The Old Man and the Sea, and a new music feature and a little rant about Music

Music of the Day:
I have seen on some other people's blogs they list what they are listening to, well I listen to music a ton (like today I have listened about eighty songs today and its only 4:30 in the afternoon, and there have been a couple days this year where I have hit 200) so I will have to do genres with some highlights, it's rare I stick on one CD for more then one time through.
Music of the Day um it’s already up there ^ anyway one more time…
Music of the Day: Punk/Ska or Skunk, I started the day with Bob Marley then switched over to mostly punk, highlight of the day- “$13,000 dollars is a lot of food” by Skank’in Pickle, I love that song…

Also I just figured out how to do links in the text, Blogger had not let me do it before because of Safari, that’s the Internet browser I use, anyway I will probably add a ton of them from now on especially when I talk about lyrics from songs you will be able to just go to the link instead of having to search all over on my blog. Like in my last post I added one to Asian Man Records, which is Mike Park’s record company. I like him he is cool…

So I guess everyone else on the planet was forced to read “The Old Man and the Sea” in high school except me. Stupid Woodbury High School, once again you have failed me, I bet someone is going to take my lunch money now…

I think I need to start doing things I don’t like so I could put a bad review on here sometime. Maybe I will have to go see “Ice Age 2” or “Curious George” those both look like they would make me vomit uncontrollably. After watching the first “Ice Age” I had a serious case of the jibblies, and spewed my lunch for some time on all my friends, what a horrible story, the vomiting well “Ice Age” was a pretty horrible story too. Where was I?

Oh, yea “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. It rocked!!! I have never read any Hemingway before and he is cool. The story was explained so well and with such sweet details. I really felt for the old man and felt his pain and what he was going through man it was a really great story. I think that is what entertainment is about. Telling a story. I don’t need all the explosions or flash and glamour, man just give me something to care about, even with music if the production is crappy and the music is not even that great but you are telling a great story in a great way man let me have it. Maybe that is part of the reason I have such a general disdain for the Christian Music Industry. They should have the best stories to tell yet so many “artist” just suck. On top of that they have the greatest story to tell ever. Not like kind of a really good one but the best one, lets be honest what story compares to the redemption of man through the blood of God’s only Son, Jesus. And we fill albums with crap, stupid Thousand Foot Crutch, Life Liberty and what, Toby-Who? Help me out if I forget any, Jeremy Post, Aaron Sprinkle, Joe Yerke, Scott, Hunter, Scott Kerr, guys from Plank Eye, Steve Taylor, Dennis Culp, Mark Salomon, Larry Norman, Steve Green, Rich Mullins, Brian McSweeney, and most of all Reese Roper where have you gone? Save us from Rebecca St. James…


Anyway I like “The Old Man and the Sea” I though it was a great story and am excited to read more Hemingway when I get the chance there are a few other books in front of his others but I’ll get there. Thanks for reading sorry I am so boring…
Aim high with your musical selection and I’ll aim high with my spelling deal?
Caleb M. Saarela

P.S. If you want info on who those guys are let me know I will hook you up with a rock’in Christian Compilation that will knock your socks off…

P.P.S. I guess the Christian Music Industry could be worse... The previous link may not be suitable for anyone with good taste...

“I was indeed surrounded
by self-proclaimed mental giants
in ryan's driveway
better a fool in the eyes of men than a fool in the eyes of God
watching minds descend under the blacktop
baited-breath, cigarettes, in the cab of a volkswagen van
eight-teen, born again, arguing the origins of man
teeth grit, fist clenched, I swing and strike the dashboard
how can they be so blind they want to blaspheme my Lord
the weakness of God is stronger than the strength of men
wisdom is proved right by her children
drew a thumbnail sketch of the cross in the window steam
from the thumbnail sketch inspiration came”
J. Post

North Hangook Falling

O.K. well this will be quick just got done studying for like six or seven hours and am feeling ready for the week. But the weekend was really good. I got to brew beer on Saturday afternoon with some fellas it was sweat we are brewing what should be an awesome oatmeal stout. I am super excited to get it in two weeks. It's really the only beer I am buying this spring so it sounds so good.





Anyway Friday was super busy. I went to a lecture about where science and faith intersect. After that I had a sweat homemade dinner with Scott and then we headed over to Bethlehem to meet Mitch and watch “Seoul Train” a documentary about North Korean refuges. That is what the title of the blog is about it is the title of a song by Mike Park former front man of Skank’in Pickle about North Korea.

So the movie “Seoul Train” was amazing. I said that I think it would be good if everyone read “Searching for God Knows What” well I am saying you need to see “Seoul Train.” It is a powerful and very informative. It really did a great job of explaining the general hopelessness of the situation. I am not going to go into a whole lot of details I am going to give you the link and let you know this. North Korea needs our prayers and anything else we can give. So go to seoultrain.com there will be a link on the side. Go check it out learn more and get involved, it’s not the only place in the world that is hurting but I can think of few that are hurting more.
Last thing came down from all the studying and there were like 15 people in the living room so here is a picture of them watching the game, I got in there too.
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

P.S. I tried to get all the red eye out sorry...

Random Monday Rants...

All right this is going to be a ton of little different things.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Here is a link to Dr. King’s I have a dream speech.








Yesterday Nathan, Mitch, Brent and myself went up to Bethlehem to watch the documentary “Citizen King” about Dr. King’s life from 1963 to 1968. It was really good, a little mix of information and emotions. If you ever get the chance you should check it out.

Yesterday at church we sang the song “I’m on the Battlefield” arr. by Ron Porter it was a nice song. What I really liked was Pastor Kenny Stokes prayer afterward. I liked how he described becoming a Christian is like being born onto a battlefield. It’s just an interesting way of looking at it. It reminded me of the scene in the movie “12 Monkeys” when Bruce Willis’s character goes back in time and ends up in World War I. He is naked and confused and needs the help of others. Like every analogy it kind of starts to break down but remember when you first came to faith or had that experience that put you back on the path with the Lord, how crazy excited were you? You charged the line, absolutely fearless. As time goes on you need to regroup, refocus, retool, sharpen your sword, and all of the other great war analogies. Anyway it made me think.

Next, my favorite pair of shoes have finally hit their end. It’s over they have been the best shoes for the last three years. I got them two days after I got back from China. I will swear by Vans they are the best, super durable. So I wrote a poem about them. It’s funny and not meant to be taken seriously at all.










My Vans
My skateboard shoes are dying
Holes on all sides explode
They have never seen a skateboard flying
Pops and squeaks along the road

Brown with blue, spots of tan
Lace drag, seams thread barren
Feet slide in and I’m the man
I walk by the chicks are stare’en

I’ve worn them everywhere
In every situation, on my feet
Through horror, trial and care
Now their end they face defeat

Their task completed the quest is over
The insides have been laid to waste
I will see them like my brother
Forty dollars later they will be replaced
Caleb M. Saarela




Goodbye my shoes, oh so sad…

Next, I want to write one little thing about the article on Jonathan Christman’s blog. I believe that there is risk in every relationship. EVERY relationship! It is the risk that makes the relationships in our life worthwhile. If you never take a risk in any relationship you will never get to know anyone intimately. I think about the relationships that have meant the most in my life they are with people who have asked me the hard questions and who I have shared my soul with. I will use my relationship with my roommate Mitch as an example. I have only known Mitch a year and we have lived together for five months. We have gotten to know each other pretty well, we have had the chance to share very personal things with each other, we lead a Bible study together, and we have many of the same friends in our church communities. The risk we have taken is that if we would have a falling out it would affect so many aspects of our lives. I actually think we could pull off the living together just fine. People live together all the time and never interact it isn’t fun but it is doable, but it would have an affect on our friends, Bible study, and we would both lose the joy of the relationship. We have made a decision and said this relationship is worth the risk.
I feel like many people try and create risk free relationships and I just don’t think they exist on a deep level. I am not promoting recklessness but we all take calculated risks in relationships and I think that is a good thing. I have a glued hand analogy but this is getting long so that will have to wait for another time.

One more thing…

Rock N’ Roll
I am such a dork

Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

Have I been Super Sized

Well I finally saw Super Size Me. I'm probably the last person on the planet to see it but I am on my two-week movie binge. Anyway I really liked it and was challenged by it. I felt like it really had a good balance and a healthy view of the concepts they are looking at. If you don't know the concept they are basically saying fast food is bad. But what I like is that they don't place all the blame squarely on companies like McDonalds, they are able to find a nice balance between personal responsibility and corporate responsibility, which is rare in most scare tactic movies. The thing that affected me the most was the shock his doctor was in. When his doctor basically sees the effects on his liver as the same affects of a long drinking binge and then comments, "I didn't know you could do that with a diet high in fat." Amazing, the shock of the doctor still makes me laugh.

I know some people have seen this movie and have not eaten fast food since, I don't think that will happen to me, but I will take the free advice for the many nutritionist in the movie and try and limit how often I eat a fast food restaurants to once a month or so. Anyway you should see it for the comedic value and for the interview with the author of Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser. O.K. that’s all I got man I’m super boring these during my break.

Oh a note about the New Year. I don’t know who reads this really but if I haven’t gotten the chance to hear about what the change of year means to you in 2006 I would love to hear from you. Especially right now I have time to hear from you so e-mail me let me know your thoughts on the New Year, cmsaarela@yahoo.com. O.K. talk to you soon.

Hungry Hungry Hippo(ing),
Caleb


"My body... officially hates me."
Morgan Spurlock

Christmas reflections and other random stuff

Well I had a great Christmas season. I usually hate this time of the year. The over commercialization of Christmas, Santa Clause all the fighting about “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas.”

Anyway for me the season was great. Usually my Novembers are really crappy, but this one was great. God was totally protecting me and watching over me. Anyway early on in December I was struck with the awesomeness of the incarnation and overwhelmed with the joy of the season. This is a new experience for me maybe this happens for everyone else, I don’t know. So anyway I was really excited about Christmas this year. One thing that I do like about Christmas is singing the old Christmas Carols every year at church. I know the songs are old and routine and a lot of churches feel the need to jazz them up. As you can probably guess I’m not a huge fan of that.

One song that stuck out to me this year was Joy to the World. Simple song right nothing big. Anyway the song ends with Wonders of his Love. I spent a little time thinking about this. It is amazing. The wonders of his love, when we really think about the whole situation, His love is overwhelming. The Creator of the universe born in not just a dirty smelly barn, but also a dirty breaking down body. I don’t know I was just overwhelmed by His love for the glory of God, and for the redemption of man. Anyway I had an amazing Christmas it was great.

Movie Reviews:
Movies I’ve seen and I’m reviewing so suck it up and read…
Fun with Dick and Jane: Funny really funny. I liked it a ton. It makes fun of mainstream America and big companies. It wasn’t like the most amazing thing I had ever seen but it was worth seeing. Yes it is a remake but at least it is a new take on it. And it is a ton funnier then the original. If you like Jim Carry you will like this and Téa Leoni has great comedic timing she is really funny.
Grizzly Man: Ah pretty good nothing special. It was all right. I had heard that ended differently so I was kind of expecting more. It was interesting though. What I found really funny was the idea that this guy really thought he was doing something and I guess I don’t think he was doing anything. In the end I just think the guy was crazy. Not inspiring at all. O.K. I’m done making fun of the guy who got eaten by the bears.
Shawshank Redemption: You have all seen it a hundred times, it rules.

Random thoughts on girls, dating girls is tough man my brain hurts. I mean I am not even dating anyone or know if there is any future for any relationships but man you ladies confuse the heck out of me. Marzipan why don’t you love me? It is so confusing, I am now accepting applications and advice on how to use my brain, Ha Ha I’m funny… (In case anyone is wondering I am kind of joking around)

Random Recommendations:
I have added a link on my blog. It is a blog called Google Video of the Day. Most of the stuff is pretty appropriate you can use your judgment. Some of the stuff is a riot; check out the Wallace and Gromit. Really funny, anyway I that is some of my ramblings I feel like my brain isn’t really working to well so if this is hard to understand sorry…

Hope you hate my ideas.
Caleb M. Saarela


“Just say 'Jack , do you adore me?'
Well I would Holly but love really bores me
Well I guess we should just be friends
I'm just kidding Holly
You know that I'll love you 'til the end”
J. White

A Saturday to Remember...

Well if you have known me long or haven't known me long it is pretty easy to figure out that I am a passionate person. No really the things I get excited for I really get excited for. I am still of the belief that the Lord of the Rings (although three of the greatest movies ever) should have been six movies of all the same length. This may not be the most practical idea but man that would have ruled. Anyway on Saturday I went to go see the first installment of the Chronicles of Narnia. I was really excited to see this movie but also pretty hesitant. I was read the books as a child, have re-read them as an adult, and generally love the writings of C.S. Lewis so I feel a pretty strong connection to these stories and characters

I was under the impression and still am that if the movie did not have the line that describes Aslan as "a wild lion" or "not safe" or "not tame" but "good" there would be no point in making the movie. This is such a great description of God and his relation to western culture. We can't control Him, tell Him what to do, contain Him, or make better plans than Him. Living your life by God's standards and following Him with all your heart is reckless and not safe. It will lead to the reckless love of others and to fearless joy we will make decisions that make no sense to our non-believing friends and family and sometimes even to our believing friends and family. God is not safe but He is good and His promises will endure forever. I love that... Our lives are so simple by faith, love God with all our hearts, and trust that His son Jesus died for your sins and cling to Him as your everything. The rest is well the rest... Thank God He is good, and we can trust Him above anything else *(I will be talking about the movie from here to the other asterisk so if you don't want to hear stuff skip ahead).

So the movie and my thoughts:
Cons - One thing the movie has going against it is that the four stars are all children and for children to have to convey the emotions sometime required in these stories is tuff. On top of that it is usually the youngest of the four that has to convey the most emotion. You have to believe that Lucy is crushed by Edmond's lie, you have to believe that Lucy and Susan have never seen anything worse then the death of the great lion. Overall I think they did a good job considering it was the first movie for all of them with the exception of Anna Popplewell (Susan). Another con is the CGI was average it was no Lord of the Rings but it was better then some of the Shots form the first Harry Potter or the second Matrix which both had parts that were horrible. So none of it was appalling but it could have been better. Third con and this is getting a little picky, there is so much explanation of Aslan and people's reaction to him in the books. It is arguable the best parts of the books and I could have done with more of that, talk and reaction to how amazing Aslan is.

Pros - They did a good job of holding to the books. The allegory of redemption through a savoir is very evident. The line(s) that had to be in there were. "He is not a tame lion but he's good." Yes!!! I almost cheered out loud. Especially since they made me wait the whole movie for it. The death and resurrection at the stone table was great. The professor who is not a major character was just right. I have the feeling that if you are not a lover of the books you might not enjoy the movie quite as much but even without them I still think it is a great kids movie. I just feel they got the right parts right. I would endorse it 100%.

* O.K. I'm done talking about the movie. The other cool thing about Saturday involved free trade coffee. I found out a while ago that Dunn Brothers sells free trade coffee. Even before that I had chosen Dunn Brothers as my coffee shop of choice (both Caribou and Starbucks are evil). So while we were having coffee and talking about the movie I thought I would check it out. The thing I was worried about was the price. I want to try and buy more fair trade products but I've heard some of them get pretty expensive, but to my surprise and joy it was not a bad price. So anyway you should check out maketradefair.com and the next time you buy coffee you should at least check out Dunn Brothers fair trade stuff. It's worth looking at.

Anyway all in all it was a great weekend busy but fun thanks to everyone who planned cool stuff to do, I'm glad I got to have fun with you. Hooray for having friends...
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

P.S. Dunn Brothers website and the recipie for Turkish Delight bellow, man does that stuff looks gross...

http://www.dunnbros.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Delight