65th post

So, I'm thinking I might go back and delete some posts from Dec/Jan/Feb of this year. Not that I want to ignore the past, but I don't need that stuff out there for the worlds to see.

So, Thursday was a year to the day I first tried to break up with Laura. It's been an interesting year. I've learned a lot. I've grown a lot. I miss her still from time to time, the friendship. I'm glad she's doing well, though.

So I think when I get married, I wanna dance to this song. I dunno what it is about it, but I freakin' think that would be awesome

One month until we get to feel God's love again! (One month before College Football.) Seriously, Fall is my favorite season- Baseball, Football, nice weather, and Thanksgiving.)

Be on the lookout for another rant in the next few days. I'm quite annoyed right now.

-Jdawg

Oh man! I... wow.

I don't think the "smokin hot wife" part was needed, but at least this guy knows what to truly be thankful for as a NASCAR fan. Seriously, I died when he said boogity! That cracked me up. (For those who don't know, Darryl Waltrip says "Boogity Boogity Boogity" at the beginning of each race.) How many of y'all honestly think about every word you use during your prayers? How often do y'all ask for brownies to strengthen and nourish?

We could have had a High Councilmen give the prayer. 2 hours later, we could all wake up and watch the race start.

This prayer was said in Tennessee, part of the bible belt. I highly doubt a lot of people in that crowd haven't heard an "appropriate" prayer.

I'd take this over testimonies laced with confession, sobbing, travel details, and verbatim statements that get repeated over and over again.

At the end of the day, NASCAR is a second religion to a lot us down here in Dixie.

Listen, If y'all agree to leave us alone, than we'll promise to try really really hard not to rebel again. I promise.

Actually, it doesn't matter where you sit

So today at church, I heard a lady complaining. I'm not sure who she was complaining to, as no one was sitting near her, but I heard what she was saying. She was saying how she had been sitting in that same seat for years, that she was a longtime member of this ward, and it was unfair that other people took her seat. Seriously? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU SIT!!! I cannot imagine what is seriously going through the heads of these people. What matters is that you are at church, and you feel the spirit. uhg.

Yesterday was nice. I went to Mai Tai and just sat and watched everyone dance. It was good. I got to just think, but not feel worried. For a few hours, I felt normal again. I wasn't worried about not having a job. I wasn't frustrated with girls. I was normal for a few hours. I needed it. Back to the grind tomorrow. I really hate not having a job. I wanna work.

sibling wars

My oldest brother (Ben) and I have been battling on Facebook over who is the most intelligent (and humble) sibling in the family. Now, I am severely dyslexic, and my mind runs faster then I can type, so my sentences tend to not make sense every one and a while due to mistypes words, missing words, and incomplete thoughts. Well, Ben tried to call me out. And he failed.

Ben Pillow: "Your grammer sucks!"

I think I win.

my interview with Macy's

Manager: "It didn't say what department this was for, did it?"

Me: "No, it just said sales associate. Why? What department is it for?"

Manager: "Well, this opening is in the Women's Intimate apparel."

My friend Sam told me I should have said I was gay.

This past week

I don't really know where to begin on this past week. It is one I'm not sure I;ll ever be able to forget, for several reasons.

Sunday was a normal day, except for the potluck dinner we had in honor of Elder Ellis, who died. (Dying= mission slang for going home.) HE was the Zone Leader, so he gave the sister missionaries, who are one ward south, special permission to come to his party. I felt guilty about it, but I flirted with one of the sisters a bit.

Monday was incredibly frustrating. Tina, as usual, was a complete waste of space in the Deli. She popped in and out from time to time, but always had time to criticize my work and Joyce's work. Then she added more work for us to do and left after not really helping at all. Somehow, I got everything done that needed to be done before Joyce left. The, it got busy. Very busy. I did not get a break from the window from the time Joyce left (at 530pm) till about 730pm. I was so stressed out by it all, but I handled myself well. I only had one lady who seemed flustered with me because I wouldn't let her stand in the deli while I sliced her break for her. Well, I finished cleaning up and went about my normal routine, and left a few minutes early.

Tuesday, We had two new elders transfer to our ward. (Our ward has two sets of missionaries.) One, Elder Johnson, was replacing Ellis, and the other was replacing Elder Larson, who was transferred. Of course, Vic (a.k.a. "Grandpa") and I had to prank him. He pulled the usual mafia prank, excet this time we added Vic's friend Bill, who is a "Dry Mormon." (A non-baptized but has testimony.) Watch Video Here. Not our best work, but there's always next time

Wednesday and Thursday, didn't have much to report.

Friday, I got fired from Food Lion. I saw is coming. Tina Didn't like my HR complaint. They didn't like that I wasn't some brainless monkey who doesn't ask questions. In the end, this isn't going to matter. It's not the end of the world. I've already filled out 8 applications, and I have an interview Tuesday with Macy's. I went out with the Elders Friday night, and that made me feel a lot better. We taught a lesson to Bill, and tried to get him to commit to a baptismal date, but he is balking. It didn't help that Vic continued to interrupt the lesson, and even swore during the lesson. Eventually he calmed down and we made progress.

Saturday, I had dinner with the Button family and the south elders. We then had a tie-exchange session, and I went to the mall. That's when things got weird. As I was walking out of JC Penny, I noticed that the girl in front of me kinda looked a bit like Laura. As I walked past her, I turned to look at her face. She looked exactly like Laura- same glasses, haircut, smile, eyes, face was shaped the same. It freaked me out. I sat down. As this girl walked past me she looked directly at me, then turned around and walked past me again.

Today, I got the feeling that I needed to go to the beach and just take a ride. Now, there is a tropical storm just off the coast right now, so we have been getting feeder-bands all day. As I got to the beach, I saw something that made my day. Not sure what you're looking at there? Well, it's the under-side of this. Not sure what that is? Try the edited version. Yes, that's right, it's a waterspout. Florida has got to be the only place in the world where you can get a sunburn while watching a waterspout. I saw the top of the funnel while I was coming over the bridge, but I didn't realize it had made it all the way down to the water. When I realized it was also about to move onshore, I raced down to meet it. (It's barely and EF-0, so no danger at all really.) I missed it by about 10 seconds. I was about 50 yards away when it made landfall. It was so awesome to watch. The dust cloud, or sand cloud in this case, was about 100ft high before it fell apart. I loved watching this happen. It immediately started to pour after the at this point tornado passed by. It's weather like this that makes me never wanna leave this place. I knew Heavenly Father gave me that little bit of joy to end my week on a high note.

-Jdawg

Megadeth

Okay, these are some samples of Megadeth, my favorite band. I love their music.

Since Megadeth has had a lot of lineup changes, here are the people who recorded the songs. This is the people who appear in the videos provided- not always the ones who recorded the original studio versions. And yes, a lot of these have Marty Friedman, the same guy I talked about in the last post. He was Megadeth's lead guitarist from 1990-1999.

Dave Mustaine- Rhythm/Lead guitar, Lead Vocals (All tracks)

David Ellefson- Bass (#2-4, 6-10)

Chris Poland- Lead Guitar (#8)

Gar Samuelson- Drums (#8)

Chuck Behler- Drums (#7)

Jeff Young- Lead Guitar (#7)

Marty Friedman- Lead Guitar (#2-4, 6, 8, 10)

Nick Menza- Drums (#2-4, 6, 8, 10)

Shawn Drover- Drums (#1, 5)

Glen Drover- Lead Guitar (#1)

Chris Broderick- Lead Guitar (#5)

James Lomenzo- Bass (#5)

James MacDonough- Bass (#1)

1. Kick the Chair (political)

2. A Tout le Monde (dying man's last words)

3. Symphony of Destruction (political)

4. Foreclosure of a Dream (Political, based off real events)

5. Burnt Ice (drug addiction)

6. Family Tree (anti child abuse)

7. Hook in Mouth (compares the book "1984" to the PMRC)

8. Tornado of Souls (break-up)

9. Peace Sells (political)

10. Holy Wars... the Punishment Due (political)

snappy title goes here

Psh. I could totally play this.

(not)

Marty Friedman

So, last night I blogged about Jason Becker. Now, Marty Friedman. Most of These are doodles and excerpts from lessons. Enjoy

Heavy Metal Solo (Metal, obviously)

Exotic Clean Solo (Kinda new-age with eastern feel)

Blues-ish Solo (Blues, kinda)

Minor Key Solo (Sad, really. Just, very, very sad.)

Dragon Mistress excerpt (Metal)

Obviously, Marty Friedman's style is much for focused towards the emotions of the notes. While Jason Becker is more theory-based, Marty is more feeling-based. That's why so many people loved it when they played together in Cacophony; it was the perfect mix.

So, as I ranted about people who down-play the talents required to play metal, I guess I should talk about how much I think a guitar should be played more like Marty Friedman and less like Steve Vai. Don't get me wrong, Steve Vai is an excellent guitarist, but all instruments have different ways they should be played, and I think these videos show the best way to play guitar. A guitar is more suited to be played slower, with more holds and pauses than say a trumpet of piano' it's just the way it works with a guitar. Sometimes a guitar sounds great played at high-speed, such as when Jason Becker did Paganini's5th Caprice (Yeah, he was a little sloppy in that video. I think he should have done it without the distortion.) In the end, I think guitar should be more "feeling" based when played. But that's just one fellow's opinion.

-Jdawg

Jason Becker

All day today, I've had various Jason Becker songs stuck in my head. Ah, Jason, the guitarist who can wipe the floor with any other guitarist, from any genre of music. He is very quickly becoming the largest influence into my playing, though I doubt he will surpass Marty Friedman, who has a bit more "feeling" to his style. A few samples

Perpetual Burn (metal)

Eleven Blue Egyptians (Metal, with a few variations)

Air (classical)

Angel Eyes (Blues /Jazz Jam)

Jasin Street (Blues)

Opus Pocus (metal)

I should have seen this rant coming...

One thing I loved about Laura, is that she was open-minded to the quality and art offered by other forms of music. She is one of the few classical musicians I've ever met who can honestly say "While I don't listen to metal myself, I do see it's value." I get annoyed, and yet amused by these elitist people who think if it isn't written for a symphony, it isn't worth anything. They think It's easy. nothing could be farther from the truth. Guitar Player Magazine, which is aimed at all types of guitar styles, considers the solo from Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" (written and recorded by Marty Friedman) to be the most difficult guitar solo to learn. It takes the average guitarist over a month to master a 62 seconds of music. (This is a video of Chris Broderick playing the Solo. I can't find any HQ versions of Marty playing it, and Chris plays it note-for-note in this version.) I guess what bothers me is when people think that metal is just a bunch of drop-D quarter notes and eight notes. True, some metal is like that, but saying all metal is that simplistic is like saying all symphonic music is like "Ode to Joy." There is better stuff out there, people.

Look, metal did NOT develop from rock- it developed from blues. The first band to play metal was Black Sabbath, back in 1965. They were a blues group when they formed, and slowly progressed towards metal. Speed and trash metal derive from neo-classical metal, which is influenced by the neo-classical movement of the early 1900s. All neo-classical guitarist, even the ones that suck, studied classical guitar, and most all of the well-respected guitarist today studied classical music, either on the guitar, or other instruments. Chris Broderick has a Masters Degree in classical guitar performance, and also has played violin since he was 7. Alexi Laiho studied Mozart for inspiration. Cliff Burton was a piano prodigy. (Okay, he played Bass, not guitar.) Dimebag Darrel played blues outside of playing metal.

I think my point is proven. Talent, art, and beauty are not limited to only select genres of music. Even some rap has value, though I personally don't enjoy it. It takes between 8-20 years to train for classical performance, and it takes between 5-15 years to train for metal performance. Even musicologists agree (well, most do) that classical and metal are very closely related. I love music. My mom made sure to raise me with a love it art and music. I've probably spent about 3 or 4 years total amount of time listening to classical music. I know what it sounds like. I've listened to tons of Blues, Jazz, Metal, Rock, and Marching music. They all have different strengths and weaknesses, but in the end, the best of the best, all is very, very similar.

-Jdawg

PS I should clearify: When I refer to "classical", I am generalizing the different periods together into one. Yes, I know they are very different, but for the point of argument, I'm presenting them together. I know the difference between classical and romantic.

Death Penalty

As I promised, here is my rant on the death penalty

I am all for it.

The end

Okay, not really. Yes, I am all for it, but no, I am not some nut-job who thinks we should just go around frying and injecting everyone who takes a piece of candy from the store.

My reasoning for the death penalty is along the lines of debt. For the most part, a criminal pays his "debt" by serving time in prison. A specific set of time goes along with each specific crime. Murder, however, is by itself an unusual crime because what we lose is something that cannot truly be paid back- life. This is why we have the death penalty; it isn't that we kill people to teach them killing is wrong, because that is just silly. We kill people because the punishment must be commensurate with the crime. When you murder, you intentionally end the life of another person; therefore, the debt owed, and punishment due, is another life.

End of rant.

-Jdawg

PS Tomorrow is Free Slurpee Day!!! Head to your nearest 7-11 and get a free 7.11 ounce slurpee!

I don't care about Casey Anthony

[Please read: This is a highly opinionated post, and is likely to offend a lot of people who read it, so proceed at your own discretion. If you disagree with anything i write here, which i assume will be everyone who reads it, I am okay with that; I am a highly opinionated person; however I do not enjoy offending people; regardless, if you get so upset that you hate my guts and never wanna talk to me again: Go for it, and then go grow up. I won't lose sleep over it. I promise.]

Okay, that title isn't necessarily true; someone, somewhere, killed a little girl. I don't care about all this attention Casey is getting, and I can't believe people are saying things that are so evil, vile, and hate-filled. How can someone consider himself better than anyone else when he post such crap for everyone to see?These are a few of the things that have been on my Facebook news feed lately. (Please note, some are edited for clarity, content and the fact that I can't stand gross grammatical errors. I feel like my eyes are being [violated] every time I see one.)

"Oh well, the jury may not have served her justice but the people sure will. Hopefully she watches her back. R.I.P Caylee Anthony."

"Not Guilty? Really?"

"I love the justice system, because even when you're innocent, you still have to pay, but [getting] a lot of publicity being guilty, and [getting] paid, its amazing."

"Dear Mommy: I see you smile down there below...are those tears of joy you show? I'm glad you're happy, although you lied...I'd love to be right by your side...but by your choice, I view from above...tell my grandparents I send my love...it's beautiful here is all I can say...your life will go on without me in your way...Love, Caylee Marie XOXO SO SAD:(. Repost if you believe that justice was not served today!!!"

"Dear Casey Anthony,

[expletive often used in reference to intercourse] you! You'll be dead by Christmas, just in time for the holidays!

Sincerely,
[an idiot]"

Thankfully, I had one friend who was intelligent enough to realize this had more to do with media hype and less to do with justice.

Like I said earlier, I'm upset that a little girl was murdered, and I'm upset that her mom obviously had some role to play in it, but what's bothering me more is the reaction by the general pubic about this whole situation. This is something that, in all reality, has nothing to do with anyone else. "Justice" and judgement are not our place in regards to other humans; it's God's. A lot of people are not interested in justice because they are denying someone who has the rights to a fair trial. I used to be one of them, until my mom said something to me which actually made me question how I was initially reacting to the whole thing from the beginning of the trial: "Everyone is entitled to due process." It's true. The Constitution is very clear about that, and it's a wonderful protection: one has no burden to prove himself innocent; the accused must first prove him guilty. (this is not always the reality of it, but it's great in theory.) It is the job of the prosecution to prove their case, and it is the job of the defense to cast reasonable doubt on the case brought by the prosecution; while they may feel passionately about their jobs, and they may be (and probably are) motivated my personal convictions of right and wrong, it is still a matter of them doing their jobs; only in the case of our legal system, only one can do his job well enough.

If I had been on that jury, I likely would have found the same verdict. While I believe she is guilty of something, I do not believe the prosecution proved their case.

NEWS FLASH! A VERDICT OF "NOT GUILTY" IS NOT THE SAME A VERDICT OF "INNOCENT." It's just like how a plea of "No Contest" is not the same as a plea of "Guilty."

Something else needs to be said here. This is not a matter of justice. This is a matter of punishment. Our legal system does not bring justice, nor is it any for of justice at all. Our courts are not meant to be moral guides; they are meant to ensure proper enforcement of the law. This is a matter of someone who broke the law, and the state could not prove who it was. Please remember, they also accused her of lying, and she was found guilty of that; they did prove that part of their case. Justice is in the hands of God. Only he knows all things, knows our hearts, and has a true understanding of what is fair. In the end, everyone will pay fairly and justly for the part each played. Until then I am going to be concerned with being the best person I can be, doing what I know is right, and protecting those whom I can and should protect.

-Jdawg

P.S. I feel a rant about the death penalty coming on. Spoiler alert: I'm all for it.)

4th of July

Anyone who knows me well knows I hate extreme political views, regardless of the extreme. I hate political parties- all of them. I feel that if we would just eliminate parties, all this squabbling and bickering and name-calling would end; we would finally have a true Democratic process; we would truly get things done; we would honestly listen to each other, and not just try to prove ourselves right every time. I wish so much that we could, for the first time in a long time, consider what is truly the best choices for our country, and not what Fox, or MSNBC, or these corporations tell us is best. Of all the things my mom taught me growing up, (a love for music and art, love for reading, love for learning,) the ability to think for myself is probably the most important thing she's given me. She taught me how to form my own opinions, how to weight other people's input, how to consider my sources of information. I cannot stand it when otherwise intelligent people just parrot what their parents believe, and never truly step back and question it. It kills me when I hear people, whom I respect genuinely care about, buy into the rhetoric and bull crap that is fed to us by the "media" and political interest groups. It makes me sad. My parents have never told me to think the same things they do. My mom, as well as my dad, will always ask me WHY I feel the way I do. They question my opinions because they want me to have valid logic behind them. My dad has said many times that while he doesn't always agree with my views, or even my reasoning behind it, but he respects and admires the fact that I will never shy away from giving my opinion, and that I always can and will back it up. I wish more parents would so this; I know when I get married and have kids, I certainly will.

As long as I'm posting, HUNGER GAMES ROCKED!!! Seriously, it was one of the best books I've ever read. While I still don't like the first-person view, it was a great read.

I've had a wonderful Sabbath today. Last week was good, but today rocked. Sometimes, I honestly do not understand why I used to live my life against Christ, although the word "stupidity" comes to mind often when I think about that.

I don't wanna work tomorrow. I hope it's dead all day so I can get out early.

-Jdawg