Monthly Archives: December 2006

White Elephant Foxworthy Resistance

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I was going to write about how I got William’s iPod working (to get it off of the sad iPod icon, you do have to throw it against the ground) but now it has the ‘folder and exclamation point’ icon.

But!

Resistance

If you have an access to a PS3, you must play Resistance: Fall of Man in Co-Op mode. It’s 1951 and post-WWII troops are fighting a communist zombie empire. It is terrifying. Imagine Call of Duty/Band of Brothers mixed with Resident Evil. To some, it may sound cheesy. To me it represents mortars exploding while I storm a zombie turret with my company while avoiding War of the Worlds-eque walkers.

Booyah Hoorah

Resistance also represents my New Year’s Eve party that I am going to. It’s hosted by the Borgs. They’re very welcoming. (I’m serious. That’s their last names, and avoiding their buffalo wings platter is futile.)

In celebration of the New Year, we are growing our very own zombie hillbilly. (I guess the more socially friendly term would be ‘Yankee-ly challenged post-life citizen’.)

Our resident ninja will be at the party with us:

If you notice on the package, our Yankee-ly challenged post-life citizen will grow to 600% its original size. We knew that we needed to activate our interlock, connect our dynatherms, and have our infracells up.

That is why Voltron will make sure that our Yankee-ly challenged post-life citizen does not ravage the galaxy while we are away.

Megathrusters are go!

Because of this cosmic event, the Ewok medicine man is acting as foreman. Things were shaky with getting permits, but Skeletor came out to the site and gave it a thumbs up. (Never again will I complain of Eternia‘s bureaucracy. Man-at-Arms even validates parking if you ask nicely enough.)

In case you acquire a Yankee-ly challenged post-life citizen of your own, know this:

They are for entertainment purposes only. They are not to be consumed.

To view the rest of the album (of which I will update throughout the night), go here.

For the wiki entry, go here.

White Elephant?

Where else would we get a Yankee-ly challenged post-life citizen?

(But, if you asked me, if I had a white elephant, I wouldn’t give it away. I would name it ‘Stampy’.)

6:30 – No noticeable change in my zombie.

Vladivostok, you have 30 minutes to find your date for New Years.

12:30am Happy New Years! The zombie is starting to grow.

Here are some New Years videos:

Video 1

Video 2
You Tube New Years Crazy Domino Throwing

2:13pm – George Lucas brought in the Rose Bowl New Year:

The zombie is growing! He is almost at the top of the water level. Soon Tokyo will be running.

A disturbing development, though…His pants are dissolving.

The Nativity Story

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I just got back from watching the movie. Our church reserved an entire theater. I didn’t have to worry about finding a seat or people kicking my chair. I knew everyone. Pretty cool.

Anyone up for a rousing game of “Find the Tall Guy”?
We actually ended up with two showings of just our church. (The movie, not finding me.)
The movie is great. Their website is set-up well, too. They even hired an ancient astronomy consultant. Catherine Hardwicke, the director, used to be a production designer, so she wanted the whole thing to be very realistic.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:12

This is a theme throughout the entire movie. To get our attention, the Messiah could have blasted through everything and subjected the Earth. It’s not like he’s not powerful enough. Some may have wanted him to blast out the caesar or Herod. But instead some shepherds (which one of them looked like a homeless guy on a street corner in El Paso that I saw) were invited.

There’s a part where Joseph is worn out and asks that if he’s doing God’s will, that God would send him a sign. He goes to bed disappointed, but as he sleeps we see the star shine in the horizon.

Jesus is not just for the financially destitute, though, because the wise men had enough stuff (one even wants to bring an extra camel to carry “the food that he’s used to”). They’re pretty smart, with their Persian astronomy (using it to travel afar and not to sit around for Zarathustra) (Who, I hear, still has not spracht).

Here’s some more Christmas fun:
The Christmas Linebacker
PC Santa

Recursive Ambrosia

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We had a crazy amount of fog this morning, which is crazy for The Desert. I thought that it had quite a bite of “They come, they eat, they leave” to it, while the other half of In-Law Films thought that it needed British soldiers emerging.

I'm blogging this.Scotch Eggs

There is some intended irony with the text on my shirt. The other picture is of Scotch eggs. They are hardboiled eggs wrapped in sausage and then breaded. This is the perfect food (if you have no genetic dispositions towards heart disease.)

I had fish and chips and my illustrious wife had steak and mushroom pie. (And rugby was on the TV.)

The George and Dragon is a great place to eat. Thanks again, Gavin!

And here’s the scariest British movie of all time…

Massively Shiny

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There’s talk of a Firefly online game that would share some similarities to Star Wars Galaxies and World of Warcraft. Here’s what Multiverse, the name of the client developer, had to say:

PRESS RELEASE

Multiverse and Fox Licensing & Merchandising to build online game based on popular Firefly television series

Massively Multiplayer Online Game to be Designed Exclusively for Play on Multiverse Network

BURBANK, Calif. – December 8, 2006 – The Multiverse Network, Inc., a company building the world’s leading network of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and 3D virtual worlds, today announced it optioned the rights from Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising to develop an MMOG based on Firefly, the science fiction television series created by Joss Whedon that has enjoyed a hugely popular and loyal following since its premier in 2002.

“Fox’s Firefly series is set in an incredibly rich and exciting universe. It’s going to make a very compelling and unique online experience filled with adventure, humor, and mystery,” said Corey Bridges, Multiverse co-founder and Executive Producer. “It’s our hope that Firefly’s passionate and dedicated community of fans will enjoy the chance to become part of the story as they develop and explore the worlds of Firefly.”

Fox Licensing & Merchandising selected Multiverse to lead the evolution of Firefly into an MMOG because of the technical strength and advantages of the Multiverse Platform and the vision both companies share for the future of online entertainment.

“One of the first meetings I had when I joined Fox was with Multiverse,” said Adam Kline, Vice President of New Media Enterprises at 20th Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising Division. “We see virtual worlds as an extraordinarily promising new entertainment medium. This is a great opportunity for 20th Century Fox and for the fans of Firefly because Multiverse will deliver an experience that will remain true to the original series, while enabling a whole new level of personal involvement for fans.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Multiverse will select and lead an independent production team to develop the project. Fox and Multiverse expect the offering to be available to the public through The Multiverse Network in 2008.

Bill Turpin, co-founder and CEO of The Multiverse Network, Inc., believes that the Firefly MMOG will create significant opportunities for other developers building games and worlds with Multiverse tools and technology.

“In addition to our world-class technology, developers choose Multiverse for our network, which lets them launch their games into a built-in market of consumers who are just one click away from any game on that network,” Turpin said. “Firefly will bring in even more consumers, making the network that much more attractive to developers of other worlds.”

Since its launch a year ago, more than 7000 customers—ranging from garage developers to Fortune 100 companies to Hollywood legends—have registered to use the company’s platform technology. In addition, more then one hundred pre-qualified customers have already begun building MMOGs and non-game virtual worlds with the Multiverse Platform, currently in open beta-testing.

About The Multiverse Network, Inc.
The Multiverse Network, Inc. is creating a network of online video games and other 3D virtual worlds. Its unique technology platform will change the economics of virtual world development by empowering independent game developers to create high-quality, Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and non-game virtual worlds for less money and in less time than ever before. Multiverse solves the prohibitive challenge of game creation by providing developers with a comprehensive, pre-coded client-server infrastructure and tools, a wide range of free content – including a complete game for modification – and a built-in market of consumers. The Multiverse Network will give video game players a single program – the Multiverse Client – that lets them play all of the MMOGs and visit all of the non-game virtual worlds built on the Multiverse platform. For more information about the company, please visit www.multiverse.net.

The tools are in beta, so they’re free right now. Booyor’s Realm MMOG, anyone?

Fear and Trembling

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You can tell that I’m coming to the end of my masters program. (One example is that I think I did my portfolio in my sleep. I seem to remember writing, “This assignment shows that we need reform and change in our galactic military strategy.” I hope I erased it. (I actually went back and checked it.)) You can also tell because I’m reading some philosophy stuff and if I went back to get my doctorate, I might actually get a philosophy degree. I can’t wait until I’m sane again. (No laughs, please.) I’m taking my capstone as well as a philosophy class. I needed the credit hours and knew that it would be more relaxing than a history course. If you want some more philosophy, check out Flashlight Peter‘s site of stuff. (He actually does invent flashlights.)

I’m reading Soren Kierkegaard‘s  Fear and Trembling right now. It’s the story of Abraham and Isaac in Moriah (kinda funny that Gandalf in Felowship of the Ring is sacrificed after visting the mines). I don’t necessarily agree with everything, but there are some things that do make me think.

I would have spoiled the whole story; for if I had got Isaac back again, I would have been in embarassment. What Abraham found easiest, I would have found hard, namely to be joyful again with Isaac; for he who with all the infinity of his soul by his own power and responsibility, has performed the infinite movement of resignation and cannot do more, only retains Isaac with pain.

He would have made a big show about the sacrifice that he had to make, offering up a century’s worth of hopes on one morning, and the hardships that he had to face. Instead, God supplied his needs.

Kierkegaard had described earlier how if he were Abraham he would have been there, right on time, or maybe even early to get it done with. He connects this to how we sometimes do stuff just to get it done for God and not out of pure love. Sure, we’re not doing it totally for ourselves, but when we don’t do it out of pure motives, we rob ourselves of pure joy. (The other thing he points out is that it’s very tough for us to have pure motives. There has to be some spiritual renewal that we can’t force no matter how hard we try.)

Here’s the kicker for me:

Faith therefore hopes also for this life, but, be it noted, by virtue of the absurd, not by virtue of of human understanding, otherwise it is only practical wisdom, not faith.

If I’m only hoping for what I think God can do, I only get a “Me”-sized god.

Sometimes we have to raise the knife, as it were, to illustrate that we, “have not withheld from me your son, your only son”.

Shining like the stars and all that.

Hollywood

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Today was Hollywood Day. I thought that I would try the “I’m Messy But Not Messy, Spent a Lot of Time to Look Carefree” look. In that last photo I am a teenager.

Also in the category of famous:

Here is a newsworthy event from wayback.

Because of bad weather, outdoor activities were cancelled.  Food was available inside duBois and local legendary band, Limbs Akimbo, provided music for all who came inside.

I remember that. I still stuck my hand out the car window, though.

And the peak of it all: a Pop Secret commercial.

http://www.current.tv/watch/17681498 

This one’s only a minute. And, if we get greenlighted (greenlit?) we air on cable and maybe broadcast TV.