Coming Up:

Here's a quick glimpse at what I think I'm gonna be posting about in the near future.

Specifics on Star Trek, X-Men, X2, X3: X-Men United, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, DareDevil, Elektra, Hancock, Be Kind Rewind, The Phantom of the Opera, and August Rush, all in the movie category.

Music by Utada Hikaru, Carrie Underwood, Switchfoot, 10th Avenue North, (possibly) Chicago, Jack's Mannequin, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, and a couple of the Marvel movie soundtracks, all in the music category.

Summaries and reviews on some more books. Not sure which ones yet. I usually try to only post the good ones and since I haven't read them yet... Well, I don't know if they're any good. I may decide to tell you guys about Deadline though. ...Wasn't what I'd call a favorite, but it had an interesting message. Or maybe I'll change things around a bit and write about Shakespeare's plays. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun..." in the book category.

Old cartoons vs. new cartoons, and a couple other rants.

And the occasional drawing, painting, photograph (manipulated or original), and announcement (or maybe even writing) by me. I'm kinda nervous about showing what I create, which is why other people's creations is mostly what is showcased here. I don't think it's really my self-esteem that's got issues with it, it's more of a... I'm just kinda shy, type thing. I'm happy to show my art to people I've known for years and in person, but to show something so deeply personal to the world... Kinda makes me nervous. I don't get nervous or stressed out about much, so this is pretty big. To me, anyways.

Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I was having technical difficulties.

-Kj

"Love is the Protest"

I've been telling you guys about a bunch of my favorite songs, but I haven't yet touched on a band that I listen to pretty often. I got introduced to Jars of Clay's music by a really good friend of mine when he got up on stage and lip synced to "Flood." I liked the sound, so I bought their Greatest Hits CD. There's a lot of great music on it, so my choice for this post was a major question mark for the past couple weeks. Basically I've been thinking on it for awhile, narrowing it down, until I finally let "Love is the Protest" beat "Show You Love" and "Work" by just a teeny tiny bit. I'll probably have to post the others sometime, just for getting so close. Again, these songs don't belong to me. They're the property of Jars of Clay. Not mine.

"Love is the Protest" by Jars of Clay

Hey!

Get love,
Out on the dance floor.
Reflects off the mirror ball,
Sending fragments of life to the poor.

Get love,
Out in the nameless streets.
Child you'll finally eat,
Love, love is the protest.

Oh, oh, love is the protest,
Oh, oh, love is the protest.

Let love,
Make saints out of hypocrites.
Let grace fall from broken lips,
Turn dirty rags into white flags.

Let peace,
Crawl out of the mystery.
Show how blinding the light can be,
Don't be afraid of what you see,
Love is the protest.

Oh, oh, love is the protest,
Oh, oh, love is the protest.

I want peace but it's not what I'm used to.
I want love, but it hurts when it gets through.
I'm surrounded by people who don't think like I do.

Mmmm.... oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, owoah, oh, oh, oh, oh...

Oh, oh, love is the protest,
Oh, oh, love is the protest,
Oh, love is the protest,
Oh, oh, hey.

So yep, there's your song for today. Enjoy!

The section in orange is a part that I particularly find interesting. You can't get much more true than that, and it kinda hurts that it's as true as it is. But that brings up another quote, this one from The Princess Bride; "Life's not fair Highness, anyone who says differently is selling something." I bring up that particular quote any time a kid goes "But it's not fair!!" ...Even though I do usually get mean looks for it. Hey, they gotta figure it out someday.

I'll post an itinerary type thing tomorrow so you can see what's gonna happen in the next few weeks or so.

Til tomorrow!

-Kj

Marvel Movie Mania Madness!

Happy Independance Day!!

Hmm... The movie fest that I was part of today and yesterday got me thinking... Who's my favorite superhero? Or since there are so many awesome ones, who's my favorite X-Man and superhero not featured in the X-Men movies? After much pondering (and movies) I've decided my favorite superhero is probably DareDevil, and my favorite X-Man is Angel.

...Well I didn't have to do too much pondering actually... Just did a lot of memory refreshing.

Then I started thinking... DareDevil and Angel? By name, those guys are pretty much opposites, right? Any similarities? One was born to wealth and comfort, the other's dad met an untimely demise. One doesn't seem to be quite sure where he fits, the other takes a stand in court for the innocents. I guess the only thing they really have in common... Is their differences. From the rest of humanity, I mean. Sure, blindness isn't too uncommon, but extra agility and echolocation is. And wings? Well those aren't normal at all.

My Marvel movie mania started yesterday evening where I saw Elektra and DareDevil, followed by X-Men, X2, and X3: X-Men United this afternoon. About a month or so ago, I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was pretty awesome too! ...And a kinda unrelated note, I saw Hancock last week, and An American Tail today. ...An American Tail isn't a superhero movie, but... I saw it this morning, so I don't really care lol. Basically... I've had a movie OVERLOAD this past 24 hours. I don't think I've EVER seen so many movies in such a short amount of time! 6 movies in 24 hours! I didn't even see both the Star Wars trilogies within 24 hours! I'm not complaining though, I most definitely am not. I had an awesome time. If you ever do that though, I highly suggest that you invite at least one, probably two or three friends over to enjoy the movies with you, and pop a lot of popcorn.

Well, I better go!

Til tomorrow! (And I mean it this time lol.)

-Kj

Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen

I'm up to book... 15? 16? of my pile of 33. I got started on Deadline this morning and finished Jerk, California yesterday evening.

Jerk, California is about this guy Sam, who when he turned 6, found that he inherited Tourette's syndrome from his father who died when he was a baby. His stepfather can't stand that his stepson is twitchy and as a result, can barely stand him.

As a result of the Tourette's, Sam gets twitches and tics, he'll jerk, his shoulders jump and his hands will clench and unclench. Sometimes he'll even blurt out stuff that he didn't intend to say, all involuntarily. Sure, if he thinks about it and really focuses, he can stay still for a few minutes, but it hardly ever lasts long.

A side-effect is that he gets teased a lot in school. He's considered a freak, an outcast, and a jerk because he can't control himself. He goes through his life with the realization that no one will ever accept him no matter what he does.

Fast forward to graduation day. His tics and outbursts end up making him a fool out of himself. Someone sitting behind him was whispering things into his ear and he couldn't help but blurt out "additions" to the speech that was being said. It came time for him to walk up to the podium and recieve his diploma, but he was so humiliated that he ran away. He runs all the way to a garden, where he meets George who doesn't appear to really care about or notice his twitches. He just sees Sam for who he is; a man named Jack who's got to start following his father's footsteps.

Unfortunately Sam trusts his stepfather who fed him a lot of garbage about his real dad, saying he left his mom in a snowstorm and his car was found wrapped around a telephone pole with another woman and a lot of beer.

Can George (who was friends with Sam's dad) show him the truth? Will Sam let him? Will he accept that his name wasn't Sam in the first place? And why exactly was his real dad out in a major snowstorm 18 years ago? Will Sam (or Jack) ever find someone out there who doesn't mind the twitches and tics? Why was his named changed from Jack to Sam?

I'll leave you to figure that out. Don't worry, I didn't reveal much of it. Maybe a couple chapters of 50 or so.

Overall, it's a really good story about finding who you are, the importance of a name, and realizing that even if there is something that makes you not quite perfect (like Tourette's syndrome), someone out there will accept you for your personality and not reject you for twitching.

Thanks for listening. If you read it, let me know what you think. And some feedback is most appreciated, I need to know stuff like... Am I telling too much? Am I leaving too much out? Suggestions? Comments?

Til tomorrow!

-Kj

"Lamps"

Hey, just writing for the heck of it. Don't really know what to say today... But I suppose I've got a bunch of stuff to catch up on. Let's see... I saw Star Trek, I'm reading Jerk, California, I heard a bunch of new music (that I remembered to write down), and a bunch of other stuff has been going on. I guess I'll start with the regularly scheduled song, and we'll go from there!

Here's "Lamps" by Esterlyn. A little background on my experience with these guys is... I didn't even know they existed until just a couple months ago I heard "Sweet Love" and fell in love with the song. Eventually I met the band, decided they were pretty cool, and now I'm a fan lol.

Anyway, I'll say again, I don't own this song, Esterlyn does.

"Lamps" by Esterlyn

Ten-twenty, North 23rd,
This winter won't end.
Cold's been creeping it's way inside.
This world without color
Finds a place on this street,
To uncover this beauty in me.

This life can be different,
This life could be more,
To take whats been given,
To give even more.
This life can be different,
Forget what we know,
It's not enough
Just to breathe anymore,
To breathe anymore.

Movement speaks to the still,
Leaves have fallen with time,
Walking forward while falling behind.
Despite all this mind,
I give you this moment in time,
I'm ready to make things right.

This life can be different,
This life could be more,
To take whats been given,
To give even more.
This life can be different,
Forget what we know,
'Cause its not enough,
Just to breathe anymore,
To breathe anymore.

I gave you this moment,
I gave you this dream,
I gave you this feeling so help me believe,
That you are the only beauty in me.

This life can be different,
This life could be more,
To take whats been given,
To give even more.
This life can be different,
Forget we know,
'Cause its not enough,
Just to breathe anymore.

This life can be different,
Forget what we know,
'Cause its not enough,
Just to breathe anymore.

Hope you enjoy! Lemme know what you think, comments and suggestions are welcome!

Oh! And if you wanna check out "Sweet Love" also by Esterlyn, the banjo is beautiful. I may have to write about that one too, but I'm trying to give some time between songs of the same artist/band. Variety is the spice of life. Oh! Another good one just came up! ...I'm listening to their CD right now lol this one's called "Esther". The background story behind this song (as well as the song itself) is absolutely beautiful, but I can't write about it right now! I'd love to do another double-feature, but they're kinda special, like once a month deals. I'll have to write about this song sometime next month.

Until tomorrow!

-Kj

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Hey guys,

Finally feeling better. Well, good enough anyways.

The other day I went and saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but since it's pretty new I'm gonna keep the summary pretty much with what you can see in the trailers.

It starts out with college preparation. Sam's about ready to head for college all the way on the other side of the continent, and his mom is freaking out. He tells Bumblebee (his camaro / guardian) to stay in the garage at home while he's gone, which Bee isn't too happy about. He goes to his new college with his parents and after they leave, he discovers the hard way that Transformers aren't limited to vehicle shapes.

The Decepticons are back with a plot to rid the world of the last Prime, who we know as Optimus. Why they want to get rid of him (I mean, besides the obvious fact that he's an Autobot) is something I'll leave you to ponder.

There are a lot of new Transformers, a lot of plot twists and turns, a lot of explosions, and you get to find out why the Autobots and Decepticons came to earth on the first place.

Overall, it's an awesome movie, exactly what you'd expect after the first one, and it leaves you wondering if there will be a third.

Good to be back, and I'll be posting again tomorrow!

-Kj

Be Back Later

Hey guys,

Still not feeling so hot. Actually, truth be told, I'm feeling worse. Until I get better, I'm gonna have to go. Be back in a week or so I guess, give or take.

Til later,

-Kj