Random thoughts...

Oh dang, I hope you heal quickly!

Thanks man.
It will probably take a few months to heal though, at least, that's my best guess.

This Discord game server I'm admin on, in February we had a cheater in the game get caught and banned from the game. He groveled on Discord saying he was sorry.
Just this morning, he was back to his old tricks - so I made this meme to make his hypocrisy funnier.

Part of me is never quite at ease with doing things like that, but part of me wants to see poetic justice.

Driven wrote:Part of me is never quite at ease with doing things like that, but part of me wants to see poetic justice.

His response to his meme, was similar to other's response on the server.  
Laughter.  
I'm sure it could have been sarcastic, but he didn't indicate either way.

He also **tried** to make fun of me for "caring".  It only sounded like a compliment.

When he continued to just try to sell his hacks, I gave him the boot from that Discord.
I also blew the whistle to the devs and I guess this guy had 6 accounts on 1 device - they banned them all.

Poetic justice?  Perhaps.

Justice?  Yes. (and if not yes then "I tried" works)

I'm still trying to wrap my head around finishing the 7th full length Orationem album this month.  I feel so blessed being able to work with Vision of God Records / Christian Metal Underground for yet another release.

Something a little different than prior releases.  Between 6 albums of lyrics, other song lyrics, a published book on the lyrics - I've said enough.  This album's lyrics are verbatim scripture.  (taken from Psalms)

I was a little surprised to learn (and annoyed to discover) the copyright laws involved with The Bible.

There's 60 different versions of the English Bible that I'm aware of.  Only 8 of those I've found, are actually "public domain".  

The other 52 English versions, if you use ANY of "their Bible" for "commercial reasons" (on or in something sold, like as lyrics in published music, or text on a sold shirt), then not only would a special license need to be acquired from the publisher for it to be legal, but also a lengthy paragraph-long "disclaimer" would need to be included somewhere (for CDs, the insert, for sites with downloads, the webpage) indicating THEIR copyright status, and the license and expressed written permission obtained from said publisher.

I'm sorry, but I think this is goofy as all-get-out.

If someone did a translation, a transliteration, modernized vernacular of Shakespeare, I could see society decrying "patchwork-plagiarism!" or "its a knockoff!".
Meanwhile, translations/transliterations of THE HOLY BIBLE, are "theirs", thus sayeth the publishing company.

Give me a break.  Yes, I know that translating the Bible is a lot of work from a lot of people for a long period of time, but....

Its the BIBLE.  Its scripture!
They didn't write it!!!

^Copyright extends well beyond the death of the author, so I'm not at all surprised that there's not many free domain options for you in that department.

But yes, when I first found out that Bible translation organizations actively enforce their copyrights, I was pretty appalled (still am). The nature of the Bible is that its contents should be shared with all humanity, so I can't think of many situations where it would be morally OK to tighten the thumb screws in this matter.

You can always use the KJV of course, I don't know much about it but from what I've read it can sound pretty metal. Hmm, KJV-only-metal...

I think that our beloved cat is dying.  She was pretty sick over the weekend and wouldn't eat.  She is drinking, but even after the stomach issues are gone she is continuing to refuse to eat.  With her being 18 1/2 years old, this can't end well.

Andreas89 wrote:^Copyright extends well beyond the death of the author, so I'm not at all surprised that there's not many free domain options for you in that department.

Copyright expires between 70 to 120 years after the author's death. It actually revolves more around the publication than anyone dying.

This isn't why versions of the Bible are copyright though. Its not like Genesis through Deuteronomy are copyright "Moses".


Nope, this is straight up publishing company translates original text = publishing company says "This is mine!".

Andreas89 wrote:But yes, when I first found out that Bible translation organizations actively enforce their copyrights, I was pretty appalled (still am). The nature of the Bible is that its contents should be shared with all humanity, so I can't think of many situations where it would be morally OK to tighten the thumb screws in this matter.

I fully agree bro.

Andreas89 wrote:You can always use the KJV of course, I don't know much about it but from what I've read it can sound pretty metal. Hmm, KJV-only-metal...

No I don't think I'll re-record the vocals for KJV.

I did consider using it at one point, but I think the different (not-modern) vernacular would be quite challenging to vocalize quickly, with the quick parts of songs.

KJV is one of the 8 public domain versions of the Bible, but the UK has a "royal perogative" for it so.... its use is still restricted in 1 country.

I actually used the World English Bible. (WEB)
The wording is incredibly clear/modern, it is completely public domain and there is absolutely no restriction for its use.
The only thing the WEB publishers have asked is that if "some of the wording is changed" (no longer VERBATIM), don't call it the WEB anymore.
"This is to limit confusion, not your freedom."

Since I went straight 100% verbatim, WEB it is. :B

alldatndensum wrote:I think that our beloved cat is dying.  She was pretty sick over the weekend and wouldn't eat.  She is drinking, but even after the stomach issues are gone she is continuing to refuse to eat.  With her being 18 1/2 years old, this can't end well.

Oh no. I'm sorry bro.

I don't think I'm that far behind you. My "old woman cat" will be 17 years old in a few months.
I've been mentally preparing myself for her death.

There's nothing we can do to stop it, but I we can still wallow and love those old little critters while they're still here.

alldatndensum wrote:I think that our beloved cat is dying.  She was pretty sick over the weekend and wouldn't eat.  She is drinking, but even after the stomach issues are gone she is continuing to refuse to eat.  With her being 18 1/2 years old, this can't end well.

I hate to say it but I believe the end is near. This is the same thing that happened with our 19 year old cat and our 15 year old dog. I did the deed, took them to the vet and said one last goodbye.

What... never heard of that one. But well, anything for the queen I guess.

Actually Disney has been lobbying really hard to extend the temporal limitation of copyright to 90 years in the US, as far as I know.
In the same vein, it has been only since 2016 that the song "Happy birthday" became public domain.

I got my ticket to see Wovenhand this Saturday.  I've seen them four or so times in the past and they always put on a fantastic show.  With a wife and kiddo at home (plus living in north Idaho...) I don't get to see too many concerts these days, but I couldn't pass this up!

^Nice!
My last metal concert was actually in March 2016. One of the things that make those concerts great for me is attending them with family or friends. And since I'm living so far away these days, it does not occur to me that often anymore.
There's only a handful of metal artists that my wife also likes, so she's not much help either...

I bought a new digital alarm clock yesterday.  I have been using my phone since my old Tazmanian Devil clock started making weird noises.  However, without putting my glasses on in the middle of the night, I can't read what time it is.  So, I bought this clock as it has 3.5 inch numbers for the display.  I can see it across the room if I wake up in the middle of the night!  Now I will know what time it is and how much longer I can sleep if I wake up to go pee!


You know you are getting old when you get excited about a large print anything or alarm clocks!!!

I also bought a new digital clock couple of weeks ago. Mainly because my phone shut down a couple of times at the night, and I used my phone's alarm clock . It's also good to have a separate watch in the house

Today my contract ends for the job I've had for the past 18 months.  God was incredibly generous when He opened this opportunity for me: we were moving to a different state where we knew nobody and the job I had lined up fell through at the last minute.  Then He put this job in front of me and by His provision we've since been able to live comfortably and even buy a home!  There's a company regulation that prohibits contractors for working more than 18 consecutive months but that resets after a three month hiatus so hopefully I'll be able to return at that time.  It's a little nerve-racking not having steady employment for at least the next three months, but already God's been opening new opportunities for me through the LLC I opened last year.  It serves as a good reminder to me that He's sovereign and that we're completely dependent on Him for everything we have.

This past week has been pretty hard, with the sudden death of my grandmother. (my last grandparent)

Me and the rest of my family had a pretty epic cry session there in the funeral home.

There's comfort in scripture, knowing that even though she can't come see us anymore, but we'll go see her one day. ...but its still emotionally and mentally draining to deal with missing a loved one that we all spent time with frequently.

My condolences, Thomas. Death sucks. I get what you mean by the tension between comfort in Scripture and the reality of the pain.

Thank you Driven. Funerals have always been an emotional whiplash for me.

Like there's sadness regarding person who died, they aren't here anymore / I'll miss them, and sadness that I won't be able to see/visit with them for the rest of MY life...
Then there's happiness that they didn't suffer / are no longer suffering, and I'll see them again one day in heaven. (my entire family are pretty devout Christians)

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
Happy and sad, happy and sad, happy and sad.

I'm sorry for your loss, my last grandparent died three weeks after my daughter was born so she never got to meet her great granddaughter but I was told she saw pics of her, I know i'll get to see her one day as she was a strong devout christian, but on the other side she was ready when my grandfather passed which was 1984 , my grandmother passed in 2015.

I totally understand what you are saying about the happiness of their suffering ending and going to a much better place, and the reality of the pain and sorrow the loved ones feel at their passing. I think its part of human nature to grieve the loss of a loved one.

Ugh, I read a recent interview from a [secular] band I've been a fan of for a long time, only to discover that they're quite anti-Christian.  I had emailed with their singer years ago about their lyrics and he assured me they weren't.    Sigh...  Oh well, that'll make some extra room on my nearing-capacity iPod for new tunes I guess.

ThomasEversole wrote:This past week has been pretty hard, with the sudden death of my grandmother.  (my last grandparent)

Me and the rest of my family had a pretty epic cry session there in the funeral home.

There's comfort in scripture, knowing that even though she can't come see us anymore, but we'll go see her one day.  ...but its still emotionally and mentally draining to deal with missing a loved one that we all spent time with frequently.

A bit late, but my condolences nevertheless.
Of course the prospect of seeing each other again is more than hopeful, but it does not (entirely) erase the current emptiness in your lives.

Kerrick wrote:Ugh, I read a recent interview from a [secular] band I've been a fan of for a long time, only to discover that they're quite anti-Christian.  I had emailed with their singer years ago about their lyrics and he assured me they weren't.    Sigh...  Oh well, that'll make some extra room on my nearing-capacity iPod for new tunes I guess.

I'm curious... which band?

Andreas89 wrote:

Kerrick wrote:Ugh, I read a recent interview from a [secular] band I've been a fan of for a long time, only to discover that they're quite anti-Christian.  I had emailed with their singer years ago about their lyrics and he assured me they weren't.    Sigh...  Oh well, that'll make some extra room on my nearing-capacity iPod for new tunes I guess.

I'm curious... which band?

The Drowning: a doom/death band from the UK.

Im thankful for a community where we can discuss music even if we have varying opinons and tastes one thing we all have in common is love for music

So I got fired last week... Kind of expected considering the restructuring.
The reactions of my coworkers were heartwarming though. One cried, the second was furious, the third one talked about finding another job now; she was only there for a few weeks.
Even the two most important lawyers in our Berlin office apparently did not really agree and more or less tried to reason with the office manager after the fact. But well, he's the flashy new guy who can't do much wrong so far.

For me it's not that bad actually. I can easily find the kind of work that I did over there, since there's a massive shortage of office personnel in and around Berlin. I just don't know yet if I want to do such work again, and I'm also seriously considering returning to the Netherlands.
So the biggest challenge would be finding the right focus. I do want to support my family of course, and since I have a legal right to multiple months of parental leave when our new baby is born, I will not be a very attractive option, at least not in Germany.

At least I get paid until the end of the year, and I'm not obliged to do any work so I can find a new job. But even though it could all be way worse, the situation isn't that ideal.

Oh, sorry to hear that!
Good to know that God will provide and surely has a plan...

Thanks. And yes, God's plan is actually what keeps us this calm. My father reminded me of Romans 8 verse 28. And I'm in the fortunate position that I don't need a lot of imagination to see how this could help us further. I mean, in a way it was a dead end job anyway, and if I was ever going to be a lawyer or maybe a judge, waiting too long is deadly for job opportunities.
Nonetheless, new situation, so gotta see how I can adapt.

Oh wow, right before Christmas too.  That's cold...  God is good nonetheless and it seems like you've got a good perspective on it all.  Keep us posted with how this all turns out!

I will! I think I'll focus on a job here until our third is born. After that, I'll probably see if I can be a lawyer in the Netherlands. That'll probably be better to support my family in the long run.

We had to put our cat Callie down a little over a month ago.  The house has been so empty.  The silence was deafening without our girl.

We have since adopted two rescus.  They are around 9 months old and VERY full of energy.  Their names are Belle and Albus.  They are litter mates. 

The house feels right again!