Friday 26 December 2008

A life lesson I learnt

I remember my Matric Dance as something that I regretted later that night.
  1. I was too kind in swapping tables with someone who sounded desperate.
  2. I tried to be someone that I wasn't, but when that failed,
  3. I didn't want to dance because of that shame, brought about by people I wanted to call friends.
I really regret not dancing...I could have broken out of my shell - the shell that became iron cause I listened to what others said about me.

Good thing about all this is that that taught me a valueable lesson - don't judge yourself by what others say about you, be yourself. If you don't know who yourself is, then trust God to guide you through life so you can discover yourself.

Tuesday 23 December 2008

I see the beginings of an army...

There is a revival brewing in South Africa and I can see it, hear it and feel it.

If you think I'm mad or psycho, I am. There's been lots to prove to me that God is coming through His people in a mighty way.
My friends are recognising their gifts and they are using them for God's glory.
They are even going so far as growing them, so that they can do more and more and more!!

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" <-- Not for my friends, they are showing others the beauty and not keeping it for themselves.

I make a stand for God.

God is all powerful. God is also beauty and the object of my faith.
The wonder in it all is that whenever you think you know who God really is, you discover more and more about God.

God, the God that sent Jesus Christ (as we all affectionately call him) is the father of sons and daughters who willl inherrit everything that Jesus spoke of and more!

Friday 19 December 2008

Internet, sin and trance...

There's a black dog at my feet that goes by the name, Peppa. My foot is becoming warm.

I read a website that said that its okay to go thru what I know most guys are going thru, as the Bible does not mention it at all.
No, I didn't think you'd get it. I have been getting a deep rooted feeling inside everytime I come across people, institutions or websites that stress being a christian gives you the right to sin even more than before. I have learnt that what you read on the internet is not always trustworthy, but that's not the point. Most of my generation and the younger generations feed off the internet and these sort of websites are not good for the new christian, no matter what background.

Back when I was working in a tuckshop, I was nailed for posting a very silly study on the notice board. It was silly because what I was really trying to do was to find comfort in those around me in the same position. I can only imagine the friendships I lost out on because of that post. I could have spoken more to the patrons I saw everyday.

Why was it silly??
It was silly to put it up because it came from a website.
I was addicted to the food that was offered on the web. I would sit up till late at night and feed off loads of information on the web.
In those days, there was more false information than true. Today I'd still say the same. It is so easy to make a website about nothing and portray it as something grand. Perhaps it could be said that there is far more information these days that is neither false nor true. Scary, but the fact remains that as more and more people obtain access to the internet and produce information for others to find, the internet is becoming like a paperless-junkie's haven. If publishing a book was as easy as publishing things on the internet, we'd have more books than we'd know what to do with.

I could go on, but I don't feel like ranting to be honest. I have Johan Nilsson's mixes playing in my ears. You may not enjoy them as much as friends of mine enjoy hardcore metal, but I have gone through another shift in my tastes of music in the realm of dance and trance.

The year I finished school, I managed to go to a night club that played hardcore trance and dance, depending on which dancefloor you went to. I loved that music 5 minutes into the first set. It got me going. It energised me beyond energy drinks.
This kind of music went TOTALLY against my parents' taste. You see, I grew up on classical music - in school I loved it so much, that for every project that involved some aspect of music, I'd use "hardcore" classical music. I'm grateful for my parents. If they did not get me hooked on classical, I would never have learnt what music is all about. In school I hated metal, although I put up with it, I really didn't like it at all. For me, trance encompasses all the complexities found in classical music. Although not all the tracks have the same complex sound, most of them come close! I have sifted through so many mixes to find the rare jewels.

As my ignite year went along, I started to enjoy listening to metal. One thing I don't understand is the love some people have of bands that scream a mumble. Screaming is fine to the degree of understanding what it is that is being said. By the end of the year, I was enjoying synths and emotion in a track, rather than the rythym created by drums.
Funny thing really, I have been away from metal for longer than a week. I'm now back into the world of trance, but the trance can't have overpowering drums in it - that just ruins everything!

The popular trance in my opinion is not worth listening to, except a few - I haven't been to a music store to buy trance in a long time. I use the internet. It does take time to sift through music to find the diamonds among the resin, but once you have found something, it is so worth it!
I generally use, http://www.bangingtunes.com. It's not the only one, I'm sure I have used others in the past - my computer with all my bookmarks died some time ago..therefore I have to find the sites again.....

I had a friend that would judge a piece of music by listening to the first few seconds and then keep skipping every 40 seconds or so to determine if it was good or not. I dont do that. I download one piece, listen to it and then decide weather or not to download more. Right now, I'm listening to a 65 minute trance mix - I'm on 26 minutes..great stuff!!
Aah, a whole bunch of synths playing melody, rhythm and beat without drums - love that and the effect it brings. I wouldn't say I go into a trance, but it takes me into a total relaxed state!

Mixes HAVE to be free of sex for me to really enjoy them. A simple sentence like, "from the air to the brain", is far better than mainstream mixes which use sexually inducing words in their sentences.
In case you are wondering, a mix contains several tracks (songs) mixed seamlessly to form a mix. A track that continues for 60 minutes would bore me after 10 minutes...

I'm missing being in the office all day. I really want to finish Jaime and perhaps give him a better name - can't wait to go to a shop to dress him....Imagine what people would think..hehehehee.

I'm falling asleep

Thursday 11 December 2008

My GREATEST news for a long time to come!!

Ahh, what a good feeling to be behind a computer running STUDIOubuntu and a keyboard that I can type on, almost without looking at the keys!

here, look!
"A complete line typed without looking at the keyboard!!!" - "I looked at the LCD screen, all the time while typing"

HONEST, though I did make the few mistakes along the way and was very tempted at looking down!
working in IT support using a console and a web interface all day (half days mind you) kinda helps me get a faster typing rate.

It is sad, but uber satisfying that I have completed a year of service at Eastside Community Church. Absolutely BRILLIANT!! All that is left is to complete the edit of my ffig episode - was kinda thinking of backtracking on my last statement of saying i'm not an editor..maybe i'll give someone the raw footage and the final production, i dont know.

Summer Camp this year was an absolute blast! I met so many new friends and gave me the confidence I needed to retain my life in Christ. To be honest, it hasnt been all that great this last 27 hours. I have been thinking bad things and looking and doing kompletely DUMNB things.. (i know i missspelt, but it's for emphasis!)

This morning my Mom woke me up with coffee and a request for me to take a shower before she showed me something. Unfortunately I took extra long in the shower - dry sun burnt shoulders from the Ignite outing were soothed by being blasted by a cool stream of water..if only we had one of those pulsating shower heads. Then my Dad asked me to eat breakfast before he showed me.. I decided to have my all-time favourite, Pro-Nutro!! It went hard as I got distracted, and at ten, I put more milk in and decided to log onto facebook while I finish the last few mouthfuls of breakfast. So glad I had the threat of a session on Summer Camp to get me to eat fast this last week!
So I power up the router, walk down the passage, open the door, switch the light on - the room is dark as the curtains are always closed when no one is inside the room.

I cant say what my reaction was, but I guess it was a bit of disbelief. Lying on the organ bench (keyboard seat/computer seat) was a black banjo bag. My Mom and Dad were going to show me, so I picked it up off the seat and gently put it on the floor - trust me, there is no other space anywhere else. I started up the computer and logged into facebook.

When my Dad walked in, he explained the banjo and he got a big fat hug from me because of that! I'm gonna get a banjo lesson of one hour soon -- gotta make a date, and then I'll join a banjo club every Friday night. Sometimes I'll visit u*th and / or CoolBeans, dont you be so sad..!

When my Mom came home I gave her a big bear hug too! Ahh, Finally I get a banjo to play on!
I found a tutorial on the net and will be giving it a tune and a pluck very shortly. In a few months, the worship band will never be the same... hehe

It's good fun when as a smoke screen before writing this blog I told Bruce that I did get a new violin - a violin made from pure white granite.... Imagine playing that!?! Hope he didnt believe me...

I'll be changing the name of this blog sometime soon, but the address will stay the same, as I love the added meaning to it: http://ignitemalcs.blogspot.com

www.malcsman.za.net will still be the main link to it, as well as Facebook getting updates from it.

Thank you to all my readers for bearing with me as I blogged and blogged about my year of Ignite!
I had an absolute blast!!