Thoughts about Christ's Death on the Cross and Sacrifice

The thought - How was Jesus' death on the cross really a sacrifice?
What makes it seem like a diminished sacrifice is that He resurrects three days later.
So it's- God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son... and then got him back.
God didn't really lose much in the deal. Actually, Jesus resurrects improved. Better. Not much of a loss at all.

Birthday 39

I had to work on Labor Day.

We were to meet at the Keys Cafe in Woodbury. I cruise over there after I'm done with work, find the van and park next to it, and make my way toward the strip-mall where the restaurant is located. As I come in the door, the family sees me and attacks me with happy birthdays, but...

A brunette girl is behind me calling for my attention. I look back. My first thought was this was Leesha (dressed as I feel she should be, rather than her choice attire), but my next thought was- no, this is not Leesha, but I do know her. From way before. I knew her well. I do believe this is Ruth, whom we (and by we I mean the boys of 8144 Bloomington Ave) lived with at one time. Next thought was- this couldn't be. There's no context for her to be here now. This thought was overridden because the previous thought was indeed correct. By some Labor Day fluke, here was Ruthie.

There were several fantastically awkward moments of half trying to get caught up with Ruth and at the same time thanking my family for the birthday wishes. We said we'd catch up online and she departed, it was all over as quickly as it had escalated.

The rest of the day was as expected, celebrating over brunch with Cara's folks, my folks, Gramdma Mary (kind of celebrating her birthday, too) and the kiddos and Leesha. When we were finished, Willis South and Grandma departed for MO and Cara's folks went home.

Something is afoot at the Geek Flag... in Germany

This is my personal blog, sort of a diary. My geek obsession blog is elsewhere- The Geek Flag. That gets way more attention from me than this blog. Lately, it has also gotten a TON of attention from others. Mainly Germans.

For the last few days the statistics of the Geek Flag blog have been showing some very strange results. It appears that every twelve hours there is a HUGE spike in visitors to the blog. The spike is localized to Germany for some reason.

The post that seems to be attracting all this traffic is one I created way back in February, it featured a very nice fan-made dice roller for the newly released Star Wars: Edge of the Empire from Fantasy Flight Games. Here's that post.

The peaks are hitting around Noon to 1PM / Midnight to 1AM in the Central Timezone. Which makes the peak times 7AM to 8 AM / 7PM to 8PM in Germany. The clean uniformity of the pattern suggests it isn't man made, but some sort of bot. But that is a lot of traffic either way.

This view is by the Day, from August 1st to August 2nd

This view is of the whole week so far.

Here a whole month. This shows the drastic increase from the usual hum of traffic.

See how drastically the traffic amount suddenly changed. Also note in the map graphic the intensity in that one spot. That is Germany. Strange.

Twin Peaks

It probably has been a couple of decades since I've seen anything Twin Peaks. Well, tonight, Cara and I are going to have some cherry pie and some coffee and watch the pilot episode.

Dumbing of Age

This is why Dumbing of Age is so great.

haircut

I got my haircut about a week ago. I usually get my haircut at significant events or dates. Like, waiting until the school year was over. It's a matter of consolidating big changes.

My hair was long enough to pull back into a ponytail. The two types of comments I get are- 1. "looks better" or 2. "you shouldn't have cut it" - usually along those lines. The interesting part is more often than not the two sides correspond with the commenter's political alignment. Right or Left, respectively. People who usually have a neutral comment are people who keep their politics to themselves.

Maggie is Nausicaa

This morning, Maggie was reading Nausicaa books with a blue-ish dress and a goofy owl winter hat. Add a squirrel and there you have it...

Goodbye Java Train Cafe

The Java Train is going away. Feels like we just discovered you. It is to be replaced with a more-restaurant/less-coffee-shop feel and will be called The Como Park Grill. But the Train play ground and water tower will both very soon be a thing of the past.

SpringCon 2013

Jack, Maggie and I met the Jankovich's for the spring comic convention. We also met Mike D there. This is becoming a tradition and I like that.

At the MN State Fairgrounds

the Ghostbusters had Stark Industries gear

with Batgirl

Maggie holding her own against the competition for action figures

Ayreon - The Final Experiment

This album has been the center of my musical obsession all week. First I love the prog-rock elements. The metal is a guilty pleasure. Much of the music often reminds me of Mannheim Steamroller christmas music, over the top and sometimes cheesy. It's metal, but it still has that 1990's saccharin positiveness. Not that angry metal that's out now. Epic fantasy rock. Great stuff.

THIS IS THE VOICE OF MERLIN. LISTEN WELL,
FOR IT CONCERNS YOU. THIS CHRONICLE COMMENCES IN THE YEAR 2084 A.D.
MANKIND HAS VIRTUALLY DESTROYED ITSELF.
IT'S SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON 'THE FINAL EXPERIMENT'.
SCIENTISTS FROM THE 21ST CENTURY HAVE DEVELOPED
A NEW COMPUTERPROGRAM CALLED 'TIME TELEPATHY'.
BY USING THIS TECHNIQUE THEY HAVE SENT VISIONS OF HUMANITIES'
DECLINE BACK IN TIME. THESE TRANSMISSIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY THE MIND
OF A BLIND MINSTREL WHO LIVES IN 6TH CENTURY GREAT BRITAIN. HIS NAME ....
IS 'AYREON'.

The Final Experiment is the first album under Ayreon. Are the subsequent albums more visions the blind minstrel experiences and sings? Perhaps Ayreon overcame Merlin's curse!

Soundtrack of Now

It is spring and winter has [finally] stopped appearing. It's wearing-shorts-nice. School is ending just over the horizon. Trees are budding. It's lighter later.

This post is a snapshot of some of the music that has caught my interest on primarily 89.3 the Current. These are songs that I will either allow to play or actually turn up the volume on. Songs I enjoy and look forward to.

The soundtrack of this chapter, if you will.

Gentle Giant Octopus

Gentle Giant - Octopus

So my mind was blown a tiny bit yesterday. On my commute I opted to listen to Gentle Giant. The only album I have of this amazing and extremely prog-rock group is Octopus. The music is of a nature that might blow one's mind, on it's own. But then...

Later, as the kids are getting ready for bed, Jack shows me his latest favorite library book. Gentle Giant Octopus.

Took me a few seconds to figure out what was going on.

I had an ultrasound on my heart today as a follow up/check up to see if there was any damage from my time of apnea before CPAP treatment. The doctors said they'd be extremely surprised if there was a problem. It was an interesting experience.

Savage Bloggers Network

After posting a blog entry that took more effort than most- Star Wars for Savage Worlds I was submitted to the +Savage Bloggers Network. Oh my goodness! My site has never seen such a traffic spike! There have been some in the past and some of the posts that triggered them are still causing traffic, but nothing like this. Thank you Savage Blogger Network. I shall include more Savage Worlds stuff because of it.

so this happened...

SinFest

Sometimes SinFest is profound.

5 Reasons to Kill Christian Music

Here's an interesting article that I think is appropriate. There are very few Christian bands that are of much quality.

5 Reasons to Kill Christian Music

 Several years ago I had a moment to actually talk with Daniel Smith of the Danielson Famile and asked something about his influences and about being a Christian band. He replied along the lines that he doesn't consider himself a Christan band. They are just a band that make songs about things that are important to them.

I believe that is the healthiest philosophy for anything.

Recently having rediscovered the music from 2nd Chapter of Acts, I've been enjoying the tracks that aren't so overtly Christian the most.

There was a South Park episode that illustrates this point perfectly, actually (because, you know as awful as that show is, they are very honest).

Christian Rock Hard

Narnia

My kids are often requesting to listen to Narnia!

This is a huge personal win for me. This album, more than any other, influenced a great deal of my life as it is now.

Roar of Love by 2nd Chapter of Acts is a concept album telling the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with fantastic '70s music with lots of synthesized effects and amazing harmonies. It is, in my opinion, the band's greatest album.

Listening to the music again, lately, I've discovered that this is most likely the source of much of the music I find passion in these days. This very record (and a few of 2nd Chapter of Act's others) where engraved on my brain from the start.

The 1970s had the best music.

On top of the great music the message is wondrous. Through the downs and ups of my spiritual walk, I have come to consider C.S. Lewis as my spiritual leader- come to realize that he is would probably be more accurate. The gospel message interlaced through the story is perfect.



And lastly, this is a fantasy story. Other worlds, witches, magic, swords and shields... you can't go wrong with that kind of world. All of the Chronicles of Narnia are wonderful and based on sound theology.

So when my kids want to hear Narnia, I consider it a victory every time.

2nd Chapter of Acts - Mansion Builder

2nd Chapter of Acts - Mansion Builder

Started listening to this on the way home from work this evening and wasn't expecting the impact it made on me.

I actually can't wait for my commute to work tomorrow morning!

The lyrical content has a whole different dimension for me now in this point of my walk.

The music strikes me over and over reminding me that this is a majority of the core that forms my everlasting interest of what I am passionate about in music. Especially the dynamic bass lines here.