Saturday, April 23, 2005

21 Days Later

Well, I haven't posted in this thing for a while. Sorry! I just haven't felt like it. Nothing's really happened. My fingernail is probably going to fall off; this realization is something that would have totally freaked me out when I was a kid, but now... not so much. It doesn't really hurt that much, it just feels sort of, you know, exposed. Which isn't even as bad as it sounds. My stomach's been shitty for the past week or so, too. Yesterday I decided to top my breakfast off with several handfuls of these japaleno potato chips that Mer brought home and the rest of the day I felt so crappy I couldn't eat anything.

Sometimes when I'm between books, I browse reviews on Amazon until I find something that sounds interesting, then I try to get it out of the library. I found this book called I Am Legend like this last week, but it totally sucked. The premise is awesome, though -- it's set in a future (1976 -- it was written in 1954) where a plague has turned the entire world except this one guy into vampires. Now I'm reading The Dante Club about a spate of Se7en-style murders in 1865 Boston -- also a rockin' premise with a lackluster execution.

I bought Jade Empire for Mer the day it came out. She had me go look for it in Manhattan since it was sold out at the GameStop on 7th Ave. It took me a while, but I found a copy at the GameStop on 8th St. & Broadway (Razor Lopez may remember it as a Software Etc.), and let me tell you -- that place is chock-a-block with dorks. As I was waiting in line, this creepy guy standing behind me turned to me unprovoked and said, in a halting, nasal voice, "I hear that game is like Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords except that there are more choices and the choices have deeper consequences." Neat. The only copy on the shelf was wedged into that display they have that shows you the current top 5 games, and I wasn't sure if it was for sale, so I asked the cashier when I got to the front of the line. He said, "Sure, but I don't know if we sell to Romulans." I was kind of nonplussed until I looked down and realized I was wearing my Star Trek shirt with the Romulan insignia on it. So we all had a good laugh, and one of the salespeople started going off about this guy he knew that bottles his own Klingon Blood Wine. The cashier was even nice enough to let me have the last copy of the Limited Edition version of the game, which was in the case behind the register. "Same price, but you get an extra playable character and an extra fighting style. It's basically a no-brainer." Indeed.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

John Paul II's Greatest Hits

Good riddance to that disgraceful fascist.
“Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed to those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not.”

"The Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception, that is, if every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful. This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable. Contraception is gravely opposed to marital chastity; it is contrary to the good of the transmission of life (the procreative aspect of matrimony) and to the reciprocal self-giving of the spouses (the unitive aspect of matrimony); it harms true love and denies the sovereign role of God in the transmission of life."

"The fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, received neither the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood clearly shows that the non-admission of women to priestly ordination cannot mean that women are of lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Rather, it is to be seen as the faithful observance of a plan to be ascribed to the wisdom of the Lord of the universe.... In order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."