Parachute pants.  Oversized glasses.  Rediculous bling.  Early 90's mainstream "rap" at its worst.  Yep, we're talking about MC Hammer.  Can't touch this!

I remember hearing a rumor a few years back that Hammer had become a Christian.  Other than that, I haven't thought about this guy since viewing the occasional Pepsi commercial.  However, today I ran across a post on CNet that mentioned that the Hammer Man has his own blog! 

I had to check it out, and it seems legit.  I also ran across this post, which seems to confirm his faith.  Very interesting.  Apparently he's got a new album coming out as well. 

Next thing you know, we're going to see Vanilla Ice's comeback

The Legend of Zelda, the first game in the 10-plus game Zelda series, was released 20 years ago today.  1UP has an article detailing the series.  I've spent many fantastic gaming hours playing through a multitude of Zelda games, my favorite being the incredible Link to the Past on the SNES.  My only regret in ditching my GameCube for an Xbox is that I won't be able to play Twilight Princess, the forthcoming, much anticipated game in the series, supposedly hitting the market alongside the new Nintendo Revolution console.  I hate to admit it, but I've never actually played through Zelda I or II.  Time to bust out Nesticle

[via Slashdot]

So, its been a little over a month since I obtained an Xbox 360....and in my opinion, its as good if not better than all the hype that lead up to the console's release last November. 

First...the saga that led up to getting a 360 in my hands was so dramatic I felt it worthy of mention.  As I stated earlier, my employer, Magenic Technologies, was kind enough to offer a 360 to every employee in the company as a Christmas gift.  That announcement was made December 2nd, two weeks after the console hit the market on November 22.  As expected, Magenic had an awfully difficult time in attempting to procure the volume of Xboxes they were seeking, and not until this week did they arrive.  I decided back in early December that I would take it upon myself to pick one up as soon as I could find one...I could always return the one I would get from Magenic.  And so began the journey with the monitoring of some useful websites, such as this Xbox 360 Tracker.  The real breakthrough ocurred when I found out I could monitor 360 inventory levels at local Circuit City and Best Buy stores. 

Sure enough, all sites showed no stock of the 360 for all of December and early January.  Then, one lucky day, two Best Buy stores showed up bold (indicating stock available!) just as I was leaving work.  Luckily, both stores were on my way home...so I made a mad dash onto the freeway and called the first store, where I was told none were in stock.  Hmm...a website error, maybe?  I called the second store, a good 20 minutes away, and was told 3 were in!!  I decided if there was still one available when I exited the freeway, I would make the trip.  I called just as I exited and was told 1 was left.  My offer to buy the sales clerk lunch if he would hold one for me was declined...I had no choice but to take my chances.  I pulled into the lot, ran into the store, and just as I found the first employee in the video game aisle, I saw him hand the last 360 to another customer.  This guy wasn't hard core...he was just buying it for his kid!  Here I am 5 seconds too late and my 360 hopes were dashed.  Or were they?  A glimmer of hope remained as the clerk said he "might be able to find 1 more hidden in the back."  Seemingly defeated, I waited for what seemed like hours, and sure enough, here comes Mr. Best Buy employee of the decade around the corner with a shiny 360 premium box...the last one in the building!  Woohoo!  Suprised by the sheer weight of the machine (the box must weigh in around 15-20 pounds) I brought it up to the counter, and after being badgered by at least 2 employees that insisted I buy the 4 year service plan, I politely declined and gleefully left the store, prize in hand.

Arriving home safely, I tore into the box, and noticed that the packaging for the 360 was very well done...the costs of the box and publishing materials alone are probably $20 per unit.  After getting everything plugged in, I experienced some initial frustration...for some reason, my gamertag (previously linked to a passport account) wasn't transferring over to the 360.  I finally broke down and linked it to a new passport, and all was good. 

My biggest complaints with the 360 overall are the bulk of the power supply (it has its own fan) and the sheer amount of noise the fans make when firing up a game.  Also, playing the system on a standard TV is not recommended...some of the menus and text are so small (especially in PGR3) that without an HD TV's resolution, they can be hard to read.  For that reason, I picked up a 360 VGA cable and hooked up the system to my pc monitor, effectively allowing me to play in HD quality for $40. 

Other than these few complaints, the machine is pure joy.  The 360 menu "blades" are fantastic, and it has a very simple, elegant, and useful UI.  The controller is the most comfortable of any console I've used, and taking a cue from Nintendo, its wireless capability is fantastic. 

I initially picked up Project Gotham Racing 3 and Perfect Dark Zero.  I've really enjoyed PGR 3, playing through the entire solo career mode and ocassionaly racing online.  PDZ took a while longer to warm up to...the online multiplayer has so many features and options that its a bit overwhelming, but I've enjoyed the game none the less.  I just recently picked up Call of Duty 2 and have had a great time playing it so far.

The real success story I see in the 360, however, are the new features found in the XBox Live online community.  Microsoft has done a fantastic job integrating some very cool ideas.  The ability to download game demos, for example, is unprecedented in the console market, and it is very cool to try out a game without having to even drop some dough on rental costs.  The concept of gamer points and achievements is incredibly addictive, bringing back the "high score" concept and allowing you to display your bragging rights to the world.  I've really enjoyed racking up achievements, and it brings a whole new dimension to video gaming.  Chatting with anyone online (not just the people in the game you are playing with) is another interesting feature, as is the new "spectator mode" found in some of the games, allowing you to watch an in-game view of the best players in the world.

Finally, Xbox Live Arcade is simply awesome.  Basically, its a feature of the 360 that allows one to purchase old arcade and otherwise "casual" games.  These are great little nuggets like Gauntlet, Joust, and Geometry Wars Evolved.  Every game on live is downloadable as a demo, and the option to purchase these games for $5-$10 allows you to unlock the full game and its achievements and gamer points.  These games are great for the "adult" gamer, since you can pick them up and play for 5 or 10 minutes as you have time.  Rumor has it that Street Fighter II will be coming to XBLA soon...how cool will it be to play it again against my old high school buddies despite the fact that many of them live over 500 miles away now!  I really think Microsoft is onto something big with XBLA, and I fully expect it to be copied by rivals Nintendo and Sony.  ; In fact, one of the core features of Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console will be the ability to download the entire back-catalog of Nintendo games on the system. 

It will be interesting to see how the upcoming next-gen console wars playout.  After playing around with the 360 for a month now, I can honestly say Nintendo and Sony better bring it...this latest 'box is sweet.

This past Sunday, the church that we attend (and where my wife is a staff member), First Free, was the first church featured in a new weekly column in the Chicago Sun-Times called Sacred Ground. 

The article actually did a fair job of representing our church.

Looks like Israel (the Jerusalem Municipality in particular) is going to allow the creation of a center for Christian worship at the Mount of Olives, the site of Christ's ascension to heaven.  The center will essentially be a tent open for Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem to worship at a location sacred to their faith. 

Less appealing are the plans mentioned near the end of the article to open a Christian theme park and center in the region of Galilee.  This plan smells an awful lot like the now-defunct Heritage USA theme park and conference center, founded by tele-evangelist (and convicted criminal) Jim Bakker.  Not surpisingly, this plan is backed by Bakker's (former?) buddy Pat Robertson. 

Something about the Disney-fication of the Christian faith just doesn't sit right with me.  However, anyway you look at it, the Israeli government is in position to rake in quite a bit of tourist dough from backing both of these initiatives.

I'm sure you've all received one of these e-mails...you know, the subject mentions something about having the volume turned way up so you can listen to a song or whatever.  Well, this kid won't soon forget the day he was duped.  This video is absolutely hilarious...the kid actually attacks the monitor ala the deer attacking hunter footage shown on Fox TV's "world's most dangerous video" special a few years back.

File this one under a big "oops".  Sounds like old man Cheney accidentally shot one of his hunting buddies.  Just imagine the situation had this guy's injuries been worse.

[UPDATE]: Cheney's Got A Gun

The outrage that has transpired in the Muslim world over cartoons defaming the Muslim prophet Muhammed has been all over the media these past few days.  In fact, violence has even lead to the death of at least 3 people in Afghanistan and will likely not end until more have died.   

As a Christian, I have been pondering the response some followers of Islam have chosen to take in order to display thier displeasure with the images that have been published.  Certainly, I regret the violent manner in which many of these protests have been carried out.  I wonder why an event like this must lead to the death of even a single person.  On the other hand, I do believe the images published are in no way tasteful and do in fact demonstrate disrespect to those that view Muhammad as a "beatiful pattern (of conduct)" (Surah 33:21) for humanity.

In the same respect, I believe in freedom of the press and freedom of thought.  Daniel Pipes' article provides an interesting op-ed view of this issue.

So, what would be my response should images of Christ be published, similarly defaming Him?  Surely I would not be pleased to view such cartoons.  However, thinking about it (and pondering a simliar post by James White), I realized that Christ's character is attacked daily in the secular society within which I live.  Popular culture, including films and books drawing from secular philosophies have blasphemed Christ since the inception of the Church.  Granted, church history is unfortunately no where near perfect when it comes to violence in its past.  But reading the DaVinci Code has not incited me to storm Dan Brown's house and light it on fire.

So why the violence in response to these cartoons?  Part of it is likely the differences that are quite apparent when comparing the Western world and the Muslim world.  Freedom, education, and wealth are likely factors that would help stem such violent outbreaks from ocurring in such a place as the US.  Indeed, to my knowledge, no protests have occured within the US' Muslim communities that have been violent. 

However, when you take away the cultural influences and look at the issue from a faith perspective, I would like to believe that a faith such as Christianity, based on love, would respond to an incident such as this in love and truth.  While this post is in no way meant to be an attack on Islam, but rather an honest pondering of the events that have transpired, I still must ask: Why, does a faith claiming to be one of "peace" seem to display such a lack of that very virtue?