So why read anymore?

Just read a wonderful article on the continued value and importance of reading. By Victor Davis Hanson, of the Hoover Institute. 

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/so-why-read-anymore/

A sample:

"We don’t need more technocrats who fool us that their Ivy League law degrees are synonymous with wisdom. They can be, but now are more likely not much more than tickets that allow an Eric Holder or Timothy Geithner into the first-class seating. I am not calling for us to be academics or scholastics with our noses in books or our heads up our posteriors; but to match physicality and pragmatism with occasional abstraction and reflection from the voices of the past — just a little, now and then, to remind us that Twitter or Facebook speed up communication, but can slow down thought."

Wisdom from the Fathers - St Justin Popovich

"To be Orthodox means to have the God-man Christ constantly in your soul, to live in Him, think in Him, feel in Him, act in Him. In other words, to be Orthodox means to be a Christ-bearer and a Spirit-bearer."

Games I Have Played

I've been thinking about all my years of gaming, and all the games I've played. Earlier I was reading the entry at TvTropes.org about Tabletop Games, and looking over the list I was surprised both by how many I have played, and how many more there are out there that I haven't.

Games/systems I have owned:

Traveller, Classic & MegaTraveller versions

GURPS 3rd ed

The Lord of the Rings RPG 

Star Wars RPG (West End Games version)

Twilight: 2000 1st & 2nd edition

Top Secret & Top Secret: SI

Dungeons & Dragons Basic & 1st ed Advanced

Paranoia

Space:1889

Pendragon

Basic Fantasy RPG

Marvel Super Heroes

BattleTech, CityTech, AeroTech

Mechwarrior 1st ed 

James Bond RPG

Dragon Raid

Doctor Who RPG (FASA)

RoboTech

Games/systems I have played (but not owned)

Palladium RPG 

Traveller:2300 aka 2300 AD

D&D via Marvel Super Hero rules (no, I'm not kidding)

Cyberpunk

Gamma World

Shadowrun

 . . . and probably several I've forgotten.

So for better or for worse, this is what I spent my adolescence doing. Do I regret having not spent more time hanging out at the mall or at somebody's house watching MTV?  Definitely not. These games were fun, and I even learned a few things from them. 

I have very little time for these now, and most of the ones I'd owned I have sold or given away. I've kept a few for nostalgia sake, and the possibility that some day I'll find a new game group to play with. Who can say?

 

Wisdom from the Fathers - St Maximos the Confessor

One can distinguish five reasons why God allows the devil to attack us: 

First, so that from attack and counter-attack we may become practiced in discerning good from evil; 
Second, so that our virtue may be maintained in the heat of the struggle and so be confirmed in an impregnable position; 
Third, so that as we advance in virtue we may avoid presumption and learn humility; 
Fourth, to inspire in us an unreserved hatred for evil through the experience we thus have of it; 
Fifth, and above all, that we may attain  inner freedom and remain convinced both of our own weakness, and of the strength of Him who has come to our aid.

Nostalgia Success - Batman

     I've said before on this blog that I've been re-visiting my childhood by watching DVDs of old cartoons, and bringing my boys along for the ride. The last few Saturdays we have watched another 70s TV cartoon that I remembered but had not seen for a long time - "The New Adventures of Batman" from 1977.  

     I have heard around the Web that in the 1970s the television networks insisted that 'super hero' cartoons keep the violence to a minimum - Batman wasn't allowed to punch anyone!  Compared with today's superhero cartoons, this sounds like a recipe for boring. I was afraid when I put the DVD in that I'd be cringing in dismay. Well, it turns out to not be so. My boys are enjoying them thoroughly, and I'm having fun too. 
     The tone, both in the dialogue, the setups and the background music is far from the grim tone of the recent Batman films or the Batman character from the "Justice League Unlimited" series. The campy silliness of the 60's TV show shows through with the return of Adam West and Burt Ward as the voices of the Dynamic Duo. Most of the villains are more amusing than threatening. The good guys win, the animation both of characters and background is good, if not outstanding, and there's a good dose of humor. I understand that a lot of Batman fans absolutely hate "Bat-Mite", the miniature and self-appointed sidekick to the Duo. I can't say I like him, but he's certainly less annoying than Scrappy-Doo, or some other sidekicks I could name.
     Well, why am I sitting here at the computer instead of in the living room watching cartoons with my boys?  I think I've made my point clear. Holy Cartoon Saturday!