For a Moment of Forgetting... (Musings on Materialism)

To paraphrase Glenn Phillips, we've all got a lot to be thankful for. Some mornings you don't wake up feeling too thankful. Isn't it odd then, that an icecream cone and a chocolate cookie can suddenly make you feel better when you're feeling low? Conversely, eating an icecream cone and a cookie can ruin your chargrilled chicken sandwich. Had to eat the cone before it melted...

I listened to Peter Gabriel on the way into work this morning, and got hit by these lines. We're all so alike...

I caught sight of my reflection, I saw it in the window
I saw the darkness in my heart
I saw the signs of my undoing, they had been there from the start

And the darkness still has work to do, the knotted chords untying
The heated and the holy, oh they’re sitting there on high
So secure in everything they’re buying

I can hear the distant thunder of a million unheard souls
Of a million unheard souls
Watch each one reach for creature comforts
For the filling of their holes

... To paraphrase (more like read into) Chris Cornell, I can have the Wooden Jesus of materialism and "spend all my money on a future grave" or the real thing and be satisfied. I shouldn't quite be so much like everyone else.

I Had A Dream...

Do people still read this thing? We'll find out I guess.

So I had this dream last night with Dr. Sachs, the chair of the Belhaven music department, in it.

There was a record shop (they sold actual records) that I frequented. It was similar to Beebop on 55, only it was around the other side where Blockbuster is now. Apparently, it was owned by Dr. Sachs. Well, one night when I went to the store, it had been replaced by a Barnes and Nobles. The only records they had were these Shel Silverstine records (don’t know if Shel Silverstine ever made a record…). While I was brousing the store, I got a call on my cell phone, which turned out to be Dr. Sachs…

Dr. Sachs was very upset. Apparently he went out of business on the account that I didn’t buy enough records. He felt that I owed it to him to be his friend, since it was my fault the store got bought out. I decided I better get back home before he showed up. He started following me around, and I got really creeped out (he was wearing a light blue cardigan the whole time). After I got home, I was really paranoid. He came and knocked on my front door, and I locked the door. Then somebody knocked on my backdoor. I let out a tremendous “NOOOOOO!!!!” and then I looked out the window. It was not Dr. Sachs, but Danny and Jon Aaron. I opened the door and told them to hurry up and come in, because Dr. Sachs was hanging around and I didn’t want him to get in. They stood there like complete morons, smiling and making Danny and Jon Aaron hand gestures. Just as Dr. Sachs started to force his way in the door, my alarm went off, and I awoke from my dream.

Pretty weird huh?

Earlier, I had dreamed that due to some sort of impending military strike in the area, which was somehow connected to the current conflict in Lebanon, Grant was organizing a militia (consisting of He, Page, the young-marrieds, and I) and was going to use the event as a foil to take the local Wal-Mart by force. It was his assertion that 1.) If we controlled Wal-Mart, we would have everything we needed to survive the war (or nuclear attack or whatever it was, can’t remember), and 2.) because it was the middle of a war, there would be no retribution for our actions. At first I went along with it, then I realized there was no way Grant and a bunch of us pencil necked geeks could take a Wal-Mart by force (although we were heavily armed for some reason). The whole thing fell apart in the end, but I can’t remember why…


All your spirit rack abuses
Come to haunt you back by day
All your Byzantine excuses
Given time, given you away

So don't be surprised when daylight comes
To find that memory prick your thumbs
You'll tell them where we run to hide
I'm already dead, it's a matter of time
- Marillion

I Was Gonna Post Something Serious...

But it just wasn't coming to me. However, I've made up for it by providing your entertainment for the week in the link below. There is a reason why Rush is one of the greatest bands ever. Aside from their music being great, they are just plain funny. Just watch this video and tell me you don't want to be Geddy Lee's best friend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIeZBeUTOSY&search=Geddy

"Small children, and those worried about their brain..."



And a woman needs a man
Like a fish needs a bicycle
When you're trying to throw your arms around the world
- Bono

70 Years Ago Yesterday...

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church was born. No, you are not the only perfect church, but you have been faithful to the word for seven decades. Happy Birthday OPC!!!

http://www.opc.org/today.html


The OPC's Founding Father, J. Gresham Machen. Swell Guy!!


















How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
"Lord, why was I a guest?

"Why was I made to hear thy voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"

'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God,
Constrain the earth to come;
Send thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
Sing thy redeeming grace.

It Started Out as Innocent Fun...




And Ended Up in Bloodshed...




OK, you can't really tell from the picture, but that my friends, is a lacerated chin. It resulted in an unspecified number of stitches, three hours in the ER, and a substantial medical bill. By the time it's all said and done, I will have the $1,000 chin to go with my $1,000,000 good looks.

The greatest tragedy here folks, is that I was definitely safe at home. I slid in right under that tag. Both catcher and runner tumbled to the ground. The ump was in no position to make the call. As it turned out, we lost by one measily run. Watch out Rhythm and Brewes, we will have our revenge...

So I've decided that this gives new meaning to the legend that is Brad's Beard. The immortal question of whether or not I will ever be able to grow a beard apart from some miracle of medical science seems to have been answered last night. In the words of Dr. Karl Hatten, Jr., "You used to grow hair here. You won't anymore." Little did he know, I never grew hair there. Ha!!!! Jokes on you Hatten!!

For a long time I felt
Without style or grace
Wearing shoes with no socks
In cold weather

- Talking Heads

Hmmm.... what is this formatting stuff? Script? Obviously this is not blogging for dummies over here.

Well, this is the sequal to www.xanga.com/theaveragebrad. Don't know which one I'll end up using. It is actually the third in a series of blogs which I have had entitled "The Average Brad," but the original The Average Brad was more of a prequal than a first version. A prototype if you will. Oh, it still exists, but you will never know where...

There is exciting news about my chin, and I'd like to share it with all of you, but I'm waiting for the pictures. Thursday, June 8, 2006 was an historic day in the life of Brad's Beard. It may never be the same...

I was safe I tell you.


Cause I'm the one who knows what scares you
I'm the one who loves you best
I'm the thirteenth at the table
I'm the uninvited guest
I'm the Banquo at your banquet
I'm the cuckoo in your nest
I'm your fifteen-stone first-footer
I'm the uninvited guest

- Marillion

"That blast came from the Death Star. That thing's operational."

Is this thing working?