Well, i got a package in the mail today a spiffy little box cardboard and clear tape came from Madison (my brother did send) containing goodies within some chocochip cookies (unexpected) money for college and a neuros “Now what…” you very well may say “Is a Neuros?” something to help with that mental problem? (as if something could help there) a link to firewire my brain to my Apple (a bit hasty, i do think, to defrag my memory of kindergarten) perhaps a neuros is a dictionary to assist in defining my “mental” moments or perhaps most simply, a Neuros is an mp3 player of forty gigs within of spiffilicious storage space for musicalness galore (this is actually the truth) that is what was in the box in the mail that I got today
Archive for November, 2005
Not the Average Monday November 22nd, 2005
Phil Martin
Today we had classes, unusual since we normally don’t on mondays, but nothin too stressful. Started the last bit of theology, learning all about angels. Pretty cool stuff, except that our prof took half an hour to give us his opinions on stuff, rather than what the Bible taught, or rather, his interpretation of what the Bible taught.
No biggE, I can just ignore his opinion and form my own conclusions based on what the Bible says.
I think today I will clean up my room and start packing my stuff. Nate dropped by last night to give me his room key b4 heading off to PNG. I get to stay in his room while I work over the first part of break, which is cool, cause he has a 1000watt home theator system.
NEWAZ (to borrow Hallie’s favorite phrase) You can pray for my mother and brother who are both traveling to PNG. Nate left from Albany, my mom from Cleveland, and they will both meet up in LAX, and continue on to Uka. Nate will hang out for the holidays and come back, so if there is something you want, I can email him and have him bring it back.
Worked my last “service assignment” for fall quarter, and found about a hundred bucks that I wasn’t sure I had. (unrelated events) Always nice when that happens. Now I get to finish/start/continue getting my stuff together to leave on Wednesday!
My countdown widget says that there is 1 day, 16 hours, 39 min, 22 sec until Fall Quarter is Over!
Hallelujah!
em tasol for now
Peace to you.
A Week in Review November 20th, 2005
Phil Martin
This week started on Sunday, the 13th. I spent that day in church at my mother’s home church, for the morning service, and was able to observe a new couple being sent into the mission field with Wycliffe. That afternoon and evening were spent at a funeral home at viewings for my grandfather. He had touched so many people in his life, it was so neat to see the massive impact that one man could have. The day was complemented by having my good friend Ann from PNG come up from Canton to be with me and the family. Despite the sad circumstances, she was able to meet most of my family.
Monday the 14th I attended my grandfather’s funeral. My uncle and mother said some words about my grandfather. My brothers and I and a cousin stood up as well. My portion was not very well done, but between my brothers and cousin they captured my grandfather, in deed, faithfulness, and life. The graveside service was nice, God provided absolutely beautiful weather, birds singing and clear skies. I was able to participate there as well, as a pallbearer with brothers and cousins. I was honored to do this. After the service we had a nice meal with the family and a few others, and then were able to hang out for a bit.
Tuesday, the 15th was spent in the car. It rained the entire way back to WOLBI, but the trip was endured safely and without major event.
Wednesday, I got to go back to class, and I started to make up what I missed on Tuesday. Ran around in the afternoon and took care of random stuff that had piled up.
Thursday was a good day, class in the morning, a little work in the afternoon and a work-out in the weight room.
Yesterday I went to class, took my make up test and quiz, that I had missed on Tuesday, and worked some more. The only bad thing about working outside here is that it is hovering below 30 degrees (F) (that is, not rising above 30, not -30 degrees), so its a bit nippy, but not too bad.
And today was just relaxing. Slept in, spent some time talking to some friends, and might be able to help in a movie project. Hung out this afternoon, went for pizza with my dormmates and played some killer 21. As always, my height determines how much of the ball I get (not much) but I did well considering, a total of 16 points.
Tomorrow we have class (to make up for no class on Thurs/Fri) and the week ends on Wednesday!
Break approaches!
~to borrow from Rabbit~
Cheers!
A Day Long Remembered – 50 Posts and Counting November 20th, 2005
Phil Martin
Well, last post, somber as it was, marked a milestone here at StormRider: my 50th post. This site was started on the 12th of May 2005, and has, consequently, been running for 6 months and seven days.
Some highlights:
12 May 2005 – Blog started 19 May 2005 – Categories started 4 June 2005 – Banquet in PNG 13 June 2005 – Senior All-Nighter @ Primary school campus 22 June 2005 – Graduation Announcement 28 June 2005 – Recap of travel back to NorthAm 29 August 2005 – Wait A Wedding at the WOL Inn 12 September 2005 – A Trip to Montreal 25 October 2005 – A Trip to NYC 11 November 2005 – Thoughts About the Death of a Grandfather
so that being just a glimpse into what I have written on this site. Just looking back through the postings, alot has happened, but I have not commented on half of it. Oh well. I shall try to post more often in the future.
A Far Green Country November 11th, 2005
Phil Martin
My favorite part in Return of the King is when Pippin and Gandalf are in an upper level of Minis Tirith, waiting for the legions of orcs to break through the door, and Pippin remarks, “I didn’t think it would end this way,” and Gandalf says, “End? Oh no, death is not the end…” and proceeds to tell of the Undying Lands and describes them as “A far green country…”
That scene makes me cry every time I watch it, and if it weren’t for the rules, I would be watching it now.
Reminds me too of the Chronicle of Narnia, the Last Battle, when the children die and the world is made new and they run and are not tired…the pure joy and happiness of heaven.
Speaking of which, my grandfather died last night.
He was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer two weeks ago, but that did not kill him. Monday night he went into the hospitol because of some bleeding, had a stroke, laid all day in a coma, fought for life, and died late last night. Very sudden, very unexpected.
I am not having the easiest of times. Obviously.
My mother is flying home alone from PNG to be here for the funeral on Sunday, my brother and I will be driving to Ohio (where the funeral will take place) on Friday after my classes.
Pray for us.
Peace.
Another Weekend November 8th, 2005
Phil Martin
Well, the weekend is close to over. Two more hours…
As far as weekends go, it wasn’t too bad. I had an absolute blast in Providence, Rhode Island, working the Word of Life SuperBowl. We went down right after class, leaving here around 1345 (1:45pm) and arriving there around 1800 (6:00pm), The trip was slightly uneventful, and being there was kinda cool. What of Providence I saw was an old town and new skyscrapers integrated rather nicely.
First part of the evening was spent in a hockey arena. The Norfolk Admirals (my home team!) played and got their sorry butts whipped. The even fought like amateurs.
I was elected to be a team leader cause the original guy got sick, so I was incharge of the rest of the students (along with two other guys) and got to divvy up jobs and tell people where to work. It was kinda cool.
So we got treated like VIP’s around the place. At midnight, after the game and an evangelistic message, and over 150 salvation decisions- we played games ALL night. At the arena they came down to the ice and played games, then at 2400 (midnight) we split and headed for two bowling alley’s and a indoor sports complex where we set up a bunch of inflatables for the kids to play on. Round about 0300 the groups rotated and we went until 0530. Finally we packed up, ate breakfast and headed back to Word of Life.
Once back here, at 1200, I went to sleep until 1830. Stayed up till 2300, and headed to bed.
So it was a blast!!
More about what I did that evening in the next post….
happenings November 3rd, 2005
Phil Martin
ok,
so for a REAL update, I am doing swimmingly.
it has been in the upper 50s and 60s the past week, so that means WARM weather for a change, and now that we have had daylight savings, I can go to breakfast in the daylight. Whohoo!
Unfortunately, unless one of you wants to help me drive to Green Bay, I won’t make it to Leah’s, cause I am too poor to afford transportation.
so yeah.
But my Mother is talking with all of her relatives (she has quite a lot, and most of them are our supporters, strangely enough) so I may have somewhere to go for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Other than that I am finalizing plans to work for a week or so of break to make some money towards my school bill.
This weekend I am going to Providence, Rhode Island to work a Word of Life Superbowl, which is an evangelistic outreach to teens. WOL rents a facility, usually a basketball/hockey arena, we watch the game, then hold a meeting, then play games ALL night. Should be sweet. Then Sat afternoon I turn around, after getting back here, and head to Philly/Lancaster for a Newsboys concert with a bunch of friends (Zach, want to come with?)
And get back here Monday.
Will be fun I am sure.
Balance of the Force November 1st, 2005
Phil Martin
After reading some on Star Wars dot com about the nature of the force and one who would balance it, I have decided to post my own opinion, merely for my own pleasure, and because I think they are wrong (shocking, isn’t it?)
read the orginal article and the comments to it
then consider:
I believe that the Force was out of balance, but that it was the Jedi who had unbalanced it.
bal·ance n 1. a state in which two opposing forces or factors are of equal strength or importance so that they effectively cancel each other out and stability is maintained 2. a state in which various elements form a satisfying and harmonious whole and nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest
(Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.)
Therefore, a balance demands equality. Both sides are the same and uniform.
The Force as seen in Episodes 1-3 was unbalanced. The simple reason was that there were only 2 Sith and hundreds of Jedi. Though the Dark Side, through Darth Sidious’ manipulation was growing and clouding the Jedi’s Force use, it was still only a small portion of what the Jedi could draw on. After the Sith were destroyed eons before, the only force use was in the Light Side realms, goodness and purity the focus. Eventually a Sith survived, and began using Dark Side power for anger and revenge. Through the ages, the Dark Side users stayed small, only two at any one time. The Jedi Order meanwhile, proliferated. Soon there were many Jedi.
Now, that arguement is basically about numbers, and as far as that goes, it works.
But relative power also needs to be assesed. For instance, Yoda’s power is far greater than that of one of his youngling trainees. So in that case, the Force is unbalanced between them. This is an unbalance of power and mastery. Looked at from this view point, the Jedi, as a group, had more power than the Sith, as a group. Darth Sidious, however, I believe had more power than most of the Jedi Order, singularly, and of several collectively. Why else, in Revenge of the Sith, was he able to dispatch three Jedi Masters with ease? Why else was he holding his own against Yoda? He had great mastery of the Force. Now, if fifteen Jedi had come to his office to arrest him, I think he would have lost, both in the numbers and mastery departments. In this arguement, the Force is still unbalanced, but the question is how? If we go one against one, the only balance to be found is Yoda vs Sidious, Yoda is stronger than any Jedi or Sith except for Sidious, and vice versa. I still we think we need to go collectively. Sidious could not have beaten Anakin and Windu (if Anakin had made the right decision). Therefore the balance was still in the Jedi’s favor. It took Anakin aka Vader, who was stronger singularly than most Jedi to defeat the Jedi at the temple (with the help of the 501st) and Palpatine aka Sidious took out those he was stronger than. So it was only through deceit and clone help that the Sith brought balance. Which leads to the next area of this discussion: the Chosen One.
He Who Brings Balances: Anakin Skywalker.
Centuries earlier it was prophecied that one would be born miraculously who would bring balance to the Force. The Jedi arrogantly assumed that it would be a Jedi who would eradicate the Sith. “You were The Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness! ” – Obi-Wan. Only it would be a Sith who would destroy the Jedi and bring balance. The Jedi misunderstood the prophecy. “With all due respect, Master, is he not the Chosen One? Is he not to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force? ” – Obi-Wan, “So the prophecy says.” – Mace Windu, “A prophecy that misread could have been.” – Yoda
Therefore, it was Anakin’s destiny to become a Sith and destroy the Jedi and bring balance to the Force.
In Episode IV, the Force is balanced once again. Yoda and Obi-Wan are aging but growing; Sidious is growing old and complacent. Vader’s power has grown, and he will eventually take over. If the four had met, the only end would have been the death of them all.
With the onset of Luke Skywalker and his training, the Force became again unbalanced. He introduced the supremacy of the Jedi yet again. In Episode VI we have the culmination of the Battle of the Heroes and the final surge for the mastery and balance of the Force. What should have happened was for Luke to have killed the Emporer, and he and Vader been at equal odds. However, this is where destiny is proven not to be absolute. Back in Episode III, Anakin could have decided to defy his destiny and not join the Sith and destroy Palpatine. Here he decides to defy the Emporer, and is seeking to turn Luke to rule with him. That is his aim. Eventually it is his love for Padme, manifested in Luke, that drives Anakin to renounce the Dark Side and destroy the Emporer. Thus, the Force is unbalanced, and only Jedi remain. The Sith exist after Return of the Jedi only as a shadow and a possibilty.
The Children of the Prophecy are Luke and Leia, and if Anakin was to bring balance, I believe Leia would eventually turn to the Dark Side to culminate a new era of equal numbers of Jedi and Sith. I believe that there is no possibility of Luke turning to the Dark Side, after his ordeals on Cloud City and the Death Star.
But, this is only my opinion….and Star Wars is only a galaxy far, far away….
