More Excellent Name

.

From Mark Byron’s latest Edifier du jour, this phrase jumps out: “…having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” (Heb 1:1-5)

According to Mark Byron, “Jesus does have a more excellent name than any angel, but the word ‘name’ means more than what we commonly use it for; it’s referring to reputation and honor.” So that pretty much blows out of the water the Rubenian cult’s misinformed notions that the concept of a “new name” is justification for Ruben Ecleo’s claims to Messianic reincarnation. Or for anyone else who claims his own name to stand for Christ’s on that basis.

(Thanks for the info, Mark!)

Going to SFO for Christmas

.

I’m going to be in San Francisco this December for a good friend’s wedding, and I’ll be staying through Christmas till the 26th at my brother’s place in Foster City. Anyone want to meet up? I intend to be a blatant sightseeing tourist, complete with camera around my neck, loud Hawaiian shorts, and hairy legs.

More Rubenian Frothing

.

More Rubenian frothing in an age-old comments thread. Gosh, they really do seem to believe their rockin’ boozin’ cult leader is the reincarnated Christ. Anyone care to disabuse them of that faulty notion?

“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” (Matthew 24:23-28)

Busy Thanksgiving

.

Well, it has been one long, tiring Thanksgiving, what with the massive network of friends and relatives my uncle and aunt went to visit today. Turkey was to be had in four different houses, but I skipped the fourth leg of the trip in favor of hanging out with some cousins* to watch Die Another Day — which was, sadly, sold out at the cinema. Instead, we returned home and talked all night. (I must admit that I was a bit alarmed that the guys in the car were talking about nothing but partying and boozing, but things got a lot more intelligent later on. Sorry, Tanya and Tracy! ;)

Now I’m home, with no plans to sleep, since I have a paper and at least two other major production projects due after the holiday. Time to hit the `books.

*: I say “cousins,” but I’m really just referring to any of the family friends of my age/generation. Considering how Filipinos are all related in some way, we’re probably cousins somehow.

The Work of Natalie Bookchin

.

Since the topic of my research paper is net artist Natalie Bookchin, I’m going to be living, eating, and breathing her work all through the holiday while I write up 6-8 pages on the phenomenology of her art vis-a-vis the role of new media in the formation of a new postmodern cultural psyche.

(No, I didn’t understand that either.)

First stop: The Intruder — the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, interactively rendered as a set of classic arcade games. The manner in which each game is played speaks for the content of the passage being reinterpreted.

Metapet.net — simulating the office of tomorrow, where you help a genetically modified mutant employee in realizing the economic goals of a company in the ultra-capitalist future.

Searching for the Truth — seek the Answer from the search engines.

May the turkeys of Thursday sustain me in my research.

Hiking at Robert E. Lee Memorial Park

.

Most of this beautiful Sunday was spent hiking around Robert E. Lee Memorial Park with a few members of Koinonia, MICA’s Christian students’ fellowship. It was a great time to walk out among the trees, sit down on the crisp leaves, and picnic on cheese and crackers by the amber light of an autumn sunset. Pictures here. I’m not in any of them because I was behind the camera.

Busy Busy…

.

Projects and papers in every direction I look:

– Thesis class: Research paper on Natalie Bookchin and her net.art.

– Crisis Cenntury class: Paper and/or multimedia presentation on blogs in the context of new media and modern culture.

– Motion Typography class: Three 10-sec. idents for a fictional videoke channel, involving type, photos of people singing, and video footage — to be shot tomorrow, I hope.

– Interactive Design class: finish up multimedia project on the Laudomia chapter of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, and conduct user testing.

This doesn’t count the plethora of websites I’m helping to code at work. I don’t think I’ll be getting any sleep until just before Christmas.

Jasper is so cute!

.

If you ever look at only one of my photolog entries, this is it. It’s also my permanent desktop in school. He’s such a cute cat.

jasper4