The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I don't usually just quote scripture (or the messages of modern Prophets), but I have been pondering how important The Family: A Proclamation to the World. is, so I decided to post a section of it.

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.

Circus of the out of work Science fiction stars

Been watching Stargate SG1 seasons 9 and 10. And this is what I find amusing - all the familiar faces. Between SG1 and Atlantis we have quite a few refugees from other SF shows.

SG1 & Atlantis has Robert Picardo as a semi regular. Doctor from Voyager
SG1 has Ben Browder as a regular cast member. Crighton from Farscape.
SG1 has Claudia Black as a semi regular moved to regular. Ayrn Sun from Farscape.
SG1 has Lexia Doig as a regular cast member. Andromeda from Andromeda.
Atlantis has Jewel Staite as a regular cast member. Kaylee from Firefly
SG1 has as a semi regular Morena Baccarin. Inara from Firefly

Tony Todd appeared in 3 or 4 episode as well. Kurn (Worf's Brother) in TNG and DS9.


Personally I think it's cool. :)

Some new books

I went to the library last week and went around grabbing 1st books in a series to try and find new stuff that is good. I've gone three for four.

First was Calderon's Fury by Jim Butcher. I love the Dresden files, so seeing what he did with classic fantasy wasn't much of a gamble. Great book. Am going to buy the series when I get some cash.

Second up was a book called A Rift in Time by Michael Phillips. Couldn't finish it. It was a reglious themed time travel story but the writing was fairly dry, and the premise just didn't sing to me (the time travelling means he found out that the current day Isreal was the Garden of Eden).

Third was great Primary Inversion by Katherine Asaro. Ex Physics professor writing very good SF. Mostly Hard SF (what would you expect form a Physics Professor) but has FTL (or in the lingo of the books superluminal) drives. Great characters, nice setting and a good story. It's the first book in a large future history.

Last (so far) is Newton's Cannon by J Gregory Keyes. I'm about a quarter of the way through, and it has been wonderful. First book of four. Setting is 1700s earth, but assuming things like the Aether, and Affinity are in force - Alchemy in addition to Science. A very young Ben Franklin is a main character. Has been fun, and an interesting world.

The Mix

Been feeling down the last few days. Likely reactions to the messed up time on taking my meds for Rush - I usually get a couple of bad days a week or two later.

So I've been listening to high energy music to help keep my mood up. Here is the last 20 that played in my energy mix:

The Power - Snap
Stop the Rock - Apollo 440
Du Hast - Rammstein
Strait Cold Player - Lenny Kravitz
Paranuj - Serapis Bey
Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard
Pump up the Jam - Techtronics
It's all about the Pentiums - Weird Al Yankovic
Mama Said Knock you Out - LL Cool J
Man in the Box - Alice in Chains
Crabbucket - K-Os
Tanz Mit Laibach - Laibach
Wild Wild West - Escape Club
Sail Away to Avalon - Ayreon
Texas - Cowboy Troy
Unskinny Bop - Poison
Right Place Wrong Time - Screemin' Cheetah Wheelies
Get it On (Bang a Gong) - Power Station
God of Thunder - Kiss
Rockstar - Nickleback

Next one in.

I followed up on my goals. I got my next article submitted.
Woohoo!!!

That means that right now, I have 3 in the pipe. Now as I understand it, I have one in the next issue (which comes out in a few weeks). Which would put me back at 2, so back to the grindstone to get the next one done (which shouldn't be all that tough - it's a talent collection, I churn those out easy).

This was my first character article, which is part of why it was hard. So I get this last talent article done, and then I have a few more of the character articles to do, and I might then try my hand at an adventure. That idea has me a little nervous... but in a good way.

Good DVD day today

I just got my first check from my new job (not much - only 3 1/2 hours on it, but enough for so extra DVD stuff. :)

I was going to get Branagh's Hamlet, but the places I checked for it were out. *sigh*

Over the last few months, I have been hitting online DVD rentals, and getting disc one of different TV shows, to see what I might want to buy - ones I'd heard about, ones I saw as a kid and wanted to see if they were okay as an adult, that sort of thing.

So I decided to get Rockford Files season 1 today. I stopped at the first place, and they didn't have it. But while looking for it I saw Series One of Rosemary and Thyme - a detective show about a divorce ex policewoman and a botany professor. Felicity Kendel stars. It's an expensive show, but I found it used for about $24 - a fairly good price.

Then I get to the second place, and find Rockford season 1, but at full retail. I have enough to get it, but just barely (with the loyalty card that knocks 10% off). So I got up to the register and they were having a sale on TV DVD Box sets, and 10 bucks was knocked off the top. So I got season one new, for about $27. :)

All in all a very good DVD day - two box sets of TV shows I wanted, and both at very good prices.

Friday memes, just a bit early. :)

Fridays Feast


Appetizer
Describe your laundry routine. Do you have a certain day when you do it all, or do you just wash whatever you need for the next day?
Two ways. When it reaches critical mass, I do everything. Otherwise I try and do a load a day or so.

Soup
In your opinion, what age will you be when you’ll consider yourself to truly be old?
Age... not sure. When I no longer can reach my dice to play RPGS. 80 or more.

Salad
What is one of your goals? Is it short-term, long-term, or both?
To constantly have 3 articles in the pipe for the gaming magazine I freelance for. So it is a short and long term - I have to get to 3 unpublished, and get a new one in every time I get one published.

Main Course
Name something unbelievable you’ve seen or read lately.
The level of political rhetoric, on both sides, has gotten to the point of unbelievability to me.

Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how happy are you today?
7 or 8.

Music Memoirs

Top 5 "earworms" that you actually like getting stuck in your head.

(Does that make sense? Earworms being those songs that crawl in your ear and stay in your head until madness sets in. In a good way, of course)

Merano from the Chess album. A friend mentioned it today, and now it will be in my head for days.
Tubthumping - from this week's Take me Back Tuesday.
All Star by Smash Mouth
Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard
Mambo Number 5 - Lou Bega (I have the version that was recorded for Radio Disney) :)

A 90's trip

The 90's

What bands from the 90's that have broken up do you miss?

Aztec Jade. They were a really good powermetal band, that broke up. Now the two main creative guys formed Ascension Theory, but it is much more Dream Theater-esque Prog Metal, and I don't like them near as much as the original band.

What was your favorite song from that decade?

Picking one is tough : Brian May - Too much love will kill you; Ayreon - Sail Away to Avalon; Rocket Scientists - Brutal Architecture are all in the running.

What was your favorite album?
That one is fairly easy - Rocket Scientists - Oblivion Days.

How did you feel about the whole "grunge" genre that popped up in the early 90's?
I loved it - I like hard rock, and it was a different kind of sound. I have complete discographies of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Temple of the Dog (all one CD), and Soundgarden. It was such an overwhelming force that it changed the face of music - now a lot of bands I liked disappeared during the grunge years, but they came back. I think that is really shook up the music scene and that is a good thing every now and again. And later pop and rock bands that incorporate some elements really make for a nice touch of music.
Plus it lead to Todd Snider and "Talking Seattle Grunge Blues" :)

What was your favorite 1 hit wonder of that decade?
Tubthumping.

Friday stuff

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of pie?
I generally don't care for pie, can I have cake instead? If I had to choose a pie it would be apple.

Soup
Name something that made you smile this week.
Does grinning outrageously count? -- Monday, pretty much the whole day; the wife and I spent it hitting CD shops and thrift shops and finished it by watching the Rush Concert.
Salad
What do you do to cool off when the weather is hot and humid?
Well, I live in a desert, so humid is rarely a problem. We keep 8 to 12 1.5 liter bottles of water in the fridge - I tend to down 4 of those a day. Lots of fans. Soaking a shirt in cold water then putting it back one.

Main Course
You receive $1,000 in the mail with a letter that says you can only use the money to redecorate one room in your home. Which room do you pick, and what do you buy to spruce it up?
The upstairs room. Our house was originally two apartments, and we have what was the dining room/living room/ect upstairs, and it is huge. We have been working on cleaning it up, and then ripping out the carpet, clean the smell from the wood, and replace the flooring with tile or vinyl sheeting or something.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: My _________ says __________, but I __________.
horoscope / I will have a long trip today / don't believe in astrology.

Music Memiors


Top 5 artists you loved in college.
Talking Heads - This is when Stop Making Sense came out.
Petra - My first exposure to Christian Rock.
Gary Numan - now I listend to him before college, but there was this huge used/import record store near the University, so I got a lot of his stuff that I had not been able to find and listened to him a lot.
George Winston - Another discovery - love his stuff.
Twisted Sister - always a fan of Hair Metal, and they were the ones I really listened to at college.

Just a picture

Not much today, just a nifty pic I ran across while surfing the other day.

Take Me Back...

Rush is great. Rush is awesome. Rush. Rush. Rush.

Okay, now that that is out of my system.....

Take me back Tuesday:

Back in the day before the internet ruled the earth and people went to malls etc...
What was your favorite record store?

Toad Tape. They eventually had 3 stores, but when I went there all the time, they had one, and it was the best record store around. Back when I was about 15 or so, I got $100 for my birthday, and spend the entire thing there, and they gave me 10% off, which I then just used to buy more albums. That was when I first got Return to Forever: Romantic Warrior

Are there any non-chain stores that you still frequent for your music needs?
Not a national chain, but a local- they have 2 or 3 stores: Graywhale. I have discovered some great stuff there: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Pelican, Songs:Ohia among others.
What was your favorite "find" at your favorite store?
I had fallen behind on getting my Todd Snyder CDs, and was browsing at Graywhale, and found the last 2 CDs used. Nice stuff.

Rushing Around

Just a short note - Today is the Rush concert. The wife and I are going to make a day of it, driving around hitting thrift shops and used CD shops between here and the concert, breakfast at Denny's dinner at Sizzler, then meeting some of our best friends at the concert. And have I mentioned that I have wanted to see Rush in concert for 20 years.

WOOHOO!


If you look at the music of the week this week, you will see that I have been preparing for the concert. :)

Halfway!!

Well in the chaos and distraction of the new job, preparing for Rush, and the general stuff of life, I had fallen behind on my personal deadline for my next article for Digital HERO. And it was going to be a little more for me - it was going to be a character article, something I've not done, and wasn't sure I'd be able to pull off. But I have got about halfway on it, finishing the intro and the first character. Two more characters to go... and building the character isn't that tough, it's the background and such that feels like pulling teeth.

I currently have 2 articles in the pipeline (one is supposed to be in next months issue). The magazine comes out every other month, and I plan to have an article to the editor every month and a half or so. I want him to have 2 or 3 to choose from for each issue from me. :)

And I still have a scan of my first check - my first payment as a freelance writer for the HERO games magazine. Talk about heaven. :)

Firday - I can has memes?

The Feast

Appetizer
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how polite are you?
8 or 9. I try to be courteous and nice to everyone. That includes while I am driving.

Soup
What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
Watching Eureka. Great show. Highly recomended.

Salad
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
If we include animate movies - Mulan.
If it is just shorts - Wiley E Coyote - I love to see him fail. :)

Main Course
Tell about the funniest teacher you ever had.
8th grade English teacher. He also taught drama. He was a very unusual teacher, both in how he taught (he was trying to teach us how to think) not just his subject. And he used humor as one of his tools to do that.

Dessert
Complete this sentence: I strongly believe that ______________________.

I am going to really enjoy myself Monday night at the Rush concert. :)


Top 5 on Fridays:
Top 5 musical acts you would travel more than a hundred miles to see.

Well... I don't really get into concerts, but if I had the time off, the money to burn to go, and they played in a venue that I could stand (one of them plays private clubs a lot, and I can't go for the cigarette smoke) these are the bands I would do so.

Brian May
Gary Numan
Rocket Scientists
Young Dubliners
Ring of Fire