Regretfully Indifferent

Delightful little read for all Lord of the Rings fans... Peter Jackson responds to, and explains some of the first two films' bloopers.

Best comeback of 2003: In a northern Iraqi town yesterday about 700 people rallied, chanting, "Saddam is in our hearts, Saddam is in our blood!" U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen shouted back: "Saddam is in our jail" ...

So I got in my time machine and zipped on over to 2019. When I got there I decided that my first order of business was to visit those crazy kids at Ember Studio, Mike, Jared, and Josiah. I snapped this picture in Mike's basement. Enjoy!



Fight the Power. Make up stories...

This is an exerpt from aaron's journal on the mewithoutyou webpage...man i live this guy
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It is a peculiar stupidity that allows me to become so easily discouraged. my usual order of things: (1) pray for God's guidance and wisdom (2) ignore or betray the convictions He gives me (3) charge or doubt Him because of the disorder and confusion in my life. is there peace in our hearts? are we not lying to ourselves and others, professing a faith we scarcely believe in? may God forbid we become comfortable here! but rather than seeking happiness we should value this restlessness. if we didn't first feel the pain of a cut, what would prompt us to clean and wrap the wound, preventing infection or worse? this emotional pain of ours (if I may assume I'm not alone in my sadness), as with physical pain, is often a sign that something is wrong. rather than dress the wound, or even question the cause, don't we choose spiritual numbness (entertainment, socializing, education or career ambitions...) and so decide not to feel the infection of our entire lives? this sickness or infection is disobedience and self-absorbtion, a lack of love for God and other people. I am sick with myself, and too much with this world. but there are certain moments, radiant with sorrow and pity, where my soul is set on fire by the love of Jesus! he does not avoid or deny the suffering of the world, but takes it upon himself in its most extreme. far from our mediocrity and compromise, his crucifixion challenges us to suffer wildly, dares us to love recklessly, even foolishly. my friends, when will we grow tired of mediocrity and compromise? God, forgive our selfishness. please soften our hearts and open our ears to your truth. let us die to oursleves, and give us a new and wonderful life. help us see You in those around us and show them the patience and gentleness You've shown us. let us love the unlovable as You have loved us. You are beautiful, just beautiful, my Lord! -ajw

This came from the Dilbert Newsletter... I figured it was good enough to share. Happy Christmas kids!

Holiday Thoughts
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If you're following the news, you know that the major religions differ in their interpretation of the holy books. For example, one way to interpret God's will is that you should love your neighbor. An alternate reading of the holy books might lead you to rig a donkey cart with small mortar rockets and aim it at a hotel full of infidels. In summary, po-tay-to, poh-tah-to. Religions are very flexible, and that's a loophole that the DNRC should exploit, especially during the holiday season.

Imagine, if you will, that all DNRC members moved their holiday gift-buying from December to January to take advantage of the sales. Then imagine that the money
saved on gifts is invested at 5% compounded interest for 80 years. You'll be dead by then, but your estates would be worth literally hundreds of dollars, maybe more. Anyway, the point is that it's easier to park at the mall in
January, and that's something that Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha would all agree is a good thing. Especially Buddha, if you know what I mean.

Personally, I want a religion that says it's okay for me to RECEIVE gifts, while warning that I'll burn in hell forever if I try to GIVE any. Furthermore, if I open a gift that seems poorly thought-out, it would be my religious obligation to smash it against a wall while the giver watches in horror. Some people might say to me, "Hey, where did you get that religion? Did you pull it out of your
@$$?" But people are polite and rarely ask that sort of question even when you think they should.

Fight the Power. Stay Informed.

Nemesis


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
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Sorry about the recent posting hiatus... Life has gotten ahead of me and I am desperately trying to catch up. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was incredible. I had a wondeful day, spending time with the people I love the most (if only Josiah had been there :-) ).

Good to see that you're writing again Jared, FiCtIoN iS CaThArTiC.

I checked the EXP on my Blog Hero yesterday and he's about to level up. Don't be surprised if you come here to find a completely different monster... then again he might just learn LVL 3 Fire Spell (you just never know with RPG analogies).

Work has been zapping all my time. I'm rarely on the computer anymore (shocking). My coworkers are making me stupider every day... how bout a list:

Scott - Farts all the time. Rarely washes. Stocks with his shirt off (but still has his back brace on). Starts every sentence with, "Well...". Does everything wrong, but blames it on you. Completely ignorant.

Debbie - Has worked at K-Mart for 23 years. Just recently lost all dedication to her job. Takes long breaks now and forgets to care. Likes to laugh at my jokes and frequently spits up her drink while doing so. Only smokes menthols.

Tammy - Quite possibly the loudest, most opinionated person I've ever known. Her favorite saying is, "F*ckin MORONS! They MAKE me call them bad names! I don't want to do it, but they MAKE me do it. F*ckin G*ddam MotherF*ckin retard morons! It's their f*ckin g*ddam faults!"

So ends the list (and my sanity).

I want The Holy Grail of comical literature. Mike will want it too, I'm sure. Sadly, he'll probably buy it one day... Gary Larson calls The Complete Far Side, the massive two-volume collection of his Far Side cartoons, an "18-pound hernia giver." Sure to give any coffee table a solid workout, the handsome and heavy 1,250-page "legacy book" is a must for fervent fans; over 4,300 single-panel comics with more than half in color and 1,100 that have not appeared in any book form before (the popular--and far less weighty--paperback collections).

Those of you that feel like you can listen to a CD objectively without all that elitest pretense... dangit now my demographic is alienated. Ohh well... the new Coheed and Cambria disc is incredible. I had no clue that they had it in them. For some odd reason I get a Frodus feeling (minus the Sasquatch). Must be the ringing telephone start the disc... These guys laugh so hard at Emo, it's hilarious. I love a band that's good enough to remain in and yet completely transcend their genre.

For everyone else that can't handle that and would like some incredibly tasty Metal fare... "Nodes of Ranvier - Nodes of Ranvier" is one of the best new CD's I've heard in a long time.

(PS. to Mike and Jared... LS released that Processed Tour video on DVD and it has extended footage and whatnot. Check their site it looks tasty...)

Hope everyone is dong well, love you all... Fight the Power. Stay Informed.

With every ounce of strength he could summon, he drew in his breath for one last time. "In your hands…" he said. His speech fell unintelligible for a moment, as his soul began to consent to its impending departure, "…dying…rest in wings of gold". His chest sank as he uttered this final, haunting whisper... this closing contemplation... this scattered, broken sentence that seized his every passionate thought. His arm shook as his fingers brushed against the broken, bleeding flesh above his ear. The fatal grip of forever's silence took its hold as the gleaming, blood-stained edge of an ancient broadsword struck true into his chest sending him bounding helplessly into the air and suspending him from a concrete wall just feet from where the battle began. The assassin watched as the boy's lifeless form slid down the razor-sharp edge of the broadsword. Being forced down by his own weight, his body split from the chest, up through his collarbone just to the right of his neck. As his body hit the ground, the assassin drew his sword from the cracked, crimson-stained wall, and turned toward the remains of the Great city...

That's right kiddies...the history books have been re-opened, and authoring has begun again on what is destined to be... a book.