My Zen Arcade

Yes, don’t forget, it looks like McCain may be breaking federal law

Of course, that doesn’t matter.  What matters is Obama changed his mind, completely legally, to do his own fundraising, completely legally.  Again, there’s these cries of ‘flip-flop’.  I don’t understand that.  I suppose mindlessly sticking to whatever decision you made in the past, no matter what changes, is admirable if, say, you are…wait…no, it really isn’t admirable at all, is it?  It borders on suicidal.  And, in the case of Still-President-Bush, homicidal.

But I digress.

Obama takes part in legal activites and people smack him around.  McCain may have broken federal law, no one cares.

Our media, ladies and gentlemen.

When I was 11 or 12, I had two comedy albums.  One was by Bill Cosby (it had the Noah bit on it which is still brilliant) and the other was George Carlin’s “A Place For My Stuff” (I think that was the title).

These are two great albums to have, because the illustrate two very different kinds of comedy.  Say what you want about Bill, but he’s a master storyteller.  I mean, how do you beat “Now, I told you that story so I could tell you this one”?

George, however, was very different.  Much more observational, much more out there on the edge (especially back then, and earlier).  Borderline absurdist.

I’m thankful to both these men.  I love comedy.  I love humor.  I love breaking it down and trying to figure it out.  I love the choice of words, the timing, the emphasis.

Everything.

And, to be honest, much of what I do know and understand about comedy I owe to these two men, in some manner or another.

Thanks George.  I’ll miss you.

Two more things about MGS

1. No game I have ever played has talked so much about smoking.  Further, no game I have ever played has ever had its ‘wait’ screens give advice on how to appropriately dispose of cigarettes

2. This game could easily win the “Most Use Of Camel Toe” award, hands down

So Royal Farms us having a strange issue.
A store just opened in a rather residential area and some parents found out that the company’s unofficial nickname is ROFO.
They are upset that such a disgusting company would be anywhere near children
(Urban Dictionary it…)

Phenomenal game.  Wish I had played one level harder, though.

A few items:

1. The game pays huge tribute to the people who have played the previous ‘chapters’.  While you don’t need to know the story before playing this game, it really will help.  Luckily, you can download the Metal Gear Solid database for free.  Here’s a summary of the history.

Not only does the storyline get more interesting with that information, well, you’ll see in my next points.

2. The game is, in fact, one long treatise on the horrors of war.  It has a great deal to say on the subject (hence the sometimes longwinded cutscenes)

3. The story is also to conclusion of Snake’s life.  Everything from his past is coming together one last time.  This shows up in numerous half-seen flashbacks and such (which, as noted in #1, are more interesting the more you know)

4. I think that, more than anything, this is a story of a man who has dedicated his life to being a soldier, a creature of war, and who is now trying to clean up the nightmares he himself helped create.  It is a story of the price paid for a life with a gun.

5. Snake gets the living tar beaten out of him like no one I’ve ever seen.

I can’t say much about this book, and from the interview at least, it sounds like it is primarily critical of anti-religion arguments by atheists, rather than somehow defending the existence of god, which is fine, but the fact is that the sources cited for the existence of Jesus are simply pathetic. If a man did all the things that Jesus supposedly did, then there would be much more than these few lines in other historical records. Some of the referenced works only speak of Christians worshipping Christ, not really on he man’s actual existence. Honestly, folks, there’s more reason to believe in Batman.

ZENIT - New Book Debunks Atheists’ Claims

Along with the numerous biblical manuscripts referring to Jesus, pagan writers such as the Roman historian Tacitus, Julius Africanus, Pliny the Younger and Lucian of Samosata all reference Jesus’ existence. The Jewish historical record is equally clear, with the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and the Babylonian Talmud itself confirming Jesus’ human existence.

I am returned!

Anyhow, a few things spring to mind before I actually start letting myself be informed about the world again (yes, I admit it, living in a box is very nice).

1. The two most under-rated bands of the 80s: Oingo Boingo, Missing Persons

2. If you hate your PC now, switch to a Mac and then try using the PC again.  You know no such hate.

3. Marvel Studios should just close their doors and give it up if they don’t bring Favreau back for Iron Man II.  Current rumor is that there’s a lot of penny pinching going on.  Favreau made them a blockbuster.  Don’t get me wrong, Downey was great, but it was Favreau’s film.  Unfortunately, there’s a class of moron that gets to make decisions about movies who really thinks that anyone can make a flick, and that the actors only matter because the public sees them.  Marvel has made mistakes before when letting money people make decisions (see Spider-Man 3…the money guys demanded Venom), and this could really kick them in the nuts.  No matter how much it costs to keep Favreau, its gotta be cheaper than making a bomb.

4. Metal Gear Solid 4 rocks.