A (not-so-quick) word.

I know, no interview today. I haven't had people responding and stuff. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts of my own with you.

People think I'm smart. People are right, but they don't often quite get it. I think I've mentioned before that people either overestimate or underestimate it, usually by a fair margin.

People ask questions like, "Who made God?" "Why is there suffering, and pain?" "Why would God love me?" I was asking those questions when I was a kid. A little kid, barely in school. And I was getting answers to them, as well. Not by figuring them out - I might have been smart, but I wasn't wise. And certainly not from God beaming them down to me. Slightly more - indirectly. The first two I got from a couple of books. (Really good books, by the way - the series is called Timebenders, a combination of Christian, sci-fi and teenage.) The third one I got from a person that was talking at church once.

I was just playing off to the side. I always liked church, but when I was younger, I didn't listen that much, I more just played with a couple of friends, and that's what I was doing then. I might've only been eight or something. And they were saying how, no matter what you'd done, or thought, or said - God loves you. Very much. He made you, and he wants to be with you.

That was me at about eight. Course, then, you think I must be some super-Christian or something. But no, not really. I'd say not at all. A lot of people talk about the time that they asked God into their life. With me, it was the times. The massive multitude of times. Because every time, nothing. Nada. Squat. And so I just kept doing it, trying to do it more passionately, more earnestly, thinking I must be doing something wrong. Because isn't there supposed to be a change? Aren't you supposed to feel him, or see him, or....something, at least? Anything!

That was me, even through the majority of high school, if not all of it. Attempting to feel God, to see God, to hear God. Because I knew he was there. There was just something in me that always knew, there had to be a God. And I knew there would never be anything that would be able to make me believe otherwise. So in that sense, I suppose you could say I've always been a person of great faith. I've never had a slump, a dark spot, or anything like that, where I've really been angry with God. At least, not anything that I couldn't sort out in less than a few minutes.

Then, one day I realised I'd started having conversations with God. And I hadn't really realised it, as such. It was like..."Hang on, now I am, then I wasn't, and then I was trying to get to here.....Wow. Cool!" Well, something like that. I don't know if I could quite say that I was hearing God. But there was definitely a level of interaction there, something that hadn't been there before.

And, of course, close to a year back, God gave me what I'd been praying, striving, searching, hoping for for most of my life. A passion for him, a joy that I'd been missing. I felt God, I guess you could say. I mean, every now and then he'd touched me before, but - nothing like this. Nowhere near this.

And so that's me now. Getting close to a year after that, and in some ways it's changed me, and in other areas I've still got a long way to go. I'm still a bit - a lot - of an idiot sometimes, I still make a heckload of mistakes, and I'm by no means completely happy with where I'm at with a lot of things. But I think I'm getting better, and I've gotten better then where I once was. And I'm happy to be here. Even with all those mistakes.

Song Saturday #1: Free Choice

The first of (hopefully many) these Song Saturdays, this one is semi-serious, semi-funny. Worked it out on the guitar, so that's a first. Don't know whether I'd be willing to perform it or not, because it might offend some people....I did try and make it a bit exaggerated to avoid that, but people can be....yeah. Anyway, hope you like it :)


Free Choice


V1:
Black, white, or the grey in between
What lies ahead, what is now, or what has already been
Left, right, or ambidextrous
Head, heart, or neck stress

Chorus:
The choice is yours, it's in your hot little hands
You don't have to give in to the world's demands
Pick one side or the other, or sit high on your fences
Yes, you're free to choose, and free with that come the consequences

V2:
Politically incorrect, xenophobe, or slightly unnerving
Day-dreamer, unplanned, or overly conserving
Rightist, leftist, or wearing too many hats
Smart alec, pushover, or scaredy-cat

Chorus


Bridge:
But don't let 'maybe's or 'might's cause you too much pain
They're always going to happen, you can't stop the rain

Chorus x2

Lolz Reborn...kinda.

Well, this isn't the one that I thought I would do before, but this'll work.

Last Friday, I watched Johnny English Reborn. The basic idea is that he's come back after quite a while, because someone specially requested him. He's looking a bit greyer, and the movie is a little as well, but it certainly has some good moments.

One thing that does happen a bit, though - I get a "cringe" moment with some things that happens in movies (I'll probably do a post to actually explain that later), and that certainly popped up a few times. But that's half of the idea with Johnny English, really - he's just a bit of an idiot.

Though there are some classic gold scenes. One of the best is certainly where he's chasing after a man through a high-rise area. The man is doing these elaborate things to get away, and English is using his "wisdom" to figure out simpler ways to do the same thing. One classic example is where the man climbs down the outside of it, on the scaffolding, and English takes the elevator. And gets down to the bottom at the same time, very suave.

All in all - a fairly enjoyable movie, good for the younger generation, but does have some moments of the corn, and a bit of suspension of disbelief at times. Nevertheless, certainly a decent movie.

Interview #1: Mozart Palmer

I did plan to do someone next obvious. Hopefully, that'll be the next one. Anyway. This is the result of an interview between me and Mozart. Well, me sending him questions. Think it turned out pretty well.

"For those who don't know you (doubtful, but mandatory), who are you/what do you do?"

Well, my name is Mozart, I'm twenty years old, and I'm a musician from a small town outside Western Sydney. I'm also a writer and a third year Bachelor of Music student. In my ample spare time I write press releases for Pirate Party Australia, a (hopefully) soon-to-be-registered political party. I'm also a hopeless romantic and seem to be chronically unemployable.

"So is music something you've been interested in a long time - and if so, has your interest changed over that time?"

I guess you could say that. I'm not a "dad made me learn piano when I was three" musician, but I decided I wanted to learn a bit of flute at eight years old. That turned to guitar, guitar to bass, then songwriting and composing. So my interest has changed certainly. I prefer writing music instead of actually playing it like I used to. I'm looking at getting into teaching too, but I've been focusing a lot on the music industry and what value music actually holds in the world lately. So, yes, over the last twelve or so years my interests in music have diversified into its' many aspects.

"So you've evidently chosen to do music at uni. Was that always a goal, or a more recent choice?"

Depends on what you mean by "recent" really. Halfway through eleventh grade I got bored of school. I planned to be a history teacher right up until then, and I suppose I just burned out. The only thing that I really stayed interested in was music, because it was something I had talent in, but was too busy focusing on everything else to really explore. In twelfth grade I made up my mind that I'd aim to do a Bachelor of Music instead of Arts at uni.

"You mentioned that you were involved with PPAU. Why/how did you start getting involved there?"

A friend told me about The Pirate Bay and BitTorrent technology. I was fascinated with it. At some point the documentary "Steal This Film" came onto my RADAR. I'd always thought piracy was a bad thing. But something that everyone did from time to time. The film switched me onto the idea of "piracy" actually not being as bad as it was made out to be. I read a few interviews and articles and came to the conclusion that copyright should be reformed. In "Steal This Film" there are a few snippets with Rick Falkvinge, who founded the Piratpartiet (Swedish Pirate Party) in 2006. I finally got the nerve to join PPAU and start being active in September of 2011, and my contributions were valued enough for me to become fairly acknowledged within the party.

"Apparently, you've also been in charge of doing a fair number of press releases for PPAU. What's that been like, representing a political party to the media and the public?"

It's been a good experience. I've learned to work with deadlines and to get inside the minds of people. Sometimes people aren't available for quotes, so you have to write one for them. You have to think about how they would say things, what words and phrasings they would use. It's also difficult trying to balance what you want to say, with what is appropriate to say. You can't be too aggressive, but at the same time you can't be too toned down. Getting the balance right can be heard. I've done a phone interview once, which was interesting. You just gotta make sure that everything you do and say won't be misquoted or manipulated.

"Final question: wth - why the hair?"

I just never thought I looked good with short hair. Not unless I lose weight. And I'm too lazy to even go for a trim. No kidding. Plus, it's been way too long. I've forgotten the last time I had a cut, but I think it would be at least three years.


Thanks/kudos go to Mozart for doing that with barely any notice. Should have a review for you guys on Thursday. Already got one possible idea...

Walking the knife's edge.

There seems to be a lot of situations in life where you stray just a step either way and life just knocks you down. Some in particular pop up - mainly, when people's eyes are on you. So, of course, the people that find this most difficult are the politicians, the celebrities, the high-flyers.

One of my friends, when I mentioned to him that I'd gotten on to Australia's Got Talent, told me about how he'd tried applying for X Factor. Basically, the judges had slammed him down, because he did an angry song angrily. Go figure. It wasn't his choice. But he was just like, "yeah, whatever." The host was trying to get him riled, to make good TV, but he was just being cucumber cool. So he warned me to be careful of that.

Another friend of mine has ventured a little into politics. Which can be even more of a minefield - so many opinions to take into account, so many people to try and get on to your side. And if you get it wrong - well, the people kick you out. Quite simply. Whether it be the government, or the voters. Both happen on a regular basis.

Course, the trick is to not walk the knife in the first place. Or not care if you fall. But both can be quite difficult, in some cases. Are they more difficult than walking the knife itself? Who knows.

Win And A Half.

God so be trolling me. Just had my last post, then this....

I just got the phone call, telling me I got in for Australia's Got Talent. So I'm going to be performing in front of the judges, on the stage, the whole shebang! :D Whether I actually make it on to TV/through to the next round, we'll see.

I'll update FB with this when I have some actual times for people and such. I know it's the 3rd, 4th and 5th, but no idea which it is yet, but should know within the next couple of weeks.

So yeah, coolness :D

Blaming yourself.

I'm the sort of person that keeps a lot tucked inside. Mostly, the bad stuff. And so people don't know my failings nearly as well as I do. I'm always....acutely aware of them. Part of me likes to emphasise them for me. It can get a little....depressive, at times. I guess I've avoided that, fr the most part, because I've got a bit of a happier/funny personality.

Course, now and then, you stuff things up in a way that makes Chernobyl look like Cher-ry bomb. And when you know it's your fault....

In my case, that leads to me giving myself no end of shit. It's not particularly fun, and usually takes a pretty Epic Win to make up for the Utter Fail.

Some people, of course, will get out of it by blaming someone else. I don't like doing that, because I like people. People are cool like that. Other people blame God. That's just a fail and a half, because he can go Right Back At You times Infinity. Then some say, no-one's to blame. It's all cool and fruity. Right. Would you like guilt with that?

So, logical conclusion, I blame myself. It's right, but the trick is then being able to forgive yourself after that. Which is harder. I'm.....working on it.

Mad World...

It's a bit of a crazy world that we live in. This may already be something that you're acutely aware of.

If not - not that long ago, you were believed to have a mental condition if you were a homosexual, or a slave that ran away.

A little further back, there was an idea that the Earth was constantly expanding, and that there were canals on the surface of Mars.

Go back a little further, and we actually believed this stuff about everything going around the Sun, and spontaneous generation.

And, of course, we had the death sentence, and we were killing each other in wars with sharp/hot/fast/explosive things, and we were all at each other's throats, and.....oh, wait, no, that's still happening. Woops.

We're pretty good at getting things wrong. Making mistakes. And of course, we just keep getting more practised at it...

Recently, there's been quite a bit of hubbub about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) being thrown around in the good ol' US of A. Basically, this brilliant idea means that if you're a copyright holder, and you think I'm infringing (or somehow aiding this) on copyright, you can shut me down. This goes for pretty much any site, I believe. So you could shut down Google. Wikipedia. eBay. If you suspected them of participating or aiding in copyright infringement. I'm pretty sure that's right. If not, someone will be looking at this shortly who understands this a heck of a lot better than me.

It seems like they're hitting the PANIC! button. "We can't do anything, we can't do anything....let's just make it so anyone can play vigilantes! Oh no, it'll be fine. I trust people to not shut down anything important..." Right.

As I said. It's a mad world.

If you want to find out a bit more about it, try here: http://sopa-blackout-template.blogspot.com/ or here: http://americancensorship.org/

Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm thinking so much about something happening over in America - it's happening to the internet. The World Wide Web. World Wide. As well as that, we may as well replace the old Union Jack with the stripes and stars, we're getting so cosy. :P

Very, very soon....

OK. Finally, planning to get into some of this: http://modnarama.blogspot.com/2011/10/plans.html At the moment, I'm thinking interviews, reviews and songs. Other ones will probably pop up now and then, but one of those each week is the idea. Song Saturday, of course. Then I'm planning to do the interview for Monday, and the review for Thursday. So that's three guaranteed a week, and I'll probably do others now and then as well.

I'll be starting in this new format from next week, hopefully. :) Looking forward to it.

Finding your "true name"

Knowing yourself is a bit more complicated than it might seem. People often aren't that introspective until they're forced to be. Though most people would say they know themselves - I'd say that most only know a part.

In the Inheritance series (starting with Eragon) there's the concept of a "true name". The idea is that your true name describes you completely. All of you. The ups and the downs, the ins and the outs. You get it. Of course, people didn't know it instinctively. (Well, the elves did, but they're elves :P) They had to figure it out, through a heck of a lot of soul-seeking, as it were. It wasn't an easy thing. But if you knew your true name, then you knew yourself. Of course, if other people knew it, then they knew you, and had an element of control over you.

Knowing yourself, of course, isn't a walk in the park. And that's good, I think, but it does make things difficult.

I've been attempting to do my own sort of song about me (that I mentioned a while back) but it's proving to be fairly difficult. Hopefully, though, should be done within the week.