so, mtv has basically been garbage for like the last 10 years or so. what started in 1981 as a revolution that took the music world by storm, mtv (which, for you young kids out there, actually stands for music television) now pretty much consists of poorly acted, mostly scripted "reality" shows about stupid people who should never make money and certainly shouldn't be famous in any way shape or form (see the half of speidi that doesn't look like a tranny - and his creepy flesh-colored beard).
with the creation of the real world in 1992, mtv began it's slow and steady decline to the gutters of television, and introduced the world to, what is now, the plague of modern man, reality shows and the annoying "stars" this movement brings with it. i keep waiting for people to stop caring about these morons, but it seems that the more moronic they are, the more people want to watch their circus of a life unfold.
but i digress. with mtv, our former source of music videos, now a cesspool of filth and venereal diseases, it seemed as though the music video was going to die with it.
but the fine fellows who make up ok go are trying to single-handedly keep people interested in music videos via the internet. if you are unfamiliar with ok go, they made themselves internet superstars with this clever video for their first single here it goes again. see video below.
well the group who made people care about the music video again (and built a nice career from the internet success of this one video) are back at it with another video that demands that the viewer watch to the end. and they are rewarded. wonder why their jump suits are colored, well wonder no more.
thanks to my friend lindsey at music ramen for this video. enjoy!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
personal justice
in my small group last night, the topic of having a personal sense of justice came up. it was interesting so i will do my best to transcribe the story to you now and allow you to come to your own conclusion.
the story: a man has a son who is friends with a boy down the street. they spend a great deal of time together, but the parents aren't really friends. they are friendly with one another, but don't speak regularly and don't know what is happening in the others lives. while the boys are playing together, they often leave some personal belongings at the other boys house. neither set of parents has a problem with this until my friends boy leaves his bike at the other boys house.
a couple of months without his bike, my friends son realizes he should go get it so he can go on a bike ride with his dad. the other boys father answers the door and tells him the bike isn't there and that he is too busy to have to worry about this boys bike. he is a little rude to the boy, who is only 10 years old, but we think nothing of it. the boy goes home, borrows his mothers bike and rides with his father.
several weeks later, the father and son wish to ride bikes again. they go, together this time, to the neighbor to ask for the boys bike. this time, the man is more threatening and a little hostile. he insists that the bike is not in his possession and that they are disturbing him by coming over. he actually uses the phrase "i am not your sons keeper." great. he also says, "if you are looking for your bike, ask my son. he may know where it is." so they do just that and the boy tells them it is leaned against the side of his house, the very house the man just said he had searched, to no avail.
an hour or so later, the man leaves his home and my friend and his son walk to his house to peer over the fence and see if they can see the boys bike. they can, though it is in a state of disrepair. it is apparent that it has been run over by a car and no longer works. they open the gate, walk in and get the broken bike, and walk home.
the context: we were discussing men being men and my friend told this anecdote to ask the question, what does a warrior (read wild at heart and you will understand) do in this situation? i should clarify, we are not reading wild at heart, but an excerpt from the book came up in our prayer time.
so, i ask you, what would a passionate man who is following Gods call in his life and living the life of a warrior, the life of adventure, do in this situation? would he go back to the neighbor and confront him, show his sons that we are meant to defend our family and our stuff and be the Lords deliverers of justice? should he inform the man that he is taking him to small claims court if he doesn't replace the boys bike? should he demand that the man at least apologize to his son and show his son that things done in secret will eventually be brought into the light?
what if i told you that this man had just split with his wife? what if i said that his entire family had just left and moved somewhere else? his whole life had just fallen apart and he had just lost those he cared about most. i'm not trying to make him the victim. i'm sure he was at least half to blame for his marriage falling apart and the effects that will have on his children.
but what if all that were true? does it matter? why does our personal sense of justice depend on the circumstances of the others involved? are we willing to show more grace to someone who is more broken? what is the Godly thing to do, not the religious thing to do, but the Godly thing to do?
the story: a man has a son who is friends with a boy down the street. they spend a great deal of time together, but the parents aren't really friends. they are friendly with one another, but don't speak regularly and don't know what is happening in the others lives. while the boys are playing together, they often leave some personal belongings at the other boys house. neither set of parents has a problem with this until my friends boy leaves his bike at the other boys house.
a couple of months without his bike, my friends son realizes he should go get it so he can go on a bike ride with his dad. the other boys father answers the door and tells him the bike isn't there and that he is too busy to have to worry about this boys bike. he is a little rude to the boy, who is only 10 years old, but we think nothing of it. the boy goes home, borrows his mothers bike and rides with his father.
several weeks later, the father and son wish to ride bikes again. they go, together this time, to the neighbor to ask for the boys bike. this time, the man is more threatening and a little hostile. he insists that the bike is not in his possession and that they are disturbing him by coming over. he actually uses the phrase "i am not your sons keeper." great. he also says, "if you are looking for your bike, ask my son. he may know where it is." so they do just that and the boy tells them it is leaned against the side of his house, the very house the man just said he had searched, to no avail.
an hour or so later, the man leaves his home and my friend and his son walk to his house to peer over the fence and see if they can see the boys bike. they can, though it is in a state of disrepair. it is apparent that it has been run over by a car and no longer works. they open the gate, walk in and get the broken bike, and walk home.
the context: we were discussing men being men and my friend told this anecdote to ask the question, what does a warrior (read wild at heart and you will understand) do in this situation? i should clarify, we are not reading wild at heart, but an excerpt from the book came up in our prayer time.
so, i ask you, what would a passionate man who is following Gods call in his life and living the life of a warrior, the life of adventure, do in this situation? would he go back to the neighbor and confront him, show his sons that we are meant to defend our family and our stuff and be the Lords deliverers of justice? should he inform the man that he is taking him to small claims court if he doesn't replace the boys bike? should he demand that the man at least apologize to his son and show his son that things done in secret will eventually be brought into the light?
what if i told you that this man had just split with his wife? what if i said that his entire family had just left and moved somewhere else? his whole life had just fallen apart and he had just lost those he cared about most. i'm not trying to make him the victim. i'm sure he was at least half to blame for his marriage falling apart and the effects that will have on his children.
but what if all that were true? does it matter? why does our personal sense of justice depend on the circumstances of the others involved? are we willing to show more grace to someone who is more broken? what is the Godly thing to do, not the religious thing to do, but the Godly thing to do?
Friday, February 26, 2010
memory stepping
published 2007
Like hair that falls into the face, you
are impossible to ignore-my
tangled inconvenience just over
head, nine steps to the bed instead of
seven, weak as I am to walk it
alone. The room is larger, hollow
as a slaughtered cow, racked and hanging.
Or is that me? It's the raw pink that
distracts. The unfamiliar smell (sharp)
I have grown used to. Mosquito bites
beneath my feet make for uneasy
pacing. The lonely worm-wood floorboards;
infested. Memories, like maggots,
eat away at the rotting carcass;
grow more vivid with every step toward
the door. A clown-like mouth mocking me
walking the steps from it to the bed;
you looked so graceful on your way out.
Like hair that falls into the face, you
are impossible to ignore-my
tangled inconvenience just over
head, nine steps to the bed instead of
seven, weak as I am to walk it
alone. The room is larger, hollow
as a slaughtered cow, racked and hanging.
Or is that me? It's the raw pink that
distracts. The unfamiliar smell (sharp)
I have grown used to. Mosquito bites
beneath my feet make for uneasy
pacing. The lonely worm-wood floorboards;
infested. Memories, like maggots,
eat away at the rotting carcass;
grow more vivid with every step toward
the door. A clown-like mouth mocking me
walking the steps from it to the bed;
you looked so graceful on your way out.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
stains
with only a couple of days left in black history month, i wanted to post a poem that i published 4 years ago. i wrote it in honor of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, langston hughes. i hope you enjoy it.
stains
for langston hughes
you sang america
when white linens were washed with
lye.
now colors tumble dry
rather than hang
on a line.
sheets rode the wind
like pointed ghosts of past. stains
pinned with pride for all
to see. today
she wears them privately;
shamefully.
try to wish them gone
when they will not wash
gone
sleepily she recalls the text-
book tragedies of which you
wrote; half
on your side, half
her own. decades gone,
her hands still smell of
lie.
stains
for langston hughes
you sang america
when white linens were washed with
lye.
now colors tumble dry
rather than hang
on a line.
sheets rode the wind
like pointed ghosts of past. stains
pinned with pride for all
to see. today
she wears them privately;
shamefully.
try to wish them gone
when they will not wash
gone
sleepily she recalls the text-
book tragedies of which you
wrote; half
on your side, half
her own. decades gone,
her hands still smell of
lie.
ejumakation
so last night i am sitting in what was, essentially, my last small group session with my senior guys. twice the topic of my views on the education system came up, but it is such a long rant, that i thought i best to save it for another time. odd that i feel that time is now, on the blog, where i will have to type the entire rant. not sure why i do this to myself, but here goes.
i will start with what i think is right with the school system: it does encourage learning and it is vital that we all be lifelong students. by student, i simply mean that we are in the process of learning something, not that we be enrolled in a school of some kind.
what schools do wrong is continue to funnel people into more narrow views of thinking and more focused fields of expertise that we are no longer creating smarter people, we are creating specialists in a single field. ryan said this in group last night, and i believe he is very correct, that higher learning is basically like a vocational school. this is true in that, once one reaches the masters level and above, school really only teaches you one thing. it makes you a specialist in one field, which, by definition, is a vocational school.
the ancient greeks had a very different view of schooling. they believed that we were to be lifelong students, always learning, always growing. we are also to be lifelong teachers, sharing the knowledge we have with those behind us on the journey of learning. this was so important to them that, even their olympic athletes were required to spend as much time learning about astronomy and math and philosophy as they were practicing their events. it was very highly regarded to be a well-rounded human being and i think our schools should do a better job at instilling that in our students.
my second problem with the schooling system is that creativity is regarded with such contempt and is often the first to go in the education system. when children are young, they are allowed to express themselves. kindergartens are full of art classes, and glitter, and music and things kids can use to express themselves in a creative way (at least mine was. sorry if yours wasn't that way. you really missed out).
as we grow older, those things are slowly stripped away (for the most part) and removed from the regular classroom. they are pushed into their own section of the schooling process and are often the first thing to go if a school goes through cut backs or has to tighten its budget. these elective classes are also regarded as secondary, even unimportant. if a child gets straight C's and comes home with an A in art, people rarely notice. these classes are expected to be easy and a child who excels in these areas is not regarded as highly as one who excels in math or science. even language is regarded as a second-class citizen when put next to math or science.
by funneling us into these areas and pushing the importance of certain disciplines over others, they are basically teaching us to be better students, not better learners or more intelligent people. i know i knew my fair share in high school, and i am sure some of you know people like this; those who get straight A's and have no common sense. they are simply good students. put them in a class room and they are albert einstein.
take them out of the class room and they are patrick from spongebob.
i will start with what i think is right with the school system: it does encourage learning and it is vital that we all be lifelong students. by student, i simply mean that we are in the process of learning something, not that we be enrolled in a school of some kind.
what schools do wrong is continue to funnel people into more narrow views of thinking and more focused fields of expertise that we are no longer creating smarter people, we are creating specialists in a single field. ryan said this in group last night, and i believe he is very correct, that higher learning is basically like a vocational school. this is true in that, once one reaches the masters level and above, school really only teaches you one thing. it makes you a specialist in one field, which, by definition, is a vocational school.
the ancient greeks had a very different view of schooling. they believed that we were to be lifelong students, always learning, always growing. we are also to be lifelong teachers, sharing the knowledge we have with those behind us on the journey of learning. this was so important to them that, even their olympic athletes were required to spend as much time learning about astronomy and math and philosophy as they were practicing their events. it was very highly regarded to be a well-rounded human being and i think our schools should do a better job at instilling that in our students.
my second problem with the schooling system is that creativity is regarded with such contempt and is often the first to go in the education system. when children are young, they are allowed to express themselves. kindergartens are full of art classes, and glitter, and music and things kids can use to express themselves in a creative way (at least mine was. sorry if yours wasn't that way. you really missed out).
as we grow older, those things are slowly stripped away (for the most part) and removed from the regular classroom. they are pushed into their own section of the schooling process and are often the first thing to go if a school goes through cut backs or has to tighten its budget. these elective classes are also regarded as secondary, even unimportant. if a child gets straight C's and comes home with an A in art, people rarely notice. these classes are expected to be easy and a child who excels in these areas is not regarded as highly as one who excels in math or science. even language is regarded as a second-class citizen when put next to math or science.
by funneling us into these areas and pushing the importance of certain disciplines over others, they are basically teaching us to be better students, not better learners or more intelligent people. i know i knew my fair share in high school, and i am sure some of you know people like this; those who get straight A's and have no common sense. they are simply good students. put them in a class room and they are albert einstein.
take them out of the class room and they are patrick from spongebob.
i know the einstein pictures doesn't really do justice to his level of intelligence, but you get the point. the idea is that, by creating good students, we are saying that the highest level of accomplishment is to become a college professor. now hear me out, i want to be a college writing professor, so clearly i'm not saying this is a bad choice of profession (either that or their brainwashing worked on me and i should be ashamed of myself), but i am saying that by teaching students to be the best students they can be, the ultimate destination is to then become the person doing the teaching.
in the real world, experience and practical application skills say more than degrees. my mom doesn't have her college degree, but she has 30 years experience working in human resources and will likely win a job over a book-qualified applicant with less experience.
so what is the answer? i think there are some newer schools out, and in my area, there are some magnet schools that are trying to get this right. they have a magnet school that focuses on engineering, or mechanics, or the arts, or languages for the children who have shown a greater aptitude in these areas. they foster the things the child is already gifted in rather than trying to force them to excel in the areas that our school system values. while these are great programs, i think they are too few and far between.
here is a video by sir ken robinson where he talks about just this subject.
in the real world, experience and practical application skills say more than degrees. my mom doesn't have her college degree, but she has 30 years experience working in human resources and will likely win a job over a book-qualified applicant with less experience.
so what is the answer? i think there are some newer schools out, and in my area, there are some magnet schools that are trying to get this right. they have a magnet school that focuses on engineering, or mechanics, or the arts, or languages for the children who have shown a greater aptitude in these areas. they foster the things the child is already gifted in rather than trying to force them to excel in the areas that our school system values. while these are great programs, i think they are too few and far between.
here is a video by sir ken robinson where he talks about just this subject.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
the luckiest
is a quirky but great song about love. it was my song to my wife at our wedding. i hope that my love will always be so definite. my favorite verse in the song:
next door, there's an old man who lived to his nineties
and one day passed away in his sleep.
his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
and passed away
i'm sorry, i know that's a strange way to tell you that i know
we belong
that i know...that i am the luckiest
next door, there's an old man who lived to his nineties
and one day passed away in his sleep.
his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
and passed away
i'm sorry, i know that's a strange way to tell you that i know
we belong
that i know...that i am the luckiest
Friday, February 19, 2010
elegant. the fist wraps
my heart beats like wings, fanning
the fire - butane
blue - in your eyes. my pupils
burn like moths, eager to learn
the flecks
in yours. i am lost;
this visual lip-lock tastes like ocean
but feels like sand-
paper. my body cries,
my eyes perspire. funny
how sweat and tears conspire to feel
the same, look
the same. you
burn
elegant. the fist wraps
at the inside of my ribs, it begs
to be set free
the fire - butane
blue - in your eyes. my pupils
burn like moths, eager to learn
the flecks
in yours. i am lost;
this visual lip-lock tastes like ocean
but feels like sand-
paper. my body cries,
my eyes perspire. funny
how sweat and tears conspire to feel
the same, look
the same. you
burn
elegant. the fist wraps
at the inside of my ribs, it begs
to be set free
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