Won't be a long post, folks, just wanted to share a Doctor Who trailer with you. It's one of the best I've seen, and definitely covers it pretty well. It shows clips from the old Doctor Who (60s-80s) as well as the new Doctor Who seasons.
Watch it. It's epic.
And a little clarification: I'm not gone yet. I'll post before we actually head to Africa. :)
EDIT: There's a few moments of silence and blackness at the beginning of the video, so just wait it through.
See ya!
--
Jake
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Goodbyes
Some things are hard to describe. Hard to put on paper. Hard to write, even for a writer like me.
And some things need to be described anyway.
In this case, I felt I needed to put my thoughts into words. And to make things easier, I'm writing it to you, blog followers and friends. There's a reason I've never written a journal; every time I try to write to myself, or a nonspecific audience, it fails. It just doesn't work.
(And be warned, I shall be redundant and wandersome in my thoughts. My head isn't that organized.)
So here it goes.
While the move to Africa is fantastic, a new adventure that I'm excited to embark on, I also look on it with a bit of apprehension. It's not the I'm-nervous-I'm-moving-to-Africa-and-I'll-be-in-a-new-culture-and-probably-just-die-or-something sort of apprehension. It's not what's to come that bothers me the most about moving to Africa.
It's what I'll leave behind.
Sad isn't the right word for this feeling. Depressed isn't either. Vaguely sadly depressed doesn't work. Like I said, it's hard to describe.
There's a word in another language—I can't remember which—that describes this feeling. A strange emptiness, a lingering sad feeling—an ache of the heart—that you can't describe. They call it "toska".
Some part of me feels like I need to be nervous and be poetically depressed that I'm leaving all I know behind. But I'm not feeling that way either. At least, I'm not really feeling "toska" because I'm leaving my house and my church and those I know in real life behind.
In a word, I suppose, it's the goodbyes that will get to me the most. Especially the goodbyes that happen over the internet. Maybe that sounds strange, but read on.
Already I've experienced the first few tastes of what it might be like. We cut our internet earlier this month. Thus, I haven't chatted with friends on email or Facebook; I haven't talked to fellow Elves on the Underground forum; I haven't checked blogs or blogged myself. The toska sets in a little bit more.
It already feels like goodbye, even if I haven't jumped on a one-way-plane to Africa yet.
I have a lot of friends on the internet. I know fellow writers and Christ-followers who wield pens in the service of the King through the internet. They're scattered across the fifty states. Leaving the internet is like leaving them.
I'm having another hard-to-put-into-words-moment... *pauses, and then continues*
And then, I read the farewells people send me. It's actually more like a wow-that's-awesome-that-you're-going-to-Africa sort of thing, but it feels like a farewell nonetheless.
Last Friday (the ninth), I resigned from administration (the admins are called "Sentinels" there) on the Underground forum. I've been on the Sentinel team for almost a year. The posts Elves made were actually farewells this time. They encouraged me and saddened me at the same time.
....And now I feel like I'm making the whole post depressing...
Main thing is, the goodbyes are what are getting to me. I'm "leaving" friends I know really well. In many cases, I know some people over the internet alone better than others I know in real life. I've prayed for them, I've asked for prayer from them, I've debated with them, I've battled with them, I've eaten metaphorical pie with them. And I had hoped (and still hope) to one day eat real pie with them in real life.
The camaraderie that can be found over the internet alone is astounding.
However, I won't end this on a depressing note. Whisper the Spy posted a great quote in this blog post that feels very applicable here. I've been pondering and musing over it ever since I read it. Since I'm writing this without internet, I'll paraphrase it. I don't have the greatest memory, wot.
"For Christians, it's never goodbye. It's always 'see you later'." ~Anonymous
And so, to all of you out there who know me in some way or form; thank you. It's been a fantastic ride. I'm honored to know you, and I really do hope that I don't disappear off the internet entirely, for my sake at least. I might gain my sanity back if I leave. (OO) I shall miss you all.
You are all awesome. You're epic.
See you later.
--
Jake
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Hebrews 11—No Description Needed
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Another Look at Doctor Who
Well, it's been a while. Seeing as I don't have a whole lot to blog about on this blog (and my Doctor Who semi-obsession continues), I thought I'd blog about Doctor Who....again. It's non-Whovian friendly, don't worry. You don't have to know anything more than what I'll tell you in the post to understand what I'll be saying.
This time, I'm going to take a look at the Doctors, their themes, and some Doctor Who soundtrack. All from the new Doctor Who seasons, of course. And my opinion on them. If you don't have much time, just read through the descriptions. There's a lot of videos. XD
First, here's the Doctor, in his various regenerations in the new Doctor Who seasons. (For those of you who don't know, the Doctor is an alien from a race called the Time Lords, and he's the last of his kind. They possess the ability to "regenerate" whenever their bodies are near death. Every cell is rewritten until the Doctor becomes a new person, complete with a new actor. He shares the same memories of the previous Doctors. Thus, each Doctor is numbered according to their number of regenerations.)
This time, I'm going to take a look at the Doctors, their themes, and some Doctor Who soundtrack. All from the new Doctor Who seasons, of course. And my opinion on them. If you don't have much time, just read through the descriptions. There's a lot of videos. XD
First, here's the Doctor, in his various regenerations in the new Doctor Who seasons. (For those of you who don't know, the Doctor is an alien from a race called the Time Lords, and he's the last of his kind. They possess the ability to "regenerate" whenever their bodies are near death. Every cell is rewritten until the Doctor becomes a new person, complete with a new actor. He shares the same memories of the previous Doctors. Thus, each Doctor is numbered according to their number of regenerations.)
THE NINTH DOCTOR
He's the Doctor with the second-shortest run acting as the Doctor; Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth regeneration of the Doctor. He was in the new Doctor Who seasons (starting in 2005) for just one series. However, he is my personal favorite; for his accent, his trademark leather jacket, and especially because he showed the darker side of the Doctor. When he met his companion, Rose, he was a Doctor who was grim and sometimes merciless. But he grew during the seasons until he would stop at nothing to rescue those who he loved and would never let evil walk away unpunished. Here's a clip of him in "Bad Wolf"; this is one of my favorite Ninth Doctor scenes.
THE TENTH DOCTOR
David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor. Some consider him to be the greatest Doctor of all time. He's quirky and funny; he can be grim and terrible; he has the greatest emotion of all the Doctors.
He sits as a very close second to Christopher Eccleston as my favorite Doctor. Complete with a tan trench-coat, a tie, crazy hair, and an array of emotions, he's a brilliant Doctor. He ran for three full seasons and several specials, including the End of Time, where he regenerated. I consider the end of The End of Time to be one of the greatest Doctor Who scenes ever; bittersweet, emotional, and utterly poetic. It's a masterpiece of writing. However, there are too many spoilers to post it here, so I'll post two videos of Tennant; one showing his serious side and the other showing his quirky side.
It was really hard finding anything worth posting on David Tennant's run (he has so many good scenes, and a lot of them are short) so I'll settle for this one. It has spoilers for the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", so beware.
THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR
Matt Smith is the Eleventh Doctor. He's also the youngest, the silliest, and the newest Doctor. His era is also marked by a change in head writers. Steven Moffat takes over the role from Russell T. Davies; he's my favorite of the Doctor Who writers and is known for the clever and darker episodes like Silence in the Library and Blink. (If you've never heard of him, he also wrote the script for the first Tintin movie, which has yet to be released.)
He's definitely a great Doctor, but of the three, he's my least favorite. While he is certainly hilarious, he has few serious moments and has a strange lack of emotion in his role. This doesn't prevent him from being epic, however.
The following scene is right after his regeneration into the Eleventh Doctor. New tastebuds, new rules, wot.
And for the record....
Fezzes are cool. And bowties. And Stetsons.
Also, the Eleventh Doctor's most fantastic speech (also in the episode after his regeneration).
SOUNDTRACK
The Doctor's Theme
This is the theme of the Doctor. While it is not used in the Matt Smith episodes, it is often used in the earlier seasons. Here's the one used in Series One with the Ninth Doctor—a lone voice singing the song of the last of the Time Lords.
I Am the Doctor
Also known as the Eleventh Doctor's theme or Every Star Every Planet, I Am the Doctor is used a lot in series 5-6. It's epic.
The Doctor's Theme/The Tenth Doctor's Theme
The first section of this song is the The Doctor's Theme used in series 2-4, the Tenth Doctor's era. It's basically a redone version of the first Doctor's Theme. The rest of the song is from the fourth series, and the end is similar to the soundtrack from Tennant's regeneration. It makes me sad...
Doctor Who Theme 2005-2007
I originally posted the longer version of this song earlier. This is my favorite of the Doctor Who themes (used in the beginning credits). It's the perfect mixture of alien and orchestra.
Doctor Who Theme 2008-2009
Also a great theme, this brings in a different feel to the song. It's more action than the previous one, with a strong beat. I like it, but not quite as much. This one, instead of plain soundtrack, actually has the opening credits (though the credits are played over and over to continue with the soundtrack). The credits are in the Time Vortex, and you can see the TARDIS hurtling through.
Doctor Who Theme 2010-Present
With the change of Doctors, sonic screwdrivers, and head writers, it also came with a change of credits and music, and even the Doctor Who logo changed. The new version isn't as good as the previous two, and it's much more alien than them as well. However, it's still good stuff.
Well, that's all I'm going to gab for today. If you had time to look through the videos, let me know what you thought. And my next post won't be another Doctor Who rave, I promise. ;)
--
Jake
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