Friday, March 31, 2006

While the Cat is away...

While the president is in Mexico giving speeches on boarder security offering financial aid to the victoms of Iran's latest earth quake (CNN), Iranian television announced that they just successfully launched a missile that can simultaneously hit multiple targets… all while avoiding radar detection and anti-missile missiles
This new weapon can reach Israel, and American bases in the Middle East, which raises an obvious red flag when you couple this knowledge with the fact that they are desperately trying to build nuclear warheads.
Where is the outrage from the Left? Why don't we see anybody questioning Iran's efforts in the Mainstream Media, or at the very least publishing the story?
The Left hates america, that's why. It becomes more and more obvious every day.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Spreading Mang around the world

Here's an update on who's been checking out MangDiddles.com recently.
  • It seems that the Mang is still a hit in Thailand, which is surprising... "Mang" must mean something else over there. Again, I bid those in Thailand; "Sawatdee Khrap”, (Hello).
  • Rishon Leziyyon
  • (rē'shōn luzī'un, rēshōn' lutsēōn') - In West central Israel.
  • Three locations in Germany, none of which are Wildflecken, but I am looking forward to seeing them in the future.
  • England, Italy, France and Spain.
  • My Chavez posts brought visits from Lima, Peru and the Sheehan-tainted capitol of Venesuala, Caracas.
  • All across the US, in places like San Diego, and Sacramento, CA; Jamestown, OH; Jamestown, IN; Miami, Florida, Illinois, Pittsburg, PA; Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
  • Washington DC (three or four times a day, or whenever I post new information).
So, I must say thank you to everyone that has stopped by - and ask once again if you would please leave a comment when you are here - at least until I can get a guest book code that allows you to sign without registering to Blogger.com.

Postings on Hebrew will resume shortly - there has been some setbacks in the class, and I need to get back on the same page with our teacher.
Thanks!

Something to pray about...

We have a few friends that need prayer. Some are family members, some are from our church, and some are just friends, but they all need as many people as possible lifting their needs up to our Healer, so I will give a quick rundown of what is happening...

  1. Our Hebrew teacher's family just lost a dear friend this week. They just lost a close family member the previous week, and were already dealing with a lot. Please lift them up - they have been through an incredible amount of stress this last month.
  2. We have a family member that continues to have seizures. Please pray for her healing; and a quick and thorough recovery. Help us in praising God for pulling her out of a bad situation.
  3. We want to praise the Lord for bringing another good Friend through a very intense surgery. God saw to it that everything went well, and we thank Him for that! He will be walking soon.
  4. Help us in asking for the Salvation of our loved ones that do not know Him yet – may they come to the knowledge of Yeshua (Jesus) quickly, and may we be prepared to be there for them when they do.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

2006 Shmendrik Awards: "And the winner is..."

Shmendrik: (shmen- drik) n. (Yiddish) a pathetic and foolish small time ineffectual loser, a jerk.

I saw this at LittleGreenFootballs, but it comes from The Dry Bones Blog, hosted by Yaakov Kirschen.

It is good to know that there are others who have not been hoodwinked by

"The Jimmy".


Friday, March 24, 2006

Dot Com!

As of today, MangDiddles.blogspot.com is now more slender. More streamline. More efficient. ...Possibly even mangier. I have moved to the next step, and regestered the domain- name;
mangdiddles.com.


The old address will still work, and the site won't change in looks - until I can find the time to do some remodeling, but change is on the way. MangDiddles.com will show up in your address bar on any of my pages - be it the archives, or the Cafe Press store site.
So go ahead, humer me, and try it out. Add it to your favorites under MangDiddles.com.

Now, about that logo...

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Near Death Files #2 ...Pizza Anyone?

Sometime in my late twenties, I worked for the Pizza King. It was your typical pizza delivery job, with the typical pizza pay. I didn’t mind working at the Pizza King for the most part. I got to work with a lot of great people, most of whom were my friends before I started there.
The manager of the store was one of my best friend’s girlfriends. He used to come in at the end of the night to pick her up from work, after she finished closing out the drawers. While she was figuring out the accounting in the basement, he and I would hang out upstairs in the lounge, and drink sodas. One night, my buddy had come in while his girlfriend was downstairs finishing up. He had the knack for really cracking me up, so we lost track of time, and sat around drinking coke for about an hour, before we realized she was taking too long to finishing up. He looked at his watch and said, “Let’s go see what’s taking her so long.”
I followed him down the stairs to the basement, walking about two steps in front of him. At the bottom of the stairs, we could see the familiar dim light coming from the tiny office that sat just to the left. When I got to about the third step from the bottom, a man in a black ski mask, and black clothes, came from out of what seemed like nowhere, and yelled, “Get on your @#$%&* knees! On your @#$%&* knees! He was holding a forty-five pistol against my left temple.
I went down the remaining steps, hoping that I wouldn’t cause him jolt the gun, and blow my head off. At the bottom, I proceeded to get onto my knees, followed by my friend. To our left, we could see all the way into the little office. There she was, hog-tied on the floor with duct tape. The tape was covering her eyes, and mouth, and she was lying on her stomach.
People often wonder what they would do in a situation like this, and it always ends with them knocking the gun out of the attacker’s hand, or elbowing him in the gut, or some other heroic thing. I heard it all after this happened. Things like, “I would’ve... or you should’ve... or, If it was me...If that ever happened to me, I would have...” and so on. My answer to them all is an emphatic “Bull”. The truth is that if you have any sense at all, you do what the guy with the gun in your face is telling you to do. I used to get furious when I heard all of those “I would haves” because the truth is, “No you wouldn’t have”.
Back to the floor. After I got onto my knees, the guy with the gun in my face was yelling, “Put your hands behind your head!” I had to set the cup of soda down on the floor, in order to do so, and I can clearly remember myself hoping that it didn’t spill, because I didn’t want to irritate this guy. After all, he did have a forty-five pressed into my temple. He made us go into the room with the girlfriend in it, and drop to our knees on either side of her. Her face looked like something from a movie. There was duct tape wrapped around her whole head, with clumps of hair sticking out everywhere. There was an opening in the tape that allowed her to see me, but I couldn’t see her eyes. She had been crying, and lying on the floor for awhile by the looks of it. In hindsight, this really bothered me. It meant that she had to wait down there, knowing that he was waiting for us to come down or leave. She knew that we would come down though. It must have been horrible for her to wait on the floor all tied up like that.
When we got onto the floor, I was on her left, and my friend was on her right. The man told us to lie down; all the while, keeping the gun at close range to the back of my head. He held the gun in his hand while he taped my wrists together behind my back. When he had finished mine, he taped my friend’s wrists, then his feet, then his feet to his wrists, and his head, covering his eyes and mouth- just like his girlfriend’s. After he finished taping up him all the way, he finished binding me the same way.
We could hear him going through the desk and shuffling papers behind us. When he finished this, he came back over to us and told us that he would be back in fifteen minutes to get the rest of his “stuff”, and that if we moved before he got back, he was going to blow our brains out right there in the Pizza King.
Even until this day, I don’t think too much about what “I could have, or should have” done. I tend to just thank God for not letting him do what he “could have” done.
Well, my friend didn’t believe that the guy would be back like he had said, so as soon as we heard the upstairs door open and close, he managed to get a small Swiss Armey knife out of his pocket, and cut the tape off of himself, his girlfriend, then me. I should make it perfectly clear that I was fully willing to wait there a few more minutes before acting. Who knows, he could have been waiting upstairs, just itching to shoot us for not listening to him. He wasn’t there though when we got upstairs. My friend immediately ran over to a bar that is in the same building with duct tape all over his head yelling, “Call the police, we were just robbed!” He said that the patrons just sat there looking at him for a few minutes, wondering what he was talking about. I guess he probably did look a little odd, even for a Monday night bar crowd in Crawfordsville, IN.
The police station used to be three blocks from the Pizza King, so they showed up fairly quick. They are amazing, the police in Crawfordsville. It took all of about five minutes and a description of the guy with the gun before they started asking if I was involved in it. I told them, “Absolutely! I was involved in it! I was hog tied in the basement with a gun to my head for God’s sake!” I was a suspect for a while, believe it or not. They never labeled me as one to my face, but they interrogated me as if I was driving the getaway car.
For months after the Pizza King deal, I was petrified to walk down the street. I am sure that this is somewhat normal, but I was almost to the point of being incapacitated by fear. Every time I walked down the street to go to work after that, I would look over my shoulder, wondering if the guy with the gun was one of the people walking behind me, or staring at me from a parked car. The majority of this anxiety came from not being able to see his face. As I knew, he could be anyone. And he knew what my face looked like. I keep a newspaper clip telling about the robbery in my wallet. It is laminated, and has been with me since the day after it all happened. It has the facts wrong, but it reminds me that this thing really did happen (wrong number of people involved, etc.). It would come in handy later on down the road, when things in my life started getting really bad. Sometimes, when things would get really crazy later on, and I could not tell what was real or not, I would pull that clipping out, and remind myself that I wasn’t making this stuff up.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

um, could you read that again, Mr. Carter?

I haven't seen this much activity from a former president since the Clintons were caught steeling the White House furniture.
"The Jimmy" is at it again - he seems to be on some sort of rampage - bashing Bush, and slamming Israel with every "Democratic" breath he takes. This is from Jnewswire.com:

Carter: US forced Palestinian elections on Israel

Admission puts blame for Hamas' empowerment directly on Bush Admin

This is the same Jimmy that was calling for financial aid to be given to Hamas last week.
"The Jimmy" also deliberately misquoted United Nations Resolution 242, making it slant toward the Leftist interpretation of reality, which really irritates me, because it is the same tactics that the Democratic Party has used for years. They say what they want the truth to be, regardless of what the truth really is, and then rely on the public's ignorance. By the time a rebuttal has been made, the general opinion
of the public has already been swayed.
Shame on Jimmy - Some really good (though misinformed) people actually trust him.
I am still in a state of Press Photo denial, so allow me to welcome back Mr Kotter.


The Little Things in Life: "Everything About Matisyahu"


At the risk of looking like I am obsessed, I have yet another post about Matisyahu – only this is actually a post pointing you to a blog that has some really good posts about Matisyahu; things that I would post if I had the time. So, without further ado, I give you (without permission, so I hope he/she doesn’t mind):

The-little-things-in-life.blogspot.com

"Everything about Matisyahu"

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Stating the Obvious

In light of Katie's blatantly opinionated journalism and lack of regard for any opinion other than her own,
...don't we all?

Monday, March 20, 2006

...and he knows donkeys.

On Reuters yesterday, Chavez of Venezuela was reported to have called President Bush a “Donkey”, and “Mr. Danger”. For starters, I think the term is “Elephant”. Mr. Chavez must not realize that the Republican symbol is the elephant. The “Donkey” is usually used to depict the Democratic Party; to name a few, Jimmy (“The Jimmy”) Carter, Hillary Clinton, Cindy Sheehan, and Susan Sarandon, all are part of the “Donkey” Party.

Now, as for “Mr. Dangerous”, we can look to the “Donkey” to give us some good examples.

  1. "Dangerous” is fighting against your own country while it is at war.
  2. “Dangerous” is slandering our President - while we are at war.
  3. “Dangerous” is meeting and praising hostile leaders of Communist countries that openly oppose America – while we are at war.


As you can see, the people represented by the “Donkey” tend to fit these criteria very well. In fact, when I think about it, Chavez was photographed kissing Cindy Sheehan recently, so he could be called an authority on “Dangerous” and “Donkeys” – which makes me wonder how he could be so wrong in calling President Bush either of those things. Honest mistake, I am sure.

On a side note, Susan Sarandon is going to play Cindy Sheehan, “Peace Mom” in a new movie, which forces me to wonder who will play Chavez in the infamous kiss scene.

“The Jimmy” is all wrapped up in swindling the UN at the moment, so he is out. Bill is too busy with Hillary’s debauchery, which they like to call a "campaign", and Dan Rather is in retirement,(a result of his showing blatent false documents that lied about our President). I am sure that together, Cindy and Hugo will think of someone vile enough to glorify the moment that was forever etched into our brains.


They're taking over... and it makes me want to dance.

There is a short article on Ynet News today (in the culture section) about Matisyahu:

Matisyahu Hassidic rapper takes over America

Mattisyahu's new album jumps straight to number four on charts
News Agencies


"American hassidic rapper and reggae star Mattisyahu has taken the American music establishment by storm: His new album "Youth" has jumped straight to number four on the best seller charts."

This should fuel the conspiracy about Jews running America - now they rule the music charts. Lets all find comfort in the fact that he does it so well.


Friday, March 17, 2006

Chalk one up for Denmark

This is refreshing; “Danish paper faces no charges over Muhammad cartoons”.
The Danes were expected by most to cower down, and punish the publisher of the cartoons in spite of their Free Speech laws. This article from Timesonline.co.uk points out the blatantly obvious problem with punishing the publishers – they “did not violate Danish law.
As you are reading this, did you know that in October of 2005, an Egyptian newspaper called Al Faqr printed these same cartoons, and there was not the slightest bit of “outrage” (LGF – Feb 8, 2006 posting). Think about that for a minute. These things were already out there in the Egyptian public without any public response.
It forces one to wonder what happened in the time between Al Faqr’s printing and the Denmark newspaper’s printing of the same cartoons.

When Denmark printed them, Muslims in Britan were soon thereafter “protesting outside of the Danish embassy with picket signs saying "Massacre those who insult Islam" and "Europe you will pay, your 9/11 will come".
Cartoons – the worst of which had Mohammed's turban looking like a bomb, causing protests; picket signs calling for the murder of anyone who insults Islam; riots that resulted in the deaths of several people; cars being torched; and last but not least, threats of a future attack that will mimic 9-11, which killed more than three thousand people.
Even if these cartoons were as horribly blasphemous and offensive as they are being made out to be, would it in any way justify, in any fathomable way, the reaction that we have seen?


Thursday, March 16, 2006

Just in time for Shabbat

I found a neat website from Aish that is all about observing the Sabbath. It has a lot of information about things to do with your family, things to prepare to eat before the Sabbath, fun for the kids and such.
We made the decision to observe the Biblical Sabbath (Saturday) because my wife and I came to the conclusion that there is no man; not even Paul the Appostle, that has the authority to "change the Sabbath to Sunday". In Exd 31:16 the Holy Spirit said "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant." I used to think that that was "for the Jews", or "for Israel", and I was right; but Paul himself tells us that we "were graffed in among them", and that we were once "Strangers to the covenants and promises" but now, we are "...fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of his promise." If He made the Sabbath a perpetual covenant for them, and I am now a fellow heir, and grafted in to them, then I believe that His Sabbath is for me as well.
(stepping down from soap box...)
Ever since my family started observing Shabbat, we have been trying to sort of create our own “traditions”, while taking on some of the more meaningful aspects of Jewish tradition, like lighting the candles, and blessing the kids. So far it has been fun, and at times frustrating. Fun, in that we are learning new things about our walk – all of the pictures of Yeshua that we find in His day of rest, relaxing with the kids, family Bible Study ...and the kids and I get to play bluegrass music together (standard Sabbath keeping stuff, huh?). Frustrating in that we don’t really know what we are “supposed” to be doing to prepare for it, and I have a job that doesn’t allow for me to be present on every Saturday. Regardless, it has been an eye opening experience that we will continue to grow in.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Feast of Esther


Well, today is Purim.
Purim is celebrated in honor of the great deliverance of the Jews during the time of Esther, and is to be a time of great joy - we are to be happy! Each one of us who believe in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) and obey Him, have also been delivered from an enemy that wants us and our families exterminated. What a great opportunity to step into the "Old Traditions" and celebrate it in light of the awesome deliverance that has taken place in our lives.

True, I never had a guy build a gallows for me, but I had death looming over my head day after day in the form of severe alcoholism.

No, I never had the King's right hand man single out my family for persecution and death, but I put my family through hell, and jeopardized the lives of those that I loved on a daily basis.

I never had a King choose me through miraculous circumstances to be his Queen (bear with me here), but I did have the King of the Universe choose me to be a part of His Bride; a process that lead me through some of the most miraculous events I have ever experienced

Read the book of Esther online here, and then check out one of these articles on the Festival of Purim and then ask yourself,

“Were you put here for such a time as this?”

Monday, March 13, 2006

Allow me to speculate...

You may not have noticed, but there is a button on the right side of your screen, under the “My Profile” section (below the "Donate Here" button) that reads “Geo Visitors”. It looks like this: This nifty little piece of technology actually shows me where people are visiting MangDiddles from. To my surprise, today there were visits from Thailand, Washington DC, Sacramento California, and somewhere in New York.

To me, that is pretty exciting. Now, if only I could get those people to leave comments...

Just who are these obscure visitors? I have a sneaking suspicion that the New York visit is Katie Couric, who along with Hillary is sure to be a MangDiddles fan.

Of the others, I can only speculate.

...oh, I almost forgot; to all of the countless masses of Mangdiddles fans in Thailand,

I say, “Sawatdee Khrap”.


Sunday, March 12, 2006

Outrage... what outrage?

I read about this on LGF, and am linking to it because there is absolutely no coverage coming from the Mainstream Media.

Can you imagine what the response would be today, if an arsonist tried to torch a mosque anywhere in this country? NBC, CBS, and ABC would be fighting each other to get there first; Katie Couric would be calling for “tolerance”, and Dateline would hold a special, telling of how bigoted we in America are. This is not the case when the offices of The Holocaust History Project are intentionally set ablaze. By the way, The Holocaust History Project is responsible for confronting Holocaust denial online and providing educational materials to students throughout the world; seems ironic, doesn't it?


Trial By Fire: The Holocaust History Project Won't Be Silenced


...sounds like news to me.

"It's all the Jews' fault"

If this weren't so typical, I would be shocked and alarmed.

The thugs at the UN have completely lost their feeble, blind, ignorant minds. Not since the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton have I seen such a willingness to overlook the truth.

The frightening thing about this story is that there are actually people out there who believe this garbage.
Read it all - if you have the stomach for it.

JNW HEADLINE NEWS

UN Envoy: It's all the Jew's fault

Suggests Israelis, not the Arabs, are the real terrorists



And now a word from the "terrorized Palestinian" children:

Flippin' Creepy.

Near Death Files... Crashing Down

I have been told by a few people that I should start writing down all of my "Near Death Experiences", so I started about a year ago. Some of these things are a little hard to believe so you don't have to if you don't want to... but they're true. Durring most of these events, I was pretty screwed up on alcohol and drugs, so I have had to contact people that were there, or involved in one way or another to validate my memory .
I only have one reason for telling these stories, and that is to show just how good my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been to me. I should, by all reasonable accounts be dead.

So, without any further ado, here is the first of my stories...

When I was about twenty-six years old, I worked as a hod carrier for a brick mason. A hod carrier is the guy that makes and hauls the mortar for the one laying the brick. It is very hard work, and it’s hard to keep people on a crew because of the high demands and low pay.

On one particular job, we were laying concrete block for a building at a steel mill. It was supposed to be a wall that stood about twenty-four feet tall when finished. When the wall grows to about five feet off of the ground, you have to set up scaffolding in order to keep building up. This was never a fun job, and people seemed to rush to get it done, which is not a good idea from a safety standpoint. The scaffolding that we used came in four foot high sections that were about eight feet long. We were all familiar with how to put this stuff together. We also knew that the pieces all had to have cross bars put on them. Why this section in particular wasn’t put together with the cross bars on it is unknown to me, but never the less, they were missing.

The wall we were working on was about 8 or 10 feet high, so we had two sets of scaffolding, one stacked on top of the other. I was on my way to lunch, walking on the top of the wall, in order to get to another set of scaffolding so I could climb down to eat. There were two people in front of me that had stopped to talk about what they were going to do that weekend, so I went ahead of them, and stepped out onto the platform that was on top of the second set of scaffolding. As I stepped out, I felt the platform begin to give, and to my horror, there was a huge “cube” of concrete block immediately in front of me, about ten feet away (a cube is somewhere around 140 concrete blocks). As the scaffolding began to teeter, I could see that the blocks were going to fall in my direction, and I had nowhere to go but down with the ship.

I heard a voice in my head, but it wasn’t really a voice; it was more like a very loud thought, which told me to tuck my arms in, and stand up. Stand up?! It all happened so quickly, that that was all that I could do anyway. As I looked down, I could see an opening in the middle of the piece that made up the vertical side of the scaffolding section. I sort of aimed for that hole, and closed my eyes, hugging myself as I went down. I don’t remember what it felt like to land, but I remember being taken off guard by doing so. I had landed standing upright in the middle of that side-wall with concrete blocks and metal tubing totally surrounding me. When I say surrounding me, I mean up to my waste, in every direction. The dust was still falling when I heard a voice from the top of the wall saying, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my- I can’t believe that just happened!”

It was a woman who was on the crew, and maybe it was because she was getting ready to step on to the platform, or maybe it was it was because of what she had just seen, but she was actually in tears when I looked up. Before I could even take in what had just happened, the boss was yelling from the other side of the wall, “What in the h#@l was that!?” Followed quickly with a “Get that G*@@#*%#@ mess cleaned up!!” He was feeling nice that day.

I never did explain to him what had just happened. I don’t think he really cared. The lady who was so upset was told to go on to lunch, and I was told to clean the mess up. This was my last experience involving concrete blocks and scaffolding. I did go on to build a few foundations, all of which were no taller than four feet.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Finally!

I read an awesome story at Y-net this morning that states something that should be plastered all over the Mainstream Media:

Israel's God has already set the country's final and truly permanent borders.

...Inside them lie Israel 'proper,' Samaria, Judea, Gaza, parts of Jordan, the Golan Heights along with a whole swathe of the land today occupied by Syria, and a chunk of territory occupied by Lebanon north of Israel's current border with that land.


People tend to think that it is ludicrous to insinuate that God as ever said or did anything. At the same time, however, the Islamic nations almost never hear any rebuke for killing in the name of Allah.

I believe that the problem lays not in the titles “God” or “Allah”, but rather “The God of Israel” and the “god of Islam”. There is no reconciliation of the two. Either God is the god of hate, that commands the death of all Christians, Jews, and “unbelievers”, or he is the God of Love, who has laid out plainly in the Torah just exactly where He intends for His people to live, and how He wants to be worshipped.

In a country where freedom is preached from the rooftops, we must ask ourselves why our country’s media leaders seem to cater to the god that ultimately calls for their own destruction.


Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Here we go again...

Here's a shocker:

Rumsfeld says Iran moving forces to Iraq


The frightening thing about this story is that you can see the case being built for an attack.


Here's an update on this story, from Worldnetdaily:

Israel will have to act on Iran if UN can't

And, in case you were wondering... they can't.


Monday, March 06, 2006

Monster's Ball

Well, I let you down on the promise of a "Car Swarm" resulting from the "accidental" death of the Islamic Jihad commander last week, but today Y-net has a story on the four people killed in Monday’s Gaza attack, and right on cue, we have the infamous "Car Swarm", (name courtesy of LGF), and Y-net has the pictures:

Y-Net’s story:
Air Force hits again: Four people were killed in Gaza City Monday afternoon, including a senior Islamic Jihad member, after the Air Force fired at a vehicle traveling in the Sajaiya neighborhood.

Now, check out the pictures that we won't get to see on the Nightly News. (Stay tuned to LittleGreenFootballs.com for more Car Swarm shots. They are sure to follow.)

These people are actually dipping their hands in the blood that is splattered on the car. Nice.

It appears as though this guy has been busy. In the first shot, he almost appears to be gleeful, having a good time. The man in the blue coat seems to be holding his hand back, but not for long. He was successful in reaching the gore, cameras flashing. Can you feel the pain? How old is that kid beside him? Were they brought there on a field trip?
I know, lets pump millions of dollars into the hands of these guys (after they wash them of course), and then sit back and wonder why there is never any "Peace in the Middle East"
One would think that if these people were truly looking for a peaceful solution, they would be somewhat happy about the destruction of those criminals that are holding them back, but no, they idolize them, and call them "martyrs".
Sick.

Positive energy

Well, I just got back from the Matisyahu concert, and it was awesome.

They kicked the show off with “Lord Raise Me Up” (my personal favorite), and from there, went right into “Youth” from the new CD. The whole show was a mixture of old and new. Before I tell you about Matisyahu, I must tell you about the guy that opened for him. His name is Trevor Hall, and he was... OK.

Back to Matisyahu.
I was a little surprised at how laid back he was before the show. He stood by the edge of the stage and watched the opening act and talked with the people who, wouldn’t seem to leave him alone. I got the feeling that he knew he was on the verge of something
huge, and he was still trying to be as much of a normal guy as his surroundings would allow him to be. He seemed to be having fun though. If there is one thing that stands out about Matisyahu, it is the undeniable sense that he was genuinely having a good time, regardless of the surreal surroundings. I mean, you have this Hasidic Jewish guy singing these incredible songs, clearly praising Hashem (The Name), to very good reggae music. Then, in the crowd, you see college girls dressed like they were supposed to be at a Motley Crue show, waving their beers in the air, dancing with college jocks, and other assorted suburbia. There were all types.

As for the music, it was just as good as I had expected - except for the rapper, C-Rayz, who went up and did a little "freestyle" ditty on stage. Of the three guys that I took, nobody really cared for that part of the show. 'C' kept yelling, "Positive energy" then expected the crowd to repeat it, which they did, to the tune of about thirty times, which got a little old.

I got to learn Matisyahu's songs by listening to the Live at Stubbs CD, and they were definitely as good at the Vogue as they were at Stubbs. The band is dripping with talent – all of them. There is one peculiar thing that I noticed though. It concerns the guitarist, Aaron Dugan. While his rhythm is crystal clear, pure talent, with reggae roots, and his solos are concise, pieces of art that escalate into structured chaos, there is one thing that I can not shake. He bears a striking resemblance to Andy Dick.

See for yourself:


Talk about surreal.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Sloppy who?

In 3 hours, we will be at the Vogue, in Broadripple, Indianapolis watching the Hasidic music sensation Matisyahu. C-Note is going with me in place of Becca, and Toby and Dave are gonna be there too.

The last show that I saw at the Vogue was in the late 80’s, for the Circle Jerks (with Sloppy Seconds);

my, how times change.

I have a prayer request that I need to get on here before I leave. A good Friend of mine just found out that he has a tumor on his spine. He is a believer, and has a big family. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I will update when I know more.

...yuck.

While many countries, including the USA, are refusing to believe the truth about Iran'’s nuclear pursuits, Iran is very bold about flaunting their deceit. In a World Net Daily article today we learn;
"Iran's top nuclear negotiator, in a speech to the nation's leading Islamic clerics and academics, has admitted what many in U.S. intelligence have been saying all along – namely, Tehran duped the West on its nuclear program by continuing its development while using diplomatic talks to lull the Europeans into inaction."

I think I should make it very, very clear that I do not believe that they fooled all of the Americans, or even most of us; just the Liberal, Leftist, Clinton following, Gore loving, Jimmy Carter hugging, UN trusting Democrats..The usual people who fall for such camel dung.

I am sure that somewhere, somehow, Cindy Sheehan is violently trying to make her way to Iran to show her solidarity with the nut-case leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

When she finally does slither in to the Middle East, we are sure to see another picture like this one, where she is joyfully kissing Venezuela's beloved Chavez.

As a veteran of Desert Storm, I can honestly tell you that complacency in this country makes my stomach turn - granted, not as much as the likes of Katie Couric, Hillary Clinton and Cindy Sheehan do, but turn none the less.

We are truly asleep at the wheel.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

FFOZ, MangDiddles, and Horse Radish...Oh my!


My lovely wife and I are ordering the "Shadows of Messiah" Torah Club, Volume II. It goes through the Torah (first five books of the Bible), and expounds on the pictures of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (AKA; Jesus the Messiah).

I highly recommend that you check out the sample for this one. When I read it, I had to have it. I am currently on a 'find the Messiah' kick in my personal studies, and from what I understand, Volume 2 is chock full of just that. If you are interested, click here, and fill out the information, and then check your email. You will receive an email that will have instructions on how to download samples of the Torah Club via PDF format (Yes, you can view it Mom - you have Acrobat Reader pre-installed on your computer) - you will be glad you did.

The Torah Club teachings are Torah studies from First Fruits of Zion, or FFOZ.org. I have been through their HaYesod DVD's, and read Messiah magazine, and can tell you first hand that these guys are great teachers. In fact, if you have ever heard me talk about the Hebrew class, our instructor is FFOZ's Community Liaison guy, Michael Badgley, who also goes to our church (you thought I was going to call it a Synagogue, didn't you?).

It is worth noting that when you are looking for information on the "Messianic", "Hebraic Roots", "One Law", or "Odd Gentile Christian People that Appear to be Jewish but Believe in Jesus... Only they call Him Yeshua" movement, it is safe to say that there are just as many wing-nuts (if I may be so bold) as there are balanced organizations. I believe that First Fruits is one of the most balanced that I have come across, and that is why I refer to them as often as I do. I am not a member of FFOZ.
I have, however, searched the internet, Amazon, Barnes & No
ble, Walden Books, the Library, and just about every other place that I could find information on the "Hebraic Roots Movement", looking for sensible, sound teaching - teaching that didn't condemn those in the "Mainstream Christian" organizations that I had just recently come out of, and of which the majority of the Believers that I know are still a part of. I found that in FFOZ. If you have questions pertaining to what they believe, and why, check out the Frequently Asked Questions on FFOZ.org's FAQ page.
I promise, it will be worth your time.
Who knows, you might find yourself one day eating horse radish at a Passover Seder, wondering where you can get some good teaching materials on this "Torah stuff", or you might just be rethinking the term "Grafted In". In any case, Mangdiddles had a link to somebody that could help you.

What is Hasidic, you might ask?

Hasidic Judaism (from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning "pious", from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning "loving kindness") is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective Chasidic/Hasidic (or in Yiddish Chasidish חסידיש) applies. The movement originated in Eastern Europe (Belarus and Ukraine) in the 18th century.


Now, if you will excuse us, we have a concert to get ready for.


Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe!

Shabbat Shalom!

While today is a day of rest, tomorow is a day of intense, heart pounding, hasidic reggae music. I must admit that I am a little giddy about the concert. I can’t help but throw my hands in the air and praise God when I hear his music.
Check out the lyrics for Exaltation...


"Exaltation"

[Chorus:]
Exaltation, my G-d of salvation
The field and there in will be filled with jubilation
The lord's name will be proclaimed amongst the Nations
We don't have no time for patience

Heavens rejoice and the earth will exalt
Oh no, come swing back like a catapult
The sea and its fullness will roar

He is our help and our shield our soul yearns for the lord
Burning G-d of Yaacov everlasting stronghold
Break down the door I can't hold back no more
Wait all night long, until the early morning
Like night watchmen wait for the dawning

[Chorus]

Arise, be our help
Place my trust in your kindness
It's a must hoping in the G-d of deliverance

Since way back when before time began
Existing eternally, everlasting, rejoice in the name of his majesty so we sing

[Chorus]

Chant sweet melodies, utter hymns and sing praise to his name
For he's alone exalted holy,
Performing mighty deeds and making new things,
Sowing righteousness and creating healing
He spoke, the world came into being

Master of praise, renews each day
Redeems and saves, continuously, blessed is his name
Making great lights, creating luminaries
Abounding in mercy
Won't you grant me?
Understanding
To perceive, all the teachings in your Torah of love, existing eternally, lead me

Friday, March 03, 2006

Torah! Torah!

Not only do you get the next five letters that we are learning in Hebrew class, but this week, I thought it would be a good idea to post the "Hebrew word for the week" from Hebrew4christians.com, and with all of this studying, we need to check out the "La'asok b'divrei Torah", or the "Blessing before Torah Study". It goes a little something like this:

Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher
kiddeshanu bemitzvotav, vetzivanu laÂ’asok bedivreo Torah.

Blessed art thou, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who
sanctifies us with Thy commandments and commanded us
to engross ourselves in the words of the Torah.

And the Hebrew word for the week (based on the weekly Torah Portion) is yalad:

Meaning to bear, beget, or bring forth. Two derivatives of this word occur in the first verse of parashat Toldot: And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son:
Abraham begat Isaac (Gen. 25:19)


Disclaimer: Remember, the meanings of the Hebrew letters are the views of sages past, and are not necessarily the views of God Himself. To my knowledge, there are no references to the meaning of each individual letter of the Hebraic alphabet in the Bible. Though these things may provide a little insight, and are extremely interesting to the diligent 'Borean', they must be taken with a grain of proverbial salt. -Aaron

Welcome ba- ...go Away, go away, go away...

Well, Jimmy Carter is at it again.

I thank God that I wasn't old enough to vote when this guy was elected. Never the less, the New York Sun reported (calling him "Mr. Carter" throughout the article) that he is up to his familiar anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-Israel antics again; this time in the form of promises he is making to 'powerful countries' at Turtle Bay (namely, Cuba, Egypt, and Pakistan), concerning the restructuring of the UN Security Council (by Security, they mean blind, spineless observation, when they are allowed).

Being as I have an enormous distaste for "Mr. Carter", I have chosen not to show his press photo, and have opted to show a more lovable character from the 70's.
One with a similar name, but with much better values.

...that's more like it.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Silly Zionists!

(This is old news, but I felt the need to get my two cents in on it, so without any further ado...)

Too asinine to be called propaganda, too moronic to be called politics, and far too idiotic to be considered a valid assumption, I give you the diabolical Tom and Jerry plot, set in order by Zionists, of course!
(special thanks to MEMRI.org).

Iranian TV, Iran, via MEMRI VIDEO: Tom and Jerry Cartoon a Disney Plot to Help Jews

"Watch Schindler's List. The Jews were degraded and termed 'dirty mice.' Tom and Jerry was made in order to change the Europeans' perception of mice."

Professor Hasan Bolkhari, Advisor to Iran's Education Ministry

The transcript is posted at: LGF and MEMRI
If you are not familiar with MEMRItv.org, do yourself a favor, and check it out. It stands for Middle East Media Research Institute, and they translate the things that are being said on Middle East television programs - almost none of which is relayed by our media.

***...did Walt Disney even make Tom and Jerry?***

MangDoodles #2

I mentioned in the February 10th entry that I had just purchased my first batch of sculpting clay, and that I was going to post my results. Well, I don't have anything finished yet, but I do have some pictures of the first stages of a Roman soldier bust that I am calling "The Centurion". I was commission to do this in salt, for an art collector in Lafayette, IN, but the salt sculptures are proving to be far too costly for my budget (the salt dust is rusting my tools - to the tune of about $300 so far).

So far, I only have about twenty minutes worth of time in this, which I'm hoping, will explain the formless, blob-like look that it has.

"...hey, what's that whistling sound?"

I wish I could say "Chalk one up for the good guys", but the IDF is denying responsibility for this one:
Islamic Jihad commander killed in Gaza blast...
IDF denied involvement


This of course could mean a number of different things. The obvious two possibilities are: 1. He was on his way to blow something up and accidentally annihilated himself in the process, or 2. The IDF dropped a much deserved missile on the roof of his car. Both of which are highly probable.

At any rate, two things will follow; there will be a 'car swarm' (warning: some of the photos on this link are graphic, and though the Palestinian people have their children present during many of these events, I would strongly advise you to use discernment in their viewing) and Charles at LGF will have pictures of the fiasco soon.