Litcube suggested that one of the New Yorkers here do a post on the proposed so-called "Ground Zero Mosque". As a former New Yorker, and as an American, and as a human being, I certainly have an opinion on this, and I think it's kind of a strong opinion; but rather than rant and rant I think I'd rather hear what more reasonable people have to say about the issue. That's you. Go.
This thing I linked to before somewhere is now available in the iTunes store:
It attempts to realize the old dream of converting the effort and concentration given to addictive games into real-life work. I can see how it just might work from the demo, with the in-game personal enhancements and random rewards that cause my best friends in the whole world to exclaim "The fishing part of WoW is fun!"
Does the time invested playing the game significantly offset any productivity gains? Is it fun? Is it fun enough? I don't know! I'm downloading it now! I'll let you know!
i was youtubing a song i liked by the weavers, an old hymn called "i don't want to get adjusted" (and i found a pretty amazing bunch of videos of people performing beautiful versions of it and other hymns in churches in the south), when i stumbled across this version done by a gospel group from the 60s called the happy goodmans.
wacky video aside, i have a weird love/hate relationship with the sentiment expressed in the song, the idea that the material world is temporary and our real home is in the afterlife. for some reason i find the idea that "the world is not my home" (hello tom waits!) kind of beautiful and sweet and sad, but at the same time it seems to encourage apathy toward real-world suffering or trying to make a positive difference in the world. whether or not you believe in the afterlife i don't think it's a good idea for people to think that nothing in this world really matters.
He may be several steps removed from the American kids he's trying to emulate, but his delivery is quite good. He also seems to be teaching the concept of swearing. This is long, but stick around until the end for a rule of swearing I've never heard before. Is he right? He might be right!
