Song of the Day (#41)

The Future

Song of the Day (#40)

I just got home from my sisters wedding and I did not come home empty handed! While we were setting up the dining hall for the reception, my sister was blasting some tunes and one caught my ear. Like a lot of the songs on here lately, I've heard it before, but this time, it was a cover and not the actual song. A cover that was sung by a friend of mine. Took me the longest time to recall which friend it was. Anyways, I just knew I heard the song before but never found out who it was by even though I loved it... Well here it is!

Local Natives - Airplanes

Song of the Day (#39)

Was recently recommended this band/song and I have to say that it took quite awhile to grow on me. I was thinking that if I heard it on the radio I probably wouldn't of bothered but since this friend and I share a lot of musical taste I gave it a few more go's and yeah, it definitely grew on me. It's really catchy and I love the lead's voice! You should check out the interview they have on their channel. All of them have the exact same hair! So bizarre...

P.s. Check some of their other stuff out. Real surf pop feel to it and you know me and surf pop go way back. No, but it's probably my new favourite genre.

Cults - You Know What I Mean

The Office

My top three moments of my favourite character from the Office, Darryl:

3.

2.

1.

Song of the Day (#38)

Like Noah and the Whale, this band seems to been around for awhile. I heard this song awhile go as well; in like a trailer or something and I remember wondering who it was by, but I never found out, until now! It's by a band called Passion Pit and the song is Sleepyhead.

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Song of the Day (#37)

What an interesting video! Who knew that several minutes of Thom Yorke dancing in his unique way would be so intriguing, but it is! It's not the video that made me choose it but the actual song. Brilliant! Radiohead still has it after all these years!

I lied... the actual video cannot be embed but here is the song anyways...

Apparently you cannot embed Radiohead songs but I did find this live version which is just as good :).

Lotus Flower - Radiohead

GoPro

From going to school with a bunch of snowboarding junkies to treeplanting with a bunch of snowboarding bums and just being a photographer wannabe myself, I've just taken a notice of those GoPro cameras and they are pretty sweet. Unfortunately, I can't say that I do anything near extreme but if I did, GoPro would be where it's at... I have my trusty SLR though (which cannot film) and it can do it's fair amount of tricks! Anyways I found this video and when you can make fishing look badass, you got something special.

P.s. I am not for or against hunting. I wouldn't do it myself but it's your game.

Another Earth

Song of the Day (#36)

If you just watched the trailer from my previous entry, this song would sound familiar. It's by Noah and the Whale and it's one of the best things I have ever heard in a long long long time. Where has this band been all my life?! I've heard of them before though but I just haven't really heard them... Maybe I'm getting confused with Said the Whale, a local Vancouver band which is also pretty good I hear. I don't know for sure because like Noah and the Whale, I haven't actually listened to Said the Whale... Anyways they aren't the same! Noah and the Whale come from England and from the sounds of this song, I am definitely going to invest some time and listen to them some more!

Has a real National feel to it, doesn't it? The National, the band and not the news program...

Blue Skies - Noah and the Whale

The Descendants

Hesher

Brilliant!

Song of the Day (#35)

It's getting to a point where I'm not sure if I referenced different artists or not... Doesn't matter, most of these bands/artists deserve more than one! As an aspiring guitar player, I am deeply inspired by Jose Gonzalez. I would learn more songs of his if they all didn't have funky tunings. He's definitely a fav. of mine and this is one of my favourite songs by him. The video is pretty intense, but definitely worth watching.

Cycling Trivialities - Jose Gonzalez

Travel help? Got your back!

Well whoever wrote this has your back...

1. Defer your student loans, if you have them. After graduation you automatically get a six month reprieve, but in six months from now, you can defer again. The interest you accrue during this period is nominal, and while you do have to pay them eventually, it’s no reason to not travel.

2. Live as cheaply as possible. That means staying with your parents, sleeping on your friends couch or sharing a place with several people. The point is, don’t spend any money… you’re in saving mode.

3. Get a job. Any job will do. You’ll just be working for the summer, so if you can get yourself to a resort town, you can make good money working as a waiter/waitress or bartender (anything with tips).

4. Save about $1000. Most people can do this in one month, but obviously it depends on how much you drink away, where you live and whether you can land a well-paying gig. At the very most, this will take three months.

5. Get a cheap backpack (check craigslist). Pack about three outfits, a swimsuit and whatever else you can’t live without. You’ll probably ditch 50% of your pack in the first month, because everyone over-packs (and when you have to physically carry it around everyday, it doesn’t seem quite so worth it).

6. Find a flight to somewhere… anywhere. I highly suggest checking out Kayak Buzz for deals from your specific airport. If you can make it to a major city like LA or NYC, you can save a ton on airfare.

7. Relax. Once you’re on the ground, in whatever country you start in, it’s much easier to figure things out. So relax. Don’t email me a bunch of questions about where to buy toothpaste in Guatemala, because it will all become clear once you’re there.

8. Use Couch Surfing for places to stay. You’re young, broke and out to see the world. This is probably the only time in your life when sleeping on a futon is a practical way to travel. Plus you’ll have a guide and a new friend. If you’re uncomfortable with staying at stranger’s homes, use hostelworld.com or hostelbookers.com to book a dorm room (did I mention you’ll still be sleeping next to strangers?).

9. Get a job. You can work under the table. If you have a degree you can teach English. If you don’t have a degree, you can teach English under the table. World traveler and former English teacher abroad Matt Kepnes wrote this country by country guide* that will help you get those jobs. Otherwise, check with the hostels in town. Talk to other travelers, especially those who have been there for a few months. Check with the hotels. There are opportunities.

10. Work, make friends, have fun, explore the local area. When you get sick of it, move on to the next place. Rinse, wash and repeat. You’re traveling and all it took was a month or two to raise airfare and you’re off.

~Read More At: almostfearless.com/2010/06/29/so-youve-graduated-from-college-now-what/ ~

Vietnam

Sermon on the Mound

Sermon on the Mound from phos pictures on Vimeo.

Song of the Day (#34)

I happened to go to a show recently. A show which featured a few local bands from here in Kelowna. It was pretty low key, but the reason why I heard of the show to begin with was due to the fact that I have a friend in one of the bands. When he was describing the band to me before I took a listen, he compared themselves to Explosions in the Sky. Firstly, I adore Explosions in the Sky and when I heard my friends band play last night, they totally do sound like Explosions. In a good way though, like they have their own thing going. They're great and I really hope they go somewhere 'cause the world is always in need for more good music. With that I'll feature my favourite Explosions song in dedication to 'Family', my friends band.

So Long, Lonesome - Explosions in the Sky

The Professor Teaches About Evil and Christianity

"LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with Jesus Christ." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
"Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
"Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Ahh! THE BIBLE!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could...in fact most of us would if we could....God doesn't."
[No answer]
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
[No answer]
The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. "In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking student audience. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen." He turns back to the Christian. "Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
"Yes."
"Who created evil?"
[No answer]
"Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All the terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"Who created them?"
[No answer]
The professor suddenly shouts at his student, "WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!" The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Christian's face. In a still small voice, he asked, "God created all evil, didn't He, son?"
[No answer]
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?" The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. "All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn't it, young man?"
[No answer]
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" Pause. "Don't you?" The professor leans into the student's face again and
whispers, "Is God good?"
[No answer]
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No, sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus... in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
[No answer]
"Answer me, please."
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
"No, sir."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling. "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?"
[The student doesn't answer]
"Sit down, please."
The first Christian sits...defeated.
Another Christian raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, yet another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
The Christian looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor's grin freezes. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The second Christian continues.
"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 273 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than -273°C. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you... give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester. "Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!"
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Explain... ohhhhh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability himself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.
"You are working on the premise of duality," the Christian explains. "That for example there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it." The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is, now look..."
"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?" The Christian pauses. "Isn't evil the absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.
The Christian continues, "If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if He exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil.¹ What is that work God is accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil."²
The professor bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable."
The Christian replies, "I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going, Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.
"Professor. Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"
"I'll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?" the professor hisses.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is righteous?"
"I believe in what is - that's science!"
"Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin. "Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
The class is in uproar. The Christian remains standing until the commotion has subsided. "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent.
The Christian looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's mind?" The class breaks out into laughter. The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's mind... felt the professor's mind, touched or smelt the professor's mind? No one appears to have done so." The Christian shakes his head sadly. "It appears no one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's mind whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no mind."
The class is in chaos.
The Christian sits.

interesting...
~ Stumbled: www.godandscience.org/apologetics/professor.html ~

Song of the Day (#33)

Well I lied... Pixars Up's theme song does not sound good on the accordion so I just stuck to what I know is good. I chose La Valse Des Montres by Yann Tiersen. An actual accordion song before a piano song.

La Valse Des Montres - Yann Tiersen

Proverbs 7 (NLT)

¹ Follow my advice, my son;
always treasure my commands.
² Obey my commands and live!
Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.
³ Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.

⁴ Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.
⁵ Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

⁶ While I was at the window of my house,
looking through the curtain,
⁷ I saw some naive young men,
and one in particular who lacked common sense.
⁸ He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman,
strolling down the path by her house.
⁹ It was at twilight, in the evening,
as deep darkness fell.
¹⁰ The woman approached him,
seductively dressed and sly of heart.
¹¹ She was the brash, rebellious type,
never content to stay at home.
¹² She is often in the streets and markets,
soliciting at every corner.
¹³ She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
and with a brazen look she said,
¹⁴ “I’ve just made my peace offerings
and fulfilled my vows.
¹⁵ You’re the one I was looking for!
I came out to find you, and here you are!
¹⁶ My bed is spread with beautiful blankets,
with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
¹⁷ I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning.
Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
¹⁹ for my husband is not home.
He’s away on a long trip.
²⁰ He has taken a wallet full of money with him
and won’t return until later this month.

²¹ So she seduced him with her pretty speech
and enticed him with her flattery.
²² He followed her at once,
like an ox going to the slaughter.
He was like a stag caught in a trap,
²³ awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.
He was like a bird flying into a snare,
little knowing it would cost him his life.

²⁴ So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
²⁵ Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
²⁶ For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
²⁷ Her house is the road to the grave.
Her bedroom is the den of death.

A neat idea...

It's too bad I don't have my computer anymore because I would love to try this!

~ Stumbled: myphotographytutorials.com/gallery/360-degree-reverse-photography ~

Paradise Falls

Speaks for itself...

Song of the Day (#32)

I was looking for a new song to learn on the accordion and I came across this guy on Youtube who puts piano tutorials up as midi files. They're like electronic illustrations of what to do. Anyways, in terms of translating it to accordion, the right hand is the exact same. The left hand is a little more tricky but with help from people, I can obtain the necessary chords to succeed! On that note, if you can help figure out the chords being played by the left hand, it would be greatly appreciated. Well this guy has a lot of selection. It looked like it was going to be another Amelie song. Maybe La Dispute or perhaps La Valse des Monstres, but I'm venturing out a little. This song is absolutely beautiful and it might seem familiar. I'll let you come to the conclusion yourself... If you have seen the movie and this song still does not get you emotional, you have no heart. Anyways, I hope I can learn it on the accordion and perhaps upload it here someday!

Married Life - Michael Giacchino

Divine

I have never come across a series of photos so divine...

~ Stumbled: smashingpicture.com/nature-photography-norbert-maier/ ~

Plus One For The Bucket

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

~ Stumbled: www.mediadump.com/hosted-id186-most-fascinating-geological-wonders-on-earth.html ~

Sweet As

C&L! New Zealand (The Story) Teaser from Come&Live! on Vimeo.

Absolutely amazing. Oh man, do I miss New Zealand... I want to go back so badly!

Prayers for Japan...

Song of the Day (#31)

I go on and on about Justin Vernon, and Bon Iver being my favourite band, but there is some competition! This guy is so good, it hurts to listen to him! A good kind of hurt though, a Bon Iver kind of hurt. These two share that I guess... So much power and raw emotion in their voice; they move me every time I listen to them. I gotta stop saying them and start saying him. 'Him' is an up and coming, future star, Irishman James Vincent McMorrow. He hails from Dublin, but is touring right now as I speak. In fact he's either here in Canada or on his way. So if he stops near you, just GO! He is truly amazing. Oh yeah, thanks to my sister for letting me know about this guy...

If I Had a Boat - James Vincent McMorrow

Song of the Day (#30)

In honour of the Oscars (a little late, I'll agree...) and A.R. Rahman not winning the Oscar for Original Song from Danny Boyle's '127 Hours', I decided to dedicate a STD to him, kind of... Not even actually. Draws some parallels though! Just revisiting a soundtrack from one of Danny's earlier movies, Sunshine, and it blew me away just like the first time I listened to it. It was put together by John Murphy who has nothing to do with A.R. Rahman, but Sunshine is directed by the same guy! Such an amazing soundtrack! It really captures the movie, especially this song. Go listen to the album and do yourself a favour and watch the movie!

Kaneda's Death - John Murphy

Trippy

~ Stumbled: creativefan.com/30-amazing-conceptual-photographs/ ~

Song of the Day (#29)

Back in high school, my music taste was a lot different then it is now. My email address was lpf_99@hotmail.com for crying out loud! Linkin Park Fan after the horrible band Linkin Park... When I started disliking them but still used the email, I use to tell people that it stood for Liverpool Fan. Yeah, there were the big three bands, my favourite three bands... Linkin Park, Muse, and MuteMath. As you can tell, not the biggest fan of LP anymore, but I do like the other two still. It's been awhile since I listened to MuteMath, but I thought of them recently and started listening to some of their tunes and came across a song I had not heard yet. It blew me away! Such a cool sound, a very MuteMathish sound. It was a pleasant surprise to my evening and I thought I should share.

P.s. MuteMath is an American band from New Orleans. They were actually once a Christian band but not are just regular. They're still Christians I believe though! Cool stuff.

Progress - Mute Math

My Wedding

If I had my way, my wedding would only consist of my wife, her family, my family, and I. That way, it wouldn't be much of a hassle, in terms of inviting everyone and preparing for everyone. I'm a low key kind of guy and I just wouldn't want a huge wedding. It would work out nicely because, weddings today are expensive as. I say it would work out because I want to go somewhere exotic, hence the picture above... That right there is Oahu, Hawaii. It probably wouldn't be Hawaii though because of Hawaii being a hot spot for North Americans to get married on. Probably somewhere else, like in Europe. Maybe Croatia or even Sweden! Makes an ideal honeymoon, that's for sure. Traveling Europe and all that jazz. Might as well right, seeing that you're already there. The families would have to peace though... I'm always thinking! Got it all planned out. Fat chance of finding a girl who would want this.. Ahh, I can keep dreaming!

~ Stumbled: www.globalgrasshopper.com/travel/in-pictures-romantic-travel-destinations/ ~

Song of the Day (#28)

Back in 2006 is when I started to get into sports (watching sports that is, hah!), well, soccer anyways. What a year to start watching football! With the Fifa World Cup in Germany and all. Anyways with the World Cup comes great advertisements from Nike, Adidas and other sponsors. Adidas had a very great ad where two boys from Brazil get bored and decide that they should have a footy game, where they were the captains and where they got to choose the teams. Instead of choosing from local neighborhood children they start calling world class and world famous football players. Beckham, Kaka, Lampard, and even Beckenbauer, who played a long time ago! It's a very great ad, and if you were interested in seeing it, just search Jose+10. What makes it such a great ad (the first half anyways) is the song they use. Such a unique song, and he is such a unique artist. Here it is...

De L'alouette - RJD2

Number Nine is Amazing

Mount Roirama, Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana

~ Stumbled: listverse.com/2009/12/18/10-unique-and-amazing-places-on-earth/~

Song of the Day (#27)

I've been really slacking when it comes to this blog. I wonder how many people read it... not many I suppose seeing that nobody's told me to continue haha. Part of it is that I haven't told many people abou it. Why keep writing? I kind of miss it... Anyways here's the next song. I happened to go to Ontario for reading break and with that, I got to to go this house concert thing. These two sisters performed and they covered a Beach House song called 'Norway'. I love Beach House and hearing that cover made me want to write an STD just for them. It's my favourite song by them, and probably their most famous so you probably might of heard it already.

Zebra - Beach House

So Good

If I was daring enough
I would attempt these shots...
But I'm not
So I'll leave it to the professionals

~ blog.pokkisam.com/content/breath-taking-wildlife-photography ~

Sunsets

Might be one of my most favourite things ever...

~Stumbled~

New York, New York...

Beautiful city...

~Stumbled: blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2010/08/30/awake-in-the-sleeping-city/ ~

Ashes Snow Love

~Stumbled~

Exhilarating

Stumbled across this while listening to 'BRAIDS'. It absolutely blew me away. The song was 'Native Speaker'. I strongly recommend you listen to that song while watching this video.. Actually I'm forcing you to listen to that song while you watch this. Gave me the chilly willies!

~Stumbled~

Song of the Day (#26)

I think I might of found my new favourite band. They're Canadian too, which is so awesome. To be honest with you, I don't know many bands from Calgary, but going to school in the Okanagan, I now can say that I know A LOT of people from Cowtown. This band represents Calgary well though. I was speaking before of music that can move you to the core and after listening to four songs by these guys, I can seriously say they're my favourite band. The band is called BRAIDS and they're relatively new, but something tells me they're going to be pretty big. Enjoy!

Plath Heart - BRAIDS

Song of the Day (#25)

As a aspiring accordion player, I have to give it up to this guy. I guess I have to give it up to Michael as well...

Billie Jean - Scott Dunbar

Forced Perspective...

A cool idea...

~Stumbled: http://www.instantshift.com/2010/08/24/88-brilliant-examples-of-forced-perspective-photography/ ~

Happiness

Whoa buddy! It's been forever since I written here... It really seems like a Skype chat with a friend who lives abroad, who you haven't talked to in a long time. Just really awkward, but good, and needed nonetheless. Where do I begin though?! You're probably wondering why the title is 'Happiness' and that would be because I really wanted to use this clip from 'The Pursuit of Happyness'.

No, it's actually because I might be the happiest I have ever been in my entire life, or maybe in a long time. It's something I should be nervous about though.. well, I am nervous, but super stoked as well. For the better part of half a year, I've been pursuing (like Will Smith) a job. As of a couple days ago, I got the job! Some of my friends have gotten jobs too, so it's all around a great time. Have to say though, there were times in the stretch leading up to the decision where I didn't know if I would get the job. What's the job, you ask? Well, right after my first year of schooling comes to an end, I will be embarking on a three month adventure, living in the bush, and treeplanting! I know, I know, it is no cake walk by any stretch. Trust me, I've been researching for a long time now, and this WILL be the hardest thing I ever do. It just feels so good to know that I will get some source of income this summer, a good source of income at that. Maybe, just maybe, I will get my ass on traveling finally! Slow and steady, Tim!

My friend Thom has started a gathering of sorts with a few guys. It's not really a study, just a hang out with prayer, and encouragement and all that jazz. We had our first meeting today actually and it was so so so good. I really felt God putting the value of family/friendship on my heart, and It just was one of those surreal moments. Just walking out of Simi, and feeling the warm (Yes, I said warm. The weather has turned to gold here in the Okanagan, and that my friend is why I love British Columbia) wind on my face as I looked out onto the wide spectrum of colours in the sky, and on the valley mountains overlooking Kelowna. I might be up to my neck with work and studying but life is good man. I love my friends, new and old, Canadian and non-Canadian and I would be nothing with out them, and of course, God. I love love was a DTS sayings of sorts and it could not be truer for me. I absolutely love loving on people and I love love love taking pictures. Sooooo, I decided to make some gifts for some of my friends here at uni. and they're below :). Ah, life is amazing!

Song of the Day (#24)

This band hails from Brooklyn, New York and they're crazy good. I know I say that about every band, but that is why they're on here, isn't it? Anyways I don't have much else to say about this song. Anywho, enjoy!

Two - The Antlers

Proverbs 6 (NLT)

⁴ Don’t put it off; do it now!

⁶ Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
⁷ Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
⁸ they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.

Storm

When I stumbled across this picture, it had 666K views! I kid you not! Strange...

~Stumbled~

Song of the Day (#23)

I find my taste being steered towards olden day songs or songs that seem like they were from way back when. Whether it's the nineties, eighties or whenever, it's just old school. I think a lot of people like this genre now though because I found this song on We Are Hunted's top emerging songs... I really really really dig this guy, and I hope you do as well. He's from New York, and it kind of looks like he's Sri Lankan! In fact, he kind of looks like me! Got the 'stache and everything... A modern day Rexy Silva in the flesh! Anyways, enjoy...

Slow - Twin Shadow

Hockey

~Stumbled~

While it is true that no professional sport is as ill-suited for television as ice hockey — even in HD the puck can be difficult to follow, the speed and flow of line changes and late-rushing attackers are impossible to track, and the great, sweeping canvas of the ice must be rudely squeezed into a frame far too small to hold it — it is also true that no professional sport is better suited to live viewing.

Baseball spreads half its players across a pasture, hides the rest in dugouts, and then, proudly aware that it is the only sport without a time clock, proceeds apace as though its fans do not have one either. Football, played on one hundred twenty yards of distant field in increasingly canyon-esque stadia, packs twelve minutes of balletic violence into sixty minutes of game time and two hundred minutes of real time. Basketball provides near constant action and often intimate attention, but when scoring occurs every twenty seconds, only the last hundred or so seem to matter, and they often unfold over such an excruciation of stops and starts and fouls and timeouts and team meetings that even the most dramatic finishes unfold like athletic arrhythmia. Soccer drops one lost ball amidst twenty joggers, offers almost as many riots in the stands as goals on the field, and is beloved only by a loose affiliation of drunkards, Europhiles, and overprogrammed eight-year-olds who have yet to convince me I’m missing anything of interest.

But there’s something about hockey.

It’s a Canadian game, and many of the players have French or Russian names, so it’s not exactly an easy sell in the United States of Xenophobia. It’s the red-headed immigrant step-child of the American sporting world, dismissed, frowned upon, and condescended to by a great many people who do not understand it, have never seen it played in person, and are therefore in little position to judge. It barely registers on the radar of millions of so-called sports fans, with precious little print coverage and tv ratings somewhere between the abject boredom of bowling and the Kafkaesque torture of poker. It’s a bunch of guys in sweaters and shorts and ice skates, chasing a little rubber biscuit around a big, frozen parking lot.

But still. There’s something about hockey.

You feel it as soon as you walk out of the concourse and into the seating bowl; the chill rises off the ice and ripens the air, filling your lungs and radiating a cool, rousing energy throughout your body. You take a deep breath, then another, and step forward into the light, to behold a gleaming, glistening rink below. Freshly mown fields and polished hardwoods have their charms, but to my eye, neither can compare to the pure, pristine perfection of Zambonied ice. And it only gets better once the game begins.

The ice becomes the background, the playground, the blank canvas on which a dozen artists take their shifts and make their marks and paint their works of flowing, darting, crashing beauty. They skate with equal parts power and poetry, propelling themselves up the ice and back down again, starting and stopping and flashing, gliding and cutting and flowing, reaching speeds of twenty-five miles an hour suspended on just a few millimeters of metal. Imagine strikers, linebackers, catchers, and point guards all doing what they do; now imagine them doing it on ice skates, with bullseyes on their backs, in pursuit of a ball the size of your fist, as it hurtles toward and away from them and back at them again, at almost one hundred miles an hour.

Everyone plays offense and defense simultaneously; there are no quarterbacks and safeties, no pitchers and hitters, no formal turns and changes of possession, just two teams of guys (or gals) doing it all at once, moving from attack to retreat and back to attack in the blink of an eye or the flick of a wrist, when every inch and every second and every possible point, whether it’s scored in the first period or the last minute, could win the game. The action continues, fevered and frenzied, unbent and unbowed, until someone scores or someone breaks a rule, not even stopping for breaks or rests or substitutions; teams and players change on the fly, jumping over the boards and hustling back to the bench, always in service to the rhythm and flow, sometimes going two or three or four (or more) minutes between breaks in the action. It’s the fastest game on earth, and also the most frenetic.

Of course, hockey sounds almost as great as it looks. The swish and swooshof the skates cutting through the ice. The bang and boom of bodies crashing against the boards. The rattle of the glass shaking after a heavy forecheck. The tap-tap-tap of sticks on the ice, facing off or mucking in the corners or calling out for a cross-ice pass. The smack and whoosh of the puck rocketing off a stick blade. The thwack of the puck hitting the glass when it sails over the net, followed by the hard tap of it falling to the ice and back into play. Thegrunts, the whoops, the chips and shouts of players skating, checking, grinding, and shooting, barking orders to their teammates and yapping at their opponents. The blare of the horn and the wail of the siren when the puck crosses the goal line or pops the back of the net. The exultant roars andchants of the crowd that, 17,132 voices strong, quickly obscure both the horn and the siren. The great, giddy ringing in your ears that follows you out the door and onto the street and all the way home, sometimes even to the next morning, one more sensual reminder of this most sensual of games.

There is, the occasional Alexander Ovechkin outburst aside, no showboating, no trash talking, no choreographed celebrations; when a hockey player scores, he raises his arms and pumps his fists and gets a few hugs and helmet-taps from his teammates. When a player breaks the rules, he's sent to the penalty box, where he must sit alone for two or four or five minutes and watch his teammates pay for his sin by playing without him or any replacement for him — one man down, contemplating his punishment until his sentence ends, or the opposing team scores and ends it for him, teaching him another hard lesson in obedience along the way.

There are only two referees. There are no cheerleaders. There are no visits to the mound, no endless succession of pick-off attempts, no cascading pitching changes; the game has neither the time nor the patience for such piffle. There are no huddles, no audibles, no waiting for plays to be radioed into their empty helmets; plays and formations are called on the fly, run from memory, and most often improvised in brilliant bursts of athletic creativity. Each team gets only one timeout. There are fewer television timeouts in a whole game than there are in any quarter of an NFL game. The time between prime scoring chances is usually measured in seconds, not in innings or minutes or hours.

Hockey is home to grace and grit, to brains and brawn, to prolonged periods of brute force followed by sudden explosions of astonishing elegance. It elevates teamwork and celebrates self-sacrifice. It bestows an annual award for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. It inspires awe and honors tradition and does both at once, at the end of each season, when its two best teams meet to win and hold and see their names engraved upon the most hallowed, the most regal, the most revered trophy in all of professional sports.

There is, indeed, a whole lot of something about hockey.

Something that, if you don't know, you should know. Something that, most especially, you should see and hear and feel at least once live and in person, at any arena in the country, where the boys of winter (and fall, and spring, and now even summer) ply their trades and prowl their ices with the energy and exuberance and maybe even the innocence of an overgrown bunch of kids who, with nothing more than a piece of rubber, a few friend,s and a frozen pond, believe they can take sixty simple, scintillating minutes and give you the elemental rush of the coolest, greatest, something-est game on earth.

-Chad

Come Fly With Me

Kyrgyzstan

- Yann Arthus-Betrand

~ Stumbled: http://justpaste.it/3ky ~

Proverbs 5 (NLT)

¹⁸ Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.

Proverbs 4 (NLT)

⁷ Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!

¹⁸ The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

²³ Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.

Proverbs 3 (NLT)

³ Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.

⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

¹² For the Lord corrects those he loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

¹⁸ Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
happy are those who hold her tightly.

³⁵ The wise inherit honor,
but fools are put to shame!

Song of the Day (#22)

There's something about female singers. I just find female voices more appealing then male voices. It makes sense, no? It's a rarity though... Most bands, or specifically lead singers, are men; well in my music scene anyways. I ain't talking about the Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber music scene, but real music! I've come across an ALL girl band that kicks some serious ass. They hail from Los Angeles and I'd say they fall into that Californian surf rock genre like the bands, 'Best Coast' and 'Girls'. A genre I really really really like. I also love the use of bass in this song in particular. It really reminds me of Dubstep, that genre of music that is very popular right now. I mean EVERYBODY here likes Dub! Pretty rediculous if you ask me... The only similarity is that the bass is emphasized in this song, and bass is ALL that Dub is. Well, here is Warpaint!

Bees - Warpaint

Song of the Day (#21)

It all started awhile back while I was watching some television. I usually cannot stand commercials, but on the rare occasion, they supply me with some decent music. I happened to see a Honda commercial a ways back with a very very very nice cover of an oldie. Do you know the song, 'Getting to Know You' from the classic, 'The King and I'? Well it was that song sung by a Canadian unknown. The commercial just had that Japanese scarily talented robot, Asimo, prancing about, helping people; I thought the whole thing was quite creepy, but it was the song that was important, and yes, not the car! I looked it up on Youtube, and I was informed that it was recorded just for the commercial and it would not be released! Gutted! Fast forward awhile, to now, and the new Honda commercial comes out with a original song by the same guy. The song stirs something in me that not very many have ever done. I look it up, and same story! Ah! Trust me, I wasn't the only one looking! Good news though, they're actually releasing the song, and it will be sometime this month. What a change of fortune! Anyways, this Canadian unknown might make it big.. Definitely has the talent to!

Oh yeah! Like I said, the song hasn't been released yet but I have the commercial for you! Don't mind the sap, but enjoy the song!

Pinhole Sky - Nate Kreiswirth

Proverbs 2 (NLT)

² Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
³ Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
⁴ Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
⁵ Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord grants wisdom!

¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.

²¹ For only the godly will live in the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it.

Proverbs 1 (NLT)

¹ These are the proverbs...

² Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
³ Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
⁴ These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young.

⁷ Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸ My child, listen when your father corrects you.
Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
⁹ What you learn from them will crown you with grace
and be a chain of honor around your neck.

²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the streets...

²³ Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise.

³³ ...all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”

What if Jesus Meant All That Stuff?

To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity.

Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

The other night I headed into downtown Philly for a stroll with some friends from out of town. We walked down to Penn's Landing along the river, where there are street performers, artists, musicians. We passed a great magician who did some pretty sweet tricks like pour change out of his iPhone, and then there was a preacher. He wasn't quite as captivating as the magician. He stood on a box, yelling into a microphone, and beside him was a coffin with a fake dead body inside. He talked about how we are all going to die and go to hell if we don't know Jesus.

Some folks snickered. Some told him to shut the hell up. A couple of teenagers tried to steal the dead body in the coffin. All I could do was think to myself, I want to jump up on a box beside him and yell at the top of my lungs, "God is not a monster." Maybe next time I will.

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, "I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ." A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here is a bit of an image crisis, and much of that reputation is well deserved. That's the ugly stuff. And that's why I begin by saying that I'm sorry.

Now for the good news.

I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong — and that God really is love. Maybe the fruits of the Spirit really are beautiful things like peace, patience, kindness, joy, love, goodness, and not the ugly things that have come to characterize religion, or politics, for that matter. (If there is anything I have learned from liberals and conservatives, it's that you can have great answers and still be mean... and that just as important as being right is being nice.)

The Bible that I read says that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world but to save it... it was because "God so loved the world." That is the God I know, and I long for others to know. I did not choose to devote my life to Jesus because I was scared to death of hell or because I wanted crowns in heaven... but because he is good. For those of you who are on a sincere spiritual journey, I hope that you do not reject Christ because of Christians. We have always been a messed-up bunch, and somehow God has survived the embarrassing things we do in His name. At the core of our "Gospel" is the message that Jesus came "not [for] the healthy... but the sick." And if you choose Jesus, may it not be simply because of a fear of hell or hope for mansions in heaven.

Don't get me wrong, I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is life after death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us. I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God's Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." On earth.

One of Jesus' most scandalous stories is the story of the Good Samaritan. As sentimental as we may have made it, the original story was about a man who gets beat up and left on the side of the road. A priest passes by. A Levite, the quintessential religious guy, also passes by on the other side (perhaps late for a meeting at church). And then comes the Samaritan... you can almost imagine a snicker in the Jewish crowd. Jews did not talk to Samaritans, or even walk through Samaria. But the Samaritan stops and takes care of the guy in the ditch and is lifted up as the hero of the story. I'm sure some of the listeners were ticked. According to the religious elite, Samaritans did not keep the right rules, and they did not have sound doctrine... but Jesus shows that true faith has to work itself out in a way that is Good News to the most bruised and broken person lying in the ditch.

It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a Samaritan or a prostitute. In fact the Scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute named Rahab, an adulterous king named David... at one point God even speaks to a guy named Balaam through his donkey. Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since. So if God should choose to use us, then we should be grateful but not think too highly of ourselves. And if upon meeting someone we think God could never use, we should think again.

After all, Jesus says to the religious elite who looked down on everybody else: "The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom ahead of you." And we wonder what got him killed?

I have a friend in the UK who talks about "dirty theology" — that we have a God who is always using dirt to bring life and healing and redemption, a God who shows up in the most unlikely and scandalous ways. After all, the whole story begins with God reaching down from heaven, picking up some dirt, and breathing life into it. At one point, Jesus takes some mud, spits in it, and wipes it on a blind man's eyes to heal him. (The priests and producers of anointing oil were not happy that day.)

In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay "out there" but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, "Nothing good could come." It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society's rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.

It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors... a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.

In closing, to those who have closed the door on religion — I was recently asked by a non-Christian friend if I thought he was going to hell. I said, "I hope not. It will be hard to enjoy heaven without you." If those of us who believe in God do not believe God's grace is big enough to save the whole world... well, we should at least pray that it is.

Your brother,

Shane Claiborne

-Esquire

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2009/shane-claiborne-1209#ixzz19pLMH8mw