I am 8-bit

I am 8 bit art opening

It's great to see somebody who actually creates decent Nintendo inspired art. Yeah, we've all see the fan art (especially out of Electronic Gaming Monthly during the early years). However, there's something much more enjoyable about art that is... professional. I guess when you are that good, it gives you the ability to actually create something thought-provoking.

And, let me just reiterate: this is just good, clean fun.

Modern Contemporary Design and Architecture

Art MoCo

Seriously, I wish I could do design like this. The colour scheme is crisp. It is more concrete than abstract. And it is truthfully a pleasure to look at.

With that said, I think Art MoCo is one of the best art blogs I have yet seen. Every work they showcase is thought-provoking and, most importantly, not pretentious. Their descriptions of the artists only say what needs to be said. I truthfully feel like I learn a lot from reading this.

Bootleg Browser

Here's a great site for MP3 bootlegs. They seem to have basically every band that ever mattered. And quite a large selection too.

I have to say that bootlegs offer music fans a valuable experience: they showcase what happens when bands are free from their own constraints. They are what bands sound like when they aren't perfect.

Now, I know that this is risque. The musician is naturally inclined to say, "I wish I hadn't done that, and I wish no one ever had record of it." But to be imperfect is to be human, and I would argue that imperfections are what makes music worth listening to.

The Seattle Times: Arts & Entertainment: Christian video game separates good from evil

Screenshot from Left Behind: Eternal Forces

As the Seattle Times has reported, Left Behind has finally been unveiled as a video game . Really, I'm not all that surprised. Left Behind has always aimed for media saturation, and this is just one plank in its goal of global domination.

What I do find surprising is the sheer level of absurdity that this video game has managed to obtain.

I think this video game showcases one of the contradictions of evangelicalism: its effort to use pop culture as a means to convert people to Jesus. In this case, the issue seems to stand upon whether Christian video games should embrace violence to the degree of secular games — such as Grand Theft Auto (which, some authorities attest, the degree of violence in the two games are comparable). Tim LaHaye's argument for violence is typical:

Rather than forbid young people from viewing their favorite pastime, I prefer to give them something that's positive.

Indeed, this has been the evangelical way for a long time. If heavy metal is popular, create a Christian heavy metal band . If a particular brand of cola is popular, co-opt the brand. And, you know, I don't see anything wrong with that, per se.

What I do find puzzling is why the Left Behind creators seem to be embracing violence. I realize that's what the kids like to see. But I doubt the Left Behind creators will create a Christian version of Leisure Suit Larry .Part of this I can answer myself: American culture is much more averse to sexual explicitness than gratuitous violence, which is why — no matter how one looks at it — evangelicals are willing to make a violent video game.

And so, I'm going to have to take Jack Thompson 's side here — even if the guy is a blood-sucking, money-hungry, pathological weasel who preys on people's ignorance:

It breaks my heart to realize that the culture has basically transformed the church rather than the church confronting the culture and trying to transform it.

religion online

Religion-online.org is one of the best resources for religious texts I have found yet on the internet. It definitely ranks up there with the Christian Classics Ethereal Library — and this site has a broader range of theological opinion, and is more contemporary. I think that if you are simply trying to find free scholarly religious texts, you can't go wrong here. It's that good.