Attention Aliens!

Hello oh fair readers of yon jeke,
This is a quick public service announcement to let you all know in a friendly manner that from next Monday through till the Saturday at the earliest, there will not be a new post. So, effectively, while there may yet be another post on the way (Stay tuned!), after next Monday there will not be for that period of six consecutive days.

For the unlearned who may be asking "but why?! why?! WHY I ASK YOU?!", there is a sensible and simple reason. The learned out there (notably small group fellows), already know why. But this is for the benefit of those who dont, so you small group guys can sit down and stop screaming already.

Oh right, the reason. Well, I'm not going to have access to a computer, let alone the internet ("ooh, they have the internet on computers now!"). I will be hiking Tuesday-Friday down in ye olde Girraween with Mike, Nathan Riley, Carl, The Iguana, Benny Boy and Supersam. It's gonna be an awesome time. Or else.

But I know I cant leave you hanging on that. So I may or may not post again before then. But right now I'll leave you with one last thing....

The placebo effect: real, or not? You tell me.

Seanus 'o' Seamussy

ps. ANYBODY DARING TO AFFRONT ME WITH THINE UPDATE SONG SHALL NOT GO UNPUNISHED. Thank You!

Challenged?

Hello everybody,
I don't quite know where this post is going, or my main point behind it, but I feel i just have to say something. This photo really spoke to me somehow.
A couple of quick questions. Do you recognise this face? Does this man mean anything to you? What do you see looking at this photo?

Chances are, you are thinking "Nope, I have never seen that fellow before in my life. Being anonymous, he doesn't really mean much to me. I see a young man, maybe, 25, 26, who is in some sort of service for the military of the U.S.A."

I'll tell you who this man is. This is Sergeant Andrew Farrar of Weymouth, Massachusetts. He served in the U.S. Marine Corp, and passed away serving his country in Iraq on January 28th 2005, his 31st birthday. He was nearing the end of his deployment in Iraq, and left behind his highschool sweetheart wife, Melissa, and his two sons.

That is all I know of this man. I first heard of him in a song called "Last Letter Home", a song written about him by a band called Dropkick Murphys. He was a huge fan of the band, and once wrote a letter home requesting that they play another of their songs, "Fields Of Athenry" at his funeral when he should pass away. His mother contacted the band and showed them the letter, and they performed his favourite song live at his funeral, and wrote "Last Letter Home" about him after reading a few more of the letters passed between the Sergeant and his family. For some reason, I google-wacked for a photo of Sgt Farrar, looking to find a face for this man.

When I found it, I almost cried. I don't know why. I looked at this young man, only 31 years old and felt sorrow. I have never and most likely will never meet anybody associated with him, but that photo is etched into my mind and heart. The youth, the handsome young man taken from the world, it just bites at my heart for reasons I am unsure of.

I am going to finish this post here, because I dont know where else to go with it. All I have left to say is God bless the Farrar family, God bless all servicemen and their families worldwide, and may your kingdom come Lord, and so put a stop to the dying.

Sean.

Sergeant Andrew K Farrar, US Marines Corp

Honour The Fallen

Fallen Heroes Memorial

Last Letter Home Lyrics

Field Of Athenry Lyrics

I have also taken the liberty to add a link to the blogspot of a serviceman currently in Iraq, sharing his views about what day to day life is like over there. I havent had the time to fully check it out, so if it's dodgy, i'll fix it up in the next day or two.

My Prayer (Well, One Of Them Anyway)

'Ello 'Ello

Much as we all have, I've been places I wish I never went, I've committed atrocities I wish I never did, I've spoken things I wish I never said...life is like that, isn't it? I've fallen in with the wrong crowds at school many a time. I've lashed out at the innocent because of my own problems. I've Looked God in the eyes and spat on his face. But still...He is there for me.
This is a little prayer that I run through my mind often, throwing my life up to God and smiting my chest in tears...but He always shows the grace I need, the love I desire and the strength to help me back onto my feet, to face the next day, one step at a time. It's from a song, but that doesn't matter. It means to me what it means.

I've debauched and deceived, and destroyed families...
I've taken all and given none,
And received judgement from the objective eye of a gun.
I'm guilty, it's true, but remorseful, no less.
I'm sorry! What becomes of me, but death deserved, received?
What of a crooked man's desperate plea seeking The Good Judge's mercy?
He loved the loveable and the unlovely,
The decadent and the holy.
He made a way for the pope and he made a way for me...

Take my all, Lord. Transform me, mould me, and use me for your purpose. Unleash my potential to affect this world and my generation. Unfold your plans for my life. Strengthen me daily, call me home when I turn my back, and love me like you always do. God, take my all and let it be, consecrated, all for thee. You have brought me thus far in my life, out of death and into life, I want to know you.

God, purge me of sin.
Return me to you.
Make the rest history.
Be my future.

Amen.

Three Years?!?!

Hello all,
This is an emergency update. Not because there is an emergency happening, but because this is one story you cannot afford to not laugh at. Here goes.

It was lunchtime today, and I was hungry. While I waited for the sandwich toaster to heat up, I looked for a quick snack to warm up my stomach. Now, being the seafood fan that I am, I found a can of smoked sardines. I had never eaten sardines before, but I am a huge fan of tuna, smoked mussels, smoked fish, smoked oysters etc, so I figured "sardines can't be too bad, can they?". So I cracked open the can, grabbed some crackers and put a sardine on one. I put it in my mouth.

It was the most revolting thing I have ever had the extreme misfortune to eat. Ever. I wanted to throw up my guts, then eat them again to get rid of the awful taste (but I didn't, don't worry). It was disgusting.

I was thinking to myself "how is it possible that they were so bad? NOTHING can taste that gross". Curious, and unsure of what to expect, I got the label off of the can and read it.
It said:
BEST BEFORE - AUGUST, 2003.

WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?!?!?!
2003?!?!?!?!
WHY WAS IT STILL IN OUR CUPBOARD?!?!?!?!?
WHY?!?!?!?!?
ALMOST THREE YEARS OUT OF DATE, AND I ATE ONE?!?!?!?!?!
WHAT IN THE NAME OF HAPPY-AS-LARRY WAS IT STILL DOING IN OUR PANTRY?!?!?!
WHY?!?!?!?!?
ALMOST THREE YEARS?!?!?!?

I think I have some sort of food poisoning, because I can still feel that one almost-out-of-date-by-three-whole-years sardine down in my stomach. I'm gonna be feeling that for a while...

THREE YEARS?!?!?!

ponyb.

The Force Is Stringy With This One

So my tale begins with me walking in the door the other night, from where ever i was (church, work, One80, i forget) and smelling the mother-of-all good smells.

Steak.

Heading straight to the kitchen, my nose probing the air, i grabbed a knife, fork and some BBQ sauce. Sitting down to chow down, I thought to myself "Mmm, steak. Does food get better than this? I mean, sure, you can get all the expensive, fancy stuff, but as far as food goes, a good steak is at the top of the list alongside Milo and toasted sandwiches". And boy did I enjoy that steak. But then, I began to ponder..."if it weren't for sin, and the fall of man, I wouldnt be able to enjoy this steak, but if Adam and Eve didnt ever sin, there would be no need for us to even think about steak!"

This got me on the train of thought of good things can come about from bad. I know that having steak to eat as a result of sin isn't the best illustration, 'cause i'm sure we'd all ditch steak to get a shot at there never being any sin, but oh well. Its too late now. So anyway, onto better examples and explanations.

Number 1. Lessons. The best lesson learned is one learned through mistakes. If you learn how to do something textbook-perfectly, and you never get it wrong, sure, it feels good. But if you learn something, then try it out and stuff up, you learn where you went wrong, and can go about working on improving. It feels so much better, PLUS it gives you the insight needed to help others who may go through the same thing or a similar hardship as you in the learning curve. Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, but the learning out of them is a true blessing.

Victory. I have one sentence for you in relation to victory. Its from a song called "Dictatorship vs. Democracy", by Staple, one of my favourite Christian rock acts: "Have you ever known how victory feels, unless you have felt defeat?"
Savvy? The only real sense of victory over anything (sin, life, an enemy), is knowing what it is like to be defeated by them.

But all this talking about steak makes me hungry. I'm off to go milo-ing. And yes, I know, this post wasnt political as promised. I had trouble finding all the data I needed. So until next week...Bye.

Pb.

Not A Real Update

An update is in the works, i promise. This one is more of a political review (re: rant), so it requires in depth and factual information. It'll be up soon, as soon as i find a night where I'm not working, at One80 or doing something other than updating. Oh, and maybe when I'm not studying for exams...because I do study for em. No really, I do. But for now, I'm off to get ready for work. Later skaters!

Ponus Boyus
A species native to the rare habitat of One80, but prone to bullying by Georgus Murderus