Author: rowan

All right, after a thoroughly enjoyable and mentally exhausting debate (congrats on Short Story status everyone), what movies are everyone looking forward to seeing this upcoming season?

High on my list:

Harry Potter IV – My favorite of the novels, the previews look @*#$(% righteous… definitely going to be there for the midnight showing. And is it wrong to have a crush on Emma Watson? It’s not a “boy I’d like me some of that” kind of crush, it’s a “she’s the kind of girl I’d like my son to bring home” kind of crush, if that makes sense.

Narnia — Loved the books, Lewis is still one of my favorite authors… and the previews also look phenomenal. WETA, those geniuses behind LoTR, have provided the environment of the film (I always hesitate to use “special effects” with WETA, their work is so artistically driven that somehow “special effects” sounds somehow crass). And, this is ironic, I saw “Constantine” last week and the one thing that really struck me was the fabulous actress who played Gabriel. She’s playing the White Witch. Lots to look forward to. I know Justin doesn’t want to see the movie because, and I quote “it has talking animals.” On one hand, I totally understand the worry, the last thing we want is Aslan meets Babe. On the other hand, how can we have Narnia without talking animals? That’s sort of one of the central points of the story, in’nit?

Zorro — I saw it this weekend, and my soul wept. Then it breathed white.

Serenity — coming out Dec. 20 on DVD, baby! Right in time for Christmas. Shiney!

Any other gems that folks are looking forward to? Early Oscar predictions, anyone?

I found this thing floating around the internet… supposedly it’s spreading around the web… It looks to be a video transcript of some kind of therapy session, maybe a psychiatric evaluation of some sort. Something tells me this wasn’t meant to get out of the medical facility it was taken from… it’s a little creepy.

Warning, this is not for the faint of heart. But there were some people on this board (Justin, Matt, I’m looking your way) that I felt would want to see this, for whatever it’s worth…

Session 416

You’ll need quicktime.

So I’m posting this in the hopes that Matthew or some other techno-savvy person might be able to help me. Also because I can’t help but notice that barnson.org is drupal-powered.

I’m trying to set up a web site for my church. The idea is to have a public side, which is all html, that links to a private members-only side, which is run through a civicspace(aka drupal) portal.

Someone else has already set up the drupal portal, and I’ve designed the html, but right now the web address links to the drupal index, and I’m trying to figure out how to make it link to my index.html page instead. Placing the index.html page in the same folder as drupal’s index.php doesn’t work, and when I move or rename index.php, when I type in the URL it tells me I don’t have permission to access the server anymore.

I’m hoping there’s a way to solve this without having to re-install the drupal portal, because I’ve got even less clue on how to do that.

In other news…. mmmmm…. pie…. it’s yummy because it’s round…

I have no idea what to say about this other than to simply post it:

Harry Potter takes over Guantanamo Bay

I’m speechless, for better or for worse. I’ll let others comment on this one.

EDIT by matthew: Modified link to fit in lower-resolution browsers.

All right, first I gotta fill a paragraph with some drivel that will go on the main page so no one sees something inadvertently. I’m so livid right now at Opie And Anthony… they dropped a MAJOR bomb about this book yesterday before I could change the channel. It was if someone had walked up to you before Empire Strikes Back and said “Dude, Vader’s Luke father.” So aside from my seething anger and rage at that…

SPOILER AREA You’ve been warned.

“There is still good in him… I can feel it.”

That’s all I can manage right now. Sorry…

So it’s been a rough week for a lot of my friends… well, truly a rough week for the world in general. We’ve once again been given ample evidence that people have a profound capacity to suck. We’ve once again received proof that, almighty heavenly overseer or not, sometimes you just wake up one morning and are dead before nightfall through no particular fault of your own. And in the end, there’s not a ton we can do about it. Such has been the way of things for as long as anyone can remember.

But I couldn’t let the week come to a close without referencing a few quotes that popped into my head. Most of these are probably paraphrased, but no matter. Perhaps a bit idealistic, but I guess that’s just me…

“There are two kinds of people in this world, Abigail: those who have commitment, and those who require the commitment of others.” John Adams

“We’re gunslingers; we protect people who can’t do it themselves.” Roland of Gilead

“What is the use of wizardry, if it cannot save a unicorn?” “That’s what heroes are for.” Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician

“I realized… in the end, it’s hopeless. We fight, and we die, and the great machine keeps going, cranking out evil into the world. But that was my epiphany… that when nothing that you do matters, then all that matters is what you do.” Angel

“Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things — trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose this black pit of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which can lick your real world hollow. So I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia…” Puddleglum

All right, this is something that I’ve been wondering about for a long time, and I figured there would be nowhere I’d be more likely to find a good answer than here.

I introduce this question not as a challenge, but out of a genuine interest in learning.

Got you all curious yet? OK, here goes:

So your average evangelical or fundamentalist Christian uses the Bible as the foundation for their moral and thelogical reasoning, operating under the theorem that the Bible is the official Word of God. I would be interested in hearing how they arrive at this conclusion.

The usual answer I get is “Well, in Chapter X Verse Y, it says this…” But you can’t quote the Bible in order to prove that the Bible is the Word of God. That’s about as clearcut an example of circular reasoning as I can come up with. So are there other answers out there?

As a caveat, folks abound with reasons why the Bible is *not* the Word of God, most of which I’ve heard already. Again, I’m more interested in seeing what reasons are out there for the affirmative.

(takes his clipboard, enters the protective observatory bunker)

OK, so I just got back from one of the WORST pizza delivery shifts I’ve ever had, and so I feel the need to vent this information to the general public. If anyone out there has delivered before, and has different ideas, I’d love to hear them.

OK, it’s pretty much accepted that the amount to tip your waiter in a restaurant is at *least* 15%, with the standard starting to approach 18%. This is as it should be. Waiters have one of the most difficult and thankless jobs on God’s green Earth.

However, no one really knows the standard for delivery drivers, so here’s what I have found while working at Vocelli’s Pizza.

1) The minimum tip is either a) 2 dollars, or b) 10% of the check, whichever is greater. Also, it helps to know how far away your delivery location is. If the driver has to travel for more ten minutes to get to you, throw in at least another dollar. Not only does this cover the extra travel time (which could have been spent on getting another delivery order), it also helps offset the rising cost of gas.

2) Most drivers do not carry more than twenty dollars at any given time (for safety reasons), so please don’t be waiting with a fifty dollar bill on a ten dollar order. Also, please don’t ask for exact change. Dealing with coins inevitably means rummaging in pockets, and there’s time wasted all around. Calculate tip, then round off to the nearest dollar amount.

3) Please understand that if we get your pizza to you late, it is quite honestly usually not our fault. Either a) there was a backup in the kitchen (you can only have so many pizzas in the oven at once), b) you just live a long ways away, or c) there weren’t enough drivers, so one driver had to deliver multiple orders, which takes extra time. Also, if you live in a place where the driver will have to cross even one major road and it’s during rush hour, don’t expect it within 30 minutes every time. Line ups at traffic lights can sometimes exceed 5 minutes during rush hour. Also keep in mind that drivers are now heavily trained NOT to speed. It was one of the reasons why Domino’s got rid of its 30 minutes or its free policy: too many accidents. Of course we want to get you a nice hot product, but if I’m driving at night through a residential area that families live in… sorry, that extra four minutes ain’t worth taking that kind of risk.

So to sum up. The average order is around 15-20 bucks. Anything less than two dollars is cruel. Three bucks is always nice. Four or above (on a twenty dollar order) and the driver will be very happy AND will make sure to hit your house first next time he/she has to prioritize between multiple houses. We remember these things.

Thank you for listening to my lecture. Again, if anyone’s had a different experience delivering, or honestly feels that delivery folk shouldn’t be tipped as much, chime on in.