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The Tim

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de Blob: Best Video Game Music Ever?

de Blob Album Art

I contend that the Wii game de Blob has the best video game music ever.

The tracks embedded at right were composed by yours truly in-game. I say “composed” because the genius of the music in de Blob is that the music is a fully-integrated part of the experience you get when you play the game.

Each level starts off totally silent. The music begins to kick in as you bring the drab grey city to life with colorful paint. The more colorful the city gets, the more intense the music becomes. Plus, different musical flourishes (vocal ‘dows’, keyboard, guitar, etc.) are added to the music with each building you paint, with the instrument determined by what color you’re painting with at the time.

For more of my thoughts about this under-appreciated gaming masterpiece, check out my full review.

de Blob 2 comes out in a week, we’ll see if they can live up to the high musical standard set by the first game.

Eagle or Bottle Cap?

The logo seen at right was imprinted on the inside of a plastic Wesson vegetable oil bottle cap.

I say it’s an eagle made out of flames, the logo for whatever company made the cap.

Jeni says it’s a bottle cap over a fire, a symbol meant to instruct people not to put the cap in fire.

Who’s right?

[Update]
Thanks to Adam, who pointed out in a comment below that the mystery image is the logo for Phoenix Closures. Looks like I win!

OMG, Facebook is Destroying Marriages! (Yeah Right)

This story from New Jersey caught my attention today…

Pastor to church leaders: Get off Facebook or step down

Rev. Cedric A. Miller has had it with what he says Facebook is doing to couples coming to him for help and is giving his married church leaders until Sunday to get off the social-network website or resign their posts.

Miller, senior pastor at Living Word Christian Fellowship Church, the popular interdenominational and evangelical church on Route 35, said a large percentage of his counseling over the past year and a half has been for marital problems, including infidelity, stemming from Facebook.

Miller said there was no problem when people just met with friends from high school in a platonic way.

But that has changed, he said, and now people are reigniting old passions and connecting with people who should stay in the past. He said a marriage can be going along fine when someone from the past breaks through and trouble begins.

Facebook is EVIL!I’m the last person you’ll find defending Facebook, as I personally think it’s an enormous waste of time (to put it lightly). That said, this pastor is deceiving himself if he really believes that “a marriage can be going along fine” and suddenly Facebook is to blame for leading a spouse to infidelity.

People don’t just decide one day to go out and break their marriage vows by having an affair. “Reigniting old passions” on Facebook is the symptom of underlying problems in a marriage, not the cause.

If Rev. Miller thinks that banning Facebook will somehow magically prevent marriages from falling apart in his church body, he is going to be in for an unfortunate awakening.

In my opinion, misguided dudes like Rev. Miller are part of the reason that Christianity is perceived so negatively by much of the culture. What if, instead of focusing on nonsense like Facebook, Rev. Miller launched a campaign in his church to teach husbands and wives how to meet each other’s needs, and strengthen their marriage against all forms of temptation? Wouldn’t that be time much better spent than sermonizing about the evils of Facebook?

[Update]
Like I said, Facebook is not the cause of marital infidelity. Guess what Rev. Miller managed to do ten years ago without any assistance from the big blue internet evil: Pastor who banned Facebook had three-way sex affair.

How do you win a major political campaign? Make crap up!

Wondering how to get elected to a major political office? Well lucky for you, today’s article in the Seattle Times answers just that question! 5 reasons Murray bucked trend, got re-elected

…Democrats weren’t content with just promoting Murray’s record.

They attacked Rossi early and often, portraying him as not just wrong on issues, but personally “sleazy,” as Pelz put it during one conference call with reporters. In particular, they ridiculed Rossi’s history of business associations with lobbyists and ethically challenged financiers.

When they did talk about issues, Democrats weren’t content with slamming Rossi for views he actually held. In some cases, they just made stuff up, accusing him, for example, of being hostile to Boeing and veterans.

“I think she succeeded in making him an equal issue, which is I think what she had to do,” said Democratic political consultant Blair Butterworth.

It may have worked, but the sometimes ludicrous lengths Murray’s campaign went to to slime Rossi should put an end to any illusions that she is still merely an idealistic mom in tennis shoes.

So apparently, all you have to do is make junk up and spend millions of dollars plastering the airwaves with your phony portrait of your opponent as Satan incarnate? Awesome.

Also, what trend did Murray “buck” exactly? The trend of Democrats waltzing to statewide victory by taking over 60% of the Seattle-area vote while losing in most of the rest of the state? Oh wait, that’s what happens in nearly every statewide election in Washington.

Winner: Most Outrageous Campaign Mailer

And the winner for the coveted “Most Outrageous Campaign Mailer” prize goes to…

“VoteVets Action Fund” for this delightful piece equating Dino Rossi with insane Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

Dino Rossi = Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Dino Rossi = Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Congratulations! You win a virtual spit on the shoes.