble. Read the book. It's good. Sorry, I'll go to bed now.

Thursday, 05 November 2009

  • New Phone

    I got a new phone. I went from iPhone, to old school, rotary dial, free-with-two-year-activiation, slider phone. Why? Because the iPhone plan is $90 a month, that's why. Hopefully this phone will save me at least $40 a month. I still have my 450 minutes a month, and my unlimited texting, and that's all I really need. Plus I got $100 for my iPhone, which is a huge plus. This post is short, but that's the way most like it.

Saturday, 24 October 2009

  • I am Demon Hunter. (Now with audio)

     Many of you know that Demon Hunter is (to say the least) my favorite band. A long while ago, I started a post entitled "My Favorite Demon Hunter Songs" but never finished or published it. Well, tonight I looked through Demon Hunter's albums on iTunes, and found the iTunes review (by the people at apple) to be quite puzzling. It's supposed to be a description of the CD that will make people buy the album, but for every DH album reviewed there was something more of a negative listener review posted there instead. Obviously the reviewer is not into good music, because s/he basically talked about how mainstream death metal bands are way better, and how hardcore music is supposed to make depressed and/or angry people feel all the worse. They also went so far as to say that Stryper is the "only well-liked Christian metal band." Really? What an idiot! Anyway, I'm going to attempt to select five Demon Hunter songs that I will call my "favorites" (in no particular order, I assure you) and some reasons behind my love for them. Here goes!
     
    1. A Broken Upper Hand (Demon Hunter): This song is a straight forward letter to Satan and how he'll never take control of me, no matter how hard he tries or how close he gets. The bible says that sin starts in the mind, and that Satan tricks us into sinning by introducing thoughts into our minds that make sense to us, but are really justification for sin. The song begins "Trapped behind my state of mind, I took your words and now I'm blind." The more we believe the thoughts and ideas that Satan puts into our heads, the more we put ourselves in his 'state of mind' and the more likely we are to feel less guilt when we sin. My favorite lyric in this song states "I can't pull away my blank stare, a thousand times should prove I don't care. But hands can't steal the light that makes me, or bring me to the fate that breaks me." The pull of sin is embedded within us as human beings, and in our lifetimes we will give into sin countless times, which should prove to God that we don't care, but because of his graceful forgiveness and our faithful dedication to Jesus, no one, not even Satan himself, can take our salvation away from us.
     
    2. Anihilate The Corrupt (Summer of Darkness): This song is rather depressing, but for a good cause. It opens with the words "Behind the eyes of my compassion lies a suffering soul, and in my blood a bitter darkness slowly taking it's toll. I feel the death of our connection and the fading of light between the shards of sudden panic from choking on my life." Wow. This is a clear statement of how every "outwardly Christian" person is. No matter how happy we appear, no matter how in tune with God we profess to be, we all have our own personal issues to deal with. Yes, being a Christian is intensely fulfilling, and knowing that God forgives our every sin does leave us joyfully fullfilled, but as human beings we tend to hold grudges against ourselves. In Matthew it says that it would be hypocritical to ask God to forgive our sins if we hadn't forgiven those who've sinned against us. This includes ourselves. Satan knows us very well, and he uses the guilt caused by our sins against us in a way that keeps us from asking forgiveness (or makes us beg for it when all we have to do is ask) which either keeps us from forgiving ourselves, or makes us think that we cannot be forgiven. The song continues with the prayer "I can't breathe alone. You can guide me home." This is a statement of complete surrender. To me it says, "God, without you I can't so much as breathe. Guide me towards you." Amen?
     
    3. Fire to My Soul (The Triptych): Not only is this one of Demon Hunter's best sounding songs, it also holds a deep meaning. The instrumentals are brutal, rythmic, melodic, and harmonic all at the same time, and the vocals are done in classic DH fashion ranging from hard and heavy to slow and poetic. The song is about how we shut God out of our lives by completely ignoring him and going with the flow of our world-taught instinct instead, only to realize in hindsight of our poor decisions that God was telling us not to go through the door that we're now trapped on the wrong side of. This song is one of my favorites because if I'm listening to it, I'm totally moshing out from start to finish. Awesome.
     
     
    4. One Thousand Apologies (The Triptych): It's the lyrics of this song that make it a favorite of mine. It's almost as if this song was written by me! I'm sure I've posted the lyrics to this one before, but I'm gonna put 'em here for good measure.
     
    There you stood in disbelief, trying all you could to see through these lies.
    And every word that I could breathe would find you more inclined to leave, but I tried.
    And knowing what I've done to you, with every thought you suffer through
    My heart as black as evil can.
    And everything I could have been, erased by what I wanted then.
    I couldn't think of a lesser man.
     
    Oh, the delicate ways that I deepened our graves; My apology pales.
    Oh, the pain in your eyes! My regrets have never known such sorrow!
    Oh, the shame that you hide! Resolutions are the same tomorrow.
     
    So now I reap what I have sewn, and any rapture I had shown has bled dry.
    And I walked the streets alone, accepting pain I'd never known, as you died.
    Then I hurt myself to see it too, to feel the knife I put in you;
    My heart as broken as my ways.
    I never should've let it pass! This fall was never meant to last!
    The reason's gone, the damage stays.
     
    Wow. That's so deep, and so close to home, I can't help but love it.
     
    5. Thorns (Storm The Gates Of Hell): Most deffinately one of my favorites, this song is sung slowly, leaving it's meaning in plain view for every listener to hear. I love singing along to this song, and my favorite lyric is "Sister, don't you sleep through your own eulogy. Don't sever what you are for what you couldn't be." Think about that. What is a eulogy? it's what a pastor, priest, or perhaps close friend or relative says about the person you were at your funeral. It provokes the thought of what your eulogist will say at your funeral. A eulogy contains all the high points, the good memories, and the positive aspects of one's lifetime. The times in one's life that positively affected the speaker, and perhaps the audience. Are you going to "sleep through your own eulogy" or are you going to make something of yourself and your faith that will reverberate through the lives of the people around you? "Don't sever what you are for what you couldn't be." Don't try and be something your not, because the people who truely care about you care about the real you, not the person you wish you were.
     
    Well, there you have it. It was extremely difficult to choose a mere five DH songs that hold special meaning to me, and for the record, this post took me three days to complete. Every one of their songs is absolutly amazing, both in sound and in meaning, and I highly recommend all of their work to anyone looking to mosh for Jesus. Perhaps later I'll post a "top ten" list of my favorite Christian songs of all time. It'll be a difficult ten, but I think any readers I may have might get to know me better through it. Until then, thanks for reading.

Saturday, 17 October 2009

  • Food Science!

    image1250098458.jpgWe just made "jello shots" with clear, unflavored gelatin and peppermint shnopps! I'm excited! They're so fun to jiggle, and they're shaped like ice cubes (we put the mixture into ice cube trays). They taste alright, not as good as I'd hoped, but they're clear and minty. Like edible mint ballistics gel!
     
    Recipie:
     

    1 1oz package Knox® unflavored gelatin

    1 cup boiling water

    6 Tbsp. cold water

    5 oz peppermint schnapps


    Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher, pour into cups, refrigerate.
     
    I was kind of hoping they'd turn out a little clearer, and a with a stronger mint flavor, but they turned out slightly opaque and the mint flavor wasn't as intense as I'd hoped. The cool thing was that they set in about 15 minutes (maybe less). I had a few of them last night, and one this morning (to check the difference in taste and consistancy over time) and they were much stiffer and less minty after sitting in the fridge overnight. I bought two packages of Knox Gelatine (after a serious mishap occured with the first) so next time I might change it up a little. Maybe I'll use Aftershock, or maybe substitute fruit juice for the water and use regular vodka (or maybe 190 proof Everclear, if I can get some). I'd really like to try using champagne or maybe ginger ale to see if it comes out with a sort of carbonated, bubbly look/texture.

Friday, 16 October 2009

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