Marylin Manson Lyrics

I hate to admit it, but totally identify with the lyrics in this song, particularly below.

I would be interested to spend a day with MM and get to know him. He gives voice to some really interesting, and even sort of archetypal thoughts and emotions. I find these expressed a lot in those who were raised to hate our humanity, especially during a period when our humanity is most intensely felts (teen years).

There's little worse than intensely longing to be something "good" that you can never be, but believing that you're simply deficient in some way.

I love God, but I hate ... no, more like am deeply distressed and enormously saddened, by the voice, attitudes, and petty human-ness that the godly have superimposed on the idea of God.

Owl Intranet -- Owl 0.91 20060822
MARILYN MANSON - DISPOSABLE TEENS LYRICS

I never really hated the "one true God"
But the god of the people I hate

Newsboys

I could be wrong. Newsboys might be the greatest band ever.

Sympathy for the Devil Remix

something about this video rings true. I almost like what they've done musically towards the end. I think it would have worked better to do that all the way through.

Yes. I have insomnia (stress induced I would guess) and am watching music videos. :)

Maybe it's because when I first saw it I was 19, in love simultaniously with three amazing young women, and stoned out of my mind on NiQuil, but I gotta say, this video doesn't carry the same potency for me that it used to.

Everything is defined by it's moment in time.

When I first heard it, I thought the lyric was
I'm not sleepin' ... alone...
I'm not sleepin' ... at all ...

U2

So, as it turns out, U2 is the greatest band ever. I recognize the complete banality of this statement, as it is a well established and objectively verifiable fact ;-).

Brazil is a wonderful nation. I was fortunate to spend some time in Rio while working in South American Joint Ventures for MCI. There's some life being lived, there, man. But it's not a hedonistic throw-away culture like ours. Everyone's partying, but they're partying with the people they love, and it's like a family atmosphere, even though everyone is drinking and dancing. Good stuff.



I never get tired of that song...

Ben Stein once again proving that he is the ulitmate in conservative coolness

NOTE: Link is in post title.

Long have I been a big fan of Ben Stein. I love what he has to say in the linked web page, and particularly in the interview with O'Reilly. (Sorry, blogger is having trouble with links, or I'd include one).

There are, as I see it, at least two problems here:
1 - human nature is universal, and the sort of thing that he is decrying was as much a result of that nature in the inquisition as it is in 2008 in the scientific community.
2 - No one understands math.
Amount of potential knowledge in universe = infinity
Portion of that which you know = x where x < infinity x / infinity = zero for all intents and purposes.

Bottom line, no one should give up their science because of religion, and no one should give up their faith because of science. Neither side knows nearly as much as they'd like to think. Faith is important, and science and empiricism have given us a lot.

There is a legitimate historical fear that states essentially that when religion of any sort rules, free exchange of ideas is stifled, sometimes violently.

I love secularism in gov't and schools, but people should not be persecuted for not espousing the beliefs of the state (Stalinism, anyone?)

If science were taught and taught well, we wouldn't need to even have this conversation. (I'll post again on that, see my post on inversion of control for a glimpse.)

Thanks you Ben Stein.

Prince who's programmer?

some of you may wonder why I call myself prince Wang's programmer.
those who know me well will of course assume it is reference to the male genetaila.

you may be surprised to find that it is, in fact, referring to this:

Prince Wang's programmer was coding software. His fingers danced upon the keyboard. The program compiled without an error message, and the program ran like a gentle wind.

``Excellent!'' the Prince exclaimed, ``Your technique is faultless!''

``Technique?'' said the programmer turning from his terminal, ``What I follow is Tao - beyond all techniques! When I first began to program I would see before me the whole problem in one mass. After three years I no longer saw this mass. Instead, I used subroutines. But now I see nothing. My whole being exists in a formless void. My senses are idle. My spirit, free to work without plan, follows its own instinct. In short, my program writes itself. True, sometimes there are difficult problems. I see them coming, I slow down, I watch silently. Then I change a single line of code and the difficulties vanish like puffs of idle smoke. I then compile the program. I sit still and let the joy of the work fill my being. I close my eyes for a moment and then log off.''

Prince Wang said, ``Would that all of my programmers were as wise!''