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Friday, September 30, 2005

How the Efforts at Monasticism Turned Out

Stay in my room to study for any prolonged period of time? That turned out to be a funny notion. No, strike that. It turned out to be a ridiculously head-over-heels downright insanely hilariously hysterical notion.

I'd rather be talking to you than studying! That's it, plain and simple. In my defense, I have put in at least 15 hours of studying this week. Of course, 6 of those were last night...all night. After Chi Alpha, I realized I had a big test and quiz the next day. This has been an insane week. 4 tests and a quiz, except one test got moved to Monday. So Tollie and I went to Louie's cafe and ate pancakes, drank coffee and studied from midnight till almost sunrise. First time I think I've tipped the waitress at 95%. Then again she earned it pouring coffee, which I drank a liter of, Tollie I'm sure more than I. But I got some serious studying done believe it or not, which I think enabled me to put a good dent in my test. I studied the chemistry hard, too. But chemistry is overtly satanic anyway, so I still didn't do too well on that.

Cool moment: Zeke was waiting in the car, sent me up to bring his booksack from my dorm out to his car. As soon as I got to my room, I apparently totally forgot about Zeke waiting on me, grabbed a book and studied for 20 minutes. My roomate walks in and asks whose booksack that is. Crap. I then, laughing hilariously, ran downstairs and gave my bewildered friend his bag. I told him what happened and sprawled out on the lawn of East Laville laughing. And I don't even drink. Life is good when you learn to laugh at its absurdities, especially in yourself. I mean, hey this is absurd, and it's me:

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Leave Me Alone

Friends, you are the fatal wound. Listen. I have 4 friggin' tests and one quiz this week in a 3 day time period. Everywhere I go, friends, you talk to me, invite the social element in me to talk to you day and night. To laugh with you. To procrastinate with you. Well, no more! No more, "hey Bean you can study later. Let's go to Cane's. Let's play video games. Let's stay up all night. Let's talk about Lord of the Rings at the cafe. Let's listen to Switchfoot. Let's start a revolution and burn down the dorm." No more. Okay, okay, I"ll admit I wanted to do all these things, but I must now emphatically study. Study, the s-word, I know, but I must do it. I am therefore going into monastic solitude, studying in my room, for the remainder of this week. No more happy, cute Bean running around having fun with you till Friday eve. Capiche?

Monday, September 26, 2005

"We Didn't Adapt"

A disappointing loss for LSU tonight against University of Tennessee. We were ahead by over 20 points the whole first half, with Tennessee having "0." But as my roomate said, "They adapted to our strategy, but we didn't adapt to theirs." They suddenly scored touchdown after touchdown and, mind-bogglingly, we kept messing up over and over. Not the best way to start off our first home game of the season, after numerous setbacks due to two devastating hurricanes. Oh, well. It was still Tiger Stadium, quite the experience. And though some would wish to do me bodily harm for saying so, it's only football.

Beware

...of the so called "milkshake" in military Meal-Ready-to-Eat packets. The rest of the MRE was tasty, but beware of the milkshake, beware.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

An Evening in Miller Mansion

Extended edition Return of the King, wit and good humour amongst friends, being in an all-girl dormitory...things could not have been much better this evening.

My friend lost power at his place, so we took Zeke's DVD player and the movie and watched it in the lobby of Miller Hall. Since it's an all-girls dorm, my roomate's sisters had to "escort" us. They eyed us suspiciously upon check-in and asked Katie, "You're escorting all TEN of these guys?!" Tee-hee.

Beautiful widescreen television set, with oh-so-comfortable couches and a great ambiance. My first time seeing ROTK extended. Whenever I watch the LOTR's, I am overcome with revelations. Especially Return of the King. The nature of existence suddenly makes sense when viewing these films, in an overhwhelming way that literally floods the senses. What other tale has created a battle as literally and symbolically climactic and engaging as that of the race of men against Sauron's dark armies of Mordor? Of course, the battle for Minas Tirith is waged currently in the hearts of man, as the return of Christ is near, when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. The reason the return of the king is such a soul-stirring event in the Lord of the Rings is that we all know it will usher in the age of peace. Isn't this what we all long for? Even now, we hope for victory against sin that will bring in the eternal Age of Peace. When once again the tree of Gondor blooms, the tree of life. And although orcs could be killed by the masses, it is only the destruction of the One Ring that will rid men of the onslaught of evil. No matter how many new technological advances we make in this postmodern era, it is only salvation from our own pride and desire for power that will save us. Our one ring is our desire for self-preservation. That which we think will give us power can only be used against us, for it was forged in the fire of Mordor, forged by Satan himself.

And victory will come. Some will have to give up their lives for the cause of Christ. But, "All we have to do is to decide what we will do with the time that has been given to us."

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Longest Risk Game of Our Time

9 hours long. I won.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Round Two: Rita

Thank you LSU. Polite enough to cancel classes...at 2:30 p.m. Wait a minute, you canceled classes after the school day was over. Sheer brilliance.

By the time class was over today, we were wading through the water to get back to the dorm. Cody, Recka and I loaded up my Buick with provisions and dumped it off for Hurricane Party Part II at Tollie's place. I just drove back and parked my car on high ground. So I guess tonight it's Perfect Dark, Mario 3, and DVD's til the power goes off. Hmm, then I guess we'll play Risk. At some point we'll bust out the MRE's for some dinner. Go swimming when the wind picks up. Get some sleep. Wake up and if there's still power, we'll watch Return of the King. Heck, we might have Lifegroup...ok, yeah that's good. We're set.

If any of you see three guys floating iced chests and stuff down Highland Road tomorrow, it'll be my friends and I trying to get back to the dorms.

Chemistry...the Bomb

As I sat there in Chem class today, I realized...

This is the bomb that I've been waiting for, living for...you finally lit the fuse that's in my head.

The study of chemistry makes me feel violent.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

A Word in Due Season

I felt the poignancy of immiment change and hope reading these verses. We just experienced Hurricane Katrina and now Rita is upon us. I think God wants us to hear His voice and turn to Him, rebuilding the temple of pure worship on earth.

Haggai 1
Haggai 2

Monday, September 19, 2005

Beautiful Sunday

My family drove to Baton Rouge to go to church with me today! I was so happy to see them. We had dinner together and with Ms. Ann and Ms. Rachel from church back home. My family also brought me a truckload of goods, including some MREs...

And then roughly 7 of us watched Fellowship of the Ring and 2 Towers extended edition. We were going to top off the marathon and watch Return of the King but everyone but me bugged out. I was disappointed. Then again, it seems that most everyone I know goes to bed before me. This fact is supported by my friend John Barreca commenting that he was amazed at how long I go without sleep: and this comment was made during a time of encouraging each other in Bible study.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Back in Slidell

I finally made it back to my hometown of Slidell for the first time in 2 months or so today. This is the first post-Katrina viewing I have had of it. This time I wasn't there to visit with family but to help with hurricane relief efforts.

A bunch of us from Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship met at 8 a.m. at the LSU Visitor's Center and drove together to Slidell. We helped out at three different houses. My group went to Adam Stephenson's uncle's house, which had about 5 feet of water.

The first overwhelming thing about the experience was the putrid smell. It was just short of sufficient to make one vomit. The interior of the house was one big smushy mud puddle. So the first task was moving out all the furniture. Then we ripped up the stinky, saturated carpet. Then we destroyed walls, which took the longest. We had to take hammers and knock out the walls in the whole house from about 6 feet off the ground. We of course also had to break off baseboards and moldings and such. We had to rip out the fiberglass insulation. We were carrying out dissasembled toilets, sinks, and other household amenities. The most surprising thing was the weight of wet carpet. It took 10 of us to move the living room section of carpet house. I'm sure that one roll of carpet weighed many hundreds of pounds. The work was tedious and arduous to say the least, and it was bleeding hot. A great experience though, and really did feel as if it was the least I could do to help out, because my house in Slidell was spared destruction.

It was a very tiring day, and I did it on 3 hours of sleep and legs so stiff, from working out, I could barely walk. It was so weird driving through my hometown seeing gas stations destroyed, trees strewn about, etc. I've watched it on the news for weeks, but now that I witnessed it firsthand up close and personal, down and dirty, it was totally different.

City of Refuge Blog

My parents, assistant pastors, are starting a satellite church in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. My dad is doing an excellent weblog to help everyone from the church keep in touch. I recommend you visit it and read the first of several online sermons he is typing up. God has given him some great wisdom about the ramification of this storm. Honestly, I am flat-out proud of my dad and his love for Jesus.

Switchfoot Video

Good grief, you've gotta check this out. It's insane. Any thoughts on how they filmed this? I think this would have made even the Greek stoics headbang.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Please Pass the Gun

No, it's not really that bad. I guess. I'll just burn down my dormitory instead.
Never mind, pass me the gun. I'm not shooting myself, I'm shooting that lousy alarm clock.
But it's not really the clock's fault, either.

For the second time this week, my roomate walks into the dorm past noon, and I am still asleep. I have once again turned off my clock in my sleep apparently. I know, I'm talented. But wish I weren't. I stayed up almost all night last night trying to study to make up for the class I missed. Then I ended up crashing so hard that I once again slept through class. A vicious cycle.

Out of 3 semesters of college, this is the one I've worked the hardest. I've been actually reading all the material and staying up to date. And what I get for trying is sleeping through all my classes. There's pretty much no hope of having a normal life when I can turn off the thing that's supposed to wake me up without actually being awake.

The clock is now hidden. So if I turn it off in my sleep this time, I'm demanding a FREAKING AWARD!!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Utterly Insane

This week has been utterly insane. That's all. Ups and downs, lows and highs. But just, like, whoa. I have definitely done a lot of intense studying. I have also definitely done a lot of procrastinating, like 2 nights in a row staying up listening to music and talking to Cody in the lobby all night, almost. I definitely also slept through 3 of my classes today. I definitely met a whole heap of new people and definitely started working out again. I definitely am getting my devotional life back on track. I definitely tonight fell down on the floor twice laughing at Cafe Chi Alpha. I definitely ended up bodyguarding my friend Emily on a shopping trip and ending up at an apartment with 4 insanely hyper girls giving me banana ice cream and watching internet videos. I also definitely. Definitely.

Three emerging quotes, from today:

1. Me: Dude, I thought you didn't see me.
Roomate: You were like three feet away!

2. Me: My computer is like a woman because every time I try to get it do to something...
Cody: ...it shuts down.
Me: Exactly.

3. James "Danger" Dill: I think the "buttload" is something like the mole or Avogadro's number.

4. Accounting professor: It's like when you have bread and you're going to have a party. You only have 7 slices so you buy another loaf.

So, what planet is this again?

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Nothing is Sound Review

This is possibly the best release of the year. This is also possibly Switchfoot's all-time best. Their fifth studio album, Nothing Is Sound is generally the most philosophical album Switchfoot has dished out to date. They've always had probing and even witty lyrics, but this go-round there's not even a trace of pseudo-intellectualism. The flow of the songs is natural. A very raw record; for most of the album's duration, a return to the unapologetically guitar-rock roots of their debut The Legend of Chin. The only complaint after an initial listen may be that Foreman's voice is a little over-produced. But to hades with that nit-picky complaint because Foreman's voice has always been one of the best in modern alt-rock and their latest album presents the furthest he has stretched his vocal capabilities before. Don't get me wrong: the boys do somewhat stick to a more formulaic approach than with the daredevil of earlier songs like "Bomb" and "Concrete Girl". That may be a complaint from some long-time fans back in the day when Switchfoot was signed to Sparrow Records. But then again, the "formula" works, and so does the production. All of that aside, it's nice to hear Foreman experiment with more groans, "yeahs," and even some yelling (yes, yelling. Actually he could probably put off a little more screaming than he does.) This is classic Switchfoot. There are acoustic ballads like "Daisy," and upbeat rockers like "Easier Than Love" that sounds like it's a throw-back to the Learning to Breathe days. All-in-all, Switchfoot wisely draws from musical elements and tricks from the breadth of its past and throws in several new hooks. Wise enough to realize the virtue of old stuff that worked and daring enough to try the new. A brief track-by-tracker:

1...Lonely Nation...A head-bouncing drum rhythm and acoustic guitar open this medium-tempo rocker about youth fed up with the emptiness that feeding fleshly appetites and general alienation. Nice crazy scream mid-song. Nice switch to some of the more aggressive guitar on the record in the chorus. Kind of a surprise as an album-opener. While "I Dare You to Move" opened Learning to Breathe on a mild note and "Meant to Live" opened The Beautiful Letdown on a wild note, "Lonely Nation" opens Nothing is Sound somewhere in between. Possibly the album's best song. It sounds like classic Switchfoot trying to become something a little more novel and works fantastically.

2…Stars…What “Meant to Live” was to Beautiful Letdown, except the tempo is way-up. It is a rock n’ roll monster with a 50-second guitar introduction that almost leaves you disappointed once the singing starts. The opening guitar riff keeps making appearances throughout the rest of the song, and every time, it makes you just want to restart the whole song over to hear the minute-long intro again. It is that good. Great radio potential. This is the song with the riff that will be stuck in your head for days at a time. It also features a little “yeah” scream mid-song that makes you wonder if this actually a live album.

3…Happy is a Yuppie Word…This is my album favorite. This almost replaces my all-time Switchfoot favorite, “Something More (Augustine’s Confession)”. (That’s saying something!) It’s downright intriguing. It is one of the slower songs on the album, but it has got plenty of unique guitar sounds and a slow-burning but driving rhythm. The song forms the philosophy behind the album’s major point, that looking for a life of perfection on earth causes one to miss the meaning of existence. It is not happiness from great circumstances that makes a life lived fulfilling. “Happy is a yuppie word, Blessed is the man who’s lost it all…I’m looking for the kingdom coming down” A direct Biblical reference to the Beatitudes, though few will recognize it. Also, the song title is a Bob Dylan quote. It is a song and a half.

4…The Shadow Proves the Sunshine…A pretty song, another slow one. At this point, you start to realize that the drums often make this album. They hit all the right beats. Beautiful vocals. A song that reminds you of the yellow Wal-Mart smiley face.

5…Easier Than Love…”Sex sells” is the directly-stated message of this song. Another album hard-rocker, up-tempo and reminiscent of …”You Already Take Me There,” maybe? Yeah, that and “I Turn Everything Over.” “Everyone’s a lost romantic since our love became a kissing show…Sex is easier than love.” Well done, lads.

6…The Blues…A ballad with lots of acoustic guitar, piano, and at several points a reggae feel to it. You can hear even the good old triangle in there, too. A song of complaint about the world. The conclusion is that the world needs to cave in. No joke. A very interesting proposition. Honestly not that exciting of a song.

7…The Setting Sun…A guitar song with almost a country twang to it. (Don’t get scared, though.) It’s like Lynyrd Skynyrd meets U2 or something weird like that. But it works, and like much of the album, it’s one of those begs to be played when driving across wide open fields, the autumn sun warming one’s face.

8…Politicians…The hardest rocker on the album. Title should say enough. It’s about politicians. Album loses its intellectual appeal here and a bit of passion. But it’s the album rock song, and it fulfills its mission, so just tap along on your steering wheel while in the car.

9…Golden…This and “The Setting Sun” sound alike and almost have that “twang” that make them sound “country” but so much better. The return of more acoustic guitar.

10…The Fatal Wound…Yeah, you might yawn during this one. Nobody’s perfect.

11…We Are One Tonight…Upbeat rocker about unity.Anthemic.

12…Daisy…Album highlight. What “24” did to their last album, except this one has a more epic feel and goes full-band at the end.

This is an “album” album, which I am thankful for. It’s not just a collection of songs, which their last album turned out to be. It’s one of those albums where all the songs are branded with the same approach, but each is a world of its own. That’s how an album should be. Coherent and yet wildly diverse. There’s always been that something about Switchfoot music that makes me smile. Even when they’ve been singing about company cars and the jacked-up marketplace, the anal poparazzi, and renting movies instead of studying, it’s never pessimistic. There’s just something that has always felt right about their music. Like, oh, that’s what (fill in the blank) aspect of life is all about. And more so now than ever with the latest offering. You just feel good and hopeful about life listening to it (especially to, I may add, that wonder that is “Happy is a Yuppie Word”.) Nothing is Sound is quite sound. Trust me. And it’s only $9.72 at the Wal-Mart here where I live. Hurricane Katrina maybe?

Monday, September 12, 2005

Bleeding in Progress!!



Rock-fist extended, I await the needle like a lamb being led to the slaughter...



We've got colored arm-bands!!!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

LSU Beats ASU!!!

this is an audio post - click to play
The LSU football team won against Arizona tonight (Saturday), and it was probably the most exciting game I've seen since I've been an LSU student. Back and forth, until we pulled ahead at the end of the game and pulled off a 35-31 win. It was an extreme emo-rollercoaster. Anyhow, because of Hurricane Katrina, this game, originally scheduled to be a home game, was held at Arizona. To compensate, student government at LSU put two huge video screens in Tiger Stadium and several thousand students went there to watch the game together. Yes, you might have seen us on ESPN, because they showed footage of us going nuts there. This is live audio from that experience. Very timely as I dialed into Audioblogger right before our team scored this touchdown putting us back in the game. Turn down your volume before listening. Just a helpful hint.

B-Positive

Yes be positive, but what I mean is "B-positive," my blood type. I thought they wouldn't let me donate blood as I'd just been to South Africa, but I went with a group today to give blood for those injured by Hurricane Katrina, and they let me donate.

Happy happy happy!!

By the way, I bleed fast, they told me.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Mmhmm

$9.72 at Wal-Mart and worth more. Maybe not their best, but quickly my new favorite. It seems almost like a different band from the one that gave us The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and Two Lefts Don't Make a Right ...But Three Do. It's the most serious album yet. Powerfully enough, the theme of the album is repentance. "I So Hate Consequences" takes the cake as the album hit. In my opinion, the album is a huge change in sound from any of their first 3 albums. The new formula becomes almost instantly recognizable. An album of starts and stops. Extra-crunchy guitars to violin/piano sections and back mid-song. There is an expected piano bit in over half the songs that makes everything almost predictable. However, K has managed to squeeze every available drop of emotion into their music this go-round. The rock moments are more thrashing than before, and the soft moments are more poignant. As my friend's home-made tee-shirt attests and as does this album, "RELIENT K ROCKS".

Revenge of the Posters

Today I put all my posters up ...and my spring buck skin from South Africa. ...and such. My roomate's response was that "Josh basically wallpapered the room."

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Email the Dawg

My friend Derrick Jackson has a cool dog named Sadie. I emailed Sadie and just got a reply back. You can email Sadie as well by clicking Here.

Baton Rouge Becomes Louisiana's New Urban Center, Population Triples, Bean Clayton Spends 3.5 Hours on a Shopping Trip, Is Enraged

this is an audio post - click to play

Monday, September 05, 2005

Aw, poo

After a week of no class we have to start school again tomorrow. *teardrop

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Midnight Rescue II

this is an audio post - click to play

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Midnight Rescue I

this is an audio post - click to play

Friday, September 02, 2005

Story of the Year

I just got this e-mail from my Aunt Ginny:

Josh - I just heard from your Mom - she is crying with happiness and
praising the Lord - she found out via internet that the Clayton
residence is UNHARMED - as well as the whole neighborhood - there are
only 2 trees down - Lynn and I both had at least 8 trees fall and
the Good Lord directed them all away from our homes - God is good -
Please pray for my job as I no longer have a territory to work and
may have to re-locate - God will work it out - Your Mom was not
sure she could reach you with all the cell problems we are having -
so I'm using Kiel's e-mail - in the mean time we are going on a
Grandparent rescue - please pray - God is Good!!! Blessings and Love
in Christ - Aunt Ginny


Folks this isn't the only story like this. My friend Patrick, the houses next to his were bisected by trees and his still stands. My grandparents had oak trees crash all around them and somehow came out unscathed. These are all people who trust in the LORD and He did not disappoint.

Rejoice with me, friends.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Breaking News: Hurricane Katrina Weblog

The Times-Picayune, the most respected New Orleans newspaper, was unable to print immediately following the hurricane, due to their office being evacuated. And yet, due to an extraordinary sacrifice made by Times journalists during this time, they have maintained an excellent "breaking news" weblog that I have relied upon as my number one source of information about everything "hurricane" of late: governmental issues, statistics, law enforcement issues, refugee centers, environmental updates, requests for help, amazing stories, etc. So anyone who needs updated information, just read The Times-Picayune Breaking News Blog. Applause for a job well done.

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