Cold Steel and Winter's Fury

I wanted to pick a dramatic(ish) title for today. It seems I'm taking a temporary leave from the deep, philosophical stuff for a little while and going onto the simpler stuff.

Winter's coming. My least favorite time of year. Why is that? The cold. I really, really do not like the cold. The part that makes it worse is that I adjusted to the Texas summer a little to well. Anything below 70 degrees felt a little chilly at first, once things began to cool off. It will get much colder now. And since I prefer to sweat as opposed to shiver if I have the choice, this will not be fun or easy.

Oh, but it gets better! I actually mean that too. Bova's back! If you don't know who that is, don't worry. Check out my last post. Anyway, because of this I've been inspired to spend the next little bit of this year getting in tip top shape! That means, however, that not only will I be continuing training during the time of year where most people slack off and when it's coldest, I will actually be training harder and being more strict. I also train in my backyard, which will suck. No heating, just winter's cold bite. So that means if I want to keep warm, I gotta dress it. But I still have to work. And... the barbell will be really freaking cold.

So, that's the reason I named this post "Cold Steel of Winter's Fury". I will be lifting cold steel out in cold of winter's "fury". When pretty much the entire world will be slacking off because of the cold and the holidays, I will be trying to ramp things up. If I can keep it up, New Year's will come around and I'll be in the best shape of my life, and everyone else will be recovering from their holiday binge and starting their New Year's resolutions. From there, I can just sit back and watch everyone else mess around for a few days/weeks/months until they give up.

Beyond that news, about the love/hate relationship I will be having with my weights, there are a couple other things:

One, Bova's back! I'll probably be mentioning him in almost every post from now on as well.

Oh, and Tried and True Fitness has made a new book that I would really like as well: http://www.getaclassicbody.com/ (to a certain few people reading this, that's one of my Christmas wishes ;).

Jackie is coming with a new cd on the 1st, waiting for that. Also listening to a pre-released single from the cd as I work on this post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk2lQOdE7I) Can I go a single post without mentioning her?

Skyrim! On the 11th, one of the best games ever will come out. I am also hoping to get in great shape for that so I can take a week off training for "recovery" as I play a barbarian in the snow topped mountains hunting dragons. My plan is to be as muscular as my character.

So, I think that's it for now. One more thing though! Don't slack off on a healthy life style just because it's cold and it's the holidays. Be better then everyone else, and push through. If you don't want to be weak like everyone else, you can't live like everyone else. If you want to be strong and healthy in a way normal people aren't, you can't live like normal people. Want to be better then everyone you know? Live better then everyone you know. Don't want to feel sick this year like everybody else? Don't be like everybody else!

May you join me in feeling the Bite of Cold Steel and Winter's Fury!

"Here's my money. Take it, PLEASE!"

There are times where I wish I had the money to actually say that. That is because, there are times where I know my money will be so well spent, I don't even have to think about it. There are two reasons I'm talking about this right now; two people who sell things that I enjoy and use so much I don't even need to know what it is they are selling. Tell me they're selling something new, and take my money.

Of course, there are many others out there who sell stuff I trust and use, but not quite on this level. So these two people I'm talking about, they are Anthony Bova and Jackie Evancho. The reason I am willing to buy what they sell? I trust them, and know that anything I buy from them will change my life and will be used until the day I die.

Why am I even talking about this? Well, to promote the names (I want people to hear about what they do and sell), and to tell you a bit more about me.

So first off, Anthony Bova. I only know of one, maybe two people who read this blog who might know what that is (Specialist, if you read this, "Remember us", don't let them down ;). For everyone else, Bova is the author of the "Spartan Health Regimen". If I were to describe anything as the "bible" for physical health, this would be it.

What I mean by that, is it teaches you the basic principles of health and how to apply them in such a simple, down to earth way that you can always refer to it. This program doesn't tell you what you should eat for each meal, how many carbs you should have on Tuesday, or how often you should train biceps. It does, however, tell you the simple truths behind health.

After reading it, it became very easy to understand what food is truly healthy. And by healthy, I mean real health. Health that keeps you lean, strong, fast, active, and NOT sick. A healthy that radiates from your skin, eyes, hair, attitude, etc.

Bova tells you what past civilizations did to achieve this type of health, and also some experiments he has done on himself (with real world results) with how foods work and simple, effective ways to stay fit. He tells you some exercises and basic routines that can be used to achieve great strength and power (along with a well chiseled body), and these work too.

But of course, it's the principles he teaches that are most important. The recipes, exercises, etc. he outlines are just examples of how to apply these principles (examples that, in many cases, he has spent years refining). After getting his Spartan Health Regimen for my 15th birthday, I've been healthier and stronger then I ever have been (and healthier then probably everyone else I know). The only times I've gotten "sick" at all has been when I walk off the Spartan "path" and eat normal food. After seeing, and experiencing, the effectiveness of his program, I wouldn't have a problem shelling out money for anything new he has to sell.

To be honest, the entire reason I'm writing this article is because he recently sent out an email saying he's back into action and promoting his stuff again (along with making new programs, answering emails, etc.) I was so excited when I got his email that my first two responses were "BOVA'S BACK!" and "If only I had some money". That last response, of course, would have been "Here's my money. Take it, PLEASE!" if I had actually had any cash to spare. But alas, the world is a cruel place.

___________________________________________________________________

Now, Jackie Evancho. Take one click glance at my blog and you will see numerous articles about her. It's pretty obvious I enjoy her music. I believe I have even stated on here that she is my favorite artists. If I haven't before, I have now! Even my last post before this one was about her. In that post I talked about her Christmas cd being released. As has become my custom with any of her music, my reaction when I heard about it was "take my money". But once again, actually having money to hand over is a problem, but for 10 bucks, I think I'll manage.

This post is already probably long enough, and I've spoken so much about Jackie before, I don't believe I need to say much. So now I have a little question for you all. Are there any people out there who sell stuff you like and trust so much that when you hear they are selling something new, your reacting is "Here's my money!"? Tell me in the comments! Also tell me if you have ever bought any of Jackie's or Bova's stuff, and what you thought of it!

Why Just Christmas?

Every December, what are some things we see every single year? Often Christmas lights, Christmas movies, gifts, specials, songs, and loads of other stuff (like candy growing on trees). What I was wondering was, why do we only listen to Christmas music during Christmas season? Is something wrong with it the rest of the year?

The reason why I'm even mentioning this is because recently I found myself listening to a very good song; and it was a Christmas song. To be specific, it was Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night".

I would advise listening to this as you read

It is a very good song, sung by a very good singer, and has a very good message. What about that dictates it can only be heard once a year? And for that matter, what dictates we can only listen to "Christmas" music during that season? Most people listen to the same Christmas songs nonstop for the time surrounding Christmas, then don't hear them for the rest of the year. Often times when someone puts on a Christmas song (this person usually being me) another person actually asks them to turn it off. Why is this? Because the song is a Christmas song..........................

And that means it can't be played any other time? I'm still figuring that one out. Okay, so I do like the music. There are some really good Christmas songs out there. And if a song sounds good, why not listen to it? Especially if it has a good meaning. Okay, I feel like I'm repeating myself here.

But that song I was listening to, "O Holy Night", is actually off an EP of the same name. On it are four songs sung by Jackie Evancho "Silent Night" "Panis Angelicus" "O Holy Night" and "Pie Jesu". So maybe this post is a bit of a review as well... along with being a bit of a rant. But it is still a good album nonetheless, even if the reason I'm talking about it is because I'm complaining/ranting.

Now speaking about playing Christmas songs other than in the Christmas season, I listen to Jackie's songs all through out the year. That also means I am listening to these four songs from this album in the middle of a Texas summer as well. Now what's wrong with that? Well, I don't know. Other people manage to find something wrong with it. It doesn't always make sense, but it's tradition or something.

Well I am going to start a new tradition. Listen to good music through out the entire year! And fortunately for me, Jackie is coming out with another cd (full length cd) on November 1st. This will be the third release of a cd in a single year for her, her other two ( "O Holy Night" and "Dream With Me") have been certified Platinum and Gold (respectively) at the present time. Already she's making, or has already made, a third album. This newest album will be called "Heavenly Christmas" and I believe available only through Walmart. Here's a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/17656937

This is the cover for her latest album

The most interesting part? At the time of writing this, that album doesn't even have any album art and yet people are already pre-ordering it [Edit: it seems Walmart posted some cover art for it literally hours after me making that statement, go figure. Posted the album art above]! You want to know why? Because those people are smart and are willing to listen to good music any time of the year. I imagine I will be listening to these Christmas songs next summer. After all, why just on Christmas?

Anyway, here's a music video from her Christmas album just last year.

I guess I've said all that I need to say... I think. If I find anything else to complain about, I'll do it another time. Or anything to rant about... or review... or advertise... or rant about....

Back to listening to good music, regardless of what season it is!

School Assignment, still read it though

I had needed to do an assignment for a class, and I liked what I did since it related to subjects I enjoy discussing, so I decided to share it here. Tell me what you think (the assignment was to make a list comparing some contradictions between creation and evolution and then discuss some of them in greater detail):

Contradiction	Creation	Evolution
Sun and Earth	Earth created first	Sun came first
Origin of Death	Death came after sin as punishment	Death is permanent
Origin of Man	Created in God's image on day 6	Evolved from ape-like ancestor
Original form of Earth	Earth started as water	Earth started as molten rock
Noah's Flood	Is a historical event which explains fossils and much more	Is an impossible myth that contradicts with "evidence" for an old earth
Origin of Life	Life came from the living God (life came from life, does NOT contradict science)	Life evolved from a non-living primordial soup millions of years ago (This contradicts an observable law of science)
Origin of Matter	An all powerful ever existing God created all matter and energy	All matter and energy arose spontaneously (different theories have different answers)
DNA	An all knowing intelligent God created the complex coding seen in DNA	Information came about without an intelligent creator (contradicts science, information must come from intelligence)
Evolving	Everything reproduces after it's kind within it's genetic information, or even lose information which is more of devolution	One kind of animal can change into another, which requires addition of information which is impossible without intelligence
Miracles	The very core of Creation relies on an all powerful God who created everything supernaturally	Evolution relies on there being no god and uses only natural processes, there can be no miracles or anything supernatural
Man's Specialness	Being in the image of the Creator, man has dominion over the earth and is above all the rest of Creation, and has an eternal soul	Man is just an animal and is no more special than anything else. When man dies they die just like an animal.
Logic and Reasoning	Logic was made to follow universal laws of order by an All Knowing God of Order	Our minds evolved randomly and are controlled by chemical processes that arose from random chance, therefore we cannot trust our own mind's wisdom

Key contradiction 1: The order of creation (and original form of earth)

I chose to only mention the sun and earth for this, so that is what I put in the table. In reality there are many more aspects of this I could have discussed.

The evolutionary theory requires that dense gases and matter gathered around to form the sun billions of years before a ball of molten rock would form to eventually become the earth. Stars came first to evolutionists, and that included the sun. All other celestial bodies, such as planets and the earth, formed billions of years after. Another conflict that is underneath this is the fact that evolution says the earth started as fire (for simplicity’s sake), the Bible says it started as water.

Now on the other hand, Biblical creation clearly states that the earth came before the sun and stars, as well as the moon (which evolution claims formed closer to the time of earth than the sun). When the earth was formed, it began as water and land came afterward (Genesis 1:2, 6-10). It wasn’t until two days after the earth was formed that we see the creation of the sun, moon and stars (Genesis 1:14-18).

This isn’t even getting into other aspects of the order of creation that evolution gets wrong; there is birds and fish created on the same day (Gen. 1:20) vs fish evolving into land and then sea creatures, plants being created before the sun (Gen 1: 11-12, 14-18) vs evolving billions of years afterwards, man and dinosaurs created on the same day (Gen 1: 24-30) vs man evolving millions of years afterwards, etc. But I chose to mention just the sun and earth in the above table.

Key contradiction 2: The Supernatural vs the natural (and several other points)

One of the sharpest contrasts between creation and evolution is the fact that creation requires there be miracles and supernatural beings, while evolution strictly forbids it. This, I believe, is where the science for evolution falls apart, right at step one. Since evolution requires only natural processes (that follow the natural laws of physics), there is no reasonable explanation for the origin of all matter and energy, now why to explain how life came about, no way to explain logic, and no way to explain pretty much anything. Their problem is there is no way for something to come from nothing, and that is what they need to explain their world view. Where did everything we see today come from?

Creation, on the other hand, has a reasonable answer for this. Since creation relies on the supernatural, which by definition supersedes the natural (and it’s laws of physics), it is very easy to explain the origin of everything. It goes something like this, “In the beginning God created…” (Gen 1:1). Right there we have our answer; an all powerful, all knowing supernatural being, which is above nature and it’s laws (and which actually created those laws), is the one responsible for everything we see today. A more detailed answer to this problem may be found in John 1:1-5

 “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Words was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”

“God created everything. . . and nothing was created except through him”, that makes our answer pretty easy. Provided God had the power to do so (which of course He did)  and was telling the truth when He wrote this down (and of course, He was), then creation has no problem answering this.

Key contradiction 3: Man

The final point I will discuss is the conflict between Man’s place in creation. When we compare the worldviews, we see two drastically different opinions. On one side we have creation which says Man was created in the image of the Creator Himself (Genesis 1: 27), and was also created perfect to live forever with the Almighty, and later turned away from the Creator and had to live with death and suffering (Genesis 3); while on the other side we have evolution, which says man evolved from an animal and his life has no meaning, when he dies he dies and there is nothing left, that he is no more important than an ant or a leaf. There is a drastic contradiction between these two beliefs, isn’t there?

The Armorer

[So here's a little parable I wrote a couple years back, with minimal editing. Please comment and share this so others can see it.]

Back in the time of swords and spears; back in the time of bows and arrows; back
in the time where God and science were one. Back in the time of the Medieval era, there
was an Armorer. He had been taught by his master how to make armor, as his master
before, and his master before that, and so on. He had been taught things about making
armor that were as old as armor itself.
But he had been taught more than that. He had been taught things about mankind,
those who would wear his armor, that were as old, and older, than man itself. He had
been taught about God, and how to listen to him.

And now, in this time, there was a war going on. This war had been raging for
generations. And this armorer, and his fathers before him, had been making armor for the
soldiers. But they made no ordinary armor. When they made armor, they were lead by
God, to make armor that would fit the exact needs of the one who would wear it. And for
generations this armor had been accepted. But now it was no more.
The armor that this armorer made was shaped irregularly; it was hard to move
properly. The armor had been designed to protect a certain thing at a certain time, as God
had intended. The armor was designed for a single moment, to protect them from the one
blow that would end their life. But the soldiers didn’t care, they wanted the new armor.
This armor was light, covered everything evenly, and looked better. It was made faster,
and they were all the same.

But there was one soldier who was different than all the other soldiers. He
believed that what the armorer made was better, better because it was designed by God.
His father had taught him about God, and told him stories about how He has a plan, how
He is wiser than all of man. And he believed that there was a plan with this armor. But he
didn’t understand his plan up to this point. He had been a peaceful farmer his whole life.
Yet he was drafted into the military. He hadn’t seen his wife in years, didn’t even know if
he would ever have any kids. But he knew there was a reason.
This soldier went to the armorer, and asked for a piece of special armor. The
armorer was glad to have someone who was willing to put their trust in his armor, and
God. So the armorer took his time making it. He took several days praying and seeking
out what this armor should look like. And then, after many more days, he presented the
armor to the soldier. Both the armorer and the soldier had been disappointed when they
had seen it the first time, the armorer while he was making it, and the soldier when it was
given to him. The armor was only a three inch thick circle of steel, only about as wide as
a fist. He was told to strap it over his stomach. He thanked the armorer, then he went off
to war.

The soldier fought with this awkward armor for many days. Then one day the
army was trying to hold a village. Reinforcements were hours away. They had been fighting all day. Fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, friends, even woman and children
had all died in the fighting that happened that day. The rest of the soldiers were fighting
great. With their modern armor, they could get hit and shrug it off. They could fight
freely, without restraint or being thrown off balance. But they weren’t protected from the
one fatal blow that would always end their life. But this soldier only had his one piece
of ridiculous armor. He was getting cut and beat up left and right. He had almost no
protection.
Near the end of the day, when no one thought they could go on any longer, and
that reinforcements would never come, a boy was seen crying in a burnt hut. He was
only a few years old, but he was crying loud. And an enemy soldier heard this boy, and
became irritated. So he aimed a crossbow, the most advanced weapon of the time, a
weapon that allowed a soldier with almost no training to kill a heavily armored knight,
who had been trained his whole life, in one shot. He took aim at the boy, and was about
to fire. But the soldier, the one with the strange piece of armor, ran and covered the boy
with his body.
Then the crossbow was fired. It went straight though the soldier with ease. But it
became imbedded in the armor, the specially designed armor. The bolt was stuck halfway
through the steel, the steel that was directly above the little boy. After the bolt struck,
many other bolts and arrows started to fire. But they were all fired at enemy soldiers.
The reinforcements they had been waiting for had finally come! But the soldier, as he lay
there dying, wondered how this armor was so special. It hadn’t protected him at all. Then
he looked at the child in his arms, the child that would live because of his armor, and
knew why the armor was so special. Or did he?

What that soldier didn’t know, and what the boy found out later, was that that boy
was his son. When the father had been drafted into the army, he had left his wife home
pregnant. But he didn’t know that. And with time, the mother wasn’t able to work, so she
moved in with some distant family members in a village many weeks journey away. And
that boy had been growing up in that village. Then one day, a group of soldiers came to
defend that village. A village full of woman and children, including the mother and son.
And one of the soldiers defending that village was wearing a very odd piece of armor. A
single circle of steel about as wide as a fist and three inches thick over his stomach.
And near the end of that day, most everyone in that village had been killed.
Soldier, peasant, man, woman, adult and child alike. Only a few were still alive. Those
few, amongst others, included the soldier, the boy, and the mother. The next day, a list of
all causalities was taken up. It was found that all male descendants of all the soldiers had
died in that battle, except the son of that one soldier. The one soldier who still accepted
the plan of God. And that soldier was the only soldier of that day whose bloodline
continued. And continues now.

And now, if any of these things were to happen you, what would you do? Would
you still do what God had designed you to do, even if no one accepts you for doing it?
Would you still follow Gods plan, even if no one else around you does? If someone were
to give their life for you, would you want to make that sacrifice worth it?
Who are you in this story? Are you the armorer? The soldier? The son? Are you
some one else in this story? I hope that reading this changes yours or somebody else’s
life, or makes them see things in a new light. Or teaches them something new, maybe
something about God? I’ve learned some things in writing this, and now I’m passing this
on to you, and whoever you pass this on to, and so on. Am I the armorer? Or had God
passed this on to me, like the soldier passed life on to his son? That’s something for me to
learn. And I hope you learn your place to.