“Our creed has reached us all pure and lucid, and entered as a groom into his bride’s chamber, welcomed without question.”

-Imam Malik ibn Anas

This is a video walkthrough of Mission 24: Fox Hunt in the stealthy game, Assassin’s Creed 2 for the Xbox 360!

http://www.mahalo.com/Assassins_Creed_2_Walkthrough

a few summers ago,  I had an assignment to write my own statement of faith.  This was the result.

I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  Jesus is the son of God, born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit, lived a fully human life without sinning,  was persecuted, punished for all human sins (including mine) and died in our place, with our sins placed on Him on the cross to redeem all who believe in Him by Faith to a righteous relationship with God the Father.  At death, He descended into Hades, Jesus was dead and rose from death to eternal life on the third day in a fully regenerated supernatural body.  He ascended to Heaven to join the Father.  Jesus provides for the forgiveness of our sins as the intercessor to God the Father.  Jesus justifies each believer before God.  The Word of  God is inerrant, infallible, and complete and Jesus is the Word, the Truth, the Way, and the Life.

I believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not created – but each person existed beyond any beginning, are each eternal, are equal, distinct and one.  Together God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit forms the Trinity and there is one God.  Each person of the trinity has always been and always will be.

I believe in the second coming of Jesus, the dead believers will be resurrected to life and join Jesus in the clouds, the living believers will be lifted into the air to meet Jesus,  .  Jesus will judge living and dead believers according to what was done in the flesh and assign rewards in heaven.

I believe that the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are working the same today as they have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

All believers will be resurrected to a fully supernatural regenerated  (new) body at the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth.

Top Song of the Week: Then (Single Edit) by Brad Paisley

Angel of the Morning by The Pretenders

Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

Hide by Creed

Sweet Surrender (DJ Testo Mix) by Sarah McLachlan

Gwen Montage:  What You Waiting For, Early Winter, Underneath It All, It’s My Life, Four In the Morning,  Orange County Girl

Movie of the Week:    Erik the Viking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rft9QtIFks

I’ve realized something today… that I rarely say or do anything to “give away” that I’m a spiritual person. I never was the type to get off on “street witnessing” or “sharing my faith to ‘non-believers’” as they say. My spirituality consisted of sporadically going to church when I happened to get up early enough and playing worship songs because I felt like I was good at it.

For a guy that prides himself on taking risks and living the spontaneous life, I sure had a lack of “Spiritual Risks.”

As most of you know (all 2 of you that actually read my blog), I’ve been leading worship in churches since I was a bleached blonde, spike belt/black t-shirt wearing 15 year old. I liked music (a lot), liked God and LOVED attention. I loved hearing hands clap for me, even when it was supposed to be for God. I did all the right things on stage, but for all the wrong reasons.

But God used me in spite of me. He took all my crap that I brought to the table and He turned it into something worthwhile.

I was never a huge fan of “worship music.” (What does that even mean anyway? Worship Music. Isn’t all music worshipping something? Whether it be fashion, money, sex, the Devil (here’s looking at you J. Page) or yourself… all music is worshipping something. All that aside, what I really mean when I say “worship music” is basically “Church Music” or music that people write/sing for God that sounds like the Edge first learning how to play guitar or the dude from Creed yodeling to the heavens acompanied by 12 fashionista back-up singers that are I-Kid-You-Not lined up according to hair color and level of frumpiness. THAT kind of worship music is what I will referring to from here on out.) I never liked any of the songs, sure the lyrics were inspiring, but even then I lost my passion for them. Then one day I realized that I couldn’t do this without passion, I couldn’t stand up there and fake a drive that I did not have. I was sick of God working around me. I wanted to get back to the place where I’m so in tune with God that the words were brand new to me again, like “Christian-Camp-Cry-Night Brand New.” But I knew deep within me that this wasn’t an overnight fix, so I ended up taking an indefinite hiatus from leading worship (Monday Monday circa 2003 – for those of you keeping score.) I didn’t want to play another day in church without that passion and I knew I had to figure it out.

Fast forward 6 years. Here I am, 25 years of age and engaged. I sit here next to an acoustic guitar I’ve barely touched over the past two years and I just stare at it like an old lover that you have now come to hate but you can’t remember why. Music has been my passion ever since I discovered the word, but now it has become my mortal enemy, with a smug look on it’s face, reminding me of “how good I used to be” or all the things I “could have had” had I stuck it out. But I realized something today,

I still can “stick it out.”

I’m not done yet. God’s still got things for me to do. I just need to get back to doing them.

I also found out the reason why I oftentimes bash on worship music (remember the definition from above) so much. I realized that these songs and lyrics mean the WORLD to me. I have these songs written on my heart. If I were to let myself feel how I really feel about these songs in public, I would bawl like a baby. For all this time, I have been in hiding. I have hid behind my humor and behind my guitar. Whenever I hear a new worship song, I instantly find ways to pick it apart. I have been truly afraid to let my real feelings show and I believe God is pulling this out of me right now for a specific reason. I need to start being open and honest about how I really feel, even if I risk being called a baby.

I’ve played down my spirituality to the point where you could have known me for a few years without ever hearing how happy I was about Jesus or how I am really being changed by something He’s doing. This needs to stop. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM A CHILD OF GOD AND I AM THE PERSON I AM TODAY BECAUSE HE IS LIVING IN ME. Everything you love about me comes from Him… and everything you hate about me, well, is just me!

The reason I say all of this now is because, well I gotta be honest from now on. Completely open and candid about my spiritual life and what it truly means to me. This is the key to me becoming who it is I’m supposed to become. A wise Hollywood Jew once told me that people don’t fall in love with songs, they fall in love with artists. An honest person, singing relatable lyrics from the bottom of their heart. All people want is to have a “me too” moment with the artist. They want to relate with someone. So from now on, I need to be an open book and wear my heart on my sleeve. So I hope you and I have many “me too” moments together in the near future. If you’ve read my late night psychobabble to this point, then I feel truly loved to have friends such as yourself.

Davey out.

New reviews on the hot apps coming soon – Stay tuned.

Whatever became of me...

When Black Friday comes
I’m gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it
‘Til I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop gonna sanctify me
And if he don’t come across
I’m gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes I’m gonna stake my claim
I guess I’ll change my name.

- Steely Dan, “Black Friday”

Well, now that we’re all sated on turkey, football and bargain crazed shopping, let’s give thanks that its once again Friday and time for us to our trip through the tubes.  I’m most thankful that my fellow GonzoGeeks got their links in to me before they disappeared for the holidays.  We’ve got some good stuff here today kids, so hang on.

Of course, before we serve up the links, we have to serve up the cheesecake.  This week, we decided it was time to go retro once again.  Stephe and I decided that we could think of no vintage cheesecake more appropriate for the day after Thanksgiving than Loni Anderson.  Why?  Because of the legendary “Turkey Drop” episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, that’s why.  Loni tweaked the dumb blonde secretary stereotype magnificently on WKRP and in this episode especially.  Don’t know what I’m talking about?  CLICK HERE.

In the meantime, enjoy the links.

1. The early days of some of your favorite websites.
2. Iraqi Metal.
3. The BIG Boom (scroll down).
4. Translation be fun time to me.
5. Ms. Couric, your freak is showing.
6. Rob Schneider vs. radio imbeciles.
7. Stephe’s lone contribution of the week.  Its even in English this time.
8. TEQUILA!
9. The dangers of MMORPGs exposed.
10. Another chimp attack victim goes on Oprah.
11. Cool pictures of vintage girl bands.
12. As the 00’s come to a close the “best of” lists have started to roll in.
13. This week’s gratuitous Twilight post #1.
14. Gotcha?  You betcha.
15. Even when Hulk Hogan is playing air guitar on the title belt?
16. How to pick cereal.
17. This week’s obligatory Twilight post #2.
18. Just in time for Black Friday, what not to buy in 2009.
19. 25 scariest moments in non-horror movies.
20. It’s evolution baby!
21. Rock Band reaches 1001 song catalog.  Take that Creed!
22. This is as close as I will ever come to watching a Lifetime movie.
23. At long last, Angelina Jolie weighs in on POTUS.  America can sleep better tonight.
24. The Most Brutal Martial Arts Training…EVER.
25. I fail to see the problem.
26. But who will correct and/or hack the entries?
27. And finally, David’s Iraq deployment blog.

Enjoy

With today being a holiday, I thought it would be fitting to celebrate this piece of work who obviously has no idea exactly which holiday it is.

Oh heyyy, guy in red hat, I'm not giggling at YOU.

Nearly a month after Halloween and worse, more than four months before St. Patrick’s Day, Homeskillet rolls up on the Light Rail in (I’m guessing) his idea of an O.G. pimp hat that more resembles the Lucky Charms Mascot’s attire.

"Me wants to pimp yo' hos!"

Wait, no, Lucky the Leprechaun reminds me way to much of marshmallowy goodness and childhood. This guy reminded me more of this:

A little less "I'm going to give you a cavity," a little more "I'm going to watch you sleep tonight."

Add in his MC Hammer Pants and Flava Flav gold chain and I’m officially annoyed. Vanilla Ice had one hit and one hit ONLY for a reason.

On top of the ridiculous attire, this guys starts bobbing his head to his music (circa Eminem pre-rap battle in Eight Mile) and mouthing words so obnoxiously that I cannot help but watch and wonder.

I can only guess Vanilla Face is listening to:

A) Creed or

B) Nickelback

(I’m guessing Nickelback seeing as Creed has been kind enough to STFU for the last few years while Chad Kroger and his band mates who presumably live among his disgusting Canadian Jesus mullet can’t seem to stop churning out the audio vomit on a daily basis. But I digress…)

Either way, you FAIL, Slim Shady.

People of Mobile, Alabama, however, you WIN. I do believe I found your leprechaun.

Click Acorn...urgh...Leprechaun to Watch Video

Turns out it really was just a “crackhead dat got hold to da wrong stuff.”

Happy Railing (and Happy Thanksgiving,)

<3 lightrailgirl

The race is over and I survived!

Today I reached an unbelievable personal goal, completing a half-marathon after about two months of training. I started on this project as both a personal challenge, and as a way to inspire people through the American College of Endocrinology Power of Prevention program. Along the way, I have heard from so many of you who are following my progress, have been inspired yourselves, or who are just rooting me on to success. On this Thanksgiving Day, I have to tell you all how grateful I am for all of your support.  What started out as a project to inspire others has certainly changed my life, and a significant part of that comes from all of you.

Now, on to race day.

First, a brief note.  I did not run with my iPhone, so I did not take any pictures.  Sarah took some, and I will work to add them later in the day.

So, I guess the story begins with dinner last night. My good friend Britt has been following my progress in this training regimen, and was sorry to tell me that he would not be able to come out to the run and see me finish, due to the fact he is out of town today. But he did offer to help me carbo load the night before. So last night our two families went out and enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner. In fact, I had to stop loading because I was too full. (I had an awesome shrimp alfredo Sicilian style pizza. Pictures forthcoming as well. I promise you will be jealous).

I got home and had a good night’s sleep.  This morning when I woke up, my number one priority was my pre-race preparations. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go here to get up to speed, but suffice it to say, I was very nervous about making sure this was not a problem today.

Not joking, I resorted to jumping jacks in the living room, but it all came out fine in the end (did I really just type that?)

Sarah and I headed out to the run at about 6:45.  Race time was 8:00, but we wanted to get a decent parking spot and I also wanted to do a mile pre-run before the race to get loosened up.

People up north can complain about this next sentence, but it was cold this morning.  It was probably only 50 degrees when we got to the race site. I was not concerned about the race, because I know how much I heat up when I am running, but I was definitely freezing waiting for the race to start.

Sarah and our friend Melissa were running the 6k at the same time.  The starting line and starting time were the same, so we got “in the blocks” together and waited for the run to begin. After a pre-recorded National Anthem from Lee Ann Rhimes, the race was set to begin.

We had positioned ourselves towards the middle of the group.  We knew we were not fast enough to be in the front, but did not want to get stuck behind the walkers in the back, either. The gun sounded and we were off.  It took about a minute or so to cross the starting line. I’m glad this was a chip race, because I’m interested to see how off my chip time is from the race time. The first mile was the typical jockeying for position that you see at any race. I tried to keep my pace slow and steady, but it is definitely hard with the adrenaline of all the other runners around you.

Around mile one, the course split for the 1/2 marathoners and the 6k, so the crowds thinned considerably at that point. It was about this time that I realized I had forgotten to start the timer on my watch. This is a dual problem, because I had no way to track my time, and because it was not recording my heart rate (long time readers know that I have a history of overheating when not monitoring my heart rate closely). So I started the timer and hoped that at some point there would be a timer on the course that would allow me to get some idea of how I was doing.

The first course clock did not come until mile two.  The race time at that point was 19 minutes. That meant that even if I had been at the front of the pack, I was pacing at sub-ten minute miles. This was both exciting and troubling. Exciting, because I did not feel like I was moving at that pace and felt fairly good. Troubling because I was not sure I could maintain this pace for eleven more miles.

The next few miles were relatively uneventful. I was able to maintain that 9:30ish pace and was not feeling tired. One thing I did not do was take water at the water stations. I have learned from experience that I get bad cramping if I drink anything while running. I had tried to hydrate myself well before the race, and was banking on that being good enough.

The race was actually quite uneventful in general until about mile eight. Right about that time my feet began to really hurt, especially on the instep. I know that I am due for new shoes, but did not want to get them so close to race time. Many runners have told me that’s a recipe for disaster with blisters and real problems on race day. But what was a mild nuisance at mile eight had become a real pain by mile nine.

The mile nine refreshment center had something I can only refer to as runner’s goo. It came in a foil packet, and had the consistency of Vaseline.  But it tasted good, was packed with sugars and caffeine, and really gave me a bit of a boost when I really needed it.

By mile ten, I was in uncharted waters. Ten miles is the previous longest run I had ever done, and I still had a full 5k to go to finish. I resorted to counting miles, not in distance, but in songs. At my pace (I had slowed to about an even ten minute mile pace, by now) I knew it was about two and a half songs between miles. So I just focused on the music and plowed ahead.

At mile eleven, the pain in my feet moved to my calves. This was a new experience for me. Whenever I run, the only true obstacle is breathing. I never have physical pain in my legs that prohibits me from going forward. So this really caught me off-guard. I knew that I only had two miles to go, however, and was determined to power through it, no matter what.

At mile twelve, I could smell the finish line, and so could the rest of the group running at my pace. Everyone kicked it up a notch at that point. I did the same, despite what my legs were screaming to me (R-rated, can’t repeat here). That lasted maybe a quarter of a mile. That’s when I thought I was going to collapse. Despite the fact that I had made it more than twelve miles without stopping once, I had to stop and stretch out my legs, then walk for about 30 seconds. I regret this terribly, but really don’t think there was anything else I could do at that point.

Once I started back up again, I decided to keep the pace slower and just get to the finish line. Two songs later, I was crossing the thirteen mile marker. At this point I knew that I had a 1/10 mile sprint in me, so I kicked it in and raced to the finish line, passing up a couple of guys down the stretch!

Final time: 2:07:18! Official results here: http://www.1stplacesports.com/obdc09halfres.htm

I looked around for Sarah, who had finished the 6k about and hour and 20 minutes earlier, but could not see her anywhere. So I got some water and tried to work out my legs a little bit. About 7-8 minutes later Sarah spotted me in the crowd and came over. I had anticipated finishing between 2:15 and 2:30, so she had gone home and got the turkey and stuffing in the oven, then was going to come back and watch me finish and take some pictures. Since I beat my goal time by about eight minutes, she missed the finish.

She’s more upset about that than I am. I’m glad she came back at all, and I appreciated the support in any case.

So we met up with some friends and compared times, then headed over to get a banana… AND THEY WERE OUT! So I settled for some orange slices and a couple of Michelob Ultras. Sarah also grabbed an Ultra, that she was actually getting for me.

As we walked to the van, I saw a sign for a “Brazilian Honey Bakery”. Having no idea what in the world that is, we headed inside and asked the question “What in the world is a Brazilian Honey Bakery?” The proprietor proceeded to give me a sample of a cheese bread pastry, which was so good, I immediately ordered a dozen.

And with that, we packed into the van, and headed for home. I received all of your well wishes on email, Facebook, and Twitter. You really have no idea how much that means to me. I am thankful today for all of you who have supported me through this training, and I look forward to sharing with you my next plan…

Until then, you know the drill…

Vital Statistics:

Workout: 13.1 Miles

Time: 2:07:18

Pace: 9:43

Playlist:

Neither Can I – Slash’s Snakepit

Estranged – Guns N Roses

Believe – Disturbed

Always On The Run – Lenny Kravitz

Sure Shot – The Beastie Boys

The Battle of Evermore – Led Zeppelin

I.R.S. – Guns N Roses

Brain Stew – Green Day

Miss Independent – Ne-Yo

Rusty Cage – Johnny Cash

The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson

Best I Can – Queensryche

All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

Get It Together – The Beastie Boys

Strength Beyond Strength – Pantera

Hella Good – No Doubt

Hanger 18 – Megadeth

Used To Love Her – Guns N Roses

One – Creed

Razor – Foo Fighters

After The World – Disciple

Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani

Elvis Is Dead – Living Colour

Jane Says – Jane’s Addiction

Territorial Pissings – Nirvana

Madagascar – Guns N Roses

No Rain – Blind Melon

Monkey Wrench – Foo Fighters

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over – Lenny Kravitz

There Is No God – Extreme

Running out the door & totally thirlled this morning that my new Bronco Buddies enjoyed the pics! 

Song of the Day, another favorite of mine:

HIDE BY CREED

Assassins Creed 2 contains some great ideas and is an excellent addition to the franchise. It feels more expansive and just overall larger than it’s predecessor. Most of all, the Storytelling is some of the most powerful I have seen in a game. Sure you see it coming from a mile away but the illusion of the likability of all the characters makes their story to powerful to end. Visually this game is superb, it captures all the aesthetic parts of italy from florence to Venice with such ar’e moire. The italian language that people keep speaking is frustrating if you do not put the subtitles on but for me it made the game all that much more believable. The Game has been expanded huge on the collectable part and everything feels like the Ocarina of Time…which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just epic. This is my game of the year, and I love it.

Bottom Line: Buy It!

All rights reserved. BAk99™ Photography 2009

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I love my perfumes, I adore them- so if you wanna smell great take a look at my top 3 perfumes that will get smelling so fresh an’ so clean…

1. Virgin Island water by Creed- I had this a while back and it costs a whopping £165 for a 100ml - it’s really exclusive (you can only buy in Selfridges/Harrods or Harvey Nicholes in London) and exotic where there are heart and top notes of  Jamaican lime, coconut and Sicilian mandarin and sweet hibiscus and base notes of white rum- everything exotic is enthused into this bottle making you smell fresh, tropical and absolutely Devine. 

2. Okay that was Pretty expensive- not looking to break the bank and still smell good? try Romance by Ralph Lauren.  This was my fragrance around February around the month of love  and it is definitely a sexy distinctive scent.  It is a floral perfume with lotus flower and fresh lilies and juicy guava as top notes it cost around £40 for a 50ml bottle.

3.  Ricci Ricci by Nina Ricci is a new scent and is an absolute favourite of mine already. I wear this alot as the bottle is a cute shape that fits perfectly in my work bag. Its a floral sweet smelling perfume with rhubarb zest bergamot  and moonflower heart notes. All good perfume stores sell this around £38.