Booyor's BLOGgh!

X-Men 3 doesn’t count.
Don’t try and convince me, it just doesn’t.
Thankfully Bryan Singer is returning to the X-Men franchise to direct X-Men: First Class, a prequel showing the friendship/war between Professor X and Magneto.
I’m excited, not just because it’s Bryan Singer, but because Xavier and Magneto are not the stereotypical “I must kill you in order for there to be peace” characters found in superhero/action stories. There’s also rumors of X4, but Singer says he wants to focus on one story at a time.
Focusing on a storyline in Hollywood? Inconceivable.

On the topic of Wolverine, did you see this jellyfish? It can revert to its youth stage and regrow into adulthood. Imagine if you could constantly loop back to when you were 8, regenerating every time.

Check out the Freedom site for the new podcast.

My wife and I beat the new Super Mario Bros. game, so if you have any recommendations for a good co-op Wii game (in short supply, surprisingly enough) send them my way. The good thing with Mario is that you can keep going back to any level and still have a considerable amount of fun.

While searching for details about LEGO Star Wars III, I’m annoyed that I fell asleep during 30 Rock last night:

Let’s hear it for Hulu.

What? You can watch episodes of the Clone Wars online? When did this happen? I’m so behind. Not that I’m an uber fan of the cartoon, but it would have been nice to know after the third time in a day watching the Don Knotts episode of the Muppets. (If you listen to the podcast there’s a reference to Sweetums. That’s not on accident.)

My grandma’s memorial service will be at 2pm this Saturday at Lakeview Methodist:

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Thank you to everyone who sent support through texts, e-mails, and phone calls. I’m also thankful that I could send out a Twitter/Facebook update and not have to re-tell everyone over and over again. So, thank you for stalking me, I think.

I’ve learned some lessons, some that I can share here, others that you’ll need to talk to me in person about. What was really interesting/comforting is that Saturday morning I was helping J write a script for a video about Easter – along the lines of “Jesus Lives – So What?” (J is better about wording things so they don’t sound sacrilegious).

Saturday morning I was looking at 1 Corinthians 15, specifically:

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

I finished typing up my thoughts, e-mailed them to J, and then got my dad’s call to put on my shoes and race to the west side of town.

My grandma lived a life of serving others but it was not for this life that she was investing. All of the teaching, listening, baking, flower arranging, and generally being a good friend was because she cared for people, cared for the people in God’s church. Not that those acts earned her way into Heaven but that those signs of love are evidence of a faith lived out.

The end of 1 Corinthians 15 is the best, mixing in ideas from Hosea, Isaiah, and Revelation:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?

One thing that broke me down, though, was an unopened card I had delivered on my first visit to the hospital. My grandma never recovered enough to be able to read it. I’m keeping the envelope in my car to remind me to seize the opportunities I’m presented with.

On that train of thought, this past Friday I started the first of many Dad-Daughter Days:

Yep. Pink Bear. Darth Vader Armor. It came with a plush lightsaber, too. I am proud.

And to the wonderful ballet teachers, thank you for your time and know-how. Also, thanks for something fun my family could go to:

Thanks, Devin, for the info.

Hugo Weaving will play the Red Skull in the new Captain America movie. And the character’s total lack of lips is not a hindrance since Weaving talks like a ventriloquist in all of his roles.

And thanks, Sara, for the celebrity lullaby:

I support World Vision and believe in what they’re doing. Here’s an update about what happened in Pakistan:

World Vision today is mourning the brutal and senseless deaths of six members of our staff in the Mansehra district of Pakistan, following an unprovoked attack by gunmen.
We have confirmed that the gunmen entered our office compound, threw grenades, opened fire on staff inside the office, and left the compound after exploding a homemade bomb. The compound is located about 40 miles north of Mansehra town.
In addition to those killed, eight employees were hospitalized with injuries. Four of them were released from the hospital, while another four remain hospitalized in critical-but-stable condition.
No threatening letters were received prior to the attack. World Vision’s relief and development work in Pakistan is conducted by local citizens, and local leaders have strongly condemned the attack. World Vision sees the attack not only as an attack on its own local staff, but on the Pakistani people themselves.

They provide aid for poor kids and will still do it, although operations in Pakistan have been suspended.

The agreement was administered by a LEGO pirate, so I’m wondering if it’s more of a guideline than a rule.

Can you just feel the nostalgia in these words?

Declaration of Secrecy

I, the undersigned, hereby acknowledges towards LEGO System A/S that all pieces of information, whether submitted orally or in writing, documents, drawings and any other kind of material (hereinafter referred to as “Information”) which I receive during test of LEGO Universe, until launch of game, shall be treated strictly confidentially, and that all such Information shall always be kept in a satisfactory way and shall not in any circumstances be revealed to any third party.

Furthermore, the undersigned declares that all such Information shall only be used in connection with the co-operation with LEGO System A/S and shall in no circumstances be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior written consent of LEGO System A/S.

The undersigned hereby furthermore declares that I will never use the Information as mentioned above for any commercial purposes.

The undersigned accepts that all such Information remains the property of LEGO System A/S and therefore, at LEGO System A/S option, either has to be returned to LEGO System A/S after the termination of the co-operation or has to be destroyed.

Here’s what showed up in my e-mail:

Congratulations, you have been chosen to participate in the Closed-Beta test of LEGO Universe!

The Maelstrom is trying to destroy imagination, so hurry up and create a LEGO Universe account with your LEGO ID. You’ll be a heroic minifig before you know it.

What I find funny is that there are limited times when I can play. It must be server maintenance or something.

So, if you want to find me, here are the times:
* Thursdays: 17.00 – 03.00 EU (CET) / 11 am – 9 pm US (EST)
* Saturdays: 20.00 – 02.00 EU (CET) / 2 pm – 8 pm US (EST)
* Sundays: 14.00 – 17.00 EU (CET) / 8 am – 11 am US (EST)

Thank you, Ohm, for this most definite win.
It’s not just epic. It’s epic saga win.

What if you could have a map of NYC as an 8-bit overworld map?

Here it is.

The craziest part is that it’s searchable.