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Religion, War, How to hang the toilet paper on the roll. Here you can read John's opinions on everything under the sun.
I'd like to apologize for the overall roughness of this section. It will usually be typed on the fly and will resmeble a rant, so don't expect Plato or War and Peace here.
July 1, 2001
Great Video Games pt. 1 - All time (multiple systems)
- Zelda 64: the Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64) - My all time favorite game. It is a maseterpeice of action, story and control. Easily lasting 80 - 100 hours to complete, this game was put together my Miyamoto-sama (the creator of Mario). Just "wow!"
- Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espinage Action (PlayStation) - The depth of story here is frightening. For those who don't know it's about a man who sneaks into a nuclear facility to stop terrorists. The facts they give throughout the game about nuclear arms proliferation and the lack of regulations of them is really frightening. For ex: 500 tons of MUF are reported every year. MUF stands for "Materials Unaccounted For." That means 500 tons of nukes disappear every year.
- Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast) - This game recieved a lot of flack here in the States (it centers around rollerblading youth who spraypaint the city). But it is a highly innovative game with simple controls and great graphics. At times this game is higher on my list, but I've been playing the above two a lot lately so they come in higher for the time being.
- Final Fantasy 7 (PlayStation) - The most spectacular, deep RPG game ever created. Produced by Square, the guys who can't seem to do anything that isn't great. Concurrent with other Square products this game sports great cinematics, character design and involement. My favorite cinema is *spoiler* when Cloud steals the motorcycle! */spoiler*
- Goldeneye (Nintendo 64) - The greatest multiplayer game ever. This game has so many options and levels it simply staggers the mind. That and it's great James Bond action. Even though this sytem is very much outdated, my friends and I still gather round it and battle each other until the cows coome home whenever they come.
- Gran Turismo 2 (PlayStation) and it's sequel Gran Tursimo 3 (PlayStation2) - It's stinking good! Hyper-realistic, this game delivers 592 (180+ for the sequel) cars for racing and tuning. If you haven't yet seen The Fast and the Furious, go see it now. That's the type of cars you'll see in this game.
June 30, 2001
Great Songs
Well here is my the list of the songs I have on my Winamp playlist. All these songs are good in some way. I'll comment on a few, but most won't be commented on.
| Alice Deejay - Back In My Life Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone Alice DeeJay - Higher and higher American Hi-Fi - Flavor of the week Bad Religion - American Jesus Bad Religion - Kerosene Batman Beyond - Main Title Theme Blink 182 - The Rock Show Bush - ComeDown Bush - Glycerine Bush - Machine Head Celtic Bagpipes - Scotland the Brave Dexter Freebish - My Madonna Eve6 - Inside Out Gladiator - Earth Gladiator - Honor Him Green Day - When I Come Around Gundam W - Just Communication Ending Hot Butter - Popcorn Incubus - 3 Fold Utopian Dream Incubus - Drive Incubus - Make Yourself Incubus - Pardon Me Incubus - Stellar Jet Set Radio - Betta Watch That Jet Set Radio - Jump Around Now Jet Set Radio - Listen to the Music Jet Set Radio - Secret Service |
Jet Set Radio - She's A Much Better Girl Jet Set Radio - Theme Song Joan Osborne - What if God was One of Us King, Ben E. - Stand By Me Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment Mephisto Odyssey - Crash f Static X MGS Soundtrack - Discovery mighty bosstones - knock on wood Phish - Farm House R.E.M. - Losing My Religion RATM - Kill A Man RATM - Killing In The Name Of RATM - Maggie's Farm RATM - Pistol Whip RATM - Renegades of Funk RATM- Wake Up Red Alert 2 - Grinder Rika Nuranaka - The Best Is Yet To Come Susanne Vega - Tom's Diner The Champs - Tequila The Ramones - Blitzkreig Bop They Might Be Giants - Istanbul They Might Be Giants - Particle Man Train - Meet Virginia Two Mix - Just Comm Instrumental Two Mix - Just Communication Two Mix - Rhythm Emotion U2 - Elevation |
June 24, 2001
Great Books
Well, since I have to read a lot during the summer I figured I create a list of books I've read and enjoyed.
Here hey are in semi-organized format:
Books on Christianity: (you have my dad to thank largely for this section)
- The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoi - A great book about pacificism. (it's the book that Ghandi read that turned him to pacifism)
- What is Religion? by Leo Tolstoi - Actually collected works about religion. Has some great stuff about tolerance and compassion.
- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - I really like this book. It's a quick easy read, but is so incredibly deep.
Books on Science (no authors for this section, b/c their all loaned out):
- Einstein's Universe - A book explaining relativity if that's even possible. Very entertaining. Great examples.
- The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene - A book explaining the newer theories such as 10 dimensions and string theory.
I had to read this numerous times to figure it out, but it was very enlightening.
- About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution by Paul Davies - A book explaining the consequences of Relativity.
- God and the New Physics by Paul Davies - A book explaining the consequences of Relativity on God.
Books that have been assigned:
HA! that was funny. Well there is one...
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostevsky (sp) - A book about crime and it psychological effects (I'm reading it now).
Here is my summer reading list: (BAH!!)
- Crime and Punishment (See above)
- Sula by Toni Morrison
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
Books that are of the genre of fiction:
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - This book got me started on the below.
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - Truely a superb book. Now being turned into 3 movies. I hope they are good.
- Shogun by James Clavell - Another great book. I've been reading this off and on for a while. (usually whenever I can't sleep)
next time: Great Songs and then Great Video Games
June 18, 2001
The Draft and Ne (pt. 2)
Well within the next 28 days I have to register for the draft. Which to be honest, puts me in a bit of a funk. I'm signing away my life, "saying that should the "need" arise, I'll fight and die for my country." It irritates me and I'm forced to think about what I'll do if the draft comes. Also it makes me wonder if since I'll be supporting the country by signing up for the draft I should go ahead and register to vote and give a voice to the voiceless, to vote for those who can't. I don't know. That's what my dad says he does and how he can support a country with such a large military. It just baffles me how Christains can justify a military. Everything I've read from Christ goes to the exact opposite. Unfortunately, no longer will I be exempt if I'm a student. Instead, I just get my draft delayed until I finish my current semester in college or my senior year in high school (which I'm in now).
June 8, 2001
The Draft and Me (pt. 1)
I, being a pacifist, would be forced to make a hard decision. Should I make a run for the Canadian border(where they do not have a draft, but a general call to arms) or be arrested if I am drafted? If I was drafted and decided to stay I would not take the conscientious objector status. For even if I did, I would be helping the war machine as a whole. I would show up and state my beliefs and be thrown into jail. My religion (Christianity) strictly forbids murder. After all, isn’t this the entire basis of war? I draw my inspiration for my opinion not solely on the Leviticus passage saying, “thou shalt not kill,” but also from Matthew 5:39 “resist not an evildoer.” This verse to me means that not only must I not fight in the military, I must also not support any nation that has an army. Therefore, while I am a citizen of this country I will not vote nor will I register to vote. I will pay my taxes and register for the draft merely because I do not wish to be the inciter of violence (namely them putting me in jail). This has been a hard choice for me to make and to stand by. What would be difficult would be making the decision to stand by my principles in a time such as that. It would further complicate things if I had a family or good friends. Yet again, it seems that the good friends part would be inevitable, the family part would depend how old I am.
© Copyright 2001 by John Montgomery
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(click to e-mail me at janus@c4.com)