Cromwell

I just finished "Cromwell" by Antonia Fraser. 

If you are interested in history, this is definitely one for you. Yes, I get why Irish people (I am not Irish, even though I have an Irish last name) might hate him, and I don't blame them for it. He also turned England into a military dictatorship that would have been horrible to live in. 

But without him, the world would be very different. It was the English Civil War that first told the king that no, he can't rule without the people. It established a precedent that England still lives with, over 400  years later. 

History nerds of the world unite! 

Album of the weekend

Mortal Treason-A Call to the Martyrs

This is the heaviest album I've mentioned, and it's like beer or coffee-an acquired taste that not everyone will like. Though of course, as a good little LDS boy, I don't drink either. 

One of the most unknown and underrated deathcore bands, Mortal Treason is shamefully now known by many people anymore. 

The lyrics to most of these songs are deeply religious but also have an intensity that is lacking in most Christian music. You tend to feel this album more than you hear it. 

Josh Duggar

It's obvious that Josh Duggar is an out of control hedonist who can't control himself. He has some serious problems that need to be addressed. 

I get the joke-how someone apparently so holy and righteous can talk the talk but not walk the walk.    

But you know what else is also repulsive? People taking such glee in his downfall. While ignoring our own sins we often love to catch a hypocrite- it make us feel better for our own failings. 

Obviously his family are the true victims here. 

National Dog day!

Hug your dog for me today. Sure, music, politics and religion are important, but we've got to keep our priorities straight. Dogs come first. 

Bark bark. 

Compassion

The trouble with “compassion”

Compassion is a wonderful virtue.

But you need to have many virtues to call yourself a moral person.  Compassion is trendy-we want to show others how wonderful and thoughtful we are-but if we really thought about it, showing “compassion” (a subjective word if there ever was one) to someone is almost always at the expense of someone else.

Example-an 18 year old kid from a broken home was raised in poverty.  He never really had a chance. He decides to enter into a life of crime, breaking into homes for his Oxycontin fix. The cops arrest him.

You are on the jury, and out of “compassion” you decide not to convict him. After all, isn’t that nice and thoughtful?

But! Where is your “compassion” for the home owner whose house he broke into? 

Don’t get me wrong, compassion is good, even admirable. It is, however, disturbing to me that in this society we tend to place it over every other virtue.

Happy Birthday to Thomas Monson!

Happy Birthday Thomas Monson! 

Album of the weekend

Tantric-The End Begins

During the beginning of “The One”, the third track on the album, you hear a haunting piano piece. Than, the voice of Kevin Martin from Candlebox start adds to the general eeriness of the song. His vocal style fits in perfectly.

This album is dark and moody, and also brilliant. It sounds post grunge like (dare I say it?) Creed-but it’s also much more adult and darker than Creed. Think Creed (a band I also like) for adults.

It’s also musically different, with violins and pianos and other sounds that sound out of place for a rock album. Out of place in the best way.

Great album for those looking for something off beat. 

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter has just announced that the cancer has spread to his brain. No snarky comment or political comment from me on this one. 

I am praying for the former president at this time.  

Women added to church leadership.

http://www.ldsdaily.com/church-lds/church-adds-female-leaders-to-three-leading-church-councils/

Outstanding news. I'm proud of the priesthood opening up the doors to women having more power and influence in the church. 


That said, I am sympathetic to those who think it's a politically correct move. Hopefully the church will put the brakes on getting too PC.  

Could this be the first step to women getting the priesthood? I doubt it. The prophets have made it very clear that the priesthood is only for men. Than again, the 1978 revelation on Black men getting the priesthood changed everything. I bet no one thought black men would get the priesthood in 1977. 

My personal view is that women should get the priesthood. I'm not sure that just because you were born a certain way you should be denied something. Again, just my thoughts.  

Fireproof?

I understand why religious people like the movie. It’s nice to see a couple go through a hard time and not give up.  It also claims to have a “Christian” message. 

I saw it once many years ago and it was recently talked about in church. 

Truthfully though, the movie is very shallow, has an insulting message-and gets it’s own point totally wrong.

No, you shouldn’t spend all day looking at porn on the computer.

However if my wife were a selfish, rude and disloyal as the wife was in this movie, I’d probably do the same thing. Remember that part where she almost hooks up with the doctor at her workplace? Just because he apparently helps out her parents? Um, that’s not cool either and is basically ignored in the movie. No one seemed to call her out this. It seemed like the entire movie had a “blame men first” attitude.

Women can do stupid things to mess up their relationships too, but it has always seemed to me that religious people tend to blame men first.

I’m not a movie fan. I like distractions and people apparently think it’s rude to stare at a Kindle or play Advance Wars on my Game Boy during them.

I’ll stick to listening to music 24/7. 

Album of the weekend

Nirvana-Nevermind

With “Nevermind” being the classic apathetic Gen X statement, it’s very fitting that the band that personified Gen X uses it to title their defining album.

Nevermind is the greatest album of the 90s. In it’s own way, it was like the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan. Nothing would ever be the same again. Glam rock was dying a slow death and the music industry was wondering what would be next.

For the first time in my album of the weekend posts, this album has no bad songs.  None. Every single song from the opening and slightly overrated “Smells like Teen Spirit” to the final song, “Something in the Way” is outstanding and belongs on a Nirvana greatest hits album.

Not much more to say other than “Get this album if you don’t have it”

Have a great weekend! God bless!  

Flags

You have got to be a special kind of babyish to call 911 because you see a confederate flag. Google it, it really happened in Connecticut. 

People are now claiming for the POW/MIA flag to be taken down everywhere because that too, "is offensive"

Imagine if someone dared to say "I want the rainbow flag banned. That's offensive." The same people who want the confederate flag banned would go into cardiac arrest. 

It's another sad indicator that feelings are triumphing over thought, again. 

True Confession-Adam Sandler

This is part of my "True Confession" series, where I am going to admit things that I may like or dislike and no one else does. 

I can’t stand Adam Sandler

Yes, he’s supposedly a very nice and good person to his mom, friends and fans. Good for him.

That doesn’t take away from the fact that he is a terrible actor, totally unfunny, and at his worst-breathtakingly stupid and condescending. 

The worst part about Sandler is that he knows he’s playing to the lowest common denominator. Some of his early stand up is quite good. Back then he played the sort of everyman that you could actually like. His jokes were funny but more than that, he seemed to like what he was doing in stand up. His material was edgy and you can tell the guy had untapped “potential”. 

Than, someone gave him huge money to make use of stupid voices and only play characters with no redeeming quality and only one characteristic. The golf movie he made he plays a violent sociopath. The other movies he is in he plays charecters that usually don’t have anymore than one quality (slow minded, obsessed with being 14 instead of the late 40 something man he is).  I exempt “Punch Drunk Love”-his only good movie of the last twenty years.

I love slapstick movies. Airplane and The Naked Gun are two of my favorites of all time. I also like “There’s Something About Mary” and other comedies that are rated R and not appropriate for a good little Mormon boy. In full confession, I also like the movie “Joe Dirt”, a movie that clearly has some Sandler ties/influence.

Roger Ebert said it best. “It seems like Sandler is holding back to use the ‘only kidding’ excuse. That’s so true. Sandler doesn’t want to admit to his audience that he’s laughing at them, not with them. 

Motives

Recently a friend made a donation to a “Go Fund Me” page. I thought it was a sweet thing to do, but why he did it threw me off a bit. “I did it for a very selfish reason. It makes me feel better about myself”. Direct quote.

Does the motive matter? I’d like to say that it does, but in reality, it doesn’t. It would be nice of him to donate out of sheer compassion-but that’s not how it works. The guy on the receiving end of the donation doesn’t care about the hearts of people who donate-he just wants the money. There is nothing wrong with that way of thinking, t’s how the world works.

Too often people focus on the motive instead of the outcome. Intentions don’t matter, results do. I'd rather your heart is dark and evil but you treat others with basic manners than you being a wonderful and compassionate soul who treats the people around them like garbage.