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Manganate
read my profile sign my guestbook Name: Bryce Country: United States State: California Birthday: 12/24/1982 Gender: Male Interests: En Vino Veritas Expertise: glowsticking, movies, mixing, anime, history, chalk. Occupation: Student Industry: Education/Research Message: message me Website: visit my website Member Since: 4/9/2003

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Covering three bases.

In a recent discussion about political alignment, I found myself towing the proverbial party line, especially with regards to education. The irony of this situation is that, generally, when you resort to "towing the party line" you're probably in the wrong party because chances are you don't actually believe in most of the stances that your party takes on issues. Unless of course you're me...or a logical conclusions libertarian. I've come to terms with the fact that true libertarianism most likely never be anything but an ideology as we move into the future, but I can't help but deeply admire its roots and theories. I'm huge fan of the "personal responsibility" implication that runs throughout every libertarian think tank like a lifeline. I absolutely despise big government despite the fact that so many aspects of American life have become inextractably embedded in reliance on big government programs. And most of all, I firmly believe that so many of the things that people take for granted like education, a stable economy, health insurance, and the opportunity for employment are at their fundamental levels issues of responsibility not privilege.

In a recent discussion with several of my brothers and sisters about theology we had a lively and passionate debate about the issue of election and predestination. Generally speaking I'm not one that takes too deep an interest in complex theological discussions involving what I consider "secondary doctrine". I'm more of a "primary doctrine" type of guy and my preferred "cup of tea" revolves mostly around the confessing Christian's need for reconciliation with God because the world and forces against Christ saddle so many Christians with tertiary issues and deceive them into turning their eyes away from the kingdom, rendering them ineffective for God's work. Anyways, back to the issue of election, our main debate centered the idea of whether or not predestination was real. Our Calvinists argued that being chosen before the foundations of the earth is irrefutable evidence of such and offered the passage from 1 Kings 19:18 where the lord said, "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel - whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths mouths have not kissed him." This clearly is the remnant of Israel that Paul talks about in Romans and through sanctification by faith we know that Christians are the new Israel by which righteousness was credited to us through the faith of Abraham. At the same time however, it was argued that if election were a complete part of God's sovereign will, then there is really no such thing as "free will" for people who choose to accept or reject Christ because God already knows whether or not they're going to become Christians. According to the zero-sum game theory if God has already elected an individual and that person is predestined to become a Christian then they have no free will in the matter because if God's sovereign will has decreed that a particular individual will be saved, then mathematically is means God's Will - 100%, Individual's Will - 0%. And taking this to the logical conclusion means that evangelism as a whole is a meaningless activity because it will not ultimately affect the sovereign will of God's election. Kind of like a "Those people will become Christians whether they like it or not" mindset. Personally I'm still struggling with this concept. I believe that God did choose me, so in that sense I am elect, but at the same time I feel that I exercised free will in choosing the walk with Christ. I begin to wonder then if zero-sum can actually be applied to the issue of election. Maybe free will and sovereign will are two sides of the same coin. From a pragmatic standpoint however I think it's a moot point. At the end of the day who is might be elect and who might not be elect is not for humans to know and honestly we're completely incapable of ever finding out while we're alive. Predestination or no, I'm not going to use election as an excuse to ignore the great commission given to all of Jesus' followers before he ascended into heaven.

As I've been studying to get my provisional license upgraded to a full California Real Estate Agent's license recently I was struck with an ironic sense how easy it is to become a real estate agent. You're only required to pass one measly state exam (which was in some ways easier than the CBEST) as well as pass 3 freshman level college courses all of which can be done at home with an open book final taken online for each one. Then suddenly you're a full realtor, licensed, legal, and fully empowered to represent individuals in making the single biggest financial decision in their entire life, and not only that, you're authorized to find loans for them, and you didn't even spend 50 hours of combined training, studying, and test-taking to get to that point! Juxtapose that next to the ridiculous number of fiery hoops you have to jump through just to get credentialled to teach a single-subject in high school. Now if you ask me I'd say teaching is an incredibly noble cause and its important that teachers are well qualified (I wouldn't be getting my credential if I didn't think so) but I would also say that representing someone when they make the single biggest financial decision of their entire lives (bar none) is probably just as important as teaching. Plus, if you represent 4-5 people in California either helping them buy or sell their house, you already make more than a teacher does in a entire year and all that work would probably only cost you 5-6 months time. The discrepancy in how much you can earn versus how much training you have to go through to work in those two respective fields is mind-boggling and I say that with absolute confidence because I do both!

Finally, as I slide into home, I finish with an anticlimatic schedule of my upcoming summer.
On June 18th I go on a church retreat for 4 days. June 21st I come back. June 28th I go to Long Beach for Anime Expo. July 2nd I leave for missions/training in Canada for a whole month (God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called). August 4th I come back. Sometime in the end of the August, I move.

Understanding the specific gist and sweating the general details.

2:35 PM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

	Back in SoCal after Memorial Day weekend and Fanime Con. Our music videos picked up "Judges Decision: Best of Show" (Code Geass AMV) "Judges Decision: 1st Place in Experimental Category" and "Audience Vote: 3rd Place in Experimental Category" (Lain AMV) AND we resisted the urge to spend money on overpriced merchandise. :)
	4:50 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Sunday, May 13, 2007

	Bryce makes AMV's Ben makes AMV's too...actually we both made both.
	9:04 PM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The best review of the movie "300", bar-none.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31520

I just saw a movie that’ll give your eyes boners, make your balls scream and make you poop DVD copies of THE TRANSPORTER. It’s called 300. I don’t know what the title has to do with the movie, but they could’ve called it KITTENS MAKING CANDLES and it’d still rule.

It’s about these 300 Greek dudes who stomp the sugar-coated shit out of like a million other dudes. I have a feeling that a lot of high school sports coaches are going to show this film to their teams before they play. Also, gay dudes and divorced women are going to use screen captures for computer wallpaper.

The movie takes place about a million years ago, and it’s sort of like a prequel to SIN CITY. Except way less guns and cars but twice as much skull splitting. If you watch this movie and go into a Taco Bell, and say to the cashier, “I need some extra sauce packets” guess what? You’re getting twenty sauce packets because your face will punch him in the brain.

I can’t spoil the plot because THANK GOD THERE ISN’T ONE. Just ass kicking that kicks ass that, while said ass is getting kicked, is kicking yet more ass that’s hitting someone’s balls with a hammer made of ice but the ice is frozen whiskey.

TWO COOL THINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE AND ONE THING I DIDN’T LIKE:

COOL THING ONE:
HEAVY METAL DURING BATTLE SCENES

Who gives a shit if the music isn’t historically correct? LORD OF THE RINGS could’ve used some Journey. This movie has that chu-CHUNG kind of metal that you hear in your head when your shift supervisor at Wetzel’s Pretzel is telling you that you’ll have to stay for clean up and you wish you had a sock filled with quarters in your hand.

COOL THING TWO:
FOES, MINI-BOSSES AND A BIG BOSS

Basically, the Greek dudes are fighting these Persian dudes, but the director, who must have a dick made of three machine guns, does it all like a video game. The Greeks fight every death metal video from the last ten years. There’s wave after wave of giants, freaks, ninjas, mutants, wizards, and a hunchback who looks like he’s got Rosie O’Donnell on his back.

Would I have been happy if Dom DeLuise from HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I had shown up? Maybe, but this movie more than makes up for that glaring oversight.

NOT SO GOOD THING:
DUDE NUDITY (“DUDE-ITY”)

These are Greek times, when there were a lot of naked women around. And there are some naked women in this film, but almost every naked woman scene has a muscular dude giving the screen an ass picnic. Dude-ity is something directors put in their movies so people will think they’re serious, I guess, and not just throwing in naked hotties.

Any directors reading this – IT’S OKAY TO JUST THROW IN NAKED HOTTIES.

Can’t someone make a movie about naked Amazons and call it PAUSE BUTTON?

My final analysis is 300 the most ass-ruling movie I’ve seen this year, and will probably be the King of 2007 unless someone makes a movie where a pair of sentient boobs fights a werewolf.

2:20 PM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Friday, February 23, 2007

A friend of mine mentioned to me today. "There is only one person in this world that you're guaranteed to spend the rest of your life with, and that's the person who looks at you in the mirror. And if that's the case then I feel kinda jibbed."

And I thought to myself, "How wonderfully profound in a completely secular and shallow way."

And what sort of eyes does this person in the mirror possess when they gaze at you? Contempt? Sadness? Resignation? Maybe joy? How about security? Or even hope?

What sort of life are you expecting out of your future by yourself or with anyone else if you can't even look at yourself in the mirror without being ashamed?

First see the circle, it's the clearest and easiest to see. Then see the center and the different positions nears and far. Then see the pieces and their trajectory and realize how important the movement is. Then realize that the center and the entire circle moves...and that certain pieces follow the center.

12:54 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it

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