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Tourney Fun

I'm not sure why but I've always enjoyed tournaments. I prefer video game tournaments but any sort of tourney will do. Card tournaments, chess tournaments, drinking tournaments (though never actualized I had a fun idea for combining a drinking game with a gamecube and a shot glass) X (where X is something) tournaments, etc. Something about the nature of tournaments appeals to me (much more than one on one contests). Maybe it's because it's a higher level of challenge or something but I think there's more to it than that.

I haven't been invovled in a whole lot of tournaments in my life time but I generally do pretty well (Even thoguh I don't always win I've got a good number of second places under my belt). Even if I do poorly however I still enjoy the whole tournament atmosphere.

That was one of the big reasons that X-Box (and X-Box Live) started making its way up the list of things I want last year (back when I had high-speed internet). There are a lot of tournaments for a wide variety of games using X-Box Live.

I'm interested in getting involved in some tournaments again but I'm not really sure where to find them. I don't really know many gamers around here making even a 8 person mini-tournament highly unlikely. And there's not really any company or store that is likely to be hosting any tournaments. I'm curious as to the existence of tournaments online using various emulators (be there for NES, SNES or what have you). Given how popular emulators are and given that they do support online play it seems like a logical continuation for there to be at least some tournaments out there. Perhaps something I should look into one of these days.

Not Much of Choice, Really

Despite what thoughts I may have at 9:30 in the morning, it would seem that when it comes time to decide between getting a good night's sleep and playing around on the computer until 3-4 AM, getting a good night's sleep is about as appealing as something not very appealing.

Extreme Jesus!

(friendly warning: If you are a Christian and easily offended, you may want to skip this one.)

One day when I was at the Highland Square Mall with some time to kill and a rather high degree of boredom, I gathered up my courage and went into Inspirations (a Christian store mostly devoted to books). I normally would not go there as I generally prefer not to be smoted but I had been there one previous time and got quite a kick out of Bibleopoly (seeing as Monopoly is about the most unChristian game in existence (what with the goal being to hoard wealth and crush your opponents). Judging by the online description, Bibleopoly does change the winning conditions by quite a bit though)).

While Bibleopoly was no longer present, they did have something else which I got a kick out of, The Extreme Teen Bible. I had a good laugh at the concept (as I told Jon earlier, I simply cannot see it as something that any self-respecting Christian would want to own (unless it was purchased as a novelty item) at the time but seeing as it was rather expensive that was pretty much the end of it.

Flashing forward to present day I was at the mall last week and saw that Inspirations was having a big sale (possibly a closing out sale, I'm not quite sure). Thinking back to my Extreme Teen Bible and Bibleopoly trips I decided I would once more tempt fate and enter the store. Unfortunately the sale must have been going on for quite a while as most of the really neat stuff was long gone.

Sometime after my failed trip, I mentioned to Krista that I had been to Inspirations and told her what had 'inspired' me to go there. She then told me she actually had a copy of Extreme Teen Bible and, after confirming that it was as awful as it sounded, offered to lend it to me. Naturally I jumped at the chance to get extreme with the Lord.

The actual text of the book is seems to be the King James version with more modern words put in place of the original KJ text. So for the most part it just makes things a bit simpler for those who do not have experience reading older texts (and for someone who has gotten used to reading literature from the 800s onward, the original KJ version is easy to read as is). It does make some of the more ridiculous statements in the bible seem even more ludricious when they are translated into today's vernacular (for instance the story of a concubine who is cut up by her master after she is raped by a group of men (and this is portrayed as a just thing) doesn't really seem to gel) but there's not really much difference between reading the text here and in the KJ version.

What makes the Extreme version enjoyable is the little inserts such as the explanations of passages and the introduction.

Here are a few excerpts I enjoyed:

Description on the back of the book: "Reach in, hang on, and get ready to find out about Someone who went to the extreme just for you!... So take teh plunge into all the great stuff we've packed into this Bible to make your Bible time more extreme than ever before."

On the books of the bible: "Their stories teach us to survive as well by God's power. Because God inspired them, they're one hundred percent accurate and reliable"

On those pesky gay people: "With homosexuality comes guilt, emotional scars, condemnation, and possibly disease and death... Remind him or her that in Jesus there is the power to break any bondage. Your friend may need counselling or other help"

On God's academics: "After all, the principles of math and physics were all His ideas"

God's ego trip: "He wants to know that you need Him. He wants you to admit that He can do a better job with your life than you can"

On getting God to smite your enemies: "That's right, love your enemy! When you love an enemy, you are actually piling burning coals upon his or her head. In other words, God will take care of enemies with the kind of rain you don't want!"

I only started looking at the book tonight but those are just a few things I found be leafing through.

I thought about taking a random chapter from the bible and translating it in such a way as I think an "extreme" bible should be translated (i.e. instead of word for word translation, going for a more modern feel) but I probably offended enough people already so I'll hold off on my own Extreme Bible verses for another day.

Daily Goodness

As I surf the internet, checking out various news articles, it occurs to me just how useful The Daily Show is for coping with the news.

Pretty much anytime I'm on CNN's or CBC's websites I see something which makes me either sad, frustrated or disappointed. Things get even worse when I visit Internet Infidels newswire (which is a great resource it's just that the media is not a kind place for the non-monotheistic (and in many cases simply the non-Christian).

When watching The Daily Show I can hear about all the depressing news of the day but I can laugh at it. And it also helps remind me that as bad as things may look, there are millions of other people out there who are just as bummed out by current trends as I am.

Some may find it sad that a comedy news show is a more reliable source for news than the traditional media but with the way things are in the world, I think we're down to either laugh or go mad.

Lazy Day...Z



I originally planned for to day to be a fairly productive day but for various reasons it ended up as more of a lazing kind of day. Every so often I need a day where I spend most of it lazing and today was one of those so oftens.

That's not to say I got absolutely nothing done however. I did manage to translate some of my site redesign ideas from my head to my computer. I figured out a way to make the site look cooler while still allowing me to be graphically inept.

I also installed a new version of OpenOffice which should help out with the site redesigning as the HTML design elements seem to be much enhanced (now I just have to figure how to use some of the features). Things were so much simpler back in the design your site using notepad days.

Oh and I managed to stub my toes twice today but this time toes on the left foot were injured. So I may not have stopped the toe injuries but at least they are starting to distribute themselves more evenly.

Still that makes 5 times I've hurt my toes in the last 2 and a half days. I'm not sure when the last time before that was that I hurt my toes but there's certainly a trend developing. And now I've got a chair with wheels that roll VERY easily around my bare feet whenever I'm at my computer. I smell pain.

Toe-tal Carnage

Thus far my weekend (weekend in the my two days off for the week sense, not the standard Fri-Sun sense) has been rather unkind to the toes on my right foot.

Last night I was in my room doing something on the computer and the dog scratched at the door. I got up and let her in. As I was the only one home at the time there were no lights on in the living room/den/large basement room. After I let Heidi inside I started walking back to my room. Heidi was in front of me and she decided to stop walking. It was dark so I could not see that she had stopped until I stubbed my toe on one of her back legs. I didn't do it too hard though and I was more concerned to see if Heidi was okay (she was).

So then I keep walking to my room and I get the little hall just before my room and the dog stops in front of me again. This time when I stub my toe I do it at a weird angle which causes it to hurt A LOT and leaves me wondering if I may have broken my toe for the next half hour or so.

And then today as I was clearing space for Cassie's cage I picked up a CD tray which had a roll of pennies in it for some reason. The roll of pennies rolled out of the tray and dropped directly on to my previously injured toes. Much with the pain this was.

And so now after repeated injury my second toe on my right foot is sore in a it's pretty much fine as long as I don't touch it sort of way. Fun times had by all.

Contest Contest!

Remember last year when I had the "A face" contest and the Superfriends contest? They were a lot of fun (esp the Superfriends contest) so I've decided to do it again.

I've been mulling over what sort of contest to have for a couple weeks now. I'm pretty sure I want another writing contest but I cannot decide what sort of subject to have. Something similar to the Superfriends contest would be really good but I don't really know what yet.

So I've decided to hold a mini-contest before the actual contest (which will probably be held in May, when more people should have more time on their hands). If you haven't figured out by now what the mini-contest is, you probably need to go back to sleep. Basically I'm looking for contest suggestions. While I'm thinking a writing contest similar to the Superfriends one would be keen, you need not limit yourself to contests in that vein. Any sort of suggestion is eligible (doesn't have to be writing related at all) but keep in mind the contest has to be conductable over the internet.

As with my previous contests there will be a prize for submitting the winning suggestion (you may do so over IM, e-mail or just posting a comment) but seeing as this contest is rather small, the as yet undetermined prize probably will not be anything too substantial.

Contest deadline will be... oh, let's say April 23rd at 7:54 PM ADT. Winner will be notified shortly after that.

That's Where I'm a Viking!

It would seem that after a rather lengthy time period of not getting a decent night's sleep, I shall in fact get one tonight. I'm not sure exactly how long it has been but it's been at least 1.5-2 weeks since I've gotten 8 hours. I got 7 last night and that was the most I'd gotten in quite a while as well.

I've gotten to the point where I don't need a 'good' night's sleep very often but if I go too long without one it does start to get to me. I've actually tried to get 8 hours of sleep a few nights this week but I would always end up getting non-tired after 1 AM and/or getting wrapped up in computer related things which took precedence over the sleeping.

I'm planning to get a good night's sleep tonight but I planned that last Sunday night and I end up getting about 5 hours so this post may be a wee bit premature (esp since I'm not planning to go to bed any time soon). Time shall tell, I guess.

Sweet, Sweet Money

My income tax refund came in today! And thanks to A) having 4 months of university last year and B) only working about 7 months I get back everything I put in. In this case that means $2019.45.

I am going to dump most of it on to my student line of credit but I've earmarked some of the money for three things.
Thing 1: A new cage for Cassie - Cassie is still pretty shy and as a result she does not like to be out of her cage. She also does not like it if you take her igloo out. This means she doesn't have a whole lot of space to run around. They've got an extra large rabbit cage at the pet store at the mall though and I'm going to pick that up for her.
Thing 2: A computer chair - Right now my computer chair is just a regular chair. It is not a bad chair but it is wooden and hence not really ideal for prolonged periods of sitting. I'm going to find a nice one and staples and rectify that problem soon.
Thing 3: Timing belt - Apparently it is good to get these replaced every so often. I have no idea what it does or anything like that but dad thinks I should get a new one for the car

Not the most exciting collection of items but I've wanted 2 of those things for quite a while now (I'll leave it as a reader exercise to figure out which 2).