How would you like to drive a bus for over one hundred hours? Through a desert? That pulls to the right? And you can't stop? And it can stall on the side? It sounds awful right? Well, what if it was with a bunch of your friends? Will all kinds of goofy hats and costumes? And phone calls from friends that you work with? And guests that show up every now and again? And you're supported by a bunch of different businesses. And you keep a running video feed and chat with the internet? And it's for a good cause?
This is what Desert Bus for Hope is all about.
In 2007 the group behind the popular video series, Loading Ready Run, started a charity drive for by playing the horrible game Desert Bus for as long as they had supports and donations. They broadcast their self-induced torment to the world to help raise money. They've been doing this every year since, raising nearly one million dollars in six years, and bringing in countless celebrities and personalities to help their cause.
The reason I bring this up is because Desert Bus for Hope is happening again, right now. This is the first time I've actually watched it, but it's been incredibly entertaining. But behind all the crazy voices, ridiculous hats, and generally goofy acting, I really appreciate what they are doing.
The organization that they are raising money for is Child's Play. This charity was founded by the guys behind PennyArcade. The goal is to make the lives of hospitalized children better by providing toys and games for them. They are also out to crush the stereotype that gamers are all antisocial, maladjusted, adult children. And the results speak for themselves. Child's Play has raised somewhere over 12 million dollars to date.
The Loading Ready Run crew might not be known for being the smartest comedy, but they are entertaining. They've been working and growing for years and now reach a wide audience. And what are they doing with their influence? They're working to better life for others. The reason I want promote their work is for the same reason Child's Play was instituted.
The world of gaming is as wide and varied as that in TV or film. There are good people. There are stupid people. And unfortunately, the stupid people seem to get a lot of the recognition. But the community has a deep soul to it. First and foremost, we are all human. We are not some monstrous entity made of immaturity and Mountain Dew.
I would invite you all to check out Desert Bus for Hope and consider supporting then. If nothing else, you can enjoy their antics. But I hope you see the real reasons behind it all. They've already spent over a day playing.
I'm so getting quarantined for all this steaming.
Just something to chew on.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Whose Freewill is it Anyway?
If there is one sure fire way to get Christians arguing, it's to bring up the ideas of predestination and freewill. Typically everyone in the argument will be on one side or the other. Either God has predestined everything in your life to happen and you have no control over what goes on, or you have the freedom to choose where your life will take you. This is one of those topics that get everyone riled up, with good reason. I believe, however, that we can approach this a little differently
Life is like a rerun of an improve show.
But before that, let me just address why this is such a major issue for Christians. What it boils down to is an understanding of our purpose on this earth. Each side has its strengths and weaknesses. Predestination offers undisputed confidence that God is controlling everything. They can hold onto the fact that God knows what happens in the next year, the next week, and the next second. The downside to this seems to be that there is no chance for anyone to make a meaningful choice in their lives. God has already chosen who will be saved, who will live and die, who will marry who, everything. The choices that we think we are making amount to nothing really. With that, the idea of why do anything at all starts to creep in. On the other hand, if it is all freewill, then that is all different. The choices we make have impacts on the our lives, and the lives of those around us. Making that choice to become a Christian becomes a herculean effort on our part to align with God. The things in life that we choose have significance then. But that does make it hard to recognize things like God's omniscience. If the choices are our own, made right then and there, then we might end up "surprising" God. If He doesn't already know what we will pick, then are is He really all-knowing? As you can see, there's a lot of theological weight on either side.
Now then, I would guess that most of us have seen the show Whose Line is it Anyway at some point. It is an improve show centered around four actors (Ryan was my favorite) and their host Drew Carey. The actors would get random scenes and personalities to act out for a few minutes. They did their best to be funny and original. It was a great show. The best part, was that Drew the host often didn't know what the actors would do, and his reactions were usually just as riotous as the audience. Even the reruns were good, but there was something different about them. If you had seen it before, then you know what choices the actors were going to make for the skits, even though at the time, the choices were freely chosen and unknown.
That is what I feel our freewill is like to God. God chose from an infinite number of worlds to create the one we live in today. He knew the history and future of each and every world. He experienced it first in His mind, before it was ever created. When He chose our world, God knew what choices we would make and what their outcomes would be. But we still have the freedom to choose.
It is sort of like Merlin from the T.H. White book The Once and Future King. Merlin claimed to live backwards in the book. He knew the choices that Arthur would make, and even the ones that he himself would get into (including being locked in a cave by a crazy ex for years). Everyone still had the freedom to choose their own actions, but Merlin would know what the outcome would be.
Knowledge does not limit the choices available. I can still make my choice even if God knows what it will be. The thing is, He made me free, and He put these opportunities into my life. He wants what's best for me, even if I don't make that choice. I could if I was informed enough, or not so stubborn, but sometimes I chose wrong. This isn't because God destined me to choose wrong, but because He lets me choose. God already knows where humanity is going, we just have to make the choices to get there.
I do wish He had caused me to pick some different friends a few summers back. Wouldn't mind missing that event.
Just something to chew on.
Life is like a rerun of an improve show.
But before that, let me just address why this is such a major issue for Christians. What it boils down to is an understanding of our purpose on this earth. Each side has its strengths and weaknesses. Predestination offers undisputed confidence that God is controlling everything. They can hold onto the fact that God knows what happens in the next year, the next week, and the next second. The downside to this seems to be that there is no chance for anyone to make a meaningful choice in their lives. God has already chosen who will be saved, who will live and die, who will marry who, everything. The choices that we think we are making amount to nothing really. With that, the idea of why do anything at all starts to creep in. On the other hand, if it is all freewill, then that is all different. The choices we make have impacts on the our lives, and the lives of those around us. Making that choice to become a Christian becomes a herculean effort on our part to align with God. The things in life that we choose have significance then. But that does make it hard to recognize things like God's omniscience. If the choices are our own, made right then and there, then we might end up "surprising" God. If He doesn't already know what we will pick, then are is He really all-knowing? As you can see, there's a lot of theological weight on either side.
Now then, I would guess that most of us have seen the show Whose Line is it Anyway at some point. It is an improve show centered around four actors (Ryan was my favorite) and their host Drew Carey. The actors would get random scenes and personalities to act out for a few minutes. They did their best to be funny and original. It was a great show. The best part, was that Drew the host often didn't know what the actors would do, and his reactions were usually just as riotous as the audience. Even the reruns were good, but there was something different about them. If you had seen it before, then you know what choices the actors were going to make for the skits, even though at the time, the choices were freely chosen and unknown.
That is what I feel our freewill is like to God. God chose from an infinite number of worlds to create the one we live in today. He knew the history and future of each and every world. He experienced it first in His mind, before it was ever created. When He chose our world, God knew what choices we would make and what their outcomes would be. But we still have the freedom to choose.
It is sort of like Merlin from the T.H. White book The Once and Future King. Merlin claimed to live backwards in the book. He knew the choices that Arthur would make, and even the ones that he himself would get into (including being locked in a cave by a crazy ex for years). Everyone still had the freedom to choose their own actions, but Merlin would know what the outcome would be.
Knowledge does not limit the choices available. I can still make my choice even if God knows what it will be. The thing is, He made me free, and He put these opportunities into my life. He wants what's best for me, even if I don't make that choice. I could if I was informed enough, or not so stubborn, but sometimes I chose wrong. This isn't because God destined me to choose wrong, but because He lets me choose. God already knows where humanity is going, we just have to make the choices to get there.
I do wish He had caused me to pick some different friends a few summers back. Wouldn't mind missing that event.
Just something to chew on.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Darth Mickey
Lucas Arts was bought out this week by Disney, and I am impressed. That is a big move for the house of mouse, and it'll have a lot of ramifications on the entertainment industry as a whole. The Disney touch will now be on their movies, games, and books. I've heard a lot of fans bemoan the change. For some reason, Star Wars in the hands of George Lucas is a good thing to them. I'm might not agree.
I think this acquisition will open some great doors for fans.
Let's be honest, most of us know that George Lucas is kind of a hack. His first few movies were good because he had good directors who told him when things were stupid. It's pretty common knowledge now that Luke was going to look like Darth Vader in Lucas's original vision, but the director wouldn't let that on set. So Lucas had some major help from the outside. When he got control and started his own work, things get messy fast. Anyone remember the fourth Indiana Jones movie? No, you don't. It never happened. And the prequel trilogy? Another fowl up. George Lucas has been abusing his toys for too long now.
With Disney in control, and the promise already of a new series of Star Wars films, I think there is a lot to look forward to. For starters, Disney is pretty nice to its intellectual property. We heard a lot of complaints when they bought Marvel comics, but look how that has turned out. We've had a run of enjoyable, if generic, superhero movies, and the comic section have continued publishing unhindered. Disney executives didn't charge in and make drastic changes, but they improved on what they had. With all the junk Star Wars has been accumulating, Disney might be the spring cleaning the universe needs.
Along those lines, Disney's production values are phenomenal. The prequels had some glaring issues in production, and faltered because of it. Lucas Art's film section is strong, but they couldn't seem to pull it together in the best ways. Something that always bugged me were the transitions between scenes. This might sound like a small complaint, but it get's bigger if you recognize it. They basically use the same transitions that comes stock in Window's Movie Makers. They have the pinwheel, the box out, even the slide checkerboard. Once you notice it, you can't stop noticing it (which means that I've just ruined the movies even more for you). Disney is held to a higher stander than most, and they'll apply those expectations to the works with the Star Wars franchise.
This might also see a revival in quality Star Wars videogames. The recent releases has been decent, but not as great as they could be. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Bioware's MMO, recently took to the free-to-play model even after saying initially that it would not. With the backing of Disney, developers will have more that they can invest into the projects and have a better end result. We might even see the release of Star Wars: Battlefront 3, which had been canceled, even though it was basically finished, by the president of Lucas Arts two years ago. Fans have been waiting for it, but management decided to shaft the fans.
Star Wars is being brought under the umbrella of one of the most prolific companies we have around. There is so much good that can come from this. Despite the fans woes, I believe this will give Star Wars the new life that it so desperately needs. I would hate to see such a fun franchise go the way of others, becoming hallow shells with no innovation. I expect a great deal of good from this.
And if Darth Vader happens to be in Kingdom Hearts 3, awesome.
Just something to chew on.
I think this acquisition will open some great doors for fans.
Let's be honest, most of us know that George Lucas is kind of a hack. His first few movies were good because he had good directors who told him when things were stupid. It's pretty common knowledge now that Luke was going to look like Darth Vader in Lucas's original vision, but the director wouldn't let that on set. So Lucas had some major help from the outside. When he got control and started his own work, things get messy fast. Anyone remember the fourth Indiana Jones movie? No, you don't. It never happened. And the prequel trilogy? Another fowl up. George Lucas has been abusing his toys for too long now.
With Disney in control, and the promise already of a new series of Star Wars films, I think there is a lot to look forward to. For starters, Disney is pretty nice to its intellectual property. We heard a lot of complaints when they bought Marvel comics, but look how that has turned out. We've had a run of enjoyable, if generic, superhero movies, and the comic section have continued publishing unhindered. Disney executives didn't charge in and make drastic changes, but they improved on what they had. With all the junk Star Wars has been accumulating, Disney might be the spring cleaning the universe needs.
Along those lines, Disney's production values are phenomenal. The prequels had some glaring issues in production, and faltered because of it. Lucas Art's film section is strong, but they couldn't seem to pull it together in the best ways. Something that always bugged me were the transitions between scenes. This might sound like a small complaint, but it get's bigger if you recognize it. They basically use the same transitions that comes stock in Window's Movie Makers. They have the pinwheel, the box out, even the slide checkerboard. Once you notice it, you can't stop noticing it (which means that I've just ruined the movies even more for you). Disney is held to a higher stander than most, and they'll apply those expectations to the works with the Star Wars franchise.
This might also see a revival in quality Star Wars videogames. The recent releases has been decent, but not as great as they could be. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Bioware's MMO, recently took to the free-to-play model even after saying initially that it would not. With the backing of Disney, developers will have more that they can invest into the projects and have a better end result. We might even see the release of Star Wars: Battlefront 3, which had been canceled, even though it was basically finished, by the president of Lucas Arts two years ago. Fans have been waiting for it, but management decided to shaft the fans.
Star Wars is being brought under the umbrella of one of the most prolific companies we have around. There is so much good that can come from this. Despite the fans woes, I believe this will give Star Wars the new life that it so desperately needs. I would hate to see such a fun franchise go the way of others, becoming hallow shells with no innovation. I expect a great deal of good from this.
And if Darth Vader happens to be in Kingdom Hearts 3, awesome.
Just something to chew on.
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