The Original PlayStation

With the PlayStation 3 coming out this week in Japan and the U.S., it's neat to see this at MSNBC.com: A second life for your first PlayStation

Turns out the original PlayStation is a high fidelity CD player! Mine is in great condition, put away in it's original box. I got it mainly to play Tekken 2 and got into other games later. PlayStation 2 came out October 2000, but I didn't have much time to play as we were in the middle of planning our wedding.

Scanning all the ad flyers in the Sunday paper yesterday, the PS3 is featured quite prominently. As well, at least 2-3 pages are devoted to Sony HDTV's alongside the shiny-black box. I wonder if Sony is offering some price reductions to spur TV sales w/ the PS3 fervor. May not be a bad move since demand is going to far outstrip supply of PS3 at launch, so why not capitalize on the hype and promote their TV's?

The San Francisco 49ers of Great America

So the 49ers announced today that they plan to move to Santa Clara just down the street from their headquarters and practice facilities on Great America Parkway.

They should totally use that name, "The San Francisco 49ers of Great America." If the Dallas Cowboys are "America's Team" and the Angels are the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," then why not? The "of Great America" will give the team broader appeal across the nation, therefore raising their merchandising sales!!

Rather than analyze their stated reasons for moving, I re-call the 1997 bond measure that was make or break for the then planned stadium development w/ Mills Corp. at the Candlestick site. It's been nearly 10 years!

At that time:

• I had moved to the 44th Ave. place for not too long.
• I was still in my first stint at LSI.
• LK, Way, and I bought an SF Giants 17 game ticket plan. We even got playoff tickets and saw them eliminated in the 1st round by the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins.
• Crazy: That season ticket plan allowed us to choose any game we wanted. Remember this was in the Candlestick days, so seats were plentiful. Near the end of the season, we of course still had a bunch of games to go to so we did two games a week to use 'em up.
• The best: Leaving early from work to see the Dodgers one night, Giants beat 'em 2-1, I think. And I took the next day off for the following (day) game and saw Shooter get out of a bases loaded no-outs jam, then Brian Johnson belting a walk-off HR in extra innings to tie the Dodgers in the standings.
  
• Was driving my '97 Toyota Camry, which was totalled in March '05.
• Had not even met my future wife, with whom I have 2 little angels now.
  
• I think Swan had just joined our pastoral staff at church.
• ... what else?
  

OK, so the title of this blog entry's misleading.

Update: An even better name, "Paramount's Great American San Francisco 49ers." Oh the sponsorship and cross-marketing potential!! ... "Mission: Impossible 49ers," "Star Trek: 49ers, 'Today is a good day to die!'"

... The new stadium could be called "Paramount Stadium"
... The Great America Theme Park could have "49er-land."

Superman Returns

(This movie "review" was originally sent to Swan in an e-mail. It's been edited some and posted here.)

G took me to see "Superman Returns" in IMAX 3D as part of our anniversary fun. I enjoyed the movie very much. As the movie started, it was as if I were transported back to my childhood when I saw the original with my parents. She astutely observed that it was nearly scene for scene a re-make of the 1979 original, which I made her watch prior to seeing "Returns."

Superman is a difficult superhero to write for b/c he is so powerful and such a perfect person and drama requires tension and conflict. An impossible situation has to be created for him to overcome.

In the original, the two rockets racing in opposite directions created a dilemma for him and he had to deal w/ it. The ending, turning back time to save Lois, really made the point that he is a god.

I liked "Returns" b/c of the 2 impossible situations. First, how to save the mainland U.S. from the growing land mass that was laced w/ Kryptonite? Second, what to do about the non-relationship w/ Lois. The first one he solved by brute strength and determination- lifting the land mass into space. But it is the Lois storyline that really interested me- b/c of Superman's character he can not steal Lois from Richard, yet there is still that yearning for her- That is the impossible situation.

Although he is a god and Christ-figure, the movies also carry the theme that there are things he (seemingly) can not do. In the original, his Earth father dies of a heart attack and he says to his mother, "all those powers and I couldn't save him." The same thing happens when Lois dies at the end of the movie but he is then able to bring her back from the dead. In Returns, the theme is carried further. "All those powers" but he can't have the love of his life.

But the Jor-El/Superman/Jason(the kid) "Christ" speeches- the son becomes the father and the father the son -just give me goosebumps.

I think the biggest plot hole is the fact that Lois does not remember when she had sex w/ Superman to conceive the emerging Super-kid. This is due to the amnesia kiss at the end of Superman 2. Wouldn't a woman immediately ask that question?!? The amnesia kiss is like today's date-rape drug. (That also wiped out her knowing Clark is Superman.) Finally, the movie doesn't address the fact that Jason's powers will continue to develop and that Richard will find out eventually. To sweep that under the rug in the sequel would be to lose credibility.

Swan responded w/ an awesome reference to Greek mythology:

Like I said to Leon, Superman returns is // to Da Vinci code. Both movies speak of a super powerful man having an offspring with an earth woman. The only difference is Jesus had a daughter and Clark had a son. Jason is a mythological hero Hercules, a half man half god who has super strength. When he grows up what will he be? Superboy? It is going to be an interesting sequel.

The sequel can't arrive soon enough!

LOST: s03e06 prediction

I think Kate's been comprimised! In the season premiere, Ben (Henry Gale) sits down for a meal (breakfast?) on the beach w/ Kate. She asks why is he doing this. He says that he's doing this so she has something nice to hold on to over the next two difficult weeks. That's all we know. Next time we see her she's being put into the bear cage.

Something else must have happened there, which we weren't shown. Perhaps Kate was presented with some dilemma involving Jack and Sawyer?

Also, waaaaay back in season one, a strong theme in Kate's stories was her ruthlessness: Her primary motivating factor was to run to avoid capture by the law. Since then, that theme has been cast aside as it had become clear there was no way off the island, hence no where to run. Until now. Though it doesn't seem as if Kate knows that the Others have contact with the outside world, perhaps Ben's offer was for her to help him while betraying her friends in exchange for her getaway from her crimes. Michael betrayed his friends to get Walt back and leave the island, why not give Kate a similar offer?

English Standard Version

Previously, I mentioned the NET Bible and have since bought a hard copy and have been using it in my studies. I really like the principles behind this translation, but in real use, the English is pretty clunky. My NIVs are pretty much either getting put away now or will be donated to those without Bibles.

After some web research, the English Standard Version sounds quite good. It is an "essentially literal" translation. John Piper, of Desiring God fame, talks about why his church completely switched to the ESV in the article, Good English With Minimal Translation. I guess that title says it all as to why I'm going with ESV. (Piper link is thanks to e12aser!)

Though the ESV does not provide a free download, as the NET does, there are quite a few ways to use it online: mobile, iCal, various RSS feeds, and even a Firefox search plug-in. Quite tech saavy!

Daniel B. Wallace, professor of N.T. studies at DTS and is on both the NET and ESV translation committees , has a great four part series called The History of the English Bible at bible.org.

Finally, the Piper article has the awesome dedication his parents wrote in his first Bible (KJV): '"This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book," Mother and Daddy' You better believe I'm writing that into my sons' 1st Bibles!

LOST: One more new ep. before end of the year!

Season 3, Episode 5

I can't believe they killed off Mr. Ecko. Most of the deaths on the island have occurred once characters "made peace" with their pasts. In Mr. Ecko's case, he not only did not "make peace," at least according to The Island's sense of morality, (I sound like Locke, "The Island!") he refused to make peace. Then the monster killed him. Great character, great actor, but Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (I'll call him Triple-A) doesn't like to be on one show for too long.

The whole Jack, Juliet and Ben(Henry Gale) triangle is really intriguing. Fundamentally, who is playing who? That whole dynamic is a total mind game. You can drive yourself crazy with all the speculation. Is Juliet good or bad? Were the X-Rays of the spinal tumor a plant intended for Jack to see? Is Ben really good when we've thought he was bad all along?

Some quick hits:

• The monster finally re-appeared, but it just didn't feel as scary as it used to be.
• The Others have really lost their mystique. Ana-Lucia said they can suddenly appear out of nowhere. There were the whispers different people have heard in the jungle.
• From the promo for the next ep. shows that Kate chooses Sawyer, not Jack. The producers say as much in their podcast, though it sounds as if this question.
• Why is Pickett so intent on killing Sawyer? It doesn't make any sense.

Anyways, I'm still on the LOST bandwagon... er, Island, that is.

just a test from w/in google

hi met sasha!