JINGLES.......ATTACK!!



I've done my homework, and I think I can trace her lineage back to a family of pirahnas in the Amazon.

So yeah, nice weekend here at the old D(r)acula home. Kind of windy...no, wait, VERY windy...so didn't get tons of stuff done out in the yard or anything. On Friday, Eric and some folks from Athens came over and we went to the Mall of GA to see a movie. Sin City. Wow, I'm still not exactly sure what to think about this movie. All I know is that it was a bloody, gory mess start to finish. With that said, it was really well done. The casting was really good, but not without its hiccups. For instance, Brittney Murphy should never be cast in a role that doesn't have giggling throughout 90% of her scripted dialogue. She just can't be taken seriously, and she can't act seriously. Jessica Alba also should have kept her mouth shut, not because of her acting abilities, but mainly because her squeaky little voice didn't fit the lines coming out of her mouth.

Bruce Willis was the obvious choice for his role...well, actually, it's not even a matter of obvious, it's just an impossible role for anyone else except him. Really good job there. Clive Owen was, however, maybe a little tougher to single out for his role, seing as how there are a handful of folks out there who can handle the role of revenging boyfriend. Nonetheless, he made it look good. And then there was Frodo Baggins...er, Elijah Wood. What a creepy character. No speaking lines, just....well, that'll change his niceguy typecasting.

I could go on and on about this stuff, but the real kicker was the overall set design, editing, costumes and writing that made you feel like pictures jumped off of a comic book (oh, sorry, "graphic novel") page and into your brain. Good job on that. My whole "I don't know what to think of the movie" statement has a lot more to do with the aforementioned start-to-finish death and destruction. Their redemption there was that most of the blood was glowing "whited-out," partially to complete the black-and-white effect, but I'm sure also just to get the movie through the MPAA.

This movie is by no means intended for anyone under the age of 21 or over the age of 40 (heart conditions, you know...). Really, there is about 2% of the global population that will truly enjoy this movie, and then there are film critics and aficianados that will appreciate the technical aspects. Everyone else will either boycott it, walk in the theater by accident and leave after the opening scene or just flat out never even hear of this film. If you go see it, lemme know what you think.

On Saturday, Eric and I jammed in the garage on some SCAP tunes and other stuff. Had a good time, but man did we suck. Well, I'll just speak for myself, cause Eric sounded pretty good, all things considered. I remembered most of the songs, but I just didn't play them nearly as fluidly as I used to. It's weird, because I spend a few hours a week in the mornings just playing some of the stuff on my own, but I guess playing with someone else changes the flow a little. So I tripped on some chords and solos, and forgot a verse here and there. All told, we did great. A couple of beers later, we forgot how bad we were.

And in other news, Pope John Paul II died this weekend. I'm not Catholic, but I appreciate anyone who does good works in the name of the Lord, and this guy definitely did. Say whatever you will about the Catholic church, Christianity in general, or this Pope specifically. It's plain as day that his intentions were good, his efforts thoroughly planned and genuine, and his devotion to God greater than many. I've heard people complain to no end about this Pope and some of the things he did and said. I could say my part, too. However, when you spend decades in the service of God (or anything else for that matter), you are bound to have a few missteps, if you're worth your salt. These are the exceptions, not the rules. May he rest in peace for an eternity to come.

It's been interesting meeting the folks who live in our neighborhood. For the most part, everyone has been really nice. There are some trends, though, that Hilary and I have noticed....

-When most people meet us, you get an initial facial expression from them that seems to say "Are your parents home?" Obviously, we're the youngest homeowners in the area. As of yet, no one has actually asked us that question, but we know they're all thinking it when they meet us.

-Once it is established that we are "grown ups," the first inevitable question is "Do you have any kids?" Apparently, it blows people's minds that we own a big house and live in it all alone. We do have a puppy, though.

-Most people don't park in their garage. If you see a garage door opened, you can bet that it is full...just not with automobiles. Most people's stuff is very well organized, but nonetheless....it fills the space. So, if you're looking for our house, just go to the one with no cars in the driveway.

It's fun...the people really are all pretty cool around here. We seem to be acceptable to them as well. The neighbors haven't yet experienced the awesomeness that is SCAP, but I'm sure it is just a matter of time. Our garage needs a christening, and nothing but the finest SCAP will do.

Terry Schiavo...

Seems to be the thing to talk about these days. I don't really wanna say a whole lot, because everyone is so totally thrown around on this issue. The thing that has sort of occured to me this whole time is that an unusual amount of attention is being paid to this one person's cause, even though it bears very close resemblance to hundreds of thousands of other similar cases. Why is that? People have accidents all the time that leave them in a coma or some other vegetative state. Family members are always having to decide what they are going to do...that is, sustain life through machines, or end a life through a lack thereof. This is no new occurence.

What makes this person's case so different that it has grabbed the nation's attention? This isn't a celebrity or some other constantly-in-the-media figure. This is a girl that has been in her current state for 15 years or so. While I'll admit that is quite a long time in relation to the average life span of others who have lived a similar scenario, I don't think that's what has prompted all of this frenzy.

I just figured I'd ask the question and see what other people thought...

Stranger things have happened...

Guitarist drops Korn to follow Jesus

This news is about 4 days old, but I'm still rolling it around in my head. I was a pretty big fan of Korn when their first album came out, and I really respected this guy's ability to really rock the guitar in a way that sounded unique among everything else in the genre. I stopped listening to them because, well, they weren't really that good, in my opinion, after the first album. More importantly, I didn't care for the way they expressed themselves in the lyrics. It wasn't a major decision in my life, just one of those little things you think about when your read news like this.

Here's what I wanted to get out in this post...this guy's story just goes to prove what Jesus commanded when He came upon a crowd punishing a prostitute...that only those with no sin should pass judgement on others. I'm sure there must have been more than one occasion where Brian ‘Head’ Welch, the guitarist for Korn, heard someone tell him he was going to Hell for some reason or another, but anyone making that claim against him is now officially wrong. How wrong was it to judge the people that Jesus would eventually take on as diciples? All of them had a number of sins, and need salvation the same as any.

Think about it....a lot of high-and-mighty folks are quick to tell people that they are on a path to Hell. As this guitarist's story in particular has shown us, whatever path Brian ‘Head’ Welch was on has now obviously led him to Christ.

God works in mysterious ways, yep. There are millions of people out there hearing nothing but negativity from Christians (and I must admit that I've thrown more than my share of stones, unfortunately). This guy's story makes me think real long and hard about the way I approach people that God may have put me with. What would make me (or anyone) think that God wants us to verbally punish people for their sins? Wouldn't it make more sense just to show them that the life I lead is more enjoyable and my burdens are easier to bear because of the love of my savior, Jesus Christ? The relationship I have with Him is not yet what I want it to be, only because of myself, but every step I make towards Him gives me a feeling I couldn't begin to describe.

Wouldn't it make sense to explain the love of a savior in these terms than to simply tell people that they are evil in the eyes of God and will be burning in Hell for eternity? I just hope that I personally can remember lives like this and the countless others told and untold before I pretend to be the judge of all creation again.

Whew! What a life...

Okay, so we got the house, finally moved in, and have everything more or less organized. We also got our little puppy, Jingles, and brought her to our new home (and her new home). All in all, it's been a hectic past few weeks.

We had planned to move into the house on Saturday January 29th, but there was a huge ice storm we had been watching throughout the week, and it hit hard early evening on that Friday. So we just pushed it off til Sunday the 30th. However, we already had the moving truck (I was able to convince them to give me extra time for the move at no cost because of the weather). Spent most of the day Saturday just checking and rechecking the contents of boxes, looking around for something to do, and watching some TV. I went out every now and then just to see how bad it all really was outside. It was bad.

Worst part of it all was that we had moved a lot of our food and food prep (pots and pans, plates) over to the new place Friday afternoon. We couldn't get out to go buy food and no one was delivering, so we had some weird meals and snacks on Saturday. In retrospect, we probably should have planned the food situation better. We did survive though...

Sunday was a long day. The actual packing of the truck took hardly any time at all, because my brother-in-law Thom brought a couple of his friends, and between the three of them and all the other friends and family, it was a constant train of our belongings going from the apartment to the truck, and from the truck to the house when we got there. To all you folks that helped out with the move, Hilary and I really really appreciate it. Hey, I'll even put your name in the credits (in order of appearance):

Mike
Dad
Ryan
Thom
Dave
Phil
Joe
Holly
Eric
Alison

After the truck was emptied out, we still had a good bit of time left to get the truck back to the rental place. Afterwards, my Dad and Ryan and I went to my boss' house to pick up a bed that she gave us as a sort of housewarming gift. Pretty nice bed, too...looks pretty much brand new.

I'll write more later about the move, and give some more details about Jingles.