Spin-off, fanfic type thoughts:
Darned JAR files. 2 days spent writing, re-writing code, writing and re-writing deployment descriptor files and the whiole problem was that I had an out of date JAR file, stopping me from communicating withe JMS server? GRRRRRRR
An article that got my attention today - Why Free Software usability tends to suck and its follow-up, Why Free Software usability tends to suck even more. Reminds me a lot of what my wife has to say about Linux usuability.
Judging by the Google searches that I’ve logged, Lexa Doig would appear to be one of the more favoured members of the Andromeda cast. I probably ought to point out, therefore, that she has an offical website. Perhaps the searches for “Lexa Doig Pics” might decrease, since her site has tons of them?
At last, some cosmologists talking sense (quoting):
Amid the Universe’s Chaos, a Few Habitable Places
By Robert Roy BrittAt a time when the only known sentient species has earnestly and optimistically begun to search for life on other planets, several scientists within that species have found a host of reasons to guard the optimism. Throughout the galaxy, hazards to planet formation and sustained evolution are so serious and varied that life may be exceedingly rare. Intelligent life, presumably, would be the rarest of all.
Elsewhere on the ‘net, Jonny Baker and Steve Collins from Grace church in England held a church service a few months ago called the “No Logo” service. It was based around the false worship of brand names and our true identity in Christ. One exercise asked:
What Would Jesus Wear (WWJW)?The clothes we wear say a lot about our identity - how we see ourselves and how we want other people to see us. Where we buy our clothes and what brands we buy are significant, even if they dont have visible logos.
If Jesus were on the earth today, what clothing brands would he wear?
Oh, and the May/June edition of Next Wave is up.
PromoGuy’s Monday Mission 2.21
1. What happened this weekend that made you smile?
Clearing 2 major sections of the overgrown garden and mowing down the waist high grass/weeds. We now have a garden, not a jungle. That brings a smile - satisfaction of a job well done - plus gives motivation to do the rest. The other thing was getting an email from a friend that came forward for prayer after the Sunday service. I believe that prayer is answered and that God is faithful but it really is nice to get feedback from people once in a while that prayer was answered so decisively.
2. Did you make someone smile today? If not, will you try?
Today? No. Yesterday I woke up early enough to take a cup of tea and breakfast in bed up to the only-just-surfacing wife.
3. Have you any clothes or accessories you love to wear but just totally embarrass the person you are being seen with?
Ummmm, yeah. A pair of nasty day-glo shorts.
4. What was the catch phrase you said the most in High School?
Cant remember, sorry.
5. Who are you remembering this Memorial Day? (or for those not celebrating it, tell me about someone worth remembering)
England celebrates a day similar to memorial day in November. I’ve heard it suggested that we should remember not just those who’ve died in the line of duty as servicemen, but also the martyrs who’ve died for their faith bringing the light of the gospel to various places.
6. Do you think you are a good friend?
I certainly do try. Better to ask the people that I call friends, as any answer I give is sure to be biased!
I have a song stuck in my brain - we sang it this Sunday - maybe posting it here will either get it out of my head (and onto the screen) or it will inspire the thoughts that need to follow after the song:
Desire Of The Nations
Words and Music by Dan WiltJesus,
You are the Light of every nation,
King of Your creation,
And You reignJesus,
You hold the kingdoms and the powers,
The glory in this hour,
And You reignJesus, Prince of Peace
Your Kingdom will never, ever cease…Desire of the Nations
Our Great Expectation
Lord, come fill this house with Your glory
Desire of the Nations
Our Hearts’Invitation
Lord, come fill this house with Your gloryJesus,
You are the Light of every nation,
King of Your creation,
And You reignJesus,
You hold the kingdoms and the powers,
The glory in this hour,
And You reignKingdoms of this world
Are becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord…
Well, once again, I’ve returned to work for a rest. There are parts of me aching that have no right even letting me know they exist; parts of me that should simply connect A-to-B and never announce themselves. It’s still a small price to pay for getting the garden clear. This weekend saw a transformation from waist-high jungle to pseudo-lawn (it’s green and underfoot, just not all of it is grass). The poison ivy is gone as are the ivy choking one tree and a large amount of overgrown shrubbery by the back fence. All-in-all a good weekend of work.
You’d never have caught me dead doing that kind of stuff when I was youger. It crazy the transformation that’s come over me after buying a house. I’ve turned all domestic!
Talk about busy week! I’ve not been able to blog the thing I’ve meant to since arriving in the office on Monday morning. Last Sunday night saw the season finale of the three show’s we’ve been following, in order that they aired :
Strangely enough that same ordering sums up how good they were. , and EFC was just about as limp as other episodes in the past.
Mutant-X - A Breed Apart
Mutant-X was by far the best of the bunch which was a pleasant surprise. The show has suffered in the past with being light on plot. In so many ways the show is a comic book translated to screen, not least of which being that it’s another Avi Arad production. Avi Arad (for the uninitiated) is President and CEO of Marvel Studios, the man responsible for turning around Marvel’s fortunes and its explosion into Hollywood - X-Men, X-Menu 2, SpiderMan, Blade, Blade 2, The Hulk and Daredevil to name but a few.
I’ve really missed Michael Easton on screen. His return as Gabriel Ashlocke in the season finale of Mutant-X was oh-so-welcome. I count myself as a fan of the short-lived Sci-Fi show ‘Total Recall 2070′ and his brooding, understated performance as “David Hume”. I sincerely hope that they keep him on as the arch-nemesis of Mutant-X as he does the job so well. Season 2 would rock with him stirring things regularly. Truly a cliff-hanger ending to the first season and taking things up a notch for season two.
Andromeda - The Tunnel at the End of the Light
Before jumping into thoughts about the episode, I have to say that the Andromeda online store is really rather cool. I especially like the ability to build your own T Shirt - pick where you want the image, and what it should be (from a large selection) and Bob’s your uncle! I feel the tug towards a T shirt with the sparky cola warning on it….
In a recent interview, Lexa Doig said of the episodes in the last 1/2 of season 2,
I don’t love them, to be honest. I see where improvements could have been made, but like I said, it was incredibly chaotic. I’m impressed that we got anything done. And that’s just my perspective. When Robert left, we did it mid-season, and that’s a tough thing for a show to handle. You can’t prepare for what’s about to hit you in the face. It’s kind of like changing runners in mid-stream instead of taking a break. Between seasons is a different story, because we’ve got four months off to prepare.
and in my opinion it shows in the season finale. They cranked out “aliens from another universe” who only seemed bent on destruction (does that sound like the already well established Magog?) and dropped a honking great bomb right into the middle of the infestation (might that have been the world-ship in a previous incarnation, under a different writer?)
They’ve created a cliff hanger. I will be utterly disappointed with the writing team if they dont carry the arc forward though. You dont just create a brand new enemy out of thin air and toss them away again when you start a new season. Then again, you dont spent a season and a half building up a storyline only to blow it all off in the chaos of the last few episodes (can we say, ‘re-founding the commonwealth’ and ‘magog worldship’?) At the end of the episode I was left saying, “well, at least it didnt suck“.
E. F. C - Final Conflict
Which, of course, is far more than I can say about the last ever EFC episode. Have you ever been in a relationship past the point when you know you should have gone your separate ways? Like Nickleback say in “How you remind me”
Never made it as a wise man
I couldn’t cut it as a poor man stealing
Tired of living like a blind man
I’m sick of sight without a sense of feeling
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am
This is how you remind me
Of what I really amIt’s not like you to say sorry
I was waiting on a different story
This time I’m mistaken
for handing you a heart worth breaking
and I’ve been wrong, i’ve been down,
to the bottom of every bottle
these five words in my head
scream “are we having fun yet?”
Quite simply a weak ending to a season that should never have happened. They should (in my opinion) have filmed a 2-hour special that came right after the end of last season, wrap up the surival (or erradication) of the Taelons and just moved on past. More mistakes were made in the episode than I care to enumerate, that is in writing it. Sure, it’s true to the universe that they created, but it was weak, weak, weak. You know how to deal with this kind of sickness: put it out on the hillside overnight and if it’s dead in the morning it was never meant to live.
I just found that Sophie Aldred has a website! For those not in the know, she played “Ace” - sidekick to the seventh Doctor (played by Sylvester McCoy). In related news, the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, has a site! This makes me want to collect Dr Who links all over again!
VNUnet had an interesting piece - Holy websites’ sinful design - Nick Farrell talks to Dean Peters, web designer and maintainer of Heal Your Church Web Site.
Another resource about church websites might be, Church websites - a special opportunity.
