Tackling The Good Book

After 24 years on Earth, 10 of which were spent in a Christian school, I have yet to read through the Bible. Recently, this has been something that's been tugging at my heart. I think it would be a shame for me to leave this Earth having read through hundreds of books, but not having taken the time to tackle the most important one. I have probably read through a good 75% of the Bible, but certain books (i.e. Deuteronomy) are just a beast to get through - no disrespect. So, this is it. Time for me to buckle down, chose one of my 10 Bibles (yes, I said 10. smh), and get to work.

Oddly enough, the final shove down this road came from a the most unlikely source. Personally, I believe that you can be mentally, physically, and emotionally in-tune, but unless you are spiritually on-point, your life will suffer and things will never perfectly be in sync - it's like the glue that holds the other three realms together. I had been praying for a good friend of mine, that he'd find that balance and realize the importance of having a spiritual side and a relationship with God. I love this young man to death, and like all of my friends, I have kept him in prayer as his self-admittedly atheistic (though I'd call it more agnostic than atheistic) lifestyle was making that spiritual development seem impossible. So, you can imagine my shock when he randomly brought up how he and a friend were planning on reading through the Bible together. I almost shed a tear! Nothing is impossible with God and He certainly does answer prayer. Then, about 2 milliseconds later, came the conviction, lol. In my head I was like, here is this man newly interested in God and desiring to read through the Bible, and I've been neglecting doing so for years upon years. Shame on me.

So, I'm putting it all on the line. 2009 has sucked. Perhaps if I had taken my own advice and relied solely on God during those tough times, things would have been easier or at least better dealt with. No more with my old ways, time to drive into His word and see where He leads me.

If you speak to me, I implore you to ask me when's the last time I read my Bible. If the answer is more than 48 hours, you have my permission to slap me - promised!

Today is Day 1. I'm not sure where to start. Having tried the "start at Genesis and read straight through Revelations" numerous times and failed, I'm considering a different approach. I'm also not a fan of reading part of the OT and part of the NT each day - I'd rather stay within one book each day. There's a great website with 5 different plans on reading through the Bible in a year. I'm considering either the New then Old Testament plan or the Chronological plan..more so towards the latter. Say a prayer for me everyone...this should be good! I'm psyched!!

PETA needs to take a chill pill!

Q:You know why I disdain PETA?

A: It's all in their name - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

First and foremost, I believe that mankind was given dominion over animals, and therefore I consider human needs more important than the animals feelings...after all, animals don't have souls. If I need to stay warm, I say make me a fur coat! If I'm hungry, I say go fishing or hunting until you're full and stocked up! I do think that we shouldn't be reckless with the way we treat and/or kill animals, but even still I usually think that's more of a poor reflection on man than a wrong done to animals. For example, torturing animals is a big NO NO - not because it's inhumane to the animal, but because it probably reflects that there is something mentally wrong with the individual and they're about to start enacting their little hobby on their fellow man. Animals are put here for our benefit, for our needs. If we screw that up, the onus is, well, on us. End of story.

Now, back to these annoying PETA people (the same people whose ads are 98% sex to sell their campaign...and people talk about that foursome CK add...just Google Image PETA and you'll see). So, President Obama was giving an interview and there was an annoying big ol' fly swarming around (you know the type that everyone swats at and runs from in disgust). Our fearless Commander-in-Chief successfully slapped and killed that fly without even flinching. Personally, I was rather impressed. Take a look for yourself:



Bwahaha, I LOVE IT!!! And the interviewer saying "Niiiice!" = PRICELESS! I love how our President swatted it as if to say Who's your daddy now?!? and then stared it down as if to say What now? lol. Shooot, if anything, I'm even more fond of our beloved President the way he took down that fly...Mr. Miyagi would be very, very impressed. To be fair, President Obama did give the fly a warning. If only the fly had listened... (too bad they probably can't hear)

Then comes whining in those annoying PETA people. Quit your bellyaching. Are insects even really considered animals? I'd say only marginally. These fools are sending our President a device that humanely traps flies so they can be released outside safely (only to return hours later and keep bugging us...real smart). [insert heavy eye roll] They go on to say that his swatting a fly proves he's not perfect. Well first off, he's not perfect, he's human...duh. Secondly, he perfectly slapped the -ish out of that fly!

Hmmm, I wonder if he can duck a pair of shoes faster than Bush...probably! lol, this whole situation has humored me all day long. Lil' fly, your death was not in vain!

Shoot 'Em Ups

While not my favorite movie genre (that would be comedies of course!), while watching the NBA Finals I see the trailer for a movie that has made me soooo excited and giddy. Based off of my favorite era in American History comes what is bound to be a box office smash hit: Public Enemies.

Reasons this movie will be Amazing:
#1: Directed by Michael Mann - director of Last of the Mohicans, Ali. Collateral, Heat, The Aviator, and The Kingdom...just to name a few...actually, I think he's written, produced, and directed most of his movies, has at least 6 Emmys and Academy Awards = 'Nough said!

#2 Starring 3 of my favorite Hollywood men: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Channing Tatum.
So, Christian Bale plays the famous, handsome FBI agent (Purvis) that is established by good ol' J Edgar Hoover to run up (i.e. kill) all the Public Enemies (mainly midwestern bank robbers, bandits, moonshiners...remember, between Prohibition and The Depression people were resorting to crime to answer problems). Depp plays the sauve, cunning bank robber Dillinger who robbed numerous banks with (at the time) "clever" tactics, and even broke out of jail a few times. Both Depp and Bale are phenomenal actors - Depp clearly beats Bale at this point, based on his extensive and diverse repertoire, however, Bale is on the rise! I suspect that this pairing with produce phenomenal results. And while the young actor Channing may not headline the movie, nor be in the same skills class as Depp or Bale, he is too fine not to mention! He plays another cohort of Dillinger, named Pretty Boy Floyd, also rounded up by Hoover via Purvis. Eh, whatever the case, this piece of eye candy nicely rounds out the trio. (Some girl is listed as the third headliner - I don't know her, nor does she make my list of reason I want to see this movie. If you care, here she is: Marion Cotillard, sorry!)

#3: Who doesn't love a good action movie with some sexy leading men?!? While this might have been implicitly stated previously, it's important enough to mention twice! (I mean, who else saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine, thought the plot was ehhh, but then saw Hugh Jackman's fine self and was just a-ok?!? haha). Testosterone pumping full-throttle...as a woman, you gotta luv it!


#4: It's from my favorite American History Era. Why is this? Personally, I think the rest of American History is rather bland. Really, tell me something interesting that happened in the US outside we came, rebelled from England, enslaved people, freed them, and began opening our borders and allowing people to flock in as we became #1 (some would argue that I could tack on that now we're falling). Even the more "interesting" parts (i.e. The Civil Rights Movement) were rather bland and two-dimensional compared to this brief period that really made America come alive. Anywho, outside of Prohibition and the Depression, the whole bank robbing, moonshine, mobster business has a lot of personality. If I was born a poor, white man at that time, Whew Boy! Actually, there were quite a few tough broads in the bunch too, guess I could've been one of them. I would have had a field day in the Midwest!!! Secretly, I've always thought that if I didn't make it great at something legit, I'd probably be an amazing criminal...a mastermind, if you will...explains a lot, right? Good thing I'm completely on the right track ;) But back to this era, aka the Public Enemy Era of the FBI (1931-1935ish), Hoover declared an all-out nation-wide war on crime, individually naming people on his "list" of public enemies. The List included: John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Prety Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde, and Al Capone and crew. Aside: most were killed in '34...good job, FBI/Purvis (though quietly, I always root for the criminals, but shhhh!). If you want the good guy's approach to this period, you would probably love it because it helped push the FBI to grow and develop into what it is today.

And, I'm admittantly not even a history buff (easily, my least favorite subject growing up), I just really love this era when the US wasn't all goodie-two-shoed and was down getting nitty gritty!


OMG, I am stoked!!!

Random/interesting asides:
- J Edgar got jealous over the attention Purvis got during this time and somehow got him pushed out of the Bureau.
- This lil' time period (specifically, Dillinger's Death) is where the term "Lady in Red" comes from. To summarize: foreign broad working in a whorehouse was going to be deported. FBI promised to help her stay in America if she helped capture Dillinger. They agreed she'd wear an orange dress (which looked red in the lighting) so the FBI could spot her and get Dillinger. The FBI got him, and she still got deported...serves her right, no one likes a traitor! Anyways, beware of ladies in red...
- People aren't even sure if Dillinger is dead...lol. Of course he's dead by now, but there's a great deal of controversy surrounding whether or not it was Dillinger or a poor guy who's name matched Dillinger's alias. Let's see...Dillinger had grey eyes, the corps had blue... Dillinger was healthy and played sports growing up (baseball), while the autopsy showed the corpse had some major heart problem that would have prevent such strenuous activity... I'm going with another government screw-up!

Helloooooo!!!

Um, yeah...so I've been slacking BIG time with this blog, but hey, I was busy (and the hard work paid off)...

But now, I'm back!