You'd See That We Should Never Be Afraid to Die

Be afraid that you will never have lived.



I really don't get the flirting that Ridley Scott is doing. He's SAID that this is NOT a prequel to Alien. I mean, you can't just unsay that after it has been said. But this movie did start out as a prequel. But does it fit into the continuity? If not, then you really should have scraped the Weyland-Yutani logos off all the props in the trailer. I think that the best possible explanation is that he imagines it as its own story, with no thematical relationship to Alien(which was, after all, a pretty straightforward film), or even direct xenomorph reference, though they occupy the same universe and story line continuity. That would make sense, in that way he would want people to not think of it as a prequel, he'd want them to see an entirely different idea.

Like how you might have a pornography convention in the same neighborhood as the open house of your kid's school, but you wouldn't want to be thinking of one while you're at the other, or vice versa. Or maybe you would. I'm not going to judge you. In a way it is probably very admirable that you are always thinking of your child's education, even while you indulge in your aberrant sexual tastes. Or, once again, vice versa.

Yesterday was pretty good. Any day you wake up like that is a good day, no matter what else happens.


This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong

Just Pretend I Didn't Tear Your World Apart

Wow, a great day today. BBQ in Nac! Then, long drive home, long drive to work, but I finished up quick. Got home in time for a nap, and after my nap my new lawnmower got here. I put it together and I did the front lawn, mowed and edged and trimmed. I finished exactly as it got dark. THe new mower feels like I'm vacuuming my lawn, and it is just ridiculously surreal.

My apricot tree is budding, and it is just so beautiful and full of life. Normally my metaphor for God is the ocean, but I can see a spark of divinity in the genesis of new life. Flowers, new green leaves, and sunshine. If I stare too long it becomes blinding in all its beauty.


By bentsea at 2011-09-13

An old drawing I did, it sort of applies to how I feel today. After taking care of the front yard and sweeping the walks and the drive, Steve and Andrew showed up. We played Carcassonne. A great game by any measure. It was a lot of fun.

Anywho, so, great day today. Time for sleep.

Dance the Night Away

“When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, 'Why god? Why me?' and the thundering voice of God answered, 'There's just something about you that pisses me off.'”

I love waking up how I woke up today. There really isn't a better way to do it as far as I'm concerned.

So, last week had it's difficulties. I was really disappointed to skip the symphony, but I'll live. The other problems were worse than that. C'est la vi. The new lawnmower will be here on Wednesday, and I'll probably try to have the spare room repainted by then.

I bought an orchid last week, and it is doing wonderfully. I wonder how long I can keep it alive.

There's really just not a whole lot to talk about right now, I'm pretty tired, and it's late, and I have been working ridiculously hard and or running around for the past two weeks. I'm fine with that, it just means I'm tired right now.

Good night all.

Well, I'm not too tired to dance.



Maybe just one more....

Casa de Mi Padre

It's difficult to simply outright recommend Casa de Mi Padre. That's not a negative, believe it or not. I enjoyed this movie thoroughly from beginning to end, and it was funnier than anything I've seen in a year. On top of just being enjoyable and solid as a movie, I just kept thinking to myself, "How did this movie even get made?" A spoof on latin soap operas done entirely in Spanish and staring a large cast of latin actors and... Will Farrel, who doesn't, as far as I know, have a single Spanish bone in his body. And the trailer doesn't lie, that really is the big joke that the whole movie is based on. Mostly what makes this movie so hard to recommend, is I'm just not sure how large of an audience this movie will appeal to.

I like to think this movie has something for everyone, but I know that tastes are wide and varied, and it's not the Shawshank Redemption. This is not a movie that is so good that it transcends tastes and genres, and the smart and witty approach of the central joke, while well done, may repel the core audience that appreciates Farrel's comedies, while not being obvious enough to pull in the audience that it's targeting. It was really the blend of the two that made the movie a hit for me. And it was done with heart, too. It never felt mean spirited about the material, it approached it playfully.

If you're on the fence about seeing this movie, I recommend you give it a shot. Even if you don't like it, it wont hurt your soul. What's even more important than that, is that even if you don't like it, it's good that a movie like this got made at all. If you're undecided, then just know that this movie is worth your time, even if you aren't in love with it, you wont walk away without a few laughs and you wont be offended to the point of feeling like your time is wasted. And just maybe, you'll find yourself loving it through and through like I did.

A Quiet Like a Far Off Thunder

At this moment I simply could not possibly think of a better way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. Maybe it's because when you're happy, you're happy, and it doesn't matter what's making you happy.

But I did take a music break, but only till my fingers hurt. House of the Rising Sun by The Animals done as poorly as I can manage. Hope you like it.



I know how to make a girl happy.

And repost for the record... I still look sexy.

Kony in 2012. This is as important as it gets. #Kony2012

I don't think I've ever gone out of my way to ask other people to share something, but if you're reading this, please do what you can. This is truly important. This is a real world example of the power of knowledge in practice. The more people know about Joseph Kony, the greater his awareness, then the better off the world will be. Share this video. Tell everyone you know about what it says when you can't share it. Get Kony in 2012.

Pledge here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html

Minus Green is the Manliest Color

So, Kayla had to move out. She'll be missed, and hopefully she comes by for dinner from time to time. Will miss the cats, too. Alas, I still did not have an end table or a coffee table by the time she left earlier today, though those were gone yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to acquire a pair from my dad and step mom earlier this evening.

Without much ado, here is the end table..

And here is the coffee table...

Meanwhile, though the cats are gone, they did spend one last whole morning with me and even Olivia. I woke up to these three all sleeping on top of me this morning. I had to take a picture before I got out of bed and disturbed their cat nap.

What was really nice, on a cold sunday night, though was spending time with my friend Justin. We hung out and talked about all kinds of things around the fire outside at the brick house. Decent beer, good company, and a beautiful fire. That was just a rocking way to spend the evening.

Something Bad and Something Good

I'm watching this right now:


Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. I will be exposed to Shrim. Pray for me.

To make this up to anyone who watched that trailer, I offer something good. Beautiful guitar is always awesome.

I Think I Hate Zelda

If a game doesn't challenge me philosophically, or extremely effectively pull my emotional strings, or put me in a situation where my decisions matter, not just to my character, but to the characters that surround me, I don't care about the story. Not one whit. That's not bad, a game doesn't have to be about story. Half Life 1 has a wonderful story that I don't care about, but it's brilliant because it's all around me, unobtrusively being there, letting me play the game, but sometimes... just completely grabbing my attention. As opposed to the new Zelda: Skyward Sword. Heck, from back in the day, Final Fantasy VII.

I like playing a game. Getting into its mechanics and spending as much time as possible navigating the world. It's the whole point, the gameplay is the root of what makes a game unique. You should never, ever, EVER, stop the gameplay, take a person away from running, jumping, fighting or thinking about a puzzle. Unless the dialog is an integral part of the puzzle, or the environment or even itself a part of the gameplay, it should not ever interrupt the experience. In Zelda, I have spent far more time button mashing through meaningless dialog, often page after page after page with the sole purpose of sending me on a very simple menial task, trying to create context. I've already bought into the game. I don't need you to keep selling me on it. If you want me to run somewhere arbitrary for no particular reason, I'll do that.. cause I bought the game. I don't need empty and meaningless context. I want to play through dungeons, and solve puzzles and fly.

Button mashing through bad dialog is the quickest way to get me to quit any game. I may not be able to bring myself to finish this Zelda.

Call me a weirdy, but I think Wind Waker was the best Zelda I ever played, and even that was a bit too talkative.

On the plus side, finally played The Missing Link DLC for Deus Ex Human Revolution.. and it is a pretty robust, largish addition to the game. I had a lot of fun with it. IT even had an achievement for playing without using any praxis kits, or weapons, or explosives at all of any kind. Oh, man, was that fun and challenging. Oddly enough, I played through it MUCH faster than I did the other way. Probably because I was just focused on surviving and beating it at all instead of the other way.. where I made it my personal goal to knock every last enemy soldier in the world unconscious.



What can change the nature of a man?