I am now officially a Master Ninja! (Again)

This is a follow up to This Post

I am now officially a master ninja (second time, as I bested NGB on MN as well)!!

That is all. Now Ninja Gaiden II can go fuck itself for a while. I need a break.....but will I take it? I dunno. Probably not....*sigh*

It's a love/hate thing.

Anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism

From wiki (link above):

Anthropocentrism is either the belief that humans are the central and most significant entities in the universe, or the assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective.[1] The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, while the first concept can also be referred to as human supremacy. The views are especially associated with certain religious cultures.

I think of anthropocentrism when I have discussions with theists regarding evolution. There are a number of traits that exist (like intellect, speed, strength, climbing ability, climate adaptability, etc), and we are the best, for all intents and purposes, at some of them, but lacking in others. These traits allow different species to adapt and excell in different ways. There's no right or wrong. There's no superior or inferior. It's all about adaptation, propagation, and survival.

Yet people hold our specific attributes to such a high regard, and really, I find that to be nothing but anthropocentrism. I don't see the justification for the view that we are superior. Our intellect is as useful to us as is the ability to play dead, pose as a log, camoflouge oneself like chameleons do, etc to other species. Yet people state that we're so superior, and they use intellect, the thing that we happen to possess (convenient, much?), as the indicator of this.

To me, this is just a self serving viwepoint, borne of a pre-existing idea, and supported by taking one attribute from a field of many equally useful (in the right circumstances) ones and arbitrarily proclaiming that particular attribute to be of the utmost importance or usefulness. And why is this determination made? How is it supported? Why? Because we possess that trait!!! Isn't that just wonderfully circular?

It's circular, it's self serving. It's anthropocentric.

At least in my view. Feel free to disagree (or heap praise upon me!).

Started Playing Ninja Gaiden II Again

After a few succesive events transpiring to take me away from the game (my disappointment with it, frustration, and having a kid) for many months, I decided I could not leave my near year old Path of the Master Ninja (hardest difficulty....very, very hard) playthrough just sitting there; I had to finish the damn thing.


And so, after several months away from Ninja Gaiden I jumped back in. The smart thing to do would be to start up a Path of the Warrior (normal difficulty) playthrough, get some practice in, right? Seeing as how this game on its hardest difficulty is notoriously difficult, it would be stupid to jump right into the hardest difficulty, and no on in their right mind would do so....right?

Ha! I jumped right back into Path of the Master Ninja (POTMN or MN as I refer to it). What a DUMB thing to do. So depressing to see how far I had fallen :(

I spent a good few hours getting my ass kicked and wanting to throw my tv through the window.

So, after a bunch of frustration and laughter, I finally strarted to feel a tiny bit of the old fire, and I have managed to get to Chapter 4 in a couple of days. I'm now at the first save in that Chapter, and it's coming back......slowly.....I have to say I am still dying FAR TOO OFTEN. I swear I have died at least 100 times in the last three Chapters. :(

So, with much frustration, and doing it in the dumbest way possible (lol) I WILL finally finish this damn thing.

And then, the REAL fun begins.

You see, Ninja Gaiden II's older brother is the far superior Ninja Gaiden Black. And to Ninja Gaiden Black, my belovded frined and favorite game ever, I have a message:

I miss you old friend.

When I am done with your younger, more stupid, more irritating brother's hardest difficulty, I promise to return to you. I miss you and your nuanced perfection. Your glorious design, your incredible balance. I'll have to start over, since my old xbox is gone, and I don't have the time for you I once had, but one day, one day I promise to get back to that 22,000,000 MM score and finally break 30million.


If it's the last thing I do.

Thought Experiment. Viewer Participation Required!

I'm looking for some people to 'play along' here.

Here's the video description:

This video requires viewer participation!!



This is an older video that's been sitting on my HDD for 2-3 months. I could never upload it because I wouldn't have garnered enough of a response with it, and I am worried that this still might be premature, but, having now topped the 100 subscriber mark (thanks to you all), I thought that perhaps I'd have enough people seeing it to get a few solid responses.


I hope. If not, well, I'll take it down and reuplaod in a year when I have 300 subs ;)


Sorry for the mediocre vid quality.

The Evolution of Freddy Krueger CAST YOUR VOTE!!

Freddy Krueger has seen changes in his look ranging from slight alterations to drastic overhauls in his look since 1984's seminal A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Let's have a look at how the dream demon changed, shall we? Check the pics below, then vote in the 2 polls beneath the pics!!

A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Freddy Vs Jason

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) (the unnecessary remake)

I guess as the host of this game, I should go first. So, before you all have to vote, I'll throw my neck out there :)

Well, as much as I HATE to vote against my favorite Nightmare film (the original, of course, although DW and WCNN are excellent), and I honestly really do mean HATE, (it's not hyperbole in the least), I have to vote for the aesthetic design featured in Wes Craven's New Nightmare. While the burn look has been replaced with more of a peeled look, he looks so fucking menacing, and, perhaps more importantly (well, okay not more) is the fact that he looks old, and that's what Craven had envisioned for the character to begin with. He looks old and haggard, and that just adds to the sinister nature of the character. Then you toss in the AMAZING looking, much more organic, ''bone claw'' as I like to call it, the added thumb blade (dexterity be damned), and the trenchcoat, and you have yourself the hobo from HELL. And I think that's exactly what Craven had in mind from the start, based on his childhood encounter.

As for the one I like the least (actually, I HATE this look), as much as I really don't like what they did to him in Freddy's Dead (seriously, the actually aimed to make him less scary, and well, they suceeded....he looks like he's been rubberized) I am going to have to vote for (surprise surprise) the remake's take on it. Just......what the fuck. He looks like a blob of shit, and I say realism be damned (no offense to real burn victims, I cannot even begin to imagine the horror). I want a demonic looking Krueger, not one who just came off the operating table where they did skin grafts.

The Freddy Krueger Look You Prefer?

The Freddy Krueger Look You Like the Least?

Atheism 101 (Resources for those New to the idea of Atheism)

Some of My Resources for People New to the Idea of Atheism

One of my very first posts here was entitled Atheism is a Religion? and The Burden of Proof.

I just went back made a few changes to that post. The new version can be seen here:

http://magx01.blogspot.com/2010/01/atheism-is-religion-and-burden-of-proof.html

I have added a few things and fixed up a few trouble areas. I believe this post will be much more useful to anyone stubling across this blog who may be interested in atheism in any regard, but is new to the idea and quite unaware of the sort of Atheism 101 type concepts. I have added some things to this end, like an operational definition of atheism.

Also, for anyone who fits this description, you may also want to check out:

http://magx01.blogspot.com/2010/02/youre-not-agnostic.html

and perhaps:

http://magx01.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-are-atheists-so-angry.html

Thanks, and science bless ;)

Follow Up to the Epinions.com Situation

Well, if you read the Previous Post you kow I had been unfairly accused of plagarism by a couple of six shootin cowboys with hands too fast for their own good over at http://www.epinions.com/

Well, I have since delted the reviews in question and re-uploaded them with a disclaimer and a link to the external review. This seems to be working thus far, as I now have Very Helpful ratings for all of my reviews as opposed to the Not Helpful rating and comments that refer to me as a theif (Stealing from myself, the nerve of me!).

Well, I have come into contact with a very nice advisor there by the name of Tom and he's been helping me and offering me advice. Nice guy. I also got advice from another nice person or two.

No apologies from the two cowboys, although, to be fair, I don't know that the one has been online since. The other one has, for sure, and didn't say shit to me. Nice, eh? EDIT: The one has since apologized and explained his actions. The other one has not, and I KNOW he's been online.