Bookish Tuesday through Religion Friday

Happy Thanksgiving. I will be away without interwebs for the Thanksgiving break, so rather than try to write up a post for everyday, I'll do it all here.

The book I'll be reading over break is Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. So far, it's as good as any other Pratchett book and I'm ready to get some time to just read without the distraction of work and such.

News for this week is from this story (thanks to Rachel for the heads up). There isn't much to discuss on this aside from the fact that we know that Pandas are dumb creatures, but that doesn't mean you can just climb over a protective fence to try to pet one.

Gaming over the weekend will consist of a lot of Rock Band, some Trivial Pursuit, and hopefully a few sessions of Left 4 Dead and the tabletop game Zombies!!! (the exclamation points are part of the name).

Finally, the focus of Religion Friday is (obviously) to take some time to think about all we've been given and be thankful for what we have.

See you next week!

Movie Monday: Expelled

I'll admit, before I even started this movie, I was prejudiced against it. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews and nothing really over the top positive. Maybe I just missed it, but let's just say I my hopes weren't high when I began.

Maybe it was these lowered expectations, or maybe it was the fact that I was playing WoW while I watched, but it actually turned out to be a pretty good documentary. Although, I'm a bit biased towards the religious side of the argument, I think that the film did a good job of presenting the faith-based idea of intelligent design. While the movie isn't focused as much on this as it is about the fact that scientists become discredited for just presenting the theory as an option. There are definitely some sob stories about the number of professors who were unfairly let go for their presentation of the theory, but as a whole they are presented well.

The problem is that the other side doesn't get treated as well. The scientists/professors who they bring in to talk about the evolutionary theory are largely anti-religion, and the movie plays that up. Richard Dawkins is brought in to defent evolution, and in the grand finale Ben Stein (the narrator/host) does everything he possibly can to make it seem like Dawkins is giving credence to the theory of God and intelligent design, something he would never do.

In all it was a good documentary, but definitely one that had its side chosen from the beginning, which isn't a bad thing, but definitely should be known up front.

Religion Friday

We were sitting at the local pizza place last night, eating some delicious pizza and kicking serious butt at the trivia contest, when people were suddenly distracted by something going on on one of the televisions. At first I thought Georgia Tech had made an amazing play or something, but when I turned my head to watch, I found something quite a bit more disturbing (seriously, the video is pretty disturbing, but that link has a write up so you don't have to watch the video).

Now, I'll come out right now and say that I've never really been a big Palin fan, but after watching this and discussing with others, there are definitely some people who are trying to take her down further (even though her Vice Presidential campaign is already over). As such, the problem with the video and the interview as a whole is not that Sarah is at fault, it's that the producers and directors of the show just wanted her to look bad. Why is it necessary to kick someone while they are down?

It happens all the time around us. We find out someone's insecurities and failures and use that to take advantage of them or their situations. A lot of the time it's not even conscious. It becomes the natural thing to want to hold power over someone else, and here is where we find ourselves with the calling to be different.

It may seem a stretch, but when Jesus said to the disciples that they should be last instead of first and strive to be servants, part of it means giving up trying to exert (for lack of a better term) power over others. That means to help people up when they've been knocked down. The election is over, there is no more need for the "liberal media" to attempt to hurt the reputations of Palin, or any other politician.

For us, we need to learn how to not only be content to serve, but to strive to be a servant all the time and that means giving up power. It's a hard thing to relinquish control of situations and people, but it is necessary to become someone's servant and do what you can to help them move forward rather than to push your own ideas ahead.

Gaming Thursday: Mirror's Edge

After talking about the demo for Mirror's Edge last week, I was glad to get a copy of the full game from my brother to see how well it held up.

Not surprisingly, it's a bunch of fun to run around the city jumping from building to building and running across walls. It's the same thing that I loved about the demo, only with a bunch more room to play around in. Similarly, the same problems that bothered me in the demo were back full force.

I understand that the guys shooting at me and attacking me are there to add tension to the game, but I really just find them to be highly annoying. There is nothing more frustrating than to be running perfectly through the game, only to be shot in the back by a bad guy that I had previously ignored because I thought the focus of the game was running and not fighting. While on this subject, having a helicopter constantly shooting at me while I make my way up a building is a pretty dumb idea on the bad guys' part. I mean, I'm standing on the side of an office building filled with innocent people enjoying their view out their large windows, when a barrage of bullets intended for a single runner penetrates the glass and takes down Jimmy from accounting... and these guys are supposed to be cops.

Well I think they are cops anyway, because the story is so meaningless and dull that I automatically hit the skip button as soon as possible. I don't really care why I'm running from place to place, all I want to do is run.

So, if it weren't for the story and the incredibly annoying combat/gunfights, I would find Mirror's Edge to be so much more fun. As it is, I'm having a hard enough time convincing myself to finish playing it when I have Left 4 Dead giving me a much better time blasting zombies (more on that soon) and trying to get my Paladin up to level 80 on WoW (although I'm having trouble getting that done with so much going on). Basically, I like Mirror's Edge when it is doing what it does best - encouraging you to run. When it tries to add in the rest of the junk, it just seems to fall (get it? like falling off the buildings... never mind).

World News Wednesday: Good News

Today's News is the best news!

We are really excited about this development. It means that at any point now we can be called to do respite foster care (we decided to start of with the more temporary care and build). I know it's not technically world news, but it's the best news I've heard this past week, and I figured I ought to pass it on.

Bookish Tuesday: Jurassic Park

In honor of Michael Crichton, I picked up Jurassic Park last week for some light reading and I began to remember why I loved reading his books.

First of all they are intelligent, whether you realize it or not. I read JP when I was in middle school, and it was a fun story about a dinosaur experiment gone wrong. As I've gotten older and reread the book a number of times, each read brings to light another aspect of Crichton's focus. Sure it's about how dinosaurs aren't meant to be constrained within a park outside of their natural time period, but there is also the discussion of bioethics and theoretical mathematics that I never really grasped until recently.

Even with all that heady subject material, the book is still incredibly well written. Crichton paints an incredibly detailed world so that you find yourself immersed within and makes it difficult to come back to reality afterword. Plus, he has a part in the book that I will remember for the rest of my life. When they are hunting the raptors, Muldoon shoots one with a rocket, and it explodes like a tomato thrown against a brick wall (or something to that effect). Needless to say, that little description has stayed with me since childhood.

Finally, the main reason I like Crichton's books is because they are so much better than the movies that are based on them. Congo, Timeline, The 13th Warrior (based on Eaters of the Dead)... even Jurassic Park, none of the films can hold a candle to the awesomeness of the books.

Movie Monday: Quantum of Solace

First things first, Quantum of Solace is not as good as Casino Royale. Do not go into this movie expecting to see the same movie. That being said, Quantum is still a really good action/Bond movie.

Picking up maybe 5 minutes after the end of Casino Royale, Quantum starts off with a car chase. One that is incredibly difficult to follow due to the fact that no shot is longer than .02 seconds. Once they get the adrenaline flowing with this chase, the movie doesn't ever really get the chance to slow down. Chases, followed by shootouts, followed by more chases leave the whole movie gasping for air during the rare slowdown. This is the reason that I think the movie began to fall apart. There isn't enough time to ever build the story or give you a chance to really care about what is happening.

The best part of the entire movie wasn't even an action sequence. Instead it took place during an opera, where Bond is witnessing how the group of bad guys deals their business. It's a really cool scene and is all that much better when Bond decides that it's time to break it up. Of course it has to end with a small chase/gun fight, but I guess that can be forgiven since the build up to them was actually interesting, and somewhat easy to follow.

The rest of the plot is pretty standard Bond fare, although I wish they had taken more time to work on it and give you a chance to actually see/understand what was going on. I'm not asking for a super amazing plot, just something that actually matters and isn't just secondary to coming up on the next action sequence.

All told, it wasn't a bad movie by any means, and was in fact very enjoyable. I still think that Daniel Craig is an amazing James Bond, and I'm ready for the next installment.

Religion Friday: Losing Focus

Even after however many months I've been doing this, these Religion Friday posts are still the absolute hardest things to write. I have begun applying for seminary next year, and I'm coming to a similar problem.

As part of the application process, the school is requiring me to write a 3-4 page faith autobiography. It's not that I have nothing to write about, I'm just having a really hard time piecing together what I want to say. Here's what they want:

• Significant life experiences that have affected your view of self, God, and the world. Include references to family members and significant others, courses, and experiences in college, church, service-related activities, and employment.
• Academic and other interests that motivate you to engage in theological studies.
• Ways the MTS program at Candler School of Theology fits your interests.
• Your plans following completion of study at Candler School of Theology.

There is just so much to say and so many different ways to explain them, that I feel lost before I've even started. Do I focus on the journey or the end point? Should I spend most of my time on college where I think I changed the most, or spend more time building the foundation to those changes?

It's similar when I try to write these posts. I know there are so many things to discuss, but I never know where to start and what I want my focus to be. I guess that's also similar to the way faith is. We know that our calling is to reflect the love of Christ, but that is such a general command that it is so difficult to put it into a full practice unless you set up a short-term goal to attain.

So, I'm currently in the process of figuring out my short-term goals for my life and faith. I know where I want to be and what I want to be doing further on, but I'm having a hard time finding a focus for the upcoming days and months.

Gaming Thursday: Demos

So, I've been playing a few demos on my 360 this week and all are very good, however I'm only going to buy one of them.

The first is the action/fighter Naruto: The Broken Bond. Based on the anime series (which I quite enjoy), its a simple title that is fun to use up a good 15 minutes playing. However, since I found nothing incredibly interesting about it, I don't think I'll wind up buying it unless it drops under $20. The one thing it really has going for it is the hand seals. I really like how you have to hold L and then move your sticks in specific directions in order to pull of different moves.

The second demo I went through was Mirror's Edge, which is a really cool first person parkour-type simulator. I found the controls to be really natural and it was a ton of fun to run around the city jumping from building to building. The main issue with the game is that the combat was a bit wonky. It's good because you are encouraged to run from enemies, but in the parts where you are forced to encounter a baddie, I always found myself just getting hit until I got the chance for the disarm. There was no strategy, just a matter of hitting the button at the right second.

My final demo I have already preordered and will come in next week - Left 4 Dead. Quite possibly the most fun I've had playing a game in a long time (and it's just the demo), Left 4 Dead is a zombie survival simulator that is wonderfully intense. I'll be sure to give more information on it in a few weeks once I've had the chance to play more of the game. So far though, in just 3 days, I've played through the entire demo about 15 times and every time has been a ball. In all honesty, even after just the demo, this is on the short list for my top games of the year.... although part of that could just be blamed on my complete love for zombies.

World News Wednesday: Pups

A nice, light post today.

Since I can't have the kind of dog I want, I think we need to petition our future president to get either a Siberian Husky or a German Shepherd. My preference is on the Husky because of their awesome eyes, but German Shepherds are super smart. Either way, it had better be an awesome dog.

As for names, I'm going to have to say Captain Carrot for a boy, and Sergeant Angua for a girl. Sergeant Angua is preferable, just because she is a werewolf and it makes better sense for a name for the dog, but Capt. Carrot is still a sweet name.

Any other suggestions? I think mine are pretty dang good.

Bookish Tuesday: A Year at the Movies

I hate Kevin Murphy (of MST3K and Rifftrax fame). Well, really I don't hate him, I just hate that he had the idea for his book A Year at the Movies and got to do it before I could have the chance.

This is my second time reading the book, and both times it has made me want to do an experiment just like Kevin did. See, like the title says, he took an entire year and went to a theater every day to see a movie. He took trips around the world to visit different festivals and viewing situations and provides an interesting commentary throughout it all. He doesn't waste time reviewing the movies he sees and instead tells the stories of the theaters and his experiences surrounding the films.

We all know that going to the movies is much more than the flick itself. It all comes down to who you go with and your relationship with them to make the time worthwhile. Even the crappiest of movies can be a ton of fun if you are watching it with a group of like-minded friends. That's what makes MST3K and Rifftrax so good, because they do exactly what you do when you watch a movie that isn't particularly engaging.

Maybe one day I'll be able to get a grant to do an awesome experience like this. Maybe I'll finally be able to do the idea that I had to play through the top 50 video games in a row. I guess it will all have to wait till I get rich and famous... in other words, it'll never happen.

Movie Monday: The Lion King

I absolutely love The Lion King. It is my absolute favorite animated Disney film. I know some people complain about the Elton John songs, but I think that they just don't know how to tune in to the awesomeness that is "Hakuna Matata" or "Just Can't Wait to be King."

The animation of The Lion King is definitely the best of all Disney features. Everything moves so smoothly and I just love the character designs.

The only thing that sucks about the movie is watching it on DVD and forgetting to turn off the extra song. It's just not as good as the rest of the soundtrack.

Religion Friday

Sorry I'm late again, it's been quite a week. As such, I haven't had much time to plan this post, so it will likely wind up either rambling or short and inconsequential.

I'm not one to dwell on past events. It's not that I don't like to reminisce, but for some reason I just don't like to think about how things might have been "better" back then or think about how we did things differently. I prefer for the focus to be on the now.

In a similar sense, I think faith requires us to constantly be within the instant. When time is used up thinking about past failures or victories, current problems are neglected. For example, if I spend my time thinking about what I should have done as soon as I got out of college, I miss out on all the experiences that are going on around me. Even though I may not like what is going on, there is something to be said for pressing onward through difficult times because you always come out changed.

The main problem with me focusing on the present is that I never know what to put my energies into. I know through my past experience what I want to do, but because the future is so uncertain, I don't know what the target is right now.

Life sure would be nice if it was like Fable 2, and I could just set the quest that I wanted to complete and follow the little gold trail that extends out in front of me to my goal. Plus, I'd get to carry a huge shotgun around and bust up some beetles.

Gaming Thursday: Fable 2, or Why am I always good?

I've been playing Fable 2 for a little over a week now, and I'm loving it. Sure, it's a bit glitchy (I've gotten stuck in rooms and on little walls, not to mention annoying camera angles) but I still love the world and the choices of Fable 2. I wrote about the first Fable last week, and this game is pretty much the same. I love it and can't wait to get back to playing more, it's fun.

Here's my problem though: I can't be bad. I run into annoying people who need to die and I see things I want to steal everywhere, but I just can't do it. It won't hurt the game at all for me to be evil, in fact, there are some people who will only like you if you are a jerk. For some reason though, I have to keep pressing on as my good girl until I beat the game before I switch to bad mode. I do this with all open world games too. Whenever I'm given that good/evil choice, I pick good on my first playthrough (I have had times on subsequent plays that I choose evil just to see it, but I rarely finish up).

Am I a goody-two-shoes, or is there something subconscious that knows that good seems to have a better ending to the game? I don't know, but I think that as soon as I finish up the story quest in Fable 2, my girl will change from her sweet monogamous ways into an evil polygamist tyrant, just because I can.

-Edit-
I just finished Fable 2, and even being a good gal, there were some seriously tough decisions to be made, although I still absolutely loved it.

World News Wednesday: Sad Day

Today is a sad, sad day.

Overshadowed by the election, we lost one of my favorite authors on Tuesday - Michael Crichton.

His books remain some of the best (and most realistic) science fiction I've ever read. For that, I say we all take some time and pick up a Crichton book. I'm going to re-read Jurassic Park.

Sad, sad day.

Bookish Tuesday: Discworld

For those of you who have not read any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books, I suggest that you close down your internet browser, get in your car (or on your bike), and go to the library or bookstore and pick one up. Any of them will be fine for your first (although I would suggest starting with something like Going Postal or Guards, Guards), but the important thing is that you start reading the series.

For today's post, rather than going on and on about the whole series, I figured I would give you my 5 favorite Discworld characters. To be honest they aren't really in any order (aside from my #1), because I love them all so much (even more than my own unborn children).

#5. Death - The greatest character to ever talk in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, Death is a constant source of hilarity throughout the series. Every time I'm reading and I happen to glance at an upcoming page and see those caps, I start to get really excited. Partially because someone is about to die, which would advance the plot and provide some mystery, but mostly because the newly dead person's conversation with Death nearly always gives me the giggles. Death is not only good as a bit part throughout the series, but when he becomes the focus of an entire novel, you know there is something to look forward to (see Hogfather).

#4 Lord Vetinari - This former member of the Guild of Assassins (who never wore black, but really just a dark grey) is now the Patrician of Discworld's largest city Ankh Morpork. As such, he has transformed the place from a cesspool into an arguably thriving hub of culture and economy. While some may consider him to be a tyrant ruler, he has consistently been at the forefront of ensuring things in the city run right. None of these are really what make him such a good character though (although the tyrant thing is definitely a good bit). Instead, it's how incredibly cool and calculated Vetinari is. Whenever anyone in the books (or the readers) thinks that he's gone off his rocker by saying this or doing that, by the end of the story you always realize what a smart man he is... also, he's a great smartass.

#3 Moist von Lipwig - Moist is a con artist who is charged by Lord Vetinari to transform the postal service (and later the banks) into something that actually works. To say that Going Postal is the funniest book in the Discworld library would not be a stretch. It is one of the few Discworld books that I have read multiple times (I've read it three times, and listened to the audiobook once) and every single time it makes me laugh out loud. The ideas that Moist comes up with in order to get the office running are so brilliantly odd that it makes the book so much fun to follow. The only real reason that Moist isn't my favorite Discworld character is because he's only been in two books so far, and therefore hasn't had much time to develop.

#2 Rincewind - Rincewind is the first main character of the Discworld novels, and some will stand by him as the best. I agree that he's wonderfully funny, especially in his own brand of heroism, but for some reason I never really get too into his books. The fact that he ramains in my top 5 characters is a testament to how well written he is and how incredibly funny the circumstances that he finds himself in. I don't mean to be down on Rincewind (I want to name my first child after him... well him and the #1), but as much as I love his character, for some reason the stories around him just aren't my favorite.

#1 Samuel Vimes - Sam Vimes is the ultimate. I love every story concerning the Night Watch of Ankh Morpork and since Sam is the leader, it goes without saying that he is my favorite. Tracing him back to Guards, Guards where he's nothing but a stupid drunk all the way to Thud! when we begin to see him becoming a family man with Sam Vimes Jr., Sam Vimes is such a well-developed character that I absolutely love delving into his stories to see what will happen next. I mentioned a long time ago that Night Watch was my second favorite book of all time, and that still remains. Read Guards, Guards first then go to Men at Arms at least before you do Night Watch, but I will stand by my statement that it is a book that must be read... and not just for fantasy people.

There you have it. I know I had to skip over some awesome people like Captain Carrot, Sgt. Angua, and Twoflower, but I think I made a good list here. What about those of you who've read some Discworld? Who are your favorites?

Movie Monday: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

I'm a Kevin Smith fan, with Mallrats staying as my favorite of his movies. Zack and Miri doesn't knock Mallrats out, but it was definitely a good Kevin Smith movie. To get it out of the way, if the title makes you uncomfortable and you don't know who Kevin Smith is, this movie is more than likely not your cup of tea.

The movie is about two friends (Zack and Miri), who are out of money and late on bills, so they come up with the fantastic idea to make a porno in order to get back on their feet. Of course, things go wrong as both Zack and Miri discover that they are in love with each other and it makes their job that much harder to go through.

Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are great as Zack and Miri. Banks holds her own extremely well in the foul-mouthed script and she's dang funny to boot. The whole porno shooting scenes are quite hilarious, especially any scene with Jason Mewes. It's my first time seeing him as anything by Jay and I found him to be very funny.

Like a lot of the movies I see, you know whether you'll like it before you even see it just by the names attached, and this is no different. If you know you like Kevin Smith or Seth Rogen, go see it. If you are uncomfortable by the title, I suggest you go watch Mallrats or another Kevin Smith movie on DVD so you can cut it off if need be.

P.S. Be sure to watch through the credits if you go.