Michel Ancel Interview

This trailer is worth the entire last few seconds. Genius. I will be getting this game, go Wii. Hail Launch Day.

And he's French, tre chic. I have always loved the work of Prevost, so why not this guy?

Gaming Couples Event

Ruby Skye Calendar

Never thought I would see an event like this. Suppose it would fit in with our latest stint (or longer) in WoW. An interesting choice of venues given that Ruby Skye is the traditional site of world renown DJs and the like.

I am not thinking very seriously about going, in fact not at all. I will either be vacationing with my inlaws or hosting a friend. Events like this one should be something I attend in the future if I hope to get into the gaming theory industry.

World of Warcraft Music Video

Simply Amazing.. To critics of the game, ahem, I present this work of fine, nay, exquisit art. Listen to the words and let them take you away to 'whole new worlds' perhaps. Quite well done. To Tim; yes man, I remember the glory, and then I remembered some of the droll repetition and endless minor tweeking and lack of social interaction, well, not to go on a tirade, but needless to say, at least for now, it is time to move on. Only side effect of WoW so far is really long, sometimes too long, run on sentances, especially in instances where one or two short ones would do, like this one here.

WoW - Beginnings

As is said: "It Has Begun!"

This weekend marks the first time I have logged on to a persistent world MMORPG and I had the extreme pleasure of doing so with my wife. Here we are at a well outside of the main city, forgot the name but I am sure I will pick them up in time. It was a thrill and I am sure that I will blog about it from time to time. As Brett told me when I informed him, "Say goodbye to your life." I am sure it will not come to that and, although I am sure we will enjoy it often, it shouldn't dominate our lives. But I think some fandom might be cool to get into. More about my video game theory ideas later, however, I thought that, should I go into speaking/writing about them in the future, this is probably one game I could not excuse myself from not having played; and so I have begun.

Ah sorry, no Wii

Well, it is my sad news that I was unable to get a Wii Preorder this morning. Camped out in front of Gamestop this morning, although camped is used a little weakly in my case. Fact is my fervor was not strong enough, got there sometime around 7am, not early enough. The front pair has camped since 11:30pm the night before, then on down to two in front of me got there at 5am. Parents for their kids seemed to trump true fandom in this case. Although there was some controversy about their being all from the same household (as in limit one per), but they went ahead and did it anyway.

No matter; I had a really good time. The event helped me to see that I have really missed regular friendly contact. Sure, I have my friends, but these were people I just met, under similar circumstances, and we really enjoyed each other's company. Topics ranged quite a bit but all within the general interests of people who would camp for a Wii, although some went a bit further; not surprising given the higher age of gamers nowadays. We discussed regional traits, gentrification, homelessness, etc. on top of games, movies, and shows.

It was a very nice experience. I was even asked to exchange numbers with one attendee who thinks we might be able to organize a campout on launch day. This time, perhaps it will be truly epic (in length as well as grandeur).

Professor on Credentialism

I think for the most part this clip is spot on. I should have more to say on this but at the time I don't. There are, of course obvious exceptions, but in large part this is a facet of the University that I do not think is being fully discussed.

Added to that, my degree in particular is mentioned. hehe, bit o sting? nah, I would love to teach English.

The Vanity of Human Wishes

from *see above, by Samuel Johnson (lines 323-342)

Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps to busy to be wise,
Whom Joy with soft varieties invite,
By day the frolic, and the dance by night:
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart;
What care, what rules your heedless charms shall save,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?
Against your fame with Fondness Hate combines,
The rival batters, and lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tired with contempt, she quits the slippery reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom, and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior plied:
To Interest, Prudence; and to Flattery, Pride.
Now Beauty falls betrayed, despised, distressed,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

I encountered this while studying for the GRE subject test. I am taking it, for the third time, in November. I am really aiming for a higher score to aid in getting into a PhD program. This is just as excerpt, as the lines indicate, from Johnson's larger work, but how telling of our modern times. This is, of course, aimed at beautiful women, whom I believe are captured here in startling clarity given our 'modern' times. So often this is the case that is is a grief to remember it. How, so often, beauty is ruined in these ways. Not to mention how torturous the fall, especially given Johnson's verses. Previous to these lines he calls on the new born scholar, the recently graduated. I shall have to quote those lines in the near future and make some comment as to their relevance to my life. For now, I think these lines speak well to my perspective when encountering beauty in our culture.

The Beans That Bind

What I often find myself missing the most from friends that I cannot spend time with is the coffee that is shared. Phone conversations are terrific in their own right and a marvel of our modern times. But indeed, sharing of the perky beverage seems to have something of the mystical about it. Starbucks may have to start servicing something like a coffee-chat channel, but even with video feeds and an audio channel I think the effect would be lost somewhere in the middle.

This just came to mind after having a very nice conversation with Brett on the phone and, being a little drowsy, I brewed a pot in the coffee machine often used when we were pulling all nighters or staying awake for get together or party later that evening. The energy before going out was always highlighted intensely with the caffeine and a good night was generally assured. Good times. Somewhat startling to me what this thought. I know I am a pretty nostalgic person, but having these emotions about a coffee machine... hmmm well, nothing new on the grand stage of it all. Great authors muse about the pens they shared with colleagues; walking sticks that carry special honor et cetera.

I can still tell however, that despite this evening's coffee jumpstart I am still falling into the, I guess I should say new habit of writing in a little formalized style not quite conversational. I wonder: is this common of many people who start blogging? heh, perhaps it is.

Masters in Hand

It is a good day when something like this arrives in the mail. The experience of finishing the degree was a little convoluted. There were many instances of being "done." I know, despite what Michael from The Office says, that things on paper do not fully capture or signify what they represent. But I am always capable of looking deeper into the concept of representation: this, for the moment--and all the moments it stands for--feels very nice to hold.

Masters Degree in English -- Check

(kudos go out to the Office of International and Graduate Studies at Cal. State University, Chico who processed my degree, from final approval to the printed for depicted here, in about one month. Nice.) 

Ion iTTUSB

Amazon.com: Ion iTTUSB Turntable with USB Record: Electronics

Turntable that I am looking into getting. The first time around they sold out of these things in a day. Now it looks like they are back, on sale, and available for free shipping. w00t!

If the sale goes through it would take me a solid weekend getting all of my vinyl into the digital format. But I can't even begin to tell you how awesome that would be. Quite excited about the possibilies here.

Purity

The struggle to stay pure is never ending. In the minute I think I have control things can slip away. I had a talk with my Dad earlier this week and he had incredible insights into my condition and his words were of wisdom that I will be working to put into practice.

The Path to 9/11

The Path to 9/11

You may have seen this already, they played it over the weekend without commercial interuption. Chico is pretty bad as far as reception goes and I hate the look of rabbit ears. Needless to say this webcast, or I am not sure what you would call it, was a welcome treat. I have not finished it, only about an hour through the first night. But it is very well produced and has recieved a lot of attention. People have tried to censor it, get it shut down, propagandize (sp) against it; so I think it might be interesting to watch and discuss.

http://pathto911.abc.com/index.html

Nice stream too, I was playing it at 1003kbs and it looked good. It's a little hard to see, but when you use the larger view you can scale the player to your browser window using the tab in the lower right. I know, I'm a dolt and it actuallt took me a while to figure that one out :)

There are also rumors of unedited copies that may be circulating the web in the near future. It will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Conferences in Heaven

I was just going through my CFP (call for papers) updates in my email box this morning and had the thought, since I think I should enjoy these very much, especially if I move on for further education: what would the content be if they existed in some form or another in heaven? The idea here, be it a very fantastic one, follows the contemplations of the coffee lover concerning the nature of coffee in heaven or the scrapbooker on what cut-outs and backgrounds for scrapbooking may exist in the eternal.

So I thought it would be entertaining to think of some fanciful ideas for conferences and symposiums in realm of eternal light.

Bunnies in Clouds: A Discourse on the Nature of Clouds

Papers are encouraged to look into clouds and their resemblances as an element to observe the creative spheres of both God and humanity. How do they capture a specific element of God's vast palate? Also welcome are papers that explore the concept of free will as it relates to clouds and how God's concept of free will extends to an individual's creative power to see various cloud formations as images of representation.

Well as you can see it's a work in progress and quite a silly one at that; but fun nonetheless :)

Point Counter Point

I am currently reading Aldous Huxley's terrific novel Point Counter Point. It has within its pages some of the most insightful encounters with humanities many a semblance that it is often staggering. Reading through the thoughts of Spandrel is like dissecting this infectious wound embedded deep within humankind. In is this wonderful excerpt:

He hoped there was a hell for him to go to and regretted his inability to believe in its existence. Still, hell or no hell, it was satisfactory, it was even exciting in those early days to know that one was doing something bad or wrong. But there is in debauchery something so intrinsically dull, something so absolutely and hopelessly dismal, that it is only the rarest beings, gifted with much less than the usual amount of intelligence and much more than the usual intensity of appetite, who can go on actively enjoying a regular course of vice or continue actively to believe in its wickedness.

pg. 217 of the Dalkey Archive Press edition, 2004

Huxley is an expert in dealing with the complex inner workings of both conscience and soul. This novel is a masterpiece and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it and entertaining its notions in my own mind.

Wash and Shine

Wonderful day this one. Just finished washing and waxing the car with my love and we are about to take a trip to do a little shopping. Probably play some games and watch a movie later.

Dinner will be the order of the evening. My parents are taking us out to celebrate the completion of my Masters degree. Feels tremendous and I am sure the food will be terrific, but more on that later.

Back on Track

I have recently been working with the program Writely in a personal attempt to keep up my writing by adding the technological incentive. Meaning, now that there is something cool and very useful that might help spur me on to putting fingers to keys.

This might also be part of a motivation to stave off negative commentary. The previous post, which remained so for too long due in inaccessibility to my blog, is an example of my mind set that was stuck for a time in blogging for relief instead of creative exercise. It is not that I am changing my thought pattern so much as it is a motivation to change my reasons for expression.

Writely (www.writely.com) has been unable to post from the files written there, but hopefully that will be worked out soon. In the mean time I am going to work harder on making this a writing exercise that is worthwhile as well as fun. I should start pretending that someone is reading this. Besides the only person that I know for sure has, at one time, Tim, and if you are reading this good friend, I hope you are well.

Hezbollah succeeds in impressing NYT

Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature - New York Times

Hat tip, as they say, to The American Thinker. This article from the NY Times was discovered through one of their recent articles.

http://www.americanthinker.com/

It is hard to think of my complete reactions to this article, but the total experience was distastefully. Good thing I don't read it often. This piece places such a hero's light on Hezbollah it's disgraceful. They even go so far as to account for the Lebanese government in this manner:

"Hezbollah reputation as an efficient grass-roots social service network as opposed to the Lebanese government, regarded by many here as sleek men in suits doing well— was in evidence everywhere."

This is the same government that is called upon to aid in bringing peace by the UN resolution, the same government that was tasked wistabilizinging their border and this, OH yeah!, not even mentioned as radical terrorist organization. The awe with which this piece paints them certainly puts that idea out of mindHezbollahlla is a strong--people driven-- grass roots organization.

Certainly they are doing none of this for the sake of building a base of supporters, soldiers, willing citizens. Certainly this is no power play.

AH, also importanIRAN is funding everything. Ah yes, this is the source of power. A country committed to seeing the destruction of Israel would have no heinous motive behind reconstructing a part of Lebanon that threw their weight against Israel. None...

This truly is pathetic.

Cootsona

Cootsona: Reflections on Culture, Life, and Faith: Wait No Longer! The Complete Links to My Lectures on "The Da Vinci Code"

A series of lectures on "The Da Vinci Code" that I intend to check out at a later time. The speaker is a pastor at Bidwell Pres. here in Chico. What is most interesting about the article is not its content but the response posted by a John.

Why are people so unwilling to condemn this obvious attempt to mislead people and fabricate a distrust of the church; especially so from within the church?

"I think you did a good job discussing canonization, but I think there could be questions about the validity of the current canon. In a later post on your blog, you point out that the validity of prayer is not based on the quantity of the pray-ers, but on the authority of the One. Could it not be the same for scripture? I think there are some people who question the "majority rule" and even ecumeninism of the canonization process. What if the majority got it wrong? What if the scriptures they selected were simply most compatible with their own goals and desires of the church?"

If he is serious then this could be borderline blasphemy. The Word, as we know it as Christians, is the inspired word of God. To worry about the "majority rule" of it, the very text with which we base our faith, seems false to the point of absurdity.

I could go on at length but suffice it to say that he incorrectly uses the Dada movement to describe Mark Twain and engages in other such ridiculousness.

I have decided to make it an effort to challenge these positions as I find them and educate myself in manner suiting that endeavor.

This is also coming on the heels of this review posted by a leader in the college group of this church.
Brokeback Mountain Review

The Ship Online

The Ship Online

The Ship

The Ship

Taking a serious look at this amazing new game concept. If it's anything like I expect it seems to be something in the lines of a mix between "Ten Little Indians" and "Clue."

The pre-order deal is also a bit hard to pass up, 25% off, making it a cool $15.

In other belated news, meaning again that I haven't been keeping up on my blog, I have officially defended my thesis. I did so a little over a week ago and the feeling, as tremedous as it is, is still settling in. It feels as though the reigns are slowing letting off and I can breath more and more.

Also, I even more belated news, I have DS Lite now as does my lovely wife. Currently playing:

Animal Crossing
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Ford Racing 3
Sonic Rush
(and some others) although I am not even sure you can have a list in a "currently" list. Would be like saying, "I am currently reading..." and listing quite a few, or what about "currently listening," perhaps more freedom there. Who knows.