05.23.07
Posted in Uncategorized, hobbies at by mountzionryan
Another Hobby that interests me.
This is one I’d get into if I had the skills and time. I guess the skills could be acquired from that ancient technology: books. So really just time. Anyway…
Let’s call this hobby “Tinkering.”
We’d be best served by me simply showing what I mean.
An Underwood #5 Computer?!
The Bug.
Von Slatt Keyboard
The Nagy Magical-Movable-Type
Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine™
There’s actually a site, called Instructables where people share instruction for tinkering.
Here’s a weird sample, The Shopping Cart Chair.
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05.15.07
Posted in Uncategorized at by mountzionryan
In this installment, we examine my own favorite hobby…
Roleplaying Games
Since one of my best net-buddies asked, let me explain.
A roleplaying game (rpg) can be described as cops and robbers with rules. If you were to watch my group play you would see 5 or 6 guys (RPG players are predominantly male) sitting around a large table. We would have several books, different shaped dice, papers, and pencils on the table before us. One of us (currently me) describes/verbally acts out scenes and people while the others at the table verbally act out a particular person. It has elements of improvisational theater. Typically you play the same character for an extended period of time (weeks, months, or even a year or two in real time).
It sounds incredibly dull when described like that. Here’s a more imaginative description:
A small band of fortune-seekers, explorers, and heroes made their way through the jungle to the lost city. They knew not what to expect, but prepared for trouble. Dr. Otensheisser and his Nazi goons may very well be awaiting the heroes, but they knew his secret and were ready for his machinations. A flock of noisy colorful tropical birds burst, squawking, from the trees ahead.
“I reckon that’s the sign we’ve been loong for,” said the Jack Resolute, the American leader of the group.
“I’ll go on ahead and scout out their position,” said Kasaji, the martial artist whose skills bordered on mystical.
“Doc, You ready with that inmvention of yours,” Jack asked you.
….Are you ready?…Will you defeat the Nazis?…What frightening surprise awaits you and your friends in the Lost City?
Or
The Northern Barbarian, the dwarf, the peasant, and the elf drifted down the river on their ad hoc raft. The wagon had served well on land and with a few minor alterations, was taking them from the destruction at Himmelbrecht. After several days of southerly travel, the harsh northern winter had become the cool beginning of spring. Expecting the next town–and hoping to book passage on a real river barge–the group instead saw a huge net, over six feet high, strung across the width of the river.
In a matter of seconds the raft was entangled in the net. As Gustav the peasant and Hrothgar the barbarian worked on cutting them free they heard a huge splash from the bank. All heads turned and saw a pair of ogre’s, nearly twice Hrothgar’s height, wading toward them. The pair were barely clad in rags and bits of bone fashioned into a necklace of trophies. The larger monster, and the one in the lead, carried a huge axe in his gnarled hands. The other carried a spiked club. The adventureers on the raft had only a few minutes to prepare…
…What will you do? …Do you continue trying to cut through the net in hopes of escape?…Do you brace for mortal combat with the fast approching brutes?
If you ever read a book or seen a movie and thought, “I wish I could spend some time in that world, having those kinds of adventures,” then you have some idea what motivates us to play RPGs. The most well-known RPG is Dungeons & Dragon. It has, in the past, been slurred as a demonic activity used to inculcate kids into the occult. Frankly it is an activity that draws highly imaginative people and is subject to its abuses.
Over the years playing roleplaying games has been accused of promoting suicide, devil worhsip, and other heinous acts. None of these claims have substantiated. A study by the CDC concluded that roleplayers are no more likely to commit suicide than the general population. And in fact, another report suggests that they are much less likely to commit suicide than the general population.Here are a few responses to the typical “Jack Chick”-ian attacks on Roelplaying:
The Pulling Report
Facts and Fictions about RPGs (pdf file) http://www.theescapist.com/facts-and-fictions-about-RPGs.pdf
A Lovely FAQ for you http://www.theescapist.com/basic_gaming_faq.htm
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05.10.07
Posted in hobbies at by mountzionryan
Continuing my posts about hobbies which I find fascinating, but are not mine I give you …
Cardstock modeling.
Seriously. There are some pretty cool freebies out there. I tried one and it turned out pretty good (it was a Norman Church).
Some medieval buildings.
Some Wild West models
Here’s one for the Pirate in you.
World Works Games has, in addition to a wide variety of models, has a set of tutorial movies.
Some of these are used for miniature wargaming, but you can find many that are simply works of art:
East Gate
Chinese Bridge (click on the pictures for a better view).
There’s a whole bunch of links at Iceberg Bouwplaten (hey it’s a dutch site; I linked the english version.
There’s plenty of freebies to try out.
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05.09.07
Posted in Uncategorized at by mountzionryan
I am a Roleplaying gamer. Not computer gamer, not miniature wargamer, I’m talking about pencils and paper and books and rolling funny shaped dice.
Other people have interesting hobbies too.
Here one I stubled across:
Cipher and made up scripts. One of my favorite characters from literature, Patrick O’Brian’s Stephen Maturin, kept a jounal in a cipher. I wonder if it looked anything like these?
Constructed Scripts are created alphabets for existing languages. Most are so stylized as to be little more than decoration.
Some, however, like the Elian Script are beautiful and look like they could actually be used.
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05.08.07
Posted in conversion at by mountzionryan
Doubtful. It’s been ages since I posted. But something (vanity perhaps) has got me thinking about blogging again. So here it goes.
I recently posted this to the OXWOMS yahoo group. OXWOMS is an acronym for “Orthodox Without My Spouse” and I know I’ve mentioned it herein before.
Fr Stephen (appearantly of Blog fame of late) gave a sermon once
wherein he compared the Beatitudes with Paul’s description of love in
1 Cor. 13. Part of his point was that if “God is Love” (1 John 4:16)
then the description of love in 1 Cor. tells us how God is.
Furthermore, these are illuminated by the Beatitudes, becasue God is
Blessed. I don’t intend to repeat it here, but someday I hope to
transcribe it. It is the best single sermon I’ve ever heard.
For our purposes the relevant part come from 1 Cor. 13:
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not
parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not
seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in
iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never fails.
Obviously we love our spouses, else we wouldn’t agonize over
converting without them. Think for a moment about the above passage
in term of your spouse and your desire for them to become Orthodox.
My favorite part is “Love believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never fails.” God will never give up
believing, hoping and enduring–awaiting the day when your beloved
chooses the fullness of the Orthodox Faith. Neither should you. We
are called to “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke
6:36). God’s mercy is his love, in loving others we should strive to
the description Paul has given us.
I take great strength and comfort from Paul’s definition of love. I
hope you can too.
Just reading that passage nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Hopefully more to follow.
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