The Embarrasment to Christianity

Any of you walk past Gregory Gym in the late afternoon the past couple of days? This dude has been there answering questions about Christianity; kind of like Cliff last semester. Cliff was a lot better and more eloquent though. I walked past him right after Latin class and ended up staying for like 10 minutes because there was a heated discussion about homosexuality going on and I'm always amused to hear Christian conservatives try to defend their viewpoint. He was doing a horrible job by bringing up a long-winded story to make the point that gay people feel in their conscience, given by God, the guilt that what they're doing is wrong. He went on to say that if one of his sons told him that he was gay that he'd try to figure out where he failed as a father. One girl, who was quite pretty I might add, said that she came from a strong Christian background (as have I by the way, I should've hooked up with her, huh?) and that he was an embarassment to Christianity. I had to applaud that, because she was right. When I finished working out I ran into my friend Jeremy, and we had a much better discourse on the subject. His viewpoint is that it's a learned behavior and the bible condemns it. It sounds one-sided, but I'll cede that he had some good arguments. The cornerstone of my philosophy though is that the bible cannot be trusted because it shouldn't be taken literally (it's open to interpretation), it was written by man (so fallibility applies), and we can't guarantee its accuracy since it's so old and may have been changed over time. He believes that it's something that can be "cured", which sounds worse than he was making it out to be because it's not that we should hate them but we should help them. I feel that it's their choice to make though, and I can't see it being hurtful to the Lord. Anyway, this has gone on too long but feel free to comment with your thoughts on the subject.

The centerpiece of this post had I not seen that guy talk would've been the unveiling of the Longhorn beta. So far, the verdict is that it's not too impressive and may be a step backward, in fact. Of course that's very subjective, especially since Microsoft could have an ace up its sleeve for all we know. The only tangible thing the rest of us can go on is shots of the Aero Glass UI, which looks kind of like this:



It looks a little glassy, but is it all that special? Microsoft also announced that they're planning on putting something along the lines of a 'black box' recorder in the new Windows to allow for better error reporting, but of course along with that comes privacy concerns. It'd only be worth it if it markedly improved their bug detection. Meanwhile, AOL is finally coming to its senses by testing out Triton, which would eliminate all the reasons I (and many others I'm sure) used 3rd party IM clients. New features include logging, tabbed interface, mini-icons in the buddy list (ala Gaim), 3rd party plug-in architecture, and VoIP among other things. Take a preliminary look here. There's already word that Dell is planning a replacement to its Axim x50 model next year that will be its first cellular-wireless handheld. Now we're really making progress with PDAs.

The movie news today is rather weak; I guess partially because everyone is still hot on the heels of the Batman Begins trailer. Thankfully, the movie will be released two days earlier on Wedensday, June 15, so be sure to skip work and/or class that day. There are also some behind-the-scenes shots over here for those who are interested, or you could just get the new Entertainment Weekly. Does anyone know anything about Joss Whedon's Firefly? If you do, I think you'll get something out of this interview. The rest of us can just settle for the cool new trailer for Serenity, which unfortunately got pushed back to September because for some odd reason they feared the April competition. Anyone interested in The Lion, the With, and the Wardrobe can check out the website for some good, new behind-the-scenes footage and sustain themselves with this description of the upcoming trailer. Lastly, IGN has an interview with relative newcomer Martin Freeman, who plays the lead in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and we can expect to see more of him if it turns out well.

My post today just wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention this Bushism. He was obviously trying to get laughter from a crowd at Galveston by mentioning Splash Day, but the great irony is that it's a huge gay and lesbian event! Nice going George. There were actually a couple of things today about video games. For one thing, a new program has been developed that acts as a V-chip for PC gaming so that parents can control and limit the playing time of their children. I think it's a great idea because kids are getting way too attached to games nowadays; much moreso than back in my day. That's too bad for them though because Prince of Persia 3 is in development to my great delight and you can bet that I'll keep you abreast of any details that arise.

Here goes one of my favorite memes, the Ten on Tuesday:

10 stupid things you did as a kid
10. Made a habit of talking fast.
9. Fell for girls I shouldn't have and ended up getting hurt.
8. I got fat!
7. I hit my brother, who is 8 years older than me, pretty hard with these plastic nunchucks I had and then I almost pissed my pants when I realized what I had done.
6. I decided that Fondren would be a good middle school to go to.
5. I wanted to see this big star-shaped trophy my mom got so I reached up to get it and dropped it on the floor breaking a piece of tile from the floor. Then, I tried to cover it up!
4. I put a review of a Physics test (very generic, no specific questions) online.
3. I stuck these fake, metallic keys in one of our power outlets. I've gotta say: ouch.
2. I put a staple through my thumb while trying to fix the bloody stapler.
1. I listened to one of my friends and took something pretty bad to school that will remain nameless (it's not a weapon).