Memorial Day

I could here say what needs to be said. However, why not refer my readers to a far better summary?

Spencer

Doug's Blog: 72 Hours in a Terminal with Virginia Hope Phillips

From the adorable Virginia, to the hilarious French impersonation by Doug, I found this video delightful. Ha!

Spencer

Behold ! the Epic Entrance Music of The Spencer!

Greetings, my epic-minded friends!

In continuation of this post here, I've picked a list of entrance themes...note I said "theme-s" and not "theme"...for how could I choose just one? An entrance theme is to make one's entrance known, at a particular place, at a particular time, to a particular group of people, when you're in a particular mood and about to do something in particular, most likely. How could I choose just one?

An entrance song is very different than a theme song, and I've been thinking about doing a theme song post for some time. Just note that these two lists are different, and also, will overlap a fair bit. In order of preference, I give you, the list of Spencer's entrance themes!


"End of Line" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

I was actually surprised that this made top of the list; not that it isn't epic and amazing, but that nothing else could beat it. Listen to it, watch the "entrance" scene from the film that this is played in, and tell me, is this not epic? It just screams, "I am cool, I am confident, and I am on the scene!"


"Derezzed" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

Who doesn't want to enter the scene to these sounds?


"Aggressive Expansion" - The Dark Knight Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

From around 3:50 on. Been a mental entrance theme for me for years, usually when I need to do something epic or serious. "We made it!"


"Pompeii" - E.S. Posthumus

Simply amazing. Epic enough to die to!


The Matrix Lobby Scene
Unfortunately this sequence never made it to the soundtrack, so here's a clip for you to see a near-perfect entrance theme set to a near-perfect entrance! (Embedding disabled, sorry.)


"Rinzler" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

Really just the latter portion of the track...similar in vein to TDK's "Aggressive Expansion". It's fight music to me. Love it!


"Prologue" - Battlestar Galactica Soundtrack (2004 Miniseries) by Richard Gibbs
I may not be a Cylon, but who wouldn't want to be as scary as one? (Embedding again disabled.)


"Fall" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

If I could enter the room to this, I'd wager things would happen just like they did when Flynn entered the End of Line club (when this theme played). Oooohh!


"Arena" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

I imagine myself coming out of an elevator on this one...or, something. Some sort of slow, epic thing like that.


"Idyll's End" - The Last Samurai Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

This Tokyo "entrance" theme is good enough for Katsumoto and Ujio? Then it's good enough for me! (From 5:10 on.)


"Batman Beyond (Main Title)" - Batman Beyond Soundtrack by Kristopher Carter

C'mon...he always had an epic entrance!


"Navras" - The Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack by Juno Reactor vs. Don Davis

Why does Spencer persist? Because he chooses to! (Really only the beginning of this one...the rest isn't that good.)


"Ronin" - The Last Samurai Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

This is fight music to me, yet again...don't mess with me if this is my current entrance music. I'm likely getting ready to do something big. (1:06 to end.)


"End Credits" - Batman Begins Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

6:58 on. Epic victory theme!


"The Day The World Went Away" - Nine Inch Nails (Terminator: Salvation trailer music)

Another rising sound (at 0:33), this one is quite excellent to set the mood.


"You Must Kill Him" - Equilibrium Soundtrack by Klaus Badelt

I'm about to do something...I don't know...epic!


"Skidoo" - Mairead Nesbitt
0:35 on. If I enter with this running...will I jig, air-fiddle furiously, or begin fighting my foes? This I do not yet know. All I know is that this theme is epic! (Again, sorry, no embedding. Arggh!)


"Carmina Burana" - Carl Orff

'Nuff said.


"Returns A King" - 300 Soundtrack by Tyler Bates

This one would scream, "THIS IS SPENCAAAAARRR!"


"Barbastella" - Batman Begins Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

As Bruce's purpose was revealed to him during this sequence, so my purpose would be revealed to others...those in the room I was entering, of course. (4:02)


"Menouthis" - E.S. Posthumus

Who couldn't die to this?


"And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad" - The Dark Knight Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

"Not very subtle"...exactly my style!


"Rectifier" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

For when I'm feeling just a little bit evil.


"Vespertilio" - Batman Begins Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

And here is my more subtle, understated, and basely frightening entrance.


"Gaudete" - Anuna

For when I'm rebelling against my evil surroundings, rejoicing in my own victorious element, with my coat flowing behind me, everyone staring, and no one even knows that this is playing in my head.


"Centaur" - X-Ray Dog (The Book of Eli trailer music)

If it's good enough for machete-wielding, Bible-reading Eli, it's good enough for me!


"Imaginary" - Evanescence

The sequence beginning at 2:50. If you're hearing this, you're probably about to die....


Matrix Reloaded DVD Menu Music

A good short intro, it makes me want to do impromptu martial arts moves.


"End Credits" - Tombstone Soundtrack, by Bruce Broughton

If four fighting men with black coats stalking in a row isn't enough to get you pumped, then this theme will surely be sufficient.


"Barbarian Horde" - Gladiator Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

5:37 to 6:05. If this one suddenly booms in your ears, look around the area to find me, and do it quick...for you are about to die...death by gladius, actually...and I'll likely be on a horse, too, just in case that helps....


"Outlands, Part II" - TRON: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk

Reader Jonas encouraged me in selecting an organ piece, and as I'd already been considering this one.... Such an epic piece (start 1:27). I'd get a manly version of Gem's conniving look going for this theme.


"He's a Pirate" - Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

I may not be a pirate, but I just may attack you and steal your books! Beware! I'm no Jack Sparrow, but I'm just as likely to be flamboyant and ferocious. (Wait, is he flamboyant and ferocious? I've never seen the films....)


And if I was feeling silly, very, very silly and not really in a fighting mood? Fun, epic, and evil. Muhahahahaa!

Now, all I have left to do is ask you one simple question. Can you handle the manliness?

Special nod goes to Nathan for his post here, as well as to all those who made the original post such a success in the comments. And for those of you who have not yet chosen your theme song, I challenge you to do so RIGHT NOW, then blog it! Thanks, everybody! You make blogging worth it!

Spencer
[Disclaimer: Please note that an inclusion on this list does not mean I necessarily support the music, artist, film, or whatever may be. Mere illustrative purposes only!]

How to Die Like a Christian Man

Some of you may have noticed the more personal messages Doug Phillps has been sending out of late. I hope he will not mind when I post this one here for the benefit of us all. It is well worth your time.

Beloved Friends in Christ:

In one week I will be in Rome standing where the Nazis stood during their occupation in 1943, and where the allies marched during their triumphant liberation of the city in 1944. Just a few days later I will be on Omaha beach with a hundred home educators, veterans of D-Day, as well as French survivors of the Normandy liberation.

It will most certainly be the last time in history when these men and others like them will gather in this number to remember the greatest amphibious assault in history, and the most carefully planned battle of the 20th century, in what was undoubtably the greatest war of the last one thousand years.

I am going for many reasons. Today, I want to explain one:

We are gong to tell our sons what it means to die like Christian men. We are going to point our daughters to the examples of those men who are willing to live for something more important than themselves.Huguenots

Here is my view---if you do not have something worth dyeing for, you have nothing to live for.

I am a Christian. That means I must be willing to die for Christ. In my view, this is the only thing worth dying for.

But such a death takes many forms and expressions.

We might be called to die for the doctrines of our Faith, as did the Huguenots, the Covenanters, and so many others in Church history. We might be called to die because the State hates our Faith, as did many of the early martyrs of Rome and the coliseum.

And we might be called to die in defense of others remembering that greater love hath no man then that he lat down his life for his friends.

It was for this reason that so many Americans died on Utah and Omaha beaches, and in the fields of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and in the days that followed.

For many reasons World War II is a landmark in our history as a nation. It was the last constitutionally declared war; It was the last war fought by men who were born from parents who themselves were born in the age of Christendom and the pre-modern world. It was also the last war which was inaugurated with clear military objectives only after we had been formally attacked by another nation. Notably, it was the last declared war to be fought predominantly by men in the field, while wives and daughters stayed at home.

But there is another point worth remembering---WWII was the last war in which our leaders and allies formally invoked the name of Jesus Christ in their communications. It was their presumption that they were defending what Churchill called "Christian civilization."

We should not be surprised, therefore, that amongst the ranks of heroes on D-Day were individuals and leaders who invoked the name of the Lord, who sought the favor of the living God, and who taught their men what it would mean to die like a Christian.

One example was Lt. Col. Robert Lee Wolverton, a West Point graduate, responsible for commanding the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division,

On June 5th, before his men boarded their C-47 aircraft Lt. Col. Wolverton prayed:

"God almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.

"We do not know or seek what our fate will be. We ask only this, that if we must die, that we die as men would die, without complaining, without pleading and safe in the feeling that we have done our best for what we believed was right.

"Oh Lord, protect our loved ones and be near us in the fire ahead and with us now as we pray to you."
There was silence for two minutes as each man contemplated his duty to fight, and perhaps die like men.

With this mandate, Colonel Wolverton ordered the men: "Move out."
In their book "Tonight We Die Like Men" (by Ian Gardner and Roger Day), the authors explain that Wolverton believed that he would die in the Normandy operation, so he wrote 21 letters to his 1 year old son to be given to him at every birthday until he was a grown man.

Within 30 minutes of the drop, Lt. Col. Wolverton was killed. He landed in a tree just outside of St. Come-du-Mont (near where we will be in Carentan). He was unable to dis-entangle himself and was shredded by German machine gun fire.
Oh, God help us to die like men.

Persevero,
Doug Phillips


P.S. You can help us with this important message, by supporting the work of Faith of Our Fathers Project on www.visionforumministries.org/support. Your tax-deductible donation will allow us to bring back more veterans, to honor them with a great event, to produce the films and teaching tools we need so that hundreds of thousands can grow in their appreciation and gratitude to the Lord and for their WWII fathers. We are looking for about $30,000 more for our effort. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

I know Kung Fu

My throat was bleeding a little while ago. Well, it's really just a scratch. Someone just tried to pwn me...with this technique here (see 2:55). Needless to say, a quick and effectively painful block for my opponent was in order. A tiny scratch is far better than a choke attack, would you not agree?

Did I ever tell you about the time when I ferociously defeated three opponents, all attacking me at once, with only swords used? Ha! I am Invincibilito!

Spencer

Who wouldn't want their own entrance music?

Oh, booyah! I LOVE this! I've felt this way for I don't know how many years. I'm not alone! Double booyah!

I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. How about a theme song/entrance music post? Then I'll just tag you all, muhahahaaa!

In the meantime, here is one of my favorite entrance themes. (Forgive the profanity.) Or perhaps this? Oh oh oh, I know! THIS one here (at 5:10). And we were just discussing this, here. I can't help but think, how much a better place this world would be if the entrance music of my choice blasted from unseen speakers everywhere I went. *sigh* What a difficult life I lead...so many sacrifices.

Spencer

This end is nigh...wait, no it isn't!

I was eating a sandwich at six this evening...this is how much I cared. Posh! (In other news, post-apocalyptic roast beef tastes just as good as pre-apocalyptic roast beef. Funny, I was half-expecting it to turn into Tasty Wheat.)

Beyond the fact that abuse of Scripture is more than a pet peeve, it never ceases to amuse me how Godless and unbelieving idiots can wonder, "Well maybe the world really IS going to end on [fill in the blank date]!" You don't believe the Bible, but you think some wacko or other who's abusing the Word has good ideas? Beats me how you came to that conclusion.

What amuses me even more is this whole 2012 thing. I love to tell people, "I'll see you January 1st, 2013." Or, for even more fun, I like this routine. You should try it!

*subject makes some statement about the "possibility" of the world ending in 2012*
"Do you know who came up with that idea?"
"Uhm...the Mayans?"
"Right. Do you know any Mayans?"
"No...."
"Neither does anyone else. They disappeared, they're extinct. Archaeologists, scholars, scientists and experts still have no idea what happened to them. So, why are you listening to them again?"

OK, so perhaps it isn't 100% kosher, but the overall theory works well. I love messing with dumb people. I think, from here on out, I'll call it "fizzling" with imbeciles. Yes, that sounds good. It's from this time when a guy I know begged me to continue telling another person about comets, because he "want[ed] to see her brain fizzle out!"

Oh, I am just not being nice today, am I? :-)

Spencer

ThinkGeek's Slide Rule

Oooooh! I want this! I love ThinkGeek (you should see their packaging...it's amazingly hilarious!), and I've wanted a slide rule for many years now (I blame James Nickel). Ooooh....

Spencer

ADF: DOMA Petition

Please sign!

Spencer

Old Virginia Blog: 3rd Graders Are Being Taught To Hate Their Country

A must-read, as is Mr. Williams's blog in and of itself. And people wonder why I state that I would refuse to submit any children I do have to this system--or, that I consistently call for it dismantling.

Spencer

Lady Gaga: Revisited?

[ADULTS ONLY PLEASE! No direct sexual material is discussed in this post, but due to the subject matter, and the link to my old article, I am impelled to enforce my adults-only policy here, too.]

So you all remember my original massive work on her, don't you? To date, it's been my most popular post of all time (only recently being surpassed in webpage hits by my review of The Matrix).

About a month after my Poker Face review, Gaga's Bad Romance video was released...and I realized that I wasn't yet done with the topic. Now that she's about to release her new album Born This Way, is anyone interested in an update?

Her two newest singles, the title song Born This Way and Judas, are both massively immoral (can you guess in what way, from seeing the titles?), (her newest of the new, The Edge of Glory, I haven't yet analyzed) and with the year and a half past since my initial work on the topic, we've had Bad Romance, Telephone, Alejandro, countless interviews, and even a biography that I read last fall (that was poorly done). There's plenty of information to be had, and I still have plenty to say.

I thought I was done after mucking about through the muck originally, but I don't think I'm finished. My question is now, are my readers interested in a return to Gagadom? I'm skeptical that my readers appreciate my "work" in this area, but still believe it is greatly important (I've received countless hits on the original article, most from searches--I'm at least getting my message out). I am still unhappy by what is around her--sure, it's her that's is the "big" issue, but I'm consistently frustrated by Christians dabbling in her music, average people not understanding, or not caring to understand, the moral depravity of her material, and, what's most disturbing to me is that so many parents allow and/or encourage child-based fandom of Lady Gaga. (I've seen it more than once, and each time it bothers me more and more.) The little singer/dancer from New York's nightclub scene has attacked all that I hold dear, and I am therefore unkeen on subdued and unresponsive silence.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Lady Gaga is a marvelous artist. She's captivating to the masses, and this is indeed our very problem. I believe she's bringing out her biggest guns for this her new album, and I'm impelled to ask myself: Are my readers looking for more? Can they handle more? Should I disregard the topic for their benefit, or for some other reason? Or should I just "maverick" it and charge ahead?

Thoughts?

Spencer

Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into home

Court says: No!
Spencer says: Watch me.

Spencer

Animal ethicists call for new terminology

Animal ethicists are calling for a new vocabulary about animals, shunning words such as “pets,” “wildlife,” and “vermin” as derogatory and even suggesting “animal” is a “term of abuse.”

Common language on fauna betrays an “anthropocentric bias” and impedes an understanding of our interaction with the non-human species sharing the planet, argue the editors of the first academic journal dedicated to animal ethics in their debut issue.

Instead of “pet,” the Journal of Animal Ethics suggests “companion animal.” Rather than “wildlife,” they are to be called “free-living.” “Differentiated beings” or “non-human animals” is preferred to simply “animals.”

Words such as “vermin,” “beasts” and “critters” are stricken completely, along with similes such as “sly as a fox,” “drunk as a skunk,” “eat like a pig,” “slippery as an eel,” “breeding like rabbits” and “stubborn as a mule.”

“We will not be able to think clearly unless we discipline ourselves to use more impartial nouns and adjectives in our exploration of animals and our moral relations with them,” the editors write.

The argument has led to a public outcry that political correctness has run amuck, but the journal’s co-editor insisted terminology has the power to change how people think and act.

“The fact that some have reacted so furiously suggests that our language is much more revealing of our attitudes than many suppose. We have started an important debate,” said Andrew Linzey in an interview. “We were trying to help people see the connection between what we think and say about animals and how they are treated....”

"...terminology has the power to change how people think and act." I entirely agree--which is why we must never, ever accept this kind of ridiculous garbage. Funny, it seems, but insidious is more accurate a term.

Spencer

What do you want to see more of?

So here's a straightforward question for my readers. What kind of posts do you want to see more of? What kind of posts do you visit my blog to see? I'm stubborn in many ways and you will likely not be able to persuade me to forgo some kinds of posts, but I'm open to any input any of my readers have, so please drop me a line and let me know!

Comment, comment, comment!

Spencer

Osama bin Laden: Is He Really Dead?, Part 2

Just yesterday, this, and now today, this...okay. Someone convince me I am wrong here, please!

Spencer

A nightmare for you is an escape for me

Last night--or this morning, rather--I had a dream. This is the first dream that I've actually enjoyed in years. All I have are nightmares anymore.

What's funny to me is, this is probably most other people's idea of a nightmare, and here I woke up all pleased!

The dream began in the thick of it. I was some sort of knight, I believe. It was night, and I was part of a force assaulting some kind of fortress (mostly wooden, but some of the interior was perhaps stone, so maybe it was just a castle). One could only see from the fires that had broken out. The battle was coming to an end. The enemy had black surcoats. I don't know what color ours were.

I think it was late, date-wise (if dreams even have "dates"). I wore mostly plate armor, as did my foes (Gothic if I am not mistaken). I had picked up a great axe, or rather something of a halberd, also of a late look. In dreams, I am often slow and sluggish because my body is tired in the real world, and here it was quite annoying. But I was mad. Very, very mad. Enraged, perhaps.

I picked off the remaining knights and men-at-arms, one by one. I cut them to ribbons. I hacked arms off, cut open torsos, destroyed heads, limbs, and any bit of body I could find to maul. I cut so many down I don't even remember them all. I killed countless, slashing through them like so many clumps of butter. Like I said, I was angry. Most are a blur; I only really remember one in any detail. I'd hit him somehow, and he had fallen with his back to me, still in a sitting position of sorts. I brought my blade down on his shoulder, only a few inches away from his neck. His arm disappeared in an instant, and a red, ragged stump was all that remained. (Off topic: strangely I remember little blood.)

Once the "fortress" was taken, inside we discovered an inner chamber that held some of what we had come for. Here's where the dream became strange, k? Inside this chamber was a man, his wife, and his two small children, held prisoners (they were our friends somehow). Either this man, or I myself, was literally Beowulf! Here the dream took a "barbaric" turn (i.e., everyone looked like a barbarian or Viking, not like a member of the 1400's chivalry). (Also off-topic: large, spindly spiders scurried around the floor.)

The dream ended. We had won the battle, freed our friend, and I'd sent more of my enemies to hell than I even knew. Whether I was "Beowulf" or not matters little. For me, sometimes I wish things really were this simple. Instead of living life as it is today, I'd far prefer to have my troubles take the form of physical men, and then I could go and fight my enemies and kill them with a sharpened edge. Then at least I'd be done with my battles. Right?

Spencer

Osama bin Laden: Is He Really Dead?

I've been waiting for this little bit of news for ten years now. I am disappointed to have to say tonight, I'm not sure that I believe it.

Straight from his 2012 threat (Donald Trump) and the countless cries of "Forgery!" that have echoed since the birth certificate release (Did you really think I was alone?), this little development strikes me as far too timely. Something in me refuses to not ask the question, is this a desperate attempt by an ever-less-popular political schemer to revamp his image into a successful American leader, just in time for election season?

Of course, lying about this is quite risky, not to mention enormously dark. I want to see the body, I can tell you that much (of course it is possible that if this story is indeed true his face...well, isn't quite pretty). How long does a DNA test take, anyone know? Depends on how recent the kill was supposed to be, I guess.... There are countless reasons why I could be wrong here. Obviously I don't know, and I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong. The death of a monster is something I'm not afraid to smile at.

But you'll forgive me if I have difficulties trusting our current "fearless leader".

Spencer