So I finally picked up a game that challenges some very set conventions around video games. Dante's
Inferno was uber-disturbing. Lets start with the imagery that was taken straight from the poem. If you have not read it well you are missing a lot. The minor demons are standard fare for video games; slightly uninspired for this game yet what makes them stand out would be the damned souls that they are torturing. The ambient noise and music also lends to the feeling of surreal and slight freakiness. This game goes into some great visuals on everything in the foreground but everything in the background is very generic. This is one of the game's small failings but by and large this game deserves at leat a 4 star rating. Music and ambient noise lend to the overall sense of impending doom up until the last level. Then the game takes a turn for the cheeseball. The inclusion of the orignal poem does lend the game some credence epecially if you read as you progress through the levels of hell. For those unfamilar with the actual poem here is a chance to see a chilling but possibly drug induced dream of a mans look at Hel. Now back to the game, it was good but the gaame on the last few levels seems to run out of stema and resort to cheap over played video game sentimentality. This would be the game's major failing but over all the game holds togther with out any major glithces. So gamers go check out this game and see a dream a vision come to life on a gaming system in a very good mix of action platforming and level progression.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Why do we hate truth
Why do we hate the truth? I mean we are taught to tell the truth. In fact more often than not we learn from the examples our parents set for us. So it becomes easy to tell white lies and we go to church and they do it there and we learn to slowly hate the truth. I recently was introduced to 2 videos that state the Truth is small simple words that everyone can understand. And the response to these videos was universally the same. People posted as to why this man was so wrong in telling the Truth. Listening to a young man describe the difference Jesus and religion and state Truth. Because
See God speaks to us in so many ways and we are so busy with our lives and our worries that we forget to be still and listen to simple truth. And being still is what it is all about, just so we can hear that small still voice tell us the Truth. Funny thing is we don't want to hear it because that would mean we would have to stop lying to ourselves about ourselves. Or that we would have to challenge tightly held beliefs because it doesn't really jive with real Truth.
Think about it like this.....real truth is ugly at first, because it makes us see the ugliness in us. But then it can transform us into something beautiful, majestic, inspiring if we just let it and we stop and listen.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Your Choice
What makes a bad parent? Let's not go with the obvious choices let's go deeper and think harder for just a few seconds and see what we come up with. I have not seen my daughter in about 8 years and at first glance everyone would say I am a bad parent. A statistic a number that can be tracked and collated and distilled to banality. Yet that is not the whole story of the situation. Many people can say oh well do something about it but because I can't does that make me a bad parent?
Lets look at the other side of the story; her mother. The "good" parent, maybe. The parent that cares for her in person has full custody and yet hides from me and my family. This is the parent that demanded she have our child the majority of the week. Fought to keep me a "weekend" parent even though I arranged my schedule with my job at the time so that I could have more time with my daughter. The "good" parent conspired with her family to essentially kidnap our child. And yet her mom is still the "best" parent.
I am under the impression that for any one to be considered a good parent the guy has to pay out of the nose and the woman has very little accountability. I am automatically the bad parent even though my home had everything my daughter could want or need. I spent time with her and taught her what she needed for the time. She had manners and knew how to wash her hands before eating and how to wipe them when she got messy. Yep being a bad parent was such a tiresome thing. I don't know about anyone else but I think that from my point of view being the bad parent may not have been so bad at all. The next time you run into the "bad" parent look beneath the surface and see if there something deeper.
Lets look at the other side of the story; her mother. The "good" parent, maybe. The parent that cares for her in person has full custody and yet hides from me and my family. This is the parent that demanded she have our child the majority of the week. Fought to keep me a "weekend" parent even though I arranged my schedule with my job at the time so that I could have more time with my daughter. The "good" parent conspired with her family to essentially kidnap our child. And yet her mom is still the "best" parent.
I am under the impression that for any one to be considered a good parent the guy has to pay out of the nose and the woman has very little accountability. I am automatically the bad parent even though my home had everything my daughter could want or need. I spent time with her and taught her what she needed for the time. She had manners and knew how to wash her hands before eating and how to wipe them when she got messy. Yep being a bad parent was such a tiresome thing. I don't know about anyone else but I think that from my point of view being the bad parent may not have been so bad at all. The next time you run into the "bad" parent look beneath the surface and see if there something deeper.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Being A Foodie
So this is going to be my first food blog but not my last. There will even be video coming as soon as I can find the stuff I want to show. For anyone who knows me I am a very picky eater and seriously more of a carnivore than an omnivore. My journey started in OR about hmmmmmm 10 years ago when I seriously started experimenting with my grill and stove. I found a great recipe for an awesome BBQ sauce and my mole (pronounced mo lea) with a little help from a friend's secret sauce, exploded. I started experimenting with my flavors and seasoning and grew exponentially.
So that brings us to the here and now. I go to sushi; and trust me that is a leap for me; and I do other foods while still being picky. Yeah I am picky I don't like onion, can't eat bell peppers and most fish i still wont eat. Can't stand the smell and I will not absolutely will not eat shell fish. So yes as a foodie I fail some what, but I still like tons of other stuff.
As I write this I am thinking that BBQ season is coming upon us. Time to take out the sugar (brown) and spice and everything nice. I think this year I will try my hand at 2 home made BBQ sauces and maybe a few dry rubs. Now all I need is a smoker and I will be ready and set to do my thing.
So that brings us to the here and now. I go to sushi; and trust me that is a leap for me; and I do other foods while still being picky. Yeah I am picky I don't like onion, can't eat bell peppers and most fish i still wont eat. Can't stand the smell and I will not absolutely will not eat shell fish. So yes as a foodie I fail some what, but I still like tons of other stuff.
As I write this I am thinking that BBQ season is coming upon us. Time to take out the sugar (brown) and spice and everything nice. I think this year I will try my hand at 2 home made BBQ sauces and maybe a few dry rubs. Now all I need is a smoker and I will be ready and set to do my thing.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Cartoons, Cartoons
Do you remember when Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, The Hairy Monster were all funny cartoons that we could watch and enjoy. Simple comedy from a cross dressing rabbit, a loud mouthed duck, and a bald man with a speech impediment. These were cartoons that defined several generations inculding mine. Lets go further and look at the cartoons we watched on Saturday mornings. Go Bots and Transformers, Smurfs, Snorks, The Amazing Spider man and his Super Friends. There was the X-Men and Richie Rich. Then the cartoons we rushed home to watch....one of my faves Robotech and G.I. Joe, there was Darkwing Duck, Tailspin, Duck Tails, Gargoyles, M.A.S.K, Silverhawks, S.W.A.T Kats, and so many others. the common thread between all of these cartoons was simple and direct. There was a bad guys and there was a good guy(or girl). The good guys normally came out on top in the end but sometimes....not so much.
Today's cartoons seem to be about making kids not see that there is good and bad in the world but that there is just plain old stupidity and it is ok to be that way. even some of the better ones like Phineas and Ferb and Johnny Test seem to include overly simple and overly moronic bad guys good guys or just all around guys. What has happened to cartoons teaching values and being truly funny. Not funny in a Jackass kind of way but using true humor to get a laugh?
How many 20 and 30 somethings remember when a cartoon was good because it was not overly simple but not overly complicated either? Last truly good cartoon i can think of came from Nickelodeon and then it seemed to be geared to older kids and not the younger ones. You may ask what this cartoon is and I will tell you the answer in the next sentence. Hahahaha ok enough joking around Avatar: The Last Airbender was great since it came out in a time when good cartoons were falling off TV like flies in a cold snap.
You may wonder why I am writing about cartoons and why i would make mention of so many that seem so corny now that we have reached adulthood. Well I will tell you why; I am writing because i have discovered the joy of sharing some of my old cartoons with kids. We may think they are corny and really really old fashioned but I am finding a new generation is enthralled with things that came out of the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Somewhere along the way we forgot to just K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) and let kids enjoy being kids. I love the fact that i have a 9 year old asking me to watch Voltron with him and seeing him on Netflix go for the Pink Panther cartoons instead of something mindless and designed for today's kids. Imitation is the best form of flattery but imagination sets you free.
Today's cartoons seem to be about making kids not see that there is good and bad in the world but that there is just plain old stupidity and it is ok to be that way. even some of the better ones like Phineas and Ferb and Johnny Test seem to include overly simple and overly moronic bad guys good guys or just all around guys. What has happened to cartoons teaching values and being truly funny. Not funny in a Jackass kind of way but using true humor to get a laugh?
How many 20 and 30 somethings remember when a cartoon was good because it was not overly simple but not overly complicated either? Last truly good cartoon i can think of came from Nickelodeon and then it seemed to be geared to older kids and not the younger ones. You may ask what this cartoon is and I will tell you the answer in the next sentence. Hahahaha ok enough joking around Avatar: The Last Airbender was great since it came out in a time when good cartoons were falling off TV like flies in a cold snap.
You may wonder why I am writing about cartoons and why i would make mention of so many that seem so corny now that we have reached adulthood. Well I will tell you why; I am writing because i have discovered the joy of sharing some of my old cartoons with kids. We may think they are corny and really really old fashioned but I am finding a new generation is enthralled with things that came out of the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Somewhere along the way we forgot to just K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) and let kids enjoy being kids. I love the fact that i have a 9 year old asking me to watch Voltron with him and seeing him on Netflix go for the Pink Panther cartoons instead of something mindless and designed for today's kids. Imitation is the best form of flattery but imagination sets you free.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The World from My Eyes
How do you see the world? What colors your views and how do use your experiences to interact with the world at large? I see the world as largely black and white with some some small gray areas stuck in there just for fun. I know why I see the world in this manner and it all breaks down to it makes the world safe for me.
How could Icome to the conclusion that the world is mostly black and white? Lets take a fantastic voyage into the nether realms of my mind to find the answer. First I grew up in the 'hood, Los Angeles, home of the Lakers, the Clippers, the Dodgers, and well most the good memories in my life. However there are some things I would love to forget; some things that we will allude to but not actually say.
OK so here we go...I moved to L.A.when i was 6 from a small town called Mojave. Now it was all exciting and new until i found out that boys of my coloring were not liked by all. Instance number 1...elementary school was not fun. Then having a sister who is smart and having every one comparing you to her...well instance number 2, Then there was a divorce and more school and then a group of "friends" who took me to a new understanding of how we fall prey to our own insecurities. Instance number 3 in this wonderful little drama called my life. I made some changes in high school got a mentor and changed my latitude in life but what made me, me has always been the same.
Each instance has shaped me in a way that can not be quantified by just words. Every experience, every moment, when viewed in hindsight has brought deeper understand of why things are for me. Why life appears so black and white sprinkled with gray. Church had some thing to do with it and interactions with my parents and friends of differing faiths and religions but the overriding theme is people. People help us see or not see the world for all of its varying colors; people make up the palette and the canvas that we use to paint our lives.
So why do you see the world the way you do? Is it people, a person, a personal experience, what has defined you through out your life? When you look closely you will find your underlying reason for the coloration of your world view.
How could Icome to the conclusion that the world is mostly black and white? Lets take a fantastic voyage into the nether realms of my mind to find the answer. First I grew up in the 'hood, Los Angeles, home of the Lakers, the Clippers, the Dodgers, and well most the good memories in my life. However there are some things I would love to forget; some things that we will allude to but not actually say.
OK so here we go...I moved to L.A.when i was 6 from a small town called Mojave. Now it was all exciting and new until i found out that boys of my coloring were not liked by all. Instance number 1...elementary school was not fun. Then having a sister who is smart and having every one comparing you to her...well instance number 2, Then there was a divorce and more school and then a group of "friends" who took me to a new understanding of how we fall prey to our own insecurities. Instance number 3 in this wonderful little drama called my life. I made some changes in high school got a mentor and changed my latitude in life but what made me, me has always been the same.
Each instance has shaped me in a way that can not be quantified by just words. Every experience, every moment, when viewed in hindsight has brought deeper understand of why things are for me. Why life appears so black and white sprinkled with gray. Church had some thing to do with it and interactions with my parents and friends of differing faiths and religions but the overriding theme is people. People help us see or not see the world for all of its varying colors; people make up the palette and the canvas that we use to paint our lives.
So why do you see the world the way you do? Is it people, a person, a personal experience, what has defined you through out your life? When you look closely you will find your underlying reason for the coloration of your world view.
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