OGame

I started playing a free browser mmo called OGame. It's your standard planets, resources, fleets of ships, attacking, defending, etc. Best of all it's free. If you want to sign up, we're playing in Universe 31. Within these universes there are Alliances that may be at war, may be available to trade goods, or to have the back of a friend who has 50 Deathstars headed their way. Our Alliance has decided to revamp it's name and look and here are some suggestions I have come up with. This may not be all of them because I have more in my head but time is always a factor. To my fellow Alliance members who are here to check them out, welcome!

1. Space Banditos


















The name "Space Banditos" is from an episode of Futurama where the crew is guarding a single atom of Jumbonium. When the atom is stolen Leela asks,
"Did you hear maracas?"
"No."
"Then it wasn't Space Banditos."
The image is from Coelasquid. Typeface: Bleeding Cowboys


2. Galactic Cattle Rustlers


















The name for this one I came up with myself. I mean think about it, years in the future when the cow has become nearly extinct people will be willing to pay anything for a good burger. Cattle rustling sees a new upsurge as one alliance attempts to hold the universe's meat supply within it's grasp.
Then I found the image from Bergam. Typeface: Nashville


3. Initech


















This is obviously from the classic Mike Judge movie "Office Space". This picture I composed myself. The Initech logo, and all that I could find, was rather low quality. Too low to have in the forefront without it being so glaringly pixelated. In order to fix that I decided to make it like a water marked legal pad given out to Initech employees. Michael Bolton has left Peter a note about getting the memo letting all employees know that cover sheets need to be on the new TPS Reports. Lumbergh, the Division VP, gently breaks the ice before having Peter work the weekend. Finally, Peter himself writes to himself the companies motivational slogan before changing it to what he feels is a more adequate question. The coffee stain ring shows how he has hidden it from his 8 bosses along with the CDEF virus that he and his friends would later inflict on the payroll department.
Typefaces: Bring Tha Noize, SF Burlington Script, Journal


4. Monkey With A Gun


















Steve wanted something funny and different. So I thought what about "monkeys with handguns". It's funny and dangerous on many levels, I mean who knows what would happen if monkeys everywhere were armed. Spider Monkeys brandishing weapons in each hand, foot, as well as tail. I don't know about you but any creature able to hold you up with 5 guns is worthy of fear and respect. As I thought about the name more it solidified into "Monkey With A Gun". I googled up an image and behold the cold blooded chimp assassin.
Typeface: You Are Loved


5. Bored Ornithologists for the Ongoing Blue-foot Interplanetary Eradication Society














Yes, we are all a bit childish sometimes even me. Each Alliance is also given a "tag" which is just an abbreviation from you name. We would be known throughout the universe as the B.O.O.B.I.E.S whose sole purpose was to wipe the Blue-footed Booby out of existence. Little did we know that when space travel became widely accessible that the Blue-foot would sneak into cargo containers, weapons crates, etc. bound for the farthest reaches of the universe. Soon the Blue-foot was a menace, devouring the natural resources of once great planets. Our preferred method of destruction is to park a couple million miles away from a black hole open the bay doors and let them be sucked into a quantum singularity. Now that's a job well done.
Typeface: Victor

That's all I have at the moment. I may have more later when I have the time.

Welcome To The Machine

Rube Goldberg machines are cool, especially ones with little Japanese girls singing.

I Really Do Love Video Games

Actually what I was saying to myself was, "If this is PS3 only, I'm getting one". Don't worry Rachelle, it's coming out on Xbox 360 too.

For Jeff

This one I made.

The one below I found on deviantART and couldn't pass it up. It's a bit on the anime side but still amazingly close to how I would picture Calvin and Hobbes in real life. The illustration is by '*spacecoyote'. Go to her deviantART page here!

High School Calendar

The Wacc High School calendar for the next 6 months. The background is an iStock image. The tree was gleaned from an image I found, masked and tinted. We printed them in color on 11x17 paper for all the High Schoolers and extra, about 450. The main typeface is 'Roman Antique', the months are 'Ellianarelle's Path', and the events are a large variety. The back has a detailed description of all events.

Click it for a larger image.

Let me know what you think.

Done.

So, I'm done with school... forever.

Yes, pretty anticlimactic for me as well. I actually finished last week but I havn't written anything because I was unsure how I felt about it. Rachelle finished her Masters degree as well and we both don't really know what to do with ourselves right now. We had Jeff staying with us (I ought to do a proper blog about that later) but now he is gone as well.

It's just the two of us... without deadlines. Needless to say, it's a very confusing time.

There has been a lot of sleeping on the couch. Perhaps I ought to say there has been EVEN MORE sleeping on the couch. I begin to play a video game and I have a nagging suspicion that I ought to be studying Greek or writing some paper. But I don't and there is no paper. For 8 years I have had the sword of Damocles hanging over my head and now the banquet is over, I can leave. But I don't leave, I remain sitting under the sword because the seat that I once cursed has become all I know. I'm sure in time this will pass.

While I hope the feeling subsides, I hope I never want to stop learning. I recently took a strength finder test from this book and one of my top 5 strengths was "learning". Crazy I know. I already have a list of things to study that I want to learn:

1. Piano Lessons - Rachelle's aunt is going to teach me. I started taking lessons from her a couple years ago but I never had the time or piano to practice on. Now I have the time and she is going to let me use her piano because she wants to get it out of her house. Fine by me.

2. Graphic/Web Design Class - I have been doing a lot more design at work and I wanted to audit some classes in it. The problem is that all that is offered in the Spring are the second semester of the classes, so I have to wait until Fall to get in Design 1. I could just try these, but I would like to know what everyone is talking about.

3. Creative Writing Class - Once again all second semester courses or scheduled in the middle of the day when I will be working.

4. Book - Yea, as in write one. Jeff and Elaine think I ought to write a Systematic Theology book. A more cynical, less haughty, and actually useful one. Not sure if I have the gumption for something of that magnitude. I have been thinking of something more akin to a practical commentary/preaching book. I need to get all my heretical thoughts down on paper for all the world to see.

I'd write more but I need to go to work. Shadow hide you.

The Cult of Academia

It was funny. I was working on a research paper for my Greek class today, so I spent a fair amount of time at the library. Actually, the nice thing about research nowadays is that I can do a good 75% of it from the comfort of my own home thanks to the fact that more articles and books are being placed online digitally. But there will always be those reference books that you can't bring yourself to buy because of the exorbitant price but are always really useful. TDNT is one of those books.

Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament or Theological Dictionary of the New Testament for those who don't spreken. I needed to consult one of the nine volumes in order to get a better understanding of "mustard" in the Ancient Near East. Yup, mustard. I found what I needed and closing up the book I saw the check-out card in the front cover. We no longer use the stamped cards but many books still have them inside, perhaps as a monument to Melvin Dewey and his decimal system that has plagued youth for years. One entry caught my eye in particular.

One A. Hultberg had checked out the book on May 27, 1988. The reason it caught my eye is because Dr. Alan Hultberg is an Assistant Professor of Bible Exposition & New Testament at Talbot. As I sat there looking at the card, it dawned on me that Dr. Hultberg had been studying this very text as he too was close to finishing his M.Div at Talbot nearly 20 years ago. Many times its hard to imagine your professors being in your place, sitting in your seat in a class full of students. You wonder which student they were, because only 2 kinds make it in the PhD world: brilliant or hard-working. I'd give hard-working the upper hand any day.

Have I ever said I've thought about Doctorate work before? Problem is, I'm neither of my two prerequisites.

The Love Of Wisdom

I have a Philosophy test tomorrow. I decided to take a break and share a little video that some might enjoy and others will surely hate.


As I think about my test, a quote comes to mind.

"The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die and you to live. Which is the better, only God knows." - Socrates

My Spaceship Knows Which Way To Go

The semester is in full swing now, hence the lack of posts the last 10 days. Instead of writing to you, I was writing up a Greek assignment for Mark 1:1-13 that took around 15 hours to complete. Keep in mind, this is not a major assignment. One of these bad boys is due each week. I plan on spending the majority of tomorrow holed up in the library working on this weeks as well as getting ready to teach on Sunday.

There has actually been a lot going on. Many big changes could be around the corner. I find myself currently waiting on others in order to be able to make those decisions. That's the worst part. I will no doubt allude to them in some later posts.

*Awe Inspired Silence*

As if the world needed another reason to love Cadbury and their delicious chocolate, they went out and did this...


I was literally speechless with delight.

Malawi

I got kind of sidetracked last night while writing the "Blitzfest Malawi" post because Rachelle and I were watching Friends. There were some other things that I wanted to add and then I just forgot.

There are many questions that have to be answered before you can even start to help people in need.

How do you choose where to begin your work? Is the organization that you are going through credible? What percentage of the money you raise will go directly to the people you are trying to help? There are people all over the world in need, which makes the task seem daunting. We will be partnering with a group called Y Malawi? The reason that the High School Ministry chose to work n Malawi was because of a bond previously made through our church.

The sad truth is that over 4,000 children die everyday from preventable illnesses. In order to do our part to help in this crisis, our church partnered with African Bible College and in particular the ABC Community Clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi. This clinic sees 3,000 people every month, many of which are infected with the AIDS virus. The clinic wanted to build a pediatric ward to help with the growing number of children they were seeing but did not have the funds. We were told a few months before Christmas that it would cost $300k to build the new ward. Slightly disheartened by the sum that we wanted to raise by the end of the year, we moved forward anyway in an effort to prepare the congregation and push for what seemed impossible in the time we had. On Christmas day we took our Malawi offering, unsure what would happen as Bill asked for a miracle from the pulpit.

Part of the etymology of the word miracle is "to smile", which sounds funny at first but just makes sense when you think about it. That Christmas day we raised just over a half a million dollars, $568, 979.15 for you sticklers out there. Checks have been sent and construction has begun on a 40 bed pediatric ward as well as building a house for a new doctor that they are praying will join staff soon. Dr. Boersma runs the clinic in Malawi and you can visit his website or see a video about what they are doing here.

I often think about what is in store for Rachelle and I. Rachelle has talked about taking a leave from work to go into the mission field, I guess I could tag along with her. Nurses and teachers are needed in all kinds of communities and I'm sure we could go wherever we wanted to help. Right now we are trying to do our part from here, we just started sponsoring a little girl from, yup, Malawi through World Vision.

Maybe some day we'll be in Malawi too.

Blitzfest Malawi

I've been working on a poster for our upcoming "Blitzfest Malawi" event for a while now and I'm finally fairly satisfied with it. Here it is:

For those who don't know, Blitzfest is a one of the largest events we at the High School Ministry put on each year. We pretty much take the entire month of September to get it all together while still doing the day to day stuff. Last year we had a student art show, an xbox tournament, rides, and 5 hardcore bands of which the headliner was A Static Lullaby. We usually get around 1,000 students at the event, many who have never stepped foot on the grounds of a church; which is the whole point of the night. This year though we have a bit different purpose.


All the proceeds of this years Blitzfest will be used to bring clean water to the people of Malawi, Africa. In developing countries around the world getting water is a daily struggle. Women and children spend 2/3 of their day walking miles to wells that dispense dirty, contaminated water and then walk the long road home with 40 pound jugs. Blitzfest is part of a larger project in which we will be raising $10,000 to build four wells for needy communities. These wells will serve hundreds of people a day with clean water and allow women/children to go to school rather than fetching water.

We're excited about the months ahead.

The Biola Years Vol. 4

As I wrote previously, Stewart Hall had many traditions. They were also big supporters of "community life" and, when it came to the guys, "how to be men" meetings.

I was not a fan of either.

Looking back, I feel a bit bad for what we put our RD through... but then again he did bring a lot of it on himself. Our second year, the RD changed the name of our floor from "The Shire" to "MUNG". We were not pleased. At the beginning of the year, all of Stewart Hall participates in a Survivoresque meeting on the field at night with torches. Every floor was called to attention by their RA who would announce the name of the floor to resounding cheers of all those on that particular floor. It was a wonderful time, full of bonding, and then it got to... MUNG. When we were called upon there were no cheers or shouts, just a lone chinaman named Paul Mattews clapping at an interval of about one clap every 4 seconds and a few guys throwing "the horns". As we left the cult meeting, we passed by our RD who shouted at us, "Men of MUNG!". I figured he wanted a response of equal volume, so as I passed about 1 foot away from him I shouted, "WE'RE THE SHIRE!" and continued walking on. It was a night that would live in infamy.


Later in the semester there was one of the many "How To Be Men" meetings, or what I called "Real Men Spit And Growl" or "I Read Too Much John Eldredge" meeting, that was supposed to be mandatory for all guys. I think I'd take castration over becoming what they thought men ought to be like. It was my responsibility, my duty if you will, to keep The Shire safe. I was the elder and "Godfather" of the floor; believe it or not I was looked to for guidance. Papers were taped to all the doors advertising the upcoming meeting. When I saw the papers, I knew what must be done. When I walked outside my door I ripped the paper off, balled it up, and threw it on the ground right outside the door so that people would know there was disapproval and that they had not simply been brought inside. As I walked to class I stopped at each door and did the same for each of my brothers on the floor. Jeff would tell me later that when he came back after class, our RD was there beholding the carnage. Jeff stopped to watch him bend down, grab an advertisement that had been tossed by the wayside, turned to Jeff and asked, "Who would do such a thing?".

You think it would have been obvious.

More fun with the RD another time.

NYPL Digital Library

I ran across this the other day while looking for inspiration with design projects.

The New York Public Library has digitized over 550,000 images in their possession including manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more. If you have the time, I suggest spending some time perusing the images.

The Biola Years Vol. 3

Eric, Jeff and myself lived in a dorm called Stewart. Stewart was one of the older dorms and had many traditions; traditions that were forced upon unwitting students like myself that just wanted to be left alone. Under the pretense of “bonding”, many floors did things at the beginning of each year that were usually dumb or disgusting. The floor called “Lemonheads” would eat whole lemons, the floor HoM would chug milk and throw up, the dorm as a whole would participate in the “kilt run” where they ran around campus once a year in boxers.

I did none of these things, and I’m a better person for it.

My first year in Stewart was 2001, a watershed year in cinema as “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was released. Our floor had been re-named “The Shire” in honor of it. The best way to describe our floor is to use a quote from Old Ben Kenobi, “The Shire: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious”. It was as if Biola had intentionally taken all the sarcastic, cynical, best people and hid them on our floor. We started some illegal poker nights, at least twice a week we’d be playing cards. Those nights would evolve into biannual no limit hold’em poker tournaments, with hundreds of dollars at stake. If we weren’t playing cards, we were in Hollywood going to Amoeba Records and Roscoe’s House of Chicken N Waffles. Or at the Troubador to see Hopesfall, Coheed And Cambria, From Autumn To Ashes, Thrice, any of a plethora of bands. And if we weren’t at any of those places, you would find us at our computers playing Starcraft and Diablo 2 for hours upon hours on end. Going to Taco Bell at 1am, buying 20 tacos and eating them all while watching “Shanghai Noon”… always “Shanghai Noon”. This was our bonding time, relationships that I still hold dear, made through the non-sanctioned events and practices of Biola. Homework was done somewhere in there too, I think.

More about Stewart tomorrow.

The Biola Years Vol. 2

For some reason Jeff owned a rubber ball named Mr. Strawberry. It was the size of a normal dodge ball, red, a face painted on it, it’s named printed on the back, and it had a scent. The smell made you think the manufacturer had a picture of a strawberry and guessed what it must smell like, since he himself had never actually seen one in the flesh.

One night, Jeff and I watched one of the best movies ever made, “The Shawshank Redemption”. Afterward, Jeff decided to take a shower while I sat alone on the couch with Mr. Strawberry. As Jeff showered, I recalled a certain part of the movie where Andy Dufresne goes into the prison shower and is confronted by Bogs who, in an ever so nice way, let’s Andy know he plans to rape him. Inspired as I was, I grabbed Mr. Strawberry, went into the bathroom, and placed him above the shower door so his face was looking down at Jeff’s disgustingly naked body.

Then the callous Mr. Strawberry said to Jeff:
“Hey, anybody come at you yet? Anybody get to you yet? Hey, we all need friends in here. I could be a friend to you. Hard to get. I like that...”

By the end of the night Mr. Strawberry had been defaced. A bubble shot from his mouth with the words “I could be a friend to you” oozing out his horrible cheshire grin. On the back his name had now been changed to “Gay Mr. Strawberry” and below it Red’s quote stood etched as a reminder for all to see: “Bull queers take by force. It’s all they know or want”.

Sadly, Gay Mr. Strawberry would eventually find his demise one night while trying to force himself on Jeff. He got too close to Fenchurch, our stuffed puffer fish, and expired shortly after. He was soon replaced by Mr. Grape… but we were never the same.

The Biola Years Vol. 1

I was thinking over my time at Biola University.

Those were simpler times. Now that I think about it, I realize now that I haven’t talked much about my years at Biola with anyone other than Rachelle and those who were friends at the time. We didn’t do any partying, drinking, or any of that stuff. We were more the cynical underbelly that dwelt just below the, often times, fake facade of Christianity.

When I say we, I mean Jeff Eckmann, myself, and the intrepid Eric Sorensen. So, I plan on starting to disclose certain tidbits from the past so that everyone can feel the joy and because it’s funny (at least to us it was). Thus begins a blog series…

Jeff and I knew each other only slightly when we became roommates. It was sort of awkward in the beginning. I think the thing that galvanized our friendship in those early stages was Trance. (I just lost bout half the readers I bet). Jeff explained Trance music to me and, to his surprise, I understood and enjoyed the music. He would go on to have the most spectacular catalog of electronic music at Biola, to which I contributed a bit. One day as we drove back to Biola from Best Buy, we saw a banner over a door that said “Free Trance”. We both did a double take, bemused at where this musical gold was, apparently, being given away to the public. The building in question was the auspicious “Taboo Gentleman’s Club”, where fine young women dance naked for money. We looked at each other, the question on our minds was obvious. But before it could be asked, a breeze caught the banner which had been hanging limply revealing a much needed “En”. Assuring the customers that there was “Free Entrance”, not the music stylings of Paul Van Dyk. We both laughed and then I asked Jeff the question that was on both our minds: “So, would you have gone in for free trance??” his response “Yes, yes I would have”.

It’s been 5 years since I lived with one Jeffery O’Brian Eckmann as an Undergrad at Biola University. I guess the nostalgia comes from the fact that very soon we will be roommates once again. Jeff has been offered an internship at the Aquarium Of The Pacific and if he takes it, then he will be staying with Rachelle and I for 15 weeks.

Pray for Rachelle.

Audiobooks

While bouncing around the world wide web tonight I stumbled upon a website full of public domain audiobooks called LibriVox. I already downloaded Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice and Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. They have quite a large catalog to choose from including: Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Dante's Divine Comedy, Homer's The Odyssey, Melville's Moby Dick, and more.

Enjoy.

It's Strange...

Last week I turned 26. Yes, one of those inconsequential birthdays that only mark the unstoppable progression toward... 30 *gulp*. The day came and went and I barely thought about it, unlike last year when I turned 25 and had a minor "quarter century crisis". That year I wrote what can only be called a treatise on my life with emphasis on ways not to make the same mistakes I did.

This year was a bit different. One thing that I did spend a while thinking about was how this year marks 10 years that I have known, dated, been engaged, and married to Rachelle. And that in a few short years we will have been together longer than we have been a part. That's pretty crazy to think about.

New Threadless Threads

It's been a while since I purchased anything from Threadless. Frankly, nothing had jumped out at me until recently. Here are some newer shirts that I couldn't pass up.

The Swirl Of The WorldI liked this one from the second I saw it. It's a complex design yet simple in it's execution. I love the tiny little submarine firing the tiny little torpedo!

Parable Paranoia
I love the olive color, the gold foiling around the border, and the fairytale theme. The picture is huge and on an American Apparel shirt. I was just reading that some people have said the image faded after wishing, which I hope won't be the case. I just washed it, I guess we'll see.

Poker Hand Values
When I wear this one around I look like I belong in the Queen Of Hearts' card army from Alice In Wonderland. I can't wait to wear it the next time I go play poker at the casino. This shirt probably grabs the most attention of any of my Threadless shirts. I actually caught a guy taking a picture of me on his camera phone as I sat in a waiting room. The image cover the entire shirt and is printed in a thick, puffy ink.

Go buy some shirts, and make sure to do it from my link so I get free credit!