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"Police officers were asking residents to give up any guns they had before they boarded buses and trucks because police desperately needed the firepower: Some officers who had been stranded on the roof of a motel said they were being shot at overnight."


I also heard an officer was shot in the forehead trying to stop a looter last night. Didn't die, but man, New Orleans must be one of the worst places on earth to be right now.

Click picture for Destin Log article.

Those of us who live on the Gulf Coast have a wonderful opportunity to see God's power and majesty displayed in all of its awesome Glory whenever a hurricane comes around. We were not hit this time, but our brothers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Florida were. I pray that God will use this time to bring those affected by this storm closer to Him. Storms like this make it painfully obvious just how fragile and dependent on Christ our lives are. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

Not just the hurricane winds that Kat's bringing with her. Eglin Federal Credit Union's system is down and they have no idea how long it will take to bring back up. This means that even if I evacuate, I might not be able to use my debit card, or check my balance (by phone or website or anything), or take cash out of an ATM. Figuratively speaking of course, I could be screwed.

Compliments of Irresponsible Journalism: Is This the Way to Amarillo?

UPDATE (1417 26AUG2005): KAT TO BE A CAT 4?

A pond, escalators, a New Orleans-style hotel above with overhead walkways and a 430-car parking lot below, 4 or so restaurants and many more nationally-recognized stores. Nothing we don't already know, except now they've got a site plan that lays out what kind of store goes where. It'll be interesting to see it all develop. I'm hoping for a good music store (maybe a Virgin or a Tower), a good coffee shop, a Roy's, and maybe an Apple store (for my music needs, of course - my processing needs are already quite met, thank you).

One cool thing about the site plan is that it shows a Sports Bar planned for that spot in front of Rave right next to Johnny Rockets. No name for that either, but that'd be a cool locale for a bar.

Can't-buy-this-anywhere Sufjan Christmas albums download. 24 songs spread out over 3 albums. Includes such timeless holiday classics as "Holy, Holy, etc...", "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!", and "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" Just as good as the rest of his stuff.

For those of you who would rather not download the whole bunch, try a couple of these hymns out (mp3s):

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Amazing Grace

I just found out that Sufjan Stevens is Reformed Episcopal, and went to this college. He's just started his 50 States project, in which he plans to record an album for each state. He's already done Michigan and Illinois (and one song for Arkansas called "The Lord God Bird" that he did for NPR). He's playing in Nashville on the 23rd of September, and I've got my hotel reservation and ticket in the mail.

UPDATE: Jeremiah, Mary-Jo, and Luke are now going. Come on, you know you want to go.

British Channel 4's Lost Experience. (Make sure to check out "The Untold.")

The iheartdriveshaft blog.


The Official Season 2 Premise:

"After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including the intense howls of a mysterious creature stalking the jungle, as well as a polar bear, a marooned and possibly crazy French woman, a mystical boar, a mysterious group known only as "The Others," a ship called The Black Rock and... a hatch.

This season, Jack's mistrust of Locke will grow, as he continues to question his motives and obsession in uncovering the secrets of the mysterious hatch. The fates of Sawyer, Michael and Jin will be revealed after their raft was blown out of the water by "The Others" - who at the end of last season kidnapped Michael's son, Walt. Sun will become less dependent on husband Jin and more autonomous, as she wonders whether he is still alive. Kate's back-story life as a fugitive will continue to be explored. Charlie will become even closer with Claire and her baby, Aaron, but the stash of drugs he found in a statue could seduce him back to a dark life of addiction. The cursed numbers that turned Hurley's life upside down before the crash will continue to haunt him as he begins to uncover their meaning. Shannon will decide where Sayid fits in her life while she continues to grieve over the death of her brother, Boone, and develops a growing sense of unease about the raft passengers and their fate. In addition, we discover that there is at least one more previously unknown survivor of the crash of flight #815 - Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez, "Girlfight," "The Fast and the Furious") -- the mysterious woman Jack met at the Sydney airport bar. And Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje ("Oz") joins the cast as a resident of the island whose story is one of the mysteries that will be explored as the season progresses.

The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against the cruel weather and harsh terrain if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their 40-plus days on the island, danger and mystery loom behind every corner, and those they thought could be trusted may turn against them. Even heroes have secrets."





And of course, the place I got all this from: lost-tv.com.

It's the Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware program. It used to be called Giant AntiSpyware, but Microsoft bought 'em out and is making changes (hopefully for the better). This program will find and prevent more problems than will Ad Aware or Spybot, and does other cool things as well. You can find out more and download the Beta here.

They're from Australia, and sound like something between G.Love, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, and Mason Jennings. And they're not actually beautiful girls. On the band's website, the frontman explains why they called themselves that:

"'Where we grew up, anybody that played in a band played heavy music - either punk or hardcore or metal or whatever,' explains frontman Mat McHugh. 'I wanted to pick a name that was the exact opposite of all that macho posturing and the associated tough-guy band names. And a beautiful girl was just about the sweetest, most appropriate opposite I could think of.'"

But you might like it anyway. It's a blog that also happens to be a very good resource for finding new music:

Turnberry releases a PR piece on the new addition to Destin Commons. (The picture's actually outdated - not sure what the new plans look like.)

Laying in bed last night with my headphones on, I was finally able to give Nickel Creek's new album, "Why Should the Fire Die?" a fair listen. Before then, I had heard bits and pieces in the car on the interstate, and had also heard the album via stream on Amazon.com. Neither of those options did justice to the incredible mandolin, violin, and guitar playing that these kids can do. You have to have it at a comfortably loud volume with no distractions in order to really enjoy it.

My personal favs are "Somebody More Like You," "Scotch & Chocolate," and "Can't Complain." Sometimes they almost sound like Coldplay (like we need another one of THOSE bands) and sometimes someone else who I can't quite place, but each song has the same unmistakeable sound that Nickel Creek is known for.

KongisKing.net has some pretty cool video game footage up including a Rex vs. Kong fight. Definitely worth checking out.

It's exciting not knowing what the future holds. Being single, I feel like I have a lot of control over what happens to me, and in a sense, I do. Obviously, God is ultimately in control, but it boils down to the whole Free Will discussion, which isn't the point of this post. I guess the point is that I could pack up and move to another state by the end of October if I wanted to.

What would happen if I did that? I might find a better paying job and a cheap apartment. I might find a girlfriend. I might not find a girlfriend, and I might take 2 jobs just to keep from getting bored. I might make new friends, or I might become a loner and feel displaced.

There are some certainties in my life right now. I know that I am comfortable where I am. I already have a great job, and there is my church, family, and friends to keep me sane. I don't have a girlfriend, but I'm more optimistic about that than I used to be. I feel an attachment to this place that I don't think will go away if I ever choose to move. Not that I couldn't be happy elsewhere, it's just that this place FEELS like home. It's a strange but awesome feeling.

Plus, while I am sure there are people out there in other areas who would make great friends, I can't help but love the ones I have in my own church and town like only close Christian brothers and sisters can love each other (even the ones that annoy me or who I don't know very well...they probably don't read this blog anyway). Nobody's perfect, me especially, but what makes you guys so cool is how we've all dealt with our imperfections. Friendships don't get stronger without the down days.

I don't think I'll be moving any time soon, unless something really changes that I can't foresee. In a sense, I don't even know what will happen if I stay here. At least I know that my life isn't totally under my control (that would suck).

His plane arrived this morning at 10:07AM. Amy happened to be on the same flight, so I got to see her again as well. My brother brought me a bottle of Ron Cartavio 1929 (a Peruvian rum), which looks really good. I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, it's good to have Caleb back in town - hopefully we'll get to hang out some when he has time away from Lowe's.

I seem to have fit neatly into only a handful of market segments. Here's the latest (I'm not sure I'll like it, though - I didn't like the last Budweiser energy drink):

"Young men who spend the workday gulping caffeinated drinks and the night in bars will now have a new product aimed at easing the transition...."

Click here.

Chris Staples, the ex-frontman of Twothirtyeight has a new CD out called "Psychology" (and he calls his new group Discover America). It's been interesting to see him gravitate more and more toward professional production and better songwriting with each record he's been a part of (he's kept himself busy, musically, lived in Nashville for a year, started a recording studio in Pensacola, and still tours a lot).

The last Twothirtyeight album was full of songs that were certainly radio-worthy, but the band's dismemberment preventing them from going too far. Chris Staples is still trying to fulfill that band's contract with Tooth & Nail, and he's put out 3 CDs I think (including this one) since "You Should Be Living."

"Psychology" isn't quite so emo as the rest of his solo stuff, and makes great car music. You should be listening.

This little bugger has brought me many hours of happiness. I decided to sell it, though, once I upgraded to the iPod Photo. Congrats to Luke for being the first to show real interest!

Yes, that's a marijuana leaf. No, you can't buy it at Wal-Mart. The concept sounds weird and scary, but the music itself sounds pretty good (I wouldn't post about it if I didn't at least like it a little). Willie Nelson and reggae? He gets some help from a few reggae veterans, recorded half of it in Jamaica (I wonder what else he did while there?), and he wrote most of the stuff himself. I recommend trying it out if you can, but if you want some really really good reggae, try some Marley.

I always want to write about the good times, but the words are hard to come by. Especially after a trip like the one I took last weekend. Whatever I say won't be enough to convey what the trip was like or how much fun we had. Those types of things you have to just be there to be able to understand. That said, most of us have had times in our lives that we wouldn't trade for anything, so imagine that time and it's probably close to what this second trip to Nashville was like for me.

Friday: Drove to Nashville, stayed at the Best Western. Had planned on napping once we got there, but 3 of us were too anxious to sleep. Had Market Street Brewery for drinks and dinner, listened to some jazz, and ended the night at an oxygen bar.

Saturday: Lunch at Big River Brewery. Walked around the river, shops, and Bicentennial Mall State Park. More jazz and some awesome country and rock at Tootsie's.

Sunday: Worshipped at First Baptist Nashville, drove to Chattanooga. Had lunch at Sticky Fingers, drove up the mountain and visited Covenant. Drove back home.

That reads like an itinerary. Oh well. That's what we did, and it was awesome. Can't wait for September!

For those of you who like fruity beers and malt beverages (you know who you are), Anheuser-Bush is test-marketing three spankin' new uber-fruity beers in San Diego, Phoenix, and Destin. Be the first on your block! (You can find them in Wal-Mart, AJ's, Tom Thumb, Winn-Dixie, and The Swamp).

UPDATE (4 Aug 2005): Verdict: PRETTY DARN GOOD (especially the Blood Orange Grapefruit).

Trinity-ers:

Be Jolly For Girls!
.brodie
Down to a Sunless Sea
For the Love of Incense
God will honor those who honor Him
joebrodie
September in '86
What Is and What Should Never Be

Family:

coffeemagic
Notes from Little Spain
Omnis Viperas Mortum Est

People I Know IRL:

A Soldier's Story
Beautiful Feet
CARDCO
CARPE DIEM
frecklejess
keepin up
Peace, Love & Penguins
Ponderings by Brittany
Rod Martin
Scottie's Life

People I Don't Know IRL:

Barlow Farms
The Blog of Josiah Q. Roe
doodlepost
Next-To-Last Song
Razing the Bar

Music:

Asthmatic Kitty
Gorilla vs. Bear
Paste
Pitchfork
Stereogum
WOXY
You Ain't No Picasso

Version: 4.2
(January 12, 2007)