Officially Licenced MLB Caskets

Good news for all you Major League Baseball fans who might plan on dying this season. Just because you’re dead, doesn’t mean you still can’t be a fan. A die hard fan. Because Eternal Image, of Farmington Hills, Michigan is introducing its line of officially licensed Major League caskets. 

It's one thing to be sitting in the front row of a game in which the player whom you've never met before see's you sporting their jersey, but a logo casket?! I mean, does anyone really need to shuffle off into the great beyond slammed into a pine box with a Yankees or Red Sox logo painted on it? Do you really need to continue to represent as they lower you into the ground? Does it really even matter at that point?! By then you’re flesh is nothing more than worm food, taking the extended dirt nap. Do you think the bugs eating their way through that thing care that you were a Mets fan?

After you’re in the ground, does it even matter how the Dodgers or Angels or doing? Whether you’re a White Sox or Cubs guy? At that point, you’re neither. You’re a dead guy. How does that work? When you’re making funeral arrangements, do you tell the wife, “I’d like to be buried at the so and so mortuary, next to my parents, under that big oak tree…in a St. Louis Cardinals coffin.” Do the pall bearers have to wear Stan Musial throwbacks? This is just wrong.

One more thing that amused me today was the image of this fine board game.

Currently Listening Wherever You Are By Third Day see related

Christian Rock, Oximoron?

Almost a year ago, I discovered this website, http://www.jesus-is-savior.com.

At first sight, I know it appears as a slew of conspiracy theories, judgements, and fundementalist Christianity related to what "Brother Jed" would preach at college campuses.  I know this website is developed by humans, so I don't want to become carried away, or encourage anyone else to embrace it as 100% gospel.  However, I can't lie and say that many interesting points are made, and the bible quotes that back up some great points can't be ignored as well.

One subject that really caught my attention is the whole concept of rock and roll music.  Beginning with my facsination of the Beatles when I was little, and my new found interest in Grunge right after Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994, rock music was pretty much what I naturally enjoyed. 

One old saying is that ignorance is bliss, and I think that could apply with me based on how I've always enjoyed long guitar solos (The Doors' "Light My Fire," and Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond") but never realized that those are designed to gratify people while they are stoned on marijuana.  As I mentioned on my previous post about Rob Zombie, I actually liked his music but didn't acquire a direct interest to renounce Jesus and worship the devil.

Ignorance can definately seem bliss, but it can also be very dangerous when we can't perceive the evil behind it.  For example, the origin of the term "rock and roll" is fornication.  When the band Kiss sings "I want to rock and roll all night, and party everyday," it's rather clear to know what Kiss is talking about when it comes to what they want to do "all night."  However, the term "rock"  has made it's way into our mainstream language.  The song, "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" has made it's way into a carol for the birthday of Jesus Christ.  The website for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, sometimes has an advertisement asking "Does your Real Estate Agent Rock?" in which this middle aged woman stands around having no clue about the innuendo being used for her.  Look no further than the expression "If this van's a rockin', don't come a knockin'." to know what rock and roll really means.  Another term that I hear Christians say all the time is "sucks" based on something that's bad, or even the term "ghetto" based on something that's cool.  Case in point, "Your outfit is ghetto fabulous!"  The term "sucks" is originated from the vulgar phrase of sucking somebody's penis (aka Oral Sex), kind of like how the phrase "this blows" has become a vulgar phrase to describe something that's bad.  The official definition of ghetto is "A section of a city occupied by a minority group who live there especially because of social, economic, or legal pressure."  In other words, historic racism and segregation pretty much is the cause of ghettos, which means that there is nothing positive about that word. 

Going back to my original point, I know Christian rock has been an evolving music genre since the 1990's.  From the late 1980's when DC Talk first broke into the music scene with their songs such as "Gah Ta Be (Saved)" and the Newsboys' first studio album "Read All About It" which has since been off of print because of it's obscurity, has established into Switchfoot and Lifehouse being cutting edge bands to go along with a much bigger selection of music far less cheesy than "Nu Thang"  (see Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch, Mutemath, etc).  Many churches/ministries of today use the rock band set of an electric guitar, bass player, drummer, and an awesome display of lights.  I don't want to be somebody that calls out that style of ministry for being a fraud, but going back to how Christians of today casually say "sucks" without truly realizing the vulgar innuendo behind it, I can't help but to think about how even the great people don't understand the true roots of rock music.

Obviously, this world is full of sin, and there is no chance that this world will be the same as heaven.  However, I know the Lord's Prayer features the quote "On earth as it is in heaven," pretty much meaning that Christians are supposed to strive as much as they can to emulate heaven on earth.  I know that roots of regular rock music is rebellion, while Christian rock is meant to be rebellion against the world in favor of God.  In heaven, there is nothing to rebel against, which pretty much means that rock music has no place in heaven.

The truth is, my CD collection is mostly rock music, and disowning rock music is something that I don't want to do, but some of the articles in the jesus-is-savior website make great points, particularly about the Beatles being mouthpieces of the devil (and I know what it's like to be a big Beatles fan).

Thoughts?

Currently Listening Hellbilly Deluxe By Rob Zombie see related

For the record, I'm not actually listening to the above posted musical album, but some thoughts came to my mind when I remembered actually enjoying Rob Zombie during my sophomore year of high school nine years ago (nine years ago?).

The two big singles from that album were "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl," not to mention that "Superbeast" was a song I heard a handfull of times.  The rock radio stations were where I heard them the most, but even MTV broadcasted these music videos on a somewhat regular rotation.  Since I've always had a natural attraction to music that rocks, I didn't really focus too much on how clearly Satanic that music really was as a teenager.

What struck me just a few moments ago was that this kind of music was being broadcasted on mainstream radio, MTV, and sold at record stores without requiring a special label.  For example, this album could be found under the wide selection of "Rock and R&B" at Best Buy, while an artist such as Jeremy Camp couldn't go anywhere beyond the obscure "Christian and Gospel" category.  I understand that artists such as Switchfoot, Lifehouse, or Skillet can get away with being in the mainstream section becasue the message of Jesus is ambiguous, but any artist that proclaims Jesus and the bible clearly in their lyrics is politically incorrect, and has to be reduced to the "Christian/Religious" genre.

However, it seems to me that when a musical artist clearly proclaims the devil in their music, there isn't a censorship or a regulation to the "Satanic" genre.  Here are a few more examples of what I've seen within the mainstream music scene. 

The horns, the tail, and the title of the album makes this one a no brainer.

The decaying body and position on cross is an obvious mockery of Jesus's decision for our salvation. 

Year in and year out, I always hear about this annual concert without needing to tune into a special Satanic radio station.

Last but not least, I know Floyd's Barber Shop in Santa Monica has this nice little poster for all of it's cutomers to see.

Now I'm not somebody who wants to be a bible thumping conspiracy theorist, but this is all a sign that exalting the devil doesn't have the regulations within our mainstream society that exalting Jesus does.  I remember when I was a senior in high school during a Personal Finance class, my teacher would write different bible verses on the dry erase board daily, but one kid from the class called her out and mentioned the rule about that not being allowed at a public school.  Turns out, my classmate was technically right and Mrs. Foland (my teacher's name) was no longer allowed to write any more bible verses.  However, that above "Bad Religion" poster doesn't have the same type of rule at a public hairstyling business.

People involved in our government can try to justify censoring Jesus based on our freedom of religion, or keeping the other opinions from being offended, but it can't be denied that a double standard is at work based on what I've seen as "politically correct."

Currently Watching Shrek 2 (Full Screen Edition) By Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews see related

The Cat Whisperer (part 2)

For those who remember a previous story from last January at Knocti Harbor, CA, I ran into another outdoor kitty cat, who made the decision to stick to me like glue after I made the decision to express some attention and affection.

Before I continue, I know that some could give me a hard time for being a guy cat lover.  "Aren't cats girls' pets?" they may say.  The truth is, cats eat nothing but meat and sleep for 16 hours a day.  To me, that sounds like the perfect guy's pet. 

On the subject of pets, there would always be an assortment of rich people who would buy specific cars because of how much "the dog" would love it.  You know what I think?  Dogs eat poop out of a cat's little box, drink water out of the toilet, and like the scent from another dog's rear end.  To me, they wouldn't give a rat's backside if they rode in a 2007 Rolls Royce, or a 1977 Gremlin.

Going back to the original subject, I know that there are neglected animals that would kill for anybody to pay attention to them and show them affection.  It was tough, because as I was trying to move on and make myself away from the cat, she would to follow me like the Donkey would try to follow Shrek (yeah, I'm excited about the "Wait being Ogre" this May 18th), and I'd hate to make the cat feel like I'm neglecting her after a few minutes of affection (ala a sleazy guy ditching his woman after a one night stand). 

The problem with me, is that I have a sensitive side to lonely animals, but can't seem to have that same passion for lonely people.  In Los Angeles especially, I see so many bums (I know that sounds insensitive, but I just can't resist using that term for homeless people), people riding around electronic wheel chairs looking extremely vulnerable, and others where I kind of see the look on their face.  I know the biggest reason for the Virginia Tech tragedy (or any tragedy that involves a murderer), was that the killer was tormented from lonliness.  In some ways, I believe that God allows a tragedy such as that to happen to wake us up from inside our cliques and "comfort zones" to reach out to so many miserable people who are isolated.

My problem, is that with cats or dogs (at least the dogs who will consent instead of growl and bark), will take kindly to petting and fondling, and I'm totally comfortable with doing that.  As for people that I see, I know that I just can't go up to a bum and start treating him like a furry kitty cat.  I have this nature where I think they could have a gun, another weapon, or they'll just harass me for money.  I have no problem helping them financially, but so many times when they ask for change, I'm either using them all to do my laundry, or I would have to open up my wallet which would show them "plenty more where that came from."  I know with pets, if they walk around the dinner table asking for our table scraps and we give into them, they'll just act more aggressive and beg for more.  Because of that, I'll confess and say that I have acted like a selfish "bad Samaritan" in regard to many folks who would ask me for change.

I guess the bottom line for me, I just need prayer for losing the fear of "creepy" people and finding genuine opportunities to really help and love them. 

Currently Watching 2006 World Series - Tigers vs. Cardinals (The Official Highlights MLB DVD Release) By Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals see related

Say What?

A couple of days ago, I overheard a cell phone conversation from a random stranger in which I couldn't help but to notice an enthusiastic "Oh my God!" from the lady on the phone

At first thought, I know one would say, "So, what, doesn't half the human population say that at one time or another (with the other half saying "gosh" instead)?"

However, as I think deeper about that whole concept, it just has me thinking about human nature, and the sinful nature behind it.  As it says in one of the ten commandments, "Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God," it's our human nature to go against that commandment.  Even for those of us who feel the conviction to use alternative words such as "gosh," or "geez" it still comes from a natural instinct to say "God" or "Jesus" as an interjection.

As I reach deeper into this thought, it also has me thinking about the further evidence that Jesus really is the truth.  Think about it, if there really is no Jesus (or any "religion" for the matter), or if some other religion was the truth, how come so many mainstream people will have the natural instinct to say "Oh my God!," "Jesus (explicit) Christ!," "For the love of God!" or "Holy Crap?"  How come I've never heard anybody say, "Oh, my Buddha!" or "What in Mohammad's name is that?" or "Darwin Damn it!"

Moving over to mainstream music, many of those artists can't seem to escape some kind of a spiritual presence.  For example one of Nirvana's songs during their "Unplugged in New York" performance was called "Jesus don't want me for a Sunbeam," not to mention that their "Heart Shaped Box" music video had an elderly man climb onto a cross as a mock Jesus.  One of Tom Petty's songs "Love is a long Road," has this lyric "Just give me one more chance, to try and save my SOUL, but love is a long long road."  On the Nine Inch Nails song "Into the Void," the main lyrics (repeated many times) is "Try to SAVE myself but myself keeps slipping away."  Led Zeppelin's song "When the Levee Breaks" has the lyric "Cryin' won't help you, PRAYING will do you NO good."  Last but not least, an R.E.M. song "New Test Leper" begins with the lyric "I can't say that I love Jesus."

Rather if it's the everyday "Oh my God!" type interjections or the song lyrics mentioned above, I believe that's it's clear that we as humans, Christian or not, have a natural instinct to use Jesus related terms in everyday vocabulary.  How come musical artists such as Nirvana, R.E.M., and Led Zeppelin, decided to toss in these strong anti-Christian terms into their music?  How come they can't just ignore it, or not worry about it?  What's the point behind them using the term "Jesus" in any of their songs?"

Personally, I believe it's just more evidence that Jesus is the truth, and no matter how much anybody can attempt to avoid it or deny it being the truth, they just can't escape the supernatural feelings way under the surface.