Chris Warren

Graduate.

2010-07-18T21:38:00.000+04:00

Dear reader,

If you still have this blog listed as my primary address, I regret to inform you that I have moved again.

www.anothersoul.com

... and I graduated from Judson University recently, that was cool. :)

Because I have imported these posts to my new blog address, this blog will cease to exist soon. Update update update.

School is NICE

2007-09-16T12:24:00.000+04:00

Hey! Update your RSS Readers, and start checking out my other site. I will be posting there. Not here.

I love you still.

OTHERSSTEAL << Click There.

Life Update

2007-08-15T22:40:00.000+04:00

Hello dear reader.

I've neglected all of you. I have not written. I'm not sorry about it.. it just hasn't happened. I do miss all of you.

So, here is the update of the blog, for your consumption.

I have moved. Tucson is but a heartbreaking memory. Chicago now fills my vision, my thoughts.

I'm out here in Elgin, IL (its a suburb - like Marana, but without the cowfolk...). For those that don't know, I will be attending this fall at Judson College with a focus on Inter-cultural studies. Tuesday, I start a new position with an old friend. I will be in the Mobilization department here at International Teams.

New Direction

2007-05-20T00:53:00.000+04:00

http://otherssteal.blogspot.com/

Pushin' Back.

2007-05-11T02:41:00.000+04:00

So.

I haven't blogged since I have been home. There are a few reasons for this, but the most prominent in my mind is this.

I feel like this outlet is too self absorbed for me. I am hyper-aware of this. When I am updating frequently, I would check my stat counter to see how many people were logging on to check out what I had to say. Comments from people would drive me, even if it was only one. I'm tired of being a self absorbed person.

I want everyone to know that I am adjusting back to America. Its been a slow and cumbersome process, and the only thing that has aided it has been good friends. Friends who I am safe with. Friends who would listen if I wanted to talk about Russia, or Spain, or Greece, or Christianity, or Missions. Friends who would listen if I just wanted to talk about baseball, chicken, and the price of gas.

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this over the last few years. But, for now. I am done.

But -- Look forward to something different. When I finish wrapping my mind around whatever it is that I want to do. I will let you know. It will not be here at chriswarren.blogspot.com. It will be a bit different, but it will still be me. Just hopefully to a bit less of a degree.

Love,
Chris

2007-03-06T20:48:00.000+03:00

:: gone ::

I left Santiago this morning.

I flew to Liverpool. Where I proceeded to board bus number 500 which took me directly to Lime Street Station. I met a nice old lady named Stella who served as a tour guide while I was on my way. She even got me oriented in the right direction at the train station.

I boarded the 12:15 with Burger King to go... just in time to depart for London. I slept most of the way.

I am settled into my hostel for the evening. Going to go have a beer, and try and catch part of the football match between Liverpool and Barcelona tonight.

Ok. 2 Minutes left at the internet cafe. See you soon loved ones. Goodbye to those in Santiago whom I didn't see before departing. I will see you soon too.

Using mobile phones for smarter things.

2007-02-27T22:55:00.000+03:00

No, I don't mean smart phones.

I mean... More capabilities though. But, I don't mean in the way of desktop-esque apps, and improved mail capabilities.

I mean... Get with the times.

Check out this article about how McDonald's is teaming up with DoCoMo for improved usage in Japan.

Pay for your Big Mac from your phone. Or, board a train using a barcode stored into your phone. !! Get with the times America!! Quit with the social networking crap (although, I know it makes money), and give me something a bit more useful then MySpace on my phone. ºRetchº

--

In other news. Today is my last day at Cafe Terra Nova, it is in fact... The last day under our [IT] ownership. The documents have been signed, and the money has changed hands. I close up in an hour, and that is all she wrote.

Jake (HT: Matt via the Terra Nova Blog) has some pics up.

Thanks for playin.

Fresh? Not so much... but there is music!

2007-02-23T07:21:00.000+03:00

I know that I should have something fresh up here.

If for anything to either fry up the dead fish that is Jesus Camp below, in order to re-hash it a bit... Or, to bury that stinky piece of rotting flesh once and for all.

Either way... In order to move along in the name of 'constantly improving,' here is your post.

I've heard the new Kings of Leon album coming out 'soon,' I love it. No comment on how this material came into my possetion...

I'm also checking out the new Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Its a little too industrial pop for me, but the lyrics are worth a listen. If you have recently been in a breakup... Check it out. The entire album seems to be the singers struggle with his relationship with his wife. (HT: Relevant Mag)

This was the find of the week for me. Wireless power. Now, does anyone have a timetable on when I can pick this up at Radio Shack? (HT: LifeHacker)

I love you all. No seriously, my heart is large enough for all of you to drown in my ocean of emotion. At least come check out the beach, you'll def go for a swim then.

Why I am not a Christian.

2007-02-08T15:56:00.000+03:00

How was that for an attention getting title? Am I doing better at headlines??

Seriously though.

I screened the first 40 minutes or so of Jesus Camp last night. I was physically ill. I had to stop and take a walk. It was late, and I ended up walking into the old city and having a beer at a pub where I ran into some of the exchange students.

But, the overwhelming feeling I had was - If this is my religion, what the heck am I doing? What the heck are we doing? I had this overwhelming feeling: if this is it, I am out. I'm cashing in my chips, giving away my winnings and walking away. I will never play this game again.

I talked a bit with Jacob and Matt this morning about it, but neither one of them has seen the film yet. I want to finish it so that I can reflect on it as a whole, and not just a piece - but right now, there is little desire to finish it.

Has anyone seen the film? What are your thoughts on it? How does that affect your personal journey? What about politics?

My head is swimming with questions.

Bienvenidos a Terra Nova

2007-02-05T20:07:00.000+03:00

(Chris is not in this clip, in case you were wondering.)

Outlet Village

2007-02-01T22:31:00.000+03:00

“I need to eat a salad,” said the woman, steam rising from her magenta lips. “It’s freezing. A person could, like, die out here or something. I should’ve bought those Diesels, don’t you think? I bet I could’ve fit into them by Christmas. It’d be something to shoot for.”

“So you go take a steam and a sauna,” said her husband. “You’ll come out feeling like a million bucks.”

“The steam room makes me retain water.”

The man grunted and looked down at his cell phone. They were standing in the Outlet Village parking lot, their legs nearly hidden behind shopping bags. The outlets were designed to resemble a medieval hamlet, sans slop pails and the Plague, and with colorful brand-name logos in place of coats of arms. Beyond the village rose wave upon wave of wooded, snow-covered hills bare of foliage save for the hemlock, spruce and pine sprinkled throughout. Looking up into this wilderness, the woman’s mascara-rimmed eyes narrowed; she might have been surveying a wasteland of yellow brimstone. A red van pulled up, the husband and wife climbed inside while the driver retrieved their bags, and they sped off onto a narrow road that wound between the trees. As the couple watched the outlets disappear from sight a look of disquiet came over them...

[read the rest of the article here at adbusters.org]

Then, come back here and lets talk about it.

One person.

2007-01-30T22:30:00.000+03:00

Funny how days go.

When I started typing this...

There was only one person in the cafe. One. He's deaf. Sooo... I built a little play list on the iTunes... Productive I know.

I also cleaned every table, every menu, every dish, and was about to sweep when some people walked in. Wow. Now, there are six of us (I'm including myself this time).

Yay, I have something to do!!

... And I broke a cappuccino glass today, part of it is now embedded in my middle finger, do you want me to show you the finger?? Wow, I crack myself up.

I like numbers.

2007-01-29T20:54:00.001+03:00

Spur of the moment cafe stats.

22 people total.
2 in the bathroom.
14 laptops.

Its hard to write stats, because as soon as you write them. They change.

The people:
25 people in total.
1 in the bathroom.
4 Americans.
2 Germans (I would guess).
1 Swede.
2 Deaf People.
I know 5 peoples names.
3 people are new to me.
The rest I see nearly everyday in this cafe.

The interwebs:
14 laptops.
2 public use computers.
1 employee use computer.

The drinks:
(in no particular order)
2 normal teas.
1 Special Vanilla Infusion tea.
3 Heineken Cañas. (Small beers from the tap.)
3 Hot Chocolates.
1 Room temperature bottled water.
1 Double espresso.
3 Coca-Colas.
1 Coca-Cola Light.
1 Sprite.
1 Short espresso (solo corto).
1 Grande Cafe.
6 Cafe con leches. (The standard cafe drink.)
1 No drink - Pastry only.

Misunderstandings today:
1 - The girl was looking for work. I thought she was asking for a cafe to go. I don't need to explain anything else. It was awkward.

Things broken today:
0 - This is bound to change.

Noia.

2007-01-29T04:35:00.000+03:00

Sundays we get off. Well... actually, we simply choose to remain closed on Sundays. Last Sunday Jacob, Matt and I went for a hike. It was great. Jacob's camera was out of batteries when we got to the top to take pictures though! Doh!

Today we went to nearby Noia and walked around the city and explored a little bit. It was a bit eerie at times, because it was Sunday, everything (almost) was closed, and there wasn't many people around until we made it down by the bay.

I have loaded a bunch of shots up over at my flickr page.

You can see all my photos from Spain so far here. Or click here for a slideshow.

I took an online Spanish test today... Like the kind you would take before being placed at a University... I scored a 224. It put me in Spanish 102, but if I had scored a 226, I would be in Spanish 103!! Two weeks on the job... or two semesters... hmm. I'll take it again in a week (if you remind me) and post the score and the link then.

And... I almost forgot...

Broken on Saturday -

2 Specialty Heineken Glasses.

Brings the total to 9. Monday is a new week.

Poco y poco...

2007-01-25T03:20:00.000+03:00

So, little by little the Español is a comin'. The worst is trying to type English or HTML code on a keyboard... The symbols I need are all in strange places.

New pics over at my flickr.

I don't know how many things I have broken since I have arrived in Santiago... lets count.

1 - Glass from picture frame.
1 - Black umbrella (I helped it along, it was already hurting).
1 - Large coffee cup.
1 - Old footstool.
2 - Porcelain tea strainers.
1 - Super delux Coca-Cola glass.

7 - My total brokeness. In less then two weeks, amazing!

Ok... I need to run to bed. Tomorrow I have to go shopping for the cafe (I'll try and take some pictures), and work on the public use computers... They are are gummed up with garbage programs. Programs like... MSN Messenger and eMule. Who installs this junk?

Scot McKnight - Emerging.

2007-01-22T21:59:00.000+03:00

I have been following McKnight's blog over at jesuscreed.org for a while. Ok, like, three months maybe.

He caught my eye a while back when Jacob put a link to him over at 4peregrinos.com. He recently had an article published in Christianity Today expanding a bit on that article which caught my eye.

5 Streams of the Emerging Church.

I think that Dr. McKnight does a good job of fleshing out a broad base of what and where emergent is and is headed. If you are an evangelical who has already discounted the emerging movement as nonsense, you probably won't change your thoughts. But, if you simply don't know what the emerging church is, or has been little informed, it will serve as a good comprehensive base to start off of.

I am hesitant to call myself "emergent," yet, I am. What I am reading is pacing with my thinking. My own individual observations, my own individual experiences. I have been discontent for years with church, church business, preaching in general, worship in general, church politics... Pretty much everything having to do with my conservative Baptist faith. I do not mean to call names, or point fingers, because I don't feel offended by one person or entity specifically. This discontent stems from a desire to know my Lord better, to know Jesus better.

Its also come from a questioning of certain fences that have been set in the American Christian faith... More on that in the next couple of days... Again from Scot McKnight.

No comprendo.

2007-01-19T22:10:00.000+03:00

So, I sit here at the cafe, on a bit of a break. Really between mini rushes. Nothing like the mornings I used to suffer at 'bucks (and may suffer yet again soon). The people are pretty chill for the most part. They drink coffee because they enjoy it, not because they will run someone off the road on the way into the office if they don´t have their quadruple venti extra foam vanilla latte in less than three minutes in the drive through surrounded by addicts like themselves.

No, the people here come to socialize, to use our FREE wifi (a newer concept here), soak in our song choice.

Occasionally -- They come in to ask questions. That is where I struggle, you see... I don't speak Spanish. I never have, I never took a class in high school or college, never had a friend who forced me to try and learn a few words. Just a minute ago, a couple of girls came in and ordered a couple of cokes. Then, they started asking a questions about the cans of coffee that we sell. I don't know the words to help them, I want to, its my nature to help people, but I hit a veritable brick wall when trying to converse with these people.

No comprendo.

Those are the words I say the most. Well, maybe behind 'cafe con leche' and 'coca cola.'

It seems dead for a Friday night. I mean, c'mon, I am blogging for crying out loud. But, people here don't really go out until 11, 12... They stay out later too. A cafe (like us), can only stay open until 2am, but a pub can stay open until 6am. So, now, would be the calm before the storm if we were a pub.

More later... I have to serve some drinks.

Battle Cry: Casulties of War [culture]

2007-01-14T21:41:00.000+03:00

This vid points out some glaring statistics among American teens. Catch the stat about truth being relative.

... brought to you by Ron Luce, and the good people at Acquire the Fire. [/sarcasm]

Viva España!

2007-01-13T03:52:00.000+03:00

I am in Santiago de Compostela now. I arrived here last Tuesday and have been settling in a bit. I am trying to learn as much Spanish as I can, as fast as I can. I am blessed to be able to stay with the Swains. Their daughters (4 and 2) both speak varying degrees of Spanish because they both attend a Spanish pre-school in a local Catholic Church. Its amazing to see one of them switch into Spanish when around other Spaniards. Its amusing to see them reach for a word to describe something - and come up with the Spanish word in its place. When asked what the English word is... a sheepish "I don't know..." follows. Abi asked me yesterday - "Chris, why don't you speak Spanish?"

Why don't I... I wish I did.

Dosvedanya Rossiya.

2007-01-07T23:46:00.000+03:00

:: car wrecked on new years ::

I leave tomorrow.

Hard to believe that six months have passed - to the day, since I came to Russia.

I won't be back in the US until March however. I am heading over to Spain to help out with the team in Santiago de Compostela. I hope to make a longer entry about it soon, but the team there is in need, and is close to my heart. Check out Matt or Jacob's blog for a video of the cafe there, and to get some insight into what's happening with them.

Tomorrow night I will be in Madrid, and flying on to Santiago the next afternoon, hopefully this time on Tuesday I will be loading up some photos from Madrid.

The photo above was snapped on Jan 4th - the car wrecked on New Years day. It stayed in the very spot it crashed for five days. On the edge of the intersection, sticking out into a traffic lane, in the way. The morning of the sixth, I came out, and it had been pushed up onto the sidewalk, on the other side of the intersection. And tonight, it was still sitting there on the sidewalk. Crazy.

Newness.

2007-01-02T01:58:00.000+03:00

[thanks to matt for the video. see you soon.]

I was searching my archives recently, and I found this post. Its from about a year ago, and I want to highlight one part, mostly for myself.

I was born a dirty peasant. Into a peasant family. When my family broke apart, my earthly father found the way to be reborn and become a servant of the King. Before too long, he showed me and my sister, and we followed. I was born into the Kings family November 9th, 1990. Since that day, over 15 years ago, I feel like I have been in training. God has wonderful plans for me, I have no clue what the King wants for me, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will serve. My life is His. This is comforting when I think about it, but, how often do I actually think about it? Not often enough, that is for damn sure.

I made some resolutions on Christmas Eve while I was at church. I have never made resolutions before and been serious about them. I wrote them down in my journal. I wrote an entire entry about how Christmas is different here, (The short version is: 25th of December is a normal day, gifts are exchanged on New Years, Orthodox Christmas is on 7th of Jan.) reflected on the birth in a new way. My resolutions meant something to me.

But, that night, I feel like a dark cloud came and parked itself over my life. It began to rain, and the temperature is dropping without the sun. I know it will pass. In the meantime, I am still shivering, wet and cold, in the shadow of this cloud.

I have not felt the warmth of the sun. I don't feel like having resolutions anymore.

This is the prayer I wrote at the end of my reflection on Christmas, before the the rain came: Father. Come quick. But, until you come, help me to love and live better - indeed - like you would. Amen.

Bombs, Bombs, and Baby Jesus

2006-12-25T02:18:00.000+03:00

Wars and Rumors of Wars.

Warplanes in Somalia.

Jesus, come quick, forgive us all.

Merry Christmas to all the soldiers across the globe. I am praying for peace.

... in other news. My heart is broken.

On being not spiritual.

2006-12-22T02:03:00.000+03:00

So here I am posting a link to a nice article. A refreshing drink of water if you will.

Read what William MacKinnon has to say here.

Then come back here and tell me what you think. Maybe if I am up to it, I will post a follow up with my input later. [via iMonk]

Also... in other... randomness... The SCP have a Christmas podcast up that is sure to get you in the Christmas spirit. If this podcast doesn't get your yuletide endorphins excited, you might be dead.

No, really, its pretty full of cussy-ness, so yeah, some of you will be offended if you listen to it. Yeah, in fact. Don't listen it if you consider 'crap' an offensive word, because you might crap your pants. And, if you do listen, and you get offended, don't say I didn't warn you! Do your worst Steve and Josh!

Tagged: Religion,SCP, Thoughts, The Road

Cologne to Brazil. The worlds getting smaller.

2006-12-15T01:11:00.000+03:00

I thought this was pretty amazing!

Seriously... A security system that alerts his cell phone, so he logs on and sees this crook on his webcam, calls the wife who calls the police and gives them details like, where in the house the crook is... and they bust him, they catch him red handed.

Go read the article, I was impressed.

Tagged: The Road

Secretary-General Kofi Annan

2006-12-12T12:03:00.000+03:00

Its his goodbye speech. His final farewell so-to-speak. Where can Mr. Annan go from here? I don't think he has broader political agendas, so he is not going to hold anything back as he steps away.

He quoted Harry Truman to us as he was calling for action.

"As Harry Truman said, 'We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please.' States need to play by the rules toward each other as well as toward their own citizens."

Read that again.

The first half is Truman, the second Annan. We must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please. We need to play by the rules.

The US is enthusiastic of the next SG Ban Ki-Moon, I would guess because he is from South Korea. We were enthusiastic of Annan 10 years ago. Is the US the one missing the point of the UN? Are we not doing enough to help this multi-national body protect our world? Nations, people, and environment?

What about Darfur? What about Africa? What about Iraq?

What do you think about all this? I'm simply hurt and confused.

oops: forgot the link to the whole story.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/12/11/annan.speech/index.html

Tagged: Politics, Thoughts

I made an edit - but...

2006-12-07T16:07:00.000+03:00

:: hi ::

I value transparency in people's blogs. If you don't want people to read it, take the proper steps to make your blog private (there are plenty of other blogging services out there... like the new FREE Six Apart beauty vox. It will even let you set multiple levels of privacy, its super.)

So, with that in mind, I tell you. I have made an edit in a recent post. But, due to the nature of the edit, I cannot tell you what changed. Just so you know. Its nothing scandalous, actually it seems insignifigant to me. But, I understand that it has father reaching ripples then I can imagine. So, I made the edit and I am not telling you what changed. If you notice, super. You get a Gold Star, please don't post the correction in a comment below, or I will delete it. Thanks.

I wanted to tell you that I made the change though, becuase it bothers me when people post things on a public space, like a blog, then take it back. There are situations where one must resort to this (A close friend of mine recently had to close her entire blog because of the gossip that was spilling out into real life because of the posts she was making on her blog.), but it still bothers me. My word is the only real currency I have in the world (If you check my bank account... I'm pretty poor.), so if I take it back repeatedly, what do I have left?

I love you guys.

I've been contemplating a site redesign, even started coding one... but, due to lack of time, my interest in doing that has waned. Now, I am considering moving to a new blog site altogether. I have not really been happy with the new Beta Blogger. It seems like "blogger for kids" with changes to the code requiring a large learning curve for casual HTMLers like me. The middle of the road functionality of blogger is one reason I like it. But Beta is polarized between the "stupid simple" and the "crazy hard". I'm glad that blogger is finally implementing some changes that the community has been crying for, but they have been slow, and are being overtaken by a number of other blogging sites.

We'll see. Nothing would happen until the new year at the earliest. And coming back to an earlier note... I will never delete this blog. I may move the entries with me to a new server or service, but they will always be here. (I know that in your free time, you read my posts from two years ago!) ;)

Tagged: Changes, Thoughts

I've been in country for five months.

2006-12-07T03:37:00.000+03:00

BAH! Craziness! Monday to This coming Sunday FFWD mode.

Back from Krasnodar. Saw James Bond. Experienced getting a friend's car back after having it get towed. Got taken for 1000 Rubles (about 40 dollars) to get the car back. Found out the real fine is only 150 Rubles (about 6 dollars). Got home at 4am. Sasha (the 8 month old I live with) hit his head because I wasn't paying attention. Went out for the night to Red Square and a cool mall. Read a lot. Met another American (a cool one). Talked on the skype until the wee hours the night with Carl and Tommy. Wrote a long email outlining my exit strategy choices from Russia. Wrote this blog entry. Got up on 4 hours worth of sleep for a team retreat (sort of, we don't actually go anywhere until Sat I think...). Had a heart attack (ok, hopefully that won't happen.)

Loved every minute of it. (except the ones with gas, or extreme cold.)

Tagged: Politics, Thoughts, The Road

Krasnodar

2006-11-24T11:02:00.000+03:00

:: Privet! ::

To you dear reader: I cannot express how much I have missed thee.
I simply do not possess enough time or energy to have written updates
these past few weeks.

Today was a crazy-no-sleep-airport-coffee-costs-how-much-i'm-still-sick-
blin-what-time-is-dinner-what-about-this-problem
kind of day.

I've been pretty sick since Sunday night. Pretty nasty cold with a high fever and sore thoat. Feeling much improved today, but not nearly 100%.

We had Alpha weekend at this sweet Dacha last weekend, it was so much fun!
They had an American pool table there, imported and everything (yes, Russian billiards are different). So, we had a good time playing fun group games including a new version of Mafia that I had never played before. It involved running around the dark house until you found a dead body, then yelling out that you found the body and having the constable come in from a different room to examine where everyone is and ask questions. The Mafioso were mixed in with the regular guys, but they would whisper in someones ear "you're dead," then, that person simply squats where they died after a short delay. Then, play continues until someone finds the body. The Mafia can kill as many people in one round as they desire, They actually win by being the last one alive. It was fun, but, the place you are in must be pretty dark for it to work right. We had some good discussion with the kids that came, ate together, and everyone got a good schooling in American Pool. (Of course, there were some... "house rules" that the Russians believed were real rules that they wouldn't budge on. I actually lost a match because I didn't understand the rules regarding the eight ball that they had put in place. They graciously allowed the match to continue when I expressed my misunderstanding... and I ended up winning on an amazing end to end bank shot.)

We left bright and early, 5am to be exact, this morning for Krasnodar (1300 km from Moscow to the South), we are hosting a cross cultural worker training seminar here similar to the one all IT USA workers go through before going to the field. Tomorrow at 9am starts the madness of 12 hour days of lectures... The schedule is quite... hopefull at best. Its full. 9 to 9, 45 minutes at a time, with 45 minutes for lunch, and 40 minutes for dinner. The advance team (like that military jargon) got here with me at 10am this morning. We quickly got settled and got a tour of the seminary we are using to house students, professors, and our team. We have been trying to iron out logistical details most of the afternoon after lunch. Tonight we still need to set a few things up in the conference hall, and get some materials prepped for the students.

We are blessed enough to have joining us here David Schroeder, President of IT USA; and Gani Sison, the President of IT Philippians. The next wave of teammates arrives tonight at 1am, and over the next week all sorts of people who are teaching will be coming and going.

I feel very lucky to have experienced so much of Western Russia during my time here. I have been to a number of cities, and have loved them all. I take that back... I did not dislike Ruza... :) But, I can't say I loved it either. So far, my favorite Orthodox Church outside of Moscow was in Voronezh.

I'm still praying for guidance in regards to what I should be doing in January. I feel torn between two paths right now... I need to make a decision soon, but I haven't even fleshed out what each one would look like. They both are exciting and worthwhile in the their own way.

More about that later. Frou Frou soothes my tired mind, and I think I am gonna catch a bit of sleep before dinner.

As I am writing this offline... I will post it when I get a chance.

Really written: 5:52pm 23 November 2006.

Tagged: Thoughts, The Road

"I'm freakin' freezing up here Mr. Bigglesworth."

2006-11-14T02:27:00.000+03:00

:: Trafficlight in the snow ::

Hey Hey Hey...

I'm discovering a lot about myself.
I'm discovering a lot about Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
I'm discovering just how cold snow is.
I'm discovering I crave community.
I'm discovering that I am a green person, and want to reside in green spaces.
I'm discovering that I loathe institutions.
I'm discovering the medicinal benefits of tea, and beer.
I'm discovering new ways of 'doing church.'

Thoughts from 2am... I wanted to say hi, so here it is. Please enjoy the photos here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriswarren

Tagged: Photos, Thoughts, The Road

First snow...

2006-10-29T00:05:00.000+04:00

Efthimiou takes out the calculator to prove that if a vampire sucked one person's blood each month -- turning each victim into an equally hungry vampire -- after a couple of years there would be no people left, just vampires. He started his calculations with just one vampire and 537 million humans on January 1, 1600 and shows that the human population would be down to zero by July 1602.

[whole article here]

I never really liked Halloween... come to think of it, I don't really like holidays in general. There is probably a deeper underlying issue there to be discussed, but for now, we will let it lie. I never really liked Halloween. I would go out and score a huge bag full of candy, of that, I was never disappointed. But, then I would hoard the candy. I would never eat it all because I was too afraid that the candy would run out and I would have to wait until next year to get more of the orange and black candies.

Ah whatever. If you want a scary book to read... check out Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is the original, and its pretty scary... You can read a version online for free courtesy of Google here.

It snowed tonight. There is already about a 1/4" on the ground in some spots, and cold cars are coated. Last night it was sort of hailing/sleeting... I am really not up on my cold weather verbage coming from Southern Arizona. All I know is that last night wasn't real snow flakes, they were more ball shaped, but tonight, it was full blown flakes. Heaven help me.

Tagged: Thoughts, The Road

2006-10-25T01:52:00.000+04:00

Man, I stink at updating!

These people don't though... they are cool!

NorthBridge Blog.
Stacie's Blog.

I like bowling.

Tagged: The Road

Wow, NorthBridge! Check um out yo.

2006-10-18T11:25:00.000+04:00

:: The Whole Group! ::

Cool things happening with the NorthBridge Group here in Moscow, we leave later today for Voronezh. Check out the Team's blog for more info and updates on that!

We are riding "Plot's Cart" by train, its an overnight trip... Plot's Cart is the cheap ticket on the train. 53 people to a wagon, 2 bathrooms to a wagon, 0 doors to a wagon... Yeah... That is right... Its all open. Truly a cultural experience, I am excited to be tagging along with the team.

Once again, keep checking out the NorthBridge Blog! They are getting a massive amount of hits, so represent Tucson on their stat tracker by visiting them!

We're in Voronezh for a youth pastor training (Perspectiva), pray that the people coming to the training will be ready to soak up the information.

Tagged: NorthBridge, The Road

Health Update.

2006-10-13T14:04:00.000+04:00

Hmm... Sorry, I haven't updated sooner. About that whole incident involving me fainting on a bus last week.

I am ok.

I did not go to the doctor, because, I really feel fine. I felt fine until about 90 seconds before I passed out too. So, we are just being careful. I am watching what I eat, trying to up the intake of fluids. Thank you to all who have been praying for that this week.

So yeah, smooth sailing since last Thursday. Tomorrow the NorthBridge group arrives for a 10 day excursion to seriously explore partnering with Paradigma (our church here in Moscow) for a five year mission's exchange program. Its pretty sweet. Its cool to see a church stepping out and doing something with long term plans, but utilizing the benefits of short term missions trips. Props.

Funny news story of the day:

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.
[read the whole article here]

Way to go Canadians. hahaha....

Tagged: The Road

Adventures from the Metro.

2006-10-06T17:58:00.000+04:00

So, one of my favorite things to do on the buses and metros here in Russia is to observe. I love to watch the crazy things people do, the nice things, the stupid things, and the admirable things people do.

Thanks to the guys who woke me up.

Read the whole post here. At my other blog. The one I started to keep a log of the funny things that happen while I am observing.

Tagged: The Road

That baby is sooo... cute?

2006-10-04T13:01:00.000+04:00

Brittany and Brooklyn

I am twice an uncle! Woot!

Born Thursday September 28th. 7 pounds 14 ounces, 21 inches long. She named her Brooklyn Nicole. Both are doing well. The baby has a lot of dark hair.

Congrats to my sister on the newest addition!

Much Love!

Tagged: Politics, The Road

Trafficking and Traditions.

2006-09-26T12:44:00.000+04:00

"We are poor people. ... What are we to do?" she said.
[from CNN.com]

The quote is from the girls mother, who has 'leased' her daughter as a kamlari, or, slave. [whole article here.]

The article highlights a form of slavery that has existed in Nepal for generations. It baffles me.

It struck me... the value of this girls life is $25-$50 dollars a year? For $100 bucks a year, the family would have enough of an incentive to keep their daughter at home.

Where can we draw the line? Is there even a line to be drawn? Do we draw it in the sand? Do we etch it in stone? Do we even posses the tools to draw this so called line?

What do you think?

Tagged: Trafficking, News, Thoughts

Google Calendar... And why you should submit to Google World Domination...

2006-09-26T00:15:00.000+04:00

I've had a Gmail account nearly as long as I have been blogging. Google has owned blogger for a little longer then that, and one thing I always wished was that I could use my Gmail username to login here.

Well... Google expanded Gmail into full fledged Google Accounts. Yay! Some of you have already seen me use Google's Picasa Web Albums, and I have also played around with Google Spreadsheets. And, just today, I have integrated Google Calendar into my sidebar.

Blogger.com has now officially launched a Beta program, for the past few months, people who have signed up for the beta needed to create a Google Account. My favorite part of this is that Gmail's super sweet spellchecker has replaced blogger.com's cumbersome java applet. This blog will be making the migration soon, but for now, I am testing the Beta out with a new blog. [ssshhh its still a secret!]

Gmail itself is now over 2.7gb of personal email storage for FREE! Accessible anytime, from anywhere, as long as you have a computer with the Internet. If you need a Gmail invite, send me a message... In the U.S. (and selected locale, but not Russia) currently, you can get an invite code via SMS here! Sign-up for your FREE everything from Google today, maybe they will spare you when they take over the world.

I love you Google. And, I am not even signed up for AdSense...

Tagged: Google, Thoughts, The Road

Whole Article

2006-09-20T16:01:00.000+04:00

Click Here to see article

Come back here and tell me what you thought.

Tagged: Lost Coin, Thoughts, The Road

Quote of the Day

2006-09-19T23:04:00.000+04:00

"Models are Kleenex, there's always another pretty 17-year-old girl just dying to be a model. They're infinitely replaceable so the people in the industry don't care. They're not people, they're hangers."

"The modeling business is what it is -- it is not evil, there is no grand conspiracy. It doesn't care about anything except selling frocks. The only thing a young girl can do to protect herself is to be prepared to do the best she can to keep her head screwed on straight.

"It's a world full of temptation. Young people tend to be tempted and beautiful young girls tend to be exploited and any beautiful young girl who doesn't understand that has not been well prepared for this world."

Michael Gross, author of "Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women," [from cnn.com]

What the hell are we thinking!? I simply don't understand.

Also... Some thoughts provoked by The End of Poverty, by Jeffery D. Sachs:

Why doesn't the 'rich world' spend more money investing in the 'poor world?' I mean in terms of typical aid money, but more specifically, in terms of argricultural and technilogical education? Why don't we spend some money now to help stimulate a healty trade relationship for the future. We can get quality goods for cheap, and at the same time, we can influence living conditions, working conditions and wages. We can help people who live in moderate and extreme poverty ($2/day and $1/day, repectively) today.

One other thought that impacted me. Americans often forget that not long ago, we lived in similar conditions. Our benevolent government has heavily invested in our countries infrastructure, making living conditions and trade conditions much better. We also often forget that we have a great wealth of resources in our country. We have two separate sea boards for trade. We have many navigatiable rivers that go far inland. We have a land that is vast, areas that are great for farming many different kinds of crop. We have land for livestock. We have a huge headstart in terms of availibe resources then say a landlocked country like Malawi, who has a yearly per capita income (how much each person makes in a year) of $596. I'm not trying to be over critical of Americans in my last statements. I simply think we should be ever concious of God's blessing on us, and as he has filled our cup to overflowing, we should try and spill some of it on those in less fortunate situations.

Tell me what you think?

Tagged: Politics, Thoughts, The Road

Overwhelmed?

2006-09-11T00:30:00.000+04:00

Here is an expert from a response I am writing to my experiences the last few weeks in Greece. Also, the photo is my attempt at an artistic response. Feedback is always appreciated. Leave a comment, or send me a note chrismwarren@gmail.com.

Overwhelmed?

How do I begin to describe the way I was feeling as the two 'guards' we had upset was yelling at Jennifer and ignoring me? One of these pimps was extremely upset and was looking for a reason to physically get rid of us. I couldnÂ't understand a word of the Greek, and yet, we had prayed for protection, and I felt a peace that I can't fully explain. Just as I thought things might get really dangerous, the other pimp simply asked us guys to stand at the end of the block while the girls continued, and he calmed his friend down.

Welcome to Felis Street in downtown Athens Greece. Bare white light bulbs serve to distinguish regular apartments from those that are used as legal brothels. Dozens of men mill in and out of the doorways in the following 15 minutes. Some are clients who are done with their transactions, some are window shopping, and some are looking for the shortest line. The street is really busy for a Monday night. I count 11 white lights, and 15 doorways that these men are coming and going from as I observe from my vantage point at the corner near a gas station that is closed.

Download the above image as your wallpaper (1024x768) from Flickr.

There are a few other photos up at IT Russia's Flickr page as well.

Tagged: Prostitution, Human Trafficking, The Road

G6 -- Russians serving in Athens!

2006-08-29T01:29:00.000+04:00

Our Team

I will be running the team blog for our Athens trip this upcoming week, so I will probably be on hiatus from my own. Below is an excerpt from the first entry. Check it out, www.g6russia.blogspot.com. Oh, and we like comments!

Step One: Bring a team together!

Ok, so if you are planning a short term missions trip, this isn't actually the first step. But, for our team, this is the first step of our journey to Athens, Greece.

International Teams: Russia is officially active!

Each member of this team has a unique story of how and why they are involved in this trip. God has given us His provision in finances and time. The Russian's visas were approved on Friday.

[...read more from this blog]

Tagged: The Road

Spoke too soon...

2006-08-22T23:31:00.000+04:00

:: Market Bombing ::

** POST UPDATE 23-08-06 2240 ** Here is a CNN.com update on the bombing. **

So, I sent an email home to my mom yesterday, and while I was writing the draft of the email, I had written, "Don't worry about me, all the terrorists are in London and Lebanon."

After I completed the letter, I decided to delete that sentace from the email, and instead just left: "I've been away at camp, but I am fine."

Indeed it is good that I removed the sentance about terrorists. Just hours after sending the message, I was on CNN.com and found breaking news of a market bombing that killed 10... Right here in Moscow. Terrorism was now being considered at the time that I read the artice, it seemed they were leaning more towards oragnized crime. Three people have now confessed to the bombing and are in custody.

Syomin said Tikhomirov and Kostyrev had agreed to carry out a bomb attack at the market “because there [were] too many people of Asian backgrounds, whom they intensely disliked.”
article

Now, tonight, again with CNN I am reading about breaking news that has killed 170+ people. A Russian ariliner enroute to St. Petersburg has crashed in the Ukraine [here is a map], there are expected to be no survivors. They are ruling out terrorism, and instead blaming poor weather, and old equipment. The plane was though to be carrying 45 children/teens.

I don't have a response to this. I'm still shocked. This is the 3rd air crash this year involving soviet-era aircraft (2 Russian airlines, one Armenian airliner). In every crash, all passangers and crew have been lost.

I am lost for words.

Articles: CNN.com bombing report
MosNews.com bombing confession
MosNews.com bombing report
CNN.com airliner report
Anti-Terror rally in Moscow today.
Interfax.com airliner blurb.
Interfax.com: 45 children, teens.
Update on the bombing from CNN.com

Tagged: News, Thoughts

Natisk wrap up

2006-08-22T10:12:00.000+04:00

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

We just go back from Natisk on Sunday, and things still haven't slowed down. We left the camp ground a little after 10:30am, but we didn't walk in the door of the apartment until 9:30pm... Yesterday and today have consisted of laid back mornings, but have had lunch meetings, and today we have a team meeting, sort of a camp de-briefing. On the way home, I started to come down with a cold. Today it is in full swing. Sore chest, and hacking up the junk. I am drinking a lot of tea to try and keep my coughing and mucus to a minimum.

Enough about me... The camp was incredible! Some of you already know, but there were a lot of unknowns going into this camp. Up until they actually arrived, no one knew how many kids would actually be coming. We changed camp ground locations several times. Some of the couselors were in flux with work. Well... all of those things came to rest once we were actually at camp. There were 25 couselors, which we called producers (in keeping with our MTV programming) and 31 kids (VJs). We did the camp pretty far from Moscow, outside of the city of Tver. The campground was great, this place called Gloria, I think it was run by some charismatics, so we didn't bother them with our loud rap music. The food was actually pretty decent, for camp food, and the facilities were on par with most American camp facilities of simliar size.

The kids and the staff team really bought into the theme of the camp. As they arrived, the producers were doing an improptu dance for them as they exited the bus. That dance really set the tone for the camp, and for the most part it was high energy. We showed short clips during the morning discussion sessions, and DJ Elf (a producer/artist here in Moscow) did a song or two most mornings. There were smaller group discussions most mornings after the large group meetings, and at night our small groups got together to discuss more important life questions.

We did crazy games in the mid-morning before lunch, and there was always a presentation to prepare for before the night 'spectacle,' which usually was planned and arranged by each small group. The first night, the couselors put on a number of skits/songs... Brad and I did a SNL skit with Jim Carry and Will Farrell, the one where Will is in a hot tub, and Jim is a lifeguard who is a bit over-zealous. We did it in English with very minimal translation, and the kids still thought it was hilarious. And Brad... I saved your life man... Because, it wasn't your time yet!

Communication was less of a barrier at this camp then the other two we have done this summer. There were a lot more English speaking kids, as well as most of the leadership team.

One thing is certain. We did not plan on this camp being a Christian camp. In the past we have had to be very careful about our titles because we worked with the public school system to invite kids to our camp. This year, we took only kids who have been coming to our club meetings. There were a few others, some guys came from an orpahage outside Moscow (Man, could they dance and play football!). Our lessons and topics were geared to make kids think for themselves, and were not overtly Christian. But, God had his own plans in the midst of our planning. We had three kids make serious decisions to chage their lives and accept Jesus in their hearts and lives.

One girl explained to the leaders why she was making this decision, and explained that no one has ever explained Jesus to her before. No one has ever told her that God loves her. She said that she knew something was different about the leaders at the camp, and after one of the leaders took her aside and talked with her, she knew that it was it.

Overall, this was the best camp all summer. It was also the most emotionally draining camp we have done yet. I think it was truly God's timing to keep me from getting sick at camp, now I just need to get better before Greece next week!

Pictures uploaded soon. :)

Tagged: Photos, Moscow, The Road

Natisk Summer Camp 2006

2006-08-12T00:22:00.000+04:00

AH!

I leave in just a few hours for our Natisk Summer camp... and I still need to pack.

But! I wanted to let you know that I sent out a new eList update.

If you have been following the blog, there isn't much new info in it, but you can still view it here!

Ok, I need to make sure I have clean underwear... oh, and pray that my shorts dry in time too! We don't have a dryer, just a litte 8" fan!

See you next Sunday, the 20th!

Tagged: The Road

Who is that kid anyway?

2006-08-10T13:47:00.000+04:00

I realized that I don't really ever do these... 'Get to know me surveys,' so, I wanted to do one...

I stole it from Stacy and Monique. Thanks guys.

1. FIRST NAME? Christopher
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope, but, my middle name is the same as one of my cousins.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I've been close a few times since I have been in Russia... The most recent was when I was watching End of The Spear last Monday. But, I haven't all out cried in a while.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yep.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Smoked Turkey.
6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yep, I just never told everyone about them. ... No... haha.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Nope. I don't think I would get along with me.
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yep. A real one too.
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sarcasm is not part of my vocabulary.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I am still complete.
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yeah, but, it has to be a huge jump... Maybe over a river where your head dunks under at the bottom, that would be sweet!
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Never.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Have you seen my guns? Sheesh. I could bend steel.
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Standard vanilla. I like regular chocolate too. But, none of this mint crap!
16. SHOE SIZE? 10 1/2 US, 44 here in Russia... I have no idea what the numbers measure.
17. RED OR PINK? This must have been written by a woman. Black.
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My butt. It just isn't as firm as when I was a boy. haha.
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My little brothers.
20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 13 August 1983; Tucson, AZ
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue Jeans.
22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A peach.
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Linkin Park is on my computer.
24 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Black, because it is the most useful.
25. FAVORITE SMELL? Armpit. Lately though... The Metro has been growing on me.
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? Brad (another IT intern) to talk about dinner and a guy who will be staying with us tonight.
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? Their nationality. Then, probably the eyes.
28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Yes. But, if I told you, I would have to kill you where you stand.
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Smirnoff Triple Black.
30. FAVORITE SPORT? European Soccer, seriously, those guys are good.
31. HAIR COLOR? Brown.
32. EYE COLOR? Brown.
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, I have not made contact.
34. FAVORITE FOOD? Fat, greasy, cheeseburgers.
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy ending, scary movies are... Stupid!
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? In the theater? Pirates 2 in ENGLISH!!
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black. I'm naked underneath.
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer in Moscow.
39. HUGS OR KISSES? ... Both?
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Coffee.
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Russka by Edward Rutherford, I just finished Tom Clancy's Special-Ops: State of Siege.
42. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad required.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Electric guitars and girls signing.
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Samara, Russia... Its about 1,000 km East of Moscow.
46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD THEY BE? Bono, Cameron Strang.

Tagged: Thoughts , The Road

Thoughts...

2006-08-07T02:31:00.000+04:00

:: IDF Strikes ::

This is what I have been pondering lately.

→ What exatcly did God do during creation? Well obviously, He created, but here is one specific question... [from PJ's Blog]

→ What is happening in Sri Lanka that everyone is so upset about? [via CNN.com]

→ Being culturly relevant, and what does that mean anyway? [releveantmagazine.com]

→ Greece. [Previous post here]

→ Eden (not the garden), congrats friends. [Matt's newest addition]

→ Where did Steve and Josh go? [SCP.com]

→ Man, I need some more podcasts, what are you listening to? [leave me a comment below.]

→ Way to go Landis, you really make winning look good. [via CNN.com]

But, this is what I think about most lately...

→ Israel and Lebanon. [wikipedia recap here]

→ Its on the front page of any news website that you will go too. [pictures on bbc.co.uk]

→ President Bush hasn't even called the Israeli Prime Minister. [via CNN.com, but, I can't find the article again... very strange.]

→ The UN could take 'a few days' to come to a decision about a proposed cease fire. [way to be Condy.]

→ Almost 900,000 people have been displaced. 700 Lebanese Civilians have been killed. 2,700 have been wounded. 95 Israeli's have been killed, about half are civilians. The IDF claims to have killed 'approxitmatley 400' Hezbollah fighters, which Hezbollah fiercley disputes. [stats updated via wikipedia]

→ How do you live life with bombs dropping around you? You don't live life, you try your best to survive. ['life on hold' via bbc.co.uk]

I can't sleep. Becuase I am thinking too much.

Tagged: Politics, Thoughts, The Road

Rusa 2006 -- in video form!

2006-08-06T13:53:00.000+04:00

So I one upped myself this time. I was going through the pictures and really didn't feel like editing 250 captions. I mean. I will, and I will upload them on Picasa soon. But, I stumbled upon this nifty (and free) program from Micro$oft, so I used it. Its called Photo Story 3 (Windows only, sorry friends).

So, I threw some of the photos from Rusa together, set them to fun music, uploaded to YouTube, and here you go.

Let me know what you think... Feedback is always appreciated.

I'm in Moscow until Saturday morning, then we leave for the Natisk (Moscow kids) Camp for about a week.

Tagged: Photos, Summer Camp, The Road

Back in Moscow

2006-08-05T02:52:00.000+04:00

:: Chris, Anton, and Yulia ::

**POST UPDATE: 07AUG2006@0217**
Actually, it looks like everything will load swimmingly. Cheers!**

**POST UPDATE: 07AUG2006@0210**
I finished getting the pictures of Ruza together, but I think my webalbum will run out of room before the upload is complete. View what uploads here.**

Brad and I left for Rusa last Saturday, and we got back late Thursday night. We took Anton to camp with us this week, and a girl from Paridigma (Yulia) also ended up joining us at the camp this past week. It was a pretty good camp, I think it was hard on Yulia, she was put in charge of all the girls over 10 years of age. The camp was run by a small church in Rusa, very cool people.

We went to dinner and a movie (in English!!) tonight with Anton and Yulia here in Moscow. We ate at a TGI Friday's and saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in English on New Arbat Street tonight, we had a great time out. Its late, and I'm tired... But I promise that tomorrow morning I will finish up the captions and have the batch loaded up. I will post an update then. :P

I uploaded a small sampling of the pics from Rusa, and a few from tonight here on Flickr.

I will upload a whole batch (about 250 shots) onto my Picasa Web Album, as soon as I get all of the captions edited.

Thanks for the comments about Israel and Lebanon. It has been hard for me to be out of the loop (literally, with no power at a tent camp) all week, knowing that this is going on. I will write more response later too.

--Stacy, I'm glad you are back safe and enjoying your new job. Nice jorb eh!

Tagged: Moscow, The Road

Israel and Lebanon

2006-07-28T00:08:00.000+04:00

:: Captured Hezbollah Flag ::

How do you respond to a conflict like this? How do you rationalize the loss of human life? How do you deal with state-sanctioned terrorists? How do you bomb buildings and cities? How do you call women and children 'collateral damage?' How do you face God after committing such atrocities?

I am at a loss of how to respond to war. I know how I felt when the US went to war in Afghanistan, and how I felt when we send our troops to Iraq to topple a dictator. But, several years on... I am at a loss of how to justify any loss of life. Where do you draw the border line on defense?

I think it is much easier to be a safe American and to think about war, then it is to be outside of our borders and to think about war.

Paul Hindalong made a comment that struck me last week while I was at camp. He is a bit older, and so its a bit more fresh for him. But he said... "And to think, these were the people we had our missiles pointed at just a few years ago."

He was referring to the missile crisis of the 1960's, when the US and Russia faced off in a 'cold war.' I'm glad that we never actually went to war, I'm glad that [apart from 9/11] we haven't had American cities razed by bombs. I'm glad that growing up I never had to do bomb shelter drills.

But, my heart cries out for those in Lebanon and in Israel. My heart cries out for loss of life in the Gaza Strip.

How are you responding? What do you think about this? How do Christians react in the face of war?

CNN Recap article here.

Tagged: War, Politics

Athens Greece, ARC, Lost Coin, and Russia?

2006-07-27T13:47:00.000+04:00

:: Athens Refugee Center ::

Pretty soon after I arrived here in Moscow, I was given a heads up to an exciting opportunity within our team here in Moscow. As I have spoken to many of you about, International Teams: Russia has recently (the end of last year) come into fruition. IT Russia will focus on sending Russians to the four corners of the world. They had planned to take a trip to Athens Greece to work with the Athens Refugee Center (ARC) and with the ministry Lost Coin, which reaches out to women involved in the sex trade and trafficking. Prostitution is legal in Greece, but many of those involved are not registered properly, and therefore do not have access to the rights of the unions or health benefits. Read about that here. Download a PDF that profiles Lost Coin's ministry here.

The trip last January did not pan out. The Russian's were denied the proper visas required to let them travel from Russia to Greece. Only one member of the team (an American) was able to go. The team has not lost hope in being able to move forward with this ministry however, and are currently in process of trying again.

I have been asked to join the team in going to Athens, Greece! There is currently six people who are planning to make the trip. Four Russians, Stacie Shopp and myself.

Specific Prayer is needed for these areas:

The travel visas for the Russians: It is a cumbersome process to get travel arrangements to most places in the world for Russians. We have applied with a tour agency to Greece. The visas required are simple tourist visas, and even those are a pain.

The cost: It is a bit higher then we were hoping. Most of the Russians already had about 800 USD raised from last time, the cost now is around 1200 USD. I will need to supplement my trip with little extra as well. Most of it I can extract from unused funds in my budget, but not quite all of it.

The trip will happen at the end of August, the trip is from August 29th - September 8th.

I will post more details and exact costs soon. Thanks for praying.

If you would like to give, please send support to:

International Teams
411 W River Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123

Please put a little note that says: 'Russian Short Term Trip to Greece.'
You can also give directly to me by putting: Chris Warren in your memo line.

Tagged: Missions, Greece, Prostitution, The Road

Welcome to our apartment!

2006-07-26T17:44:00.000+04:00

:: our busted toilet

Thanks to my new favorite photo program, Picasa, which is free from Google, I have loaded a very brief photo tour of the apartment Brad and I have been staying in while in Moscow. Check out the apartment here.

Today was our first down day since arriving in Moscow. It was good to get some work done on the computer and... Its good that we were here anyway. The owner of the apartment called and wanted to come by and have a guy install a water meter. Its good that he came too, because our toilet is busted. But, now (right this moment, as a matter of fact) the owner is repairing the toilet. So, that is one work project that we can take off of our list. Sweet! If he gets done soon, Brad and I are going to go our for dinner... And it will be the first time all day that we have left the apartment. It feels good to be able to simply rest and read.

I have compiled all the photos that I can from the three of us interns and from a Russian who was at the last camp in one place. Check out that Picasa Web Album here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/projectmoscova

Matt from Team Spain has been featured on IT's blog. Check it out here!

Tagged: Photos, Moscow, The Road

Самара - Samara Camp

2006-07-25T02:01:00.000+04:00

:: Samara Sunset Skyline ::

Here are some photos (and here is a slideshow of them) from the camp that we did with a church in Samara. The church is one of the largest Baptist churches in the city of Samara. We had a feedback meeting tonight on how the camp went from our perspective, and what God has been showing us so far.

... On the way to Samara our flight was delayed for 10 hours. It was pouring rain by the time we made it to the airport, but we didn't know we were delayed until after we passed security, and they didn't give us an expected departure, they just kept anoucing that more information was be available in 30 minutes. So, every 30 minutes, they announced that they would anounce again in 30 minutes. For... 10 hours. So, that explains the sunrise photo at the airport, when our flight was due to leave at 11pm. :) "...S7 Airlines apologize... *dong*"

:: Camp - Survivor Style ::

The leadership team for the camp was really incredible. We arrived on the desert island 2 nights before the kids came, so we could prepare everything. The leadership team was about 25 people (including the six of us from Moscow), but the 20 or so from the church in Samara work really well as a team. They really love each other. There were no official interpreters at the camp for the Americans to really interact with the Russians, but the couple leaders who spoke nearly fluent English really helped us out a lot. The kids were anxious to try out their English too, and so, we seemed to connect well. We focused our efforts on praying for and encouraging the Russian leadership, and it was evident that it was working well.

I seem to be in a whirlwind of activity... I think it will die down for the week by Wednesday, but by Saturday I will be getting ready to head to another tent camp. I will try and get some quality posts in by then. We are compiling our pictures from this trip and from Moscow in general and I will be getting a bunch of them on the net someplace soon. I am trying out Google's Picasa Web Albums for the current batch of pictures, but they have a storage limit (it increases considerably for $25.00/yr), and I am all about free stuff. So if anyone has a great place that they store their online photos, let me know. I need something that does batch uploading, editing, and some organization tools. I have pictures on Flickr, Photobucket, and now Picasa Web Albums.

2006-07-14T01:32:00.000+04:00

Check out more photos on Flickr.

Sunset, at... 11:00pm

2006-07-13T00:20:00.000+04:00

:: The view from my apartment ::

A few more photos added. Check them out.

Below is the latest email update that I have sent out.

**the links in the email did not copy, most of link here or the photo page anyway.**
-------

Hello Hello!

Greetings from Moscow!

I have had very little free time since arriving here in the city, we have had a whirlwind of people taking us for tours and helping us get around and get adjusted. Today we have had a bit of free time, so, I thought I would update you all.

I arrived here this past week, and have been getting settled into an apartment near the Orange Metro line. It is a nice, safe (relatively), reasonably clean and desirable area of Moscow. I am living with another summer intern, Brad. He is from Ohio, and will be working with us for about 6-8 weeks. The only problems so far are... there is no hot water in our apartment. Most apartments in Moscow go for a period of time in the summer without hot water, usually they are working on the pipes and the water systems. Also, our toilet leaks. Out of the tank... not the bowl, it seems to be an easy fix, if we ever get time to search for the part and replace it. :)

We did a bit of touristy type stuff yesterday and today, so there are photos on my Flickr page here. I also did a quick update on my blog last night. We will be going to the Kremlin and Red Square tomorrow morning.

Friday we will be flying to Samara, a city southeast of here (about 3 1/2 hours by plane), to put on a "wilderness camp." We will be living on an island with no electricity, no buildings, no modern - anything. Bathing in the river, sleeping in a tent... it should be pretty fun. :)

I have inherited a set of grandparents (so it feels like) Paul and Marti have been living here in Moscow for the past 6 years working with CBI and ASR pretty closely, they have been wonderful this past week with the three interns. Paul especially has helped us acclimate to the Metro and bus system that is essential for getting around. Marti will be sending out some specific prayer requests for Samara, so I will pass those along before we leave.

The team here is very very busy... and I promise that as soon as I figure out exactly who everyone is and what everyone is up to... I will send out a little bio of each person.

Prayer Requests:
- For Samara.
- The team (about 4-5 people) is considering taking a short term trip to Athens, Greece. I may be tagging along for that trip in early September.

Remember to check my blog for the latest updates. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed.

The latest photos are here.

Tell me - what is going on in your life?
Chris
--
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Chris Warren

www.chriswarren.org

Moscow!

2006-07-12T01:11:00.000+04:00

:: Moscow State University ::

So I'm here. I finally got some pictures uploaded here. Flickr caps off at 200 photos... (I am still unsure, but... I think that they simply archive them?), so I will keep uploading my newer photos... But my older ones will be going to Flickr Heaven. That is, unless someone wants to gift me with a Flickr Pro account... :) (my username is chrismwarren@gmail.com)

I am getting settled into my apartment on the sixth floor, near the Kon'Kovo Station of the Metro on the Orange Line. Its a pretty old apartment that a couple of missionary guys have been living in, one recently went home for good, and one is home for the summer. We have the place to ourselves (Brad and Myself).

Its almost 1:30 here... So I need sleep... Tonight Anton (find him in the pictures), is staying at our apartment, we have had a good time checking out music together and teaching each other new words in our native languages.

Good night friends.

Subway Crash here in Spain

2006-07-03T23:34:00.000+04:00

:: Valencia, Spain ::

In the time that I have spent in this country, I have come to love the people here. So, when I see a story like this... It breaks my heart. There was a subway crash here in Spain this afternoon, and over 30 people are dead... Some people have speculated up to 45. I'm relieved to hear that terrorism has been ruled out. According to CNN, a wheel broke on the subway train, the train then crashed into the wall of the tunnel, and the wall fell on the train. This accident could have been much much worse, as many people were on the way home for lunch, and it occurred near a busy station.

A few people have emailed me and asked if I am ok... Yes. I am nowhere near Valencia, I am located on the west (Atlantic) coast of Spain, and Valencia is on the east (Mediterranean) coast.

The Pope was scheduled to visit Valencia this coming weekend. I hope that this accident does not scare anyone away from going to Valencia to visit The Pope. More then ever, we need to pray for these people.

:: Terra Nova ::

Many Spaniards simply do not think about religion at all. The little they have been exposed to is either a) an ineffective and stagnant Catholic Church, or b) a scary, cult-like evangelical smothering. They do not count it as important. Especially the young generation. That is why places like Cafe Terra Nova are such important meeting and connection places here in this culture. Please pray for the cafe here. They are struggling to survive in a very competitive environment, they want more then ever to remain open, and they would love to see this happen simply by being more profitable. €There is a sea of unexpected business complications that have continued to plague the cafe, they are getting more treacherous to negotiate. Pray for Spain.

[S d C]ompostela: Tapas, San Juan, and Culture.

2006-06-26T14:25:00.000+04:00

:: Santiago by Night ::

I added more photos here.

Photos of San Juan, repainting the cafe, and of the city last night while out for tapas.

Its great... You go to a bar/cafe here, and if they do tapas, you simply order a cold drink... Like a beer, glass of wine or something... And they bring you appetizers for free. So, you simply order a round... Eat the tapas, finish your drink... Then go on to another place and do it again.

We didn't actually eat dinner last night... Just did tapas. Fun fun.

Lazy day today... And a funny story. I was in the cafe this morning, on Skype talking to Helena, then after I finished, I just shut my laptop and left it out here on the laptop station. I was sitting up at the bar talking with people, and I looked back after a while and some dude was using my laptop to browse the internet. !!?? I started laughing and said... Jacob, look at that! We laughed about it for a second, and started talking about it. Well... His friend was up at the bar ordering a coffee. His friend went back and told him it was not a public computer. Well... By then, he was in the middle of ordering plane tickets! So, I let them finish... He probably used it for about 20 minutes all together... They were so apologetic and the friend kept thanking me and apologizing in Spanish. They ended up buying me a coffee... So hey... Maybe I should rent this laptop out for often eh? haha.

I started reading Bono: In conversation with Michka Assayas last night. Good stuff so far. Even just reading the Introduction and the foreword by Bono was incredible. Another book on my radar is The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey D. Sachs. Sachs has a proposed solution for ending poverty in our lifetime. I will try to steal it away from Jacob a bit while I am here and relay anything good I find.

Tagged: Santiago, The Road

The Old City... Photo tour...

2006-06-24T15:42:00.000+04:00

:: service ::

I loaded a bunch more photos...

Last night was a huge holiday... San Juan. I don't know all the reasons they celebrate, or what all the traditions are... But I can tell you this... People who enjoy nightlife know how to party... And here in Santiago de Compostela... They enjoy nightlife. Seriously... Bri (a summer intern here in SdC) and I were out late!! We had dinner at "Latino Bar," Matt's favorite place here in Santiago.

I took a bunch of pictures, and even a video or two last night, but I left my camera in my room... So I will have those up later. For now, enjoy the new additions of the old city. It is the historic part of the city. Terra Nova is right on the edge of the old city, and I am staying in a Hostel on the other edge. Hostal Linares.

Here is a typical day in Santiago...

Wake up and have breakfast... 9am - 12noon.
Do some stuff... 12noon - 3pm
Lunch and Siesta (seriously, stuff is closed)... 3pm - 5pm
Do some more stuff... 5pm - 9pm
Have dinner... 9pm-11pm
Hang out, have drinks and tapas... 11pm - ??

Ok, obviously... If you had a job... Or classes, you would have to fit those in some place. Shops close during siesta... But cafes/bars/restaurants stay open.

Spain won yesterday in El Mundial (the World Cup), so people here are pretty pumped.

** I make no claims to the spelling of things in Espanol. **

Santiago... Ahhh...

2006-06-22T16:16:00.000+04:00

:: The Road. ::

I arrived in Santiago a few hours ago... This city is vibrant. Alive. This would be a good place to live and die. For now, I am just visiting and having some coffee.

I got the photos from London uploaded. So check it out by clicking on the badge in the sidebar, or you can view a slideshow of the photos here.

Thanks Jacob and Tania for putting me up here in Santiago. More on that later...

WorldCup tonight! US vs Ghana! ole ole ole!

London

2006-06-21T22:46:00.000+04:00

I made it to London.

Pictures soon... It too expensive for me to take the time here to upload them.

You guys rock.

Keep prayin.

WOW.

2006-06-19T23:21:00.000+04:00

I can't believe it...

But, we have cleared the Russian Government. My passport is in transit to me at this very second.

Estimated delivery
Jun 20, 2006 10:30 AM

Thanks for praying everyone. I am going to try and send a quick blurb later tonight as an email to everyone.

!!!

Now, I have to finish packing!! AHHHH!!

Down to the wire...

2006-06-19T17:31:00.000+04:00

I have been terrible about updating.

There is no easy way to say that, its just true. Things have been happening so fast over the last couple of weeks, and well... I've been... Busy.

Here is the short version. I should have already had my visa paperwork taken care of and should have had my passport back in my hands by today. After all, I leave tomorrow. However, there has been a HUGE delay with my 'letter.' To travel to Russia, you first need to be invited, with a letter of invitation. Then, you submit an application along with the letter. Things take weeks to process. I was expecting to have the letter on Friday, and with rush one day processing (think: expensive), I would have had my passport back on Saturday. Well, my couterparts in Russia have pushed for me, since it didn't arrive on Friday, and I now have the letter.

I have a shot at receiving my passport back in time. I need to be leaving Tucson tomorrow between 9 and 10 am, if my passport in available in time... I could still receive it by 10:30am, and it would be a mad dash to the airport in Phoenix.

I am pretty much ready to go other then that... My room is mostly devoid of furniture, and I will need to spend today getting things ready to go. If I don't get to see you before I leave, I'm sorry... But then again... It's only 7 months... I'll see you next year. :)

New Life Russian Tea, 7pm.

2006-06-03T22:36:00.000+04:00

Okay... Okay... I know, this should have been up sooner, but it wasn't. I'm sorry.

Tonight, the New Life Russian Tea is still happening. The reason that I have not posted about it is because I was short of the details.

Tonight. 7pm. Cindy Peterson's house. I know she has contact most of the people who were interested in coming. However, if you are in Tucson and would like to join us, please feel free to drop by. Where is the house you ask? I have no idea.

I hope to have directions by the time I am off of work... So leave me a message on my cell phone if you would like to drop by and when I know, I will call you. My phone is 214-228-1001.

My official last day at Starbucks is June 14th, so if you need a coffee fix and want to see me, you best do it before then. I work today, then not again until Wednesday (Thanks Sherie!) but, then I work everyday Wed - Sun mostly closing shifts next week. Yay.

So call me (or Cindy, if you have her number), and please come tonight. Thanks.

Spirit West Coast

2006-05-31T01:31:00.000+04:00

Hands raised in Worship.
Originally uploaded by jessica bo-bessica.

Hey Hey... So, I did take my camera this weekend... But, I would be lying if I said that I am the one who took any photos. My camera never made it out of my bag. I didn't have the heart. And, plus, there were plenty of others with cameras. So until the kids from Desert Son get all that together: I offer this photo (I think it was taken during Audio A's set Sunday afternoon).

Thanks to this Flickr user for taking great shots and being on the ball about getting them up on the web!

I had a great time this weekend. It was a very much needed escape for a nice, restful, exciting, unexpected weekend. God really spoke some incredible words into my heart while I was in California. I wish I could have taken you all with me... But, I am glad that we didn't have to cook for you all on our little propane stove and our [very] greasy grill.

Events that occurred this weekend will shape who I am. Thank You for Spirit West Coast Del Mar.

[update] I was so excited that I found such a sweet shot of SWC that I almost forgot to tell you to check out Stacie Shopp's brand spankin new blog here. She will be taking care of me while I am working with the team in Moscow. So far, she has a great post (with lots of pictures) about IT's International Leadership Forum that she is just finished with. I am so excited to be working with such an awesome team in Moscow!

Da Vinci was what!?

2006-05-25T12:53:00.000+04:00

First: I want to give a nod to Matt Lynn.

Thanks for the link to this article, as well as your most recent thoughts, friend.

I just finished The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I have read all of Mr. Browns books... And the only reason I waited on this one is because they were not offering it in paperback yet... ;)

I only have one thing to say, It was a great book. It was, as his other novels are, great fiction. I have not seen the movie yet, I would like to... But its hard for me to picture Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon... Especially with longer gray hair... Now, I only have one question about the book... I found several strange things: every book has the authors name, and usually the title of the book on every page as you read it. In the case of the book I acquired, "Dan Brown" was on the pages on the left, and "The Da Vinci Code" was on the right. Every page had standard page numbers except the start of chapters... Okay... That said... There were at least two occasions that I noticed the title was different, there were two occasions that I noticed that Dan Browns name was changed, and two occasions that I noticed that the page numbers were not even numbers... Once was an SOS, on a chapter page (one that should not have had a page number at all), and one that appeared as ***, in place of a page number... Very strange. I thought that they would tie in with the story somehow, and they probably do... But there was no direct reference in the text that meant anything with these symbols. I'm sure there are entire websites devoted to solving this secrets and more. Strange. Intriguing. Bravo on a page turner Mr. Brown.

I saw the movie Closer tonight. What a waste of time. Great cast, and good dialogue (minus the excessive usage of the F word to define almost every action imaginable, including usage as an adverb, verb, noun, article, direct object, and indirect object)... But what a trashy plot. I suppose that it is real life for sexually promiscuous individuals... What a sad reality. If you watched Closer, and thought that it was a portrayal of your life, you should seek professional help, because I fear that you may be a pathological liar parading as an optimist, or you are a depressive who uses deception and shocking truth to define your depression. Clive Owen was absolutely sinister.

This weekend I will be at Spirit West Coast in Del Mar, California... Maybe I will use that digital camera of mine... :)

Plane Tickets, and the eList Launch...

2006-05-20T11:00:00.000+04:00

I purchased plane tickets today!

This is really happening!!

I also sent out my first eList update tonight. If you did not receive one, send me a note, or make sure you are signed up by filling out the form in the sidebar.

You can also view the email online here.

I will have my itinerary online soon... More later, I gotta work coffee in the morning.

Goodbye Desert.

2006-05-08T03:41:00.000+04:00

God is amazing.

As of today. Sunday May 7th 2006. I am +100% of my required budget for six months and have begun the visa application process.

If you are keeping score, God moved from "I'll go when I have the money." to "I am leaving mid to late June." in about 30 days.

Incredible. This has truly been amazing, and I haven't even left Tucson Arizona yet.

Please pray that money continues to come in so that I may minister as long as possible in Russia. Also, I will be purchasing plane tickets this week and should have a departure date written in (sand)stone soon. Pray for the travel visa, I will be cutting it close for processing time. They will have my passport for part of this process (the part at the end) and I obviously can't leave the country without that. So, if they decide to take a while... I could stay past my expected departure date.

If you have tried to sign up on the elist over on the left, I had to reconfigure some things, I am still working out all the bugs. It worked fine, but there was not an auto responder set up... So I was manually sending out the confirmations... Which was fine... But time consuming.

I think it is configured properly now, but, it will take time to reload on the server side, so if you do not receive a confirmation in just a few minutes (up to 30 minutes), then try again tomorrow... :D

** UPDATE ON THE ELIST **
It is still not configured correctly... I will send you a note within 24 hours if you sign up, because I love you. -Chris

You can always send me a note here too. chrismwarren at gmail dot com.

The Latest on Russia

2006-05-06T11:59:00.000+04:00

I know I have kept many of you in the dark in regards to Russia in the last two weeks or so. I apologize for that, I just didn't want to tell you one thing and have to retract my statements later.

Things are coming together fast. Realistically, I am looking at leaving within 6-8 weeks. If I can pick a date off a calendar, I would pick June 21st.

Budget: Thursday, I received updated budget information. For me to go for six months, my budget is roughly $8,400. My insurance information will change it a bit, but I won't know the final amount of that for a few more weeks. Plane tickets are still roughly $1,200. As of May 5th, I have $7,300 committed. That leaves $1,100 remaining to round out my budget for six months. I was also told Thursday, that I may not proceed in purchasing plane tickets until I have 100% of my budget pledged for. There are obvious reasons for this policy, however, if I am going to leave by mid-June... Its getting a bit close. It takes 6-8 weeks for Russian travel visa processing.

After waiting for as long as I have, a few weeks seems trivial. Please pray that I continue to have a peace about His timing. If you have thought about giving, now is the time to go ahead and do it, now is the time to push me over the mark so that I can be released to leave this summer and minister in Russia.

Keep praying guys, its working.

<< Make sure you join the eList to recieve the latest newsletter... delivered right to your email inbox, and saving me 37 cents.

Join my eList!

2006-05-06T01:34:00.000+04:00

I have loaded a new design, as you may have noticed.

Some of the pictures poke off the side of the layout and viewing it in Internet Explorer at a resolution of 800x600 may cause problems for you. But it should look good for 98% of you.

I promise a detailed update on my situation in regards to Russia soon. There are still a few details that need to be worked out, but things are starting to come together in a positive way.

Please join my elist! Use the form on the left to send me an email and get the latest info. If you have ever sent me an email, you are probably already on the list. An update will be going out soon!

Let me know what you think about the changes, and if you have any problems viewing it, let me know. I'll work out all the bugs. I love you guys.

Stacy and Mute Math

2006-04-30T19:28:00.000+04:00

In response to Stacy's post here about Mute Math:

I agree that this generation is apathetic. I also agree that kids tend to make snap judgments based on little, or no research. They are the definition of sheep. The shepherd points, and they herd. The problem is, they don't always follow the shepherd, they follow whoever is by the roadside hollering at them.

I am mostly a conservative. There are many things where I would like to lean more liberally, and many of them have to do with the environment and the treatment of other humans, but I don't like liberals. I don't like conservatives either, in my opinion they can be neadrethals. They do things the same way because that is the way we've always done it.

The other day, I had a 30 year old male tell me this: "I don't like politics, there is always an argument that I don't want to listen to." Of course there is an argument's that you don't want to listen to. That is the point! That is entire reason we have a multi-party set up in our Congress. He told me he has never voted, we then... Don't complain we you don't like something, even if it is as trivial as road construction. Somewhere, sometime, someone voted to approve spending money on that. Don't complain when FEMA doesn't rescue your butt. Don't complain when the President sends us to war. You have had the ability to be the change you want to see in this world [or not to change] for twelve years, and you haven't done anything about it. You have sat on your butt at your parents house and played video games, for twelve years!

I got slightly off topic... But in regards to Mute Math: "If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels." Mark 8:38 (Message)

20 years on... Chernobyl

2006-04-27T08:33:00.000+04:00

:: the girl in this photo is 9 ::

Its been 20 years since the disaster at Chernobyl. I only learned about it a few years ago. It is the stuff of nightmares. People have been dying ever since. Children born since the disaster are born with defects. The children of these children will have defects for generations to come. According to a recent news story in The Moscow Times, there could be as many as 1.5 million people living in the contaminated areas surrounding Chernobyl. They are drinking contaminated water, eating contaminated food, breathing contaminated air. There are some regions that will be uninhabitable for 900 years. CNN recaps here.

20 years later, the world has already forgot about them. The Children of Chernobyl.

*update [27apr06]: Here is a link to a more comprehensive look at Chernobyl. This site also has sort of a photo story it tells about some of the people. It is not for the faint of heart.

Chernobyl is a nuclear reactor, located in the then Soveit Union, that went through a melt down twenty years ago. It spread clouds of radiation for hundreds of square miles, and the fallout from that will affect the next 10 generations or more. It should be remembered as one of the worst things we have done in the last 500 years. Google "Chernobyl" for images and links to sites that can explain it in depth and far better then I.

Hey! Its Earth Day!

2006-04-23T07:07:00.000+04:00

:: photo taken from NASA (Clemintine) ::

What did you do for Earth Day? I carpooled to the movies. :)

So, I posed the question a few days ago, and honestly... I expected one or two responses, but; I did not expect genuine, real, good answers. I should rephrase that, I did not expect to hear some of the same things that come to my mind when I think of what community means to me. But, I do not have a perfectly clear cut picture of what community means to me. I think it is too fragile to define completely. In Gladiator, The Emperor Marcus Aurelius says to Maximus just before he dies, "There once was an idea that was Rome, but, you could only whisper it, any more then a whisper, and it would vanish." When I try to fully grasp community, it slips out of my fingers. If you try and force community, it fails. Like Jenn said... there is no four step plan.

But, I think community is also intentional. I know, it sounds like a dichotomy... but it is not. To have real community takes effort, but it also just happens. If you don't ever call your best friend back, what is his motivation to call you? True intent means picking up the phone and calling your friend. Even if you are the one who never gets the call back.

Carl asked me after he read my question, "Jeez, why didn't you just ask us to define God?" If you have a healthy relationship with Christ, you are experiencing true community with our maker. That is, the reason we were created. You fulfill your purpose in life.

This doesn't mean that you are always happy. Carl also said... "Scottish clans had a communal aspect to them." Then we talked briefly about what that meant. And, that is one metaphor I have been thinking about the last few days. In the clan, every person had a role. Every person looked out for one another. Every person belonged. But, this was not without problems, as we are fallen, we will sin against one another. Clans also were probably the most dangerous place to be. Tempers flared within community as often as externally. But, the key is, no matter what happened, you still belonged to the clan.

Now, I can not speak from experience ;), but marriage is the closest earthly thing, I believe, that we can have to Godly community. You enter into a relationship with this person that is unconditional. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health. You love and laugh in the good times, and you cry and love in the hard times. The common thread in community, marriage, or a relationship with Christ is love. Spend quality time with someone, and you will disagree. Ken has Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's off from work, so we usually hang out in the evenings when his wife Sherry is at work. We usually get something to eat, and we frequently want different places. I think I am more of a pain then Ken, because I usually begin to crave a particular kind of food well before I am hungry and need to eat, and so, when time comes, I usually know the place I want to go to get dinner... But, Ken usually does not crave the same kind of food I do... and maybe he wants Chinese food, but I really want steak and potatoes. I desire to spend time with my friend, but I still want steak. He desires to spend time with me, but he still wants orange chicken. One of us has to compromise if we are going to eat dinner together.

So what is community? I am still exploring it, but to summarize my thoughts about it:

Community is a place to feel comfortable, but also a place to be challenged. Community is a place where your purpose is fulfilled.
Community is love.

Real Community?

2006-04-19T00:40:00.000+04:00

:: goodbyes from before ::

Prompted by an article in the latest Relevant magazine... I was wondering today... What real community is? What does it look like? What does it feel like? How does it manifest itself? What do you need to do to be part of a community? What does it take? What does it give?

I am wondering, and I will talk about it more soon, but I wanted to give you a chance to tell me what you think. Leave some comments and let me know.

Easter... I hate that name.

2006-04-16T11:00:00.000+04:00

Thank You Jesus for what you have done for me. Thank You for coming to the earth and living, only to bear our sin and die. Thank You for being obedient to the Father. Thank You for trusting. Thank You for not passing the cup. Thank You for suffering.

Master, Thank You for loving me.

It is April 15th...

2006-04-16T02:43:00.000+04:00

:: finally, some rest ::

The past few weeks have been really busy... But, this week, I have finally been able to catch some rest, see some friends, and recharge a bit. I had Thursday off, and finally knocked out my taxes. I was motivated like two months ago, I swear, but Krispy Kreme never sent me a W2 for last year. I tried like crazy to get one from them and it was one of the most frustrating experiences that goes along with taxes ever. I ended up using my last paycheck and reporting them for not giving me a W2. All said and done, I pretty much washed. Which is good. Because, this is the first time in four years that I did not owe a ridiculous amount to the government.

Stacy, I am proud of you, and you know I stand by you -and am praying for you- through this crazy time.

Hello Hello?

2006-04-09T00:50:00.000+04:00

:: Hi. I'm Chris. ::

I feel like my recent posts have been lacking in content. Not in 'content' per se, I am including more media then ever here on my blog. But, I feel as though... In the midst of that... I have been including myself less.

Pray for me. I am exploring some new ground in my attempt to return to Moscow. I feel like this summer is a good time to get there, and there is a possibility of that truly happening, as well as the reality that I may not be able to go for a full year on this trip. I have held off an update that I had planned to send out mid to late March because I have been contemplating this, and fighting with God about it. Please pray for God's continued guidance through this, he has been good to me this past year, and my heart aches to return to service full time. There was not a time where that was so. Once I know more details, all of you will know.

I have not been able to sit down and finish a book for 3 weeks, and that bothers me. I am currently reading Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (Thanks Jenn), and Chechnya: To the Heart of a Conflict by Andrew Meier. I also recently purchased To Own a Dragon, by Donald Miller. I need some fiction infusion as well, it just hasn't happened.

Starbucks is better then ever (except today, because I was so tired, that everything was annoying me.), there is some real possibility of Starbucks turning into a career, not just a job. It would take a lot, I don't think that I would settle in as a Store Manager long term, but sticking with them through school is defiantly a good choice. It will be interesting to see the fall out once I actually have a departure date for Moscow. Sherie has hinted toward promotion to Shift Supervisor, but I don't think she wants to do it knowing that I will be leaving at some point.

I was only a year late picking up the latest full length release by Starflyer 59 and Jason Martin(also of Joy Electric fame). I was also only two weeks late getting a new song up here. :)

Some days, I just want to purchase a Volkswagen Van and hit the road, live in the woods for a while, and write poetry... I doubt that anyone would appreciate it, because it would probably stink. But, I think the exercise would be good. I could fish for my food, Omega 3 fatty acids are good for your skin! Or maybe bounce around Europe with all my belongings strapped to my back and immerse myself in different cultures, work at a hostel to pay for lodging... There are so many possibilities.

The best dental visit ever. E-V-E-R

2006-04-07T02:09:00.000+04:00

::Prescription tooth paste? ::

So, I had my dental appointment today... This time, I was there 10 minutes early... Not late...

I was so nervous, not because its the dentist, because I have never really been afraid of the dentist, but because its been so long since I have been. I was so afraid that the dentist (who I only spoke with for like 2 minutes, and that was it), was going to yell at me, tell me I have 5,000 cavities, that I needed to floss, brush more, you know, the whole routine.

He didn't. The hygienist who did my cleaning, and most of the checking out of my mouth said I have good teeth, that they weren't as bad as she thought they would be. I have a tiny chip on one of my front teeth, and thus the prescription for PreviDent. It should help heal that up a bit, and "will keep you from getting cavities." I don't have any cavities now, so I must be doing something right. The Doc even said that I don't even need to have my wisdom teeth removed. Ha!

So, that was pretty much it. I left with a new toothbrush and a prescription toothpaste... Crazy... It was the best dental visit I have ever had. Ever.

Exciting things... Not so exciting things...

2006-04-04T12:35:00.000+04:00

:: Flagstaff ::

So, I'm back from Flagstaff... I had a good trip, cheers to Carl and Ashley for letting me stay there all week. You guys are awesome! (BTW Carl, we still didn't get the car stuff straight!) I really didn't want to go back to work yesterday, then I got there, and was frustrated because I had Monday off... But then I got asked to cover a shift... So it was ok. Tuesday (today?) the big bosses are coming back to our store for a second round of visits (they came last Thursday while I was gone). We must be doing something right in our little corner of the bucksverse. I work 10 to 4, so come say hi.

Being back in town also means getting back into the swing of homework and class. I am way behind. I have a test to take before class tomorrow, and I am not ready yet, and I have to work so... Yeah, there goes that.

Some possibly exciting things are happening with work + me. I will keep you posted. :D

If you haven't seen all the pictures from Flagstaff yet, make sure to check them out here. I'm also taking suggestions for Thursday music, because I am out of cool ideas.

V for Vendetta Wednesday? It better be good.

April Fool's

2006-04-02T07:20:00.000+04:00

:: google romance::

I was searching Google today for... Well... Actually, I forgot, because I suddenly became sidetracked by a little snippet that read: New! Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance.

Google has a history of April Fool's jokes, but this is the first that I have actually encountered on April Fool's.

My Lappy was sick today. It was going crazy slow and just not being its chipper self. I spent most of the day defragging my disks, cleaning out my registry, and deleting unnecessary files. Lappy is feeling much better now.

I'll be home tomorrow sometime after noon. But, I don't really want to come home. :)

No meat on Friday's, thanks Lent.

2006-04-01T14:44:00.000+04:00

:: Inside Man ::
:: click above to play::

I added more photos to my Flickr page. I did not snap a single photo today. We didn't do much. Woke up late, like 11ish... then played Battlefield for a couple of hours, went to Sam's Club and bought a bazillion dollars worth of stuff, came back and put on a dinner for the apartment complex here where Carl and Ashley live. They are part of a CARES Team, which is basically a Christian outreach organization that works with apartment complexes. A Cares team will run a number of events a month to encourage community involvement, and in exchange, they live free at the complex. Carl and Ash usually do one breakfast and one dinner a month, and run several kids clubs (including Halo Club) once a week. They also do one to two special events a month. This past month, they did soap making, which was crazy popular. They did that event several weeks ago and last night at the dinner, people were still talking about it (and asking for another demonstration).

:: I would date me ::

After that Carl and I hooked up with Mike and Pat for a guys night. We went to Uptown Billiards here in Flag, and shot a couple of games. We stopped off at Granny's Closet for a late dinner/snack, then made it over to the Harkin's Theater in time for Inside Man at 10:45pm. The film was pretty good. I have mixed emotions about the film as a whole, and especially what happens. In traditional Chris style, I will not reveal any plot twists, but the film itself presents several moral dilemmas to ponder. It is worth seeing.

This is my 100th post!! W00t!

2006-03-31T09:35:00.000+04:00

:: 100th post, Halo is here ::

This trip has been good. Its good to get away from things for a while and think. I've been pretty busy too though... Snowbowl was still closed today, but the road was opened, so we went up near the entrance and sledded. We had a blast, built a jump, got sunburned, watched Ken sled nearly a 1/2 mile (not kidding, the slope was just right and the snow nice, he went crazy far.), waited over 15 minutes for Ken to hike back, got cold, then got hot. I have some cool pictures of the jump, including some of me doing it bare chested... w00t!

When we got back to Carl's, it was time for us to run Halo club for his apartment complex. We had 3 boxes and even had a projector unit, it was sweet! We still had to rotate some people in and out because we had too many kids there. Its really too bad that Carl and I are so good... Because we always have to be on separate teams. We had some pretty epic matches this afternoon: Team Snipers on Acension, Multi-Bomb on Coagulation, 3 Team Swat on Ivory Tower, 4 round Single Bomb on Burial Mounds... ahhh... The goodness. I love Halo. I especially love Halo when the games are good.

:: Bethel Baptist Church ::

Yesterday was Breakout (Wednesday night youth group), Carl had 4 kids get baptizted. So awesome! And... well... Once a tech guy, always a tech guy.

:: Settler's of Catan ::

We've been playing Settler's quite a bit... This is from a game yesterday. I haven't won yet... I usually do well, but I haven't been able to pull out the win. Yet. Carl has about 10,000 board games. So there is always something to play...

I'll be here until Sunday morning, but Ken and Sherry are going home in the morning. I doubt I will get to snowboard, Snowbowl will be open tomorrow, but I have don't have anyone to go up there with me. :(

:: Carl droppin' in ::

Here is a slideshow of all the photos I've uploaded to Flickr. I can't upload anymore until Saturday (the first of the month). The only thing that I don't like about Flickr is the monthly upload limit (20mb), which... I don't think was around when I first started on Flickr, but I can't remember for sure. There is no storage limit, just upload limit.

The Snowbowl is CLOSED!!

2006-03-30T03:54:00.000+04:00

:: chains and 4x4 only ::

Dude. The Snowbowl is closed. I can't go snowboarding.

They closed the mountain on Monday because the snow was melting off, but, last night it snowed a decent clip, there was some on the ground in the city this morning. It has been drizzly all day, with infrequent bursts of snow and 'snail' (read: snow/hail).

The mountain won't be open again until as early as Friday, so, I may still get up there. We'll see. We were going to drive up there and just look around this afternoon a bit, but the road up was closed to our dinky vehicle.

We had lunch at Crystal Canyon Sandwich Co, and I schooled Carl at a quick game of pool while waiting for our food. We came back to the apartment and played Settler's of Catan. I almost won, but Ashley snatched the victory right out from underneath me.

We are about to leave for Youth Group in a few minutes. More later.

I'm tired... but... in Flag.

2006-03-29T16:01:00.000+04:00

:: More Photo's at Flickr.com ::

The drive today was uneventful.

Tonight we played a couple of board games... I'll post more about that later, I'm about to pass out.

THAT LIZZIE IS HOtTTttt~~!!

2006-03-26T11:59:00.000+04:00

This whole week has been crazy fun... Like... Crazy fun. A lot of fun.

Thanks to PJ, Ruth, and Mandie for coming down to the Old Pueblo for spring break. I had a really great time with all of you this week. But, we seriously spent too much time at Starbucks. I cannot work there eight hours a day, then be expected to spend another hour or two hanging out at one. Seriously. I was 'bucksed out by Wednesday night.

I saw "She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes yesterday... I thought it was funny, and apparently it is based loosely on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," but, since I haven't actually read the Shakespeare, I went in search of a review that might shed some light on the comparison, and came back with this article.

"Forget about that "inspired by William Shakespeare's play 'Twelfth Night.' " Other than using several characters' names, "She's the Man" borrows little more than the common Elizabethan device of a gender-crossing disguise."

The article goes on to tell you every plot twist included in the movie, so if you actually want to see the movie, and believe that you will actually be surprised by the end... then... Don't read the bottom half of the article. I thought the movie was funny, albeit predictable, and in some parts down right cheesy... I was entertained.

I've wanted to play pool for like 3 days too. Ever since Mandie mentioned it the other day, so I am glad that we finally got that out of the way this afternoon; and also established that I can shoot the eight ball in every time if I am about to win... I shoot at something else just in time to see the cue strike the eight out of turn and send it careening into the closest available corner pocket. I want a rematch when you come back down yo.

Tonight however was filled with "Pride and Prejudice." Now, that was a great movie. Grrrrreaaaat!! I really wanted to see it in the theater, but, I didn't have a girl to go with... Seriously, no guy in his right mind would go with another guy to see that movie.

I have not read the book, nor seen the older 'extended' (6 hours!?) version. But, I loved the movie. It was nominated for four Oscar's this year. From the second scene, you know how it will end. That is the beauty of a chick flick, but the drama that ensues to bring two people together is the joy of a sappy love story.

WAY TO GO DARCY!! LIZZIE IS HOOTTTTT!!

Halo Graphic Novel

2006-03-19T11:49:00.000+03:00

I am pretty pumped. I have never been into comic books too much... I mean, I am a guy, and so I grew up readin them. But, I never learned the authors/artists names and I never collected them. That said. I am pumped.

Annouced in the update this past Friday. Frankie tries to pass it off as 'the next project' that they have been working on. While I do not doubt that this is technically the next project... I have serious doubts about it ending here. After all... a few weeks back he was talking about different builds of exiting things they were passing around the internal network at Bungie. You don't need "builds" for a graphic novel that will be printed in book form. Bungie, everyone knows that you are working on Halo 3. Even if you decide to make another game before you release Halo 3, you are still working on it. It has been made public knowledge that you are writing more novel content (The HGN plays a role in that), and that movie stuff is in the works; all of this leads to Halo 3. I don't expect a release date to be set anytime in the near future, but you are working on it.

Why would you hire a new "mission designer" if you weren't?

Why would you need a new AI programmer?

And, although you denied ilovebes2.com, was it just a cleverly desguised way to get people to visit it?

I love you Bungie.

Kids these days...

2006-03-19T10:14:00.000+03:00

So, tonight I closed at Starbucks, and we close at 10:30pm... then we stay and clean for about another hour. Tonight was a good close, and we were wrapping things up about 11:30, I am doing a final walkthorugh, make sure the drivr thru window is locked when... whap. Some jerks in a late 90's silver Mustang decide to egg us. What the hell are you doing egging a Starbucks on a Saturday night? Whatever happened to TPing someone you know, or going to the movies? Its gross... the egg got in places that we can't reach to clean. I'm glad we were there though, that would have been a pain in the ass to clean up in the morning after it dried all night.

No biggie... an extra ten minutes worth of work that I got paid for, so maybe I should thank those idiot kids. So, we clocked out and Jen says... "Well, I'm glad they didn't egg my car." Denniel says, "Yeah, they probably took one look at my car and felt bad." I say, "They did egg mine. See it there on my grill and hood."

Now its personal you souless minors. I caught it and got it washed within 20 minutes of it happening and my paint is still discolored.

Oh well... I guess it karmaic payback for egging the Schwans guy when I was in Jr. High.

St. Patty's Pipes

2006-03-19T00:27:00.000+03:00

Eli you are a crazy man.

Thanks for the Patty's Day Vid. Even if I was late on it.

Go to YouTube here.

Snow Patrol

2006-03-18T10:31:00.000+03:00

18" in Ski Valley??

So, Flag better watch out. I got in some serious sledding practice this past week. The slopes were open starting Tuesday... pretty sweet.

The Snowbowl opened in Flagstaff today. My time off is still pending. I might just have to quit so I can go snowboarding.

It is supposed to rain/snow here again tomorrow (today). That would be awesome! I'm praying. haha.

For a limited time, the photos I have are in that nifty flash badge on the right. I will try and gather as many photos from the trip as I can and put them there for your viewing pleasure.

Also.

Props to Gray for spending spring break down in New Orleans cleaning up/rebuilding. I want pictures and a story soon girl!

Long Lost Thursday

2006-03-17T10:53:00.000+03:00

I miss you PAX

I suck at blogging, that is all there is to it. It is a good thing that I don't get paid for this stuff, because my chedder would be weak man, weak.

Here is a post to silence the voices, and something nice to listen to here.

I went and played on Mt. Lemmon in the snow on Monday and on Wednesday. I am such a baby, I am so sore from sledding. I need to work out more. Ken, when are you going to LA Fitness again?

If you went with me on Wednesday, send me your photos. I should have mine up on Saturday or so.

I am about to change my voicemail again, and I need something witty to say... any suggestions?

PJ(and Ruth): We are so hanging out yo. I will call you tomorrow night or Saturday for sure.

This post contained little content. :)

Flag.

2006-03-04T10:23:00.000+03:00

Yeah... I missed Thursday. I couldn't make a decision, and I was too lazy to post more then one song up. I'm in Flagstaff again for the weekend.

Here is a tip: Cabbage juice is gross.

Lent/Ash Wednesday/Me

2006-03-02T02:57:00.000+03:00

Amanda and Lent

I am pretty much a tool. I didn't even know it was Ash Wednesday today, let alone that signaled the start of Lent. I suck at religion.

One cool thing that I discovered today was that my friendAmanda was giving up making text entries on her blog, and was also committed to reading through the New Testament and a goodly portion of Psalms over the next forty days. So, much props to you Amanda.

My highest score ever is a 140...

2006-02-26T12:31:00.000+03:00

Starlight Lanes in Flag (not pictured)

I think I am going to go out for the PBA, the Professional Bowlers Association. I remember watching it on TV as a kid growing up on my Dad's four channels. The excitement, the suspense, the competition... Ok, so it really wasn't that exciting. Bowling to me, on TV at least, was anticlimactic at best. You expected the person to get a strike, how else could they be competing at this level. Its sort of like watching the homerun derby in Baseball. You expect them to hit homeruns... When they don't, people look at them funny. You watch the Homerun Derby to see your favorite MLB players hit the most spectacular homeruns ever. You watch the PBA to see you favorite bowlers make the most fantastic strikes you have ever seen. Maybe you watch the PBA like you watch NASCAR... Just waiting for the really horrible wreck. Be honest, on an oval track, its really not that exciting. But, things certainly get interesting when someone wrecks... Especially if there is more then one car involved and things are on fire. In bowling, the wreck is the 9 in the 9th frame... So devastating... But, we are sick, and we are drawn to it.

I went bowling tonight with my friends Carl and Mike up here in Flag. It was pretty fun... I bowled a 120 the first game, with a [9/X] tenth frame just for show. I only needed to knock down one pin in the 10th to clinch victory. Carl posted a modest 90 somethin, and Mike... We'll Mike had a good time. The second game was a bit more of a battle. I started out nicely, with a [71][X][X][8/] for my first four frames, but then, Carl jinxed me. I was up by more then 30 points heading into the 6th frame. I told Carl he could still win (technically it was possible, but would require some magic). He almost got it... He posted a few spares and a strike heading into the tenth, and I posted about 10 points in three frames. Carl finished with a 101, and was actually ahead of me, with one remaining frame for me. I only need to knock down 4 to clinch, and I got 7, and 2... Due to a pending spare, I finished with 113.

PBA, you better watch your back. I am coming like an out of control locomotive. Chris "The Loco Motive" Warren.

I almost died. Ok, not really, but I did gasp.

2006-02-25T04:31:00.000+03:00

..Coldplay..

I drove to Flagstaff, AZ (home of NAU) today, and on the way, I caught up on my Relevant Podcast goodness. During the slices segment, they reported that during the Brit's (sort of a People's Choice/Grammy's for Britian) Coldplay frontman Chris Martin announced that they were "taking a break" a "long break", "...It will be years before you see us again." So I checked it out on MTVnews.com.

It appears that the British tabloids might have jumped the gun by reporting that Coldplay are calling it quits. The whole thing started Tuesday night when frontman Chris Martin told the audience at the Brit Awards (sort of the U.K. equivalent of the People's Choice Awards), "It's going to be a few years before you see us again ... People are fed up with us Â and so are we." Most of the British press took this to mean that the band was actually splitting up, and they reported thusly, sending Coldplay fans worldwide into a tizzy. But according to the band's label, Capitol Records, the reports are not true. "Coldplay are not quitting," read a statement by the label. "They are on the road until July, when their 16-month X&Y world tour ends in Japan. They will then continue working on new material." ... Speaking of the Brit Awards, Kaiser Chiefs and crooner James Blunt helped Coldplay take home the major prizes. Former British Army captain Blunt won Best British Male and Best Pop Act for his debut, Back to Bedlam, the bestselling album in Britain last year. The Kaiser Chiefs snagged Best British Group, Best British Rock Act and Best British Live Act. Coldplay won Best British Single for "Speed of Sound" and Best Album for X&Y.
entire article here.

And we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. Here is another article from Billboard.com, with some interesting stats about record sales and tour sales.

Coldplay was my pick of the week a few weeks ago. "Pick of the week", that sounds lame. Ha ha ha. Listen again here.

Third Day Thursday

2006-02-24T08:20:00.000+03:00

Third Day :: Offerings

I don't really like Third Day all that much. I never bought into the hype around them, and even now, they bother me a bit. C'mon... They are sponsored by Chevy (look at the bottom of any page on their website). That said: I do appreciate good music.

This song really spoke to me, worship has been hard for me lately. Singing isn't, but real meaningful worship has been hard to come by.

Agnus Dei/Worthy off the 2000 release of Offerings: A Worship Album.

I hope this leads you to worship. I'll be up in Flagstaff for the weekend, word up to my Flag peeps. :)

Click here to listen in a new window.
Click here to go to the media archive.

Corruption.

2006-02-21T00:09:00.000+03:00

Forbes.com list of the world's most corrupt countries.

Before you accuse me of being more nerdy then you already think I am, let me make this disclaimer: I do not frequent Forbes.com, but everyone knows that they are famous for their lists. From the 400 Best Big Companies to The Best (and Worst) Dressed Billionaires and even The Most Expensive Diseases.

Gmail brings me interesting topics in the form of RSS feeds right in my email box. I love it.

But, more seriously... Corruption, poverty, oil money, HIV/AIDS those are issues that need to be addressed now. We cannot push these issues off onto yet another generation. Africa will self implode if we do not help them. As it is, many of it belongs to Warlords, while the rest wallow in the myriad of poverty and disease.

International Relations and Linguistics are defiantly on the short list of possible degree programs I would like to be involved in.

America: you can make a difference.

Christians: you are called to make a difference.

Together we can.

For more info on poverty and AIDS in Africa, visit one.org, or data.org

Through being nice, but it is Thursday...

2006-02-16T12:19:00.000+03:00

::Bleach::Audio/Visual::

So, I felt bad about not giving you a song of the week last week, but, you did have a bonus track the week before, so don't complain to loudly... :)

I wanted to do something really special for you this week, and was going to try and have a video posted in lieu of a song (a music video, so that is would still qualify for song of the week.) But, I am through doing nice things for the week, nothing I have done has worked out according to plan. So, you will have to wait until I feel like being nice again.

Bleach was a fun band when they were around. I recently picked up this album in remembrance of the good times I had with Bleach playing in the background. It is a must for anyone who was even a casual bleach listener over the last decade. I would include my normal slew of links to interesting things about Bleach, but I couldn't really find anything interesting except the stuff at tooth and nail's site.

I'm working on an archive page that will have all of the songs that I have put here at one time or another, so look for that soon.

I have a test in Russian 202 today. Yay. &hearts.

Report For Duty Soldier!

2006-02-03T07:53:00.000+03:00

image taken from gerber.com

Funny article in Friday's Moscow Times. I've copied here for you because the website requires a subscription to access archived news stories.

Russia has a conscription army, where you are required to serve, I am not sure all of the requirements or exceptions. It is the opposite of the United States, where we have a professional army, unless the draft in enacted, in which case we revert to a form of conscription.

Friday, February 3, 2006. Issue 3345. Page 2.

One-Year-Old Gets Drafted
The Moscow Times

An army recruitment office in Volgograd mistakenly drafted a 1-year-old boy, and the child's grandmother was prepared to take him to report for duty but decided not to because of the cold, Izvestia reported Thursday.

After Dima Verenitsin turned one on Jan. 9, he received orders from a Volgograd army recruitment office to report for duty by Jan. 16, Izvestia said.

"At first I wanted to take him to the recruitment office, but then the cold wave came and he got sick," Verenitsin's grandmother, Lyubov Galushkina, told the newspaper. "I decided to call instead. They could have at least joked around with me, but instead they were rude to me."

Vladimir Morozov, deputy head of the recruitment office, said the office had received false information that Verenitsin was born in 1989.

Yikes. !!

Audio A calls it a day, i call it Thursday.

2006-02-03T06:57:00.000+03:00

15 years is a long time.

Well, this weeks addition should certainly be less controversial. ;)

Audio A has been on my mind because I recently heard, on Relevant's podcast that they are calling it a day. Frontman Mark Stuart has used his voice to the limit. Audio A fans, have you noticed that he is a little more hoarse on the last couple of albums then before? His vocal cords simply cannot handle it anymore, he has consulted with his doctors, and they have told him not to push it, or he could lose it permanently.

I offer one of my favorite tracks of all time that Audio Adrenaline ever recorded. Off of the 2003 album Worldwide, its the final track on the album the Ocean Floor Radio Remix. I actually like this acoustic version better then the original.

BONUS TRACK THIS WEEK
In honor of the Mae concert on Sunday in Phoenix (@ 7:30 Marquee Theater in Tempe)... Here is a little love.

The Everglow, the title track on Mae's latest(?) release.

What Audio A song has touched you? Leave me a (non anonymous) comment. :)

Terra Nova RED

2006-02-01T22:28:00.000+03:00

Cafe Terra Nova

I have been doing some wonderings as of late (the last few months). Emergent is part of it, so if you want some concrete answers on where I am, you won't get many. But, I can tell you that the journey is good.

My friends Jacob and Tania Bailey are in Santiago, Spain working at a cafe. I love it. Jacob put together this 8 minute video to highlight and explain what they are doing in Spain. It makes me want to scrape together what little money I have, buy a one way ticket, a Spanish pocket translation book, and join them there.

Alas, for now, out paths are not one in the same, and though I can't see over the next hill... I feel good about it.

The video available for download will work perfectly on Mac's (yet another tip to the almighty Macintosh), but the compression will not allow for Windows users to view it with WMP or Windows version of Quicktime. So, download this nifty multi-platform media player (VLC) here and then enjoy the video.

Download the 23mb video here.
Download the 9.2mb VLC here.

To the author(s)

2006-01-29T23:53:00.000+03:00

Wow.

Anonymous said...

just because you suck at relationships doesn't mean that you can disregard the feelings of those who you hurt along the way

1:13 PM

Have I really disregarded the feelings of others by posting something that had meaning to me? I have not had a significant relationship in nearly a year and a half because I am afraid of what sort of pain that might cause to another. Does that sound like someone who disregards the feelings of others?

To the author of this comment: I'm glad that you are here to continue the conversation, in a sense, that is what blogging is all about. But, I am saddened to see that you chose to hide behind a veil of anonyminity. I had a pretty good idea of who posted the first comment, and I addressed it with them personally. Is that disregarding the feelings of those along the way? I should think not. I simply did it discretely because it is something between me and that person, and no one else need be involved. Please understand that I am not attacking you, but I would appreciate a chance to respond to a person, not some anonymous void.

Because there is no middle ground between anonymous and registered blogger.com users, anonymous commenting is staying for now, and because I am not one to censor blogs or comments (except in the case of spam, which I dispise), you do not need to fear your comments being removed or censored. But, I would ask that you take responsiblity for your words, just a name and an email address...

(And Ken, at lease write Homestar as your name in the comment box. You're killin me smalls)