Argh. It really annoys me when companies make cheap knockoffs of popular products to market to “Christians”.
Let me set a context. We picked up Guitar Hero: World Tour on Boxing Day. My wife and I had been introduced to it while visiting my in-laws before Christmas, and it was a lot of fun. Yeah, the costumes you could choose for your “character” had some racy options, but they were your choice - it was not like you were being forced to have your character dress scantily.
The other thing was the selection of tracks. Typical rock music. It took a significant amount of gameplay before I encountered a track that was seriously objectionable (Ozzie Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley” if you must know). Otherwise, typical rock tracks.
Then I read that there is this “Christian” version - Guitar Praise.
I just went to the website, and I was not impressed. Yeah, they have all Christian music, which is fine, but the graphics look dumb and it looks considerably less slick and enjoyable when compared to Guitar Hero. It’s less of everything, but ooooh…. it’s got Christian music in it!
I am sorry. I wish Guitar Hero would just make a music pack of Christian singles. I’d buy it in a second, but I am not going to go out and buy Guitar Praise. Same goes for Country. I’d like to be able to pick my music, not have to buy a separate “guitar” and game for each genre.
I am not sure if he is making fun of atheists or Christians but who cares? He’s darn funny. I miss Monty Python - too bad there’s nobody doing such intelligent humour anymore. It’s like comedy has been reduced to mean-spirited personal attacks and varying combinations of foul language - usually a combination of both.
I thought I’d just put this up as the top post here - currently I blog in three places. Each has a different purpose.
The Politic is a group blog on conservative political issues. I am one of many contributors of content and commentary. It is about to undergo a revamp, so check it out.
Confessions of a Shiftless Mind is my personal blog, about nonpolitical issues. It also incorporates my old blog posts from previous, more political solo efforts, the now defunct The High Places and Left-Handed Right. However, its emphasis has shifted over time from the political to more about my personal life and about religious issues. Now, currently it is exclusively personal anecdotal stuff.
Planting on Faith is my newest blog, focusing on my family’s journey from a typical suburban Vancouver family to full-time vocational church planters. I know… that’s quite the change! It is where we believe God is calling us though. We’re not ready yet, but we’re getting there.
Right now, I don’t have a lot of free time, so casual, personal subjects are kind of off the radar, which is why you haven’t seen a lot on this blog. I have been much more regular with both of the other efforts. I am sure I will get back to Confessions sooner or later, and I have no plans to dismantle it, as it is an historical record of my online blogging. But for now, if you want to see more current updates on what’s spurring me to write, check out the other two.
Real life has definitely crossed over into la-la-land.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Joss Whedon’s work. Buffy was funny and fun, and much better than the title or its origin movie lead you to believe. Firefly and Serenity were triumphs of television and film, I don’t argue that. But isn’t it a bit of a stretch to think that whatever this man touches turns to gold?
His new series, “Dollhouse” has been greenlit and upped to 13 episodes, and it doesn’t even premiere until 2009. So clearly the studio thinks it’s not bad. But how is it that Whedon fans think it’s necessary to begin a campaign to save the show before it even premieres??? How can you save a show that hasn’t premiered? How can you save a show that has been greenlit and has the support of the network? A touch fatalistic you think? I can’t even compare it to anything - defibrillating a guy walking down the street?
It must have been months ago that my oldest was introduced to Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom. Maybe years. We were staging for our first family Disneyland trip and Cheryl wanted to introduce him to what we’d be doing. The neat thing about VMK.com is that not only is it a MMORPG style game, it is set up so you are exploring Disneyland at the same time - the most famous rides sights and everything are there. (Update: looks like they are shutting it down shortly, though there are some resisters…)
One day whilst playing around with that, I noticed a link to something called “Disney’s Toontown“. I signed Dylan up for it and watched it a bit, helping him to learn the basics. It was cute but too simple to interest me, or so I thought.
Flash forward a few years. He’d played it a bit more and Lyndan was now big enough to find it amusing to play his own. I thought I would make myself a toon and log in.
They were thrilled.
They’d run back and forth between the desktop and me on my laptop, yelling about where they were and “Oh! There’s a cog! Let’s get it!” They would follow my character around like puppies, help me with quests, and in general just love being “a team” with Daddy. I was astonished. I think they really enjoyed teaching me how to play too. Dylan had been playing long enough that he had explored a lot of the areas, and he knew what was allowed and not allowed to non-paying players.
Now I am semi-hooked. I can’t wait to play again - both because I enjoy it and because they enjoy it with me.
Problem is, I should really be working on my paper…
Warning. Some of the cartoons contained therein are a little disturbing, Even if they are two color stick figures. Might not be a good idea to watch with kids around.
Apparently, studying the etymology of the Chinese pictographic written language seems to indicate that. The Chinese pictographic written language is one of the oldest written languages in the world. If these findings are accurate, then all of a sudden it wasn’t the ancient Hebrews who reformulated myriad local traditions into the first monotheistic religion.
It was in fact they who have transmitted the first religion accurately - and all other cultures’s relgions represent copies that have been modified and corrupted into their present forms.
That is a big deal. And something to think about.
This wasn’t the first place I had heard about this information either. Looks like a number of people are beginning to recognize these patterns. I wonder how much these discoveries have to do with the explosion of Christianity in China?
Pastor Hacks - useful for a pastoral perspective on productivity. Most pastors I know could use some help in this area. Pastors are in general people people, and tend to lose track of details.
Lifehacker - personal productivity. The mother of all productivity sites.
Cult of Sincerity - full-length youtube movie? Watching. Incidentally connected (their means of profiting from the film) is…
Amie Street - a website with downloadable music VERY affordably priced. I found a Barenaked Ladies Children’s CD on it! The songs are brilliant. I will be downloading and exposing my children to barenaked ladies.
I hope that last sentence does not get my kids taken from me by social services.
