Slightly Morbid Thoughts... c):-p

Okay...don't know why I'm writing this, but for some reason I thought of it, and I have nothing better to write at the moment. Maybe it was the inspiration of all those turkeys that are killed for this one day of the year, but more than likely it was my own strange and crazy thoughts that brought up this subject.

You're probably wondering, "What the heck is this girl going on about?" Well, it's a subject that many people think about subconsciously, if not consciously everyday. It's the subject of Death and the hereafter. Slightly morbid, ain't it?

I remember a girl who used to go to my old church, and she was always so scared of death and anything that had to do with it. Also, I've known quite a few people in my life that think it's just wrong to talk about death, as if it's such a terrible subject and you should refrain from it lest you be struck down from heaven itself.

Maybe I'm just a strange person, but I have no real fear of death itself. Yes, I fear the *way* I might someday die (which I'm hoping is painless and in my sleep of old age), but I have never really feared the death part in dying.

This probably comes from having a loving mother and father who have seen to it that I be brought up in the Christian faith, and most specifically (ever since around 1st grade) the Lutheran faith.

Life is such a trivial thing if you really think about...we are all such tiny little specks on the huge surface of this earth, and sometimes we wonder why, exactly, are we here? I actually found myself contemplating this very subject not too long ago in church (when I should have been singing one of the hymns, I'm shameful to admit), "Why is our trivial existence so important and meaningful?" It didn't take me too long to come to the conclusion, thanks to our wonderful liturgy and the Word spoken in the readings and sermon, that our life on earth is made meaningful by the same reason that our Lord sent his one and only son to die in our place, hanging on a tree. He loves us all and gave us life in Christ so that our tiny, little, pointless existence is made meaningful and wonderful through the fulfillment of his promise.

Now, you must be wondering, what the heck does this have to do with death? Well, here comes some law and gospel! (hehe! I always wanted to say that!)


What is death? Is it not just a part of what sin is, and what the fall of man has caused to befall on the whole face of the earth? Without sin there is no death and destruction (...can you tell what I'm leading up to now?). We as humans like to mis lead ourselves and think we're perfect, but the gosh darn truth is that each and every single one of us is sinful and falls horribly short of the glory of God. We are lower than dirt, we are nothing and totally meaningless...but for one thing. Through the means of grace (the Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion) and the forgiveness of sins, granted to us in Christ, our sins are covered and we can rejoice that sin, death, and the power of the devil have already been conquered for us! We need not fear death, it is nothing compared to the love and saving faith found in our heavenly Father through Christ, by the help of the Holy Ghost!

Sadly, many of the people around us do not know about this gift of eternal life. They walk around blindly fearing what they understand to be the unknown or the abyss that is the afterlife.

Many cultures throughout time have come up with what they conceive to be "the life after death." The Greeks and Romans believed in the River Styx and Hades. While such people as the Egyptians believed in a very materialistic afterlife, where they had to take all they needed into the grave (including servants) with them. My point is, that these people feared death so much that they came up with many lavish and over the top ideas of what it would be like and how they would get to where they thought they were going.

Even today many people continue to do this. Look at the predominate religions around you. Take the Muslims for example, they blow themselves up in fear that they can never do enough to get to "heaven" and then they believe they are promised virgin wives and all kinds of other lies. I believe that Mohammed was not only a crazed, attention seeking lunatic, but that he was also so afraid of death that he had to make up some answer as to how he and his followers would make it to their ill-conceived "perfect" afterlife.

Also, some Christians today have these messed up views on how one should get to heaven. Instead of believing in Christ as the only one who can cover our sins, they believe, to an extent, that they must work their way into heaven...it's not what God does for mankind, it's what mankind can do for God.

My point is (gasp, I'm finally getting to it!) that fear of death is nothing new, but we as Christians should focus our eyes on Christ and the saving faith. We should seek comfort in the fact that there is nothing we can do, for he has already done it all, and that we are promised such joy in heaven that we as sinful human beings cannot even comprehend it. Death is nothing, it has already been overcome and through saving faith we no longer must fear it! Eternal Life is ours and the greatest part is that we need not worry about death, for we are made meaningful and so very much more alive in Christ than we could ever be as sinful human beings on earth.

So, next time you are sitting in church, and one of those great Lutheran hymns of repentance and salvation come along, sing out with all your joy and hope! For you know you are Saved, through faith, just as we have been promised by the Lord on High!

Another Movie Review...because I have nothing better to do...

Well...for most of you who know me, you probably won't be too shocked to discover that these movies rank as some of my all time favorites. The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) are actually pretty old movies, but I thought I'd write about them since I just bought them for 50 cents (a piece) at a garage sale.

The movies' plot centers around what many of you would not consider original at all, but it by golly makes one hell of an action movie. These action/adventure/comedy/fantasy/thriller movies have just about everything a person could ask for out of a film.

The Mummy:

For the Plot Summary on Wikipedia go here.

"The sands will rise. The heavens will part. The power will be unleashed.
The legend you know. The adventure you have yet to imagine.
Adventure Is Reborn.
Prepare. Beware. Behold.
Uncover the secret. Unlock the legend. Unleash the power.
Death is only the beginning." -- IMDb The Mummy Tagline

Memorable Quotes from said film (that I especially enjoyed):
Evelyn: Look, I... I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am.
Rick: And what is that?
Evelyn: I... am a librarian.

Rick: I've been to Hamunaptra.
Evelyn: You swear?
Rick: Every damn day.

[after a mysterious wind blows up for the umpteenth time]
Rick: That happens a lot around here.

Evelyn: You lied to me.
Jonathan: I lie to everyone, what makes you so special?
Evelyn: I'm your sister.
Jonathan: That just makes you more gullible.

Rick: So let me get this straight, they reducted your guts and they stuffed them in jars?
Evelyn: And they took out your heart as well. Oh, and do you know how they took out your brain?
Jonathan: Evy, I don't think that we need to know this
Evelyn: They took a sharp, red hot poker, stick it up your nose, scramble things about a bit, and then rip it all out through your nostrils.
Rick: Ooh, that's got to hurt.
Evelyn: It's called mummification, you'll be dead when they do this.
Rick: For the record, if I don't make it out of here, don't put me down for mummification.
Jonathan: Likewise.

[In a darkened room]
Evelyn: Abdul?
[no answer]
Evelyn: Mohammed?
[no answer]
Evelyn: ... Bob?

Rick: You're sure you oughta play around with that thing?
Evelyn: It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book.



The Mummy Returns:

For the Plot Summary on Wikipedia go here.



Memorable Quotes from said film (that I especially enjoyed):
Alex: Hey. The Book of the Dead.
Meela: What a bright little child. Your mother must be missing you terribly. If you wish to see her again, you better behave.
Alex: Lady, I don't behave for my parents, what makes you think I'm going to do it for you?
Meela: Because your parents don't put poisonous snakes in your bed while you're sleeping.

Evelyn: No harm ever came from opening a chest
Rick: Yeah, no harm ever came from reading a book either. Remember how that one went?

[Rick opens up his trunk]
Rick: Do you want the shotgun?
Ardeth Bay: No, I prefer the Thompson.


Rick: Knowing my brother-in-law, he probably deserves whatever you're about to do to him. But this is my house, and I have certain rules about snakes and dismemberment.

[Jonathan and a thug are being chased by pygmies and are running into the burial ground]
Jonathan: There's the burial ground. We're safe. Do you see those sacred stones? They'll never cross those.
Thug: Are you sure?
Jonathan: Well of course I'm sure.
[a pygmy runs past and kills the thug. Jonathan screams]
Jonathan: Sorry, my mistake.

Jonathan: I say chaps, look at that. Shrunken heads. I'd love to know how they do that.
[Everybody looks strangely at Jonathan]
Jonathan: Just curious.
(Sadly, I do know how shrunken heads are made...it's in a book I have somewhere around here...)

[about Ahm Shere]
Evelyn: Alexander the Great sent 1,000 soldiers to look for it...
Rick: Hooray for him.
Evelyn: Caesar sought for it...
Rick: Look what happened to his career.
Evelyn: And Napoleon...
Rick: Yeah, well, we're smarter than him, and taller.
Evelyn: Exactly, and that's why we're going to find it.
Rick: Because we're taller?


Anyways, I just thought I'd share these "interesting" quotes with y'all because I'm bored and I have nothing better to post at the moment. Maybe I'll have more to say after the Thanksgiving Holidays, but I guess you'll just have to wait to find out ;-)

LG Action Sports Championships!

Well, I have to apologize for waiting so long to post this. It took me a week to compile all the pictures I wanted and I had actually tried writing this post last night, but Firefox froze and I lost everything...It's soooo totally evil.

Moving on, last Saturday, Oct. 28, I had the wonderful chance to see part of the LG Action Sports Championships live in Dallas. After a very long drive, with all that wonderful DFW traffic (Dallas' traffic is now rated worse than Houston's, crazy ain't it...), we (my dad and me) finally got to the arena and managed to grab some awesome seats.


















First up in the nights events was the BMX Street finals. I have to admit that I wasn't to big into BMX at first...but after watching some of the top athletes in the country go at it on this wicked freestyle course, I couldn't help but think it was totally cool! I think my dad enjoyed it even more than me, although I think that had to do more with some of the hard crashes the poor dudes underwent, than the actual sport.

Here's a part of what Lat34.com had to say about the events (if you want to read the whole article, go here):

"Dhers took no time at all to warm up and blasted the course with a

no-footed can can to 360 double tailwhip over the side box followed by a big double tail whip on the quarter pipe, a 360 double whip, and crazy front flip over the spine. And from there his fast-paced, super intense run didn’t slow down for a heart beat. He takes home $30,000 for his 1^st place win, and adds that to the $90,000 he recently won in Orlando at the Dew Tour. $120,000 in one month? Not bad Daniel. Not bad.

Garrett Reynolds, the 16 year-old phenom from New Jersey, had a killer run scoring 86.75 that placed him 2nd and puts an awesome exclamation point on a solid 2006 season. And Rob Darden put down a run loaded with good lines and several variations of tail whips and flair tricks. Darden was tied with Reynolds for 2nd, but due to judging rules was bumped down to 3rd.

Steven McCann finished 4th with a big run that included a crazy no-handed 720 to turndown over the side box. His first run scored him an 86, which meant he had to come out big on his second run to break into the top three spots, but he wasn’t able to keep it together. On the upside, his new teeth look great after knocking out a few in Orlando at the Dew Tour."

Next up was the Moto show...they really couldn't do a competition in this category do to a lack of space, so they just had a showing of sorts. It was so insanely cool! Let's just say that these dudes have some sort of death wish, but it is neat to watch! If you don't know what I'm talking about then take a peek at the following pics: (they aren't from the Action Sports tour, but they give you a chance to see what I'm talking about)






























Well, if that wasn't enough to knock your socks off, then just wait. My favorite part of the competition, and the whole reason for me begging my dad to take me, was the Sk8 Vert Finals.

Please excuse my language, but it was Freakin' Awesome!!!!!!!!!! Once again, here is a short recap from Lat34.com (to read the whole thing, go here):

"The Aussie wins! Tas Pappas squeaked by Sandro Dias and Andy Macdonald in a nailbiting tiebreaker that didn’t get resolved until the final run of the night. Each skater had three runs to prove themselves worthy of the $30,000 1st place prize, but in the end it was Pappas’ big 720’s and technical kickflip variations that pushed him over the edge for the win.

Dias threw down a couple of monstrous runs with airs well into the 8-foot mark. He uncorked his patented Brazilian energy and launched a barrage of 540’s including his signature Gnar Jar, a 540 to an earth-shaking tail tap. Sandro Dias has been dominant all year long with a win at X Games, a win at the LG Tour in Virginia, and a 2nd place finish for the overall Dew Tour title. Dias is sure to come out swinging at the Finals.

In 3rd place was the ever-consistent Andy Mac. Macdonald showed everyone that you can never rule him out from a podium finish. He peppered his runs with a host of 540’s including his favorite trick, the lien rodeo 540. Macdonald also won the LG Tour in San Diego earlier this year.

Bob Burnquist finished in 4th place with some big runs on the giant halfpipe. (By the way, the LG halfpipe is 14-feet tall and has two roll-ins that start at 19 feet high.) Burnquist qualified 1st in Friday’s Prelims and looked like he might have the Finals in the bag. But, that’s the beauty of these events. You never know who’s going to come out on top. Earlier this year, Burnquist won the Dew Tour in Louisville."

It was sooooo totally cool! I even got to see my favorite skater compete, Sandro Dias! Anyways, here are some more pics from the Vert event:





















































On to the highlight of the whole night (well....you probably will totally recognize this name for sure) Tony Hawk (yes theeeee Tony Hawk) took to the ramps along with Matt Hoffman (a BMX legend) to give a killer demo. I managed to find some really killer pics:


























Ok...I think that's it's for now...if you want anymore info, I suggest checking out the LG Action Sports Tour's home page and Lat34.com...also EXPN has more than enough extreme sports news!

All in all it was a great night! I hope some of you out there enjoy these sports just as much as me...and if you don't...well, let's just say you lost 5 min. of your life reading this, and you'll never get them back! ;-)

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!!

Our troop's reply to John Kerry's "Joke":



I've paid my dues -
Time after time -
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime -
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face -
But I've come through

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world -

I've taken my bows
And my curtain calls -
You brought me fame and fortuen and everything that goes with it
-
I thank you all -

But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise -
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race -
And I ain't gonna lose -

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world -