Giving Your Best To God

I'm about to get personal here for a moment.  For those that know me personally, you know I'm a Christian, but I mainly use this blog to spout out about the pop cultural things that I enjoy.  So, just indulge me as I have to get a little something off my chest.  As I go through this season of my life, I may get a little more off my chest in these pages in the future as well.


There is a saying, "Do Your Best and Let God Do the Rest."  A lot of people struggle through the storms of life and simple little advice like that is hard to follow.  How can you give God your best when you are constantly having barrels of beetle dung dumped on you in a constant rain of poop.  You find yourself believing that God is turning his back on you and letting you fend for yourself amongst the salivating wolves of the world.  I believe we have all felt this way at one time or another.  Some have felt it earlier in their lives and have now thankfully passed through it and realized it was simply a rough season in an otherwise fine life.  Some have yet to experience the pain.  A lot of us are going through it right now.

For those people, I have no concrete answers.  The only thing I know for certain is that turning from God, if you are a believer, is exactly what Satan wishes of you.  Sometimes I think we are on the verge of doing something awesome with our lives when the rain begins to pour and we tuck our tails between our legs and scurry back into the shadows, which is exactly where our enemy wants us.  Were we on the verge of doing what God wanted us to do for the betterment of our lives?  How can we know when we throw our hands up and say "heck with it"?

Fighting through the crud is hard, make no mistake.  When we decided to follow Christ, we were never promised an easy path.  In fact, I believe our paths get harder, because that is when the enemy is at his most vicious.  To get through these times, it may be prudent to concentrate on the small victories that we often overlook.

Did your car break down and someone let you use a loaner to get you through until you could afford to fix it?  Give thanks to God for that.  Did you get a sizable pay cut at work and had to drop a few things, but you still manage to put food on the table for your family.  Thank God that you aren't starving.

The point is this; we may not enjoy the circumstances we find ourselves in.  Our situation may cause great discomfort or drive us on the brink of depression, but through it all God somehow keeps providing exactly what you need when you need it.  I've found myself in situations such as these more times than I care to think.  There have been times we were worried sick that we would be out on the street because of the shambles life and our own unwise decisions have made of our finances.  Somehow, when things were at their worst, provision was given.

This is why I refuse to give up.  This is why I will continue to at least mount a concerted effort to give my best to God. If I find myself in a job I don't exactly enjoy going to, I will do my best.  My employer is not my real boss, God is.  I will do my best for Him, keeping the faith that being a good servant will allow Him to trust me with the new doors He wants to open for me.

How can I believe this so strongly?  The answer is simple; I've seen the proof.  No matter what I've gone through, I've always eventually made it through to the other side a slightly stronger person than before.

Super 8 Came Out On Blu Ray This Past Week.

I remember seeing that movie.  If I recall correctly, I quite enjoyed it.

My Review

Top Five Indiana Jones Moments

These are my 5 favorite moments where Indiana Jones is at his most awesome.  Some are actions he takes, others are just iconic images of the famed archeologist.  All are awesome.


5. You don't know him!  In the opening sequence to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy gets away from some Commies and his traitorous friend by doing some typical Indiana Jones dering do, accidentally shooting a goon's foot, taking off running and using his whip to swing around like a fedora wearing Tarzan.  They give chase and Indy winds up commandeering a truck and proceeds to play chicken with a Commie and his former buddy, Comrade Mack, who warns the driver "You don't know him!"; knowing that for a guy who takes dives out of airplanes in an inflatable raft, playing chicken with a Red is his view of normal.

4. No Ticket. While trying to sneak away from a lead Nazi on a blimp, Indy does what he usually does; knocks a useless Nazi cold and steals his uniform.  When the bad guy recognizes Sir Sean Connery, Indy walks up behind him, gives him a beat down and tosses his Swastika bearing butt right out the window in front of all crew and passengers.  As they stare at him, Indy thinks a second before coming up with the zinger, "No ticket!" and the legend of the awesomeness that is Indiana Jones is further cemented as the rest of the passengers pull out their tickets.

3. Indy vs Child Labor.  A Thuggee is whipping a child as he goes about his manual labor.  They go off screen, a punch is heard and the goon is thrown back into view as the camera pans over to our hero. This scene is pure awesome, from the music swelling at the iconic reveal of Indy, standing at his most heroic pose with an expression that says that no Thuggee will be spared.  The way Spielberg designed this scene certainly had a part in imprinting the not to be trifled with version of Indy in my young brain as a lad.

2. Bringing a Gun to A Sword fight.  This is the action that to me defines Indiana Jones.  It's humorous and Indy's half-casual way in dispatching the sword wielding thug highlights the very attitude of the character.  The scary thing is, this scene was almost not to be.  An elaborate sword fight was planned between goon and Dr. Jones, but Harrison Ford and a lot of the crew had developed a severe case of the runs and couldn't shoot long, so he suggested this swifter alternative.  Funny how one of the most iconic scenes of the series happened because Harrison Ford had to drop a deuce.

1.Taking the truck.  If there's one thing Indiana Jones is good at, it's commandeering the bad guy's trucks.  I could do a top five commandeering truck section if it hit me, but that might be redundant.  Either way, Indy chases down the caravan bearing the Ark of the Covenant on horseback, swashbucklers his way onto the side of the truck, and kicks his way into the cab. That's only the beginning.  He uses the truck as a Nazi Slayer of Doom, before He get's shot, thrown out and works his way back up to the front, then turning the steering wheel into a drum with a Nazi driver's head as the sticks.  Then he tosses him through a window and goes about his day, taking the Ark with him.  Not only the most awesome scene in an Indy movie, but one of the greatest action sequences of all time.

Top Five Legend of Zelda Games

I'm not sure if you've heard or not, but there's been a new Legend of Zelda game released here recently. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been sent down from the gaming deities to bless your wear worn Nintendo Wii and unleash the power of the Master Sword unto it.  As per usual when it comes to these types of things, I have more important things to put my money into right now (like a new used car so I can get to work and back) other than what could be the most awesome thing that could come in contact with any gaming system I've ever owned.  Sigh.

So until the glorious day when Skyward Sword may grace my humble console, I thought I'd throw down what I find my Top 5 favorite Zelda games.  Keep in mind that this series of games is so untouchably awesome, the margin between them is so narrow as to almost not exist.  Even the games that didn't make the top 5 are still some of my most favorite games of all time.

Number 5:

I've only played a couple of Zelda games on handheld devices and Minish Cap is so good, it would be worthy of a console release.  If I have one problem with it, it would be the length.  It is simply too short.  But what there is of it, is Gameboy Advance bliss.  It takes the look and character models of Wind waker and sets them in a Link to the Past style of "look down" perspective.  The merge works very well.  As Link, you are sent on a quest to repair the Picori blade, stop the evil Vaati and turn Princess Zelda back from stone.  Typical Zelda fare, I suppose.  Except you are joined by Ezlo, a wizard of sorts that looks like a green hat that you get to wear.  He drops hints now and again.  You are also aided by the Minish, a race of tiny folk living unknown amongst the humans and doing most of their dirty work for them (leaving them to think they did it somehow).  You can shrink down to Minish size and explore Minish villages hidden throughout the land.  Another cool side quest is the fusing of Kinstones.  You find a half of a kinstone and look for someone that has a matching half.  Together, you fuse them and something happens in another part of the land that will be helpful to you like revealing a new path to explore along your journey.  This game is tons of fun and deserves the Zelda trademark.

Number 4:

A lot of folks find Twilight Princess to be the very best of the series, and I won't argue with them. Being the best of this series generally comes down to taste of tone, graphics or gameplay.  I like this game a lot.  It is truly epic in scope with hours upon hours of exploration and dungeon crawling to be had.  The graphics are what a lot of Zelda fans have been looking for since they began their trek through the series.  I have the Wii version, so I was impressed with the motion controls.  A quick waggle of the Wii Remote and Link attacks with his sword.  I love how you can map your items to the D-Pad and quickly equip them to use.  The use of the bow and arrow has never been more fun and a lot of the puzzles are very clever.  I'm a big fan of the spinner tracks.  All that said, it did feel like at times I was playing an updated version of Ocarina of Time.  A lot of the temples were very familiar in that way and the look of the game kind of felt a little OOT retread.  There is also a bit of time spent as a wolf early on in the game, sending you on a fetch quest before you can shed your canine identity.  Later in the game when you could switch back and forth at will, this was no problem.  I just wasn't a big fan of some of the wolf levels.  That being said, this is still probably the most epic in terms of scale in the Zelda family up to this point and provides hours of fun.

Number 3:

Oh yes I did.  What is widely considered to be "The Greatest Game of All Time", I have at number 3 just in its series.  Do not get me wrong.  I appreciate this game for what it is and how it brought Zelda swinging into a 3D landscape.  I love the storyline and the play on time throughout.  For it's time, this game was huge, with cavernous dungeons and bosses that had to be seen to be believed.  For me, this Zelda found its place in history because of how it totally updated the gameplay with Lock On targeting and great use of the other items.  As usual, points must be taken away because of your annoying fairy guide, Navi, who is downright obnoxious in the way she tries to get your attention.  "HEY!" indeed.  Still, she did usually have some helpful advice, if only she had a more subtle way to dispense it.  I also like how it put Link in a believable fantasy world with a captivating story line with quirky and endearing characters.  It made Hyrule come alive in a way that it never had before; it put a realistic spin on things.  You felt like you were Link, the Hero of Time, called into action to save the kingdom.  It did that very well.  One day, when I am able to get a 3DS, I look forward to playing this game in 3D with updated graphics.  There's not a lot of bad to be said here.  Even the much maligned Water Temple didn't bother me like most (I think I hated Jabu Jabu's belly worse).  The only reason this isn't my favorite falls squarely on my age and what game came out when I was at my most impressionable.

Number 2:

The Wind Waker is easily one of my favorite games of all time.  It takes the proven Zelda formula and shakes it up a bit.  Instead of trudging through Hyrule for the thousandth time, you find that the land has been flooded for a hundred years.  The events of Ocarina of Time have been put into legend and Link is of age where he must wear the costume of the Hero of Time on his birthday, as is tradition for boys his age.  Turns out, of course, that he is the chosen one and is sent off into an adventure that includes Sailing, pirates, post office workers and giant birds.  What Ocarina of Time did by bringing Link and Zelda into a believable fantasy world, Wind Waker takes them through a more swashbuckling adventure with fantasy mixed in.  I love the story and execution of this game.  It takes what Ocarina did, control wise, and perfected it.  This thing controls like a dream and requires very little to master it and get comfortable.  I don't know why I dug this game as much as I did.  Maybe it was because, like many before me, I was a a little put off by the initial reveal of the cartoony cell shaded graphics.  Because of that and the fact that the story didn't seem to be super traditional Zelda, my expectations were lowered.  Turns out those couple of issues were the biggest selling points of this game for me.  The graphics work so well, you feel like you're playing a cartoon.  Movements, flow, character expressions, these are all unmatched in the series (including Twilight Princess).  The story is not kid dumbed down at all, it is epic in it's own way with a lot of good surprises and moments.  Playing a game where Ocarina of Time is part of it's ancient history and seeing the characters discover that history and how it pertains to them is a good story move and keeps you interested throughout your play time.  I can't quite remember when I've had this much fun playing an adventure game.

Number 1:

Actually, yes I can.  It was this game.  I played the original Legend of Zelda when I was younger.  Loved the heck out of it, the exploration, the "being a hero" aspect of the whole deal.  When this game was released for the Super Nintendo when I was about 11 or 12 years old, it was like the culmination and perfection of everything you could ever expect from a Zelda game.  As I hinted at in the Ocarina section, I was at the perfect impressionable age when this game came out.  I loved fantasy, and this game was like an interactive fantasy novel in which you were the protagonist.  Surely no experience in the world could match such a feeling at such an age.  The story was huge, in comparison to the original.  You weren't just collecting shards of the triforce to rescue Zelda and save Hyrule, you were called to collect crystals so you could go about finding the Master Sword, so then you could really begin your quest.  And what a quest it was.  Traveling between the light world and the dark world where something you did there would affect the other world were just gameplay mechanics that blew my young mind.  This game wasn't about the journey of a hero, but it was the epitome of the Hero's Journey, from frightened farm boy to savoir of Hyrule.  There's really nothing else I can add to this, other than to say that it is the perfect adventure game, even if the graphics aren't as awesome as it's later cousins or gameplay mechanics aren't as refined.  This game was about the journey and what a journey it took you on.


As for the games that didn't make my top 5, like I said, they are still better than the majority of games out there.  I still love the original Legend of Zelda, it was the first game that showed me that you could have exploration and go on an adventure in video games.  It's just simply outdated now, in terms of story and graphics and immersion.  Still a great game though.  Zelda 2: Screw Zelda 2.  That game is no fun.  Links Awakening on Gameboy showed me that you could have big, fun games on little devices.  Even if some of the things are a bit silly, looking back on it.  Never played any other handheld Zelda, like Oracle of Seasons or Oracle of Ages, or any of the DS ones.  I've only played a bit of Majora's Mask, and I know it's different.  I have it on Virtual Console and when I finally get a chance, I look forward to delving into that ball of mystery.

And I'm really looking forward to Skyward Sword.  It looks as though it combines the art direction of Wind Waker and A Link to the Past, which to me would make the totally perfect merge.  Can't wait to play it (eventually).

How To Get A Free Nintendo 3DS!

Get a free Laptop!  Get a free MacBook!  Get a free IPhone!  Get a free IPad!  Get a free X Box 360!  Get a free Playstation 3!  Get a free Wii!  Get a free Nintendo 3ds!

You see these websites pop up all the time, screaming a deal that's literally too good to be true.  Just enter in some information and that free MacBook is yours!

A scam.  It has to be.

Only it's not a scam.  It's totally legit.  Millions of people do it and millions of people get their stuff.

But there is a hitch.

These companies basically are paid to advertise certain offers, trials or deals.  And the more people they get to sign up for these deals, the more money they earn.  So places like Netflix, Blockbuster,  and freecreditreport.com will pay these websites to offer trials of their services.  In exchange, these websites are able to give people these items or even the cash equivalent if you don't want the goods to those people good enough to sign up for these deals.

That's the easy part.

The hard part, and the part that really makes these people money is referrals.  In other words, if you want that free Xbox 360, all you have to do is sign up for the required number of deals.  And then get a few of your buddies to do the same under your referral number.  After you've done that, your get your goodie in the mail.

This is where people give up.  It's virtually impossible for people to convince their loved ones to do this, because their loved ones think these are scams.  Still, it can be done.  You can get referrals.  But we'll get to that later.

First let us discuss the basics on how to get your freebies.

First: Find a freebie site that might have some swag you would like to have.  There are plenty of sites like...

You have to sign up for the site.

This seems obvious, but there it is. The rub is you have to be honest with the info you give.  Valid phone number, valid email address, valid address.  Be upfront with them, or you'll get your account canceled for fraud.  Once you sign up for your account, you'll get a referral link that you can give all your buddies or family members to sign up under.

Next, it's time to do an offer or two.  Depending on the site you pick and the prize you pick, you may have to do one or several offers.  Some of these offers are signing up for things, some are discounted trials of services, and some are free.  You need to complete the required number of offers to go green on the site.  Going green simply means that you have met your obligations to get a credit (or more credits) that the site requires you to have to get your gift.

When completing the offers, I would be very careful about reading the terms of the offers.  Some require you to keep the trial membership for x amount of days before you can cancel.  If you don't meet their requirements, you will not get credit or credit will be revoked and your green will go away.  So be very careful about meeting the requirements.  The requirements are spelled out very clearly for you when you click (or hover your mouse over) an offer.

Be organized.  If you are signing up for a free trial or something you intend on cancelling before you have to pay (or pay more), I suggest you keep a spreadsheet or even a good old fashioned notebook handy to write down what offer you completed, the day you completed it and the requirements or terms of conditions.  If you have a 7 day trial for a credit report site and you have to keep it for 5 days, write that down in the book.  If you forget, your credit card can and will be charged extra money when the trial expires.

I myself would try to do offers that you have a genuine interest in.  I love movies.  I signed up for a Blockbuster online trial that I will use.  I love to read, I've signed up for book clubs and gotten some very cool books very cheap.  If it's something you would pay money for anyway, all the better.

In fact, a way to offset the cost of a book club membership is to pick a couple of books you really like and grab another two or three new books from hot authors and sell them on eBay.  I did this and ended up getting twice what I paid for the initial membership plus shipping.

When going to complete the offers, same rules apply for signing up for a freebie site.  Be honest.  Give true information, or once again, the credit can be revoked.  They do look at these types of things as fraud if you put in a bum street address or phone number.  To them that means you are not interested in the trial.  You need to at least act like you're showing a legitimate interest.  Your credit card number will be as safe as entering it in any online merchant account.  The offers are generally presented by truly legit and well known companies that aren't in it to steal your identity.

When you go to complete an offer, it is recommended that you use Firefox as your browser.  Turn your pop up blocker off and turn your cookies on.  Before you click on an offer, clear your cache, history and cookies to make sure the crediting goes through.  It is highly suggested that you repeat this procedure between each offer you complete.  When you are done with an offer, let the landing page (the "congratulations, you are signed up!" page) sit for a few minutes before closing it out to ensure the credit goes through to the freebie site.  Trust me, there's nothing more frustrating than completing an offer and not getting credit because you didn't take a few precautions to protect yourself.

Just be careful and be honest when completing your offers and you should go green with little problem. Going green is the easy part.

Getting others to go green for you under your referral link is the challenge.

As I said, getting referrals is what you really need to concentrate on to get your new Nintendo Wii (or Xbox, or Playstation 3).  How does one go about getting them?

*Ask friends and family.  The trick is, it can't be someone in your household.  Using the same computer or phone number or street address is forbidden.  This is considered fraud in the freebie world.  Find a cousin or an aunt or uncle or good buddy who would be willing to go under your referral link (make sure they sign up as soon as they go through your link if you want it to count) and do an offer or two for you.  Offer to comp 'em that 4.99 it takes to sing up for a month of Blockbuster.  That's small potatoes when you consider the IPad you want goes for hundreds of dollars.

*Put your referral link in your email or forum signature.  Don't spam it, just have it there so when people at a web forum you frequent see your signature, they may click on it and be interested in what the freebie site is all about.

*Write a Facebook note or MySpace blog about it.  Explain what it is you're doing and ask whoever's reading to do you a solid and sign up under your link.

*Make a blog post.  If you have a blog, write a post about your freebie and ask for referrals that way.

*I've heard of people making flyers and passing them out with their referral link on it.

*Trade something for them.  If you have a couple of DVDs you don't watch anymore, post them on craigslist and don't sell them for money, sell them for a referral or two.

*Join a freebie forum. There are a few forums out there full of folks who do this as a part time living.  You can find people to trade referrals with and some will actually pay you to do offers under their referral link for them.

That's just a few suggestions. Get creative and get referrals!

Below are my referral links to Freebie sites I'm signed up for:

Get a Free Nintendo 3DS!

Get a Free Playstation 3

Get a Free 16GB IPad 2

Get a Free IPhone

Get a Free Copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Get $75 in Your PayPal

Get Free Power Tools

Expendables 2 Poster!

I didn't know one poster could contain so much awesome.

I really enjoyed the first Expendables.  It was a lot of over the top action with very little story.  There were some neat fights between some pretty big names.

In Expendables 2: The names get bigger!

Cannot wait to see Van Damme and Chuck Norris mix it up with the crew from the first flick!  This is probably like my 12 year old Dream Team movie.  I guess it's also my 32 year old dream team movie...

Macho meter exploding at 11!

Ogopogo, Canada's Loch Ness Monster is Caught on Tape!

Finally! It's here! Documented proof! We've all been waiting for a long time to see some sort of video evidence that there are weird things going on out in the world. I mentioned in a previous blog that the unknown intrigues me, but I remain a skeptic. I do require proof and it now seems as though it is in our hands. Frankly, I'm surprised the Internet and the Nightly News hasn't blown up with this story yet, as inescapable proof has been presented of an actual Lake Monster!

Granted, it's not everyone's favorite, the legendary Loch Ness Monster (Nessie to her friends). It's not even Champ from Lake Champlain. But hey, we'll settle for the fourth rate Canadian lake monster, Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in British Columbia. We'll take whatever crumbs you can throw at us, and if it's our hockey loving friends from up north, so be it!

Here is the video. Prepare to shed tears of rejoicing....



Wait. What?

Well that was anti climatic, wasn't it? Ogopogo is just a couple of logs floating in the water? Hmmm. Who would have guessed.

Sorry folks, nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

Thank you Yahoo News for giving people hope of something terrifyingly amazing, only to dash them into the ground before stomping on them and taking a poop over the pieces.