[Music| Moby - Across The Universe]

Today: Snow Gripe. Snowed in the Twin Cities. Not unusual. Happens quite a bit from late October through early March. But it is a little more rare for it to snow THIS hard in the Cities. Around a foot.

Snow day, right? That's what I was saying all day yesterday. Snow day. I played out the scenarios, and figured out that it's most likely that I'll have a snow day. My first in five years. Let me remind you that I live in Minnesota.

This morning: Mom wakes me up at 6:30. I look at the clock, and then ask, inquizitively, "Snow day?" The responce: "No."

God damn Minneapolis Public Schools. Foot of snow, no sight of plows all night long, and they STILL send us to school. St. Paul got the day off. I trudged downstairs, ate breakfast (consisting of a S'mores Pop Tart and chocolate milk), and got ready for school, always keeping an eye on the school closings on the TV. School was still open. Damn. Went outside. No bus. No bus. No bus. Dad comes out to shovel. No bus. No bus. No bus. Dad says that if the bus doesn't come by the time he's done shoveling, he'll let us stay home. No bus. No bus. No bus. Dad's almost done, me and my sister go inside the house. Dad takes the last shovel full of snow. Bus. God dammit.

I angerily trudge onto the bus. Five others climb on the bus at their assorted stops. Five. Got to school 42 minutes late. School had enough people to run normally, yet it was a notoriously absent day. Turned in work, did more work, took test, went home. St. Paul kids didn't go to school. We did. My school is about, oh, five, ten miles from St. Paul. St. Paul probably got less snow than Minneapolis. We still went to school. And the five years without a snow day continues. Damn.

[Music| Blink-182 - Story Of A Lonely Guy]

The Link: 'Tribute Of Light'. It stays up until April 13th. However, as the sun rises on April 14th, New York viewers will no doubt watch these two towers of light come crashing down, never to return, like they saw with the original towers that stood at the site. They say they need a tribute for the attacks. Well, why not keep the lights up forever? It's a simple tribute, and it gives New York it's two towers that touched the sky back. It's a fitting tribute. In fact, some might say that it'd symbolize the innocent bodies in the building floating up to Heaven. Personally, I think that looks really cool, and think it'd be the best idea for a tribute. Nothing too complicated, just a simple yet meaningful tribute.

[Music| U2 - I Will Follow]

I hate the Backstreet Boys, Nsync and Britney Spears. However, despite my hatred towards these manufactured teenage scream enducers, this site goes too far. From the site:

Many a parent has breathed a sigh of relief, hearing the sound of The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync or Britney Spears "blaring" from their children's stereo. "Thank God, they're not listening to Marilyn Manson, or some other ‘hellion' but sweet ‘love songs’". We'll, mom, I’ve got some sad news — it's not all sweet 'love songs' – in fact, some are — nasty "lust songs". Carnal lust that would probably make Marilyn Manson proud. Words "etched" into your impressionable young son or daughters minds — that would make any sane mom or dad "go ballistic".

Okay. So far so good. This guy does seem to have a legitimate point. But continuing on, he adds religion into the mix (as if you couldn't tell he wouldn't from that first paragraph).

Somehow, we've bought the "lie" that the adolescent or teenage years of "foolishness" bears no lasting scars. We've gotten the idea our young people are somehow "magically" protected in their early "rebellious" years. You’ve heard the line, "they’ll grow out of it". Let them have a good time; you're only young once; let them "sow their wild oats" — they're only kids – they’ll grow out of it.

But that’s not what the Lord says . . .

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7-8

". . .for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. . ." — that certainly includes young people. The proof. . . Our prisons are "ringing" with the "cries" of deceived young people that believed they would NOT "reap what they sowed". Over 100,000 abortions a year, are the "crops" of deceived young girls "murdering" their little babies because they "reaped what they sowed". Being young, foolish, and easily deceived — they believed they would "get away with it". It's just innocent fun. After all, everybody else does it — and they get away with it. . .

*Is confused* ... So this guy is saying that thousands of abortions each year are caused because the Backstreet Boys sing a song about falling in love? Peculiar. I could have sworn that it's because kids are stupid and run off and have unprotected sex. Not to mention the numorous rape cases. Peculiar indeed. Moving on ...

Job chapter 20:11 carries a stern warning to this foolish philosophy of "they’re just kids. . . they’ll grow out if it. . . it’s just adolescent rebellion". Job warns, "His bones are full of the sin of HIS YOUTH. . ."

"His bones are full of the SIN of his YOUTH, which shall lie down with him in the dust." Job 20:11

Who that saw and heard the "horrors" of Columbine or Mississippi, or numerous "teenage killing fields"; splattered with the slaughtered blood of America's young people — murdered by another "innocent" young person – a "deceived, cold-blooded-killer". No. They don’t always grow out of it. . .

I don't think this guy has his accusations right. I would not be surprized if he thought that "Accutane Boy" flew his plane into a Tampa skyscraper with Nsync's "Gone" blaring from the plane's radio. As far as the news accusations go, the Columbine killers played too much violent computer games (which I don't buy for a second, mind you, but it's the rumor), not because they downloaded a Britney Spears MP3. Further still ...

Knowing the importance of those early foundational years — should we blindly "close our eyes" to the "puppy-love" music of the Backstreet Boys, et al. and hope everything turns out ok? Or should we obey our Lord?

The Lord very clearly commands us to ". . .prove ALL things. . ."

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Thess. 5:22

Prove ALL things — ALL would certainly include the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Britney Spears and Co.

Uhh ... Prove what? AJ admitted to being an alcoholic, N'Sync has a member in his 30s ... That leaves the Britney breast debate, I suppose.

And The Bible recognizes the seriousness of these teenage years. The Bible commands the young person to "…Flee also youthful lusts…"

"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

The Backstreet Boys, N’Sysnc, Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and such music is specifically "aimed" toward direct, disobedience to 2 Timothy 2:22. Instead of "fleeing youthful lusts" their whole purpose is to create literally a "fleshly feeding frenzy" of "youthful lusts".

Hold on a second ... I didn't pay the best attention in Sunday School, but I'm fairly certain that The Bible was written long before Britney Spears was even born, let alone putting a daze on youths across America. Yet this page suggests that the Bible was written with boy bands in mind.

At this point, the writer goes into quoting song lyrics, begining with the Backstreet Boys.

The BackStreet Boys sing in "Lay Down Beside Me": ...

P.S. It’s common knowledge the word "lay" is a slang for fornication. (American Slang, Robert L. Chapman, p.262)

P.S. It's common knowledge the word "lay" is verb, meaning to place in or bring to a particular state or position (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Come on now. If your wife were to say "I'm going to lay the baby in the crib," would you immediately claim that she enjoyed sexual relations with children? I would certainly hope not.

By the way, how many of you "old-fogies" can remember the outcry over Bob Dylan's "openly-sexually-titled", "Lay, Lady, Lay" — many radio stations refused to play it, simply because of the name! Everyone knows what "Lay Down Beside Me" means.

Ever since TV shows showed adults sleeping in the same bed, people have been complaining about too much sex in the media. Just because Homer and Marge sleep in the same bed doesn't mean they have sex every night (although there are a few episodes that are based around Homer and Marge's "love" for each other). I certainly hope that when I get married, my lady will lay, lay across my big brass bed, just as I hope that at the same time she shall lay down beside me.

To get a clear documented picture of just how serious and real this "sexual awakening" among the "tweens" is, according to a study published in the Pediatrics journal, most girls show signs of puberty [sexual maturity] at age 10, but get this – according to Pediatrics, at the turn of the 20th century the age was 15!

Uh huh. Okay. Yeah. My sister's body started to change the first time she watched MTV. Bullplop. I would certainly hope the author of this site knows that puberty starts at different ages for different people, not the first time they hear Nick Carter scream the lyric "Am I sexual?!".

So what was the kicker that sent me running for Blogger? Why, this little bit here:

After all this "youthful lusts", now here’s a "goodie" — Smash Hits Magazine claims the "boys" have a "ritual prayer" before they take the stage!

"What do the lads do before they go on stage? They all have a ritual prayer!" (The Backstreet Boys Tell Us Everything..., Smash Hits - August 1998)

I got some enlightening news for the "boys". . . If they are praying to the Holy God of the Bible – they’re wasting their time!

Quote of the year, baby.

One final quote from the page (you can check out the rest yourself):

In the song, "I’m Crazy for You," N’Sync sings, "I wanna rock with you".

I wanna, I wanna rock with you
I'm gonna, I'm gonna make it true
I wanna, I wanna rock with you
I'm crazy for you

By the way, in case you didn’t know, "rock" is a euphemism for fornication.(Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, p. 474)

*Sings* I ... Wanna rock and roll all night!