I dreamt this morning that I went to the zoo to see the animals. Things were going really well until I got to the hippopotamus cage. Once I got there, the hippos decided to put on a live sex show very similar to the one I watched in Amsterdam.
The hippos were really noisy about it too. Moaning, groaning, wailing and all sorts of carrying on. It was like a Pentecostal revival/hippo orgy.
Then I woke up, only to realize it was just my neighbors downstairs going at it. Yuck.
I had to give a presentation about the Genesis Project in the Licensed Practical Nurse class this afternoon in front of about 75 future LPNs.
The girls that invited me to speak were very nice and rather grateful to have me there. It's always nice to feel appreciated in your job. Heck, they even got me a $15 gift certificate to Applebees for my efforts. I told Shane I'd take him to dinner one night. I figure it's the least I can do after he helped me change my flat tire this afternoon.
Speaking in classes is really fun. I like pulling out the shocking statistics to watch their eyes get big. It's kind of like watching Anime without all of the screaming and weirdness. I made sure to get in a dig about how HJR-2 (the anti-gay marriage amendment) will actually hurt the economy as larger corporations shy away from states with those laws. I saw a few "oh crap, what did i vote for" looks on faces. The "oh crap" faces just got longer as I told them about how fighting against AIDS prevention now literally costs the government billions of dollars in the future. It's funny how people are a little more relaxed about "moral principles" when it directly affects their pocketbooks.
The only problem with the presentation was trying to get in about 1/2 hour or more worth of information in 10 minutes. I hope it wasn't like trying to drink out of a firehose for some of them.
Shane and I risked slick roads and snow storms to travel to Idaho Falls for our first Genesis Project Coffee up there.
Initially, we were very disappointed as only 5 guys showed up during the first hour. We were certain that this would not only be the first, but last IF coffee. Soon though, people started to filter in, and we ended up with at least 20 guys there. Some of the guys were really great. It was good to see Tim, Nate, Kevin, and Jose again. It was good to meet Doyle and finally meet the previously unseen Dwayne. The only guy I didn't like was a pretentious twat from BYU Idaho who thought he was much better than everyone else. Why would I assume such a thing? Perhaps the 3 snide comments he made about people around him, to their faces, within the first 5 minutes of being there. I had to move to the other part of the room before I either ripped him a new one verbally, or just reached over and knocked him out. My tolerance for blatant rudeness grows shorter every day. Nor am I impressed by closet cases from BYU Idaho who think they're some kind of special-case Mormon. Dude, 90% of that room was raised Mormon, and probably at least 1/4 are returned missionaries. Sheesh.
All in all, it was a good trip and I look forward to future coffee nights in IF. If we get enough interest, we might do a Revelations meeting up there, and get some training done.
I know I'm a bit obsessed about it, but the Confessions on a Dance Floor tour was incredible. Shane and I watched about 1/2 of it tonight before he had to go to work. And yes, this is penance for the long post below this one. I always feel compelled to balance a heavy post with a lighter one.
I decided to be nice to Rui and make an MP3 of the Like a Virgin performance from the concert, since he hasn't seen it yet. I love the new remix they did for it. I skyped it to him a couple of hours ago, and we chatted about it. Rui commented that it sounded like Scissor Sisters. I agreed. He said he expected Jake Shears to start singing at any moment. I said maybe he was. We decided that the new Scissor Sisters album isn't as bad as first impressions gave us. I wanted it to be more immediately danceable; I wanted it a little less Elton, and more Thin White Duke. We both agree BabyDaddy needs to buzz his hair again.
Anyway, I'll spread the love. Here's Like a Virgin from the concert. Right click to save for PC. Control click for us with good computers.
According to Merriam Webster's dictionary, the second definition for sacrilege is as follows: gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing.
I can agree with this statement in one sense of the word. I can agree that some people may feel that another's actions, words, or art are a form of sacrilege to them. I can see how they would be offended. However, I'm tired of the trite whining about sacrilege being used to neuter free speech.
Case in point: part of Madonna's concert being selectively edited for the NBC broadcast. In the concert, Madonna sings Live to Tell while hanging on a mirrored cross. This portion was cut from the televised version, and instead, we were shown the video which was actually playing on the screens behind her. We watched images of adorable African children pass by while a counter quickly counted to 12,000,000. We later see that this is the number of children currently orphaned in Africa due to AIDS. After Madonna gets off the cross, we see her on stage with the crown of thorns still on her head. She proceeds to finish the song, collapses on stage, and then a series of Bible verses appear on the various screens on the stage. They're the passages where Jesus spoke about clothing and feeding the poor. Heck, she even gave proper attribution to the scriptural passages. This was then followed by internet addresses where aid could be given.
The thing that gets me about this is that there's a lot of negligible assumption going on with this whole thing. Madonna's not performing a "gross irreverence" towards Jesus, but instead trying to emulate him while making an emotional plea that we need to help these children. Yes, perhaps the cross aspect was a bit much, but if you watch the clip, you can easily tell that sacrilege was never an aspect of this performance. Trying to get people to help the poor sounds pretty Jesus-like to me, rather than sacrilegious.
It bugs me that religious groups are so quick to cry persecution these days. More scary than that is the fact that they get away with it so often, and are even catered to. It's clear that NBC bowed to pressure from religious groups to edit the piece, when these groups had never seen the performance in question, nor would they. Her piece wasn't weighed on the merits of the performance, but on the perception of ignorant fools. Or perhaps it would be more fitting to call them "white washed tombs." Newsflash: watching Madonna as Christ is not persecution. Hearing swearing is not persecution. Being told you're not liked is not persecution. Sex on tv is not persecution. Being forced to grant equal rights to homosexuals is not persecution. If you all really want to experience persecution, join your brothers and sisters in Sudan or Indonesia and be put to death for your faith. The big difference is that those people don't whine about petty trivialities or sacrilege.
So, Rick, what's with the vitriolic rant? Well, you see, I view Madonna as a hallowed person. In light of that, any editing of her performance was a "gross irreverence" in my eyes. Also, to clear my conscience, at least I can say I watched the performance and went to church too.
You click on the flash-based candle. They donate $1 to AIDS research.
https://www.lighttounite.org/
World AIDS Day is this Friday. See if your area has any events going on.
Pocatello:
I know that it's been a while since I last blogged. Suffice it to say the last few weeks haven't been the best for me. I might come back again soon and fill in some of the blanks.
Anyway, I'm watching the Madonna Confessions on a Dancefloor concert right now on NBC. I'm so impressed that I had to pause the live tv (thank gawd for my freinds' dvr where I'm dog sitting) and comment on it.
The VJ work in the background is blowing my mind. The whole horse race montage for Like a Virgin nearly had me drooling on myself. I loved that the entire thing was in black and white too. The previous kaleidoscopic red beauty was a sight to behold. For Jump I almost wanted to cry from the aesthetical beauty of the spectacle. The guys doing acrobatics while the VJing when on in the background. I'm jealous. It's a lot like the 30th birthday extravaganza I had started to plan for myself, that alas, won't come to fruition in December. *sigh* Mine had a strong fashion edge to it, based off my obsession with Project Runway. Perhaps in January, when I have the time and resources to pull it off.
Oh man. I can't wait until the concert is available for either purchase or download. I know I'll wet myself pulling it apart layer by layer in examination of the sheer beauty and creativity.
Beyonce put out a new album titled B'Day which I'm fairly sure is pronounced "bidet." How ironic, since both should be used to clean my ass.
I'm going to vote later tonight, but it hasn't been an easy endeavor so far. Just trying to figure out where to vote in Pocatello has been a nightmare. I had to go to my student union, praying that somebody there actually knew, since the city of Pocatello has decided the location of voting is some esoteric triviality reserved for the precious few deemed worthy of such knowledge. I now call this the Gnostic Gospel of Pocatello.
I finally found out where to vote after locating a politically savvy student, and having him call two different people (public officials) to find out where I vote.
Apparently, I'm supposed to vote at a junior high, while they're in session for school. So, I have to go to a public school, wade my way through bratty 13-year-olds, and try to figure out exactly where to go. Screw that. I'll have to wait until I'm done with work before I go. We'll just pretend that the Marshall Public Library doesn't exist in the centre of my voting district, which would be more condusive to the voting process. Arrgh! This is all assuming I'm even able to vote, since the whole local address/permanent address difference has caused problems in the past. You'd think that in a college town, they'd have figured out that issue by now. It's not as if the university spontaneously generated last week.
I think I've officially had it with America. Saying we're all about the public having a voice is a joke. People in Iraq had it better when it came to public voting. They actually got the day off from work in order to take on this serious task. I'm not saying everyone will take the time off to ponder the gravity of this responsibility, but it frustrates me to no end that those who need to vote most are the ones who are often denied the right to vote because it's more important to work and keep their job than go fill out a silly paper. Why should the right to vote be reserved only for those elite enough to have the time/money to be able to vote? Democracy, my ass!
Pam's got a much more eloquent post about protecting the vote and voter fraud over at her place.
but this might be even a little much for me.
Espresso Porn
It's actually a series of photos of espresso shots being pulled. Very interesting, that's for sure. The guy even has his own blog about the espresso he's drinking around NYC, which seems a bit pathological for my tastes, but fascinates me to no end.
Just for the record, new Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits are amazing. It's like the Food Network did a Rachael Ray makeover on your basic Triscuit, and now it sizzles with amazement. Or something. Heck, I'm not very good with the food porn descriptions. That, however, doesn't change the fact that they're amazing.
I'm attempting to make heads-or-tails of CSS design for the website at work. We want to use CSS in case we need to make changes in the future, and you always need to make changes in the future. The problem with CSS is that you have to know it in order to learn it. I got a great free CSS template, but have no idea how to start altering it. So much has changed in web design since I did websites (nearly 7 years ago) and I wasn't exactly bleeding-edge then. Hopefully I'll get something figured out, since we need to get even a bare-skeleton site up and running in the near future. Maybe I'll actually go through some of the tutorials on DreamWeaver, and weave my dream. *sigh* Or maybe I'll just pay some 18-year-old to do it for me. That sounds much easier at this point.
