I spend time surfing the web everyday. I admit it. I am not ashamed. Here are the pages I marked recently on Ma.gnolia:

Foxmarks

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: bookmarks, firefox, sync

sbh* » Bananagrams Council of League City (2008)

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: bananagrams, games, hurricane ike, rules, councils

Learn from the Greats: 7 Writing Habits of Amazing Writers | Write to Done

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: writing, habits, masters

Know Your Mac - Top Ten Secrets of a Power User | MacMembrane

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: mac, user, tips, tricks

Saturday Night Live - Palin / Hillary Open - Video - NBC.com

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

cabel.name: Sonseed: The Full Album

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: music, christian, farce

TextMate Basics Tutorial

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: textmate, coding

Nina Katchadourian :: Sorted Books Project

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: books, poetry, funny

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

If you’re not familiar with the game, then I suggest that you hop over to the site linked above and get to know it. For about a week now, this game has been a bit of an obsession at our house. In fact, I think we’ve played it every night since we were first introduced to it. However, we have modified the rules, largely because we are competitive people with competitive friends who enjoy things like “scoring.”

Last night, after a particularly contentious round of Bananagrams, the Bananagrams Council of League City (2008) convened for the first time. This group, which currently consists of five representatives (James, Daron, Wendy, Natalie, and me) hopes to codify the rules for a new type of Bananagrams game that lends itself to scoring. Here is what we’ve come up with so far:

1. The Setup
All tiles are arranged face down in the middle of the table. Each player selects a pre-determined number of starting tiles. This determination is made prior to the game and his little or nothing to do with however many tiles Daron claims a player needs to have.

2. The Start
Once all players have drawn their tiles, anyone may say “GO” to start the round. Typically, however, this duty falls upon the youngest in the group — though this is not ALWAYS the case.

Note that “GO” may only be said when all players have selected their tiles. Note also, however, that as soon as the final player puts his/her finger on the final tile that he/she needs to select, a valid “GO” may be uttered.

3. The Play
Each player uses tiles to create words in a crossword or Scrabble fashion. Each word must connect to another word, and may only be spelled left-to-right or up-to-down. No backwards spellings here.

A word is valid if and only if it is a non-proper (e.g., no proper nouns such as “Texas”) dictionary word. The host determines which dictionary or dictionaries are valid for this match. At the Hebert house, for example, the New Oxford American Dictionary shall be used unless otherwise noted.

At any time a player may trade in a disagreeable tile. To do so, the player simply returns that tile face down to the large pile in the middle. After returning the tile, the player must then draw three additional tiles from the middle. If three tiles aren’t available, then the player must take the remaining tiles.

Whenever a player has used all the tiles in his/her hand, he/she shall say “DONE.” At this point, all players must draw two tiles from the middle and add them to their stash. If there are not enough tiles for each to draw two, then the tiles shall be evenly distributed amongst all players. However, let’s keep this loosey-goosey, no need to be NAZIs about this.

4. The Finish
Play ends when a player has used all his/her tiles and said “DONE” for the final time. The offending winning player’s words shall be checked by the group. If any word is found to be invalid, play resumes.

The round is over when a player has successfully used all of his/her tiles to create valid words and no tiles remain in the pool in the middle.

5. The Score
At the end of the round, each player totals his/her points. Scoring is based on the number of letters (n) used in a given word.

For example, the word “IT” is worth two points. The word “PIT” is also worth two points. The word “SPIT” is worth three points, while the word “SPITE” is worth four points. Hopefully, you get the idea.

In addition to this point total, the player who finished first receives five bonus points.

Finally, to discourage haphazardly trading in particularly difficult to use letters (i.e., J, Q, X, and Z), additional points will be awarded for using these letters. Currently, the Council is undecided as to how these points should be awarded. Two possibilities are being debated.

Option #1: Jamesian Scoring (aka Double Word Score)
Under this method, any word that uses one of the difficult letters listed above will receive a double word score. For example, “ZOO” would be worth four points instead of two. Additionally, if a player builds another word off of the Z in “ZOO” then double points are awarded for that word. Therefore, if “QUIZ” is formed off of the Z in “ZOO” then “QUIZ” receives six points.

QUIZ = 6pts
ZOO = 4pts
TOTAL = 10pts

Option #2: Daronian Scoring (aka Point Per Difficult Letter Used)
According to this scoring method, an additional three points are given for each difficult letter used. However, these three points only count once, meaning that additional points are not added for building off of difficult letters. In our example above with “QUIZ” built off of the Z in “ZOO” the points would break down as follows:

QUIZ = 3pts
ZOO = 2pts
Use of 1 Q = 3pts
Use of 1 Z = 3pts
TOTAL = 11pts

Until this debate is put to rest, the use of Daronian Scoring or Jamesian Scoring shall be up to the host of the game. Note, however, that both of these options are completely valid according to the Council so long as they are not mixed. There shall be no commingling of Daronian and Jamesian Scoring.

5. The Win
Typically, games have been played until a player goes over 300 points. Once a player has gone over 300 points, the player with the highest total points wins.

However, like so many other things, the objective score is up to the host. If the host deems that a higher or lower objective score is more appropriate, then it shall be so. However, this decision, and all other rules decisions that are the prerogative of the host shall be decided prior to the beginning of the game.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Leave ‘em below!

I spend time surfing the web everyday. I admit it. I am not ashamed. Here are the pages I marked recently on Ma.gnolia:

ABC News: Monogamy gene found in people

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: genes, genetics, marriage, monogamy

Bacon Salt

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: food, vegetarian, delicious

Bolivian Wrestlers - National Geographic Magazine

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: national geographic, awesome

Unheard Of x Rogue Status - Pete Rose T-shirt | Hypebeast

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: style, design, t-shirt, baseball, pete rose

Modern Day Frankensteins: The return of Mulder and Scully - Reason Magazine

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: x-files, review

Large Hadron Collider: Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios | Wired Science from Wired.com

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: science, lhc, large hadron collider, physics, particle physics

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

The story is Pi Patel’s — a boy who grows up in India but is shipwrecked when his family decides to emigrate to Canada. Roughly two-thirds of the novel deals with this shipwreck as Pi floats the Pacific Ocean in a life boat with a host of zoo animals.

Sounds like a ridiculous situation, right?

It certainly is. That’s the magic of Pi. By the time I got to this ridiculous situation, Pi’s narrative and style had me so invested in him and in his story that I couldn’t help but suspend disbelief (the same is not true of the Japanese characters who debrief Pi at the end of the novel). As Pi narrates (through the lens of an italicized “author” character) his childhood: growing up in Pondicherry, his father’s zoo, his brushes with Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam and his subsequent appropriation of all three, I came to love this little guy. Consequently, as he’s floating around the Pacific with a 450-pound Bengal tiger, I’m really concerned for the outcome of the story. Of course, at least part of this was due to my curiosity: “How is Martel gonna get this teenager off this boat?”

Things aren’t all roses, however. The author character is turned on to Pi’s story by an old friend who says that this story will “make you believe in God.” I’m not sure what that means in the context of the story. Pi’s view of religion is doctrinally challenged — he has no rules. His appropriation of Krishna and friends along with Jesus and Allah makes for a strange God-soup that is difficult to understand.

So, Pi has watered these religions down, but he has also boiled them down by reducing the three to one incontrovertible truth, one dogma: LOVE GOD.

Overall, Life of Pi really works. It’s a fun read on a lot of levels, and highly recommended. Some of Martel’s choices at the end are puzzling, mystifying, and don’t really sit well with me. But, hey, it’s not all about me, is it? I think Pi would agree.

Finally, Pi can certainly be inspirational. He’s screaming at me: “Tell the better story.” I just need to figure out what that means.

I spend time surfing the web everyday. I admit it. I am not ashamed. Here are the pages I marked recently on Ma.gnolia:

The Official Ramen Homepage

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: fun, recipes, food, ramen, asian

Mom shocked by teen’s modest clothing - CNN.com

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: fashion, clothing, modesty

Top 5 Most Inspirational Videos on YouTube | Zen Habits

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: videos, inspiration

50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library | Zen Habits

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: writing, novels

7 Principles Of Clean And Optimized CSS Code | CSS | Smashing Magazine

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: css, web, web design

Postfix Performance Tuning

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: postfix, mail server

FOXNews.com - Harvard Reclaims Top Spot in Latest U.S. News List

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: harvard, college, university, rankings

photofolio

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: photography, flash, web design

Baseball league bans 9-year-old from pitching because he’s too good

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: news, baseball

MISS SISTER 2008: Italian priest to hold “Miss Sister” 2008, an online beauty pageant for nuns — chicagotribune.com

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: beauty pageants, nuns, catholic church

Pageant for nuns canceled - Faith- msnbc.com

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: beauty pageant, nuns, catholic church

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

The story focuses on a young college graduate, Chris McCandless, who eschews modern society in favor of his alter ego, “Alexander Supertramp.” McCandless tells his parents that he may be attending Harvard Law while they dine together in post-graduation celebration. This will be the last time that they see him, as McCandless wanders west in search of himself.

Through his travels, McCandless comes into contact with various people: a hippy couple, a plains states grain farmer, a young girl who falls in love with him, and an old man who has retired and works leather in his garage shop. Each of these encounters impacts those involved in differing ways. As he moves about the U.S., McCandless becomes fixated on Alaska. After hitchhiking there he spends weeks in solitude in the wilderness.

In terms of performances, everyone holds their own, but it is Hal Holbrook who steals the show here. His portrayal of Ron Franz, an old man who befriends McCandless, is heartbreaking and wonderful. Good to see Hal back on the scene.

Sean Penn directs and does a fine job weaving various elements together: cinematography, score, and original music by Eddie Vedder. No complaints here, really. It is effective, efficient direction. The story is taut and spins along at a great pace.

Moving on…

I love the end of Into the Wild. The first two hours, however, are a bit painful to watch. In abandoning his former life, McCandless punishes his parents and sister, and probably his old friends, though we never hear from them. This punishment and rebellion phase of the film makes it difficult to identify with McCandless. Instead of empathizing with him, I started to turn against him — I wanted to shake him and tell him to stop whining.

Two hours of whining should get on anyone’s nerves.

In the end, however, McCandless comes around and discovers that humans aren’t meant for solitude. True happiness comes from relationships. By this time, however, it is too late and the damage is done.

The presentation of the McCandless family does nothing to assist in making us feel that Chris is whining. The film presents Mr. and Mrs. McCandless in a harsh light, highlighting their mistakes whilst they glorify their suburban consumerism and “success”. Meanwhile, his sister, played well-enough by Jena Malone, is an angelic victim without fault or substance, unfortunately. There is nothing deep or interesting going on here, though that will change in the last 15 minutes of the film.

Into the Wild should be commended for where it takes our main character. The journey to that end, however, may easily become the focus of attention for many viewers. I would be particularly interested to learn what teenagers and college-aged kids think about Chris McCandless and what he says and does. Will they miss the somewhat enigmatic (yet obvious…right?) end? Difficult to tell.

I spend time surfing the web everyday. I admit it. I am not ashamed. Here are the pages I marked recently on Ma.gnolia:

Techworld - The A-Z of Programming Languages: Python

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: django, python, guido

The Tremendous Importance of Reading for Writers, What Leo’s Reading, and an Ask the Readers | Write to Done

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: reading, writing

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

Anyway, what this all means is that there will undoubtedly be some posts on this blog that look funky. PLEASE, feel free to comment on them as you find them, this will help me identify what I need to do to fix them.

Thank you very much for your patience and assistance!

UPDATE: You may also have noticed that I’m messing with the colors. Do not be alarmed!!!

The Shack is the tale of Mackenzie Allen Phillips (a.k.a. “Mack”), a somewhat normal guy, who is asked by God to return to a shack in the forest where one of his daughters was brutally murdered. While there, God in all His/Her glory and personages converses with Mack, showing him the many things that he has misunderstood.

In this blog, I like to think about writing. When I think about The Shack and writing, my thoughts aren’t good.

First of all, the chapter titles are too cutesy and only tangentially related to what’s in the chapter. A scene that occurs around breakfast is called “Breakfast of Champions”, but not much of this scene has to do with “champions.” This is just one minor example, but it is something that started to get on my nerves as the pages wore on.

Second, the first 80 pages are entirely too long and unnecessary. As I read it, I had several thoughts, allow me to share a few with you:

• The author must be trying to get this novel up to a minimum length. This stuff is unnecessary and long-winded.
• The author is not confident in his writing skills.
• The author does not know what’s important.

Honestly, it was painful. I got the sense that Mr. Young was just trying to stretch this thing out so that it would be of a normal novel length. In so doing, there was some crazy word choice. At one point, Mack sits down to watch television. Nowhere do you see the words “TV” or “television.” Instead, Mr. Young has chosen “media tube.” Totally unnatural. In the end, as a reader, I just didn’t feel like I was in good hands.

The book does lurch past these difficult opening scenes. Once Mack makes it out to the shack (about 1/3 of the way through the novel), things pick up and become more interesting. Still, there are some inconsistencies. For example, one of the persons of God is represented by a black woman. Throughout her extended conversations with Mack, her speech fades in and out of colloquialism making me wonder: “Why can’t God stay in character?”

Beyond that, though, The Shack does present an interesting take on the Trinity and interesting ideas about how humans live with each other and with God. For this, and in spite of its poor start and tendency towards emotional cheese, it is probably worth reading.

However, the whole thing is cheapened by the final page of my copy which talks about “The Missy Project.” The Missy Project is a promotional tool that encourages you to write reviews of, promote, and hand out copies of The Shack. If I picked up some novel by Michael Chabon or Umberto Eco, and I saw this, I’d be disgusted. You would be too. Look, Mr. Young, if your book is good enough then people will tell others about it. If it’s not, then they won’t. Just because it is “christian” in nature doesn’t mean it’s okay to shamelessly self-promote. Whatever your intentions, it wreaks of money-grubbing.

Finally, a note on “heresy.” Mr. Young has caused a lot of controversy with the publication of this novel. A lot of people are up in arms about the theology that is presented therein. Ultimately, as I read it, I kept thinking: I’m glad there is a bunch of hoopla over some of this stuff…American Christians need to be confronted with their stereotypes. Do I agree fully with Mr. Young’s take on things? No. But, I think we’d agree on the biggies (e.g., God saved us, breaking our bondage to sin and death through Jesus’s salvific work on the Cross). Let’s agree on the biggies and not sweat the small stuff. I’ll get off my soapbox now…

UPDATE: For a well-reasoned, balanced, humble look at many of the issues involved with The Shack, see the following posts by Regent College’s Professor John Stackhouse:

1. In Defense of Ideological Fiction
2. Some Theological Concerns (Part 1)
3. Some Theological Concerns (Part 2)
4. Some Celebrations

I spend time surfing the web everyday. I admit it. I am not ashamed. Here are the pages I marked this week on Ma.gnolia:

Techworld - The A-Z of Programming Languages: Python

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: django, python, guido

The Tremendous Importance of Reading for Writers, What Leo’s Reading, and an Ask the Readers | Write to Done

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: reading, writing

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia