A Little's Enough

While most mainstream music deals primarily with worldly or contemporary ideas and thoughts, occasionally you come across an artist who wants to spread the gospel of Christ. I believe we should find truth wherever we can, we come across it every day. Of course we should find truth primarily in Scripture and the words of modern day prophets, but our friend Tom Delonge penned "God himself is coming home to say...I can fix anything, if you let me near." This is true. We must let God into our lives and accept Him and His plan and His commandments.

Changes

David Bowie taught us all that while we can't change time or other people, we can change ourselves as long as we don't waste time by chasing it. So I made a change, I changed the title and the text of one my posts to fit in with my theme of what a commenter called "rock philosophy," I changed the name to (Let's Go) Smoke Some Pot. It's a farcical, whimsy tune by Dash Rip Rock. It's also a parody of the 50's hit Let's go to the Hop (for the young crowd the title references a 'sock hop,' a dance where you take off your shoes and dance in socks). I will use other music to philosophize about, except for country-that goes against all I stand for and all I hold dear in this world. So buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

I guess it's time I talked about time-my time. After ending treatment at the end of March all my oncologist had to say about the matter was, "remember how fast your tumor grew back after the first surgery" (it was about 3 months). So I did some research online and found these stats-for 20-35 yr olds treated at UCLA median survival was 960 days, I am on day 574 (not treated at UCLA); for all patients under 50 treated with standard of care the median sutvival was 19 months (month 19 ends in a week); and the average survival for patients under 50 treated with standard of care was 17 months. I have had a little more than the standard (5 months of Avastin). Draw your own conclusions.
Also I recently researched Clare Torry's career-she gave what I consider to be one of the finest female vocal performances of all time on The Great Gig in the Sky on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon-which consequantly is the #3 best selling album worlwide of all time and spent a record setting 714 weeks on Billboard's top 200. I was even more amazed that Torry did the recording in one take and was a mere cover singer-amazing. The phrase "I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying, there's no reason for it..." is spoken at the beginning of the track by Gerry O'Driscoll (the doorman at Abbey Road where the album was recorded). This phrase brings great comfort to me as it reminds me that there is no reason for me to fear death. I will be rockin' in the bosom of Abraham while the rest of you suckers continue to slog through life. The afterlife should not trouble any Christian, especially one with the extra knowledge I've been blessed with through God's prophets in this era. Thank you Mr. O'Driscoll.

A Great Day for Freedom

As we celebrate Memorial day this weekend my mind turns to Pink Floyd (as it often does). David Gilmour taught me that any day is a great day for freedom in the album, The Division Bell. He says,
On the day the wall came down
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry
For freedom had arrived.
He is apparently making a reference to the fall of The Berlin Wall, and how freedom was enjoyed after the fall. He goes on to warn though that
Now life devalues day by day
As friends and neighbors turn away
And there's a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone.
It is important to remember our freedoms, and the price that was paid for them. It is important to make sure that we do nothing to devalue our life, or the lives of others in this freedom we enjoy. To add value to your life you should listen to this album (The Division Bell) as it is great and it's not just me who thinks so (one track receieved an Emmy and the album was #1 in the US andthe UK for 4 weeks).

(Let's Go) Smoke Some Pot

As some you know, I found out a couple of weeks ago about a monumental study wherein 2o rats and 2 people were injected with THC and it totally reversed their GBM brain tumors. To update you-the study was actually done in Spain (even more legit now). Also I discovered (thanks to a comment on the article) that cannabis is actuallythe biblical Tree of Life, and it's leaves are for the healing of the nations.
So I repeat my request for those who may not have heard; if you know of a place to get some quality weed (except for Canada, I'll never go to them for help) let me know. Besides curing brain cancer in two whole people, it has made thousdands of us feel so much better-especially back in 60's. It looks like we should heed the words of Dash Rip Rock and smoke some pot.

Goodbye to Romance/Provo

An artist once said, "Goodbye to romance, goodbye to friends, goodbye to all of this." That's how I feel as I prepare to leave Provo and return to WA. I've had such a good time here with school and working. My friend's I made will last a lifetime. I've certainly learned a few things about myself and working/living with others. I enjoyed everything from lots of parties, to sporting events, to basically working as a pro-bono adviser to a scrapbooking company-for a class project that worked out better than I thought it could.
I've ended treatment for my cancer-my oncologist and neurologist comfirm that any treatment is not curative, so no need to prolong the inevitable at this point. I am feeling better than I have for awhile. I have more energy, and am spending less time with my best friend, the TV. I really have taken a lot of solace recently in listening to the messages in music, from artist's you don't expect-including the still incredibly lucid Ozzman. He has reminded me today that's it's okay to say goodbye to places and friends because "we'll meet in the end."