The Barfly - Enter the Haggis
I met an old man one night in a bar
He was sitting alone
The way men his age always are
His movements were slow
Didn't speak very well
But every old man has a story to tell
He lived by the book
Went to church every day
But his wife left him young
With two daughters and bills to pay
He worked himself hard
And the years flickered past
His girls kept him young
But they grew up so fast
Prodigal faith always felt second best
When she turned seventeen
She took her coat and her camera
And headed west
It broke her dad's heart
But as he likes to say
With enough time apart
Even faith fades away
Jenny met Ray in his last days ashore
They married in May
And that August he joined the war
He said Jenny don't cry
I'll be home in the fall
So she held her head high
And said nothing at all
Then he got in a plane
Took it up in the air
It never came down
For all she knows it's still
Flying around up there
Then Jenny went wrong
And the last that I heard
It's been seven years long
Since she uttered a word
Seven years gone
Since she uttered a word
Now her father just sits
All alone at the bar
He orders his drinks
And smokes cigarettes
He knows he can't afford
He's got no regrets
Says he's doing quite well
But every old man
Has a story to tell
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sin Boldly
"Be a sinner and sin boldly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ." -Martin Luther
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I wanted to be asleep by now, but, this is more interesting...
So this summer I'm going to be a Commissioner at Camp Olmsted located on the beautiful Goshen Scout Reservation in Goshen, VA. Being a commissioner, and for that matter, being at camp at all, requires me to carry around lots of things. A water-bottle, a first aid kit, a radio/cell phone (I'm not sure if I'll have a radio, but I'll more than likely carry my cell phone, it comes with the importance of the job), a multi-tool, a flashlight, a notebook, writing utensils, sunscreen, etc.
A normal person would use a backpack. I on the other hand, am not normal, and I really like cool stuff. So what I've decided to do is get a tactical MOLLE belt so I can carry around all my stuff like the guys in the military do (just with a belt instead the huge-giant vest). Now, I already have a military-style belt, just without the MOLLE style attachment system, so what I'm doing, is getting this:
Once I have the rig, I'll need the pieces to go along with it. To carry my wallet, radio/cell phone, notebook and writing utensils, I will get this:
Then, for the first aid kit and sunscreen (they belong together), I'm going to get this:
For the flashlight, the multi-tool and other things that I can't think of right now, I'll get this:
And I'm not sure how I'm going to carry my water-bottle, if I'm going to just have it in my hands or if I'll also attach it to the belt, but if I go with the second option, I'll get this:
The belt sleeve will be black, I know that for sure, but I haven't decided if I want all the other things to also be in black, or if I want them to be the modern Army digital camouflage like the last two pictures. I'm leaning towards the Army camouflage so that I can add hook-and-loop embroidered name tags like the military uses.
Of course, all of this together will cost over $150, so I should start saving. And yes, I know it would make much more sense to just stick with a backpack.
But, in the immortal words of Anonymous, "What would the fun be in that?"
A normal person would use a backpack. I on the other hand, am not normal, and I really like cool stuff. So what I've decided to do is get a tactical MOLLE belt so I can carry around all my stuff like the guys in the military do (just with a belt instead the huge-giant vest). Now, I already have a military-style belt, just without the MOLLE style attachment system, so what I'm doing, is getting this:
Once I have the rig, I'll need the pieces to go along with it. To carry my wallet, radio/cell phone, notebook and writing utensils, I will get this:Then, for the first aid kit and sunscreen (they belong together), I'm going to get this:For the flashlight, the multi-tool and other things that I can't think of right now, I'll get this:And I'm not sure how I'm going to carry my water-bottle, if I'm going to just have it in my hands or if I'll also attach it to the belt, but if I go with the second option, I'll get this:The belt sleeve will be black, I know that for sure, but I haven't decided if I want all the other things to also be in black, or if I want them to be the modern Army digital camouflage like the last two pictures. I'm leaning towards the Army camouflage so that I can add hook-and-loop embroidered name tags like the military uses.Of course, all of this together will cost over $150, so I should start saving. And yes, I know it would make much more sense to just stick with a backpack.
But, in the immortal words of Anonymous, "What would the fun be in that?"
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
My nerdness, for all to see...
So, it's official. I'm a gamer. And not in the cool way either. I'm a super-nerd. A few months ago I
bought a game called Team Fortress 2 through an online gaming program called Steam. Steam is operated by a company called VALVe who creates games, including Team Fortress 2. One of my friends here on the hall bought it before me, and it looked really cool, so I bought it, along with my roommate and the roommate of my friend who bought it first. Then before Christmas break VALVe released another game, called Left 4 Dead. I played a demo of it, and I loved it. So I bought it. Now, let me describe these two games to you.
Team Fortress 2 is a 1st person shooter with two different teams, RED and BLU. Each team has a different color, and I'm fairly certain you can figure out which color goes to which team. There are a total of 9 classes that you can be, a Scout, a Pyro, a Soldier, a Demoman, a Heavy, an Engineer, a Medic, a Spy and finally a Sniper. The best part, is that each class is has an extreme personality. For example, the Demoman is an AfroScottish man with an eye patch, and the Sniper is an Austrailan with some of the most random lines I've ever heard. There are many different kinds of maps, the most common is control point, where teams compete to control all the points on the map (depending on how many a team holds, others will be locked so that teams don't have to defend all CPs at once). Then there are capture the flag maps where teams have to capture the intelligence of the other team. There are pay load maps where one team is pushing a bomb to the other team's base, and the defending team has to prevent the bomb from getting to the end. Finally there are arena maps where the whole point of the game is to kill all the other players, however, to prevent these from going on for too long, there is a control point that is activated a few minutes into the round so spys can't just go invisible indefinitely to prevent their team from losing. Then there are custom maps that are made by people who like the game, some follow these guidelines, others are completely origional.
(left to right) Pyro, Engineer, Sniper, Spy, Heavy, Demoman, Medic, Scout, Soldier
Left 4 Dead is a zombie game. It has 4 main characters who are known as the survivors, and they must work their way through a series of levels. There are 5 levels per every campaign, and there are 4 campaigns total. At first you would think that game play would get boring with such limited options, but with how things spawn (appear in gamer lingo) you will almost never find the exact same combination of items in the same locations or in the same quantities. There are 4 survivors you can play as. There is Bill, an ex-military type who is getting gray around the edges. There is Francis, who is a biker with lots of tattoos, but who is dumb as nails. There is Zoey, the only girl, who wears jeans and a pink track jacket. Finally there is Louis, he's an African-American businessman who is wearing a red tie and designer watch from before the infection hit. Then if campaign mode is getting a little dull and you want to switch things up, there is Versus mode where you play one round as the survivors, and the next as a special infected. In campaign mode special infected are bots that can be really annoying and deadly. There are Smokers, that pull survivors with their tounges, Hunters that pounce on survivors and rip at their abdomens, Boomers that vomit/blow up on the survivors to call the horde (a large amount of common infected) to attack the survivors. Then there are the speical special infected, the Tank which is a huge zombie that can hurl cars and slabs of concrete at the survivors as well as knock them back; there is also the Witch, who sits crying at random intervals (no more than 2 places per section of the campaign) throughout the map, if she is disturbed (ie, shot at, gotten too close to, etc) she will attack the survivor who startled her until he or she is dead, then she will run away. The Tank is the only one of these 2 that can be played in versus mode, but both can deal heavy amounts of damage.
(left to right) Francis, Bill, Zoey, Louis
There are my internet based game obsessions. I've also become an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons. I won't go into any detail, because there is just too much. However, I will say that it is one of the best ways to release your creativity, because there are really no limits to what you can do. Yes, there are rules, but if you can imagine a character that is a weird race, or can do strange things, there is more than likely a race and class that fit your criteria, and if there isn't, you'll probably find something that you like even more in your search for what you origionally thought of.
So there you have it. I'm a nerd. Not only do I play these things, but I'm also a member of an online gaming community that discusses games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead. It's called Stompfest and the people there are awesome people, funny too, not to mention great gamers.
Oh well, I like who I am, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Here ends a post that I started before dinner, and kept getting distracted from.
bought a game called Team Fortress 2 through an online gaming program called Steam. Steam is operated by a company called VALVe who creates games, including Team Fortress 2. One of my friends here on the hall bought it before me, and it looked really cool, so I bought it, along with my roommate and the roommate of my friend who bought it first. Then before Christmas break VALVe released another game, called Left 4 Dead. I played a demo of it, and I loved it. So I bought it. Now, let me describe these two games to you.
Team Fortress 2 is a 1st person shooter with two different teams, RED and BLU. Each team has a different color, and I'm fairly certain you can figure out which color goes to which team. There are a total of 9 classes that you can be, a Scout, a Pyro, a Soldier, a Demoman, a Heavy, an Engineer, a Medic, a Spy and finally a Sniper. The best part, is that each class is has an extreme personality. For example, the Demoman is an AfroScottish man with an eye patch, and the Sniper is an Austrailan with some of the most random lines I've ever heard. There are many different kinds of maps, the most common is control point, where teams compete to control all the points on the map (depending on how many a team holds, others will be locked so that teams don't have to defend all CPs at once). Then there are capture the flag maps where teams have to capture the intelligence of the other team. There are pay load maps where one team is pushing a bomb to the other team's base, and the defending team has to prevent the bomb from getting to the end. Finally there are arena maps where the whole point of the game is to kill all the other players, however, to prevent these from going on for too long, there is a control point that is activated a few minutes into the round so spys can't just go invisible indefinitely to prevent their team from losing. Then there are custom maps that are made by people who like the game, some follow these guidelines, others are completely origional.
(left to right) Pyro, Engineer, Sniper, Spy, Heavy, Demoman, Medic, Scout, Soldier
Left 4 Dead is a zombie game. It has 4 main characters who are known as the survivors, and they must work their way through a series of levels. There are 5 levels per every campaign, and there are 4 campaigns total. At first you would think that game play would get boring with such limited options, but with how things spawn (appear in gamer lingo) you will almost never find the exact same combination of items in the same locations or in the same quantities. There are 4 survivors you can play as. There is Bill, an ex-military type who is getting gray around the edges. There is Francis, who is a biker with lots of tattoos, but who is dumb as nails. There is Zoey, the only girl, who wears jeans and a pink track jacket. Finally there is Louis, he's an African-American businessman who is wearing a red tie and designer watch from before the infection hit. Then if campaign mode is getting a little dull and you want to switch things up, there is Versus mode where you play one round as the survivors, and the next as a special infected. In campaign mode special infected are bots that can be really annoying and deadly. There are Smokers, that pull survivors with their tounges, Hunters that pounce on survivors and rip at their abdomens, Boomers that vomit/blow up on the survivors to call the horde (a large amount of common infected) to attack the survivors. Then there are the speical special infected, the Tank which is a huge zombie that can hurl cars and slabs of concrete at the survivors as well as knock them back; there is also the Witch, who sits crying at random intervals (no more than 2 places per section of the campaign) throughout the map, if she is disturbed (ie, shot at, gotten too close to, etc) she will attack the survivor who startled her until he or she is dead, then she will run away. The Tank is the only one of these 2 that can be played in versus mode, but both can deal heavy amounts of damage.
(left to right) Francis, Bill, Zoey, Louis
There are my internet based game obsessions. I've also become an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons. I won't go into any detail, because there is just too much. However, I will say that it is one of the best ways to release your creativity, because there are really no limits to what you can do. Yes, there are rules, but if you can imagine a character that is a weird race, or can do strange things, there is more than likely a race and class that fit your criteria, and if there isn't, you'll probably find something that you like even more in your search for what you origionally thought of.
So there you have it. I'm a nerd. Not only do I play these things, but I'm also a member of an online gaming community that discusses games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead. It's called Stompfest and the people there are awesome people, funny too, not to mention great gamers.
Oh well, I like who I am, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Here ends a post that I started before dinner, and kept getting distracted from.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Fake Artist and Album
1 - Follow the link to a site of random articles drawn from Wikipedia.
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Follow the link to Flickr for their explore the last seven days photos.
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover (unless you're uncomfortable with the nature of it...I got one of those the first time I did it, go figure).
4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.
5 - Post it on your site, be it Blogger, Xanga, Facebook, etc. with this text in the name of the band and the album name.
I tried to make a new creation, but I was having some trouble, so here are my past creations:
Artist:Machaerotidae
Album: Sexier Than Any Body Part
Artist: Oribe Station
Album: Finding A Sickness You Like
Artist: Community Rail
Album: You're Prepared For It
Artist: Luxior
Album: Time and Manner of Devotion
Artist: Elkton
Album: Flashes Before Your Eyes
Artist: The Fighting Temeraire
Album: Bend to That One Objective
Artist: Pentapodiscus
Album: Rich in Life Experience
I tried to make a new creation, but I was having some trouble, so here are my past creations:
Artist:Machaerotidae
Album: Sexier Than Any Body Part
Artist: Oribe Station
Album: Finding A Sickness You Like
Artist: Community Rail
Album: You're Prepared For It
Artist: Luxior
Album: Time and Manner of Devotion
Artist: Elkton
Album: Flashes Before Your Eyes
Artist: The Fighting Temeraire
Album: Bend to That One Objective
Artist: Pentapodiscus
Album: Rich in Life Experience
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
RoadTrip
So this weekend, I went on a high school youth retreat called RoadTrip as a small group leader. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I did it. I went to RoadTrip all 4 years I was in high school, and I always felt that when I was old enough, I should go as a small group leader, because mine always inspired me, and I wanted to help inspire other people.
This year I was finally old enough. Although technically since I wasn't 21 I was just a "Small Group Assistant". Even still though, it was a great experience. I was worried that because I am only 18, and that everyone in the group was 16, that their might be some problems. I didn't know what they might be, but I don't think I ran into any. If anything, I think my age was a bonus instead of a boon, because it was easier for the group to connect with people closer to their age where it would be more difficult with a small group leader in their 30s or above.
I was able to get close to God myself over this weekend, as I hope some of the people in my small group did as well. Not only was I able to get close to God, but I feel even more strongly that I should go into ministry when I get out of college. I should talk it over with my pastor sometime, but I feel that I could do well at being a minister. One thing I do know is that God wants me to help people. I have a feeling that it will start with ministry, but that it will turn into something else as well. Maybe I'll work for a Christian lobby group, maybe I'll go into politics myself, like Mike Huckabee did. I don't know what will happen, but God will lead the way.
I can't stress enough how great a time it was. I know I plan to go back, it's too much fun not to.
This year I was finally old enough. Although technically since I wasn't 21 I was just a "Small Group Assistant". Even still though, it was a great experience. I was worried that because I am only 18, and that everyone in the group was 16, that their might be some problems. I didn't know what they might be, but I don't think I ran into any. If anything, I think my age was a bonus instead of a boon, because it was easier for the group to connect with people closer to their age where it would be more difficult with a small group leader in their 30s or above.
I was able to get close to God myself over this weekend, as I hope some of the people in my small group did as well. Not only was I able to get close to God, but I feel even more strongly that I should go into ministry when I get out of college. I should talk it over with my pastor sometime, but I feel that I could do well at being a minister. One thing I do know is that God wants me to help people. I have a feeling that it will start with ministry, but that it will turn into something else as well. Maybe I'll work for a Christian lobby group, maybe I'll go into politics myself, like Mike Huckabee did. I don't know what will happen, but God will lead the way.
I can't stress enough how great a time it was. I know I plan to go back, it's too much fun not to.
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