The Halo Partay

The Halo Partay was awesome! At the peak of the most people, there were 15 people playing at once. This was really cool doing large-scale 2 team wars, and we did one game that was Free-For-All Shotgun Slayer on Warlock! That was pretty intense!

It was cool, because I think I was the third best player there, and at the end of the partay, someone asked if I played on LIVE, but I said that I did, except my XBOX stopped working this month! There were other people who said they had LIVE too. I just wish that my XBOX still worked now! But, maybe it is a blessing in disguise as I won't be as tempted to get an Xbox 360 if I haven't gotten cracked-out on Halo 2. Plus that's 50 more dollars a year I won't be spending on LIVE.

There was someone there who was really very good. He said he was a level 38 on LIVE. That's cool, but I felt bad for him because he appeared that he wasn't having a good time and just going through the motions. I don't want to become like that.

I brought my own controller (I still have everything I need for live, just that my XBOX doesn't work), and the people there did something I never saw someone do before. They brought their Xbox Communicator Headsets and were able to project their voice across the house via the other TV's speakers. Turns out that when you speak, there is a very very slight latency between you speaking and your voice being sent, so the people had a lot of fun with their echos, etc.

They liked making noises... a lot of it was hilarious and chaotic. It was such an awesome experience. I've had Halo 2 partays before, but it is awesome when someone else has one and you go to theirs. You can sometimes get nervous trying to make sure everyone has a good time at a Halo 2 Partay when you're the host (they always do), but when someone else hosts one, you can just come and be a guest and they have everything taken care of.

I had a blast, and even though my Xbox doesn't work, I might have a Halo 2 partay in the future. I believe that someone who doesn't have any equipment at all can have a Halo 2 partay, if they figure out who can bring what and then who is bringing what before the event.

It. Was. Awesome.

And by the way, there's was lots of musical stuff going on with the mics at the LAN party. There was lots of beatboxing, noise-making, even Chinese Opera (like from Dynasty Warriors menu), I would imitate the Super Smash Brothers announcer when I wanted to do "free for-all!". It was lots of fun.

Going to a Halo 2 Partay Tonight!

Oh. I'm so excited! I haven't played Halo 2 for about month because my Xbox stopped working, but now I'm glad because I get to play.

I'm looking forward to surprising people with the Carbine (don't forget the one behind the box in the lower shotty room)!

I used to play on LIVE, go to the halo wiki http://www.halowiki.net and read and post tips, develop strategies, mute and boot annoying people from my party, and hold events and present short raps over LIVE about the event. That was fun! I'll miss going to Bungie dot net to see who has gotten banned and is complaining about it. To see what the latest complaining about the playlists is, but mostly to visit a couple Bungie dot net groups I was a part of.

But tonight, all that was just training. Tonight is what Halo 2's multiplayer is the very best in. That's right I'm going to a Halo 2 Xbox LAN Partay! I'm really looking forward to this, getting my victory dance ready, stretching my fingers... Back in one of the first episodes of MLG (I stopped watching because of the Boost Mobile commercials), there was a player named "Fonzi" who would warm up by playing the piano.

Well! What a coincidence! Just before the Xbox LAN Partay I have a piano lesson!

Basically, I'm primed for this Halo 2 Partay. Here's why:

1. I'm fresh because I haven't played in a long time.
2. I will enjoy myself a lot, guaranteed.
3. I've gotten quite skilled at Halo 2, which means that if someone is better than me at a LAN I can try to one-up them.
4. I play for fun and if I die it doesn't demoralize me, so my morale can really only go up.
5. Piano lesson before! Of course!

When it comes to Halo 2 Partays, here's my slogan:
"without Halo 2, it's just a party." -SDtektiv

Blogger is Good

Of course, this is coming from someone who came from trying to blog on Xanga. Not a good blogging tool! Let's look at some highlights of Blogger make it better than other competitors.

• There is no "premium" version of Blogger. This means that the features you usually have to pay to get on other platforms, such as access to one's code, are integrated into the one solid version of Blogger.
• It's free. It is a free service. What makes it better than other free services?
• There are no ads. None. Unless the user puts them in there himself! (don't do that).
• Lots of options.

Things that would make Blogger better:

• Make it easier to have a picture for your header (though you can do this if you follow a tutorial!)
• Be able to format your comments in "Peek-a-boo" format. Meaning if you click on the thing that says "comments" they just come out on the website and if you click it again they go back.

I just thought of something. In the past week I submitted a blog post to Digg, created a Technorati profile, and submitted a blog feed to Pingoat. I how someone in History would react if I said that?

"Christian" Rap

An Essay (overly-long rambling) by SDtektiv. (enjoy in portions)

As a disclaimer, I hardly know what I'm talking about here, I'm just saying things as I percieve them. I'm probably percieving them a little wrong, it can change as I get more information, but here's what I got so far:

--Part One--

Today I'm blogging about this thing called "Christian Rap." Now, hopefully by the end of today's bloggings, you will understand that calling "Christian Rap" a genre doesn't make sense, as it is diverse and pretty much the same as any other rap, except that it isn't filled with the same repetitious cuss words and stuff that the rest of them put on TV. It's the same as regular rap in every aspect except for what I just said, meaning there are the same genres within it and there are good and bad rappers.

If it were up to me, I wouldn't even have the label "Christian Rap" existing because it is misleading in that if someone hears one rap song they'll think that all "Christian Rap" songs will be like that one...

But, because it is hard to find rap that isn't loaded with junk, the label is necessary. At one time, "Christian" music and "Mainstream" music were not separated from each other, but instead they were the same. People might think that good music has disappeared, it hasn't, it's just that the cable networks and media and whatever choose not to make it public, and it is evident that people draw a lot of what they decided to listen to from a TV channel.

So, it would make sense for a Christian TV channel to have a lot of cool music, right? Nope! Instead it's mostly the same boring, gaudy sets, overly-expressive preaching. There is a place for that, but not the whole entire day please! They used to have a Youth-orientated music video show that I would tell my friends about, but now it is long gone.

Something that bothers me is when people have an assumption with art that if a Christian is producing it, it won't be as good as someone in the mainstream producing it. I disagree, both Christians and Non-Christians have been successful and not-successful. In the past, the main music artists in America were Christians, and this hasn't changed, only who the TV channels choose to put up.

---Part two---

Basically, "Christian" rappers have a lot to put up with.

First, they have to put up with the reactions they get from having this label. For example, one time I was listening to some music, Deepspace 5 to be exact, and someone said to me, "What are you listening to?" Was I about to say "Christian" Rap? No! Not because I'm ashamed of God, but because I wanted him to give the music a chance.

So, instead what I did was I handed over the CD player with my humongous headphones, and he listened to it. Of course, he had large respect for it because he didn't know it was Christian rap. As he listened, he made statements about how he was surprised that a person who looks like me would into rap, statements of other artists that is similar to it. He asked "Are they white or black?" (both). And he made recommendations for other artists I might like. But, in the middle of the song, the smile disappeared from his face, he pulled the headphones off, and handed the CD player back to me without a word.

I put the headphones on to see where he left off, and it turns it out that it was right after the first reference of respect to God in that particular song!

I think he was embarrassed that he actually enjoyed a song that had a word of respect to God in it. Don't get me wrong, I don't like listening to rap CDs with every song being 100% about God, but I don't understand why people won't give a song a chance if it has respect for God and even other people in it. It's their opinion, and... (to quote what they often say when being challenged at their music), "it's just a song!"

I've found out that I cannot present some music that I like to someone and say it is "Christian Rap," unless the person has a lot of knowledge, more than I'll ever have, and respect for rap in general. I have a better chance of saying "here's some rap that I like because it doesn't have anything bad in it." Then, when they look like they're enjoying themselves, if they haven't figured it out already I'll tell them that it is "Christian", just to see their reaction.

Second, "Christian Rappers" have to fight negative feelings from both of what they are. What I mean is that they are two things, "Christians", and "Rappers." There are actually Christians who think that putting poetry on top of a beat is a sin, and so they don't get a whole lot of support from the major Christian media, since a lot of Christian media knows that some Christians may be offended by rapping, even if it doesn't have sinful lyrics. I don't know if the last statement I just made is true, but it is my best guess.

I actually don't think that "Christian Rappers" get put down by Rappers, they might even be respected on a person-to-person basis, they just get kept secret by the Hip Hop Media. In a way, "Christian Rappers" are forced to be underground, because even if they come out with the best song ever, if they're on a "Christian Rap Label"...well, good luck getting on TV.

"Christian Rappers" really shouldn't be grouped together on a music standpoint, or separated from as a unit from the mainstream. Again, this is from a music standpoint. From a content standpoint, they just don't have raps about materialism, sex, drugs, gangs, killing... and if they do, they usually present it in a less-glamorized, more-realistic, "the consequences in my life" fashion.

I don't know, it's just my personal musical preference when it comes to the fact that I'd rather listen to someone rap about how people don't respect them just because they don't cuss enough (see Not Enough Dope (in my rhymes) by This'l) than listen to men rap about how they have lots of shiny jewelry around their neck... that's just me, apparently a lot of people like that sort of thing, I respect them. I don't understand why people are interested in hearing people talk about all their chains and cars all day, but as far as I see there are only a limited number of possibilities:

a) they actually do,
b) they don't care about the lyrics, just the music (you have to admit that it is definitely cool musically)
c) they don't know what else there is.

Third, "Christian Rappers" don't get the same criticism as other rappers. What I mean by this is rappers without that label get judged on a person to person basis. People want to judge "Christian Rap" as a whole, and you can't do that, just like you can't judge "Mainstream" or "Underground" Rap as a whole. I'm sure that there are Mainstream rappers who rap about things that I might like and don't cuss, the trouble is that I can't find them because the TV networks aren't going to play someone with respect for himself and others.

I don't see cussing as a sin, but I suppose the Musical TV networks with rap might see not-cussing as a sin, and cussing bothers me, just a personal preference, everyone else can make up their mind on that issue (but not every issue).


----Part Three---

Alright, some of you may be wondering, "You're talking a whole lot about not judging groups of rappers as a whole, but yet you seem to be judging these TV networks as a whole!" I'll give you that, but look, recently, TV networks haven't, from what I've seen, in the past four to five years, been putting even a rapper on a Christian Rap Label on TV. Alright, Grits get to be the exception. (I like Grits. the band, I haven't tried the food yet).

It seems to be a sheer coincidence to me that the time when music that respects God gets separated from the rest of the music happens to be just as Rap gets into its prime. This is what's causing people to automatically associate rap with all the bad stuff. True, some rap ventures into bad stuff that hasn't been heard in music for centuries, actually a lot (of the stuff that gets put on TV,) but a lot of it doesn't do that. It is sad that Rap and this phenomena had to occur at the same time, because now people only get the small window and now have lots of bad feelings about rap.

I bet that people would be a lot more open to rap if it didn't always come packaged with ugly lyrics inside. (I'm talking content here, not musical skill).

I leave you with a short list of good rap songs if you're curious or to get you started:
"Song Title" Artist <- (this is just the example but that would be funny if this was a real song eh?)

"Rowdy" The Ambassador
"When I flow (it's Gospel)" The Cross Movement
"Talk Music" Deepspace 5
"Here We Go" Grits
"Not Enough Dope (in my rhymes)" This'l
"Raised in Harlem" Hero! the Rock Opera
"Blazin' Mics" T-Bone
"Jesus Musik" LeCrae featuring Tripp Lee

Fortunately, some Christian bookstores have a good rap section.

Cross Movement Records

Cross Movement Records

The cool thing is that there is a music player at the top of the website, so you can listen to some of their rap and tell me that's not good. I'll let their website speak for them.

Beatmart Recordings

is a record label. That being said,
Beatmart.com takes you to Soul P's eCard, which features more partay-style Hip Hop.

Beatmart Home will take you to the home page, which usually features an up-to-date video about a rapper on the website or just the website in general. The video up there today features Soul P making a little video with homeless people. It's very good light-hearted humor.

But my favorite part of the website is Beatmart Vote because that's where unsigned artists submit their songs, and people vote on it. The ones with the most votes make it onto a yearly mixtape produced by Beatmart recordings!

Game for Youth Group New Years Partay

I'm going to a New Year's youth group party at a Church in Downtown Tacoma, in which someone was saying that they were going to have a really long game of hide-and-seek.

Now, I like sitting in a dark corner for 2 hours wondering if the game is over just as much as the next guy, but there's a game I used to play at my old Youth Group that works great in hide-and-seek-type environments. So, I've submitted it to the Youth leader in charge of the event, and I hope that he uses it because it's an awesome game.

Alright, I'll tell you about the game.

The name of the game is "Virus", formerly called Vampire.

Game takes place in nearly the entire Church. Somewhat combines elements of tag and Hide-and-Seek.

How to play:

1. All the Youth Leaders and players meet in one room at the beginning. They choose one person (student or leader) to be “the Virus” and another to be “the Cure”.
2. The players put their heads down and eyes closed and the Virus has 2 minutes to hide the Cure somewhere within the boundaries outside of the starting room.
3. After the 2 minutes are over, the remaining students’ job is to find the Cure and avoid getting tagged by the Virus.
4. Some of the remaining Youth Leaders will go to a room designated as the “Quarantine”, and some may play with the students. Whenever a student (or any other player) gets tagged by the Virus, he or she must go to the Quarantine.
5. At the Quarantine there should be two to four Youth Leaders. When someone goes to the Quarantine, they are stuck there until they complete a task given to them by one of the Youth Leaders. (The tasks can be anything like “20-push ups, teach me a hip-hop dance, do some impersonations, things of that nature.”)
6. The game is over when a student finds the Cure and brings him or to the Quarantine. He is safe from the Virus as he brings him or her to the Quarantine.

If you have any questions or comments about the game or happen to want a more full set of rules I can supply that.

Blogging is Established

You know something in the media has been well established when there are things about it in its own format. There's rappers rapping about rapping, podcasters podcasting about podcasting, books about reading, okay you get the point. Now, blogging has gotten to the point that there are blogs about blogging.

Never Delete Your Blog

I didn't know this piece of advice until I was browsing the Google Blogger Help Group (sounds like AA for Bloggers doesn't it?) I'm SDtektiv, and I'm a Blogger. Anyway the point is that someone learned the hard way that you shouldn't delete your blog. Why? Well it turns out that when he or she deleted the blog, the URL became available, and someone turned it into a SPAM blog. The word on the street is that because people visit blogs, they are valuable to spammers, they show up in Search engines which means that they can pick this up and use it to show whatever sort of filth they want to.

This is really bad, I once visited a blog because I saw a link to it from a site that I trusted, and it had porn in it. I felt betrayed, and I didn't understand what happened, but now I do. They deleted the blog and a Spammer claimed the URL.

In conclusion, if you are tempted to delete your blog or change the URL, or relocate, don't do it. You can just put a post up there that says "blog has been moved, link:", or you can delete all the posts you made and make a post like that. Just be sure to disable comments either way. Spammers like to use those too.

Sixth Months

A lot has happened since I stopped posting in this blog. I thought about deleting it but then I learned that it's really a bad idea to delete your blog because spammers will take the URL and do who-knows-what with it. I don't want a bunch of crap on a website with my username in the URL, I know that!

So here's what's happened in the last six months majorly with the blogging.

-SDtektiv's Halo 2 started up, a whole lotta postin' going on there, but then a lot of things happened and now it's just basically about whatever, I guess I'm relocating to here in a way because I thought about revamping it to become a non-themed personal blog, but instead I'm revamping "ninjaesque observative" to be my personal blog so that I can leave the last one for memories.

-REPriiSENT! newly launched this month, is a team blog that I'm a part of about the Nintendo Wii, this is the one that I'm pushing forward and putting a lot of time into.

Say no to Adsense

Look, the way I see it, Blogger gives you all these features up-front and it's free, and there's no ads. That, to me, is a profit in a way because other blogging services require you to pay money to have access to your HTML code. Sure, not everything is up-front and easy, like making a picture header for example. But by finding and following a tutorial you can add many things to your blog.

They've done a lot, I didn't even know that at one time Blogger had ads on it! It did, and now that they're gone, they're back. Why? It seems that a lot of people see ads as good for their website. I disagree. They look rather tacky and I don't know about everyone else, but I know that I don't go back to websites with a lot of Google Adbars everywhere.

I see blogging as something that should be just for fun, and that gets comprimised when there's ads. Instead of trying to attract viewers for the sake of comments, you start trying to attract viewers to make your ads worth more. All of a sudden, it turns into a job.

Why have ads when you don't have to have them?