I am clearly going crazy

So, this year was the first season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. One of my favourite shows out there. The dancers are absolutely amazing (I wanna be like them when I grow up). Unlike the Idol shows, these people are actually talented and the judges have productive things to say. I was a dedicated viewer this season and I definitely called Nico winning and Allie being runner up.

Enough with the prelude.... Here is the big news:

I AM GOING TO THE SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA TOUR!!!! On February 9th I will be in heaven for the evening!

Anyway, Christmas gatherings are finished and I am exhausted. I love my family, but I think this year I would make a bet that someone probably secretly made a plot to see how long we could make my gatherings. Christmas still will continue for me, though, until Jan 2nd when my sister and bro-in-law come up for St. Paul, MN for some quality time with us.

Also, watched episode 20 of The Hills... Spencer! Did I see a twinkle in your eye when you didn't force Heidi to marry you ghetto style in the court room?! Nice.

Merry Festivities

Today is the merry day of Christmas Eve. Apparently I bought my last present today in a mad rush. Well, not so mad, but I just absolutely hate going out shopping on days like this. Too many people not heeding to the traffic laws of malls. Seriously, do we need to stop in the middle of doorways when there clearly is a jam already??

I'm feeling in the Christmas mood...perhaps I will watch Love Actually. This, along with White Christmas, is in the list of the top movies for me to watch in the holidays.

Also, I think everyone should check out this band and listen to the best rendition of the song White Christmas ever: http://ca.myspace.com/amosthetransparent

Apparently my family is starting it off early here and eating alcoholic chocolates at 3 in the afternoon...my preference: chocolate filled with Bailey's. It is time.

Merry Christmas!

The HILLS at JILLS?!

So apparently The Hills is a show that I have been missing out on. At my apartment I don't have cable, so I didn't get MTV to watch The Hills ever. Going home to my parents house for the Christmas holidays, I got excited that I had cable and would be able to see what I was missing out on for so long. Nope. Don't get MTV. My little heart was crushed. Then today, to my surprise, I came across CTV which by chance happened to be airing The Hills. Better yet, a total marathon of The Hills! Luckily I was feeling flu-ish so I had an excuse to lie around and watch it all day! HA! So now I can keep up with the latest of The Hills gossip. Haha.

By the way, I hate living where I do. Not far enough away from the city to call it "soooo far" but just far enough away that I have to plan the trips out there and not be able to make lots of events because of it (and not having my own car)!

Ps- I HATE SPENCER!!! Ugh..

Get off your Ashley furniture

I did not grow up with gaming systems in the house. So when I read the article by Steinkuehler and Williams called Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as "Third Places" I was quite impartial to what they were discussing about the gaming world. I've always had a bit of an opinion about about gaming, but I often don't know what to think about online gaming where you connect with other people and play against them and interact with them.

Being someone who has been quite an active person her whole life, seeing people spend hour upon hour in front of the television playing video games. In my opinion I think online gaming is a poor excuse for socializing with others. I have a friend who is a complete "gamer" and I have to admit, he is quite socially awkward when it comes to public situations. I'm not basing my opinion on solely him, but I have seen this in many "gamers." In the article, Sennett states "people can be sociable only when they have some protection from each other." I find this to be a plausible statement to me. Maybe it's because I'm a sociable person that I'm bothered by the whole gamer lifestyle (I don't mean to offend any of you readers out there), but I feel that there are much better things that these people could be doing with their time to benefit their minds and health (those two even co-relate). How can anyone expect to get decent social skills when a majority of the interaction that hardcore gamers get it through online contact; there is no direct face to face interaction. Like Sennett said, there's protection there. Please realize that not everybody gets their dream job of being game testers, so you're going to have to get up and learn a thing or two to make ends meet, and gaming probably won't be one of the acceptable things on a resume.

I guess I just don't really know how to respond to these chat parties about games and such because I just am quite unfamiliar with it. I've just never been too gung-ho about it.

Praise the god WWW-Dot

When I read the article by Cheryl Anne Casey entitled Online Religion and Finding Faith on the Web: An Examination of Beliefnet.org I was struck by a few key sentences and basically couldn't focus on much else, one of these sentences being "God created a set of conditions from which life would emerge. Like it or not, the Internet is one of the most dramatic examples of something that is self-organized. That’s the point. God is the distributed, decentralized system" which was a quote by a woman named Sherry Turkle. I was actually taken aback by this comment!! It hit me how people are actually treating the internet like some sort of god! Yes, lower case "g". Lately, I've been feeling that religion is being more of a fad than a deeper-self choice. And what an easier way to pick what kind of god to worship than one that is right at your finger tips where you can pick and choose and explore different faith's and basically make a little spiritual collage of what you believe in, all in the house of the god of "www-dot".
But woah now, I am not saying that the internet is like the anti-christ. I love the internet. It is so handy. I am talking strictly in terms of religious uses, like beliefnet.org. Let's not go personifying the world wide web. Yes, the internet has really helped to tighten different types of communities in the sense that they can communicate with each other and church bodies can connect (and obviously in more ways than just religious reasons...), but please let us not forget what is on the other side of that screen sending out those emails, posting those bulletins, updating those web pages: real people!! People like you and me, not some sort of gadget god or godess.
Alright, now that you know what one sentence out of the entire reading said, I apologize for not really responding to much else. This little tid bit of the article just got my heart a-beatin'!!

Rant done.

Charlie Brown is so stealthy

While reading a chapter from Schultze's book about comics, I thought to myself, "nope, I don't read comics, this doesn't apply to me." But then I remembered, actually, all the comics that I used to read. Every time my parents would get the Winnipeg Free Press, I would rush to grab it so I could read the comics in the Entertainment section (but only the ones with the bright pictures and the least amount of reading). Peanuts, Marvin, Family Circus, Baby Blues...those were my favorite. Every now and then I'd actually take our comic books from my school library (Tin Tin anyone?). As I got older, I began to realize that some of these "secular" comics had some strong Christian values in them. As Schultze mentions in this chapter, B.C. and Wizard of Id were among the few that I noticed to mention something of Christianity. I thought this very clever: overt Christian values subtley placed in the Free Press...nice.

When I was in my pre-teens, I was a subscriber to a magazine put out by Focus on the Family called Brio. At the back of every issue, there was a comic featuring a girl very much the same age as the girls subscribing to the magazine. I always found this comic to be cheesy...but for some reason, I found myself unable to just pass it by. Bright pictures...bold words...just so much fun!....(taste sarcasm?). Despite my attitude towards it, I'm sure many girls were inspired by these things, and even if I wasn't a huge fan of the comic, I don't doubt that it shaped certain things in my mind.

But now, in my wise old age (hmm...), I occasionally stumble across a comic or two and the ones that stick in my mind are ones that I will read in an Evangelical Confrence magazine making fun of themselves or things like it. I'm one who needs to make things light hearted, when I see others finding the same humour in things it draws me in.

Perhaps now that I have been reminded of comics and their ability to be so stealthy, I'll keep a look-out for more.

(p.s. Apparently I could not open a certain website to blog about it: http://www.wacc.org.uk/wacc/content/pdf/1329 )

Myspace what?

I became a member of Facebook before pretty much any of my close friends were part of it. Myspace was all the rage when I became a Facebook member. So, if almost none of my friends were on Facebook, why switch when this is a social network? Something deep within my womanly intuition made me believe that this would someday be a big deal (yes, my womanly intuition). And who was right? Yes, I was.

Like many people, I use Facebook to keep in touch with people whom I have left behind from my hometown to go to college. I have also been able to keep in touch with relatives or other friends that I lost contact with over the years. I am not much of one to meet random people online. Like I said, I'm more for the "keep in touch" part of it. When you browse around and see who people that you know are connected with, you begin to realize that the world can be sized down by a simple website. People from all across the globe will know the site Facebook and people that you know will be connected to people on the other side of the world. I think it is a way to build a small community out of a huge planet.

Perhaps the fact that I'm a college student has to do with my opinion on this subject. I don't know what my use of Facebook would have been like in high school since all my friends were around me everyday.

I will be using Facebook for as long as it lasts so I can keep the connections with people throughout my life. If a new social network site comes along which everyone switches to, I will probably be one of the mass users, I like being connected.

The urban stethoscope?

I think telephones are a great invention. It keeps people connected all around the world. Just hearing the sound of a loved ones voice on a bad day can make the world go 'round again. When I read about Robin Rimbaud in John Shiga's article, I was a little creeped out. Rimbaud records conversations over the airwaves from cell phones and 2-way radios etc. and puts it to a beat to create "music". I am always dumbfounded at ways the people keep coming up with to create music, or something like it.

First of all, I find that this is an incredible breach of privacy. I think there is an unsaid code of etiquette when it comes to telephones or the use of airwaves. It amazes me the extent people go through to eavesdrop. No one particularly enjoys being eavesdropped on. It's interesting to me to see that this is allowed despite it's illegality.

Second, how far will art go when anything can be considered art. Yes, there is reference made to the fact that the urban body has a rhythm just like the human body. Yes, I agree that these both can be beautiful sounds. But, as far as my taste goes, I like being able to hear the classic melody.

However, with this all being said, I have to argue in support of this. There could be other ways of revealing this world of music that would not go against people's privacy. Rimbaud is interested in the way people communicate with one another; the way they interact. There is something about the realness and candidness of these conversations that he records that makes it even more beautiful than if he would have brought people in and recorded things with their knowing.

I wasn't one of the cool kids apparently...

I don't really like amusement parks. I've never really wanted to go to Disney World or Land. When I was little, perhaps I thought about it once or twice, but I'm not much of one for rides in the first place (apparently it's a utopian wish to "go to a place where you always feel good"....liars. They haven't heard of those people who lose their lunches on rides. Actually, I've never lost mine...). I don't know if it's the rides that does it in for me, or the crazy over-priced everything, or the fact that there are too many people flying around like a shaken up etch-a-sketch that I lose a little bit of my sanity, but it just doesn't appeal to me. However, there's something about the whole theme park thing that makes me wish I enjoyed it. Seeing the excitement on everyone's faces when arriving, just completely enjoying being scared out of their minds on the rides...
I'm just weird, perhaps, to never have had the interest in going. I think it would have been a neat experience to do as a child. Seeing all your favorite Disney characters "come to life", doing something that every kid wants to do (you don't want to be the only one who hasn't gone to one of the Disney places). But then that's the thing. Sometimes I'm glad I never went because most of the reasons I would have wanted to go were because every other kid had gone. Sometimes I like breaking the trend... However, maybe I'd enjoy it even if I didn't do all the rides...but that's kind of part of all the excitement of the places, isn't it? Maybe one of these days I'll get around to going. Maybe I'm just a party pooper...

Touch of Love

I just got my first iPod this summer. It also happened to be the infamous iPod Touch. Up until then, I had slowly progressed from having nothing, to the walkman, the discman, and then to an mp3 player (which I went through two of since I used my first one so much that it broke). I have always enjoyed the company of a good tune, especially when it's right at the tippy "touch" of my fingers. When Michael Bull mentioned in his articles how people imagine the music that they listen to as their soundtrack, I could not have agreed more. I constantly have my ear-buds parked in my ears with a song to match my mood, whatever it may be. People watch movies and often imagine themselves in the scenarios that they are witnessing. Having music to take with you everywhere you could possibly go invites people to have those movie moments where they are the star.
I do, however, realize that I need my absolute peace every now and then. Having the world busy around me is noisy. Music in my ears all day long, truth be told, gets to be noise after awhile (it hurts me to say that). I think there are so many opportunities in the world that we can miss in our lives if we go about in our own solitary bubbles. Yes, it does give you that control people long for in their lives, but when we shut out the world around us, we begin to shut out things that God could have intended for us to encounter.
But, with that all being said, you will still see me meandering around with those famous white ear-buds, once again, parked where I like 'em. I like being in movies...

Interpret as you wish

Music is an art. It is also a gift from God. It is a way in which people can express themselves. Schultze makes a statement "limiting its use to just one function or one style greatly inhibits the ways music can be used to glorify the Creator." God calls us to use the gifts He gives us. Some people may chose to use their gifts to directly praise God. Some people, on the other hand, sing about issues that everyday people can relate to. This is no crime! A true artist can make you think. Take the group Coldplay for instance. They are not labeled as Christians, but a number of their songs could be interpreted as such. "Fix You" has often been interpreted from the point of view of Christ, and it doesn't even talk about God! As I said, music is an art and needs to be interpreted as such, just as a painting can have many interpretations. People can be influenced by the smallest things in their lives. Whether it be a morally positive song amidst an array of promiscuous lyrics, or a song that really digs deeper into some life meanings than the frivolous lyrics of the latest reality popstar group, God can be found in the slightest things. I admit, I do enjoy a lot of the mainstream music that is out there today, but I have a wide variety in my musical tastes. People who are not under the Christian label tend to be more open and straight forward with their emotions and what is going on in their lives. I think this is something that Christian label artists can learn from. Singing about God is great, but we are humans with lives that we are living and we can relate to one another through song; through the emotions splayed out with such vulnerability. I may be completely off the mark here since I have not been into the whole Christian genre much since I was a kid because of my frustrations with the limitedness of it, but that is just a momentary thought of mine.

P.S. I heard a story on the radio of a girl that was about to commit suicide until she heard the song "Stop and Stare" by a secular musical group OneRepublic where she decided against it. I think that is testimony to God moving in music deemed secular that no one can deny.

Movies are from the Devil, right?

I feel like I have had many discussions based around the subject of "Christian" movies versus "non-Christian" movies. Let's compare a little bit here. Christian movies are light-hearted, overtly talk about God or Jesus in every scene, and are terribly acted, and non-Christian movies are full of violence, sex, drugs, alcohol, and Hollywood names, right? Oh. My. Goodness....
Not only is it frustrating when this is supported, but it is saddening. It's like Christians are forcing themselves to actually be narrow-minded and naive. It seems that these Christians are blind siding themselves to so many positive messages that could be known to them if they learned how to look beyond what is being immediately presented to them and look for further truths or Truth (yes, with a capital "t"). The world has been filled with promiscuity and violence since the beginning. The Bible itself is filled with stories of such. If one reads those stories without looking deeper, it's easy to pass off as just another story. But take and really look at the stories being presented! Sex and violence are everywhere. Christians need to challenge themselves in what they can take out of it that could make them stronger when watching these movies. Whether it be knowing that certain things really are against what they believe, or whether it be in realizing that there are more ways in telling people about Christ than throwing it at them the easy way. People need to challenge themselves. This really is just scraping the surface to what I could say about this subject.

Also, Schultze talks about how ministers in the mid-1900's claimed "movies portrayed lasciviousness, generated sexual arousal, modeled criminal activity, glorified smoking and drinking, and even taught teenagers how to make out."
O Lord help us all when teenagers learn how to make out...

satans_lair.net or churchy_things.org

Church isn't solely defined as Christians gathering in a certain building. Church is a body of believers. Church can be wherever you feel that you are connecting with a body of believers in Christ. Last year, I felt that my church was in the gym with my basketball team. A group of believers sharing, supporting, trusting, and keeping each other accountable. Some people may find that in groups online. How does one have the right to tell someone that they can't worship here or there? I think it's great to see people that are following different religions come together to discuss one thing they have in common: Christ. After all, should our focus not be on being followers of Christ rather than restricting ourselves to a certain religion? On the other hand, Schultze tells us about how some people have completely stopped attending church (the building form, that is) and have become members of online churches. I realize that you need to feel comfortable in the church you associate yourself with, but is there not something to be said about the real physical connection you have with a community? People are physical beings. Having that physical connection with another person is something that cyberspace, internet, or whatever you want to call it, cannot replace. Hopefully, the people who have chosen an online church have a community in their lives that they can nurture their spiritual lives with that actual physical connection. Crying on a shoulder seems much more appealing to me than crying on a keyboard.

Downside of online Evangelizing? Apparently, some sort of committee got together to decide that if you don't forward those "Jesus Loves You!" emails, you don't love Him back. Shoot...guess I missed the memo that God'll be the judge of that...

Here's a thought...

Just about a month ago I turned the radio on to CHVN, a Christian radio station, in search of the new single out from a friend I went to high school with. Truth be told, I wasn't all too pumped to have to go to the Christian station and simply listen in hopes of maybe hearing a song that would be played not too often. Anything for high school friends, right? I lasted two days. I could not do it. I went in search of his myspace page instead.
I am still an avid listener to the radio. I enjoy the variety I get in music genres to listening to certain people in a radio show to finding out what the weather's supposed to be like for the day. I would consider myself still a member of the young audience, so I suppose I go against what Schultze says in his book about young audiences not tuning into radio. I do, however, have my select stations that I am loyal to. CHVN not being one of them. As one of the few religious stations in our area, you'd think a young Christian such as myself would enjoy it and appreciate how it continues on evangelising about Christ openly. I do, though. I applaud the station for its efforts in keeping the gospel alive on the airwaves, but it's getting old. That time last month that I was listening for my friends single, I heard the same songs being played as I heard when I was a loyal listener in my pre-teens. Needless to say, musical tastes change over time, and people are beings of change. I don't really know of many people from my generation that listen to the same songs as they did when they were children. Yes, every so often it's nice to take a stroll down memory lane, but let's be serious.
If a radio station expects to continue to keep their listeners and is striving for more, they are constantly needing to change and evolve into something that snaps up the audiences attention.

Here's the kicker: I heard a more powerful statement about Christ on a "secular" radio station that has impacted me more than anything I have heard on a religious station.