Wishin' that I Wasn't Such a Nice Guy

Sorry for the redundancy. But guess what--it's a different performance!

This song has been really sticking with me since I first heard it. Many of the questions I'm asking. Many of the doubts I'm doubting.  Every once in a while I just can't get a song out of my head.  This is one of those songs.  Lyrics follow as well.

Switchfoot - "Vice Verses"



Walking alone the high tide line
Watching the pacific from the sidelines
Wonder what it means to live together
Looking for more than just guidelines

Looking for signs in the night sky
wishing that I wasnt such a nice guy
wonder what it means to live together
wonder what it means to die

I know that theres a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
These are my vice verses

The wind could be my new depression
The wind could be my new expression
The wind goes anywhere it wants to
Wishing that I learned my lesson

The ocean sounds like a garage band
Coming at me like a drunk man
The ocean tells me a thousand stories
None of them are lies

Let the pacific laugh
Be on my epitaph
With its rising and falling
And after all, its just water
And I am just soul
With a body of water and bones
Water and bones

Where is God in the night sky?
Where is God in the city light?
Where is God in the earthquake?
Where is God in the genocide?
Where are You in the broken heart?
Everything seems to fall apart
Everything feels rusted over
Tell me that Youre there



You can also download the live track HERE.

100 Best Movie Lines in 200 Seconds

A cool look back at some incredible movie moments.

"Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions"

I didn't watch any of the MTV Movie Awards, naturally.

But I did catch this online, and it is pretty funny.  I especially love the cameos:

MTV Shows

Your Favorite Pixar Movies?

With the release of Up (which I have yet to see), I was reminded of a list I made recently of my favorite Pixar films in order.  I thought I'd share it.

Wall-E
Finding Nemo
Ratatouille
The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
Toy Story
Monsters, Inc.
Cars
A Bugs Life


What do you think?  Any thoughts or changes you would make?


By the way, I can't wait to see Up.

Rallies Stopped in Moscow

 

May 16th marked the Eurovision Finals. Because the Russian representative (Dima Bilan) won last year's Eurovision contest, Russia was the hosting country this year.

Eurovision is a BIG deal for any country hosting, and even Putin put forward a billion rubles (35ish million dollars) to make sure things went off spectacularly. With it came thousands of tourists from all over Europe to see and experience the festivities.

With it also came the return of individuals attempting to hold rallies supporting gay rights. Russia is one of the more homophobic nations, to put it not-so-eloquently. After a gay pride parade occurred in 2006 (many of the participants flew in from Germany I believe, and were subsequently beaten and arrested), the mayor said there would never be another parade supporting gay equality. He's been said to have called it a "satanic act," and that "not only do they destroy morals within our society, but they consciously provoke disorder which threatens the lives of Muscovites and visitors.”

Like most other unsanctioned (although constitutionally guaranteed to every person under their freedom of assembly) events, this one went down pretty routinely. Authorities quickly stopped a protest about to start and arrested around 40 individuals (some reports say 30).

What is interesting is even though I disagree with the police in stopping something like this (something that almost any other group can do without much trouble.... see some of our Victory Day pictures/video), I think this was relatively generous in the fact that the police stopped the protest before opposition groups could inflict any harm on the organized rally. What usually happens is the gay pride rallies occur, and police stand back for a bit while opposition groups basically beat them up.

But that's not the point of this post.  The point is more of what I read and heard after all this went down.  I was saddened and disappointed to hear that a few Christians here in Moscow were glad that the government would not allow these rallies to occur. They were proud that they wouldn't allow these events to take place.

Is that the attitude we should have as Christians? Although many people in Moscow do believe that homosexuality is a sin, that is not at all the reason why authorities didn't allow the protests to occur. If that were the case, they wouldn't allow many things.

No, the reason they will not allow these rallies to occur is simple: a prejudice and hatred towards homosexuals. Something that, as Christians, we should not tolerate.  Whether it's something we disagree with or not, we should not be happy or proud when personal rights are taken away from other people.  There is no love in that.  There is no grace.  There is no justice.

A Christians, shouldn't our hearts be broken when rights are taken away because of prejudice and hatred?  Shouldn't we be against something like that?  Isn't all of those pretty obvious?

Ain't No Reason Things are This Way

There ain’t no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.

Preachers on the podium speaking of saints
Paupers on the sidewalk begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend you whole life working for something,
Just to have it taken away
People walk around pushing back their debts
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking 'bout death
Every little heartbeat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor’s edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb, or a bullet, or a pen
Or a thought, or a word, or a sentence

There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I don’t know why I say the things that I say,
But I say them anyway

But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.

Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all
Keep building bombs, gonna drop them all
Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung, it's full of coal, sufficating slow
The wind blows wild and i may move
But politicians lie and I am not fooled
You don't need no reason or a three piece suit, to argue the truth
The air on my skin and the world under my toes
Slavery is stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and commotion wherever I go
Love, I try to follow

Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.

There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.


A brief description of the video from Brett himself:

"It is our routines and our comforts that allow us to ignore social issues. For some of us, it is our privilege to be ignorant. This video tells the story of social issues challenging our privileges and entering our routines making them impossible to ignore. Social injustice cannot be ignored when you are forced to deal with them. That is the idea behind this video.

What would happen if you were forced to deal with something that you may think has nothing to do with you? If suddenly the world's problems came into your
own home? You would have to realize that you are connected to everything and everyone on earth."

"Hurt Feelings"

Not since "Business Time" have I laughed so much.

Mutemath Music Video - "Spotlight"

Remember Mutemath's zany video for "Typical?"

Here's their newest video for "Spotlight:"





It's pretty cool.  I still miss Earthsuit a lot.  But it's cool.   

Eurovision 2009 -- The Good and Bad

I didn't know this until recently, but every year there is a big contest in Europe called Eurovision. It's a little reminiscent of American Idol, but each country in Europe selects a band and song to enter into the contest.

Here are some of the good and bad of the contest this year (which was held in Moscow! Woot!)

The bad:























And here are some of the songs I enjoyed.

First this year's winner:

The Road trailer

Finally.

I'm a little worried about this. The book was so incredible I don't know if it can be replicated into a movie. We'll see.