why i love penny arcade

I am not a gamer. I want it to be clear that, while I own a PS2 and have a WII readily available to me at all times, I am not a gamer. I play occasionally, and only with a few specific games. This past weekend, while visiting my young nephews, I was reminded of the joy of the WII, and actually played the Cars movie-based game for the first time. It was oodles of fun. And yes, I used the word oodles. They wanted to play NFS: Carbon, but i talked them out of it because it was a little too much for me, and I had visions of frustrated and upset 5 and 9 year olds, who just wanted to play and were bored to tears by the cut scenes and car selection nonsense.

What i'm getting at is that, while I'm not a gamer, I enjoy game-related culture. I can relate to these people, and so enjoy reading gamer-based webcomics like ctrl-alt-del and penny arcade. There are links to both on the right-hand side of this page, if you want to take a gander. I just wanted to specifically point out this page, a penny arcade news post, as a prime example of why I enjoy the strip so much. The style, the content, and the witty insights keep me coming back even more than the strip itself.

Enjoy!

On the problem with 'Get Out Now' rhetoric

Something that I heard mentioned a few years ago, but haven’t heard recently, was the problem of the long cultural memories of Arabs.  I mean, these are people still fighting battles that started more than a thousand years ago, so they have no problem remembering what we did to them back in the early 90’s.  We were all set to topple Saddam then, CIA style, when daddy Bush bowed to international pressure and pulled out.  Suddenly, people who were all set to go with US backing were exposed, and saddam had no problem figuring out and massacring everyone related to them. 

 

This is my biggest complaint with the people in congress talking about getting out now, and the reason why I have trouble really faulting the president for talking about future presidents having to deal with it.  We all know we won’t be there forever, it just isn’t sustainable, but the first step to getting them on our side is convincing them we won’t go half-way and then bail.  If the locals know we’re staying until the job is done and there’s political stability and a government in place that’s capable of maintaining security and stability, they’ll be quicker to help however they can.  But if they think that 6 months from now, regardless of whatever else is happening, we’re going to take our ball and go home, they won’t put their neck out because they know that as soon as we’re gone, al qaeda and such will fill the void, and step one will be rounding up everyone who helped the infidels for a quick execution.

Commitment (musical)

I recently had an opportunity for one incredible running gag against a friend of mine. I gave this up in return for the acquisition of what I consider one of the greatest albums I've ever been blessed to hear.

Some might say I was silly -- that I could get the album on my own, and forever have the ammunition for an incredible running gag. But those people have never heard "The Crane Wife" by The Decemberists.

And they are the silliest ones of all.

it's been a marathon

Wow... i've been posting quite a bit lately, and i like it. This will be short - i just want to point everyone to my new favorite website: thisisby.us. It's a site for writers; that is, anyone can post whatever writing they feel like posting, and wreak the benefits of profit. It's like the missing link in the classic underwear gnome business plan, if the plan went like this:
1) Write something
2) ???
3) Profit

where #2 is "Post the writing on thisisby.us. I'm completely hooked, and would encourage everyone to browse it regularly.

Also, watched a little crap movie over the weekend called The Smokers. Thora Birch is hot; that movie isn't.

it's been a marathon

Wow... i've been posting quite a bit lately, and i like it. This will be short - i just want to point everyone to my new favorite website: thisisby.us. It's a site for writers; that is, anyone can post whatever writing they feel like posting, and wreak the benefits of profit. It's like the missing link in the classic underwear gnome business plan, if the plan went like this:
1) Write something
2) ???
3) Profit

where #2 is "Post the writing on thisisby.us." I'm completely hooked, and would encourage everyone to browse it regularly.

Also, watched a little crap movie over the weekend called The Smokers. Thora Birch is hot; that movie isn't.

I've finally gone political

Two posts in a week?  I knew this would happen sooner or later.  Anyway, drawing on this article;, I have some observations.Discussing today’s defense spending bill, the article states:

The bill would provide $2.2 billion to cover a 3.5 percent pay raise for service members. The administration objects and says its recommended 3 percent pay increase is sufficient.

Please, explain to me how Democrats are considered “anti-troop” when the President says the troops will be happy with a 3% raise instead of a 3.5% raise?  How?

And this little gem:

Murtha had prepared amendments to close the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and require troops be fully trained and equipped before going to fight in Iraq. But facing the prospects of losing votes and inflaming partisan tensions, he withdrew them.

Again, how is it inflammatory, anti-war, or anti-troop to require the military to fully fund and equip them before deployment?  I think that, according to most standard measurements, I’m not retarded, and might in fact be considered a reasonable and intelligent person.  I think I should be able to get this, but I can’t.  I don’t think the statement “Let’s require all of our troops to be fully trained and equipped before we send them to war” is either inflammatory or partisan. 

Unless they mean inflammatory against the Dems, who apparently want nothing more than to prove the cowardice and failure of our armed forces by starving them, taking away their blankets, and not sending them any more bullets.  At least, that’s what Hannity tells me.

I will concede, in the interest of bipartisanship and in an effort to lower the level of vitriol in modern political discourse, that there are some valid debate points about Guantanamo.  Personally, I think it’s an affront to our constitution and diminishes our credibility with the world when we decide we can flaunt our own laws and due process by off-shoring the whole mess.  And, as a society, I think we’re better off long-term in suffering through a certain level of expected losses in war-time than if we do the damage to our national soul of torturing people.

Then again, there is something to be said for preserving our own self-interest – the reassurance to US Citizens that if you’re on US soil, you’re subject to US due process, and – so far, at least – you won’t get sent to Gitmo if you aren’t caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.  And security – it would be a much larger operation for people to break their buddies out when their buddies are on an island which is entirely under the rule of the US military who would have no qualms starting a fire-fight, with the full might and muscle of the US military to chase you across the ocean to where ever you’re running back to.

I don’t buy it, though, so I’m voting Barack in ’08.

Old timey movie marathon

Maybe marathon isn't the best word, but i like it. Being just slightly embarrassed at making it an entire week without seeing the new Simpsons movie, I was resolved to make it today. When i checked the times, I saw that the two hour long Bourne movie started at 1, with a Simpsons showing just after 3, so i spent my entire saturday afternoon at the multi-plex.

First, let me say that the Bourne movie lived up to the hype -- it was tight, fast, and action packed. The only legitimate complaints about it involved the use of hand-held cameras throughout, resulting in an almost sea-sickness-like visceral feeling in the action scenes. I also know that lots of movies have claimed "best car chase" honors, including both Bourne predecessors, but I have to give the title to this one. The idea is that Bourne was turned into a deity-in-the-flesh, and Matt Damon pulled it off to perfection.

And the Simpsons movie... the highest praise I can offer is that it didn't suck. It lived up to the zany/touching/cleverness that the series is rightly known for, and is an honorable mention in the canon of The Simpsons.

Who is Gustavo?

So i just went back and checked the (embarrassingly sparse) comments from the past few posts, and have to ask: Who is Gustavo? I don't know anyone with this nick name. I don't know anyone who's name that is known to me is even remotely close. So who is this mystery person?

Show yourself! The power of Christ compels you!

BTW, WoW is the devil's tool.

Flip-flopping can be a good thing

I just read a line in an article about Clinton/obama that said Obama and Edwards are ‘seeking to portray themselves as more consistently anti-war that Clinton.” 

 

I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing – our current president has been nothing if not consistent, and you can see where it’s gotten us.  I don’t want someone who feels appointed by God, I don’t want someone who can convince themselves when they feel good after saying their prayers at night that God is on their side.  I was right there with the Congress that approved the war back in 2002.  It was meant to be saber rattling at the time – Hussein was mooning the entire inspection process and a lot of intelligence pointed to the fact that he probably had WMD’s, so this gave the world another negotiating tool, the chance to say “Look, man, the U.S. military is ready to enforce this if you don’t cooperate.”  We didn’t expect him to be stupid enough to not cooperate at that point. 

 

A whole other way of looking at the documented lack of post-war planning is that we were never really planning to go in.  It was all posturing, but when he called our bluff the cowboy president said “oh, really, you don’t think I will?” and pulled the trigger.

 

And here we are today, with a president I’d love to play poker with since he would never fold.  But sometimes you have to acknowledge that maybe the Holy Spirit didn’t give you the best guidance this time around, and it might be time to look for another way. 

 

That’s another scary thought – let’s say the Holy Spirit really did tell Bush to do this.  Does that mean It’s on their side?