2010-03-31

Resurrection Meditations (Part 4 of 8)


Resurrection Letters
Meditations on the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ
by Andrew Peterson

IV. REMEMBRANCE

Remember, you told them.

With a loaf of tough bread and a cup of grape wine, you gave us all the gift of remembrance. You know how fallible our memories are, how prone we are to rationalize the spectacular and to sensationalize the mundane, and so you set in motion a ritual that would tether our fancies to earth and history and truth.

You broke the bread, and you thanked the Father for it; the one whose word lit the galaxies gave thanks for bread. You called it your body, and the apostles stared at you dumbfounded for a moment before they ate of it.

You took the cup and offered it to them, and you told them it was the blood of a new covenant, poured out for many. With the bits of bread still in their teeth and crumbs in their beards they looked at one another with questions on their faces.

Around went the cup and the apostles drank.

You told them it was for remembering, but what they were to remember hadn't yet happened and so it would be at least another week before they began to understand what you were telling them. I'm sure they wanted to know what you were talking about, but something in the look on your face stayed their tongues.

It's been two thousand years now, more or less. We kneel with contrite hearts and accept the gift of remembrance. We call it communion.

We accept the gift of your flesh and blood, and we offer you only our helplessness. We bask in mercy and rise from the table blessed, full of joy, because we have remembered.

Because we have been remembered.

2010-03-30

Resurrection Meditations (Part 3 of 8)

Resurrection Letters
Meditations on the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ
by Andrew Peterson

III. THE FIG TREE

You woke in the morning and walked along with your friends. Peter saw the fig tree you had cursed the day before, now withered and dead. While you slept, the life hissed out of the leaves, the branches clenched like knuckles, the roots curled up like the legs of a dead spider. The tree bore no fruit because it wasn't the season for fruit, and yet you cursed it.

Sometimes I'm afraid that I'm that fig tree and you'll approach me when I'm faithless and wayward and you'll banish the life from me. Or maybe you were just cross that the world you made didn't recognize you, even down to the trees themselves. Satan had so twisted the good world you made that the tree that might’ve blossomed at its maker's approach merely languished in the heat, as dead and unresponsive to your presence as I so often am.

Whatever the tree's significance, your power was plain to the disciples that morning, as it is to me now. You drew their eyes away from the fig tree to remind them about faith and forgiveness, and if they were better able to hear you by the death of the tree, then that too is fruit.

And maybe the story of the withered tree is not to make me afraid, but to show me you were hungry, and you were human. If you weren't human, then all that follows is farce.

2010-03-29

Resurrection Meditations (Part 2 of 8)

Resurrection Letters
Meditations on the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ
by Andrew Peterson

II. THE SHEPHERD KING

You steer the donkey through the gates of Jerusalem. Centuries before, in this same city, King David wrote his songs and sang your praises. You think of the timbre of his voice, the earnest heart, the long nights on the roof of the palace when the great king remembered how to be a shepherd boy again, alone in the dark pasture but for the sheep in his keeping and the quiet stars.

In your mind you can see him:

King David, barefoot on the airy roof, sitting on the edge of a kingly chair, his harp like a woman in his arms, his mind bending heavenward as he prays with that boyish frankness you delighted in.

Would even David have known what you came to do? If David had been alive on the day of your coming, would he have known the kingdom you were bringing would be of a holy matter, stronger than stone and sharper than steel?

Even David would have been wrong. No man can fathom your ways. No mind could've alone foreseen the Kingdom as you would make it.


2010-03-28

Teen Blogging

Are you encouraging teens to blog?
I find my blogging to be therapeutic and research is showing its benefits.
Don't just help them start one, but continue to interact with them through their blogs.

Resurrection Meditations (Part 1 of 8)

Resurrection Letters
Meditations on the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ
by Andrew Peterson

I. THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

Lord, forgive us.

We welcome you in because we think you'll give us what we want. We act as if our true motives are hidden from you—you who made the world with a word. We spread our coats and wave our hands and cry “Save us!” and you ride with your back straight and your face drawn, accepting our hosannas because you know that even if the heart is false the words are true, and for now, that is enough.

You come in the name of the Lord. Son of David, you come to save us. You come to save a fickle people, who one minute cry for help and the next cry for blood, and it is both help and blood that you give us.

The sun shines hot on the city gate, and you feel the air move with the palm branches.  You hear the hearts pumping in their chests. Their mouths cry “save us” while their hearts cry “give us what we want.” But because you are God you hear even deeper in the spirits of men and women and even children the silence of our profound loneliness. You hear the trickle of need we scarcely know ourselves.

You come to us though you know we're praying to you for the wrong reasons, singing to you without the faintest notion of how powerful and just and holy you really are.  We don’t even realize the danger we’re in, crying for salvation from Caesar when the Devil himself is battering the door—crying like a baby for its bottle when a wolf is loose in the nursery.

And yet, you come.

You set your iron gaze on Jerusalem, and because the Father wants you to, you come.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

2010-03-27

Song Stuck in My Head: You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger

Beth Rowley - You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finer
From the movie An Education.
Have you seen this film.  It was really good.  Both Carey Mulligan and Alfred Molina are really good.  The art direction is visual candy; the movie is set in a London suburb in the 1960s.  And the script was written by Nick Hornsby; that alone should spur you two watch.

2010-03-26

Foolish Silence



What a crazy family.  There has to be more to the story than the reporter was willing to report.  I'm going out on a limb to say that this family is doing something they probably shouldn't doing.
It reminds me of the people who are worried about the governments ability to ease-drop on our phone calls, e-mails, blogs, or even our tweets.  These are the same people that are worried about Google keep logs of everything we ever search.  Sure I get right to privacy, but personally I'm attempting to live without anything to hide.  I figure if someone wants to listen in, well, "welcome to the show!"
Certainly I don't think I'd ever let my paranoia force me to live silent conversations for 11 years.  That's just ridiculous.

QVC, It's a Dirty Job

The Mental Floss Blog is a great blog full of nonsensical information.  Meaning it's perfect for me.
Recently they posted some very interesting videos of Mike Rowe, you know of Dirty Jobs fame, in a previous dirty job...QVC!  And while I could just send you to their website, I figured it would be easier for you to just put the videos here (because I'm just that kinda blogger).
If you're like me, you're probably asking yourself "why would I wanna watch youtube clips of  QVC".  Well the answer is because Rowe is actually really funny.
Enjoy.





A Year of Giving

I just started reading an incredible blog.  Have you heard about it?  
The blog is by an unemployed man from Washington D.C. who is giving away $10 a day.  He then writes about that person.  
What a classy concept for a blog.  Actually using for the betterment of someone else.  
I just talk about me.  Well at least I promote quality blogs.
Maybe I'll give out $10 today

2010-03-25

Free Download: Vicky Beeching

Vicky Beeching is giving away a really good song, Deliverer, from her new album Eternity Invades.
Click HERE to get it.
The album comes out in 11 days.  From the sound of this song, I think it'll be worth picking up.

Pooh vs. Alien

Two classic characters I would never think to put together: Winnie the Pooh and the Alien.  But sure enough someone did.  That's a simple explanation of this website, but certainly the description is not enough.  Enjoy.

2010-03-23

Song Stuck in My Head: In The Sun

She & Him - In The Sun
Isn't Zooey adorable?  And I really dig her and M. Ward's music.  I just picked up the new album, Volume Two, and like their first I find it completely enjoyable.  And I heard somewhere on NPR that they do have plans to continue on with Volume Three...yay! 

2010-03-22

Buy Yarn

Are you in need of some yarn?  I know right, what a silly question?  Who doesn't?
My friend Talia spins her own.  Usually she uses it to make scarfs and hats and gloves and others stuff.  But lucky for you, who is in need of some yarn, you can now purchase some of Talia's yarn and make scarfs and hats and mittens and such.  Buy it HERE.
I should also probably take a sentence to congratulate Talia on her recent engagement.  I mean it's kinda cliche to travel to New Zealand and get engaged, but good for her.  She always wanted a beard in her life.
Well done, Talia.

2010-03-16

Movie Preview of the Day:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

I'd watch this movie.  I love a good zombie flick.  And when a friend forced me to watch Pride and Prejudice I was praying for something like this throughout the whole movie.

2010-03-15

Video: Predators

Because I loved the original, (and I even like the sequel, but the newer franchise has been a let down) I can't wait to see this:

Apparently it's supposed to feel like it directly follows the original film with Arnold.  I'm pretty stoked about this film.  I not sure about the Predator's 'dog', but come on it's got Lawrence Fishburne.
Follow the Youtube for additional clips on the film.

2010-03-14

List: 9,331 Greatest Films

I've been trying to work through the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies (both the 1998 & 2007 lists) for some time.  I'm getting closer and closer.  As I type this I am watching Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in Out of Africa.
But, thanks to a recent Roger Ebert's Twitter update, I have come across an even more ambitious project.  Brad Bourland, 58, of Austin TX, after an extensive period of research and fortitude created a list of the top 9,331 films.
If it's all the same to you, I'll think I'll finish AFI's list first.
Publish Post

Blogger Updates

Google announced on Thursday that they have improved the way individuals can personalize their blogs.  Using the Blogger Template Designer, you can customized looks for your blog.  Check out this video:
Make sure you're using Blogger In Draft.
And read more about the new features HERE.

2010-03-13

Video: After Today!

Do you remember...
How cool was this movie, right?
If you've seen it, maybe you too tried the 'perfect cast' at a school dance.
Well if you did, then you'll also enjoy this:

Photos: Hitchcock Re-Imagined

I really like the creativity used in these posters of four of Hitchcock's films. (via)
Click here for another set of Stephen King posters re-imagined.

2010-03-10

Video: Generic Movie...

Generic Movie Based on the Movie They've Been Re-Releasing Every Single Week Since the 1980's.
This really made me laugh...well, not really laugh...more of a chuckle...and not even a hearty chuckle...just a good normal chuckle.
Enjoy.

Photos: Bookshelves

I'm looking for furniture for my apartment. And I really like bookcases. Would anyone like to build something creative for me, on the cheap? Here's some interesting ones (I didn't save the urls where I found these, sorry):





















2010-03-08

Microsoft Courier

This is a cool gadget in the line of the iPad.

2010-03-07

Blogging From Kenya: Shaun Groves

I've been enjoying reading Shaun Groves' blog lately. He's been posting from his trip to Kenya.
Shaun, known for the music he writes and performs, has been a full time ambassador for Compassion. So far he has led several trips with for Compassion; leading teams comprised of bloggers.
I have two goals with my blog.
#1 Entertain myself.
#2 Go on a trip with Shaun.
Check out Shaun's blog here: http://shaungroves.com/.

Academy Awards 2010

Okay, here are my predictions for this year. Generally I just care about the major categories, but I've gone ahead and made predictions for each award.

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air.
I actually saw everyone of these films. All were really good.
My favorite: Inglourious Basterds
My prediction: The Hurt Locker

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
George Clooney (Up in the Air)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
I only saw Up in the Air, Invictus and The Hurt Locker. I've heard alot about Jeff Bridges' role and that he's the front runner. The Academy seems to like giving actors their due. Recently I scrolled through Bridges' IMBD page - he is due.
My favorite: George Clooney
My prediction: Jeff Bridges

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)
I saw each of these films except The Last Station. This is a tough category, much more than the men. Bullock had a strong role, Mulligan was really good, and Sidibe broke my heart. But Streep became Julia Childs.
My favorite: Meryl Streep
My prediction: Meryl Streep

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
I only saw Invictus, The Lovely Bones and Inglourious Basterds. Stanley Tucci had an amazing performance and I've heard Woody Harrelson is great in The Messenger, but Christoph Waltz was ridiculous.
My favorite: Christoph Waltz
My prediction: Christoph Waltz

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
Mo'Nique (Precious)
Again, the ladies had some strong roles this year. Definitely the year for the ladies. I didn't see Crazy Heart but I did see the other four performances. Farmiga and Kendrick were great but would split their votes. Cruz is smoking in Nine. However, I'd have to say that Mo'Nique takes this statue. She stirs up both holy anger and breaks your heart.
My favorite: Mo'Nique
My prediction: Mo'Nique

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
I only saw Up, so...
My favorite: Up
My prediction: Up

Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
I only saw Avatar, Nine and Sherlock Holmes.
My favorite: Nine
My prediction: Avatar

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)
I saw all except The White Rabbit.
My favorite: Avatar
My prediction: Avatar

Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
I only saw Nine, so...
My favorite: Nine
My prediction: Nine

Directing
James Cameron (Avatar)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Lee Daniels (Precious)
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)
I saw all of these. Taking into account that the Oscars like breaking social barriers and no woman has ever won this award and Daniels is the first African American to be nominated - this becomes a difficult category.
My favorite: Quentin Tarantino
My prediction: James Cameron

Documentary Feature
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
I didn't see any of these, so this is just a guess.
My prediction: Food, Inc

Documentary Short
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Boooth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
I didn't see any of these, so this is just a guess.
My Prediction: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
I have a feeling Avatar will clean up in the technical categories.
My prediction: Avatar

Foreign Language Film
Ajami
The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)
A Prophet (Un Prophete)
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)
Has anyone seen any of these films? I haven't. So I'm just guessing here.
My prediction: The White Ribbon

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
Yay! A reason for Star Trek to win an award.
My prediction: Star Trek

Music (Original Score)
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
Can't honestly say that I remember any of these.
My prediction: Avatar

Music (Original Song)
"Almost There" (The Princess and the Frog)
"Down in New Orleans" (The Princess and the Frog)
"Loin de Paname" (Paris 36)
"Take It All" (Nine)
"The Weary Kind" (Crazy Heart)
I only saw Nine. And that movie was stuck in my head for weeks, and not just all the pretty women in it.
My prediction: "Take It All" (Nine)

Short Film (Animated)
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
I have only seen Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, so that'll be my pick.
My prediction: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Short Film (Live Action)
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
I have no clue. But abracadabra is fun to say, so...
My prediction: Instead of Abracadabra

Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
My Prediction: Avatar

Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
My Prediction: Avatar

Visual Effects
Avatar
ItalicDistrict 9
Star Trek
My prediction: Avatar

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
My favorite: Up in the Air
My prediction: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
My favorite: Inglourious Basterds
My prediction: Inglourious Basterds

What about you?

2 Vampires, ah ah ah

This is the the vampire movie I want to see; watching The Count beat the crap out of that sappy flash in the pan.
(via)