Random

• Chris in Mongolia - A fascinating blog. Read her April 16th entry about her overland journey from Beijing to Mongolia.
  
  
• An outsiders view of America: Being Canadian, I used to look up to the U.S. as a big brother... now I realize it is really becoming ''Big Brother''.
  
  
• A downloadable PDF Waffle House menu

My Bloginality

My Bloginality is INFJ. (Consistent with other Meiers-Briggs tests that I've taken)

Getting religion during finals...

Thanks to Aaron's recommendation, I've rediscovered MarsHillChurch.org. I dig what they're doing (a post-modern church, very similiar to my old church back in Austin), but what I'm really digging today is their free mp3s of their house bands: The Parons, The Mars Hillbillies (formerly The Smith Family Singers), and Team Strike Force. I especially like the Hillbillies as they have some sweet remakes of old timey hymns done with lo-fi equipment. I highly recommend moseying over for some downloading madness.

Later update (3:51 p.m.) to this post: I found this on the MarsHillChurch.org website. Oh my word! They are so dead on it is amazing. If only the rest of Christianity would wake up to why the Bible said "the love of money is the root of all evil."


Thank God Jesus Didn’t Copyright the Gospel:Why We License Our Audio the Way We Do

All the material found at MarsHillChurch.org has been licensed under the Electronic Frontier Foundation Open Audio License. We have chosen to bypass the traditional copyright and publishing structures because they are incompatible with the spirit of the music and other recorded material created within our community.

Traditional copyright and publishing systems focus exclusively on seeking profit from all form of duplication and usage and consider any form of trading or sharing illicit. This model is outdated and incompatible with the current technology (mp3, peer-to-peer file sharing, CD duplication).

On a basic level we must question what life songs of worship have when disconnected with the local church. More so, we must question the most prominent business models for music distribution (“Christian” or otherwise) – models where usage is entirely dependant upon an exchange of currency (CCLI, ASCAP, BMI, etc.).

The Open Audio License (OAL) basically states that you, the worldwide public, are authorized to use, copy, publicly perform, distribute and create derivative works from all materiel covered under the license -- provided you always credit the original author information. That includes: the symbol (O) for the EFF Open Audio License, the identity of the original author, the title of the work and how the first listed original author can be contacted.

The OAL also states that any derivative work produced must also be released under the OAL. The license borrows language from the open source software initiative and the free software movement to create a community of sharing that benefits both the creators and the public while encouraging creativity through relational distribution.

We believe that this is a much more current business model for music. It acknowledges that there is no way to control how people use our materiel. It also acknowledges our lack of interest in seeking that control.

This is especially appropriate as it relates to songs of worship.

We have put much effort into our various studio recording projects and seek fair compensation for our CD’s. This, however, is the only way in which we seek to be compensated. Outside of that, we place no limitation on how you want to use our material except that you acknowledge that we, Mars Hill Church, are the original creators.

We strongly encourage musicians to consider these issues and release their materiel under the OAL. For a complete explanation of this license and the organization that created it go to http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/eff_oal.html.

Random:

• Good to remember this when you read these stupid law decisions. The judges don't know what they're doing either. - Comic is from STUS.com Law comics
  
  
• An oddly compelling yet very depressing teen angst blog

Austin

Here's some more links on one of my favorite movies of all time Dazed and Confused (set in 1976 Austin, TX):


• Dazed-and-confused.net - very cool fan site with features on the cars, the music, pictures, even the script! The best part is a list of Austin sites used in filiming (One thing he didn't mention though is that the beer bust in the end was filmed at West Enfield Park)
  
  Here's one cool quote from the site:
  
  
  The Moon tower is actually called the moonlight tower. There were originally 30 built in Austin by the Fort Wayne, In. electric company so Farmers could work their fields at night. There are 17 still standing in Austin. On a funny side note... My friend wanted to climb to the top of one because of the movie, so he did, and got arrested. I was there, but never climbed it. When the cop asked him why he did it, he said it was because they climbed it in the movie Dazed and Confused. The cop said he thought my friend was a little dazed and Confused. A female officer piped up and asked this cop if he had seen the movie, to which he replied "no". She said "great movie". I couldn't believe it.
  
  
  
• Deseret News review of D-C
  
  
• IMDB's listing for D-C (Click here to see The original trailer for the movie in RealPlayer format

L-School Update:

• 1 down, 3 to go - Civ Pro final is over. It could have been much worse. It could have been much better. Either way, its over and done with and feel relieved that it's done. The next hurdle is Contracts and that one will be a big one (that one is on Thursday afternoon). After that, it will be much more chill. I still will have Crim Law on Monday and then Property on the Wednesday after that but I feel ok about those.

L-school update:

2 a.m. last night - Drive home from studying civ pro with my bro. Asleep by 3.

10 a.m. - wake up, fix lunch drive to OKC

11 a.m. - Went by Coits for a diet Root Beer, then to grocery store to buy some low-carb study snacks

Afternoon - @ OCU trying to study with occasional email breaks

6 p.m. - Drive to Moore to pick up Crunchtime & BarBRI books for Civ Pro from friend

7-11 p.m. - Study @ Border's bookstore in Norman until they close

11 p.m - Drove to IHOP in Norman. Ordered coffee and coffee strips. Still working on my civ pro outline.

11:30 - The girl in the next booth asked to borrow my ink pen. I normally wouldn't loan out my lucky fountain pen but she's cute and reminds me of the girl from Ghost World (maybe its because she's sitting with another girl and they both seem like inseperable friends) She has blond hair dyed bright red and is wearing red cat ears and has tons of piercings and tats. She seems pretty quirky but cool in a nerdy-punk kind of way. (really to nerdy to be a real punk, but almost more cute for being that way)

12:25 a.m. - Finished outline (down to 16 pages from the 33 page outline someone else wrote that I started with), now starting abridgement of that outline... would like to get that puppy down to 4-5 pages that I can memorize easier.

12:40 a.m. - She give me back my pen. The other girl is even more interesting. Very moody. Dressed in all black. Smoking and writing. Doesn't get cooler than that. She has a pretty smile. I am really sad writing at my laptop about the people in thext booth.

I ask them what they're writing about. They say, oh we're just being gay (a reference to an earlier cell phone joking conversation one had about writing poetry) I say, "that's ok. Sounds better than what I'm doing." One of them askes what I'm doing. I say "studying law which I HATE!"

"Well then don't you do something about it?"

That's the question of the night right there. Why do I do something I hate ? Good question...

12:46 - Shoot they just left. Too bad. They were rather fun to eavesdrop on. Now listening to Belle and Sebastian on my headphones. Almost out of smokes. (FYI: I only smoke during finals.)

12:50 - Waitresses just switched out.

1 a.m. - Drove home

1:30 a.m. - Uploaded by outline to the website and posted this.

The next 12 hours --- sleep for awhile, then in the morning wake up and cram like crazy. Final exam then is from 2-5 p.m. Then I go to work at 6 p.m. until Midnight.

Happy, happy, joy, joy, happy, happy, joy, joy!

Fun times ahead let me tell you! Remember these words if you're thinking of going to L-school and happened to stumble across this site: Follow Nancy Reagan's advise: JUST SAY NO! Friends don't let friends go to law school.

My Civ Pro Outline - Download it now

Download in Word .doc format --- This is for Professor Von Creel's Civ Pro (Spring 2003 - Section 1). The outline is essentially an abridgement of a much better outline by one of the folks in my section with supplementation from other sources (I did change her order up some too on the joinder section). Feel free to use the outline, but standard disclaimers apply. (no warranty that it will be any good for you, etc.)

L-school Update

• Listening to lots of Godspeed you Black Emperor today. It seems appropriately bleek for my descent into hell (a.k.a. studying for L-school finals)
  
  
• Civ Pro studying is looking much better. I did get a killer outline from someone in my section that helps. Now trying to abridge that puppy.
  
  
• The next hurdle will be Contracts. It ain't looking pretty on that one (that final is on Thursday) but then it should get easier as I feel much better about Crim Law & Property next week.
  

Austin

• Gene Chapman's Blog - Gene Chapman is on what a death-fast in front of the IRS regional offices in Austin. Here's more on him at http://www.in-austin.com/death-fast/
  
  
• A guide to South Austin's 78704 zip code --- one of my favorite zip codes. My time living in that zip (with my old friends the Axtels) was heaven on earth. Some of the best times of my life.

Oklahoma

• An Oklahoma icon has died... Edward L. Gaylord, longtime editor and publisher of the Daily Oklahoman has passed on.
  
  While I question his contribution to journalism (his newspaper is one of the worst in the nation), I do have to commend him for his incredible contributions to higher education in this state. Here is one excerpt from his obit that was extraordinary:
  
  
  In April 2000, the University of Oklahoma announced that Gaylord and his family had donated $22 million to enable the university to build a "world class college of journalism and mass communications."
  
  Three months later, Gaylord agreed to give $2 million a year for 20 years to Oklahoma Christian University, a private university affiliated with Churches of Christ.
  
  More recently, Gaylord donated $12 million to OU on behalf of his family so the university could complete a $75 million expansion and restoration of its football stadium, the largest gift in OU athletics history.
  
  Gaylord made other gifts to those two universities, as well as Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University, Phillips University in Enid, Tulsa University and Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
  
  
  I know for Oklahoma Christian in particular, he may very well have saved that school. These are hard times for private colleges, and I know that $2 million a year has been a tremendous blessing to that school.
  
  Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that things like this show a person that you never know a person's complete story. Even one who you might see as an "enemy" or opponent, often still does good things, even extraordinary things. I can almost forgive his rabid right-wing front page editorials after reading this stuff.

Random

(From today's 40th Eeyore's Birthday Party in Austin, TX - Photo from Statesman.com)


• NewsOK/AP: Pope Appeals to Castro to Show Leniency - God bless the Pope.

Life

. . . is craziness lately. L-school (that awful enterprise in which I am presently but regretably engaged) finals are at hand. My first one is Civ Pro II on Tuesday, followed by Contracts II on Thursday.

Then the following week on Monday I have Criminal Law and Wednesday I have Property.

I had been pretty chilled out about it until tonight but now I am freaking out bad. I keep thinking... I'm going to flunk out. (DEEP BREATH --- SLooowwwlyly) Then I tell myself no I won't, but then the paranoid inner voice says, "YES YOU WILL FLUNK FLUNK FLUNK! ---- then I hear a quieter but meaner voice say "and it's all your fault you lazy *******."

Maybe my fears are right... maybe not. Time will tell, and at this point all I can do is get my outlines done and then go in there and put it on paper. Even if all I have to say is B.S., at least maybe it can be eloquent B.S.

Well on to happier thoughts... I did start Atkins on Sunday and thus far (in only 5 days) I've lost 8 pounds! I'm very, very, very pleased with that and am begining to think I might be able stick with this now that my crazy carb cravings have died down. What is most cool though is how I feel. I have more energy than I've had in years... actually the best I've felt since I was a pedi-cab driver in Austin.

Anyway, I highly recommend trying it. If you're interested check out AtkinsCenter.com

Random

• CNN: Crew returns to International Space Station --- The first manned flight to the International Space Station since the February 1 shuttle Columbia disaster is to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday --- I'm very excited to see the space program move forward.
  
  
• MSNBC: Judge says file-swapping is legal --- Ha, ha!

Austin

City Manager Toby Futrell, properly attired for a dip in Barton Springs, emerges from the water behind a fully clothed Will Wynn.
photo by John Anderson

• Austin Chronicle: Barton Springs Reopens, With Great Pleasure
  
  
• Austin Chronicle: Louis Black's Page 2 Column --- not always a fan of his writing (he is often rather anti-Green and pro-democrat) but this column is noteworthy.
  
  
• Statesman.com: DPS raids poker club --- None of the patrons at the club were arrested (Got this link from a blog author and poker club member: Loveandcasinowar.com... I found out about him/her from AustinBloggers.org
  
  
• Eeyore's Birthday party is tomorrow --- Such happy memories of enjoying Live Oak in the shade while listening to the drummers.... ahh... Austin... ok, enough reminicing. I gotta get back to studying law. Oh how I hate law school. I hate it more and more each day.
  

Social Justice

• Call to Renewal: People of Faith Overcoming Poverty is having a national conference entitled, "Pentecost 2003: Pray and Act to Put America's Poor on the National Agenda." This sounds very cool.

Quote of the Day

The Dixie Chicks have taken a big hit lately for exercising their basic right to express themselves. To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech. For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American.

The pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war and politics goes against everything that this country is about - namely freedom. Right now, we are supposedly fighting to create freedom in Iraq, at the same time that some are trying to intimidate and punish people for using that same freedom here at home.

I don't know what happens next, but I do want to add my voice to those who think that the Dixie Chicks are getting a raw deal, and an un-American one to boot. I send them my support. - Bruce Springsteen

Interesting blogs

• Blog on the run
  
  
• Real Live Preacher is one I've linked to in the past, but forgot how good it is. He is one of the most honest ministers I've ever known, either on or offline. I love his blog.

Vote for my brother!

That is if you're a law student at OU, as he's running for SBA President. Don't worry though, he's not a political flake like I am, but he is a genuinely nice guy who would serve his school well if given the chance.

His website can be found at JohnForPresident.org.

Happy Earth Day!

• Earth Day Network

Randomness

OK-IMC

• Good news! The Oklahoma Independent Media Center is back online.

Random as all getout

• ThinkingMeat.com: "Some of you may be lying awake nights, thinking to yourself, "I wonder how Estonia's high-tech industry is doing?" Well, you'll be happy to know that Estonia is blazing the Internet trail. . ."
  
  
• In Memoriam... Robert C. Atkins, M.D.

In Memory

Today is the eighth anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. It's hard to believe it has been that long.

What a hole, what an aching that killing leaves. Even now 8 years later, no one who was in OKC at that time is the same.

May God bring the day soon when senseless killing will end.

Regional Indy Press updates

• Arkansa IMC is now online.
  
  
• Bad news though from Oklahoma. Right now OKIMC.org is down. It looks like we're having webhost problems (since The St. Louis IMC (who uses the same host that we do) is also down.
  
  Hopefully it will be back up soon.

Peace music from San Marcos, TX!

• No War (download in mp3 format) is a pretty nifty country song from DaveTeichroeb. Very good song for your next peace protest.

Law School Update

• Today was our last day of Property!!!!! You don't know how happy this makes me. Life seems so much better without that class.
  
  
• We launched our new class website, www.oculaw2005.com today. If you're from OCU, please check it out and let me know what we should change. Thanks!

Music

• KONONO N°1 (be sure and check out their music video) - Here's what their website says about them...
  
  
  This band is one of the main exponents of a spectacular style of music which has developed in the suburbs of Kinshasa (DR Congo). The Congolese call it "tradi-modern", in other words : electrified traditional music.
  
  These are musicians who left the bush to settle in the capital and who, in order to go on keep fulfilling their social role and make themselves heard by the ancestors (and, more concretely, by their fellow citizens) despite the high level of urban noise, have had to resort to DIY amplification of their instruments, and to megaphones (conical speakers). This makeshift electrification has provoked a radical mutation of their sound, as it has introduced distorsions which they have integrated to their style.
  
  
  I really dig this. I love to see innovation through ethnic styles. This is how I believe the music of other cultures wil survive and thrive, notwithstanding the onslaught of the worst of Western music that is dumped on the world by corporate America.
  
  PBSKids.org: African Thumb Piano - This is too fun. Try it out!
  

Spirituality

Lately (over the last year more accurately) I have done a great deal of theological questioning and exploration. I have not "arrived" yet (and probably never will), but I think it might be good to take a moment now to tell where I am, so that in the future I can look back on these days and remember how where I've been. (for those who aren't interested in this, skip this post. It is more of an essay really than a normal blog post anyway.)


I'm going to back up though a bit to give you some context on all of this...

Growing up, I came from a strict text-based legalistic Christian tradition (The acapella music only branch of the Churches of Christ). This satisfied me until I got older and began to question the intellectual grounds for that kind of faith. It seemed the more that I studied the Bible, that I could not honestly come to the same conclusions as I was taught to believe.

These doubts came to a head in my early twenties when not only my head but my heart raised objections. Without getting too confessional here in a public forum, my life was going in a bad direction and out of desperation began to pray with an intensity that I hadn't before. In that moment, I had an experience that could not be explained thorugh the paradigm of a CoC faith tradition. In that experience I heard what is sometimes called "the still small voice" from deep in my heart that addressed clearly the issue that I was dealing with. The problem though was that this was not supposed to happen in a "sola scriptura" (Latin for "Only scripture) faith tradition.
Yet, I knew with all of my being that the experience was genuine, so I knew my belief stucture would have to change.

This experience of direct spirituality set me on a quest to know God in an experiential personal way. In time I decided to embark on this quest in a more deliberate fashion, so I switched colleges (changing from regional public university in Oklahoma to a small theological college in Austin, TX) to be more free to search without familial preasure.

In the end I ended up at a church of a more charismatic persuasion. I still had lots of questions and doubts, but I definitely felt like I fit better there than I had in the CoC. The next few years in general were good ones (some of the best of my life) in which I was part of a faith community that was extremely real with each other. In many ways I came into my own during those days, because those folks accepted me for who I am. I also discovered the joys of a more expressive worship style, the importance of the arts in the life of the church, and especially the importance of personal experience (as opposed to reading about other people's experiences in a second-hand way) in one's faith walk.

Yet, there were still tensions in my soul. One of the problems I encountered was in dealing with the practical nitty-gritty of how God speaks, especially in the context of community. It was one thing for I myself to believe that God put something on my heart, but it was something else for someone else to come to me and tell me that they heard something that was intended for me (this practice is commonly referred to as the gift of "prophecy" in Charismatic circles). Sometimes what people "prophecied" to me about seemed to be good, but other times the direction those people had was completely off-base. Thankfully I never experienced manipulation from someone who was falsly claiming to have that kind of gift, but it scared me to know how easy it would be for someone to do that, and how hurtful that would be.

Another concern that bothered me was the issue of how/when God would intervene in this world. --- Charismatics generally believe that God works in a very active way today, believing that all of the miracles that are told about in the New Testament can and do happen today. --- If one has a charismatic theological perspective, the problem that develops is how can one explain the horrible things that happen in this world like the holocaust?

To me if I believe that God controls everything, then that would mean that God intended for the holocaust to happen, and frankly that idea is reprehensible for me.

If on the other hand God doesn't directly control everything but just intervenes from time to time, then that raise the question of WHY didn't God intervene in the holocaust? I know the theological excuses for why God wouldn't intervene (God's respect for man's freewill, etc.) but that to me raises other questions if one believes that God sometimes does and other times does not intervene. (i.e. God must be playing favorites)

Those questions never were resolved but while I was in Austin those questions didn't bother me too much. The doubts remained but were pushed to the back of my mind as frankly life was not much of a struggle and little came up to really make me question things.

That changed during my last year or so in Austin when the wife of a friend died suddenly. She was a young mother (their first child was born only a few months before) who did well in the pregnancy and everything, but a few months later caught a fluke strep infection and was dead a few days later. --- Her death hit me hard and for a time I was bitter and angry at God (and still am to some extent). While in time I came to peace about her death, that experience reopened a lot of doubts that continued to linger.

It was also during this time that I began to grow spiritually in another way, in understanding more fully the social justice teachings of the Bible, particularly those of Jesus. All of my life (in the very deepest of places of my heart) I knew that violence was wrong but I had always convinced myself intellectually that my heart was wrong. As time went by though, I began to realize that I could intellectually back up a non-violent philosophy and that it was good to listen to my heart on this subject.

Finally I moved back to Oklahoma (mostly for economic reasons but also out of a desire to be closer to my roots). Once I settled there I never was able to find a church that fit. I tried several charismatic type churches and found one where I had friends but over time it didn't seem right either. The folks there were good people, but I couldn't get past the mixing of patriotism and spirituality (something I never saw at my old church in Austin) and also was beginning to be more and more hesitant about what I saw as the bad points of charismaticism (spiritual manipulation).

So to make a long story short, I ended up back at the CoC I grew up at. At first I went there because frankly I didn't know where else to go but also because I felt God wanted me there (the congregation had been through some hard times lately and I thought maybe I could be an encouragement to them). Shortly after that, their minister left to go to a more stable situation in ministry, so I ended up becoming their preacher on a part-time basis (starting in the fall of '02).

But I still continued to doubt. The doubts did not go away but rather grew more insistent. Preaching became such a hard thing, because each week I have to confront my faith head on. I know other people can psych themselves up to preach something they don't believe, but not me. I either have to believe it I won't preach it. So... I've been focusing on textual studies that are for the most part inoffensive, and avoid pushing deeper into the subjects so as to not offend. I hope and pray that the congregation will be pushed to think deeper on the social justice themes of scripture but I can't push it on them.

Finally (sorry for the slow buildup)... these doubts and my own faith struggle come to a head about the time this war started. I (as did many others both here and around the world) prayed for peace and continued to pray through everything that somehow, someway peace might come. Even at church (where most of the folks regretably are pro-war) I would pray for peace in the prayers I would lead.
Yet war came.

This finally was the final nail in the coffin. I had to find a new theology to explain how and why God does and/or doesn't work in this world.

Neither the hyperfaith of the charismatics (esp the "name it and claim it" doctrine), or the lifeless, cold and dull faith of those who think that God doesn't work in this world at all, would satisfy my heart. I needed something else.

So... where does that leave me? I'm still figuring that out, but I am beginning to sink my roots into some solid truths.

What I do know is that God is real. I can't not believe in him, if for nothing else because nature is breathtaking and my garden is coming alive. I can't accept a godless world. It too me makes no sense to my heart, or my head for that matter either. Despite the ugliness, there is still too much good in this world to believe that God isn't there somehow.

I also believe that God in someway speaks to human beings. Not in the dramatic way (or at least that is not my experience) that the charismatic "prophets" claim, but in that inner place. Really to me the best explanation I've read of it lately is from both Emerson and from some of the Quaker writers, in that this voice (if you want to call it that) is that place where you KNOW with all of your heart that something is true or real. It's that place where I KNOW that war and killing is wrong. It's that place where I KNOW that all human beings have worth in the eyes of God. In short, that place is what animates us as human beings and is the source off the good that happens in this world. This inner voice is what has given courage to the cowardly, it's the voice that makes the blind see the injustice around them, it's the voice that makes us see that life is worth living.

So, I guess I do believe that God works today... but maybe not in the miraculous way, or maybe the fact that he speaks at all is miraculous. In short, it seems that the good that happens in this world is from God... when people do the right thing, when people stand up for what is right, when they listen and respond to that inner voice, then God is at work, and to the extent that we respond to that voice then we are partnering with God.

And I also still believe in scripture. The Bible has so many problems, so many issues (and if you think it easy to understand and has no problems, then forgive my frankness... but you haven't spent enough time in it.) . . . YET in a very substantial and real way I believe it is true.

I also believe in ritual and mystery. I believe that in communion something tangible and real happens. This really is my biggest point of disagreement with Emerson and the Quakers. I do think that physical actions have worth. The reason I don't believe that those things can or should be transcended is because I don't believe in the divorce of body and spirit. I see the world in a more holistic way.

How all of this plays out I don't know? I'm still trying to figure all of this out, but I do know that this journey is where I need to be. That's enough to be said for now...

Law School Update

Things are moving fast now with finals rapidly approaching. At this point I have every hour between now and my last final on a schedule and trying to get everything done.

Here's when my final exams will take place...

Ap 29 Civil Procedure II
May 1 Contracts II
May 5 Criminal Law
May 8 Property

It is very scary to know that my first exam is only 12 days away. So, so much to be done.

The good thing though is that we won't have any classes after Wednesday of next week. Studying for exams is difficult, but at least that is self-directed and I don't have to listen (or respond) to mean professors who enjoy looking down their noses at us (not all of my profs are like that... actually only one is. The others are cool, it's just that one mean prof who makes me hate life.).

At this point, I guess the main thing is to just keep my eye on the finish line. L-school might be bad but I think the practice of law will not be bad. --- BTW, this is a tangent but I am thinking lately about doing imigration law as a specialty (along with consumer bankruptcy and criminal defense). I had never thought much about imigration law until I met a local attorney (and fellow peace activist) who primarily does imigration law. His practice sounds so interesting and he is able to do so much for the causes of justice and liberty in what he does. Visiting with him gives me so much hope.

Tsi-sa Du-le-hi-s-a-nv

That's Cherokee for "Happy Easter" (literally, "Jesus, when He arose")

Check out the Cherokee (Tsa-la-gi) lexicon for language resources.

Odd yet compelling

• LowResolution.com - Why? I don't know.

The end of POLIblog

I posted my last entry to my seperate political blog, sort of a closing statement with my thoughts on Gulf War II now that is nearing its end. I will continue to keep that content up in the archives but will change the layout of the main site in the next few weeks.

I will keep writing on things political though, but will do so at OK-IMC. While I dig blogging, the more structured format of IMC system seems to be better suited to politics and news stuff. Anything that doesn't fit on the IMC will be posted here.

BTW, life in general is getting pretty nutty here. My last day of class is next Wednesday and my finals start the following week. I gotta lot of work to do, but at least it is almost over. I am so sick of law school. I would so much rather be working in my garden.

The weekend

• I posted an account of Saturday's protest in Weatherford at: OK-IMC and there are also some pictures posted here. It was by far the most intense protest I have ever been to (200 counter-protestors against 3 of us who decided to stay for the duration). I very much believe God was with us there. The situation turned out so much better than it could have.

Bankruptcy Law

• Washington Post: IRS Renews Study of Credit-Counseling Firms
  
  
  The Internal Revenue Service is stepping up its scrutiny of nonprofit consumer credit-counseling firms to see if they are legitimate charities and deserve tax-exempt status. . .
  
  "It is suspected that some of these organizations are acting in a commercial for-profit manner or as part of a tax shelter promotion," noted an IRS document setting agency priorities for this fiscal year, which started in October. A wider probe could be instigated, it added, depending on the results of initial exams.
  
  
  Good for the IRS. With few exceptions, these firms are bad news. Most people in severe financial distress need RELIEF from debt slavery and not an extension of it. Credit counseling does little for the debtor but boy howdy it sures helps the creditor.
  

Five Iron Frenzy . . . this time it's for real

Fans of FIF (one of the world's greatest bands) should read on. . . (my thoughts on this follow this blurb)

From FiveIronFrenzy.com:


An open letter to all supporters of Five Iron Frenzy from the band.

Way back in 1996, just after our first album came out, we began to hear rumors that our band was breaking up. For six years we’ve insisted these rumors were untrue. We have always said that when we do decide to move on that we would make a very formal announcement about it and post it on our official web site to avoid such rumors from proliferating.

Here is that announcement:

By the end of 2003, Five Iron Frenzy will cease to exist as a working band. This means that after 2003 FIF will not be recording more songs or playing any more shows.

This was not an easy decision to come to, and we wish to thank you all for your incredible support since our inception in 1995. You have truly made this an amazing experience which all of us will remember fondly for the rest of our lives.

We did not come to this decision haphazardly. Every year we sit down with our pastor to pray about what the Lord would like us to do for the next year. We have done this since the beginning of the band and have always said that we would do what ever we think God wants us to do, even if that means stopping the band. After meeting with our pastor this year and spending several days in prayer and meetings, we have decided that it is time for us to move on.

Quite simply, the reason FIF will no longer be a band after 2003 is because, after much prayer, we feel like the Lord has called us on to other things. What those other things are will be as diverse as the 8 people who make up the band, but the point is that we all agree that this is what the Lord has told us.

The end of 2003 is still quite a ways off, and we have a busy and exciting year planned. Here is a list of things you can expect from Five Iron Frenzy in 2003:

*Our main goal in 2003 is simply to say “thank you very much” and give a proper good bye to you for supporting us for the past 8 years. Without you this would have all ended very long ago. We genuinely appreciate your support, and can’t say thanks enough for it.

*On April 22 we will release our B-sides and “funny song” album, which is tentatively titled “Cheeses of Nazareth.” We have been working on it for the past few weeks, and we think you will enjoy it. It will have some of our B-sides and some previously “lost” FIF songs that are really old, along with a lot of goofy songs that we are kind of making up as we go along (ala: “The Godzilla Song,” or “Kitty-Doggie”). This CD will be in stores on 5 Minute Walk Records.

*In early summer we will release a full length CD which will be our final studio recording. This album will only be available at live shows, starting (hopefully) in Mid-June. This is an album that we have big plans for (both the music and the packaging), and is one you are definitely gonna want to buy at our shows. Sometime in 2004 this album will be released in stores, but until then will ONLY be available at live shows.

* We will be hitting many major music festivals in the summer, including: Agape Fest (Greenville, IL), Cornerstone Orlando (Orlando, FL), Alive Fest (near Canton, OH), Inside Out Soul Fest (New Hampshire), Kingdom Bound (Buffalo, NY), Cornerstone SC (some where in SC), Purple Door (PA), and Lifest (Oshkosh, WI). For many of these fests, this will be the last time we EVER play in a 100 mile radius of the fest location, so you’ll want to check it out. (Also, there will be more fests added as the summer approaches).

*In addition to the above mentioned fests, we will also be performing at the original Cornerstone Festival in Bushnel, IL on July 4. We will be headlining the main stage on that night and helping C-stone to celebrate that fests 20th birthday.

* Starting in Mid-Sept and going through Mid-November will be our farewell tour. (Farewell as in this will be the LAST time you ever get to see us live). This will be a big one and will hit a ton of places. The tour is tentatively called “Winners Never Quit: The Farewell Tour,” and will be coming to a city near you (assuming you live in the continental United States.) Support acts will not be announced at this time, but it will be a good show, we promise. You will also be able to buy our final full length studio CD at these shows.

(If you are interested in booking this tour, please send an email to Booking@5minutewalk.com, particularly if you have connections to a college activities board that would be interested in this show.)

* The “Winners Never Quit” tour will culminate with a big show in Denver, CO in Mid-Nov, which will be the last FIF show.

*As previously mentioned, sometime in 2004, the last FIF studio CD will be released in stores.

No one ever knows the future, but if the Lord wills, these are our plans for 2003.

We know that the Lord blessed this band beyond our expectations. God used FIF as a vehicle to change many peoples lives (ours included). The important thing to remember right now is that our main goal has always been focused on something bigger than a band, something bigger than music. We have always tried to point to something that is eternal and unchanging. Bands come and go, and now it is FIF’s time to go. But our message has always been that God is an unchanging constant, and that through Christ one can receive peace, love, hope and faith. This is all we have ever wanted to leave people with, and we pray that God would continue to reveal Himself to us all.

Again, we can’t stress enough how appreciative we are of you for your support of us over the years. We hope that you will come and see us on our farewell tour so that we can say good bye.

God bless. Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Dennis Culp, Nathanael Dunham, Keith Hoerig, Sonnie Johnston, Leanor Ortega, Micah Ortega, Reese Roper, Andrew Verdecchio.

(AKA: Five Iron Frenzy)


This truly is the end of an era. So many of my favorite memories are intertwined with this band, especially all of the FIF shows I went to with my friend Kimberly... Stubb's in Austin on the Ska against racism tour (where Reece swung from the rafters like a monkey) and road tripping to Dallas to see them with the Insyderz and the O.C. Supertones.

And of course you can't forget about Cornerstone. Oh my word... I saw them a bunch there.

And last but not least there's Leonore... aka "Jeff the Girl," the cutest tenor sax player that's ever walked the face of the earth. Wow, I had such a crush on her.

Well life goes on, both for me and for Five Iron Frenzy. I wish them the best, but I still hope I can see them once more. You know what would be totally INSANE but cooler than Vanilla Ice... doing a ROAD TRIP up to Denver for their last show in November. I am so skipping school for that. If anyone wants in on that madness let me know.

Another good day!

• Read all about it on today's post at Gardenblog.tk

For those of you at OCU

I got this via email today. I'm really looking forward to this. (My own church tradition isn't liturgical but I really dig that style of worship, especially during the holidays.)

Holy Week at OCU 2003

* Holy Thursday Communion Service
1:05 to 1:50 p.m. April 17
in the Sanctuary of the Chapel
Rev. Mark Foster, of ACTS II will bring the message
Spirit of Grace and the University choir will assist.
The Communion Table is open to everyone.

* Good Friday Stations of the Cross
12 p.m. in the Chapel on April 18.
Everyone is invited. This is sponsored by the
Religious Life Council
(Campus closes at noon, but we thought some would like to stay for this)

* Easter Sunday Sunrise Service
April 20, 2003 at 7 a.m.
Casual Dress (a coat may be necessary)
East side of the Chapel on Campus
Continental Breakfast following the service

Good music

• Starflyer 59, masters of moody music that speaks to soul have a new MP3 released from their upcoming album at MP3.com. Please, please, please download it so they can move up in the MP3.com rankings and become the Rock 'n Roll stars they have always deserved to be but never have been.
  
  BTW, this new song --- "Underneath" is very satisfying. Maybe one of the best SF59 songs I have ever heard. Imagine the driving moodness of the Americana album slamming smack into the quirky wierdness of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album, along with a bit of a horror movie sound track.
  
  
• Lenny Kravitz has released a new song for free download via MP3.com and Rock the Vote. Here's what MP3.com says about it:
  
  
  The song, which says, "There won't be peace if we don't try" is an urgent call from Lenny Kravitz for America to be a peaceful leader in the world. Kravitz wrote the song and performed it with Kazem Al Sahir, Iraq's #1 pop music artist, who is better known as the Iraqi Diplomatic Ambassador of the world and a true legend of Arabic Music. In addition, the song features Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen on strings and Lebanese artist Jamey Hadded on percussion.
  
  
  I think the song isn't bad, but I wish they use more of the Middle Eastern vibe throughout the song and not just in the bridge. --- I definitely dig the message though.
  

An exceptionally good day

God was smiling today on Oklahoma. Beautiful weather with the Redbud trees bursting into bloom and the green grass shimmering in the sun.

Enough spring-time exultation for now (I don't want to make my friends in colder climes jealous ;-)... pictures from today's trip to Tulsa for buying garden plants can be found on the April 10th post of www.gardenblog.tk

An old friend...

Well boys and girls it looks like the infamous (and sometimes disturbing) Treble Bandoppler is back.

For those you who know who I speak of... beware of Bandoppler.com

In Austin

My old friend Peter Nevland is performing at the Austin Slam-Off semifinals this Wednesday night, 8PM at Ego's. Peter says it will packed, so get there early.

Also for those of you who haven't heard Peter before, Here's my review of his album Late Bloomer that ran in the last edition of OCU Law School newspaper The Verdict:


Peter Nevland
Late Bloomer
www.peternevland.com

Peter Nevland was a mighty fine slam poet in the Austin slam scene.

Some said he was downright musical in his maddening rhythmic rhyme schemes. This assessment turned out be prophetic since Peter recently emigrated from Poetryland to somewhere else altogether.

Where that place is, I don’t know, but it is one funky place.

Peter’s latest project, Late Bloomer features Peter’s dramatic slam poetry set to the the funkified cool groove beat of The Neverland band (consisting of keyboardist Dave Nevland, bassist Jason Peavey, drummer Eric Allen, and guitarist Paul Finley.). The result is a collision that I’ll call Slam Jazz.

My favorite tracks on the album are “Rashi and Me” (the compelling tale of Peter’s encounter with a now-former gangster on the bad side of town), “Ant Dance” (a chilled out smooth jazz number about . . . getting ants in your pants), “For starters” (a song that makes me want to jump up dance) and “Rhuhamah” (the story of a whore and the one who loves her).

Peter will be performing March 15th at The Backroom in Edmond. Check out www.peternevland.com for more info.

Random

• MSNBC: Scientists clone wild cattle species
  
  
• SpaceImaging.com's Sat photo gallery (some of these images may have been received via Newcastle's massive satellite receiving station)
  
  
• MSNBC: National Archives go online (partly)
  
  
• The Contented Crow - I would love to be sitting on that deck right now.
  

Quote of the Day

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito. - African proverb

Quote of the Day

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country … corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. - Abraham Lincoln

GardenBlog.tk is launched

I decided to setup a seperate site for my garden blogging: www.GardenBlog.tk

Law

• MSNBC: High court upholds cross-burning ban --- In 5-4 decision, justices say First Amendment ‘not absolute’

Music

Here's some of what I've been listening too lately...


• I recently stumbled into The Golden Eggs, a very fun Norman, OK band. They have a 50's rock sound mixed with a bit punk, a bit of surf, and the lo-fi goodness of home recording. Here are few of their mp3's. I really dig them:
  
  
  • Little Brother
    
    
  • maybe it's written in the stars
    
    
  • your cousin humility
  
  
  
  
  BTW, The Golden Eggs are playing this weekend in Norman, on Friday, April 11th at the Opolis, 113 Crawford, one block west of Porter between Main and Gray. The opening band will be an accoustic set of provided by Mark Llewellen (a fellow Okie Greenster and super-nice guy) and Eric Sarmiento.
  
  
• Been listening to a lot The Magnetic Fields lately, especially their 69 Love Songs album (or I should say, 3-Disk box set --- I mean there are 69 songs on it!). I am still amazed that that guy could come up with so many catchy, likable songs about love --- of course, much of it is the dark side of love though. Not very much sap.
  
  The fact that I'm listening so much to that album probably says something about my emotional/romantic state of late, but I'll plead the Fifth on that. I avoid all talk of romance on this blog.
  

Life...

has been remarkably good lately. School has been much more bearable. Property in particular has improved because I started outlining the subject and it is now making more sense. (I should have done this long ago.) Still a long ways to go though.

Beyond school, I've been pretty busy with peace stuff and also with a little bit of gardening. Here are a couple of pictures from this weekend when I doing stuff in the garden...


This shot shows most of my garden, except for one of my potato beds.


This bed has lettuce and salad greens in one end of the bed, and wildflowers in the other bed. (Including a couple of bluebonnet plants that are now growing!) --- BTW, the street sign from NW 27th & Blackwelder is not stolen but was given to me by my old next door neighbors, the Puckets (now deceased) who had a God-given gift to grow things. They used to work for OKC Parks department which is where they got the sign.



This shot shows my new potato bed (the bed that is closest to where I took the picture from on the left. My method for that bed was to dig it out about 9" deep (and to use the dirt elsewhere in one of the elevated beds), then to plant my seed potatoes in the pit. Then I piled on hay. The idea is that as the potato plans grow, I'll add keep adding hay and at the end of the season all I'll have to do is shake off the hay to find the taters!

BTW, if you want to track what I'm planting where check out my garden map...



(Click on the image to see a big version of it. --- You can see I was bored in class today because that's when I made the map! hahaha)

Quote of the Day

We can no longer afford to confuse peaceability with passivity. Authentic peace is no more passive than war. Like war, it calls for discipline and intelligence and strength of character, though it calls also for higher principles and aims. If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we now prepare for war. - Wendell Berry from "A Citizen's Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States of America"

Quote of the Day

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.

- Katherine Lee Bates, "America the Beautiful

Quote of the Day

For a nation to be, in the truest sense, patriotic, its citizens must love their land with a knowing, intelligent, sustaining, and protective love. They must not, for any price, destroy its health, its beauty, or its productivity. And they must not allow their patriotism to be degraded to a mere loyalty to symbols or any present set of officials. - Wendell Berry from "A Citizen's Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States of America"

Prayer request

I found out today that Kathy Kelly (one of my personal heroes) is still in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team. I thought she might have left as I heard that many of the IPT folks and all of the Christian Peacemaker Teams had left Baghdad this week. (This decision was made primarily because of the scarcity of food available to them, so that instead of about 30 people combined between IPT/CPT, there would be 12.)

Please pray for her and the others who have chose to remain (list of all IPT delegates, including those who remain and those who have can be found here).

I know not all of my readers agree on war or even agree that what these people are doing is a good thing... but, I do know that they are following their consciences to the best of their ability and are trying to be obedient to the call that God has placed on their lives. Please pray for their safety and for the civilian families who they are staying with. Kathy is such a sweet person. I so admire her for staying but also fear that for her life.

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

Guess what I did this morning?

I showed up on time for class, property book (and canned briefs) in hand ready to rock and roll.

There was one problem though. I don't have property on Thursday mornings!

Hahaha, what was really embarrassing was that I didn't figure out I brought the wrong book and was prepared for the wrong class, until my crim law prof walked in! Oh well, I was needing a mental health day anyway, so I told the prof what happened, that my brain was scrambled, and I'm leaving.

Random Stuff

• OKPeaceHarvest.com - website that I did a recent redesign of
  
  
• MP3 of "What would Willie Do?" --- By Gary Allan -a great song!
  
  
• BBC: Internet helps write the book of life
  
  From the story:
  
  
  Austin Blind Salamander - Discovered in 2002
  
  Isn't that amazing, finding new species even now!

Website News

Two things have come up recently that I have pursuaded me to make changes to how this site is run...

The first thing is that I am becoming more involved with the Oklahoma Independent Media Center (www.okimc.org). Much of what I have been posting at the JMBzine poliblog really fits better over there, especially on local and peace issues.

The second thing is my life is furiously crazy busy at the present moment... law school finals are fast approaching (in about a month), sermons still gotta be preached every sunday, and there is so much to be done with the Peace movement here in Oklahoma.

So in light of all of this, I'm going to stop posting new stuff to the POLIblog starting today through the end of finals (and possibly for good). Some of the stuff that I would normally post to the POLIblog will go on OKIMC though, so check there especially on the Newswire and Other Press sections.

I will keep the MAINBlog running though, but it'll talk focus all of the stuff that is too personal to put on OKIMC or just is about random stuff in life.

Finally the last thing is that I have decided I'm going to start working on some longer length essays on social justice concepts. Probably will wait until the summer for those, but once they're done I'll post them over at JMBzine Nonblog content index.