My Favorite Commercial Ever
"I am 23 and living with genital herpes. I don't let it get me down....I have gone three months now without an outbreak, and thats the way to be." Ok I love this commercial. There aren't many commercials out there that start out with such a hard hitting line as "I am 23 and living with genital herpes." How desperate does an actor have to be to get this job? Maybe it is a decent paying role, but do you really want your face all over tv saying you have genital herpes? It reminds me of the episode of Friends where Joey does a modeling gig for the city health department and he ends up being on VD posters all over New York City. All I know is that, if I had genital herpes, this commercial would have definately sold me on this medication. Going three months without a herpes outbreak is definately the way to be haha.
Scary Scary Scary
In the year 2005 ice cream trucks have nearly become extinct. There is just no way to trust a guy giving your kids ice cream out of the back of his truck. A couple years ago I saw the first ice cream truck in my neighborhood in a good ten years. This is not an ice cream truck like we remember. It was not shiny and bright and colorful, it is more like the scary no window rapist van. The very appearance of this van strikes fear into my very soul. See me and my cousin Joel were walking to my house at around two in the morning about 5 years ago probably. We noticed this van drive pass the road we were walking on and then immediately hit its breaks. We quickly took cover behind a shrubbery in fears it was maybe the police trying to enforce a city cerfuw. However, when the gray van drove by we saw what could only be described as sasquatch behind the wheel staring intently into the yard of the houses we were near. We kept our cool at this point and kept walking once the van had passed us by. We turned down the next road and heard the van coming up to the corner near us once again so we quickly found cover behind a couple trees. This continued for five or so more blocks until we finally arrived safely back at my house. Once our ordeal was over we had taken cover behind a shrubbery, trees, layed out under parked cars, dove over fences into back yards, and ran as hard as we could for a good half a mile. Maybe I am a little biased against such vans after this experience, but any van like this that drives around playing the song "who's afraid of the big bad wolf" has absolutely no trust from me.
Blessed IN Defeat
Let's face the reality that in todays world defeat is not looked upon as being a good thing. Never has defeat been looked at as a good thing. Even in absolute triumph one can feel defeated by ones self. How can you have complete blessing in defeat? I have been contemplating many things throughout the past four months of my life. I have always relied upon myself to get through whatever it was that I needed to get through. However, I quickly came to the point in my life this past semester where I was completely defeated in spirit, and in mind. Quickly slipping into a dark abyss, I realized once and for all that I could no longer push my way through life in such a crude form. I had been feeling God tugging at every part of me for a long time now, and I would always continue to try to ignore these convictions. Living under self righteousness can be a very simple folly. However, climbing your way out of this deep darkness is no easy task. For a person who lives under self righteousness, trying to climb out of the hole of dispair is one of the hardest and trying things you will ever have to face. Only by surrendering your spirit to God, and to the help of those who live under Godly conviction, can you ever hope to make it out. This is what I have come to know and accept, and it has made every difference in my life. Complete surrender has proven to be the toughest thing I have yet to face because of the fear of feeling completely imprisoned as a result of it. However, since I have surrendered everything over to God I have felt completely liberated from everything that I was feeling before. The world has become a much more beautiful place and every minute seems so much more lovely. I am now building some of the greatest relationships I have ever known in my life, and these relationships are completely unselfish and completely glorifying to God. Through the recent relationships I have built, I have become so very blessed. Only through my greatest defeat could I have ever felt the great blessing I feel today.
The Kmart "K" and Putt Putt Golf
After a good run and attempt at being a successful retail store, the Kmart in the Norton Shores area had to close its doors. It was a truly sad day for us all I'm sure. In the midst of their triumph they put everything in the store up for bargain prices, one massive blue light special. On last Monday night I went to a movie with Amy and Betsy, and following the movie we were standing in the parking lot discussing the past year of our lives, since we all choose to leave this area for school. I looked over at the old skeleton Kmart building that is now only a dicrepid shell of a once mighty empire (being completely sarcastic in that statement), and I proceded to make a remark about the sad loss our city has endured with the end of Kmart (again entirely sarcastic). After I made my remark Betsy and Amy broke the news to me that Betsy had infact bought the Big K of the sign and has it setting in her room! Betsy told me how she likes to plug it in at night and stare at it for hours on end causing their electricity consuption to rapidly increase. I was completely buying this story of the Kmart "K," and for all of you who know Betsy you know it is a believable story. However, Betsy then broke the news to me that she paid 1500 dollars for her Kmart "K." Now that seems like a completely rediculous amount of money for anyone to pay for an old used K out of a sign. The bluff was called, and I left feeling a little bit more gullible. Now on to putt putt golf which has nothing to do with this story except that Amy was also present for this proud moment in my life. Last night myself, Amy, Jenny, Christy, Chris, Austin, Shandra, and Alissa embarked on an exciting gripping game of putt putt golf. In my defense I have not played putt putt golf in at least two full years, but I have played a lot of Tiger Woods Golf this year, so I shouldn't be too bad. I began the night playing pretty consistent, but around the fifth hole I was shooting well over par, and I ended the night with the highest score of everybody. For those that don't know anything about the game of golf and even putt putt golf, the highest score is not the winner. This would maybe not be such a pathetic fact except that even Amy beat me and she could only play with her left arm because of her shoulder surgery. I will never again say that the game of putt putt golf is for kids or that it is easy in the slightest bit...I am now convinced that putt putt golf is the hardest game ever created.
No Respect
Why is it that the Pistons recieve no respect? The Pistons have single-handedly changed the face of the NBA. The defeat of the seemingly invincible Lakers in 2004 made the league change the way it would build teams, and would change the way the game is played. What is it that professional sports lack? They lack inspiration. I love watching college sports because they are based around team play, and the players are actually playing to get somewhere. In college athletes are not recieving multi-million dollar contracts, and they are playing with the hope and inspiration to get to the big leagues. This is the way the Pistons play ball. The Pistons are built of players who have spent their careers floating around the league from team to team as mediocre players. What do you get when you throw a bunch of mediocre players into a team with a great coach and no super star? You get a team that plays like a team, and puts politics aside. These guys are playing for the respect they have not recieved in their careers as NBA players. How are they so good? When you are going up against a team that has one or two superstar players, those two players are the only players you have to watch out for. You can draw up your entire game plan based off of two players. There are five men on the court for a team but if only two are truly making the team then the other three are just filling up space and helping to set up these two players. The Pistons have no huge superstars, with the exception of Ben Wallace on defense. They are so good because they are completely unpredictable. Where you might have your Shaq and Kobe (refering to last year) puting up their 20 or 30 points, you have no idea who is going to lead the Pistons on any given night. The lead player of the Pistons rotates between Billups, Hamilton, Prince, R. Wallace, and in the playoffs even Ben Wallace. How can you draw up any game plan for something so unpredictable. They may not be a conventional team. They are a team that plays like a team and restores the emphasis of team play to the NBA.
VWB & DMB!
Hey what's up everone? Big news just released! On Friday September 2nd, Monday September 5th, and Wednesday September 7th; the Victor Wooten Band will be opening for the Dave Matthes band. Two of these three venues are in Texas, with the third being in Kansas. If you have the means to catch any of these shows I do highly recommend you go. For those of you who are musically inept let me tell you a little bit about the Victor Wooten Band. Victor Wooten is highly regarded as being the best bass guitarist in the world, and he can most definately back that statement up. Victor is most well known for playing the bass with Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, and has won two grammy awards; one being with Bella, and the other for his intrumental cd. He is joined by Joseph Wooten (keyboards), Reggie Wooten (electric guitar), Derico Watson (drums), Divinity (bass and vocals), Anthony Wellington (bass), Saundra (vocals), and myself on the acoustic guitar (ha yeah I wish!). You will not see another touring act with the amount of talent that exists within the Victor Wooten Band. My buddy Derico has been described as being one of the hottest drummers to hit the music scene, and I would place him up there with the likes of Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band. Check out any of these shows and I assure you it will be money well spent. I know I will make every effort to hit this show! 
Finally!
I have been home for exactly one week and one day. Thus far my summer has consisted of driving to various places, getting out of my car and either getting blown over by the wind or rained on so hard it looks like I just took a shower, and going into the office to inquire about a future employment/ employer relationship. After the inevitable question of how long was I looking for employment, I was given a quick no answer and on my way I would go. I don't mind the cool nasty weather in Michigan...at least I don't mind it during the winter because I am not here. Granted the temperature is better than negative 8, and there is no snow, but it has been 50 degrees since I got home! However, the Lord has smiled down upon our little mitten state. The clouds have parted giving way to that beautiful bright sunny sky, and the temperature is at a most comfortable 75 degrees. Tommorow morning I will wake up in an especially chipper mood, go for a run at the beach, and I will most certainly find a great full time employer that is excited beyond belief at my three month employment request. We should all be so lucky!
Me and Gillian
Many have asked me if I am a believer in love at first sight. Until about a year and a half ago I would have replied no. However, that was before I saw Gillian. It was a cold winter morning in Michigan, and I was home for christmas vacation. Coming home was strange as usual, since leaving for months at a time I often find myself with fewer and fewer friends left up here. I was bored of being back and tired of the bitter cold weather, and then I saw Gillian. A warmth filled my body and I proceded to pick her up, look her over, rub my hands all over her beautiful body. We proceded to my bedroom where I shut the door and turned the lock to keep any outside annoyance away. There we stayed for hours. Up and down her neck my hands ran until my hand felt numb. Since then we often find ourselves in the same position, and loving every moment of it. So do I believe in love at first sight? Absolutely I believe in it. That's me and Gillian in that picture. She's a beautiful acoustic electric guitar.
dmb
Many of you know that my favorite band of all time is the Dave Matthews Band. I think this love comes from a mix of the jam band sound that I truly love, and because I love to play the acoustic guitar. DMB just recently released their newest studio release since Busted Stuff. Being the Dave fan that I am I did what I needed to do to assure that I would have the 15 dollars I would need to pick it up on the release date. They released the cd in two formats...you could get the straight cd or get the dual disc cd, which of course is the one I went for. I was dissapointed that they released it out in dual disc format and not in a double disc one cd and one dvd package like they usually do. The fact that the dual disc is the cd on one side and a dvd on the other poses the storage problem. I usally keep my dave collection all in a binder, organized by studio albums and then live albums and then dvds with each category in its chronological order. I am really not that organized, I just put a lot of time into organizing a few certain things. Anyways, once the storage problem was figured out I finaly got to listen to the cd. My favorite DMB cd is Before These Crowded Streets...I feel this was the most daring and "out there" album that they released. They really hit on a sound on that album that no one had really tampered with. This new cd is very much different from what most people are used to hearing when listening to Dave; there is a much stronger drum line in all of the songs, and Dave has very few songs that are driven by the guitar. Overall I like this cd. I think it is really going to refresh the bands sound, and introduce a new style of Dave that we have not yet heard. However I do feel that the lyrics on a few of these songs sounded very forced for Dave. I strongly believe that Dave Matthews is one of the best lyrical writers on the music scene. The reason I say I feel like he forced some of the writing is because the flow seems to be off, and you hear a lot of the same lines repeated throughout the cd in different songs. You also hear lines that are very similar to those Dave would improvise in songs such as Jimi Thing on the live cd's. I would recomend this cd to anyone who is familiar with dave, or likes that style of music. Using Before These Crowded Streets as my comparison I would give Stand Up a seven. I like the mix of the band members personal styles from jazz, to folk, to rock. I think it displays how talented this band remains, to be able to mix so many different styles into one single song. I think Dave fans will overall enjoy this new album, but it may take a few listenings to, to really get a feel for what they are doing.
Neverland Porn Fest
Ok so I have to comment on this little story. Michael Jackson's case is in full swing and the team of lawyers Jackson has defending him are doing the best that they can to show that he is innocent. After months of listening to the prosecutions case, it is finally time for the defendants to make a case for his innocence. First off when half of your own witnesses are being turned away by the judge because their testimonies aren't reliable as being closely factual, you have a problem. Then when you finally get a witness on the stand to testify for you it is Macaulay Culkin? Why doesn't the defense just bring up everyone the world has been suspicious of being molested by Michael Jackson, and why does the testimony of Culkin matter? This case isn't about Macaulay Culkin, nor is it dated in the early 90's. How is anything Macaulay Culkin says relevant to this case? Why doesn't Jackson's defense call Corry Feldman to the stand as well. We all know that he would just stand right their by Michaels side to defend him all the way wouldn't he? I mean he has never made it a point to avoid the subject of his trips to the neverland ranch or anything. Today's big headline for the case is about Michael Jackson's cousin testifying that the boy accusing Jackson of molesting him watched porn alone and touched himself. He stated that he had seen the little boy watching porn by himself at the ranch and touching himself while watching that porn. Ok how is this supposed to help Michael Jackson's case? Why was the boy watching porn at his ranch in the first place and why the heck was Michael Jacksons cousin sitting there watching the kid touch himself while watching porn? Where did this porn come from? Did it just magicaly appear at the ranch? I guess it could have just popped out of know where...neverland is supposed to be a pretty magical world. I think Michael Jackson's defense could save the U.S. from spending even more money to finance this circus that makes an even greater mockery out of the U.S. court system. He needs to just admit that he is a sick petifile, and get on with the jail term. I don't believe in any way that the prosecution of this case is completely innocent either...I think that any parent that lets their young boy go spend the night at a grown man's house, which is called the neverland ranch, and who has been accused of molestation in the past, is asking for their child to be molested and they are only looking for a fat pay out by Michael Jackson. I guess that they did not realise that Michael would not be handing out large settlement money this time since he is going bankrupt. I guess that they should have done their research first before they used their young son to try to advance their financial well being.
OUR WORLD
We live in a inherently evil world that has been on a neverending road to destruction since the fall of man. Why do we not make efforts to better our world? Why is it that, as Bible believing people, we choose to sit back and watch our world self destruct? We seem more than comfortable to shrug off the truth that the world is on a downward spiral to destruction. Is it because we are sure of our eternal resting place? Do we just have the attitude that the world is inherently evil and we can't really change anything for the better? We get so self absorbed as Christians, that we are letting millions of people go hungry. Why do we have arguments amongst ourselves about the name of our church, or where it should be located, or how grand we can make the building? Aren't there much better options for the millions of dollars we put into grand churches to make ourselves comfortable? At the present time we are being faced with the grim reality that the world is in horrible shape, and it is time that we stop these petty arguments amongst ourselves and reach out away from our little comfort bubble we live in. We are divided amongst ourselves in every issue, even when it comes to the issues of a very justifiable war. When the U.S. declared war on Saddam Hussein, I saw the division within my own church, and fellow christian friends. Those who opposed action against Iraq only opposed the war because they did not believe that there were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or that the Iraqi government had ambitions to develop these weapons. If there were no weapons in Iraq then we had no reason to go to war right? We will remain just fine and safe here in our little oasis accross the oceans, far away from the "troubled" areas of the world. Why is it that there are those among us who opposed the war just because they didn't see their safety threatened? When did we become so egocentric? I honestly could not care less whether or not Saddam was hiding WMD's or if he had ambitions to develop these weapons. I believe it was our responsibility as a wealthy free nation that was given the privilege of being in a country that promises inalienable rights such as life. How can we be so blessed to live in a nation that holds this belief, and still turn our backs on the less fortunate people on the earth that are born and doomed to lives of fear and slavery where their very existence is threatened on a daily basis? For me the war in Iraq was never about the weapons, it was about the thousands of people who were living in fear and torment. There was no way to save these people any other way than through overthrowing the evil dictator that was ruling their country, and who was ordering the killing of thousands. Talk to the troops who have served tours of duty in Iraq and you will hear story after story of the grattitude of the people who we liberated. Look at the pictures and hear the stories and then tell me how we were not right in what we did. We have now saved millions of people, and we can't stop here. We need to make an effort to reach the people of this country in any way that we can to not only make their lives better but to display for them what it is to be an American. We need to be an example of what it means to be a free liberated people, and in being so seperated within our own country we are only showing them that there is no hope left in the world. Stop the rediculously petty arguments and become the light that we have been charged to be by God to the world.
POD THEORY
Many have asked and wondered what is a pod? I am ready and willing once and for all to make the pod theory known. This theory, and it is only a theory but we are correct, was stumbled upon by myself and my cousin in, what an alcoholic would refer to as, a moment of clarity. What I am about to share with you can be shrugged off, or can be taken as a gift and used to ensure your place in the future. What exactly is a pod? A pod is defined as any person of Asian decent. I am a pod because I am half Korean as is my sister my brother, and some of my cousins because they are also half Korean. How do we get the term pod for people of Asian decent? In the mid to late 19th century the eastern world was being bombarded by the quickly advancing western world and culture. In fear of having their ancient culture and tradition made extinct they quickly devised a plan to make sure that the heritage, culture, and the survival of their people would live on for all the days of this earth. The plan that was devised was one of which to send many members of their society underground to the western world that was crushing their world. There was a highly advanced pod likeness in appearance of an alien ship or supermans escape pod. The secrecy of these pods was of the upmost importance to their mission and ultimate goal. Within these pods they would ship infant Asian children to the nations of the western world. These children had been endowed with the knowlege that they were to bring the eastern culture into the west. After many years had passed the western invasion and curiosity of the eastern world died down and the two cultures have remained very diverse from one another. However, where the west could not completely corrupt the ancient tradition of the east, the east had succeded in infiltrating the western world. Slowly the eastern culture is spreading across the western world and in the years to come we will gain witness to the greatest rise in the eastern powers. The Asian world should not be feared, but it would do you well to make friends with a pod to ensure your postition in the new world.(Note: This is purely a theory and more so a joke between friends...there is in no way any anti-asian sentiment within the text written above, nor is this to be taken seriously.)
Back Home
I have just returned to this cold little mitten we call Michigan. Do you think it is shaped like a mitten because it is so freaking cold? I just got back here from nice sunny warm Virginia late Saturday night concluding a busy fourth semester at the "most exciting university in the world" Liberty University. It is kind of coincidental that the school is named Liberty, but I have a cerfew of 12, my hair can't touch the collar of my shirt or my ears, and you are not allowed to protest anything which I was under the impression was one of my constitutional rights. Inspite of the rules that go along with Liberty I find it to be a relatively enjoyable experience. I have made great friends at Liberty, and I have definately seen who my real friends are from back here in Michigan by leaving for months at a time. This is my first entry into this web log, and this is my first web log. I am not a big fan of web logs so I don't know if I will ever really do anything with this, but if something sparks my attention I might throw my opinion on here for the world to read.
