Legend come to Life

This is the speech I gave for my Speech class assignment earlier this evening. Enjoy!

The concept of vampires — undead, virtually indestructible humans who survive by drinking blood — has been around for centuries, existing in some form in nearly every major culture of the world. Though descriptions and explanations vary with time and physical location, all share many similarities. The historical persistence and geographic scope of this legendary creature cannot be ignored. I have spent the last couple of weeks piecing together information from a variety of sources, online and offline, and am here tonight to inform you about the facts behind the legends of vampires and give you a glimpse at the unique characteristics of these intriguing creatures. I will start by explaining the vampire's essential characteristic — apparent indestructibility. From there I will move on to discuss their longevity, their aversion to silver, gold, and other heavy metals, and their nocturnal habits; I will close with a brief look at their most well-known characteristic — blood-drinking. Now open your minds and prepare to meet one of the strangest and most intriguing creatures to walk the face of the earth.

First, the most significant aspect of a vampire is its apparent indestructibility. There are few ways to actually kill a vampire because their bodies are equipped with amazing regenerative qualities. Because they lack a cell growth inhibitor gene that most humans are born with, vampires are imbued with a cellular regenerative speed many times that of a normal human; damage to any tissue, organ, or bone heals quickly — even a lacerated heart or damaged brain can be fully restored within hours. Furthermore, vampires are equipped with stem cell sites located throughout the body. Stem cells are unique in their ability to specialize as any type of cell — bone, muscle, liver, eye, and so forth. This ensures that even amputated limbs and damaged or missing organs can be easily restored — an ability scientists have been trying for years to duplicate, with limited success. Indeed, the single most effective way to kill a vampire is decapitation — when the brain can no longer signal the body to function or in turn receive nourishment from it, both die.

The second remarkable characteristic of vampires is their incredible longevity. Vampires do not die of natural causes. They recover quickly from wounds, physical stress, and fatigue that would kill a normal person, and a hyperactive immune system prevents them from falling prey to almost any disease. Vampires do not exhibit the physical characteristics of aging that most humans are subjected to; the constant rebuilding of their cellular structures prevents their bodies from weakening or decaying. Though most legends hold that vampires are dead humans raised back to life in an unnatural form, the simpler truth is that while vampires may appear to die and may appear to rise from the dead, they are merely very difficult to kill.

This brings me to my third topic, the effect of silver on vampires. Though their regenerative abilities protect them or at the very least help them to recover quickly from the effects of most physical harm, heavy metals such as silver, gold, mercury, and lead can cause serious damage to vampires — as to humans. The chemical structure of these and other heavy metals denatures and effectively destroys most proteins on contact, making them dangerous to humans and vampires alike. Silver is legendary for its resemblance to moonlight, so combining fact with superstition placed an undue emphasis on this as a substance deadly to vampires. However, any heavy metal will do the job. A wound infected with one of these substances will heal at a remarkably slower rate than a normal wound, as the metal continues to disrupt the protein structures until the body is able to remove the toxin. Obviously this confirms the well-known belief that a silver bullet through the heart will kill a vampire — the muscle cannot repair itself quickly enough to prevent cardiac arrest and death.

The fourth interesting aspect of vampires is their nocturnality. Their habit of hunting at night and sleeping, hidden from the sun, during the day is an element of nearly every vampire legend in existence. The reasons for this, however, are not as mysterious as many would like to believe, but are actually very simple. Because of the high cell turnover rate in all parts of the body, including the skin, vampires are highly susceptible to sunburn — the cells do not persist long enough to create the protective melanin that shields them from ultraviolet radiation. Thus the idea that vampires "burn up" in sunlight is, in a way, accurate. Furthermore, vampires have excellent night vision, far superior to all but the most exceptional humans. Sight is enabled when light strikes the retina and excites the rod and cone cells. When this happens, the cells change shape, breaking off a chemical group and sending an electrical impulse to the brain. After a few moments, a reverse chemical reaction causes the cell to change back to normal and the process can start over again. Vampires' extraordinarily high metabolism empowered by their rapid cell development accelerates these reactions, increasing to sometimes incomprehensible amounts the perception and quality of their vision even in near pitch darkness. Not only is the sun damaging to their skin, its light is painfully bright to their eyes.

The fifth and final characteristic of vampires I'd like to discuss is that for which they are most notorious — their repulsive habit of drinking blood. Most legends hold that because vampires are mere animated corpses and therefore have no circulation of their own, they must drink blood in order to survive. However, as I have already demonstrated, vampires are in fact very much alive — perhaps more alive in some ways than humans. Why, then, does their diet solely consist of blood? Unfortunately, this topic is one for which little data has been gathered. Perhaps the liquid form of blood provides their essential nutrients in a state better adapted for rapid absorption into the bloodstream than more solid forms like meat and vegetation. However, their increased metabolism requires a much higher caloric intake level than that of the average human, and blood simply cannot provide those calories. Might they gain their energy from a yet undiscovered source? While much can be learned or guessed about these incredible creatures, there is still a vast amount that we do not know.

In conclusion, tonight I have informed you about the facts underlying vampire mythology. I began by introducing the idea of accelerated cellular regeneration and explaining how that contributes to their apparent indestructibility. In light of this idea, I discussed their longevity, their aversion to silver and other heavy metals, and their nocturnal habits, and closed with a few thoughts on their well-known habit of drinking blood. I hope that you now have a better understanding of the truth behind the legends of the vampire. Every legend is grounded in reality, and few people are aware of how dangerously real vampires are.

Can people really be so idiotic?

I randomly found this on some random person's blog ... and could not believe my ears. Please tell me that the people who believe or agree with this narrator are an endangered species, rapidly being replaced by rational thinkers and observers.



Okay, number one, the goth culture is as a rule nonviolent and nondestructive — which leaves one wondering why he keeps calling it a "dangerous" and "destructive" lifestyle. Number two, it is a subculture built largely on aesthetics and generally expressed through music, dress, and art ... not some cult religion or psychological disorder that a person needs "counseling and prayer" to be "saved from". And, by the way, goth is not Satanic. There are Satanic goths, sure, as there are Christian and Buddhist and atheist and any number of other religious affiliates. Boldly wearing pentagrams or other symbols of Satanism may be a cause for concern, but it has nothing to do with gothdom.

In fact, of all the "symptoms" he lists, very few are actually essential to the goth culture. Many are associated with, but not inherent to, goth (e.g. wearing black eyeliner or fascination with body piercing), and a large number have nothing to do with goth at all. Some of these allegedly dangerous "symptoms" aren't even cause for concern (using the internet, watching television, associating with "unusual" people, etc.). The ignorance, arrogance, irrationality, bigotry, and utter stupidity of this "warning" is beyond my comprehension.

Good and perfect

Would you do it with me,
Heal the scars and change the stars?
Would you do it for me,
Turn loose the heaven within?

— Nightwish, Ever Dream

I know I'm really slow to update (life's finally gotten busy), but as of last Thursday night, Caroline and I are no longer "together". After a long period of thinking, praying, and discussing, we decided that we are not ready yet to commit to a serious relationship. So we "broke up". The bright side is that we're still good friends and I don't believe feelings were hurt on either side by this mutual decision.

Despite the pain of the breakup (which surprised me by lessening much faster than I'd expected), I am incredibly thankful for the three months we had together. I don't regret a minute of the time we spent with each other, and God used it to bless me and teach me in countless ways, probably more than I even realize at this point.

We wrestled for a while with the question of whether to end the relationship, and as we were drawing close to making a decision (and I was fairly certain it was going to end this way), I was comforted by James 1:17 — Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. The encouragement in that verse is twofold. First, the wonder and beauty I experienced in the relationship while it lasted was not some stolen forbidden pleasure — it was a gift from God. Even though it was not to last, there is no reason to regret the brief gift that God so freely shared with me. Second, God knew even before we began the relationship that it was not going to last. God does not change. Yet I am unshakably certain that it was not only His will but His delight for us to enter that relationship — we were confident of that going in, and I've never doubted it since. He knew it was not going to last, yet He wanted us to have it anyway, despite the pain its end would bring. Why? Who can fathom the mind of God? I will never know all that He accomplished through it, but I do know that it has helped me in many areas of my own life — showed me areas in which I need to grow, opened my eyes to "things I never knew I never knew" ... and, certainly, blessed me with just a taste — an appetizer — of the incredible glory and joy our Heavenly Father desires for His children.

I am bewildered with awe at the love and encouragement I've been shown by my brothers and sisters in Christ. To all of you who are praying for us or for me, words cannot express my gratitude. I honestly believe that the surprising lack of difficulty I'm having in dealing with this is due in a huge amount to your prayers. May God richly bless you all.

Lycanthropardus

They say there's nothing new under the sun.

They're wrong.

I just created a new word which, until this blog post, did not exist on any web page in the world (according to Google, Yahoo!, AltaVista, or even Ask Jeeves).

The word is lycanthropardus and means a werewolf (lycanthrope) who is also a panther (the scientific name for a leopard is Pantherus pardus).

Try it.

::edit::

Okay, yeah ... this post is a taste of the less-normal side of me....

"It's Complicated" ...

...but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Sin, Grace, Forgiveness, and Love

Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness and smiles that hide our pain?
But if the invitation's open to every heart that has been broken,
Maybe then we'd close the curtain on our stained-glass masquerade.

— Casting Crowns, Stained Glass Masquerade

Wake up, Christians!

How many times have I heard the phrase, "There but by the grace of God go I" referring to the depravity of the human heart? You hear about murders, rapes, robberies, and the list goes on ... and you think soberly to yourself, "only the grace of God has preserved me from such wickedness." WHAT ARROGANCE! That thought comes from the heart of the Pharisee in the temple, thanking God that he is so much more righteous than "that tax collector over there". Thank you, God, that my slacking off at work isn't as evil as the Bank of America robbery! Thank you, God, that my lust isn't as wicked as John Doe's adultery! Thank you, God, that my unbridled temper is less sinful than the latest drive-by shooting!

The harshest words Jesus ever spoke were not to "sinners" or unbelievers — they were to the religious leaders of his day, to the Wesleys and Luthers and Sprouls and Grahams and Spurgeons — the men that all the world revered for their righteousness. He did not revile their good works or their godliness. He reviled their arrogance and hypocrisy — the arrogance and hypocrisy that I see in so many Christians today. As you read this, you who "asked Jesus into your heart" at the age of five or six, you who grew up in a Christian family, you who would not dare to steal cookies from the cookie jar, you who teach Sunday School and attend every prayer meeting and travel on mission trips twice a year, you who have been praised openly and secretly for your godly life ... do you not realize that your wickedness is every bit as damning as Esau's and Judas's and Hitler's and Cain's? Can you not see that YOUR blasphemy, YOUR malice, YOUR lust, YOUR greed, YOUR hatred, YOUR envy, and YOUR rebellion against the God of the universe is what put His Son on the cross? Who cares what John Sinner says or does? If you only knew your own heart, you'd be on your knees imploring God for forgiveness and begging John Sinner not to hate you for the evil in your heart.

I have seen in many people's lives — including my own — a fear to be open, a fear to admit brokenness, a fear to acknowledge that (guess what) CHRISTIANS ARE NOT PERFECT! Where does the fear come from? It's the fear of being rejected by those who are somehow "more godly", the fear of being despised for sharing the radical depravity of the human race, the fear of becoming a victim to Christian arrogance. And I am sorry to say that I have also seen the justification for that fear; I have seen Christians who more quickly judge behavior than character, who will judge the heart by the actions instead of the actions by the heart — Christians who would (in analogy) scold someone for attempting suicide rather than offer their own shirt as a tourniquet.

We need Christians who are strong enough to admit their weaknesses, Christians who are willing to expose their flaws, Christians who can say, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" The church is desperate for believers who put aside their arrogance, take up their cross, and follow CHRIST instead of their own filthy rags of self-righteousness. Christians who know they're broken need friends who know their own brokenness. Then only are we safe to acknowledge our brokenness and so seek healing together.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says so excellently in his essay on Confession and Communion,

According to Jesus’ promise every Christian believer can hear the confession of another. But will the other understand us? Might not another believer be so far beyond us in the Christian life that she or he would only turn away from us without understanding our personal sins? Whoever lives beneath the cross of Jesus, and has discerned in the cross of Jesus the utter ungodliness of all people and of their own hearts, will find there is no sin that can ever be unfamiliar. Whoever has once been appalled by the horror of their own sin, which nailed Jesus to the cross, will no longer be appalled by even the most serious sin of another Christian; rather they know the human heart from the cross of Jesus.

Just for fun ...

Seven Random Facts ...

Danielle tagged me, and I thought it might be a convenient way to let some of my readers get a glimpse of my everyday life.

First, the rules of the game:

• Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.


• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random and some weird.


• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.


• Let them know the are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here we go:

1. I was named after my father, Ronald Scott Moser Sr.


2. Thanks to my mom, I recently became a voracious reader of Rene Gutteridge novels.


3. My tastes in music defy explanation or categorization.


4. I firmly believe that cats, particularly of the larger variety, are in most ways far superior to dogs of any kind. Except wolves.


5. The minivan I own is fourteen years old, and the bass speakers are completely shot. (The dash lights don't work either, but that's another story.)


6. I had the first accident of my life on March 4, 2008, at approximately 10:00 in the morning.


7. I ate a lot of plain Cheerios during the 24-hour contest and came to the conclusion that the Honey-Nut variety tastes much better.

And I tag:

• John Calvin


• Zack


• Benjamin


• Mandy


• Joanna


• Anne

::edit::

I just realized that I only tagged six people, and was supposed to tag seven. So, for my seventh friend, I tag

• Ryan Bruce.

Waiting for Love

I just got home today from spending the weekend with some friends. I drove up to their house on Friday to help them produce a film to enter in the 24-hour Christian film contest on Saturday. Our film, Waiting for Love, was the 41st of 72 entries to be submitted — and we submitted it between 3:30 and 3:45 AM Sunday morning. Understandably, I am tired and will be hitting the sack as soon as this entry is posted. However, I hope to soon post a little more about this movie.

You can watch the movie in the player below. If you are unable or unwilling to view it via YouTube, contact me privately and I'll see what I can do.



My roles in this film were cowriter, director of photography, and editor/color-corrector/grader. The music that fit so perfectly was taken almost unaltered from one of Digital Juice's StackTraxx albums.

Super Tuesday

Greetings, everyone!

Twenty-two states are voting tomorrow. Any candidate with a significant lead will likely go undefeated to the general election in November. If you live in one of the states voting in the February 5 primaries (listed below), make sure you get to the polls tomorrow and cast your vote for the candidate you believe in.

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Georgia • Illinois • Massachussetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • New Jersey • New Mexico (Democratic only) • New York • North Dakota • Oklahoma • Tennessee • Utah • West Virginia

If you are a registered Republican (as I assume most or all of you are), please allow me to present some last-minute thoughts. (If you have already made up your mind about whom you will vote for and are immovably firm in that decision, you may disregard the remainder of this email.)

Voting is not about strategy; it is about values. Your vote is your voice in the United States government. Do not allow the popularity of a candidate to sway your opinion. Vote for the man who holds your values and allow God to determine the results of the election. We are supposed to vote FOR candidates, not AGAINST them. I have heard multiple arguments in favor of voting for a candidate the voter does not agree with merely to prevent a "worse" candidate from making the ticket. This is a distortion of the system. Do not vote for any candidate but the one you most firmly believe should be placed in the White House.

Finally, I humbly present for your consideration my understanding and opinion of the five Republican candidates currently running for President:

• John McCain Among his many problems, he is responsible for co-authoring the McCain-Feingold bill which severely restricts free speech in political campaigns, the McCain-Kennedy bill favoring amnesty for illegal immigrants, and the McCain-Lieberman bill attempting to address "global warming" by adding a new tax on fuel.

• Mike Huckabee A favorite among evangelicals for his time spent as a pastor of a Southern Baptist church, "Huck" is widely praised by voters who hang on his words without looking at his record. As governor of Arkansas, he raised taxes significantly (though he claims he'll never do that as president). He claims to support homeschooling, and was endorsed by HSLDA early on in the race, only to receive the endorsement of the National Education Association later on — one of the greatest proponents of centralized government education and a strong opponent of homeschooling. I've been told that he received this endorsement for his "honesty", but how honest can a man be considered who claims he never supported amnesty for illegal aliens when his record proves otherwise?

• Mitt Romney Besides the fact that he's a Mormon, Romney's problems include supporting unconstitutional gun bans, softness on amnesty, and proposing a law requiring convicted child predators (including first-time offenders) to be placed under lifetime GPS tracking — utterly defying the Fourth Amendment.

• Ron Paul Paul has demonstrated for twenty years in Congress that he understands and supports the US Constitution. He earned the nickname of "Dr. No" for incessantly fighting against unconstitutional legislation. For a long time I was a strong opponent of Ron Paul because of his firm desire to leave Iraq, but this was due to a misconception of what the "war in Iraq" is (more info below). Ron Paul wants to bring home our troops from 170 military bases around the world — America is a sovereign nation, not the world's police force. By bringing home troops which are accomplishing basically nothing where they are, our homeland security will be greatly strengthened and the impending possibility of a national draft will be eliminated.

• Alan Keyes The only other candidate I would be comfortable supporting, his website demonstrates that he has a clear understanding of the Constitution and is serious about upholding it. However, he does not in any way appear to be serious about running for president. He has done little or no advertising whatsoever; few people even know he's in the race. In fact, in the Florida primaries, he was beaten 5 to 1 (~22,000 votes vs. ~4,000 votes) by Fred Thompson who had dropped out of the running a few days before. This is not Keyes's first race; in fact, he has run for president twice before. He knows what is required, but his campaign leads me to strongly believe that he is not committed to gaining the presidency. I am not going to vote for a candidate that couldn't care less whether he wins or loses.

The War in Iraq:

The US military is currently doing two things in Iraq.

1) We are rebuilding Iraq's government. This may seem like a nice, charitable thing to do, but in reality it is not. It is the arrogant presumption that our form of government is the only one in the world that works and that our people are the best ones in the world to teach the Iraquis how to run their government. In essence, we are playing "big brother" to Iraq, setting up a government that is based on Western values which are largely foreign to these people and then scratching our heads and wondering why it's not working and why they hate us so much for trying to help. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires or even condones America telling another country how to rule themselves. American people are certainly at liberty to assist people in need, but it is not the role of the American government.

2) We are fighting an undefinable war. We are battling two groups of people: A) Iraqui nationals who wish we had never come in the first place and hate us for messing up their country and their lives; B) terrorists. If we leave Iraq, the nationals will stop fighting. Whether we leave or stay, the terrorists will not. Bush declared a "war on terror" in the wake of the September 11 tragedy. But that makes no sense: terrorism is an idea, and as a friend of mine said, "You can't fight an idea with guns.... [but you can fight an idea with] trade deals, and removal of sanctions, and restoration of liberty, and stuff like that."

Terrorists are everywhere, even in the middle of the United States of America, parked in front of the Murray building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Bush's war will never be over until the last terrorist is dead. And that will not happen until the Lord's return. You can't destroy terrorism any more than you can destroy fascism, capitalism, freedom, hatred, or bigotry. What we can — and should — do is bring our troops back from policing the world to defend our own country, stop interfering with other countries' governments, forget about the unconstitutional and highly ineffective UN, and bring America back to what she was meant to be — one sovereign nation under God.

Even if you've already voted, are underage, or for some other reason cannot vote, you can still make a difference! Visit http://www.ontheissues.org to learn more about each candidate, then do all you can to support the one you believe in! And feel free to copy this message to anyone else, or send them here to read it!

God bless, and GET OUT THE VOTE!

BIG NEWS RELEASED

Christian Filmmakers 24-hour Film Contest
January 18, 2008: On March 1st, Christian filmmakers across the country will participate in an exciting and challenging event — a 24-hour film contest. Organized by members of ChristianFilmmakers.org, an online discussion and networking tool for Christian filmmakers, the contest will be sponsored and promoted by several noteworthy organizations and will offer a prize of $500 to the winning entry.

The competition will begin at 6:00 AM on March 1 with the publication of a list of “security elements,” three of which must be included in every film submission. This will verify that the film was produced within the 24-hour time limit. Each entry must be uploaded to YouTube and the link given to the judges by the contest deadline of 6:00 AM on March 2. Membership in Christian Filmmakers.org is not required.

Nathaniel Bluedorn, administrator of Christian Filmmakers.org and the driving force behind the 24-hour film competition, explains, “Christian Filmmakers.org is a growing network of faith-based filmmakers. We started in August and we have more than 250 members now. We’re doing this contest to energize filmmakers and incite interest in filmmaking. More importantly, we want to expand networking among Christian filmmakers.” Christian Filmmakers.org boasts an international membership of Christian
filmmakers at all skill levels from hopeful to veteran, specializing in every aspect of film production.

More details on the competition, including a complete list of the official rules, can be found at http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/contest

###

Christian Filmmakers.org is the outgrowth of a Google Group which was originally conceived as a means for maintaining contact among alumni of the 2005 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Launched on August 22, 2007, ChristianFilmmakers.org has rapidly grown to include 273 members at the time of this writing. The site is focused on facilitating discussion and building relationships between Christian filmmakers without excluding anyone on the basis of gender, race, or denomination.

Website: http://www.ChristianFilmmakers.org
Contact: info@christianfilmmakers.org

Big news

Watch out ...

Something big is coming soon...

It is related to ChristianFilmmakers.org (no information posted there yet, though, so don't bother looking for it).

Stay tuned ...