Gaming Thursday: A Life Well Wasted

I love listening to podcasts, specifically those about games and gaming. Recently, Robert Ashley (a freelance game writer) began putting together what he calls an internet radio show about gaming entitled A Life Well Wasted.

I don't want to oversell it, but basically ALWW is a gaming-related version of This American Life (another fantastic radio show).

I would suggest that you take an hour and just curl up by the computer and take a listen to A Life Well Wasted.

I'd like to do that, but the stupid Swine Flu is causing mass hysteria in my town....

World News Wednesday: Graduation

With the end of school in sight, I thought this article was suitable for this week.

Since my high school graduation took place in a stadium in the rain and had to be cut short, I don't have the best experience with these things. What I do know is that having a public school graduation in a Christian church sanctuary is not exactly the best idea.

I don't know about the legality of this situation, but it seems to get in the way of that whole separation of church and state thing.

It's an interesting article to read through, but I don't think there is much else to say, aside from the fact that whoever came up with the idea to have this graduation in a church... isn't too smart.

Am I missing something? Should this be blown up bigger, or is it being blown out of proportion as is?

Bookish Tuesday: The Boys

Garth Ennis writes some of the crudest and brutally violent comics I've read.

His series Preacher is one of my all time favorite stories (not just in comics) and although it is probably not something I would ever let my mom read, it is both hilarious and amazingly well written.

So, when I got the chance to check out the first three volumes of The Boys, I was incredibly excited. Once I got started (after I had to remind myself that it wasn't Preacher), I found myself loving Ennis' complete destruction of superheroes. Where Watchmen is an intellectual deconstruction of the superhero genre, The Boys is (while very intelligent) more of a violent hate letter to superheros and superteams.

Basically, The Boys are a group that were brought in by the government to keep superheroes in check. To make sure that they don't get out of line in their "protection" and that the number of innocent lives lost doesn't get out of hand.

It's crude and violent, and I highly recommend it. Although I would first recommend that you check out Ennis' Preacher. It's amazing.

Movie Monday: Darkon

If I had the chance, I think I'd probably LARP.

LARPing, or Live Action Role Playing, is often seen as pretty dang high up on the ladder of geekdom. As such, it would be hard for me now (with all of the coolness points that I have amassed over time) to be able to truly enjoy LARPing without feeling self-conscious all the time.

Turn to the documentary Darkon. These people have no qualms with diving fully into their fantasy alter-egos. For this, I can honestly envy them. Every other part of the lifestyle going on at their weekends/adventures in Darkon, I'll gladly pass up for some regular tabletop D&D.

The movie follows the members of a LARPing community that is based around their world of Darkon, and the ongoing battles that are taking place both within the world, and some of the troubles that they face when they have to return to earth. To put it quickly, they go out to a forest over the weekends, camp out, fight with foam covered weapons for pieces of land that exist on their map, then go back home and return to work.

The escapism of their community is really nice. They get to abandon all thoughts of their regular life and immerse themselves completely into this imaginary world of elves and magic for a couple of days. I like the thought of it, but I think I would rather just go camping and beat up on someone with a stick without rules about how long I have to stay dead.

In honor of the movie and the members of the Darkon community, here is my imaginary world: Rethuaga.

Rethuaga is a primarily tropic world. The main race is a mix of tauntauns and ewoks, so they are both cute and easy to ride. Humans have been enslaved by the taunkwons and those that are free are being led by the charismatic Brakkatoa (me) who gets a critical hit with every swing of his flail.

Brakkatoa's encampment lies to the west of the great lake Huron (I'm running out of creativity) and they attack the taunkwons in the dead of night. They've slowly been growing in power as they reach and free more and more of the human slaves. Will they be able to finally free the humans from slavery? Only you can decide....

Gaming Thursday: Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 is the perfect big, dumb action game. Dumb is not an insult in anyway, I'm just saying that it isn't trying to be a high concepty artsy game.

I played through the first Gears of War last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but after playing the sequel, I don't think I could ever go back to the first game. The controls, graphics, locations, and overall feel of the second game is just so much better that I just don't think it would be worth it to try to readjust to the (at times) clunkiness of the first game.

The best and worst part of Gears 2 is the story. It's the best because the dialogue and situations are all too often laugh out loud hilarous. This makes it the worst, because I don't think it is intentional. The first game had some silly dialogue, but it is taken to a new level here. For some reason, I'm supposed to care that Dom all of a sudden remembers a wife that had never been mentioned throughout the 15 hours of the first game... and not only that, it's supposed to provide some serious tension and "darkness" further into the game.

But because of the surrounding dialogue, I just couldn't take any of that seriously. Although, none of this detracted from the game. If you just take the plot at face value and laugh at nearly everything being said (whether you are supposed to or not), Gears 2 winds up being an amazing game to play through.

I wouldn't recommend playing single player, though. As with all games that give the option, co-op truly makes Gears 2 shine as a game.

World News Wednesday: Supreme Court

I heard this story on NPR this morning and then again this evening.

First of all, I find it interesting that this case has gotten all the way to the Supreme Court. I'm not saying it isn't a valid case, but that's pretty dang big.

Now, I can understand why the case would be filed from the race point of view. The test was biased (although I'm still not really clear on how exactly it is biased) quite obviously considering the results. However, when it comes to the guys who were denied a promotion for the time being, I don't quite understand why they filed the complaint.

Yes, I get that they were passed over for a promotion that they had qualified for, but if they are confident in their abilities, a little bit of patience while the test was redone could have saved a lot of trouble. Perhaps they felt that they were not being recognized for their skill and I understand that, but I don't know if it justifies a court case.

Am I not being sensitive enough to their cause? Should they receive a temporary promotion just until it can be verified by the new test? If you were on the Supreme Court, which way would you vote?

Bookish Tuesday: The Gunslinger Born

I don't think I've talked about it before, so I'm going to say it right here and now: if you haven't read the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, stop what you are doing right now and get to work. Spanning seven main books (and dipping in to many more of King's books), the Dark Tower series is an amazing set of books that rivals the Lord of the Rings in its epic scale and story.

Quick summary: Roland (the Gunslinger) is traveling to the Dark Tower... adventures and new characters ensue.

Having said all that, I recieved the companion comic series The Gunslinger Born for my birthday this year, and I was more than ready to hop back into Roland's world. The comic was pretty much a graphic representation of the fourth book in the series (Wizard and Glass), which was my least favorite the first time I read the series but definitely gained some favor my next time through.

While it is obviously a truncated version of the original book, I never felt like I was missing out on anything (don't know whether that says something about the author of the comic or the verbosity of King).

The art is really what puts this up as a must-read for those who have interest in the series now (which should be everyone by now). Well, the art plus a couple of scenes that weren't in the book help give it a little more context to the overall story and make it a bit more enjoyable for those who know what is about to happen.

Movie Monday: Doomsday

I put Doomsday into my DVD player yesterday not really expecting much more than a bloody action movie. I got that, but it also turned out to be something completely different alongside.

It's kind of hard to explain because the movie winds up going all over the place. You start off with a zombie movie, which morphs into a sci-fi thriller, then to Mad Max, a medieval vibe, and then back to the sci-fi thriller with Mad Max all together.

Strangely enough, I think it worked really well. Don't ask me to explain the plot though, since I kind of gave up on that about halfway through. The action sequences and the whole feeling of the movie really worked for me. It was gruesomely violent at times, and at other times just laughably so.

I think the best way to describe how random this movie was is in the character of Sol. He's my favorite part of the entire film, and he's basically the leader of this group of vicious cannibals. He's completely insane and every time he does something, it's with this maniacal glee that makes you both creeped out by him and yet totally in love with his character. However, the randomness really comes from the fact that just about everytime you see Sol, he's got a gimp chained up with him. There's no explanation for him - he's just there for set dressing... it's random and hilarious.

I know deep down that Doomsday wasn't really a good movie, but I have to say that I enjoyed it extremely. Maybe it was me watching on a sleepy Sunday afternoon or because I just like a bit of the old ultra-violence. Either way, if you want something big, blowy-uppy, and pretty dumb, Doomsday is worth the 2 hours. Otherwise, you can be a pansy and watch some Rom-Com with Matthew McConaughey.

Religion Friday

Today is about rest. After having our first two foster kids come and visit starting two weeks ago today and ending on Sunday, tonight is my first actually really free night with no obligations.

As you may have noticed by my non-posts yesterday and the day before, I'm still trying to catch up with everything going on.

So be like me, and go ahead and take a break. You deserve it.

Bookish Tuesday: A Prayer for the Dying

When I first picked up A Prayer for the Dying from the library, I didn't think I would like it much. Not because of the content or anything, but because it was only 180 pages. As I started, I worried that there wouldn't be enough time for characters to develop and the plot to complete itself.

I was wrong, of course. The book was incredibly moving. There were parts that were so difficult to read because I thought I might just start crying. The only thing more difficult than that was getting used to the story being written in 2nd person. I haven't read a book like that since the Choose Your Own Adventure series when I was a kid.

A Prayer for the Dying is a story of a post Civil War town, where the main protagonist is the pastor, sheriff, and coroner. The story revolves around an outbreak of diptheria that begins to ravage the town, and the man has to deal with all of his roles in the town and how it begins to affect him mentally and physically.

While parts of the book seemed to move a bit slower than others (the end just blew past), I love how well it was paced to fit the 180 pages. That plus the questions brought up about faith and morality made it a book that I'm now adding to my "whenever someone asks for a recommendation" list.

Movie Monday: Dragon Ball Evolution

To put it simply, Dragon Ball Evolution was stupid. Very, very stupid. Not only that, but it's pretty dang bad.

However, it was also incredibly awesome. I watched the Dragon Ball Z anime series on Cartoon Network's Toonami block all through high school (I saw the Saiyan saga and the Namek saga too many times to count) and so I was pretty ready for a movie that wouldn't exactly be high art.

Maybe it was the fact that I had watched Spy Kids 3D: Game Over twice before I even stepped into the theater (my God, what a bad movie), but when Dragon Ball Evolution started up, I was glad. All I had to do was turn my brain completely off and let the nonsensical plot wash over me.

The best I can say is that I had a great time at the movie and it would make a perfect MST3k film. For that reason, I suggest you go see it... at least on DVD, that way we can get a sequel starring Brad Pitt as Vegeta and Michael Clarke Duncan as Nappa.

Religion Friday: Good Friday

Coinciding with Good Friday was another extremely difficult question that came from Rachel's nice list a couple weeks back... "Why did Jesus have to die? Why was that the only way for him to save us?"

Now, I know that Good Friday is a day for reflection on Lent and the beginning of the awesomeness of Easter, but this is a difficult question. My reflex answer is just to say, "he didn't HAVE to die," but that's only because I think that God can work out a bajillion different ways to do what God wants.

Because of that reflexive answer, it leads into the actual question of why did Jesus die on the cross in that way as a sacrifice, and why was that way chosen as God's choice. My answer always comes back to what Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (NIV).

We all remember the earlier quote from Jesus back in John 3:16, about God loving the world so much that God's son was sent into the world to save it. I think that in the writing of the book of John, the author new that these two quotes would have to be connected by the readers as a way to see into the master plan.

Jesus wanted to make sure that everyone who witnessed his death (both in text and by sight) would be able to make the connection that the reason for his death was, in fact, love.

Another reason for the death was a way to show the power of God. Because death is consistently thought of as that undefeatable power that is equated to this thing called sin - the wages of sin is death (a heavier topic for another day).

By dying, and then bringing forth the miracle of the resurrection 3 days later, Jesus was essentially proving the power of God. He showed that even the things we fear most (sickness, death, loneliness) were easily conquered by an ever-present God.

Do you agree? How far off do you think I am? What do you think about the reason for Jesus' death?

Gaming Thursday: Gears of War 2

I'm currently working my way through Gears of War 2, so I don't have a full post just yet. All I have to say so far is that the dialogue.... best game writing ever.

World News Wednesday: Sexting

I think I might have written about this before, but I'm probably just confusing conversations with this blog. Anyway, here's the article.

A lot of this has to do with the increase of not only the sexual activity in our young kids, but the added accessibility of technology. That much is obvious. The problem lies in punishment and restriction.

First of all, steps need to be made to improve sex ed in schools (both private and public) throughout. This would help for a number of reasons. For one, increased knowledge of a subject would hopefully help the dialogue between parents and their children about the good and bad of sex and guide them to better decisions - particularly not taking pictures of yourself to send to your boy/girlfriend.

Alongside this is the technological aspect. Informing kids that what they send to their friends isn't necessarily a private piece of data. It only takes one other person browsing through a phone to happen upon this little illicit exchange for it to get out of hand. Now, I don't know about restricting your children from using their phones if only because that might lead to rebellion, but there definitely need to be parameters set up. Yeah I know I'm stating the obvious for parents out there, but I'm just trying to be somewhat helpful.

Anyway, the article comes down to the main question of punishment. Should a juvenile receive a super harsh punishment for this? Should that 18 year old be on a sex offender list? Am I being naive?

Bookish Tuesday: Case Histories

I wrote last week about the difficulty of getting into books that seem to have a slow start and with Case Histories, there were a couple of points where I was close to giving up. However, everytime I saw the blurb on the front cover from Stephen King talking about how it was his favorite book of that year and one of the best mystery novels of that decade, it made me keep going.

Now, I can't say that it was my favorite book of that year (2004, I think), but I can say that it is one of the best mystery novels I've ever read (because I think I can count the mystery novels I've read on one hand).

Anyway the book is based around a Private Detective named Jackson Brodie and the number of cases that are being brought to him in this small amount of time. At first, it was confusing trying to keep the storylines together, but as everything started to pick up at the halfway point of the book, I found myself really enjoying it.

The only problem I had while reading was with one of the cases. It was brought up at the beginning and then was brought in kind of off to the side later on in the story and I just felt that I never really understood it enough to justify it as a main thrust of the story, like I felt that it was meant to be.

Aside from that, Brodie as a hero is great. I heard that there are more books in this series now starring him, but as much as I like him, I just think that the end of this book was a perfect closure for him and I don't think I could start the next book for a good while, because I don't want to disturb him.

Altogether, I think it's a book that I can recommend for those who don't even care about the mystery just because it is well written and kept me plenty interested so that I wanted to know how everything came together.

Movie Monday: Ang Lee's Hulk

I've been trying to watch this movie for a good long while now, but only just got a chance last weekend when Katie and I were able to escape to the family cabin.

I can't remember if I already talked about it, but I really liked last summer's Hulk movie starring Edward Norton as Bruce/Hulk. So, going back in time to watch the Ang Lee/Eric Bana version I thought that it would have to be pretty horrible considering they rebooted the franchise after this one chance.

I was wrong. I don't know if I liked this version better than the new one, but it was definitely on par with it. I really enjoyed that Ang Lee was able to spend a lot of time not just focusing on Hulk smashing, but instead giving Bruce a reason for being and doing. I'll admit that it was a pretty cheezy and comic-booky backstory, but hey... it was a comic book movie. This allowed the movie to go more in depth into the character of the story, but it also kind of made the action suffer. The other thing that I really liked was the way that it really looked like a comic book. Lee would position scenes so that it looked like different panels onscreen, and the different focuses and colors really made me feel like I was watching a comic book.

The only thing that I really disliked about this movie was the battle at the end. I can buy that Hulk's dad has gotten powers too - even that his powers of absorption are kind of cool, but becoming a water-man and trying to drown Hulk? Come on. That was the good thing about the new version. Since they didn't really waste time trying to make it a thoughtful movie, the action scenes were huge and destructive (that and it had Tim Roth, who I've come to love thanks to Lie to Me).

Basically, I kind of like that there are now two versions of Hulk. This way if you want an action-packed flick, you can watch the new one and if you want a more comic-booky movie, you can go with the old version.

What about you? Have you seen them both? If so, which is better?

Religion Friday: What is Heaven Like?

Rachel posted a bunch of good topics to discuss here on Religion Friday. We'll start off today with the question: What is Heaven Like?

Well, I wrote a paper on this at some point, but the only thing I really remember writing was that the actual number of references to Heaven (as a thing that is life after death) within the Bible are pretty minimal. The quote that I based my paper on was from Luke 23:43 where Jesus is on the cross and says to one of the criminals being crucified near him that "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

First, I have to say that aside from this scripture, I can't think of much else that relates to our current idea of Heaven as being this place that we go to after death. A lot of Jesus' talk about the coming kingdom of Heaven seem to be more about the bringing of the new law of grace that was given at Easter. Then again, I don't claim to be any sort of expert on this subject, so here are my thoughts:

Now, I think that we base a lot of our current thoughts of Heaven as a post-life place on this one passage (and if you can think of them and post them in the comments, it is more than welcome - although be sure to explain your reasoning). I'm sure there are more answers if you are willing to dig and look into metaphors and such, but I'm not.... that would warrant an entire research paper, what with looking stuff up and all that sort of effort.

Anyway, what I did in my paper, and what I'm about to do now is ponder what is exactly meant by that word "paradise" (or Heaven, for that matter). For myself, the word conjures up images of the pre-fall Garden of Eden, a place where we are able to see and hear God, whilst living in the beauty of God's creation.

I have placed my entire thought process on this word of paradise and the thought from Revelation of the creation of a new world (yeah they probably don't really relate at all, but it works for me).

So, how far off am I? What are your thoughts and theories on the idea of Heaven?

Gaming Thursday: Resident Evil 5

What could possibly make Resident Evil 4 (one of the highest rated games for the last generation) even more fun? How about if they threw in online co-op?

And that is how the genius that is Resident Evil 5 was born. I have to say that I haven't tried to play any of this game on my own with the AI to assist me, and I'm fine with that. So far, I've owned the game for just shy of two weeks and my brother and I are already about to finish our second play through (before we go ahead and start up our third time).

The ability to start the game over with all of your upgraded weapons and equip them with infinite ammo makes this game so much fun the second time through. The first time was awesome because of all of the unexpected scares and huge boss fights, and then the second time you get to breeze through all of those and just laugh at how hard it seemed. I love it.

The plot is just as indecipherable as any other Resident Evil and that's just fine. For me, while the plot is nice for keeping you moving from location to location, it is primarily skippable until you meet up with that one specific character. In Resident Evil 4 it was the midget royalty, Ramon Salazar... here it's the delightfully campy Ricardo Irving. Every time he comes on the screen, I just want to hear him talk. The delivery is perfect and he makes me giggle at everything he says.

Resident Evil 5 has been a blast. It is a good sign for a game when I'm sitting at work thinking about going home and playing again.

World News Wednesday: Maybe I should change the name

I only really chose World News Wednesday for that alliteration, but since I primarily stay within the realm of the United States, I'm thinking I might have to change. Especially after today, since I'm keeping it within my own state. Here you go.

I'll come out straight and say I'm completely against this measure. It's ridiculous for someone to have to take the written portion of the exam in English for the one reason that if someone already has to take the driving and sign parts of the test in English (and those are the things that you will be seeing on the road), why not allow them to take the main part in the language they understand best?

I know that when I took the written test the wording was confusing enough in English on some of the questions. So, why don't we want people getting licenses to drive? Do we like having unlicensed drivers out there? Does it add up to a significant amount of arrests (I know it does in my area)?

I just don't see the point. The other big thing against this is the incoming companies from out of the country that are coming to the state. In my area, we have a large Korean population as we are building a KIA manufacturing plant. I just don't like forcing newcomers through one more hoop just to feel welcome.

Opinions?