GUILTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Music producer Phil Spector guilty of murder

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Legendary US music producer Phil Spector was found guilty of second degree murder in the shooting death of an actress at his mansion in Los Angeles six years ago.

Spector, 69, who created the famed "Wall of Sound" recording technique during the 1960s when he worked with some of the biggest names in music, stared glumly as the verdict was read out.

The diminutive producer, who had arrived at court to hear the verdict in a trademark long jacket bearing a lapel badge reading "Barack Obama Rocks!" could face up to 18 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 29.

Despite protests from defense attorneys, Judge Larry Paul Fidler remanded Spector in custody until his sentencing hearing, stating that "public safety and public protection are paramount."

The six-man, six-woman jury began deliberating on March 26 after a five-month court case following his first trial in 2007 that ended deadlocked with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Prosecutors said Spector had shot dead former B-movie actress Lana Clarkson at his home in the early hours of February 3, 2003 after meeting her only a few hours before at the Hollywood nightclub where she worked.

Defense lawyers said the 40-year-old Clarkson, best known for her role in Roger Corman's 1985 cult classic "The Barbarian Queen" but whose career had stalled at the time of her death, killed herself.

Clarkson's family thanked jurors and prosecutors Monday after the guilty verdict, accusing Spector's defense team of "trashing" the victim.

"We are pleased that the jury has rejected the distortion and trashing of Lana Clarkson's life by the defense in this trial, the last trial and the past six plus years," the family said in a statement.

"There is no joy today. This is tragic, but actions have consequences."

The Clarkson family will now pursue a civil trial against Spector, which could see them awarded tens of millions of dollars in damages if successful.

Jurors meanwhile described the deliberations as "painful" before settling on the guilty verdict. "We listened to everything, we reviewed everything and could not have been more painful in our decision," said the jury forewoman, who declined to give her name.

Spector is regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. In the early 1960s, he scored hits including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby, Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin.'"

But during his trials, prosecutors said Spector, who was famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones, had a sinister side.

Prosecutor Alan Jackson painted a picture of Spector as a gun-crazed eccentric with a "history of violence" toward women who tried to leave him.

Five female acquaintances testified that Spector had threatened them at gunpoint in incidents dating back to the 1970s.

In his closing argument last month, Jackson said Spector had repeatedly pulled guns on women who wouldn't go to bed with him.

"A woman, alcohol, a loss of control, and Phillip Spector reaches for a gun. Click," the prosecutor told jurors repeatedly, displaying photos one-by-one of the five women who testified against him.

"February 3rd, 2003, Lana Clarkson -- a woman, alcohol, a loss of control -- and Phillip reaches for a gun. Pow! Lana Clarkson got the bullet. It's as simple as that," Jackson said.

Spector's former chauffeur also gave damaging evidence, telling jurors that on the night of the shooting, his employer had emerged from a doorway clutching a pistol in a bloodied hand, saying: "I think I killed somebody."

Only weeks before Clarkson's killing, Spector gave a rare interview in which he described himself as "relatively insane."

Defense lawyers however argued there was no forensic evidence to convict Spector, pointing to the absence of gunshot residue on his hands and clothing.

Why mess with my Easter tradition? (2009)

Disciple - Easter Bunny
From the cd "My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy"

Guess I'm filled with the Christmas spirit
Celebrate a jolly man in red
Hope my kids don't find out Santa Claus isn't real
Maybe I should have told them about Jesus instead

Last time I heard about it He didn't come in a Santa outfit
Santa Claus is dead!

Guess it's time to thank the easter bunny again
For doing absolutely nothing in my life
What the heck do a bunch of colored eggs
have to do with the Son of God being raised back to life

Last time I heard about it He didn't rise in an easter outfit
The easter bunny is dead!

Christmas is when I celebrate Jesus' birth
Easter's when I celebrate Jesus' resurrection
Jesus is alive!

If we're so worried about what our kids are gonna grow up doing.
If we're so worried about our kids growing up and getting on drugs
and having premarital sex and getting sexually transmitted diseases,
then instead of standing around the Christmas tree and wondering
if Santa brought them a present, why don't we start telling them
about how Jesus Christ died for them, how he was born of
a virgin named Mary, how he was dead for three days, and how
he rose again, and how the only way their gonna have eternal life
is through his blood and if they accept him they'll go to heaven.
Let's start telling our kids about that and maybe we won't have to
worry about all this violence going on in the world, and maybe
we won't have to worry about all our problems of being parents of
divorce, maybe we won't have to worry about anything.

Why don't we just tell them about Jesus and it might solve some stuff.

I wish I had more faith....

The following is written from my heart, and I believe God led me to write down every word, so please read this very carefully.

Basically..... history repeated itself with me. Recently, I had an infected tooth (technically it is still infected), and it made me really sick. This happened to me in college, too, if anyone remembers that, during my 2nd year when i was sick for 3 weeks straight and had to have 2 root canals done. However this time around, it affected my hearing (it did not do this the first time, but the affected teeth before were on my lower jaw, while this time it is my back tooth on my upper jaw) but i had all of the same symptoms as before, i just didnt recognize them in time or else i could've gotten help sooner. Of course, I was a bit stubborn.... but please, read on.

Where I am right now, is that my high frequency hearing is still gone completely. I can no longer hear tambourines, jingling keys, jingling change, and other sounds in that hearing range. Some people are hard to understand, and need to talk loud around me. This is so disheartening, especially because this could've been prevented. I wish i had found my dental insurance card when i had looked for it months earlier (when i found it, it was in the FIRST place i looked the previous time), and i wish i had never given looking up for it before. What's done is done, and hindsight is 20/20. I can't change the past. I still pray that God will restore me fully. I hate to have to give up music, the one physical thing on this earth that God gave me a real passion about....but if my hearing does not return, I will have to sell off all my music because it does me no good if i cannot listen to it and enjoy it.

Some people have told me that once my root canal is done, my hearing should return... i've found nothing on google to support this.... all i've read is that tooth infections can cause permanent hearing loss and usually more serious problems.....i seem to have gotten off easy with just hearing loss compared to what could have happened....but, everyone who tells me my hearing will get better, seem to have more faith than me. It seems like a lot of my faith diminished with my hearing loss, but my faith is not gone... it is just very shaken. I wish I could have the faith of my friends, who all believe I will be able to hear like I used to again. I try to have the faith to believe that I will hear as well as I used to once again, but it is hard, given how I hear now. I will admit, my hearing is better than it was when this first hit me, and I do thank God for that, and believe God saved my hearing from being worse, but it is hard to believe it will get any better, when for more than 3 weeks there has been no improvement at all. I hope and pray to God that my hearing will continue to get better....i absolutely hope it does because if it doesn't, then literally my whole future is now in question. I always figured I would go into the music business when I got older, and others believed it too.... I cannot if i cannot hear. I need God to heal me and make me feel like my old self again.

Tooth infections are absolutely serious business, and I feel that God wants me to share with you all that you all absolutely need to get your teeth checked by a dentist frequently, perhaps twice a year, even. I have some co-workers who have told me they haven't seen a dentist in years.... yeah, that was me. I wish i never stopped going to a dentist. I wish i had seen a dentist as soon as i came to New York. From now on I will be going to regular dental checkups every six months...and I will be taking better care of my teeth. Anyhow, after my problems came up and my co-workers said they hadn't gone in years, I told them, and I am telling you all now, "You need to go get a checkup at least. If there's nothing wrong, you'll have nothing to worry about, but any problems that show up need to get fixed before they become as serious as the things I have experienced".

I'm no doctor, but I know how sick I got. That was from the infection getting into my blood stream. When I was in college, during my second year, I had the same kind of sickness, maybe even more severe then. I can remember lying in my bed and having Nate Grenier go to the local pharmacy to get me some medicines to try to feel better.... they didn't help and someone suggested making an emergency dentist visit. After some heavy antibiotics and two root canals, I was better. At that time I did not experience any hearing loss... but i should've also kept better care of my teeth, and gone to a dentist more often.

When I got dental insurance through my employer, I should've made an appointment as soon as I got my dental card in the mail, but I never did because I was afraid of what I would hear (something like "hey kid, you've got 24 cavities"), and what the cost would be (put into perspective, a dental filling can be about $1-300 each, a root canal is $700-1000 with insurance and then there's the crown, bridge, etc). Actually, I was most afraid of the cost of the initial dental exam (I did not know it was actually fully covered through my insurance!). Well, guess what, I paid dearly for not going to the dentist immediately when I should have....there can come NO GOOD from waiting and putting off dentist visits. I did not know that simple examinations are almost always covered by dental insurance, or else I would certainly have gone sooner rather than later. Please, read this post carefully a couple of times and let my words sink in...even if you think you can't afford it, even if you think your teeth are fine.... go to a dentist, get a checkup, every six months....that is the only way to avoid lots of severe pain and agony.... and honestly, while my faith is not as great as it should be because of my recent problems, I do believe God put all of this on my heart to post, so that anyone who reads this may avoid the situation I was in.

This was and still is a serious situation and was a true wake up call for me. I want to be able to warn you about the dangers of neglecting your teeth so that you know what could happen if your teeth are not properly taken care of and checked up at a dentist every six months or so. God saved me from something more serious, and I believe that through me, He will save some of you from similar fates. Ignoring an abcessed tooth can lead to serious diseases like blood infections, a coma, and even possibly death. Don't believe me?

http://worldental.org/gums/abscessed-tooth-complications-and-dangers/

All I know is, from now on, I'm going to a dentist every few months. I've also cut back on all candy and sodas. When I drink soda now, it is usually a diet soda. My teeth are too important to me to waste them on mindless crap.... boy, the things I wish i was taught as a kid...or rather, I wish i listened when I was younger!!!

One final note: I had put off going to the dentist because i was afraid of hearing that i would have to get tons of cavities filled and not having the money to do it. The irony? Aside from my abcessed tooth, I had just ONE cavity that the dentist found. I do honestly believe there are others, but, the dentist can find those at my next checkup in a few months.

DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!!!!! Please, take note of what I have told you, and take action on it. It will only help you in the long run. God bless you all who read this, and please continue to pray for me to get my hearing fully restored.

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Sidenote:

I am really trying to have more faith about the whole situation.... and while checking out Bible Gateway for a few verses to comfort me, the verse on their homepage really helped me, and I felt it was actually quite deep, and I sat here for a few minutes pondering it....

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (New International Version)