Thursday, April 28, 2005

Anime Quiz Results

One of the things my sister-in-law and I share is an interest in Japanese anime, something my wife and I shared first. Once in a while, I stay overnight at my in-laws' place and one of the main things we do is watch anime.

Currently, both of us have been following the storylines of two really interesting anime: Naruto and Prince of Tennis. Now LJ is a true fan, except in one sense: she hates spoilers. Her favorite characters so far are Hatake Kakashi and Kikumaru Eiji.

She also has a Blog, but I haven't seen it yet; she would only let me see it if I made her Blogger templates based on her two favorite characters. So I surfed the web looking for nice pictures and wallpapers that I might be able to use in creating the templates. While I was in cyberspace, I came across some "Which Naruto/Prince of Tennis character will you be" quizzes. Hmmmmm...

I took 'em, and here are the results.



You are the number one loner rookie. You don't need others you know it!
You are Saske! The number one loner rookie. You
don't need other people.


The Real Naruto Character Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla




You are KAKASHI!

Mature. Balanced. Quirky. You're not what people would call a "black sheep" but at the same time, you aren't quite normal. With a subtle sense of humor and a slightly less than subtle way of teaching people a lesson, one thing is for sure: no one can wait to see your whole face.

Which NARUTO character are you?
(http://www.morg-ue.net/quiz/naruquiz.html)




Mizuki
You're Tezuka Kunimitsu! The silent, stern captain who only seems to have one facial expression. You're a total stud as you are already but you could try smiling every once in a while. It's not gonna kill you, you know?


Which Prince of Tennis character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Someone of the opposite sex with whom one can talk to on even terms


She found for the first time in her life, as also did Jack, someone of the opposite sex with whom she could have a conversation on even terms... — Douglas Gresham, step-son of C.S. Lewis

This particular quote I found after some time of surfing around the web, immediately after my wife and I chatted online (I found it here). He, Douglas Gresham, was talking about how his mother, Joy Davidman Gresham, found somebody with whom she could really relate to. Who happens to be my favorite author, C.S. Lewis. A movie, called "Shadowlands", beautifully portrays the love story of this lady and probably the most well-known of all Christian apologists of the last century (that's the 20th Century, by the way; we are already in the 21st, after all). I watched that version with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, not the supposedly more accurate one with Joss Ackland and Clair Bloom. I don't intend to tell the entire story of Joy and Jack Lewis in this post (if you want to find out, click the links, or borrow the movie and watch it, or, better yet, read a good biography of C.S. Lewis or Joy Gresham), but to relate something about that quote up there.

As I said, I had just finished e-chatting with my wife online. Growing up, I thought I would be lucky if someone would consent to marry me. I hadn't been the most attractive guy in school and (unlike a lot of other men, I'm quite sure) I never had any school romance. Most who only know me now would think it may be due to my corpulence; no, not really. Up until my 2nd year in college, I was the proper body/weight proportion, a CAT officer, and reasonably fit, inspite of my asthma. To cut a long story short, I am much more unattractive now than I was; yet for some reason this girl, Ærynn, fell in love with me for some reason. But I don't mind, for even before we fell in love, she had become a better friend than I thought was possible, from even a person of the same sex. She was of the opposite sex, lovely and voluptuous, but more importantly we can talk. And share stuff.

Oh, we have our differences. Choice of music, most especially. And a lot of other things... which doesn't matter. We hang out, we do stuff, and we even quarrel sometimes... as I do with others, to be sure. But never on such equal terms. I can be completely honest with her, tell her of things which I would normally be ashamed to tell anybody else, even my twin, and I know she will still love me, at first as a friend, then as my fiancee, now as my wife. It is like another me, and that, in itself, is remarkable as I am a twin—if there should have been another "me" it should have been E-, right? Nobody completes me more (yes, I know! Jerry McGuire... but the Bible was first, you know) than anyone I have ever met, or had hoped to meet. I had been attracted to my own share of girls growing up, each with distinct attractiveness, but my wildest hopes never would have come up with an Ærynn. I never thought it was possible. It's like I created her for myself, with all the lovely virtues and yet the proper number of flaws to prevent her from becoming a Mary Sue; yet, not quite, for she has other qualities I never thought I wanted in a woman which she has since shown me I had desired all along.

What can I say? I am irretrievably in-love with this woman, and she has shown the hallmarks of having the same feelings for me (hard to believe, yes). I have found for the first time in my life someone of the opposite sex with whom I could have a conversation on even terms, true intercourse, where I truly know my wife—mind, body and soul. Such happiness amidst such bitterness than I thought was possible, or what I rightly deserve. Praise God, He gave me at least one great gift if He never gave me anything else (though, of course, He has). Especially for one like who had thought that I would spend the rest of my life alone, as this very bitter poem shows, written just months before she first said she loved me.



I wrote this poem years ago, this time just months after she first said that she loved me.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Deformed Wedding Ring

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. My wedding ring has finally become deformed. For a long time, I've been trying to prevent my left hand from doing too much since the ring is thinner than most rings.Image hosted by Photobucket.com I read recently from the internet that if I had been planning to do manual labor, I should have chosen a thicker, heavier ring. Well, I've been doing a lot of heavy work lately, and now it is deformed. No longer a perfect circle, as it should be. I am annoyed and it really weighs heavily on my mind.

It's my fault. I chose the ring for it's design and beauty, less for its sturdiness. I didn't know that caveat about manual labor, or I should have been more careful to choose something that is noticeably thicker. But I hated the designs of the few thick rings I saw, and at that time, with my then fiancée (now my lovely wife) I was on a quest for beauty. If you would check my post update on my wedding pics (or the picture below), you will see just how lovely those rings really are. Besides, I thought that at 18k it was already hard enough. My mistake.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comBut they are thin, as you can see in the scanned picture above. I had forgotten how malleable real gold is (oh, gee! I am so relieved that it's real gold :sarcastic smile:). It is now slightly flattened. It still fits over my finger and, I daresay, it fits "better" and clings to my finger "better". But I have been accustomed to admiring its symmetry and it's being a perfect circle. This ring, though losing none of its sentimental value, feels somehow less.

So, at the very first opportunity I shall try to find a way to have this "repaired". I am hoping that our jewelers are skilled enough to make this a nice and good circle once again without damaging it.

I wish this perfectionism does not extend to my relationship with my wife. One, of course, cannot always have the "perfect" marriage; though the definition of "perfect" when referring to marriage is, at best, a misconception brought about by what the movies, TV and written fiction have told us a "perfect" marriage should be like. At worst, most of that touchy-feely crap we see is just a lie. So when the honeymoon is over and one notices that the loved one is no longer surrounded by the fuzziness lent by rose-colored glasses, people who believe the lie think that the love "is gone" and one must "move on". I know a certain couple who periodically break up and come back together based on a variation of this, that is, I have never seen them actually stick together long enough while they are not "in sync". True love, I believe, is being able to stay together even when both are not in sync. Ærynn and I have stayed together so long during periods of being out-of-sync that those periods of being out-of-sync have become shorter and shorter. I expect, of course, that we will have much newer periods of being out-of-sync once we start living together in a foreign land. But we have learned that the best way to find a way to resolve the conflict is to see it to its bitter end without trying to extend that bitterness to each other.

So maybe this deformed wedding ring is the perfect metaphor as to how our marriage is to be like. If anything mars it, we try hard to mend it. If we can't, we don't throw the ring away. Or stop wearing it just because it is marred. I am still wearing the deformed ring, and though I may never have it fixed, it will still be the ring that Ærynn slipped onto my finger when she made her promises to me. For better or for worse, this ring is mine.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Wish List Update


Things I wish I had (naturally)

Sunday, April 17, 2005

I stole some code, hehehehehe!

Notice this post, if you please. Whereas before I had those ugly HUGE letters at the start of post, to denote a "dropcap." HA! That was no dropcap! This is!!! Bwahahahahahahahaha!!! I took it, from somebody's Blog, which was linked to somebody's Blog, that was linked to another person's Blog that linked to me! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okay, I shouldn't be obnoxious and give credit where credit is due. I took the code from http://www.eckscheerleader.blogdrive.com/. It's a CSS thing (Cascading Style Sheets), and the dropcap class-thingee is this:

.dropcap {
float: left;
font: normal 60pt/0.8em Georgia,Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;
color: #6600CC;
margin-right: 3px;
}


As I learn more and more about CSS, I can't believe I survived so long without it.

Ethnic Invitation Rejected

My fears that the invitation I made would be seen as too "high brow" was justified after all. My sister-in-law, BH, sadly told me that her Papa wasn't all too happy (if at all) about the invitation, and would rather have one that is more "old-fashioned."

One of the things I should remember is that when people want something done, especially in something as arbitrary as an invitation design, they already have something specific in mind. I can't deny that I feel bad. I had, after all, been insanely proud of it, and I still think it was rather original. Still, it is his birthday, and if he wants abaca strings and weave, he can have it. That invitation would probably be something like this invite from a wedding site I did more than a year ago. I didn't make the invite, of course; but I used the invite design for the web site. I could have gone with that and designed the invite like this, but I have stated my reasons already why that was not possible at all this last week.

Get over it, GH! You can't please everybody...

Friday, April 15, 2005

I'm too lazy to type it all up again...

I've wanted to transfer the contents from my old siteImage hosted by Photobucket.com to this Blog. There'se only a few, but for some reason I feel like I don't want to go through these old poems again. They were a part of my past and will always give me a sort of, well, regretful nostalgia for it.

I still would like to put the poems here, but there just has to be some other way...

... so right now, I am experimenting with using the iframe tag to insert my old web pages into my post. I don't know if I will ever go through the entire anthology...

... well, wait and see. This poem down below is perhaps my shortest poem. I'd really like to explain it right now, but I don't feel like it. But, make no mistake, this poem has no "multiplicity" of meaning, as some claim poems ought to be.





Your Seduction Style: Ideal Lover





You seduce people by tapping into their dreams and desires.
And because of this sensitivity, you can be the ideal lover for anyone you seek.
You are a shapeshifter - bringing romance, adventure, spirituality to relationships.
It all depends on who your with, and what their vision of a perfect relationship is.


Thursday, April 14, 2005

Ethnic Invitation — Update

And, six hours later (actually, less than that because I had dinner with Mom for quite a while in between) I have got a concept invitation out. Image hosted by Photobucket.comIt isn't so "in-your-face" ethnic, but it is obviously ethnic.

Well, actually, I don't know. If some of those invited does not know what Baybayin script is, they would think that all those squiggles are just some ugly, unmeaningful marks. I'm also afraid that some may consider it to high-brow. Not "in-your-face" makamasa ethnic, but high brow ethnic. Like a lot of people thought of the programmes I made for my brother F-'s wedding.

But, as I said, my options were limited, and the deadline was tonight. I don't know, just comment on what you think of all this, okay? Just click on the thumbnail on the right to see the larger version of the invite.

Still, I don't know... I'm insanely proud of it.


This invite was designed, by the way, not to be printed at home anymore. You see, BH and F- may not have the time to print all these out on their own, so I thought, how will they have the invites printed which will be reasonably of good quality but cheap enough to mass produce? I then thought of making it as a 4R print. They could have lots of it cheaply mass produced, at only five Philippine Pesos (that's around 10 American cents) per picture print. It would then be on good quality paper at a much better print resolution than if they had printed it at home.

And it would be done in just an hour, too. The only thing they need to purchase are envelopes to contain them.


I'm glad I was finally able to get some matino TTF of Baybayin. Five, in fact. I got them all here, if you want to experiment with it. Be warned, though, that the fonts do not directly transliterate words into baybayin script. Baybayin is a phonetic system of writing, and our usual keyboards are simply not phonetic. There are rules for writing. For instance, the first line that reads "Kayo ay inaanyayahang dumalo sa" needs to be typed as "Kyo ay= Inan=yyhN= dumlo s" just so that it will display correctly in Baybayin as ᜃᜌᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜁᜈᜀᜈ᜔ᜌᜌᜑᜅ᜔ ᜇᜓᜋᜎᜓ .

Some Pinoy Tolkien group didn't get that Tengwar (the writing system of the Elves in Lord of the Rings) was also a phonetic system of writing. So, when they hosted a premiere of "The Return of the King" and created a programme for it, they merely wrote down latinized Elvish, downloaded a Tengwar TTF, and used it. So, when other geekier fans (like my twin bro; I honestly didn't notice) who can read and write in Tengwar saw it, what they saw was the equivalent of d@*g-N@bÆt when what should have been meant was probably Legolas rules.

Therefore, learn the actual system of Baybayin if you want to use the fonts.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Ethnic Invitation — A Challenge

My sister-in-law's Dad is due to have his birthday by the 26th, and just her luck she was tasked to be the one to be the one to have the invitations produced. The problem is kind of unique: she was supposed to come up with an invitation that was "ethnic" in theme, but it also had to be merely printed out. Being in a quandry, she came to me.

Well, it was problematic. Almost all Filipino ethnic themed designs have been done to death. Furthermore, that was precisely why it is difficult: the fact that most ethnic themes were heavilly based on design, or rather patterns. Ethnic weave, mats, blankets, abaca, handmade paper, etc.—usually this is where the designs are based to give it the feel of ethnicity. That's precisely the reason why most "ethnic" invitations I've come across (mostly wedding invitations) had to be custom-made with ethnic materials. They are neither inexpensive nor easy to make or prepare. Yet, whatever design had to come up should be "printable" on normal greeting card.

Of course, I thought of using a scanned image but, c'mon, where will I get an ethnic design to scan? Google turned up zilch. Did I mention that almost every ethnic design has been done to death? Even if I come up with an ethnic object, I am very sure that I will just come up with something tacky.

And, oh... BH (my sister-in-law) said that she needs it by tomorrow morning. Wow, talk about some rush hour job...


How does one come up with an obviously ethnic Pinoy design without being tacky and, more importantly, when I don't have any artifacts whatsoever? I just don't have any artifacts to base it on... just like... just like... waitaminute! My twin and I, E-, once had exactly the same problem about two years ago. We had to come up with a theme based on an ethnic culture with which we absolutely had no artifacts of. At all. We needed to come up with a Middle-earth theme for F-'s wedding. For that, we made liberal use of Feanorian calligraphy... hmmmmmm...

I don't know yet how successful my venture will be, but now I have a paradigm to explore: I am going to use Baybayin script as a design element for the invitation! To help me, I visited the following sites:
I'll give updates on my progress later tonight. BH is also working on her own invites just in case I don't make it.

My Inner European (right...)





Your Inner European is French!









Smart and sophisticated.

You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.


Buying a Notebook PC (a.k.a. a Laptop)

Even though we call Dad's notebook a "laptop" I have only once used that machine on my lap, and all that time I had been nervous (lest I drop it) and uncomfy (I can't shift my thighs around, the exhaust was hot, and did I mention I might drop it?) Still, when Dad got what is essentially a high-end machine for its day and still performs better than any desktop PC I've ever used (well, considering that I have yet to get my hands on a truly high end desktop machine) makes me wish that I had one of my own.

When Ærynn and I finally move in together (we are married, after all),Dad's laptop, with a few modifications one of the very first and importantly urgent things we should purchase is a computer. At first, I would have insisted on getting a desktop PC, because it is cheaper and (I thought) I could tweak it and purchase expansion cards (like dedicated video cards, for any video editing, or sound cards, for sound editing). But I've been using Dad's machine to edit videos and, except for the dearth of hard disk space, actually outperformed F-'s machine (which we specifically had custom-built to edit videos).

So, I am much more open, nay, excited to get a laptop for ourselves.Dad's laptop, with a few modifications However, that laptop has to be what is called a "desktop replacement," that is, it is portable, yes, just like all good laptops should be; but it also must be fitted to also be a desktop computer. Just like Dad's laptop, which I was able to deck out with the following enhancements:
  • a typical PS/2 keyboard (to make typing easier as well as extending the life of the keyboard of the laptop itself)
  • an optical mouse (much easier to use than the touch pad; oh how I wish I had a WACOM digitizer instead)
  • external speakers (to make listening to music and watching DVDs much more a group appreciation thing)
  • two USB hubs (which effectively triples the number of USB ports the laptop has; essential, I say)
  • a USB floppy disk (you never know if one of those old-fashioned floppies come around)
  • and an external USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure (which contains my old 80 Gigabyte hard drive)USB 2.0 external hard drive enclosure, USB Floppy Drive, and 4-port USB Hub
Well, you can see for yourself what I've done for the laptop on the pics I included on this page (click on the photos to expand them). Once I leave for Oz, what I will be bringing with me is the external USB 2.o hard drive enclosure. Right now, I am backing up all the things that I will bring to Oz, including documents, my music collection, and all the pictures. I'm finding that indispensable now.

At any rate, that laptop will have to be a real investment, but I am unclear as to how to go about choosing something that we wouldn't regret. Fortunately, because I subscribe to Yahoo!'s Tech Tuesday, I was able to find these particular links online that will help me with just that:
Ærynn, if you're reading this, can you also check it out? What I need is a true business-class machine, so I would want to know just what limit our budget is (gmail me na lang).

Hopefully, I would finish all my projects this week so that I can start applying for my VISA next week.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

The M&M-pire Strikes Back

Sweets leads to hunger...
Hunger leads to ate...
Ate...
... leads to cavities.

Why all of us should drink milk

Drink up, ye hearties! Click here.

UPDATE - Online Wedding Album Now Public

The wedding album was originally supposed to be "Friends only." I didn't even imagine then that I would have difficulty just setting up permissions for each and every friend who wanted access to the album. So, after some private consideration (sorry, Ærynn, didn't have time nor opportunity to consult you on thisImage hosted by Photobucket.com), I decided to make the albums publicly available.

Just click the title to visit the online photo album, or click here.

For those who have been inconvenienced, my deepest apologies. You can now view the albums.

I took a test to test my brain.... hahahahaha....

I was looking through Wulfgar's Blog and looking at his links; one of the Blogs he linked to had this "Brain Gender test" which I thought may prove insightful.

These are the results, and I admit, I don't know what to think (maybe the female side of my brain)...





Your Brain is 73.33% Female, 26.67% Male



Your brain leans female

You think with your heart, not your head

Sweet and considerate, you are a giver

But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!


Christianity Today Article on the Shroud of Turin

My wife, Ærynn, sent me a link to a Christianity today article on the Turin Shroud, that piece of cloth that allegedly has the image of Jesus (the Veronica, or "True Image") imprinted on it.

I have always believed that the Turin Shroud is not the shroud that was used to wrap Jesus up in for his burial. The Gospels are clear, the cloths that wrapped Jesus in was in more than two pieces: one for the head and one for the body (John 20:6-7)

6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
The Turin Shroud, on the other hand, is all in one piece. For that reason alone, I know that it is not the shroud that wrapped Jesus up in the tomb. But, as N.D. Wilson said in that article (click this post's title to get to it, or click here), too many people make it the basis of their faith, risking their lives for what they believe is the genuine article. It is sad and discouraging, when faith is based on such flimsy foundation.

Yet it is sadder and more discouraging when atheists and skeptics say that the shroud is fake and then conclude that, just because the shroud is fake, so is all Christianity, including miracles, the Virgin Birth, and the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. I disbelieve the shroud's authenticity, but not in the authenticity of miracles, the Virgin Birth and the resurrection of the dead.

I have, however, engaged in debates with atheists online. No matter how much evidence I give them, nothing satisfies them. It seems fair, since no amount of evidence they can bring up will convince me that there is no God. Apparently, both of us are ruled by our faith—my faith that God is real, their faith that God just isn' there. It seems fair... or is it? For I have yet to meet an atheist who makes sense (I can, of course, be blamed for being biased here); for, if all their rules are to be followed, then the atom (which no one has seen but whose effects can be demonstrated mathematically and, within the realm of Quantum Physics, physically) will also not exist. Neither would tigers, elephants and glowing fish, all of which were held as mythical by skeptics in centuries past just because they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. Their most persistent demand is this: "You say there is a god, show him/her/it to me! You can't? Therefore, god does not exist." They might as well have demanded that I show them a hydrogen atom. I have no power to show them a hydrogen atom even if zillions of them are probably swarming around us at the moment; neither would I have the power, or the bloody authority, to just present the Creator of the Universe and the King of Kings to someone just to win an argument.

Or, speaking of persons, I cannot just mosey over to Malacañang, take GMA's brain out, and show it to my atheist acquaintance just to prove that she has a brain.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

At last, a Blogger Template that is Standards Compliant!

Again, for my personal use, a link:

http://glish.com/css/blogger/

The thing about this is that now it comes to me after I have already done a lot of work! Sheesh!

Friday, April 08, 2005

True Arrogance

Last night and early this morning, Dad had been trying to convince people not to opt for Affiliated Autonomy. He may have made a lot of mistakes in his impassioned speech (I wouldn't know, I wasn't there). He may have tried to appeal through nostalgia again (you know, his "I became a Christian in the UMC and so I am remaining in the UMC, and therefore so should all of you"—very weak argument; just imagine the other side making that ploy—"I am losing my Christianity in the UMC and so I am leaving, and therefore so should you"—to see how weak it was), or he tried arguing from a political perspective. Well, the Autonomists certainly turned it into a discussion in the political arena, so I guess I can hold blameless Dad here for thinking that, if he had turned it into a discussion on polity, he may convince them of the folly of it. My Dad is an imperfect man, but he does not merit being thought of as arrogant.

The reason my Dad can't discuss the true nature of the move for autonomy is because the leaders of the movement for autonomy have carefully disguised their true intentions from their minions. Dad cannot, of course, suddenly accuse them of wanting homosexuals to be ordained, or accuse them of promoting liberal theologies (like liberation theology and feminist theology, amongst others). No, he can't, without seeming to be a raving madman; he had to seem like he still had some sense. But they (these Palpatines who seem to be instituting reforms but are in reality lobbying for power) know that Dad knows, or at least suspects their true intentions.

But Dad was called "arrogant"— arrogant because he dares question their motives, arrogant for causing "division" because he abstained from voting for the ratification of the move for autonomy (who knows what threats were levelled at those who abstained, that the only thing they can do is abstain and not vote nay). He was told that his arrogance was clouding his judgement. He was told to shut up and sit down, and just let the destruction of the Jedi happen.

True arrogance, unfortunately, is when they who claim to make the Philippine Methodist Church more "Christian" would call into question the veracity of the Holy Scriptures themselves, vaunting their own philosophies, theologies (if it can still be called such) and doctrines as higher and much more relevant than those words God himself inspired.

It is true arrogance when these who claim to hold the interests of the Filipino Methodist at heart would knowingly and deliberately sabotage the structure to which they were elected as leaders, just so that they can point to it and say "See, not working. When Autonomy comes, just see the money flow!"

It is real arrogance when they who claim to speak for God denigrate and call into question the Apostles Paul, Peter, James, and all the Gospel writers, claiming that whatever writings are left to us are mere patchwork copies of what was originally written, and therefore cannot be trusted, yet in the same breath claim that they are the holders of God's revelation to the Philippines, and that they can be trusted.

It is genuine arrogance when they who claim to respect our God in all His three persons go on to say that God is both masculine and feminine (therefore, the revisionist phrase "Our Father/Mother God"), that Jesus was either a woman or was homosexual (they don't seem to have to agree on this, as long as they agree to be as unorthodox as possible), and that the Scriptures as inspired and preserved by the Holy Spirit is not inspired or preserved and can, as their whims dictate, be modified to suit their tastes and beliefs.

But, it is simply arrogance when they, who know so well the sort of liberties they taken and the arrogance they truly have, would deliberately mask all of this, and say that the movement for Autonomy is really about "Filipinizing" the church and freedom from colonialism; they have yet to show how the UMC is not a Filipino church or that the UMC in the Philippines has no freedom. How could they? The only "freedom" denied us by the Global UMC is that our statement of faith, precisely what the Palpatines want to change but cannot tell the rest of their minions the true nature of it. They just keep on shouting "Our Doctrine, not Theirs!" as if it meant anything. "Our Church, not Theirs!" yet they would invite Swedes over from their empty churches in Europe to tell us how we must conduct our worship.

It is arrogance when they accuse the "child" of arrogance because he would dare point out that the Emperor actually has no clothes.

Yet people, some of them our friends, want so much to be counted as heroes and revolutionaries, as fighters of colonialism and promoters of freedom that they would rather look the other way and opt for Autonomy. They have just sold themselves to dominineering force more insidious than they imagine, for the only reason people like our current Bishops and the faculty of UTS are allowed in the UMC is because Wesley once said "Think and let think". Yet, just last night, they were already verbally abusing those who would dare defy and disagree with them. Who can go against them now?

When I watch the Revenge of the Sith in the following month(s), I can now fully appreciate the tragedy and the believability of someone as evil as Emperor Palpatine somehow being able to grab power and wipe the Jedi out. When people are encouraged to look the other way, even the Sith can win. Even when the Shroud of the Dark Side can now be lowered without resistance, while those who see and those who fight for the Light are labelled, merely, as Rebel Scum.


--
forged in

Gryphon Hall
(google branch)

untitled

This are my eyes. This is another experiment at making long posts on this Blog. Sendng MMS msgs is supposedly 1k characters. I dnt thnk I can fill that out, so at least I am filling out the screen. Just an experiment.

It is a sad day. The UMC is no more.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Myst Creators ARE Christians

I just found out that Rand and Robyn Miller, the creators of Myst, one of my favorite games of all time (and, incidentally, one of the first of many computer games I played with Ærynn before she became my girlfriend), are Christians.

Not just Christians, but PKs. Wow, how can you beat that? In this interview with WIRED Magazine, one of the reasons they say they created a "non-violent" but challenging game was because they "wanted to do something that didn't depend on violence. We have children. We have things that are important to us." Which was, as implied by the interviewer, the fact that they were Christians: "These are preacher's sons who still go to church every Sunday; they don't smoke or drink or cuss. They don't preach either. They didn't want to come on too strong with the values stuff, particularly to the guy from Wired who probably had somewhat complicated ideas about the sovereignty of Jesus Christ."

Probably the best quote in the article was when they were asked: "How has designing a whole world changed your idea of God?"

To which Rand replied: "Well, we could talk about that for hours. We thought about it a lot. I guess the simple way is to say that we know how much work it took to create Myst, and how puny and unreal it is compared to the real world, and therefore how miraculous all of creation is. Matching our experience ... it just makes us realize how great God is."

It's similar to when C.S. Lewis found that his favorite authors were Christians, back when he was still an atheist.

The full article can be reached here.