Lego Church

There is a whole culture of freaks that build stuff out of Legos. The people have lots of free time, way more than me.

Here are some examples: The Chrysler Building, The Capitol Building, a battleship.
There are even Lego theme parks.

What about a Lego Church? Well wonder no more. This one was completed in 2002. Look through the site, especially the Construction section, there is lots of good stuff and very cool pictures.

More song lyric wisdom

Haven't done one of these in a while.

This song is called "The Heart of the Matter". It should be playing now. Here are the lyrics. It is by Don Henley. He is/was the vocalist/drummer/guitarist/song-writer for the Eagles. He has written many great songs but my favorite is probably "Hotel California".

Anyway, this song comes from the album, "The End of the Innocence". The song tells a story about a breakup, the causes, and the healing process that follows.

As the lyrics progress, we see bits of the story:

The causes -
"And I thought of all the bad luck,
And the struggles we went through
And how I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside loves open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more?"
and
"The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They're the very things - we kill I guess
Pride and competition
Cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us
You know it doesn't keep me warm"

The healing process -
"I'm learning to live without you now
But I miss you, baby
And the more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I'd figured out
I have to learn again
I've been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think its about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore"

And even a little bit of wisdom -
"There are people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you baby; life goes on
You keep carryin' that anger; it'll eat you up inside, baby

I am not usually against gun control but...

Check this out.

If he had only shot and killed himself he would have been eligible for a
Darwin Award.

Amrican Idol Top 10 Reject Torture

Chikezie is toast. No problem for me. He is in my bottom 5 for sure, along with Jason, Syesha, Kristy, and Ramielle.

The Vote for the Worst people have moved on from Amanda to Kristy. It paid off for her this week.

Again, Syesha is in the bottom 3. Will the big guns be back next week?

American Idol Top 10 Torture

Last night was, top to bottom, the worst show so far.
 
David Cook was great. Best version of Billy Jean ever.
Carly did Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart". She was great.
Carly and David C. are my favorites.
Syesha muzzled the big guns(too bad) but was good enough.
Brooke did some Sting, not up to the level of David C' and Carly, but was OK
Michael Johns did "We are the Champions." Not too bad, I thought. I still am convinced that you should never do Queen. You can never measure up to Freddie Mercury.

The rest sucked.
Chickeze sang Luther Vandross, wow, what a risk for him.
David A. sang some song I have never heard before, and don't ever care to again.
That country girl sang "God Bless the USA." A great song initially, but 20 or so years of overplaying have ruined it for me. She is truly awful.
The dreadlocks guy, Jason I think, was bad.
Ramielle is still Chinese and sings like it. If she could lose the accent, she might be better.

So to sum it up, 2 greats, 3 good enoughs, 5 wastes of my time.

I can only hope that the send the bottom 5 home tonight.

Whoops!!!

Check this out...

What about politics? Part 2

As I have stewed(prayed, thought) over this some more, I was reminded of a bible story.

In the small book of Philemon, there is a story about Onesimus. Basically, Onesimus was an escaped slave. Paul met him while in prison and shared the gospel with him. After rejoicing in his conversion, Paul wrote this letter to his former master, and did something that would be unthinkable in today's world. He sent him back to his slave life.

There are so many different ways to go here. It is clear that Paul knew that Onesimus' salvation was the most important thing, nothing else even comes close. Once he was heaven bound, 
his earthly perspective changed. Paul did not rejoice in his escape, but rather 
counseled him to "render unto Caesar" and go back to his master. Paul knew that for Onesimus' 
witness to be the strongest it could be, he must be in good standing with the law.

How would this play in the world today? Paul would be ripped by the media. "How can a so-called "christian" send a slave back to slavery?" "Paul's race doesn't care about Onesimus' race!"
He would be ripped by these "social gospel" churches. Surely a lawsuit of some kind would result.

But if we step back from all of this emotion and look at the biblical principles, Paul would be doing the right thing. As followers of Christ, we have our first allegiance to God's word. Nowhere does it tell us to run from slavery. Matter of fact, it tells us to be the best slave possible, in order to lead our master to Christ. His word never tells us that we are owed a better place in society because of some past injustice. It tell us to bloom where we are planted, to seek out the people around us and share with them.

We must move away from this "social gospel" thinking. It ties all of our emotion and passion to things that when looked at from an eternal perspective don't matter all that much.

American Idol Reject Torture

The big guns paid off for Syesha. Will others follow her lead?

Amanda was definitely the worst of the bunch. Glad to see her go.

Kristy's "Blow You Out Of Your Socks" comment to Simon was very awkward.

America Idol Top 11 Torture

Last week's Lennon/McArtney songs were surprisingly good. Tonight's were mediocre at best.

Amanda( I am finally starting to remember their names) was awful with "Back in the USSR".

Kristi and Chikezie sang country Beatles - since Paul is giving away money nowadays, he might have spent a few million to shut these two up.

Ramielle sang Chinese Beatles - just didn't work.

Both Davids were good, however David C. seems to always sound the same.

I thought Brooke was good, she is the prettiest, and always seems happy on stage.

Syesha brought out the big guns, the judges were kinder than they have been. We will see if those babies(boobies) make a difference.

I thought Carly nailed "Blackbird".

Michael Johns should sing Jim Morrison or Michael Hutchence, he did badly tonight.

Carly, Brooke and the two Davids were by far the best. Let's send the rest home.

What about politics?

Why is the church here on earth? Are we here to start a political movement? Should the church stand and lead the charge to overthrow a bad government? Should church leaders use their standing to further a political career?

These are questions we are wrestling with today. Is this Jeremiah Wright (Barak Obama's pastor) guy doing the right thing? Is his preaching time best spent on political and societal issues? Does this kind of ministry grow God's kingdom, or does it just fire people up about supposed injustices? What about these fired up people, are they inspired to carry out the Great Commission, or just to become a bunch of whiners.

What is our purpose here on the earth? As Followers of Christ, why are we here? Are we called to transform our nation by changing the government? Is there a political cross we should die on? Is politics too dirty and we should just stay away?

I have stewed over these questions for a while. I was somewhat confident that I knew the answer, but was disturbed enough that I thought I should rethink.

Here are the two verses that seemed most important to my stewing:

Matthew 22:21 (The Message) "...Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his."
Matthew 28:19 (ASV) " Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

Based on these two verses, it is clear that we have two allegiances; first to God - to grow his kingdom, second to the government of whatever country we are in. Whenever they conflict,
our highest service is to the kingdom.

Therefore, after much thought(stewing), I think the pulpit ministry is best left to sharing the gospel. I think our(the church's) focus should be on this also. Nothing is more important than the salvation issue. Luke 9:25(KJV), "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?" No matter how poor, rich, comfortable, persecuted.. whatever, without salvation, you are lost. Our(the church's) focus, energy, passion, all we have, should go to reach people for Jesus. If someone discriminates against you, you need Jesus. If you are poor, with little food, you need Jesus. If you are a victim of "rich white men", you need Jesus. If you are a victim of a crime, you need Jesus. If you are sick, you need Jesus.

Jesus is always the answer.

More tomorrow.

American Idol Reject Torture

Why do they make us listen to our least favorite songs again? Wouldn't it be better to let the top 3 sing, rather than the bottom 3? Obviously we didn't like these songs the first time.

The country girl, the black girl and the stripper in the bottom 3... Say goodbye to the stripper.

Not sure that he was the worst, the county girl was at the bottom for me.

Can we vote Katherine McPhee out also?

American Idol Top 12 Torture

Watched Lennon/McCartney night on American Idol last night.  The strangely-chinned tatoo girl was the best. Singing "Come Together", a difficult song, was a huge risk but it paid off. The blonde girl at the piano singing 'Let It Be" was good too.

The black guy surprised me as did one of the Davids with Eleanor Rigby.

The stripper, the country song girl, the biker chick and "sweet innocent" David all blew it big time.

The rest are in a boring spot in the middle.

Maybe tonight they will send a couple of extra home because they sucked.

I hope they send the stripper and/or the country singer girl home.

VFTW is sticking with Amanda.

Funny Story

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my
interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little
something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt,
pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short
lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate
time to retreat to safety....??

WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home.

I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I
was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed
it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arc of electricity
darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet
to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't
be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little
soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to
try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another.

The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your
assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major
loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your
assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than
three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this
little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, "no possible way!"

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best...? I'm
sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to
say, " don't do it stupid," reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny
little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one
second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed
the button, and . . . . . WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . WHAT THE .. !!!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the
recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again.
I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my
eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found,
with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my
legs?

The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a
picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid
getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note: If you ever feel compelled to "mug" yourself with a taser, one note of
caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You
will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent
thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered
conservative?

SON-OF-A-......., THAT HURT LIKE HELL!!!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that
point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the
landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The
recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My
triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it
had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no
control over the drooling. Apparently I crapped myself, but was too numb to know
for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head
which I believe was came from my hair.

P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it!

"If you think Education is difficult, try being stupid."

More hairstylist adventures

A while ago, I told the story about my hairstylist firing me. I am glad that is as far as it went.

I am sure Lauren Newton would rather have been fired than shot.

Vatican Lists Seven Social Sins

The Vatican has released a new list of sins.

Were the old ones not good(bad) enough?

Polluting the environment??

What about failing to reach the lost? What about placing more value on temporal issues like "morally dubious" medical research and "bioethical violations" while the world is going to hell?

Seems like we should worry more about people and building relationships with them rather than pushing them away with lists of rules. Deep inside, sinful people know they are sinners.

Zero Tolerance Weapons(???) policy

Check this out.

What about this quote, "But an attorney for the school district said school must create a safe environment for students in the post-Columbine era, and bringing even the image of a gun to school violates the district's policy."

An image of a gun violates the rules??? Can you point your fingers and move your thumb like a trigger? Where does this stuff end. How much of our freedom of expression must be lost to "create a safe environment?"

To me, "zero tolerance" means "zero intelligence."

I Love "The Onion"

This is a classic.

Food Court Musical

Check out this video.

It was made by an improv group at a mall in LA. You see these all the time on TV and in movies. You know, when a "spontaneous" song erupts in a crowd of people. These people did it for real.

After watching, read the article below the video. Whatever mall manager gave permission for this was brilliant. I bet they got lots of publicity. Every time I went back to that food court, I would be watching for it to happen again.

The janitor and the security guy were the best.

What is wrong with me??????

I watched PBS last night. They are in the middle of their fundraiser. During this time they broadcast some different stuff.

I watched this whole music show. It was phenomenal. The music was hauntingly beautiful. The set was amazing. All of it was good.

Here are links to a couple of songs.

The Sky and the Stars and the Sun
The Prayer
Shenandoah

Go ahead and make fun of me. I can't explain why I enjoy this stuff, but I do.

Does this mean I am old? or just a freak?

American Idol Reject Show

Glad to see 4 more losers ejected. That girly Danny guy(???) was annoying to watch perform, and in general, difficult to watch at all. Glad he is gone.

The others are forgettable, except for the blonde girl with the big boobs.

Maybe she should have brought them out sooner, she might still be on the show. Though, as I commented on her song, you will never measure up to Freddie Mercury.

Next week we get to hear them butcher and ruin Lennon and McCartney Beatles songs. Yipee!

American Idol Top 16 Girls Torture

Overall, the girls weren't too bad. No one stood out as great. The first girl, I don't remember her name was good even though the judges were not impressed.

The second girl tried a Queen song. No one can ever be Freddie Mercury. You will always lose.

That black and white haired girl, Amanda I think, was bad as usual. Though for some reason the judges liked her performance.

The girl who sang the Journey song Faithfully, one of my favorite songs by the way, was bad also. You will always fail to measure up to certain singers, Steve Perry is one of them.

VFTW is choosing Amanda again this week. I hope she goes home. She sings badly and her dancing is even worse, though she is more manly than a couple of the guys. Maybe the effeminate Danny should switch with the manly Amanda. She could sing with the guys and he could sing with the girls. They both might do better by comparison.

Man Flies Plane Onto Golf Course To Save Time

Check this out.

Why shouldn't he be arrested? At least he should pay for all the damgages, fees, trouble , etc.
Also, maybe he should lose his license for showing such stupidity and bad judgement.

I Hate American Idol Top 16 Boys Torture

Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

This was so true last night for the top(???) 8 boys. Whoever decided to open the show with a Wham song is an idiot. How can you hope to look good when your song is god-awful. Most of the guys stunk it up. There were regrettably, for me anyway, a few highlights. That young kid that sang the paradise song at the piano was good, as were the guitar guy singing Lionel Ritchie and the creepy facial expression guy that did the hallelujah song. The 60s and 70s had great songs, not sure the 80s can measure up.

What is up with that Danny guy(???) He could not be more girly if he was a girl. He has a bitchy attitude. He is the ultimate gay stereotype.

What about the one that used to be a gay stripper?

Checked out vftw.com yesterday.
They are supporting Amanda and Danny.  These two are perfect for them.

Maybe the girls will better tonight. Probably not, though.

Moses+heroin=10 commandments

Check out this loon.

I guess all religious visions are the result of narcotic trips.
Or maybe just the Christian/Jewish ones?
Would anyone dare say that Mohammed was trippin'?

Hexapus????

This article talks about a "hexapus".

A 6-legged octopus? A sign of the apocalypse?

Police baffled as human feet wash ashore in Canada

Check this out.

The best quote is "It is not known at this time what relationship, if any, this foot has with the two feet recovered last year in the same area."

Same foot, same sex, same size, same location - could there be a connection?
Are these Canada's best and brightest?

I Hate American Idol Top 20 Reject Show

Thankfully, the Cox DVR malfunctioned and I missed the show. These are the rejects. I don't have strong opinions about any of these. As I have said before, 
the quicker they get voted off the quicker the show is over.

The two guys were definitely nothing special, and neither was Alexandrea. Alaina was a different story. I think she sang an Olivia Newton John song. It wasn't too bad.

They should have voted off that white and black haired girl that sang the Kansas song. She was the worst.
 

Missing Ronald Reagan

Every time I hear the song "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," I think back to the '80s and the Reagan presidency. His values and leadership abilities are sorely missed. In todays politics, we rarely see values; everything is decided by polls and focus groups.

Maybe the best president ever...