Skip to main content

Posts

The Fall 2013 TV Season

Review Update Here's a review from January 2014 after seeing these five shows: I loved Legend of Korra . I watched them all online the week they aired. It was the only one of the five that I followed regularly. Sleepy Hollow and S.H.I.E.L.D. were both charming stories—the next most entertaining shows after Korra.  However, neither story had enough substance, or character relate-ability, to hold my attention after the first three episodes.  I might try again later. Person of Interest could have been cool.  Maybe I didn't give it a fair chance, but I quit watching after the season premiere.  I think I wanted it to slow down a little bit and show us more character development. The trope of having Jim Caviezel strut around New York, shooting everyone, and saving the day is becoming a little stale for me. Dragons: Defenders/Riders of Berk is already in its second season! And I haven't seen it yet.  Not one else I know watches it, so I wouldn't ...

Reconciling Faith and Sexuality

TL;DR Black, White, Straight, Gay, or whatever — we are all worthy of respect & love. My Biases I am a straight, white male trying to appreciate the experience of my gay brothers and sisters. I started from a place of ignorance and unsubstantiated, conservative "truths" regarding same-sex attraction (SSA). As I continue to learn more, my opinions are changing. I hope that by writing this post and getting feedback on it, I will grow even closer to those who are different than me. I began my personal discovery process with the naive hope of understanding the driving forces behind SSA (probably with the intent to justify my biases). But now, I realize that  having all the answers  doesn't matter; people matter. This post is now motivated by a quote that resonated with me recently: "Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy of it." Why Did I Write This Long Post? Two reasons: First of all, I just needed a pla...

Robots Will Never Take Our Jobs...Right?

In recent months, I have noticed an  unprecedented wave of fast food strikes across the nation, including  Chicago ,  St. Louis ,  Detroit ,  Milwaukee , and  Seattle .   In each of these cases, the  workers have demanded a raise to $15 an hour.  Fine.  People are free to want more money.  Obviously, they have their reasons since  84% of NYC fast food workers report "wage theft."   However, this is not a question of desires, but of economics. Before striking, any wise laborer would be aware how much the employer would need to spend to replace the workers.  If the strikers are unwilling to work for less than what it would cost to replace them, they will quickly find themselves out of a job. As these strikes persist,  I'm concerned that businesses will find it more profitable to automate blue collar workplace processes than it would be to employ hirer-minimum-wage workers.  (E.g. Amazon is investing billion...

Volleyball: Beyond the Fundamentals

USA Volleyball created some illustrations to help new players understand volleyball fundamentals: Underhand Serve Dig Pass Overhand Serve Set Jump Set Joust/Block Spike I downloaded and shared these diagrams here because I think they are too great to risk disappearing on their original webpage.   USA Volleyball also has this 24-page PDF  explaining strategy, rules, and other essential elements of the game.  However, you're probably looking at this webpage because you're hoping to move your team beyond that point. How to move beyond the fundies: "The reason many teams stop progressing is because they keep working on the same things over and over.  You see, you can work hard, but if you aren't continuously augmenting and improving your skill set, you'll never get ahead of your competitors." —Coach Kevin Coach Kevin  developed the following 23-page drill set (PDF ) in order to give your team the varied skill set and c...

What Do LDS Women Look For in a Spouse?

As an LDS, single man, I'm not entirely sure whether or not the answer to the titular question is  knowable .  Nevertheless, after some serious thought, I have identified 5 traits that I perceive LDS women (at least the ones I'm typically interested in) look for in men.  I'd be interested to know if your thoughts in the comments. By no means is this an inclusive list, or intended to be my final opinion on the matter.  Rather, the list was developed based on personal dating (and a little bit of wishful thinking). An LDS Woman Wants: An equally-yoked partner A patriarch who presides & protects A man who magnifies his priesthood Love & trust A worthy model for her children Upon reviewing my list, I was surprised to realize how similar it was to another set of behaviors that I had been cultivating since the age of 12, when I was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic priesthood.  These are the eight  The Purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood ,...

Bryan's 2013 Indie TV Picks

Bravest Warriors (#Animated #Web) What's it about:  Bravest Warriors is like a mashup of  Adventure Time  and  Slugterra .  This futuristic, animated web series follows four teens who employ the power of their emotions to save the universe, whilst searching for their dimensionally-displaced parents.  The first 10-episode season is available online.   Episode one begins here : My Impressions:  If you are looking for a childish, 10-minute escape from the mundane, I highly recommend checking out Bravest Warriors; you can watch the entire season in under 2 hours.  Thanks to the overly-active imagination of  Pendleton Ward , this YouTube-exclusive show gushes with creativity.  FYI, CatBug is my new favorite animated character of all-time.  You may find an image of him in episode 10 or next to the word "cute" in the dictionary. Video Game High School (#YouTube #Gamers) What's it about:  "The story is about a down o...

TV Show Picks for 2013 Anime, Sci-Fi, & Fantasy

Sword Art Online (#Anime #Fantasy #MMORPG) What's it about:  "The year is 2022, and gamers have lined up on launch day for Sword Art Online, a hotly-anticipated MMORPG that lets players connect to an immersive virtual reality world with special helmets called Nerve Gear. Kirito is one such gamer who's eager to jump back into action, having spent a great deal of time as a beta tester, and quickly becomes friends with newbie warrior Klein. But soon, Sword Art Online's 10,000 players discover that not only are they unable to log out, the only way they can return to their physical bodies is by beating the 100-level tower's final boss - death in the game means death in the real world. Now, with no one else to turn to, Kirito and the other participants must survive the game as best they can ( IMDB )." First Impressions:  This was my first anime of this genre.  And se puede decir que me gustó.  I marathoned all 25 episodes over 2 days on  CrunchyRoll . ...