Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Super Archetype Slapdown Tournament!
ROUND 2!
In a process that did not involve actual skill or facts, but rather the opinions of a limited council of sorts (much like the Jesus Seminar), the following characters have proceeded to Round 2. Who would win, and why? Discuss.
Labels: geek stuff
Monday, December 19, 2005
Super Archetype Slapdown Tournament!
In each of the following eight matches, who would win in a fight, and why? Discuss.
Labels: geek stuff
Friday, December 16, 2005
At some point in church history...
The cheesy church sign saying was born.
Now, from the comfort of your own internet connection, you can make your own, just like I did above. www.churchsigngenerator.com supplies you with two different designs - just enter your saying, and voilà! Your own church sign. The site also has actual unaltered photos of church signs (honestly, no one could make those up) for your viewing pleasure.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
WARNING!!! MAJOR GEEK CONTENT FOLLOWS!!!
From Wired Magazine:
James Cawley, who plays Kirk, and director Jack Marshall are the cocreators of Star Trek: New Voyages. They are repairing a rift in the space-time continuum, fixing the most glaring flaw in the history of science fiction. As every geek in the galaxy knows, Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise set out on a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before. But NBC canceled the show in 1969 after only three seasons. New Voyages aims to fill fans in on what they missed. . . . At their current pace of one episode a year, they'll finish the five-year mission in 2054.Yes, that's right. A bunch of Star Trek geeks have banded together to shoot new episodes of the old-skool adventures of Kirk and crew with an all-new cast. Apparently, one of the script-writers of the original show is writing the new scripts, a few random production people who actually work for the official show are pitching in, plus the guy that played Chekov is even reprising his role when Chekov gets affected by an aging-virus. Director Jack Marshall, incidentally, is the guy responsible for "The Phantom Edit", a re-cut of Star Wars Ep.1 that floated about the internet, which cut out most of Jar-Jar's scenes and Anakin's "yippee!" lines, so it can't be all that bad, huh? The episodes can be downloaded for free from www.newvoyages.com
Now, on a certain level, I'll admit that what they're doing is pretty cool. It has indie written all over it, but man, I can think of lots of other things I'd rather pour my time and creativity into.
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, geek stuff
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
"Stuck here in the middle with you."
(or "How to Tick Off Everyone")
No, this is not a discussion about severing ears; Tarentino, Da Vinci, or otherwise. Instead, it is a rant about things that frustrate me:
The Arts. I'm about to make some generalizations. Many nonchristian artists effectively deify the medium (whatever its message) and many christian artists try to justify their artistic endeavors to other christians by either 1) making sure it has some weak message in it that somehow might pass as a gospel presentation or 2) using it as a way to build 'authentic relationships' (whatever that is) with nonchristians to spread the gospel (which is a good thing, of course). But where else do you see christians making these rationalizations to justify their professions? It's just art! It's just a movie! It's just a song! Make art and enjoy art because you have the freedom to do so! The Arts are just communication; languages; another amoral thing to be used for either good or for evil. It's not that big of a deal as people make it out to be. Besides, it's all going to burn one day, so don't stress out about it.
Politics. It is God who brings the rise and fall of kings and empires, not Man. Personally, I have no real interest in politics, though I usually will vote, and vote conservatively. But politics are not going to save the world - you can't change people's hearts by changing their behaviors, through legislation or otherwise. I don't buy the argument of turning America "back into the Christian nation its forefathers meant for it to be" - just because Enlightenment-era deists use the same language as christians, that does not make them christians too. Most of the religious refugees had arrived generations earlier - far back enough for that current generation to not to know the faith of their forebears. Somehow I don't think when Peter wrote "be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good", that included revolution (and note that 'every human institution' included Caesar, whose religious persecution of christians was somewhat more intense than George III's tea taxations). Is it a sin for Christians to not be involved in politics? No. Is it a sin for Christians to be involved in politics? Also no. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting... But my kingdom is not from the world." I am proud to be an American, and when asked will gladly take up arms to defend it, but my first citizenship is in Christ's kingdom - we are but exiles sojourning in this world until His return. It's just politics! If you enjoy politicing, then do so! If not, then don't. Besides, it's all going to burn one day, so don't stress out about it. EDIT: If it's the Gospel of Christ that will change people's hearts, and therefore their behavior, should we concentrate our efforts on, say, trying to get the 10 commandments back in classrooms, or on proclaiming the Gospel?
MacArthur vs. MacLaren fistfights. (Well, not just them, but a subtitle with two extreme scots in it was fun to write - yet essentially another generalization.) This is really one of my biggest frustrations. I don't know what's going to happen to the church (I mean, of course it will survive - maybe not in the West, but somewhere). On one hand, I worry about poor doctrine spilling from the pulpits, yet, on the other, I worry that kneejerk reactions from those with good doctrine will put off the others before there is a chance for them to actually talk about it. "You're a bunch of legalists!" "Well, you're a bunch of antinomians!" [sigh] It's like learning to roast your own coffee beans - once your palette acquires the taste for freshly-roasted coffee (which is great), it's hard to go back to Starbucks, and your coffee-drinking options shrink considerably, but then suddenly you're the jerk that won't go out for coffee anymore [an analogy; not directed toward you, Jon, haha]. I don't know - how are we supposed to increase spiritual discernment in a loving manner? Especially when any challenge of religious thinking (both without and within christianity) is seen as "intolerant", "unloving", and "legalist"? Good grief. We need more of God's grace - not a blind eye, but loving grace - to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." I need more of God's grace. And a cup of coffee (freshly-roasted, I hope).
Labels: film/tv/books/arts, religion/theology/philosophy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Musical Year in Review.
Not so much a true musical year in review from a global perspective, and not so much stuff that necessarily came out this year, but more of "what have I been listening to this year". Also, I'm writing this after a heavy meal (greek chicken plate to go), so my sentences may or not be coherent.
First off, there was the unfortunate tendency for most of my favorite bands to release "'just okay' to mediocre" follow-up albums. The best of these was Starflyer's "Talking Voice Vs. Singing Voice"; the worst of these was Coldplay's "X+Y" (what a disappointment that was). Jimmy Eat World's "Futures" was somewhere inbetween. Oh well. Anyway, on with the reviews...
Grandaddy - "The Software Slump" and "Sumday" Both of these albums are a few years old, but I've just discovered them. Laid-back lo-fi slacker space pop rock with a pseudowestern flair. Or something. 'El Caminos in the West' is a great song.
Doves - "Some Cities" Semi-ambient Brit-pop rock. Doves' third album nicely mixes the mood of their first album with the song-writing flair of their second. It's really the first time one of their albums actually feels like a cohesive album, which is a good thing. My favorite of their albums thus far, although 'Catch the Sun' is still my favorite song.
Muse - "Absolution" Wow. This band sounds kinda like Radiohead, except they rock. They rock really, really well. Wow.
Thrice - "Vheissu" I did not expect to like this album, since I've really been getting out of the whole post-hardcore/post-emo/radio-rock scene lately, but Thrice has grown musically, apparently not wanting to get left behind as emo is finally thrown off the music bus. "Vheissu" intersperses the occasional post-hardcore flavor over a rather ambient and laid-back album. In a way, it reminds me of The Prayer Chain's "Mercury" album. Anyway, I like it.
Sufjan Stevens - "Come On, Feel the Illinoise" marks his second album in his 50 states projects (the first being Michigan). A great album, quite epic, but it still doesn't quite impart the same sense of beauty that his "Seven Swans" album did.
The Music - "Welcome to the North" A nice solid rock album from this British indie group, it's a strangely dancable record with classic rock influences.
Athlete - "Tourist" This Brit-pop band, with their 'mockney' vocals, of course gets comparisons to Coldplay and Doves. The album overall is good, but not great - but what really shines is their song 'Wires', which is one the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time.
Other notable mentions: Yo La Tengo, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, The Dandy Warhols, Massive Attack, Magna-Fi (stop laughing at me), Dolorean, Phaser, The Pixies, Rubyhorse, Kasabian, Emiliana Torrini, Death Cab for Cutie, Thievery Corporation, and of course, various selections from the Nirvana box set.
Labels: music
