And I knew if I had a chance I could make those people dance

And maybe they'd be happy for a while.

I'm far from ready to say Bye Bye Ms. American Pie.

In fact, I just might write a book of love someday, I DO believe in God, because the Bible tells me so, and music will save my mortal soul... I think I've over-exhausted semi-jokes based on references to American Pie Lyrics.

But my friends, the music can't die, no matter what they tell you.

Anywho, those lines "And I knew if I had a chance I could make those people dance / and they'd be happy for a while" are classic. And like most great songs, they are classic in such a way that resonates within your soul, in a grand general sense but also in a specific personal sense. For me those lines often renew my sense of drive in my writing.

Many a writer will make grand plans to change the world, to influence great leaders, and indeed, I have a hope that my writings might help shape culture for the better. But those dreams are just hopes for happy accidents, take them seriously and they become nothing more than vanity (But isn't everything vanity?).

After all, we are subject to random variations in fame, popularity, and all such. And while I do believe God intervenes in this universe and intervenes personally for me, I do not think that every intervention is for me, and some indeed might cost me (but still they are always the right ways for the universe to work, above all else Lord, thy will be done).

Yet then again, being a writer, being an artist, being a programmer, it's not about grand influence. Yes it's about the art, but the art could exist solely in your imagination if it is just for art's sake (though that is a bit of a condensation of certain thoughts I have on art, condensed and vastly simplified because that is a post for another day). Yet the dream of being able to give some joy, to spread some beauty to other people, to make those people dance, if only for a little while... that justifies the creative process, and when all my creativity and hard work seems for nothing, I often am able to just remember those little smiles I've given to people and it all seems okay.

And indeed, it is more than okay, if you can spread some joy, even for the least and lowest of people in the world, after all, these are Christ's brothers and sisters, and if you can make them smile, Jesus too will smile. And if you can do that, all the empires and powers of this world just seem pretty irrelevant.

Always remember my friends, you're better than this world, after all you were created by someone far beyond it. Never let it take you down, and if you ever need help, remember you can always call on me, and even when I fail, there is always God, and if you trust in Him, He will deliver you. But that's enough semi-mystic Christian revelry for this session.

So take it to your head, take it to your heart, and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!

And God Bless.

Happy Reunion Day!

For this post I have plenty of possible material. I could whine, I could apologize, I could shout in fury, but that would ignore the fact that today is Reunion Day.

Honestly, I was planning a post on half-a-dozen other topics this morning when I found out it was Reunion Day.

And by now, the hair-scratching over what I'm talking about should surely be boring into...

Anywho, what I'm talking about is that today is a celebration of the Reunion of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the universal Catholic Church (the capitalizations here are... well, broad and random guesses of what should be capitalized, I'm Christian, that's just how we roll).

A little history.

To summarize (immensely), is because of intolerance, stubbornness, and various other factors, the Malankara Church broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th C., and then through dedicated hard-work, especially by the Servant of God Archbishop Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, this breech in the Christian family was in part healed. But there is so many of these breeches.

It really is a shame, the divisions in Christianity, because, when it comes down to it, Christians got to show the love, and to have these walls between us, that's blocking up the love.

I jest, but in all seriousness, I do believe in the Love of God, and it is that Love which redeems souls, the only real part of humanity that is of any importance. How then can anything be placed above that Love to justify its divisions?

Love rules. You gotta accept it, swallow your pride, bandage the wounds, apologize, beg, do what it takes, to spread the love. That's why we're here. And that's the only real way to measure the worth of life when push comes to shove, the love you bear and the love you share.

And it isn't always easy, but if God's with you, can even your own weaknesses stand against you?

In then end, all I can say is I will try to love everyone, the best I can, and in doing so love God the best that I can, and in doing so...

I could go on into endless Christian mysticism rants, but let me just say Happy Reunion Day!

And may God Bless you allS.

Damn it didn't I tell you to Ultra-Relax!

I'm tempted time from time, moment from moment, to worry and think about what people think about me, whether or not I'm normal, whether or not I fit in and all that jazz (all that rotten jazz, rotten apple eating mean non-funky jazz monkey, etc. et al., and so on). But then I remember, always, always, tooooooooooooooooooooooooo

ULTRA-RELAX

Go Kodocha!

And here's the lyrics, via Naokochan (the notes are via spontaneous awesomeness)

Plenty of free time today and tomorrow
(oh so much time, got to webinate the web, but when you gotta be cool, you can find time to cool it up and cool it down)
Taking an overnight trip by the four of my family
(Because my family is awesome, they just are)
Seeing Sphinx with an Egyptian air
(Because more history=more better)
Seeing Texas with an American feeling!
(USA rules!!! But as nice as Texas is, Jersey rocks!!!)
Just be as cool as a cucumber
(mmmm, cucumber)
And laidback all the time
Then bugs in your stomach bugging you
Will just go off!
(those bugs (or maybe they're worms...) might be tempting, but just remember, ain't no bugs in this world that are really worth worrying about... after all, if God's with me, all the world's just a bitty bug ain't it?)
I'm ultra-relaxed
Gracefully, unbeatably relaxed
(Soooo relaxed, though my acid reflux, occasional breakdowns, frequent insomnia might argue different...)
Just a little bit different deluxe
Scatterbrained but...
(Scatterbrained who...something, something, scatterbraininess)
When you call me, "pah pah pah pahng"!
(That's my other name)
I'm always relaxed
Wabi-sabi-seasoned deluxe
(Because nothing's as relaxing as wasabi. Take it with some hot sauce to cool the tempers)
Bright! Clear! -Headed!
Brainy! Pitt! Pitt!
Watch no one but me!
(Because I'm awesome, and though I stress out over everything, but when push gets to pushy, I do become ULTRARELAX!!!)

Oh yeah!

So take it to your head, take it to your heart and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!

And God Bless.

And if I can turn the stars blue can I follow you

Otherwise, how can I find where you go when you're lonely?

I'm a bit tired all and all of romantic songs. On the other hand I'm dreadfully romantic at heart. With an emphasis on dreadfully. It's become something of an irritant to me as much as a virtue... if it can be claimed to be so.

At least once upon a time I viewed romantics as an advantage, but overall... I dunno, I have to say were I less romantically inclined my life most likely would be simpler. But better...

Yet romance has always fueled my creativity, even in its absence. And yet can one depend on such an uneven fuel as the ever-changing fluxuations of the human heart?

To dream of something more, a real relationship, that, that would be wonderful but it does seem immensely out of my reach...

As abstract and jumbled as these ruminations might be, they are not idle. For there is a great significance to my long-term goals depending on whether or not I am looking to eventually get married, financial planning, career choice, the type of skills to acquire, and then there is also an immense short-term significance depending on how much I want to enter the dating scene. How much energy should I spend on it? How much should I let it draw me away from the other things in my life?

And then there's always... is it feasible for me to have a relationship? Is it wise, when my emotions are such petulant forces?

In the end, tossing and turning such thoughts, I end up with a great deal of frustration, but little solid answer-wise. Looking inward, looking spiritually, asking God for guidance... I think I am meant to be married someday, and even to have kids someday. And yet I also believe I am supposed to be creative and a person who lives honestly, despite his oddities. Which is to say, yes, I am a romantic, but what that means for now, I do not know... I guess I'll keep my eye out and my heart open, lest I my soul fall into a Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Anywho, take it to your head, take it to your heart and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!

And God bless.

Doom to the max, with giraffes: A conversation destined to happen

"I am totally against a giant-giraffe tax!"

"Why? You don't have any giraffes, giant or otherwise?"

"Yeah...yeah...yeah... I don't... but I'm opposed on principle to the giant-giraffe tax."

"Why?"

"Hey I shouldn't be penalized if I happen to acquire giant-giraffes due to a gambling debt and then keep them due to completely non-sexual reason... which doesn't cause any cross-species diseases...and..."

"I should just walk away now shouldn't I..."

"You probably shouldn't have even started this conversation."

"You started this conversation."

"Because I still maintain that any-"

"Okay, learned my lesson... walking away... getting out of here... running a little now."

"Bye, go tell the people, we must stop the giant-giraffe tax!"

Tech Notes: XLSX

A little tech note for those of us, who like me use Linux. One pain is that complicated Microsoft Office documents, like a complicated XSLX document that uses pivot tables, often get messed up even by the venerable OpenOffice Suite. A suprising solution is Gnumeric Spreadsheet which actually displays XLSX documents with no problem. Another surprise is that if you open a document in Gnumeric Spreadsheet and then save it as .ods, it actually comes out better if you open it straight with OpenOffice. One penalty though, you lose the macros. Overall though I have been surprisingly pleased with Gnumeric spreadsheet. Though I have my own issues with all the gnom-iness in the world, and especially with GNU Trolls (let me introduce the label gnoll for them, which I realize is a different fantasy creature, but perhaps that is the point, if it has not been used already), I must say, with some reluctance given a long-time use of OpenOffice, that I'll most likely be using Gnumeric spreadsheet for my spreadsheeting needs, at least when the content must be exchanged with Microsoft Office. I hope someday to come back to thee OpenOffice Spreadsheet, maybe once you beef up your compatibilities, or if perhaps, dare I hope, you see the truth and ditch Java to bathe in the glory of C++, where all good applications originate.

Circles, Dots, Squares

Circles, dots and squares

Circles, dots and squares

Circles smiles intertwined

Spinning round you always shine

Smiles for me smiles for you

Smiles for all spinning round they're true

Dots� I'll get to them later

But squares is first right now

Squares, oh the lines

So solid and strong the lines of your life

Then the perpendiculars kick in

And crazy you're cool

Circles, dots and squares

Circles, dots and squares

Circles, dots and squares

Well dots, oh dots

The dots of your eyes

Points of light

Points of might

Like pretty little kites

Flying away into the sky

You make me remember to try

Circles, dots and squares

Circles, dots and squares

Circles, dots and squares

Oh your hair is so colorful

-Rand

Beastia Viri

Bestia Viri

If the animal dwells in man

Why should woman tame it

Certainly an animal dwells in woman

But it is a different beast

And that justifies nothing

Why should woman be the one

To calm man when he is feral

Simply because

Women are most capable for the task

-Rand

None the less, Doom my friends, doom

Since the latest reboot of the Rand Show, a couple weeks ago or such and such, (actually at least a couple months ago, dude, my sense of time is wack, yo!), this almost week without posting has been the longest such period.

Peeling out why, I can say probably that it has to do with the relative calm and decent feelings I have and my fear that actually doing something meaningul/useful/relevant in my life might mess that up.

I could go into that further, but I don't feel like it.

Also, your face is smelly.

So take it to your head, take it to your heart and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!

And God Bless.

Working like a turkey

Because if you ever saw a wild turkey run across the road, you'd know they work pretty darn hard.

Anywho, I'm building up a new site for The Rand Show + doing lots of job-like work. So I've been busy. But also, I've been looking over old posts, and am starting to compile some best of stuff. Here's a run down of a bit of a random sampling of the best of the Rand Show. Be forwarned, it is pretty awesome and it's incomplete.

Rand Reviews

At home in the lonely hearts club, or my review of Cupid
It's Mightly Cold in Juno, or my review of Juno
28 days later, 28 weeks later, 28 years later and forever, or my review of 28 Days Later
But for a nail... 28 weeks after the fact, or my review of 28 Weeks Later
Sometimes you need to go where everyone has a gun, or my review of Arsenal
We love big dreams, right? or my review of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzyimiya
The Inevitable Gravity of Destiny, or my review of Escaflowne
The temptation of wheat, or my review of Azumanga Diaoh
My American Dream: notes on Rushmore and The Great Gatsby

Rand vs. the Music

I wanted to be all you need: Notes on Here is Gone by the Goo Goo Dolls
Creep: Notes on Creep by Radiohead
Karaoke equals Awesome: Notes on Perfect Situation by Weezer
Space Oddity: Notes On Space Oddity by David Bowie
Here's to You Michael Jackson, Salute: Notes on the King of Pop
Putting the f-ing fun back into Rand F-ing Awesome McRanderson

Rand Writes

The Insidious Logic of Transfat
And the sole survivor watches us all, he's got the eye of the tiger
Me, Eddy, and that Oriental-Loooking Fellow
And What of the Oriental in America?
Just to start some contraversy
For some reason I can't explain, once you were gone it was never the same
Christ has Risen!
I follow he who has conquered death
Rand's Advanetures in Job Land
Happy St. Thomas' Day
For James