Real playing, core elements and things that matter リアル再生、コア要素とのことは問題

     As I got home form work, I did one of those little things I normally do--hopping onto IGN, Gamesradar and/or Gamepro to see what is new in the magical land of gaming. Surely enough, I saw on Gamepro the one thing that not everyone thought would see coming. No, it's not so much Rock Band 3 but what it will do that will game music gaming forever. It isn't the Keytar, or the triple voicings you can do with your friends with three microphones. It isn't even the drumset getting expanded to assemble much like a real drum kit. The guitar. The new controller. It has strings. All six of them. With the new Pro Mode, you'll be forced to play like a real guitarist. You'll be forced to play drums like a real drummer. Five-piece kit with cymbals. Just to entertain the horror of trying to get through a song on guitar in Pro mode, Crazy Train by Ozzy will be in the game. You read correctly. Once you're bored with expert mode and you want something to challenge you, in Pro mode, you'll have to play like Randy Rhoads. Guitar solo and rhythm included.
     Ever since I got into Guitar Hero and Rock Band, the one thing I felt would really create a sense of awesomeness would be to play it as though it were the real deal. Crazy enough, Guitar Hero II and III are monumental in terms of how I write songs these days. This is plain bananas, as Larry would say. This will separate the men from the boys. I think this will be the source of inspiration for a new generation of guitarists. Guitar Hero 1-5 and Rock Band 1 & 2 have nothing on Rock Band 3. I'd like to see what Activision will pull in favor of Guitar Hero 6 now.
     I remember having a conversation with Melissa and her dad about sacraments, religion, spirituality and whatnot. While I did not delve into too much, it made me really remember what the Bible tells me about what being a Christian's all about. Love. Self-sacrificing, looking out for one another, familial, no-nonsense type of love. I think at some point, a whole flock of Christians have been swimming into rules, regulations, dogmas, politics and traditions to the very extent that a lot of them live for and represent anything but Christ. Many have strayed from that core principal, the very core of the Church's life. You can destroy all the church buildings on this planet. I personally could give two craps less. That doesn't mean God's been killed. If the Earth is God's footstool, why do we act as though the church building is his limit? It really makes me question how much faith do Christians really have in their God, that they limit him to only one location. As I read once in one of Frank Viola's books, we're probably walking past the true organic body of Christ. We've probably walked past the real Christians and not realized it just because they don't speak Christianese nor appear like your average lawyer and Wall St. stock buyer.
     One thing that makes me realize this even more is the fact that up there, in Heaven, since June 12, 2008, my sister Bernice is up there, having the time of her life. To the average, self-righteous, penguin-suited Christian, her soul wouldn't make it to the gate. She dressed like a hip J-Pop/Rock fan, read funny books, watched anime with me and damn it, she was learning Back in Black by AC/DC. Yet in all of that, this was a young girl that, in spite of her rough situation, she still had some faith in God. It may have been the size of mustard seed, who knows. She made it past the gate. She showed a heck of a lot more Christ-resembling attitude than a lot of Christians I've known over the years. For those who never bothered reading the lyrics, Back in Black is about someone being let loose and given a second chance right when they were about to get hung. Hence the lyrics, "Let loose from the noose".
     These days, I find myself resting, keeping my head up and living life, if only one breath at a time. Some things just don't matter-- what you look like, your favorite pastime (so long as it doesn't result in self-harm or the harm of others), favorite song, favorite book. The only thing that matters is the core of everything that embodies who, what, where, why and how you are. So what's in your core?

Topsy Turvy life, Oil and blame

     Boy, these past two weeks have been insane. BP let hundreds of gallons of oil head into the bottom of the ocean. Then add in all the various attempts to cap and stop the leakage. They're pulling every rabbit out of the hat they can. I'm willing to bet they'll take any advice they can get from the American people. Heck, they are calling out to James Cameron for his work with Titanic (believe me, Avatar's blue alien won't help here).
     My biggest problem here is how Obama is taking responsibility and blame for something he didn't cause. Granted, he, until now, didn't have a problem with oil as fuel for energy and offshore drilling (at least not in its entirety). What can you ask the president to do? Have people forgotten that he's only a mere man? He can't scuba dive down there with superhuman strength and throw the damn thing to the moon! What's the matter? Have Obama loyalists finally realized that he is a mere human instead of an unstoppable idol? Have people become oblivious of the obvious sign that Obama is just a pawn and that the governmental machine are the Kings, Queens, Rooks and Bishops behind everything? He can only execute but as long as the other branches and puppeteers in government do not agree on any proposal he makes, his power is on a minimal scale.
     People have whined and bitched saying, "Obama, bail us out", "Obama, fix our health care", "Obama, fix the economy", "Obama, stop the war in Iraq". The good news is that troops, last year, were told by Iraqi leaders to get the heck out. Health care got a re-haul although some can debate if it's any good. Economy is still shaky and with this oil thing, it's getting worse.
     I ask that you guys just pray and just help me keep my chin up and my faith alive as, quite frankly, hard times are coming ahead and while there may be moments of rescue and relief, I'm pulling rabbits out of a hat to make sure that I can help in preventing some rough moments from coming upon me or my fam.

As time passes, random deaths and evil WBC Phelps

     Boy, has this month been interesting. Dio dies of stomach cancer. Gary Coleman dies. Bassist from Slipknot dies. Dio's death was tragic, Gary's was just crappy but #12 from Slipknot? I didn't feel as bad. There are plenty of bassists out there and it's not like that bassist was the cream of the crop. If your name doesn't resemble Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Stu Hamm, Geddy Lee, Flea or that guy that plays with a 10 string bass and kicks real butal butt, then most likely, you're just another dead bassist.
     On to Dio. When his death kicked in and his funeral was announced, a force almost as grim as his death rose from the ashes of Topeka, Kansas. The Phelps family and Westboro Baptist Church. If Lewis Black thought he never stood next to so much evil (Dick Cheney), he's in for a surprise. They are the people that invented the picket signs that say:

God hates USA
God hates Fags
signs that depict anal sex with Navy, Marine Corp, Coast Guard or Army written on top
God = United States' #1 Terrorist

     I can go on. For a bunch of self-righteous Christians, while they talk  a lot about sin, judgment, abomination and death, uh, when does the message of redemption, love and salvation in Jesus come in? Apparently, never. Apparently, they didn't read 1 Corinthians 5.13 where it says, "God judges those outside". My point here is that they are passing a judgment among non-Christians when in fact they are crossing their jurisdiction. If God is to be the judge, what makes you think you have the right to do part of God's job description? If that doesn't put the icing on the cake, there are two more layers my friends.
     The first one is that they were to picket Ronnie James Dio's funeral! That's right, we're talkin', "Dio's in Hell", "God hates Dio", "Dio's a Satan worshiper" picket signs everywhere. First off, whereas Michael Jackson's fan base were peaceful and silent, the legion of fans Dio has, along with the gigantic metal community that were in that funeral, pretty much would be a lot more aggressive. If it were up to them, the Phelps family would be in body bags and the Westboro Baptist Church would be drenched in fire and blood. However, Dio's wife asked that the metal community turn the other cheek. Apparently, it seems that is the case since there has not been a single report made about what went down in the funeral.
     The second icing, well, enjoy these videos. They speak for their madness in bold terms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKyxTg3K3Jk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7yQQ1IWa_Ro
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yVjnuKGQUic
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KU9-WCQJ1Dw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kikAIvm4PyU

Restructure and hollow christianity

       The past four weeks have been, for better word, the start of restructuring a lot of who I am. Prior to these, I found myself lowering important standards, at a disconnect with my faith (even though I didn't stop believing) and even dwelling into a sea of disbelief in my own fellow believers.
       These four weeks have awakened a re-energized capacity, a revitalized faith and a restructure of morality. I know, some may believe that the second the word moral kicks in, it's red state/right-wing/gun toting/bible thumping republican. Believe me, there's nothing moral about them or democrats. The two party system, as Lewis Black says, "is a bowl of s*** looking itself in the mirror".  Matter of fact, here are some definitions of the word:

–adjective

1. of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.

2. expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work; moralizing: a moral novel.

3. founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom: moral obligations.

4. capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct: a moral being.

5. conforming to the rules of right conduct (opposed to immoral): a moral man.

6. virtuous in sexual matters; chaste.

7. of, pertaining to, or acting on the mind, feelings, will, or character: moral support.

8. resting upon convincing grounds of probability; virtual: a moral certainty. 

 

       The problem we face today is that with things like "mores" and how we ourselves define what's right or wrong, there's no conviction. We talk about fighting for what we believe in yet we knock on the first person that chooses to be firm in believing in something. So, in a world where there is no absolute truth, we're all a human race living with question marks on our heads. Not saying I know anything new, it's just something that always swam in my head.

       Having a renewed sense of morality, for me, has meant being firm about my sense of what's right and wrong, a stronger sense of justice and not settling for scraps (the latter's a work in progress, believe me).

       As far as faith is concerned, I'm becoming more willing to express it but still refuse to ever stand alongside those whom parade themselves in my faith all the while not only oppressing others but also giving Jesus one hell of a bad name. Part of renewing a sense of my faith has been burying the hatchet with those whom have offended me. Forgiveness is very powerful. Time, by itself, doesn't heal wounds. People have the power to heal each other. As we mature, the way we view past events change, especially when learning the very things that make us mature and view things in a new light.

       I'm learning about who I'm not, who I'm just not meant to be around. Everyone wants to be loved by everyone, be Mr./Mrs. Popular and be the person no one can possibly hate. Truth is, you are who you are and no matter what you do, someone out there will hate your guts. Religious leaders hated Jesus because he  was bringing about the reforming of the spiritual perception the Pharisees and Sadducees  held. He spoke of worshiping God outside temples and synagogues, cutting off the middlemen and coming to grips with the fact that God just isn't so far off as the leaders made Him to be. John the Baptist had no fear in calling a leader among the Jews an adulterer (which he had right to do as the Jews in that time were theocratic unlike the U.S.) for stealing his brother's wife. Elijah had little qualm to call out King Ahab and Queen Jezebel as leaders that drew Israel from their Deliverer (God). The disciples, as well as Paul, didn't fear death threats from the Sanhedrin for preaching Jesus.

       Suddenly this brings to my attention how Jesus said that Christians would be hated for His name's sake. A lot of today's Christians aren't hated for loving Jesus at all. In fact, people love Jesus' persona and what He stood for. Christians today are hated for being self-righteous, passing judgment upon others as though we were God, for being hypocritical, for trying (at times) to blend in and for using church invites as a means to just fill up more seats at the institutionalized congregations for bragging rights. Christians have gotten sucked into the political game. The only people that people should fear are telling them crap are politicians not Christians. Once upon a time, we were expected to be model citizens of all that is fair and good but thanks to bogus preachers, money grubbing televangelists and the "prosperity gospel", we're viewed as despicable, phony and full of crap equivalent or almost worse than politicians. The hatred isn't due to the distaste of what Christ stands for but rather the hatred we face is self-inflicted.

       With that said, I want to say, on behalf of my real brothers and sister in Christ, we're sorry. For all the hypocrites, the child-abusing priests, the false prophets, the Crusades, you name it. Anything that doesn't really reflect what Jesus, his disciples and Paul represent, we're sorry. Well, that concludes my thoughts post-Jesus rehab.

Immigration II, Obama.

       Apparently, I woke up this morning to discover that little by little, the media's trying to draw attention away from the economy and towards immigration. Arizona's Governor is to blame. Then I overheard something on Univision about the issue reaching New Jersey. Oh boy, looks like they're making this issue take a big precedent. Then I read on the NY Times about people telling Obama to not deport their families and protests in Washington, Chicago and other places in the country. The situation is reaching a bigger pitch than expected.
       The first thing I will address is how people drag Obama into everything. First of all, the economy being in the crapper has nothing to do with him--we all know this has been the result of the United States' failure to remain separate from England's tax system. Recall that the whole point of Pilgrims moving to America and Colonial America revolting from England was for the lack of freedom of religious expression and an unfair tax system that brought people's financial situations to their knees. America, since the 1920's, re-bound themselves with taxes. Our Constitution says the right to "free tax" not "free to tax". On top of that, the credit system and federal reserve got us into this mess by lending us our money with interest! Look at the effing credit system! It's like using a loan you have to pay back with interest. If you can't pay back, you either go to a company that helps resolve credit debt issues or file bankruptcy, in which one credit company after another start buying each other off, taking money out of their pockets and a whole circle of debt in motion! Wall Street's blunder is the symptom of a deep underlying issue.
       To accuse Obama of deporting illegals is very immature. Our government's accused of not enforcing immigration laws. I'll repeat that in english-- the federal government is not enforcing (not putting to full effect) the unfair laws they themselves set up. Fourty Nine other states aren't really doing anything about illegal immigrants. I'll bet my entire gut that the bulk of illegals are in California, Texas, New York and Florida. The one they need to beat the snot out of is the Governor of Arizona. She signed off on a policy that overrides that of the federal government. Obama spend God knows how much time on health care reform, currently dealing with financial reform and suddenly, "Obama, don't deport our families". Deporting illegal immigrants, in my view, is the least of his worries. Heck, in his silence, he's basically saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Translation, "This isn't Auschwitz. I'm not Hitler. I'm in no rush to deport anybody because apparently the federal government isn't either."
       The only way this can get bad is if the protests cease. This line of fire I commend, just don't direct it to Obama. He didn't make that law, that crazy, racist b*** did it. Get your a$$e$ out of elsewhere, take a plane to Arizona and protest what she did until her skin color changes!
       I've really gotten tired of the new president getting the blame for stuff that's hovering on us, all of which was built up just in time for when he was to step in the White House. Heck, only two years and we're talking about his legacy! We're more worried about a freaking cartoon pissing someone off & blaming a black president for decades worth of plight than worrying about getting things done with the economy. I think there was more worry about immigration when Clinton was in charge. We were in a surplus when they were talking about immigration. Bush, eh, not so much. Bush only gave bad speeches and focused too much on oil, Iraq and gay marriage. I lived through three presidencies, I would know. Everything seemed normal with the first Bush, Clinton seemed fine and W didn't seem all that bad until 2003. I was too young to remember Reagan but times were tough in his final years.
       In other news, Bullet For My Valentine pulled off their third album terribly. I liked Scream, Aim, Fire and I felt The Poison can kiss my butt but Fever left me in a state of stroke. I thought Metallica's Reload was bad but ::Lewis Black laugh:: I was wrong.

Arizona Immigration, we have a problem!

     As I was reading my email and chatting with my girlfriend, I suddenly heard about some new immigration law passed in Arizona that's pissing everyone off (even Al Sharpton). It was blaring out of the TV on PIX11. I was like, "Huh? What?" I had not a clue as to what was going on.
     Since no one seemed to know what the deal was, I turned to Rachel Maddow since her show let the Arizona Governor speak for herself via footage from a press conference. From what I understood, it consists of the following:


1. If law enforcement suspects you of being an illegal immigrant, they have the right to demand your paperwork or any means of proving you're either a legal immigrant or a U.S. citizen.

2. If you cannot prove citizenship or if in fact you are an illegal immigrant, your ass is going to jail for 6 months and a $500 fine.

3. You looking like an illegal immigrant is in the eye of the beholder (law enforcement).

4. Although racial profiling is illegal, trying to identify and confirm the suspicion of sighting one involves the factor of racial profiling anyway.

     Take it for what it is, it's really fishy and effed up.

South Park and Muhammad

     Lord knows I'll get burned and criticized for what I have to say but I will discuss no matter what. For those who didn't know, a lot of bickering is going on by revolutionmuslim about South Park's caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. Have to admit, they (the site that's protesting) don't lend themselves to the situation as the knuckle-headed leader of the group said he'll, "pray that Allah kill" both Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Yeah, uh, I wonder how Allah would feel having his name used in vain like that?
      The reason I believe that the leader behind the organization needs to grow some balls is for the following reasons:

1. Jesus is mocked in half of the series of South Park on blasphemous levels
2. the Devil's been made to be sympathetic at times in the series (best example, the South Park Movie: Bigger, Longer and Uncut)
3. Lord knows how many times Cartman rips on Jews since the shows inception.
4. In neither of the aforementioned cases did you see radical Christian and Jewish groups whining and
    pissing about their beliefs being pissed on.
5. The only one that pissed and moaned and ended up pissed on anyway was Tom Cruise because of Scientology (who wouldn't)
6. an entire episode was dedicated on mocking Mormons. I didn't hear about Mormons throwing a fit.

     In my opinion, screw you Revolution. Get used to the fact that, in this country, whether you like it or not, your religion/faith/spirituality will be ridiculed one way or another. Get used to it. I'm not saying I approve of it (believe me I have my thoughts about South Park, Family Guy and Simpsons, even though all three make me chuckle with laughter), I'm simply re-stating that we have freedom of speech regardless of what it is. So, until you get used to U.S.' freedom of speech, grow some balls.

Time Travel, New People and Life

"Change starts in your mind/leave the past behind/forget everything you know/make a change, let go" - Fear

"Why can't we tear down the walls/and show the scars we're covering?" - Inside Us All

     What a weekend I just woke up from. From spending time with an awesome new friend, to listening to music I used to listen to back in high school and things still going on.
     Friday night I spent it with my new friend Mel. Believe me when I tell you that sparks flew in our awesome hangout. Don't believe me? Just ask her. We spent most of it at Barnes and Noble checking out and reading some books (something I haven't done in years). What did piss me off, however, was how there are 3-5 different books written to explain how to use TWITTER! WTF?! You'd have to be brain dead to not comprehend how to use the easiest social networking site known to man. I understand big books that explain the eccentricities of Windows 7 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard and maybe even iPhone. But Twitter?! Dear God, the only way that makes sense is if it's in the children learning section, all of which it wasn't. We then headed off to Starbucks and talked about writing, faith, and bathrooms. We randomly had a nice convo with this cute young lady who was trying really hard to not piss on herself. Good times.
     As far as time travel, I hit a new nostalgic high. I found myself downloading albums of artists I used to listen to back in high school and let me tell you, I felt like I was a teenager. It was easy to remember the things and feelings I went through as I listened to the tunes of Tait, DC Talk, Salvador, Tobymac, early Skillet, Todd Agnew, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, early Third Day among other albums and artists. For me, I cannot trace back to my roots without listening to the songs I was listening to at that particular time and place. I can't retrace the beginnings of my personal journey of faith to Evergrey, Alter Bridge or Killswitch Engage (even though I love their stuff). Some people's taste in music usually change due to relationships, new friends, bands, culture trend, fad and the like. Not so with me. I always try to find something new without straying from my beginnings.
     Which brings me to my current state of spiritual rehab. When I attended Awakening last night, we were talking about how sometimes our spirituality, our faith and views are just downright messy. Believe me, I repeat, if you think you're life is squeaky clean, I'm willing to bet when you search deeper down that you will find very ugly things you have to confront and deal with.
     What happens at times is that we get stuck at that point where we believe God accepts us, even with our imperfections. This is very much true but let's not forget the aspect of spiritual growth and learning how to cope and overcome those things that sometimes distract us from God's communion with us. I see it this way, Jesus died for your sins, you accept and embrace this reality, awesome. Now what? From what I've been re-learning, it's cultivating a relationship with Him. It's from scratch. You throw out what you heard from the street corner preachers, the right winged conservatives, the wolves in sheep's clothing. Time to get to know the Man that paved the way for you to conquer the madness.
     I'm pretty much back to square one in that respect. No more of the yabadaba dingdongs of pentecostals, the don't do's of religious Pharisee-ism or the excessive zeal of the conservatives. I'm the RAGman as a follower of Jesus-- nothing more nor less. The Church hasn't, cannot and never will be the path of salvation. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Body of Christ came to die for us. It did, however, show Jesus dying for us. How we take that is for us to decide and make of that.
     Oh and, uh, don't listen to those nutjobs that say repent or die. As long as we're humans and animals on earth, you're gonna die anyway. If anything, I think saying, "Jesus Loves You" does a world more of relief because there's no threat involved. Those nutjobs would (or should) know well that even Jesus said "thou shalt not kill" so in threatening others with death for not repenting, they're asking for a Godsmack themselves.
     I'm currently learning to bury hatchets and live in peace with others in the meantime. Instead of, "life is short, live to the fullest and go as crazy as you want", I would rather say, "Life is short. While you're alive, make it the greatest period of life you can ever know".

Rehab in Christ

          As you may have read a few days/weeks ago, I spoke about having some spiritual rehab. I won't say it's complete but rather I am a work in progress. This phase of rehabilitation was due to a load of things that have built up within probably about three years. I'm talking about bitterness, resentment, a chunk full of disgust, struggling with celibacy and battling the tendency to have animosity towards certain groups of people.
          I've felt a load of disgust and distaste towards my own fellow brethren over the years. Not all of them just a certain number of them. Instead of bringing the news of Christ's love, salvation and our coming eternal fellowship with our heavenly Father, they seem so stuck up about taking over the world worse than Pinky and the Brain. There's too much focus on demonizing people that may not have the same views as us instead of simply reflecting the love of Christ so that in turn they can see Him as He is. I'm not saying that Christians should water down the message. Jesus sure didn't. Instead, like He did, we are to find the means to help people connect with it.
          Because there are bold statements made in the New Testaments about sin and morality, some simply won't accept. One thing to be remembered is that there are people who, like Pharisees, take what is there and add onto it what's simply not there. Then there's people like Sadducees, who pick and choose what they find to be acceptable and true. Nothing wrong with picking and choosing but in the case of what God, according to the Bible, states as right and wrong, you can't take or add to it.
          I've felt bitter and resentful due to people claiming to be one thing and then when things hit the fan, they're the first to run for cover and later play it off like they never did anything wrong. I still feel like the vengeance I pray for has yet to be served and the justice I deserve has not been dished out. I'm not God and so long as I'm not, I'll have to forgive just so I can sleep at night.
          As far as celibacy, let's be clear--as a Christian, you're taught you're to wait until marriage to consummate and get intimate. It's hard when you're at a certain age and you've managed to somewhat keep in control while deep down you wanna explode. I'm not your super squeaky clean Christian everyone wants to believe to still be. Believe me, I've had my not so holy moments but the important thing is that I get up on my feet and keep moving. I also don't believe in Christians covering themselves up. We're open letters aka everyone is suspect to transparency. Jesus and the Apostles happened to never hide anything. Paul wasn't private about rebuking Peter for showing hypocrisy towards the Gentiles. There's no coverup of the fact that Jesus whooped some ass with a whip at the temple for people turning a gathering place into a marketplace. We need to stop covering up our scars and faults and instead help people learn how to adapt best when confronted with temptations and struggles we have in silence.

Taking Over Me available on Lulu.com

Just thought I'd let everyone know about my debut poetry book, Taking Over Me. It's available for sale on Lulu at both download or paperback. After a few revisions, it's ready, it's out and it rocks. Help support by buying it online.


Buy Taking Over Me today!