Moving on faith

I've been listening to a lot of Jadon Lavik lately.

He's awesome. For comparison's sake, imagine if Chris Tomlin stopped making Christian praise songs and just did Christian songs. I kinda overlooked this CD because I got stuck on Building 429 for the longest time and revisited David Crowder.

Jadon plays a pop-style of music. There's a lot of guitar though, I know he plays because I saw him on newsongcafe, playing his song "How Majestic". It's a fun song to play. Actually I haven't played a lot of guitar over the past few months and only started playing again because of this CD.

I drafted a post about one of the songs but I never published because it was kinda morbid. To sum it up, I came up with the following songs that I would like to be played at my funeral.

Dare You To Move by Switchfoot
I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe
Homesick by MercyMe
Today by Jadon Lavik

Today by Jadon Lavik

More things to buy
More clothes to wear
The perfect job
The perfect wife
A new color for the hair

And take a look around the way we're living
It's no secret we think that
Just a little more
Just a little bit further
Then we're there

Chorus:
But time asks no questions
It moves on
In spite of me
It's not about my style of life
My own prosperity
It's time we open up our eyes
To find there's so much more

And all I'm asking
Is what you're living for
Today

You saw the hurts
You saw the pain and knew our needs
Cured the sick
Healed the lame and made the blind man see

A life laid down
The perfect gift for you and me
Love's greatest sacrifice
A picture of how it ought to be
How it ought to be

Chorus

So take a look around go find a brother
And help him stand
Take the risk to love another
With an outstretched hand

I love egg

Not really, but great song. It's linked now so it doesn't play automatically.

Oodle doodle!

Tact

Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.

Interestingly enough, Sunday sermon talked about the gift of singleness. It pretty much confirmed everything I said two posts ago. Am I a genius or what?

Speaking of geniuses, I'm not the greatest with words so I've started working on or practising phrases to use in the future. Actually it's something that I've been working on for a long time, in the effort to upgrade myself. eBrian v2.0 -- coming soon.. One of phrases I've been trying to find alternatives for has been "You look tired." It can have so many negative connotations, most notably in physical appearance. I said that once to someone and they blogged about it and thought it was insulting. Fortunately for me they couldn't remember who had said it to them...

Anyway, the sermon at the wedding yesterday talked about tact as well. Pastor Vic was instructing Duncan on use of words when addressing his new wife.

I was thinking "How are you feeling?" would be more tactful, and then if they said they felt tired, then it's done. Or maybe "Are you feeling okay?". "Late night?". Or maybe reflect it back and tell them that I'm tired. The best I've been able to come up with is:

"Wow, I'm so tired from [insert reason for being tired] but you look great.. how do you do it?"

At the wedding, I was sitting at a table of people who really liked to travel. They were talking incessantly about vacation spots.. Paris, Provence(?), London, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Jamaica. I dunno but personally if I could afford to travel, those places would all be at the bottom of my list. The idea of going somewhere to lay down on a beach doesn't appeal to me at all. Going some place for shopping and expensive meals.. I can do that here and I choose not to. Topping my list has to be Africa, and then India. Places where I can visit now and won't be able to visit when I'm 50+.

Weddings

Yesterday I went to the rehearsal for my friends' wedding this Saturday. I've known Nancy & Duncan only for a short time but they seem closer than many of the friends I've had for much longer. I think it's because we were in the same small group.. and it was one of those small groups that was really close-knit, so we got to know one another really well, not just on the platonic level but personally and spiritually. That's totally missing in my current small group.. but I digress.

I like weddings.. It's only my 3rd this year but technically my 5th if you count the ones I couldn't make it to. Plus I had another 4 last year. I know someone who has/had 12 weddings in one year. I think the most unbelievable thing about that isn't the numbers but the fact that someone had 12 different close friends who were getting married the same year. That's a little mind boggling -- I don't know if I have that many close friends altogether. But I suppose that you don't have to be a close friend to be invited.. I mean if you have the money then you might as well invite everyone you know.

I was really disappointed when I was bumped off the worship team for this Saturday's service. The bride asked too many of us to be on it and when we realized we had a surplus, I was chosen to do something else. Instead I got decorations.. which is also cool because I like being creative. But N&D aren't the type who want anything extravagent, they like simple and easy. After all they're both engineers and me personally as a fellow engineer would have gone with no decorations. Haha..

I'm not sure if I'm coming down with a cold or not.. but my throat has been very sore and raspy over the past 2 days. It's been kinda cold the last few days plus I shaved my head again so that hasn't helped. Karen asked me what was wrong with my voice yesterday. I think it's combo of cold weather, singing along to Building 429, and talking a lot. Been talking a whole lot at work.. been feeling more assertive now that I feel like I really belong there. Anyway..

Yesterday I also managed to fill my car up with gas at 85.1 cents. What a deal! To think my last fill-up (about 1 month ago) was at 99.5! What a saving! Woot!

So anyway I stayed home from work today because I felt sick.. and you can probably sorta tell from the randomness of this post that mind isn't really clicking properly right now.

Shadow of Angels

This is track 6 of Building 429's album "Glory Defined". It's called Shadow of Angels. I really enjoy the acoustic guitar in it. Unfortunately they're almost all barre and I haven't been able to learn it. Plus the song is in the C# key and well, I'm not good enough to play the chords.

If you haven't already purchased this album, I highly recommend it. Look for the extended edition. It's really good.

Shadow of Angels by Building 429

Sunrise on Sunset Beach
Finds me right where I watched it set
I spent the night inside myself
But I haven’t found me yet

But I’m not running from you anymore
I’m not running from you anymore, no not anymore

Chorus:
Cause I believe that when I call for You
You hear the plea for my rescue
And You lift me up above the world I know
And I know that when I speak Your name
You hear my voice and send Your saints
To cover me in the shadow of angels

I got caught in the memories
Cause they never fail to prove
I’m insecure and incomplete
It’s a stinging point of truth

So I will never find the best of me
Until I find myself in You, I’ll find myself in You

(I have to turn off autostart because I have a limited bandwidth from my site and it's costing me about 2 cents each time someone plays the songs. Honestly it's not a big deal since there's only 10-15 visitors per day. Just hit play if you want to hear it.)


Also wanted to thank everyone for your prayers for my job interview. I know that without you, and without God's hand in this I wouldn't have gotten through it.

Since I've gotten to full-time status I've actually been giving a lot of thought about the difference of all of it.

It's the same pay, same hours and benefits. But being a temp meant zero job security. Being temp also meant that my job couldn't tie me down. Erwin McManus talks about God's blessings that end up tying us down and handcuffing us from seizing our divine moments. He gave examples of a better paying job, his wife and children.

This is why I feel that we are in various stages of our lives for a reason. I believe that God places us in certain positions, places and circumstances in order for us to maximize the use our gifts. Once that has been exhausted, God moves us into a different stage.

I think over time my parents have realized this too and it's why they finally stopped nagging me to find a girl and settle down. And that has helped me a lot because I no longer feel pressure in doing so. Dating, marriage and children is a completely different stage in life and it's not where I want to be, nor is it a place I'm ready to go... yet.

However, I do feel that becoming a permanent staffer brings me a new limitation that I didn't have before. I've talked before about quitting my job and moving abroad. Though it's not completely impossible to do this now, it certainly will be more difficult. Giving up a secure job in a market where job security don't exist would prove to be a big test for me if God ever asked for it.

News

This morning I got a call from my manager, letting me know that I GOT THE JOB!!

:D

Smorgasbord

I've always liked the word smorgasbord.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. My interview on Thursday went relatively well. They asked me 7 questions and I think I answered 6 of them very well.. and the other one -- I think I made a pretty valiant effort :) They also gave me a written question, again -- a courageous effort. Everything is in God's hands now. My supervisor told me that it would take a few days to crunch the numbers.

The way the City works for hiring is -- since it's a union position -- anyone who scores 70% or higher is considered 'qualified' for the position. From there the person with the most seniority gets the job. I've been with the City for about 3 years so if anyone applied with more seniority than me and is qualified, they will get the job.

Bonding

I had a dream last week. Kenric and I were at the gates at the Air Canada Center getting ready to go watch the Raptors' season opener against Washington. We were in line to get in, when my brother appeared. He was a lot younger.. it was a memory of him when he was oh.. 7 or 8 years old. He was so cute and he asked me if he could have my tickets so he and his friend could go watch. I couldn't refuse. I gave it to him and they ran off.

When I woke up later, I remembered my brother is really 18 now. All grown up. I still treat him like a kid because he'll always be that little kid that I had fun with. But it kind of just struck me how much he's grown up.

This weekend my brother came home again and we spent the afternoon shopping to get him a winter jacket. He didn't even have a thin jacket so I bought him one of those two-layer jackets with the outer shell and inner fleece. His jacket (Wind River) is actually nicer than the Columbia one that I have. It cost me about $200. Well whatever.. as long as he's warm :)

Sunday

Our entire worship team went to visit Unionville Alliance Church. The idea was to go there and experience their worship and hopefully bring something back to improve our experience at T3C. UAC's Sunday Service was really great. It felt like an experience, not just going through your regular routine like we have at T3C. I don't know how else to describe it. From beginning to end it felt like one experience, with smooth transitions, great music and great sermon.

At our church it's like this:

Singing - 4-5 songs

Prayer

Scripture reading

Sermon

Response by song

Offering

Doxology/Benediction

At UAC, they had no 'program' per se, I would describe it like this:

Worship

Everything kind of encompassed everything else, like you walked in, you worshipped God, and after that amazing 2 hour experience, you walk back out feeling like something great just happened.

Revisiting David Crowder Band - Collision

I've decided that there are actually 3 good songs on the CD, not just the one you hear playing. There are 2 others that are pretty good. And there's the hoe-down song which is also kinda catchy. But I don't know too many people who like hoe-down songs. You could only possibly like a hoe-down song if you've actually been to a hoe-down. And of course I have.. in Wyoming.

Interview

My job interview is Thursday at 11:30am.

I'm super nervous about the whole thing. It's not that I'm afraid of not getting the job, which is actually very likely. It's the fact that it's one of my first interviews period. I haven't done a whole lot of interviews and this is the first done with a panel of people.

I've been so anxious about it that I have literally eaten 1 meal since Monday lunch. That's one meal over the past 48+ hours. The mere mention of food makes me sick to my stomach. I managed to eat half of my dinner yesterday at Charlene's birthday/farewell party.

I've been preparing for the interview since the weekend, figuring out the various scenarios they might ask me and making sure I have a good story/event to tell them about where I performed admirably and successfully. It's not easy thinking of stressful situations when you work for the government.

God, I'm thankful that today I went through a stressful and high intensity incident. We were releasing a patch and no one was around so I had to do the whole thing. Things went smoothly as I handled the pressure and took care of business. Thank you for giving me something to share if I need to tomorrow at my interview.

Anyway, your prayers would be greatly appreciated. Aside from that.. things are pretty okay. Lack of sleep and food.. the burning/churning/anxious feeling in my stomach just like I'd been heartbroken. I just hope there isn't a second round of interviews because I may not last much longer without food.

Real men

This past weekend, my brother and I became real men.

Last week when my brother was up for a visit I told him that for Thanksgiving, we would cook ourselves a real meal -- a Thanksgiving feast. He was skeptical and admittingly, so was I. The idea that the two of us, having no experience in cooking anything but stir-fry and steaks, could put together a meal of Thanksgiving proportions, seemed a little far-fetched. But the Yao brother prevailed.

Sunday morning Darryl was feeling ill so I stayed home with him. So we both missed Sunday service.

In the afternoon, he was feeling better so we went on the internet to look for recipes for a chicken. A WHOLE chicken! We found a good one for Roast Chicken with Orange Glaze. "Feeds 6 people", it said. Sounded pretty good.

So the two of us jumped in the car and drove out to Markham to a small chicken farm. The chickens there were plump and juicy and we asked the farmer if we could do the slaughtering ourselves. He let us on the condition that we clean up the mess. So we ran around the pen and grabbed a sweet looking hen. Given my brother's experiences with an axe, I did the cutting while he stretched out the neck. Needless to say it was pretty satisfying when she breathed her last "cluck-cluck-clu...rp". The farmer took care of the rest. I dunno how he got all the feathers off but he did and it was almost like a store bought chicken after 15 minutes. I took the head and it's now hanging from my rearview mirror.

All kidding aside, we ended up getting the chicken at Dominion because Loblaws was old out.

We marinated the chicken, stuffed it with vegetables and prepared the orange glaze broth. I had to buy a baster because I didn't have one. Popped it into the oven and 3 hours later and after two coats of orange juice glazing, the chicken was done. It looked *amazing*. As we pulled it out and put it down on the dining room table, my brother looked at me and said "We're real men now." I agreed.

Collision

The song you're listening to is called "Here Is Our King". It's the 3rd track of the latest album by David Crowder Band. I was super looking forward to this album because the previous one "Illuminate" was amazing. All my friends love it and we even named our fellowship after it.

If you really enjoy this particular song, and are willing to pay $15 for it (plus tax), then this album is definitely for you. "Here Is Our King" is the only good song on the entire album. I'm not kidding at all.. this is quite easily the most disappointing Christian album that I've ever purchased. It is also the first time I've ever berated a Christian CD. To say that I'm disappointed with it is an understatement.

1 good song on an album with 21 tracks, most of whom aren't songs at all but strange sounds or some guy talking about nothing, or background noise. There's one track of a guy walking downstairs I think.

So like I said, if you love this song and want it so badly that you'll pay $15-20 for it, then by all means you should definitely buy it. Otherwise, steer clear of it. If I hadn't purchased this thing online, I'd be first in line at the Returns lines at the store, asking for my money back.

I give this album a 2/10.

The reason

I haven't been blogging a lot lately and here's why:

1. World of Warcraft. There have been times in the past year or so that I've thought about how much more time I would have to do useful things, if I hadn't started playing this game. I have spent an unprecedented time in this world of fun. More time than I've spent on Diablo 2. But the difference is the time spent in D2 was spread over 4 years, whereas time in Warcraft has been only 10 months.

Am I sorry for this? Yes, I'm sincerely sorry for it. I know it's a waste of time. I know it's excessive. Will I stop? No.

2. 24. I have been watching a whole lot of the show 24 since about 2 weeks ago. I cannot stop watching this show. It's so addictive and suspenseful that I forget about everything. This includes eating, sleeping, socializing and eating.

This show has taken more of my time than WoW over the past week. Which is mind-numbing and yet all too true. Great show. Will I stop? Probably, when I've seen all the episodes.

3. Fantasy Football. Every year, I join at least 1 league for fantast football. It consumes me. I think about it night and day.. about how to improve my team. Devising strategies on how to rip off another team and how to steal players from others. The best are those 3 team deals where you give up nothing and gain next year's top 2 runningbacks. I dream of making such deals.

4. Work. Work consumes me from 9am-5pm. Whether it is an extremely busy day or a dead day where nothing happens. I sit here 8 hours a day no matter what. I call busy days "good days" and boring days "crappy days". I love it when it's busy. I'm at my best when I have tons to do. That's because I work so damned fast. But then there are those slow days where I finish my work and then sit there and having nothing to do for 5 hours. Sucky..

5. Mess. My home is a total mess. As a result, I am likely overdue on most of my bills because I can't find them. I can't find my capo so I haven't played guitar in nearly a month. I can't find new dishes so I often don't eat, or use an old dirty dish. I suppose the good that comes out of that is that my stomach is a lot stronger now. I can eat dirt and not get sick.. oh yea..

Hey what's for dinner tonight? Dirt? Sweet!

So that, in a nutshell, has been my last two weeks.

Building 429

Rocks.

To further on my comment, building 429 is a band who started in North Carolina, and who's name is derived from Ephesians 4:29:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

I'd describe them as a Christian rock group. There are some songs that are heavy/metal rock, while others are just one of the guys singing along to a piano. The music ranges so that there's something for everyone. Their music is for your enjoyment, not really for worship. I could only dig up around 6 songs/chords.

I find that the vocals are not the greatest but the band makes up for it. They are much closer to being a contemporary rock band than MercyMe, who has more of a southern twang to them. The song that is playing right now is called "The Space In Between Us", it is the title track. The solo electric part very similar to U2's "With Or Without You". I like this album's mix of instruments, from the piano and heavy rock to the LOADS of acoustic guitar, and the use of an orchestra, it makes my ears very happy :)

I haven't been able to pinpoint their overall theme for this particular album except to bring us closer to God. I'm usually a bigger fan of music that mobilizes and moves us like MercyMe or Switchfoot, but I guess I just really like the mix of this album.

I'd give this album a 9/10.


Space In Between Us

Look at my heart again
Look at the mess I’ve got it in
I’m trying to trust in You
To know that you’ll see me through
Through my pride
Through my shame
Into Your love
Into Your grace
I’m not looking back
Till I see Your face
& I’m running straight to You
Because

All I really want to do is to fall into
The emptiness that is
The space in-between us
To break this division
All I really want to do is to fall into
The emptiness that is
The space in-between us
Erase it and bring us together again

My life’s like an open book
Nothing is hidden when you look
You break through my boundaries
Revealing my insecurities
But through my pride
And through my shame
You show me love
You show me grace
I’m not looking back
Till I see your face
& I’m running straight to you
Because

Here I am saying I need you
I know I need you
Here I am, I’m coming to meet you
Cause I want to see you

mousaka

I discovered a new food today, called "Mousaka". I got it at Mr. Souvlaki next to Modern Wok down in the PATH area, downtown TO.

I went with a friend after we went to MEC to buy some stuff. Strange, whenever I go there it's just like Mitchell's -- I end up buying way more than I intended to. I went in to get a pair of winter gloves, and came out with a vest and the gloves, and glove lining. So my intention to spend $30 turn into $100.

Back to the food thing -- I don't like Greek food. I'm not a big fan because of the smokey taste of meat, the crappy MinuteRice, salad etc. But Mousaka is really good. And the meal itself was huge -- massive portion that I could barely finish all for $6.

Towards the end of the meal, I felt relief that I wasn't able to finish the mousaka. Because mousaka, as it turns out, contains eggs. The entire upper shell is made from egg, among other things.

And as most of you know, I'm allergic to eggs.

So there I was sitting at my desk, feeling this great sensation in my throat as if someone had walked over and kicked me in the neck. Or that feeling when you accidentally swallow a large piece of meat, and it's lodged in your throat and you can get it to go down but it won't come up either -- it's not like you can't breathe but certainly doesn't feel all too pleasant.

Yea so that's how I'm feeling this very second as I type this.

And then the chest pains will come, I felt a bit just now but it'll come on strong soon.

Mmmmmmm....mousaka

Lives another day

I was informed today that my contract was extended to December 31, 2005. Interviews for my position will begin sometime in mid-October though, so I could either be full time by the end of October, or surely I'll be unemployed.

I'm indifferent about the whole thing.

Casting Crowns: Casting Crowns

The great thing about Casting Crowns, besides sounding great, is that each song has a purpose. Each song has scripture, that either inspired the song or go well with the song. Casting Crowns is made up of 7 people -- 5 guys and 2 girls. The lead singer Mark Hall is a youth pastor and it shows.

The first thing I noticed (again, besides the great sound) is that the lyrics either challenge you or is a declaration of the Almighty. It's as if they're trying to teach us something.

If We Are The Body - Track 2

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

Chorus:
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way

It's just a show

During our camping trip in Wyoming, my dad asked Pastor Brett about what he thought about television shows like Seinfeld or Sex In The City. I knew this question was coming up because my dad hates those two shows. Moreover, the remaining 3 of us love to watch re-runs Seinfeld.

Pastor Brett pondered it for a moment but then got side-tracked onto something else. The following morning he as he walked past our tent-cabin, he came by and gave my dad a definitive answer. He said:

"Sam, sorry about last night. I struggled with your question all night long. I think the best answer I could give you is that I would only watch something that I think Jesus would watch with me. So imagine if Jesus was right here, would you watch Seinfeld or Sex In The City with Him? The truth is I don't watch a whole lot of TV, mostly just baseball. And I don't watch any "R" rated movies."

This is something that has really stuck with me. We joked about it a lot during the remainder of our trip -- like how could Pastor Brett subject Jesus to a game of baseball -- it's gotta be the most boring thing in the world! And whether, while watching Seinfeld, Christ would sit down and say "Boy, that Kramer.. what a funny dude!" or is it more likely He'd look at us and think "I suffered on a cross for THIS???"

WWJD has become much more of a catch-phrase and lost its true meaning. What *would* Jesus do? If Jesus had nothing to do, would He flip on the TV and watch? The Simpsons, or Family Guy - quite possibly the most offensive show on television? After all, it's just a show right? It's just entertainment, right?

Can you imagine Christ laying back on a couch watching Texas Hold'Em? Desperate Housewives? Hockey? Probably not. What about the news? I suppose He doesn't need to watch the news since He already knows what's happening in the world.

Would Jesus entertain Himself by lowering His values and ignoring His principles?

Should we?

Raise

I "earned" a raise at work last week. I put that in quotations because I didn't earn it at all -- it was part of the Local 79 Harmonization of pay scales. It's retrospective to Jan 2005. It's a silly little raise, earning me a grand total of 1 extra dollar per day, so approx. $100 for me extra in my last pay cheque.

With that money, I went nuts at Mitchells and bought 5 CDs.

Switchfoot - "Nothing Is Sound"
Building 429 - "Space Between Us"
Jadon Lavik - "Moving On Faith"
Casting Crowns - "Casting Crowns"
Casting Crowns - "Lifesong"

More on the CDs later, when I get a chance to listen to them all.

On Saturday night, I also got a chance to go see a movie called "Roll Bounce". This is a movie starring rapper Bow Wow, formerly known as Lil Bow Wow. I saw a commercial for this movie last winter while watching various Oscar nominated films with Kenric. I tucked that one away in my memory and finally had a chance to see it.

I took my brother to watch, in more celebration of my new found wealth of $1 extra per day.

So anyway, the movie was really good. The dancing was off the hook! I really enjoyed the light humor and the dancing on rollerskates. I also enjoyed the funky beats and may consider purchasing the soundtrack for the movie. It's hard to believe the kinds of moves these kids can do on rollerskates. And it looks like a lot of fun. I dreamed about rollerskating last night!

Plot-wise, it had a lot to be desired. Having seen movies like Bring It On, and other of these family-oriented shows involving competition, Roll Bounce didn't have a whole lot to offer.

The acting was good. Most of the characters were kids.

I'd give it an 8/10.

Steps to making my voice sound good

STEP 1: Drink a bottle of stale water right before bed.
STEP 2: Sleep very late.
STEP 3: Leave the A/C on even though it's already cold.
STEP 4: Wake up at 6:30am

Woke up this morning with a scruffy voice, not sure if I have a cold or if it's just temporary. Switched on my computer, checked and responded to emails. Then I went to check worshiptogether. They'd posted a new song on New Song Cafe so I watched it. Anyway, to my surprise when I sang aloud, I had this cool scratchy sound to my voice, it was really really cool -- like a rock star!

Unfortunately I think it *IS* a cold. I feel weak today, and I've been coughing.



It's about time that worshiptogether.com did a New Song Cafe with Jadon Lavik. The first time I heard of Jadon was when I heard his song "What If" on K-LOVE radio. I was mainly drawn to the guitar playing in the song and the fun beat/tune it had.

If there's one thing that frustrates me though, is when NSC puts on some guy who is really good at guitar. It's like the last time when they Steven Curtis Chapman. Beginners like myself have absolutely no chance in trying to play songs like this. I'd be lucky to get the chords right, that's about it. I can't strum like that..

..

I've been thinking about what I can do if I am unemployed in two weeks. I think to pass the time (and prevent me from playing games all day) I need to enroll myself into some classes, someplace, somewhere. I'd like to take music, maybe some voice lessons and guitar courses. RCM offers some guitar lessons that I could enroll into, although they started last week :(

Misc

Yesterday after work, my co-worker Kenneth and I were walking to St. Andrew station to go home. We had a pretty funny conversation about backpacks and how funny it looks when people wear them in the front. We always have the funniest little conversations. Anyway, when we got to the station and were going down the escalator, he turns to me with a serious look

K: "Hey Brian. Lemme ask you something -- what's a hollaback girl?"
B: "Haha.. I have no idea."
K: "It's a good song."
B: "I think it's a bad thing, cuz I think in the song she says she isn't one."
K: "Maybe."
B:
K: "Well, I know she likes bananas."

...

Last night, after maybe 25 tries over the past month, Brethren defeated Vaelastrasz the Corrupt. We were all gimped from wearing our maximum fire resistance gear, but Smee fought valiantly alongside his brethren and we demolished Vael. First Alliance guild to pull it off on Azgalor. Can Brethren not ROCK?

BOOM HEADSHOT!!
BOOM HEADSHOT!!

It was probably one of the single most exciting nights of WoW that I've experienced in a long, long time.

...

Lost was really cool. I'm starting to get more and more the feeling that my original guess about the truth behind the island was correct. My guess has always been that the island is a bunch of people who are in purgatory -- that this is where people go. Maybe there are several islands similar to this one. Or perhaps it's a place people go before they go for purgatory, like a pre-judgement area. This would explain a lot of things, for instance half the plane's victims were never found -- perhaps those people passed beyond this state and are in purgatory, or possibly in heaven or hell.

Anyway, this explains more -- each person has their story, and we get flashbacks of the things they did. I've always imagined that when God judges us, He'd review our life, going over every detail similar to the flashbacks.

The boy -- they took the boy from the raft -- maybe they decided he was ready to leave, or possibly that it was a mistake for him to be there. Maybe judgement is a bit more complicated for children because of their innocence.

As for the hatch -- I'm not sure. I think the australian guy might be an angel. He produced the miraculous healing of the woman in the flashbacks of this episode. She was paralyzed and Jack couldn't save her, and yet she was healed. Perhaps he's not an angel but something close to one, like a guardian of some sort. Maybe he's the guardian of that particular "pre-purgatory island". Or perhaps the state of per-purgatory is different for different people, depending on how or where they died.

How else can you explain how Desmond is living -- the computers, the shelter, electricity that he has in there.

Anyway, that's my guess on the whole thing.

CSI

I think I just the greatest CSI episode ever. The season premiere was just totally unbelievable. It had me scared, anxious, sad. It was an emotional rollercoaster, starting out as an innocent case that led me on a crazy kidnapping of one of the CSI guys (Nick Stokes), which led to him being stuck in a plexiglass coffin, buried underground.

What a great episode.. OH MY GOODNESS.