Been a busy week. Handed in my final University project. Went to church. Played some games.

Church

This week I ventured in to a church for the first time since my childhood. My family is not religious, and neither am I but this was a special occasion. Last July my best friend died of Cystic Fibrosis (google it). It wasn't unexpected, but devestating to his friends and family. To tie it in to games, he was a huge gamer. I may have blogged a little about it back at the time but even as he lay there in hospital slpping away I was telling him about Pokemon Black and White, all of the Wii stuff coming up like Goldeneye for Wii. He bought Company of Heroes to play with me just before, and an unopened copy of Red Alert 3 lay on his desk ready for us to play co-op together.

This week I was invited by his family to attend a memorial service a year on for those taken by Cystic Fibrosis. It was a very humbling experience, mostly because of people#s attitude towards religion. 5 or so years ago I was very much defiant against religion but now... not so much. I don't believe it myself, but the ceremony reminded me that as much as people can call it lies, brainwashing, stupidity and a force for evil (given everything that Christianity has caused) there is so much application of religion for good causes out there.

They talked about god in a way that made me feel uncomfortable, but they were people who had cared for people with this terminal illness, and consoled their families. If people need religion for comfort, or to spread good will then I am very much OK with that. I don't wish to hassle them with the same tired arguments about the faults of their religion. They had people of different religions, and even had a Buddhist monk speak.

Quote of the day: "You can't catch God in a net..."

Spiral Knights

Free to Play games are new to Steam, and who can say no to free? I tried Spiral Knights and I love it. Unlike a lot of the MMOs released Spiral Knights doesn't seem to be competing with WoW in the same way. It's much more of a casual game (though it can get really hard). The art style is very cute, and feels like a combination of Crystal Chronicles for Gamecube and Zelda.

Since it's free to play it doesn't matter how long it holds my interest so I won't give it a critical analysis. It's senseless. The game has been worth my time so far, and when it stops being worth it I will stop playing. Taking a casual approach to this kind of games helps rather than getting super invested.

Zelda Poster

Yet another design, yet another videogame inspiration, yet another tired art style. Delicious colour pallet though. Makes me hungry for some black cherry cheesecake. Day #168 of my daily design challenge, to celebrate the release of Ocarina of Time 3D for 3DS. I tried to go against the style of the game. Really tempted to go and buy one tomorrow and get this.

As always, love to read your comments.

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Your reflections about religion remind me a bit of the space I settled into. It's more about how explicitly bad behavior is bad, and good behavior is good, no matter the particular way that goodness expressed. It's easy to just condemn a behavior because it's connected with the bad stuff, but there are a few fallacies embedded in that that deny flexibility of interpretation and deny, in a sense, self-expression. I know that when some people talk about god they're talking about the better version of themselves that they're always trying to work toward, to put it in a less metaphysical way. Of course, other people use it as an excuse to be horrible people, but that's pretty plain to see, whether or not they hide behind religious terms to do it.
 
And there's something to be said for the comfort of ritual, too, religious or not. Being a part of a group for a brief time, to serve a specific purpose, feels good, and lends strength when you're burdened. I think people too easily forget that now; I'm pretty sure the best formula is a balance between individualism and social groups, especially ceremonies like this. I know that the funeral I attended a while ago (while all the family nonsense surrounding it still bothers me) was a very necessary release, with its symbolism and applied good will. There's not a lot one can do for someone once they're gone, but they leave an impression with us that I think needs to be addressed somehow. Every culture has its own particular brand of ritual and way of relating to the memory of someone once they're gone, but unless severely pressed into a survival mentality, there's always something we feel we need to do. Death changes all around it too, not just the person it touches, and that includes some positive ways when we reflect on what has happened and maybe grow from the experience as a result.
 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.