A beautiful sight: A Shakespeare's cup filled with Mountian Dew.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
A month to go....
That's right, only 27 days until I go home! Things are supposed to be slowing down here, but alas, no end is in sight (homework wise). I still have to finish another book and a half for english, do a bunch more russian busywork, read a big book for history, and a few papers here and there.
It feels weird to have passed almost a year here. Seems like just yesterday I was posting about how classes looked for the fall semester (here). Crazy how time flies. I am very thankful for all of you who have been praying for me. You really have helped me survive. Who knows, I might even enjoy next year! Hahahaha, just kidding. I enjoyed this year too.
It feels weird to have passed almost a year here. Seems like just yesterday I was posting about how classes looked for the fall semester (here). Crazy how time flies. I am very thankful for all of you who have been praying for me. You really have helped me survive. Who knows, I might even enjoy next year! Hahahaha, just kidding. I enjoyed this year too.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Change of plans.
Next year's plans went haywire. A lot of the classes and backup classes I wanted to take fell through, so now I'm taking Prob&Stats, Russian, J301, a Psychology class, and Geology. The samurai course apparently wasn't offered, and the polysci one conflicted with my russian class.
It also took me an hour to work through the incredibly annoying and infuriating computer system KU set up for enrollment. Ah, technology.
It also took me an hour to work through the incredibly annoying and infuriating computer system KU set up for enrollment. Ah, technology.
Various Musings on Various Topics
I'm back from a fun filled weekend in Columbia. It was a lot of fun to go back and see all the old sights, like our old house, the mall, the church, Shakespeare's, etc. There's pictures of everything up on my photobucket account. The link is in the right-hand column. ("My Pictures")
Now for the various musings.
The trailer for the September 11th movie "United 93" (which I will not post an imDb link to out of decency) has begun showing. Frankly, when I first saw it in the theater before "Inside Man," I was shocked. It's been 5 years. That's like making a Pearl Harbor movie in 1946. Now, I understand that technology is more advanced. They can make movies faster. But why on earth would you make a movie about September 11th??!? Are people that sadistically entertained? Have we run out of ideas in Hollywood to the extent of making entertainment out of disasters? What's next? "Coming in 2008: Hurricane Katrina the Movie." I mean, come on. Don't you think that people are still probably upset about 9/11? For the sake of decency, why would you put out a movie that recounts events disasterous to our nation that affect people very strongly still today because of lost loved ones? They haven't even had ample time to "heal!" There was a theater chain in New York, I believe, that actually pulled the trailer from theaters. I applaud them. No wonder our society is falling to pieces.
Which brings me to my next musing. This morning while flipping through channels, I came across the horrendous "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV (a channel I very rarely watch). Wow. And I thought some people in college where spoiled. The featured brat was a 15-year-old daughter of a car salesman in Beverly Hills. (Speaking of which, remind me never to live anywhere near there. I'm scared that the snobbiness will somehow rub off. Ewww.) I tuned in a little late (oh darn) and discovered the brat trying on dresses. She was going to get three for her party. Why? Just because. "I want to be a star" was the phrase most often uttered in this half-hour. She tried on one that showed a little too much upstairs, if you catch my drift. She "absolutely loved" it, but her mom was concerned, and rightly so. The brat's response? "Well, I like it, and that's all that matters." $500 later, she had a dress and her mom looked like she couldn't do a thing about it (sic). She then went car shopping (apparantly it's just a given that you get whatever car you want on your 16th birthday. Nevermind working for it, nevermind having to start off with a crappy one.). She really wanted a 06 Mitsubishi Eclipse, but her parents wanted her to get something safer like an SUV. So, the giant Yukon or Escalade (I couldn't tell) it was. Later, there was drama as the brat discovered her father, who also had his own job, was not able to find a band for the party. Nevermind a local band, or even a DJ. She wanted someone like Green Day or Haylie Duff. Drama Drama Drama. The party then followed. Oog. She was driven into the party in one dress, changed right after that, and then changed again. GO figure. Add gratuitous shots of various "friends" saying, "THIS PARTY ROCKS! Every other sweet 16 is gonna look pitiful next to this!" etc. The brat's parents then revealed the big surprise: they bought her both the Eclipse and the other SUV. "Something to drive on the weekend," I believe her father said. Then some famous singer I've never heard of popped up. Woohoo.
Wow, where do I start? First of all, I've never seen anyone more spoiled in my life. Two cars at 16? I'm 19 and am still probably 3 or 4 years away from my first car. Second of all, great job with the parenting, morons. She's obivously discovered that she can whine enough and get her way (if I hear "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" one more time I'm going to puke) at an early age. Her parents virtually had no say. The only thing they were good for was paying for it (around $150,000 the brat said). There was absolutely no discipline present. Third of all, why on earth do people feel the need to spend that much money on one, in my opinion, rather insignificant day? Even if the dad did say "You only turn 16 once!" For that matter, we only turn 14 once. And 15. And 17. And 18. And 19. Moron. But I digress. The only day I can think of where that much money is even consdered is perhaps your wedding day, but even 15 grand is pushing it. Aiyoh.
That's it. I'm burnt out on the whole spoiled brat topic. In local news (haha), I enroll in classes tonight! Hopefully, I'll be taking a Prob and Stats class, the next level of Russian, Journalism 301, a international political science course, and a history class about the Samurai.
Fun stuff in Kansas!
Now for the various musings.
The trailer for the September 11th movie "United 93" (which I will not post an imDb link to out of decency) has begun showing. Frankly, when I first saw it in the theater before "Inside Man," I was shocked. It's been 5 years. That's like making a Pearl Harbor movie in 1946. Now, I understand that technology is more advanced. They can make movies faster. But why on earth would you make a movie about September 11th??!? Are people that sadistically entertained? Have we run out of ideas in Hollywood to the extent of making entertainment out of disasters? What's next? "Coming in 2008: Hurricane Katrina the Movie." I mean, come on. Don't you think that people are still probably upset about 9/11? For the sake of decency, why would you put out a movie that recounts events disasterous to our nation that affect people very strongly still today because of lost loved ones? They haven't even had ample time to "heal!" There was a theater chain in New York, I believe, that actually pulled the trailer from theaters. I applaud them. No wonder our society is falling to pieces.
Which brings me to my next musing. This morning while flipping through channels, I came across the horrendous "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV (a channel I very rarely watch). Wow. And I thought some people in college where spoiled. The featured brat was a 15-year-old daughter of a car salesman in Beverly Hills. (Speaking of which, remind me never to live anywhere near there. I'm scared that the snobbiness will somehow rub off. Ewww.) I tuned in a little late (oh darn) and discovered the brat trying on dresses. She was going to get three for her party. Why? Just because. "I want to be a star" was the phrase most often uttered in this half-hour. She tried on one that showed a little too much upstairs, if you catch my drift. She "absolutely loved" it, but her mom was concerned, and rightly so. The brat's response? "Well, I like it, and that's all that matters." $500 later, she had a dress and her mom looked like she couldn't do a thing about it (sic). She then went car shopping (apparantly it's just a given that you get whatever car you want on your 16th birthday. Nevermind working for it, nevermind having to start off with a crappy one.). She really wanted a 06 Mitsubishi Eclipse, but her parents wanted her to get something safer like an SUV. So, the giant Yukon or Escalade (I couldn't tell) it was. Later, there was drama as the brat discovered her father, who also had his own job, was not able to find a band for the party. Nevermind a local band, or even a DJ. She wanted someone like Green Day or Haylie Duff. Drama Drama Drama. The party then followed. Oog. She was driven into the party in one dress, changed right after that, and then changed again. GO figure. Add gratuitous shots of various "friends" saying, "THIS PARTY ROCKS! Every other sweet 16 is gonna look pitiful next to this!" etc. The brat's parents then revealed the big surprise: they bought her both the Eclipse and the other SUV. "Something to drive on the weekend," I believe her father said. Then some famous singer I've never heard of popped up. Woohoo.
Wow, where do I start? First of all, I've never seen anyone more spoiled in my life. Two cars at 16? I'm 19 and am still probably 3 or 4 years away from my first car. Second of all, great job with the parenting, morons. She's obivously discovered that she can whine enough and get her way (if I hear "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" one more time I'm going to puke) at an early age. Her parents virtually had no say. The only thing they were good for was paying for it (around $150,000 the brat said). There was absolutely no discipline present. Third of all, why on earth do people feel the need to spend that much money on one, in my opinion, rather insignificant day? Even if the dad did say "You only turn 16 once!" For that matter, we only turn 14 once. And 15. And 17. And 18. And 19. Moron. But I digress. The only day I can think of where that much money is even consdered is perhaps your wedding day, but even 15 grand is pushing it. Aiyoh.
That's it. I'm burnt out on the whole spoiled brat topic. In local news (haha), I enroll in classes tonight! Hopefully, I'll be taking a Prob and Stats class, the next level of Russian, Journalism 301, a international political science course, and a history class about the Samurai.
Fun stuff in Kansas!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Easter Weekend
Hello all. Sorry for the long break between posts, but...well...I really don't have an excuse. College just has a tendency to suck time away from you.
Not much has happened this week. I just finished my Russian test (yuck) a few minutes ago, so that studying is finally over. My wonderful parents sent me Easter candy and the Narnia DVD. One would think that the movie would suffer on a smaller screen, but it is just as good. Growing up with those books makes the movie (soon to be movies; they are starting production on Prince Caspian) all the more fun. I always thought of Mr. Tumnus as the faltering, nervous faun that James McAvoy portrayed him as. And Lucy was pretty much exactly how I imagined her. I read on the imDb database that when the older actor's swearing got out of hand, Georgie Henley (Lucy) made a "swear bucket" to repremand them. Quite the little actress.
On other notes, I am going to Columbia this weekend! Yep, it's back to my roots (I grew up in Columbia, Missouri) for Easter. Stefan, one of my friends here at KU, is from Columbia, and so I am going home with him for the weekend. Fun Fun Fun!
Stupid-I mean Student-Senate elections are finally over. No more chalking, pamphlets, or "accosting" (i love that word). For anyone that cares, Ignite won.
Woohoo.
That's pretty much it in the world of KU.
Not much has happened this week. I just finished my Russian test (yuck) a few minutes ago, so that studying is finally over. My wonderful parents sent me Easter candy and the Narnia DVD. One would think that the movie would suffer on a smaller screen, but it is just as good. Growing up with those books makes the movie (soon to be movies; they are starting production on Prince Caspian) all the more fun. I always thought of Mr. Tumnus as the faltering, nervous faun that James McAvoy portrayed him as. And Lucy was pretty much exactly how I imagined her. I read on the imDb database that when the older actor's swearing got out of hand, Georgie Henley (Lucy) made a "swear bucket" to repremand them. Quite the little actress.
On other notes, I am going to Columbia this weekend! Yep, it's back to my roots (I grew up in Columbia, Missouri) for Easter. Stefan, one of my friends here at KU, is from Columbia, and so I am going home with him for the weekend. Fun Fun Fun!
Stupid-I mean Student-Senate elections are finally over. No more chalking, pamphlets, or "accosting" (i love that word). For anyone that cares, Ignite won.
Woohoo.
That's pretty much it in the world of KU.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
What a world part II
I was waiting for my english class to start when I decided to read the New York Times. On the front page, they had a story about the so-called "Gospel of Judas." I took some notes on it, and here is my reaction. This is in order of the article, so it might not make total sense unless you read the article first.
First of all, the document says that Judas was the "favored" disciple. The "best." Hmm. They (scholars) believe it to be a gnostic text. For those of you who don't know, the Gnostics were a cult in the time of the early church. In fact, I've found in my study of 1st John this semester, that the book of 1st John was written to dispell gnostic myths. The gnostics believed that knowledge was the key to heaven. They also believed that all matter was evil; that only the soul was redeemable. In turn, they thought it was perfectly fine for them to drink, have sex with anyone, and all sorts of bad behavior because there was simply nothing they could do about it. Keep that it mind. The document also says that Jesus told Judas to betray him. The scholar's mentality? "The standard gospels either give no motivation for Judas to betray Jesus or attribute it to the pieces of silver or the influence of Satan." Wow. You mean that saying that Satan took over Judas' life and then proceeded to appeal to his greed for money isn't good enough? Now, I'm not one to say what Jesus said or didn't say throughout his life. No one but God can know that. I'm just saying that in my opinion, Jesus wouldn't have had to tell Judas that. Jesus was totally reliant on God. God was/is/is always going to be in control. Also, the document quotes Jesus as saying that Judas will "exceed" the other disciples. Try and figure that one out. Judas commited suicide shortly thereafter Jesus' crucifixion. The article says that the document is probably a Coptic (some language) translation of the original Greek text from around 300 AD. 300. That's more than 250 years later. They also said that the manuscript was formed from over 1000 fragile and brittle fragments. No margin of error, huh? Anyway, here's a part that really confuses me. This thing was actually discovered in the 1970s! It jumped around a little and than sat in a New York City bank safe-deposit box until it was purchased by a collector and then given to some antiquity board to translate more than 30 years later. Wow.
Here is a quote from the document featured in the Times article:
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him,
“Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is
possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. [36] For someone else will
replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their
god.”
Huh? Jesus never ONCE mentioned in that that He is the way to the kingdom. This seems awfully ambigious, even for Jesus. And what is with the last sentence: "...12 may again come to completion with their god."? Who knows.
The article also said that Jesus shared with Judas alone the "mysteries of the kingdom." This is what I have a real problem with. Jesus did not share with only one person. He died, and therefore shared, for the entire world. Also, there are no mysteries of the kingdom. When he died on the cross he vanquished all the Levitical laws and long lists of the Old Testament. He took the world's sins from all times and paid for them. There is no "holy of holies," no high priest, none of that. Jesus took care of all of that.
Now we get to the actual writing. The scholars said that it was probably a Cainite, another cult member (they didn't go into detail about what the Cainites were, only that they considered Cain and Judas (as well as other "villians") as heroes. Another Hmm.
Next, a scholar named Rev. (ha) Donald Senior said that the document could undermine Christianity if they believe that "early church authorities supressed the free-thinking spiritual gnostics 'for the sake of uniformity and conformity.'" Pardon my French, but B.S. Free-thinking and spiritual is not always a good thing. That's like saying "This is all-natural poison ivy! It must be good since it's all natural!" That statement is just plain drivel.
The last statement in the article said that the Church (the Vatican) is just ignoring this. It's "not on their radar screens." They don't believe that this poses a big enough threat to tell people that it's wrong. We are told to not allow Satan a foothold. If the church does nothing to refute this, that splinter will get in our heads with doubt. We must refute this now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whew! Done with that. Nothing else going on here this week at KU. There's some big casino night in Templin tonight, but it looks pretty lame. Oh, and there's a possibility of a mumps breakout on campus! Exciting! Besides that, life as normal.
First of all, the document says that Judas was the "favored" disciple. The "best." Hmm. They (scholars) believe it to be a gnostic text. For those of you who don't know, the Gnostics were a cult in the time of the early church. In fact, I've found in my study of 1st John this semester, that the book of 1st John was written to dispell gnostic myths. The gnostics believed that knowledge was the key to heaven. They also believed that all matter was evil; that only the soul was redeemable. In turn, they thought it was perfectly fine for them to drink, have sex with anyone, and all sorts of bad behavior because there was simply nothing they could do about it. Keep that it mind. The document also says that Jesus told Judas to betray him. The scholar's mentality? "The standard gospels either give no motivation for Judas to betray Jesus or attribute it to the pieces of silver or the influence of Satan." Wow. You mean that saying that Satan took over Judas' life and then proceeded to appeal to his greed for money isn't good enough? Now, I'm not one to say what Jesus said or didn't say throughout his life. No one but God can know that. I'm just saying that in my opinion, Jesus wouldn't have had to tell Judas that. Jesus was totally reliant on God. God was/is/is always going to be in control. Also, the document quotes Jesus as saying that Judas will "exceed" the other disciples. Try and figure that one out. Judas commited suicide shortly thereafter Jesus' crucifixion. The article says that the document is probably a Coptic (some language) translation of the original Greek text from around 300 AD. 300. That's more than 250 years later. They also said that the manuscript was formed from over 1000 fragile and brittle fragments. No margin of error, huh? Anyway, here's a part that really confuses me. This thing was actually discovered in the 1970s! It jumped around a little and than sat in a New York City bank safe-deposit box until it was purchased by a collector and then given to some antiquity board to translate more than 30 years later. Wow.
Here is a quote from the document featured in the Times article:
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him,
“Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is
possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. [36] For someone else will
replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their
god.”
Huh? Jesus never ONCE mentioned in that that He is the way to the kingdom. This seems awfully ambigious, even for Jesus. And what is with the last sentence: "...12 may again come to completion with their god."? Who knows.
The article also said that Jesus shared with Judas alone the "mysteries of the kingdom." This is what I have a real problem with. Jesus did not share with only one person. He died, and therefore shared, for the entire world. Also, there are no mysteries of the kingdom. When he died on the cross he vanquished all the Levitical laws and long lists of the Old Testament. He took the world's sins from all times and paid for them. There is no "holy of holies," no high priest, none of that. Jesus took care of all of that.
Now we get to the actual writing. The scholars said that it was probably a Cainite, another cult member (they didn't go into detail about what the Cainites were, only that they considered Cain and Judas (as well as other "villians") as heroes. Another Hmm.
Next, a scholar named Rev. (ha) Donald Senior said that the document could undermine Christianity if they believe that "early church authorities supressed the free-thinking spiritual gnostics 'for the sake of uniformity and conformity.'" Pardon my French, but B.S. Free-thinking and spiritual is not always a good thing. That's like saying "This is all-natural poison ivy! It must be good since it's all natural!" That statement is just plain drivel.
The last statement in the article said that the Church (the Vatican) is just ignoring this. It's "not on their radar screens." They don't believe that this poses a big enough threat to tell people that it's wrong. We are told to not allow Satan a foothold. If the church does nothing to refute this, that splinter will get in our heads with doubt. We must refute this now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whew! Done with that. Nothing else going on here this week at KU. There's some big casino night in Templin tonight, but it looks pretty lame. Oh, and there's a possibility of a mumps breakout on campus! Exciting! Besides that, life as normal.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
What a World...
...we live in. I found this today on excite.com news. And people say that the world isn't against Christianity.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Boring Week
Sorry about the lack of posts, but my life hasn't really been that exciting.
I saw "Inside Man" on Saturday after watching Final Four games and playing a game of poker with some Navs guys, which I am actually not very good at. Anyways, the movie was a lot better than some recently. It had a very imaginative plot and incredible characters, but as usual they could've done without the swearing. The Final Four games weren't that exciting.
Today is opening day! The Royals play the Detriot Tigers today at three or so. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I doubt we'll be any good. Oh well. Here's their MLB.com site.
Nothing else really going on here...I'll try to update more often this week.
I saw "Inside Man" on Saturday after watching Final Four games and playing a game of poker with some Navs guys, which I am actually not very good at. Anyways, the movie was a lot better than some recently. It had a very imaginative plot and incredible characters, but as usual they could've done without the swearing. The Final Four games weren't that exciting.
Today is opening day! The Royals play the Detriot Tigers today at three or so. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I doubt we'll be any good. Oh well. Here's their MLB.com site.
Nothing else really going on here...I'll try to update more often this week.
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