Christmas is nearly upon us so we here at the G4A fun house thought that before we get too drunk we would try to help you all out with  lists of 5  games on each format that we consider to be essential purchases.

So lets start with Microsoft’s beige box of wonderment the Xbox 360. If you are lucky enough to be unwrapping one of these Christmas morning these are some of the games you should hunt down in bargain bins or on Ebay as soon as you can afford to, or else RIGHT!!!

1. Bioshock

Ken Levine’s Art Deco underwater FPS masterpiece is a gaming tour de force. Everything in this game is a cut above from the art direction to script it is a ‘how to’ list of gaming goodness. After your plane crashes into the Atlantic sea you happen upon what looks to be a simple lighthouse which in fact is the gateway to Rapture, an  underwater city. Rapture was the ideological dream of Andrew Ryan a place where all the worlds leading luminaries could live together in a kind of intellectual utopia free from war and other such troubles. When you happen across it though it has completely gone to rack and ruin with dead bodies and flooded corridors at every turn. Crazed genetically mutated splicers roam the corridors looking for their next fix of ‘Adam’ the source genetic substance that allows you to alter your abilities. With a fantastically adult story (by this I mean it never once insults your intelligence),wonderful gameplay mechanics and beautiful Art Deco graphics this is a title that every gamer worth their salt should play. You will never forget defeating you first Big Daddy or the decision you make regarding his Little Sister, complete and utter genius. Lets just hope that Bioshock 2 lives up its predecessor but we here at G4A do have our doubts (but fingers crossed eh?).

2. Mass Effect

Bioware’s  Xbox exclusive, epic space soap opera RPG is a game with few peers. It is a Sci-fi epic on the scale of both Star Trek and Star Wars. Placing you in the shoes of Commander Shepherd, the first human to become a Spectre agent and charged with saving the galaxy. It boasts an incredibly well scripted and acted story with adult themes and explosive gameplay this game is up their with the very best to be found. Also as part of trilogy you really need to have played this before the sequel hits early next year.

3. The Orange Box

This compilation of Valve goodies is far too good to be ignored. Containing 5 games this was incredible value when it launched at £39.99, so it is damn near essential now that it can be picked in bargain bins for sub £15. To be truthfully honest it would be worth that much just for Portal on its own. The first person gravity defying puzzle game redefined what a first person game could be. Add on top that Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 and Team Fortress 2 and this is a proper bumper gaming package. Go get it now, I tells ya.

4. Gears Of War 1 & 2

Ignoring the fact this game series brought supposed games designer “Cliffy Blah Blah Blazinsky” to the fore at Epic you would have to be a fool not to count these games as titles you need to have if you own an Xbox. These games are straight up, good old-fashioned dumb Hollywood blockbuster action with incredible graphics. Forget about the dumb ass sub B-Movie plot and immerse yourself in well designed gored up shooting. With the aforementioned stunning graphics, rock solid gaming mechanics and enjoyable online modes you need to experience both of these exceptional titles. Roll on Gears 3 which I reckon is a shoe in for Xmas 2010 but until then get these in as soon as you can.

5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Hitting the streets just a few short months after the Xbox 360’s launch Bethesda’s massive fantasy role player remains a must buy. With an absolutely huge open world to explore and all manner of side quests to do this is still regarded by many to be the best role player on the Xbox. You can literally go anywhere or do anything it is entirely up to you whether you follow the storyline or just get on with leading another life. Speaking of storyline just before he is assassinated, Emperor Septim passes you the “Amulet Of Kings” and tasks you with finding his son, The illegitimate heir to the throne of Tamiril. What follows is your usual stock fantasy fiction story but with compelling gameplay, beautiful graphics and top voice acting, including Patrick Stewart it is a stunning game. For fans of fantasy fiction and or role players this game is essential. With the game of the year edition (which includes all the downloadable content) costing £15 or less you really have no excuses not to give this a go. Bethesda have remained largely quiet on the follow-up but rest assured as soon as we know anything we will let you peeps know ASAP.

The above list is just a few games that we here at the G4A fun house think that any new owners of an Xbox 360 should try.  If any of you out there want to suggest any other must try games for the Xbox 360 please add them in the comments section below. I’m now off for a beer so piss off and have a Merry Christmas.

Moonhead

“The Bethesda System for Reporting Cervical Cytology: Definitions, Criteria, and Explanatory Notes” adlı kitap Bethesda sisteminin bir özeti. Kitabın içeriğinin bir kısmına google bookstan da ulaşılabiliniyor.

Kitabın da referans verdiği, kitaptaki birçok şeyin yer aldığı ve en önemlisi ise gözlemciler arası uyum sonuçlarına ulaşılacak web sayfası ise:

http://www.cytopathology.org/NIH/ veya

http://nih.techriver.net/

…and by “just beat” I mean I completed the main quest the other night. Let’s just say it was beyond lame. I have many reasons to back this up, but first, some backstory.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of the games that led me to get an Xbox 360 (other key games include Fable II and Fallout 3), and I quickly immersed myself in Cyrodiil, honing my archery skills and sneaking through caves and ancient ruins alike to loot, loot, and loot some more. Upon first playing, I did the main quest up to the part where you return from Camoran’s paradise where I then gleefully wandered off to do sidequests and just explore. This was fun…for some time, but then my collection started to grow and I kind of forgot about Martin and Daedra and shutting down Oblivion gates. On occasion, I’d pop Oblivion back in and poke about for an hour or two. The last time I played the game before this past weekend was back in August. Er…yeah.

So yeah, I got motivated and figured I could complete the main quest at the very least if I buckled down and focused. Little did I know that it would involved little-to-none buckling down and zero focus. Ah, Oblivion, you lazy bastard. Grabbing Martin by his Sean Bean neck, I headed over to the Imperial City to re-light the Dragonfires and save Cyrodiil. This took less than 10 minutes. Here, I will give you a step by step:

1. Introduce Martin to some dude
2. Fight off a few Daedra that interrupt us
3. Move to the next zone
4. Fight off a few Daedra that interrupt us
5. Move to the next zone
6. Run past the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon without incident
7. Control is taken away from the player and you watch as Martin turns into a dragon-bird to destroy Mehrunes

LESS THAN TEN MINUTES.

Probably the lamest aspect of this final main quest is that you are not playing at the end. You are watching. Or maybe you are not and you got up to pee or something. That is reasonable. The fact still remains; just when something large and epic is finally happening in Oblivion, you are put on pause, you are asked to stop role-playing, and you are forced to watch a stilted, turn-based battle between bird and demon-beast. It’s so anticlimactic that I can’t even imagine what other possibilities they threw away before going with this one.

I dunno if I’ll go back again and finish up the different guilds and expansion packs any time soon. It just seems kind of fruitless, especially after all the Fallout 3 I’ve been playing. Those quests offer both awards and gold, something severely lacking in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and even though each game had problematic endings, at least Fallout 3 was able to undo it and move on.

Le site internet gamestudies vient de publier une étude sur la moralité et l’immoralité dans les jeux vidéo en utilisant comme exemple Fallout 3, le jeu développé par les studios Bethesda. “The Fallout series is one of the best examples of how to give players thoughtful moral problems and multiple paths to resolving them.” dit Marcus Schulzke, l’auteur de l’article. Beaucoup critiqué à sa sortie (voire même interdit par certains pays) Fallout 3 offre au joueur de nombreuses possibilités de jeu, notamment le choix de résoudre les quêtes de manière morale ou immorale.

Dans un premier temps, l’auteur nous explique que les jeux vidéo ne sont pas la première forme d’art à avoir été considérés comme dangereuse. En effet déjà à l’époque d’Aristote, le théâtre était critiqué par d’autres philosophes (comme Platon) qui pensaient que la tragédie pervertissait l’homme. “He [Aristote] thought tragedy was useful precisely because of its intoxicating affect. It gives the audience catharsis – a chance to lose themselves in the work and experience the emotions of fear and pity in a controlled setting.” précise Marcus Schulzke.

Fallout 3 permet au joueur de résoudre les quêtes (missions) en adoptant une ligne de conduite qui lui est propre. Ainsi chaque action ajoute du “Karma” positif ou négatif en fonction des choix effectués. A la différence des autres jeux vidéo qui ont adoptés un système de calcul de la moralité, l’alignement dans Fallout 3 (bon, neutre ou mauvais) a un impact sur l’histoire et sur le gameplay. Ainsi, un joueur ayant un bon karma se fera chasser par les gardes alors qu’un joueur avec un mauvais karma se fera plutôt chasser par les brigands. “Moral dilemmas are not presented for passive contemplation – they are an integral part of gameplay” explique Marcus et c’est ce qui fait, selon lui, l’intérêt du jeu.

C’est le principe même d’une scénarisation interactive. Chaque choix effectué par un joueur à un impact et modifie, en partie, l’histoire. “Interactivity makes games an arena in which players can experiment with different ways of resolving moral problems.”

Enfin, l’absence de leçon moraliste dans ce jeu n’est pas vu comme un mal. Toujours selon Marcus Schulzke, le fait de choisir un alignement ayant des conséquences sur le déroulement du jeu, nous permet d’apprendre sur la conséquence de nos actes dans la vraie vie. “They create fictional worlds for us to play in, but they have an impact on us in this world”.

PS : pour ceux qui veulent lire la totalité de l’article cliquez ici.

Well it looks like Bethesda is releasing some Fallout 3 Avatar clothing this week.  So if you’re into changing up your avatar’s look then make sure you’ve got some Microsoft Points ready when this stuff drops.  Is anyone wondering where the Brotherhood of Steel armor is?  Come on Bethesda!  You deny us access to the coolest clothing in the game?  WTF?  And not for nothing but are developers aware of the Avatar Awards?  You know where unlocking certain Achievements in game also unlock clothing and props for your Dashboard Avatar?  Was creating a patch for the Awards to difficult?  Or is it just easier to have us pay a couple of bucks for this stuff?

Nezua the Unapologetic Mexican (1969- ) grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and other places all across America, half Mexican and half white by blood. On his blog he writes beautifully about the not-so-beautiful experience. What follows is merely my overview. Links to his blog follow.

He looks white but not quite. Like in the summer he was afraid to go outside because he would turn dark in no time.  But most times only other Mexicans could tell what he was – and try to speak to him in Spanish!

White people told him he could pass for white - as if he never tried that, as if it were that easy. He did try it, from age 8 to 19. His name was even changed to an Anglo one everyone could say when his white, Irish American stepfather signed all the papers to make him his son in the eyes of the law: he went from Joaquín to Jack. For a while he even lightened his skin, shaved off all his hair and changed his eye colour with contact lenses. His English was perfect, better than most. He tried to be “universal”.

… nobody has tried harder than I to be “white.” Nobody knows as well as I that despite how many moments you think you pull it off, unless it’s what you really are, then in the end, being WHITE means erasing yourself until there’s nothing there.

Trying to be white, “the Bestest thing ya could be”, led to anger, confusion and self-hatred. He was denying his true self. It took him years to undo the damage. Telling his story is part of the undoing.

No matter how you make yourself look on the outside there is still your heart on the inside. The heart that, for example, has to listen to the racist jokes white people will tell with you sitting right there – because, ha ha, it is just a joke, so lighten up already.

His mother was a good mother, but she was white. She could not undersand what being Mexican meant. His Mexican father was out of the picture by age five. So all he knew about Mexico came from white people – from their racist jokes,  television shows, Hollywood films,  books and, most of all, from their faces:

… what did “Mexican” mean to me? It meant weird pauses. Wrinkled brows. Forced smiles. Awkward transitions that even as a child I was very aware of.

In high school he looked more and more like his father. The mirror laughed at his attempts to become white.

His mother searched for his birth father and found him at long last in Iowa. He spent a summer there with his father’s family when he was 19. They regarded him as Mexican and it felt good – right there in Iowa City in the middle of America.

… the acceptance I get from the brown world is always nourishing, always empowering. And the acceptance from the white world, when it thinks I am not brown, is always degrading, debasing. If you can understand that, then you understand a lot.

See also:

• This post is based mainly on these two from the Unapologetic Mexican:
  • There’s Death in the Passing Lane
  • The White Lens IV (The White Idea)
• Nezua’s Glosario
  • the white lens
• Race and growing up in America:
  • growing up Asian American – this comes closest of the ones I have done. I have not done growing up Latino (yet)
    • Korean adoptees
  • growing up biracial (the black-and-white-kind)
  • growing up black – for comparison.
  • Examples:
    • Danzy Senna: Caucasia
    • Caille Millner:The Golden Road
    • Lorene Cary: Black Ice
    • Ntozake Shange: Betsey Brown
    • The girlhood of Angela Davis
    • Obama in Hawaii
    • Edmund Perry
    • David Myers: a black boy who thought he was white
• internalized racism
  • The Bluest Eye
  • There is absolutely nothing wrong with being black
• the white club
• passing

I had a few hours to kill before a meeting yesterday so I wandered over to Central Park. I’d gone there planning to take pictures of trees, but was drawn to the street musicians instead (finding bare trees at The Mall swayed things that way).

There was Boris, the saxophone player from somewhere near Argentina. When I told him I hadn’t heard of his town, he kindly told me I needed to review my geography (which is true). On a good day he makes more than $100. On a slow one, like yesterday, he expected to make no more than $80. I hadn’t taken three shots before he started talking to me… and kept talking to me, which is why I have no decent pictures of him in action. I guess you’ll have to take my word for it.

Then there was the double bassist under the Terrace by the Bethesda Fountain. Using my nonexistent Russian vocabulary, or something that sounded Russian, I inferred from a conversation he was having with a passerby that his bass was 150 years old.

I sat near him to take pictures, with full intentions to exit past him. I somehow ended up staying a half hour, never making it to the other side.

Then, I was off to Brooklyn.

A feature article of mine can be found over at Games Abyss. It details my thoughts on the direction video game narratives are headed and how they can become more effective of their immersion of the player.

We are sitting at our gate, watching the sun come up, wishing we could start the pilgrimage all over again. There are many things to report…

At the empty tomb

Before most of you dear readers went to bed on Sunday evening–after the glorious victory–we were already in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.

We celebrated Holy Mass in the tomb of Christ itself, receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood in the very place where He rose from the dead.

…I neglected to mention earlier that some of us enjoyed camel rides by the Dead Sea…

…We visited the Mount of Olives:

At the top of it, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven. On the slope of it, He taught His disciples the Our Father. He descended it on a donkey on Palm Sunday–we walked down the ancient pathway that He used.

At the bottom we prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the Garden of Gethsemane

…We made the Way of the Cross right where the Lord Jesus made it…

…We visited the Pools of Bethesda. The Blessed Mother was born nearby, in the home of Joachim and Anne, near the Sheep Gate of the ancient wall of Jerusalem, near the Temple.

St. Anne, pray for us

…Schema, people: I have much more to tell. But it will have to await the gracious period of denouement after a holy pilgrimage.

We will board our flight home shortly. See you back in the homeland.

Saying goodbye to Jerusalem Regency hotel

Erricos is back and as always looking for delicious new places to go “avec moi”  on a relaxing weekend. This time he discovered the restaurant and bar “Redwood”  on Bethesda Lane off Elm Street.  Before we even got into the restaurant, Bethesda Lane itself was a big surprise for me.  A beautiful pedestrian lane, already decorated with a big Christmas tree and huge menoras, with many cute little shops that attract a woman’s eye.  Although we have been in the neighborhood before visiting “Mon Ami Gaby” and ” Thyme Square”,  we never reached this little secret of Bethesda.  I got so excited, that food was the last thing on my mind.  The first shop that I discovered turning the corner,  was the Bluemercury Apothecary and Spa one of my favorite places to go and the only place in Washington besides Neiman Marcus where I can find my Aqua di Parma cologne. I really had to go down town for this, and as we turned the corner and I faced the blue letters and the yellow boxes, I stuck my face on the window. There are other beautiful places to visit on Bethesda lane including Ginger , le pain quotidien , Le Creuset and many more. But let’s  go have a bite in the restaurant, and then I will take you with me outside for an early Christmas escape.

(this picture is from the internet)

The Redwwod Restaurant and Bar has the open look of Californian restaurants and the  “Frank Lloyd Wright”  feeling in it’s  decoration.  The food is fresh American with an Italian touch.  The people young and very friendly.  The menus are printed on a recycled large piece of paper which I suppose needs to be replaced regularly.  What makes always a good impression to me is when the waiter asks me if I prefer tap water to bottled.   We decided to share a couple of appetizers before the main course.  Erricos picked the grilled octopus salad, and my eyes stopped at the  artisanal cheese and meat selections.  I like cheese very much, and so far I have not found great american cheeses except for some aged cheddars.  But I decided to go for it modestly ordering  two cheeses and the terrine de campagne.

The octopus salad was a combination of small pieces of baby octopus grilled and marinated, served with farro, olives, onion and cilantro.  A very well balanced combination and a very good choice for appetizer as the smooth farro prepares the stomach for the first sips of wine which in this case was a rose from California.  A Sangiovese from the Alexander Valley wineries.

artisanal cheese and meat

4 each / 3 for 11 / 5 for 18 deluxe meat & cheese board 36
goat monocacy silver ash rind, cherry glen farms, MD
so” cow sweet grass, green hill dairy, GA
semi-firm sheep dante, wisconsin sheep dairy co-op, WI
semi-firm cow stony man, jersey cow, VA
blue st. pete’s select, faribault, MN

speck americano cold smoke-cured pork
duck rille!e slow braised shredded duck leg
capicola paprika spiced, cold smoke-cured pork shoulder
terrine de campagne veal, pork, chicken
prosciuto salt-cured ham

I am so happy I went with the local cheeses, as for the first time I can say that I ate great American cheese.  The goat cheese from Maryland was exquisite.  Not as crumbly as the French goat, a bit creamier with an amazing taste.  Now,   I don’t know where are the goats in Maryland, but wherever they are, they are responsible for this wonderful taste.  The second selection, the blue cheese from Minessota was also superb, and now I really want to return and order the delux cheese and meat board. Just this and wine.

Both Erricos and I selected the grilled pork loin with crushed potatoes and olive oil, topped with figs and broccoli rabe.  The meat was perfectly grilled, juicy inside,  the broccoli still alive with a wonderful buttery taste.  The sauce very light the combination a good dish.  As I was eating, my eye caught  the waiter bringing a hamburger (from local cattle as the menu described) to the guests  next table.  It really looked great and I want to come back to try that too.

Let’s see now some pictures taken in the restaurant, with a glimpse  of the beautifully decorated Bethesda lane.

We decided not to have desert in the restaurant as Erricos found an Ice Creme parlor  named Dolcezza next to it  and wanted to try it.  After all  the anticipation, we did not like the ice cream. It was very sweet for our taste.

As we exited the restaurant, I stopped to take a photograph of a case full of beautiful apples in  the restaurant’s foyer,  left there for the guests to grab.

Then we saw a little Christmas..

..and some more Christmas…

.. and some Hanukkah ..

.. and some fin fon hats and ballerinas behind the shop’s windows.

I want to end this post with a nice picture I found on the internet.  It is from a fashion show last summer in Bethesda lane.  Lovely girls with a pink drink.  I will return to Bethesda Lane, probably next weekend for shopping.  And lunch.. and whatever more!

Redwood  Restaurant and Bar. 7121 Bethesda Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814  301.656.5515

Σας φιλω γλυκα.. αυτο δεν μπορω να το γραψω αγγλιστι, χανει το νοημα του.

Overall Rating: B

Atmosphere: B-

Food: B

Service: C+

So on Wednesday, me and my parent’s went out to “Mon Ami Gabi” in Bethesda. We had just seen “Coco Avant Chanel” with Audrey Tautou (AMAZING, i’ll review that too!!)

It’s a pseudo-French restaurant located at 7239 Woodmont Ave, just by the Bethesda Row theatre. They certainly want to give you a complete French-themed dinner. The place has an outdoor café (of course it is set up to look like a typical Parisian sidewalk-café), and the interior is low-lit, with white table-cloths, formally attired waiters (complete with black bow-tie and white apron, once again imitating typical French la-dee-dah café’s) and plenty of French memorabilia on the walls.

To the untrained-eye (that is, regular Joe Bethesdian from the area), this looks like a legit French place. For us who have a rather deep background in the culture, it is a bit of an eye-sore, but not that bad. Imagine being in France and seeing an American-themed restaurant. Basically any TGI Friday’s or Applebee’s. Kinda lame….same goes for French places like this.

We were seated promptly, so that was good. They also gave us a small hors-d’oeuvre of celery root in a remoulade sauce. It was alright, but was mostly vinegar. Our waiter clearly does not want to even attempt saying the names of the dishes in correct French-like manner. Now don’t go thinking I expect him to have a sudden French accent or anything, but sometimes it was impossible to tell what he was trying to tell us. “Pom Gratten, Pootay, Crayme Broolee”? What????? Oh, Pomme Gratin, Paté, and Crème Brulée.

I ordered the pork tenderloin in a cherry burgandy sauce topped with 2 pieces of bacon, with pomme gratinée. The sauce was absolutely delicious. The cherry burgandy was an amazing additive with the crisp smoky bacon, giving it an overall sweet/tangy/smoky flavor. The pomme gratinée was actually really mashed potatoes! I’m only surprised because many places like to cut corners and make instant potatoes. The pomme gratinée had sprinkled green onion for flavor, and it worked well. However, the potatoes themselves were lacking much taste: no salt, hardly any butter. But it was good, considering this:

The pork tenderloin was very good: juicy, tender…but the flavor? I could barely taste it!! There was a multitude of cracked black pepper that studded the meat, not to mention there was a BED of them underneath the tenderloin as well (yes, a bed). They give you the tenderloin cut in to 2 pieces, about 5 inches each. On just ONE piece, I counted at least 50+ pieces of pepper. Maybe I’m just too sensitive to pepper, but after a while, all i could taste was the pepper. It might as well have been a 5 inch piece of mush black pepper.

I was quite disappointed, since the cherry burgundy sauce was so good, but it was eliminated by the onslaught of black pepper.  I would have liked if the menu had mentioned it would have black pepper, or something.

For $17.99, it was bit of a disappointment. Less pepper, and it would be a better deal in my opinion.

My father got country paté and apple and potato soup. The paté was so-so. Not the best, but not bad. Very gamey. The soup was pretty nice, but very rich and thick.

We also shared a small bowl of mussels in white wine and cream sauce. Fan-tast-ic. It was lovely. The sauce was almost better than the mussels themselves!

I finished the night off with a crème brulée (it is one of my most favourite dishes EVERRRRRR so of course I had to try theirs! I’ve become quite the conaisseur lol).

To me, it’s not easy to ruin a crème brulée. There is only really 3 ingredients: cream, vanilla, and sugar. Luckily, Mon Ami Gabi did a very nice job. The top was nicely crisped; the sugar was hard but also had a syrupy quality to it. There wa about an inch of cream underneath the crusty layer, which is a good deal. Many places love to give about a 1/2 inch of cream on a larger plate to make it look like they gave you more. Not cool. The cream was a nice luke-warm temperature, and very smooth with plenty of vanilla. Yum!

The waiter, however, was a bit of a problem. My father was never given a napkin until we wer 3/4 done with the meal. He also forgot to re-fill both my mom and I’s drinks.

The noise was also rather aggravating. This one group on the left of us was talking about their work: natural male enhancing drugs. Really loud about it too. The accoustics weren’t so good, i guess it was on purpose to give you the feeling you’re in a crowded Parisian café? But with only 5 other groups around us, it sounded like 100.

Overall, the food was decent and some was quite tasty. The noise level and waiter dampened the evening a little bit, and the prices are bit much. A regular friendly-neighborhood Parisian café would not make you pay $10 for a small salad. But then again, this is in Bethesda. Things are generally overpriced anyway.

If you’re in the area and would like a frenchy place to eat, go here. But don’t go with kids, they’ll go crazy. Better for a date or small group.

I realized shortly after creating MMO Fallout that the blog would attract some disappointed looks from people who came here under the impression that this was a fansite for a Fallout MMORPG, so it always makes me giddy when I get a chance to report on the actual Fallout MMO, codename Project V13.

To bring you up to speed, not much has happened since my last article on the Fallout MMO, and the legal battle between Interplay and Bethesda. Interplay sold the rights of the Fallout franchise to Bethesda, although Interplay retained the rights to create an MMO on the grounds that the company actually be developing actively. Earlier this year, Bethesda sued Interplay, claiming that the company did not keep up its end of the deal, and in order to gain the rights to create a Fallout MMO. Interplay claims that they are indeed working on a title.

More after the break…

These screenshots were leaked by an anonymous source at Interplay, but are being used as evidence in court, of Interplay’s work on V13.

It should be noted that this is in a pre-alpha state, so the great majority of the textures are likely placeholders.

As much as I hate to say it, there isn’t much about these screenshots that can be said, but at least we know it’s somewhat being worked on. There isn’t much to say for years of work, but understandable for a company facing the kind of hardship Interplay has.

More Fallout MMO news as it appears.

We have a busy week coming up so we wanted to get out a few announcements and reminders to everyone!

First, thanks to everyone who came out to last night’s Denim Drive at National Jean Company. It was a great event with delicious appetizers, drinks and desserts, along with lots of great shopping. Special thank-you to Green-a-Porter for helping to support HFH-MC with our mission to provide simple, descent, affordable housing for low-income families in Montgomery County.

Green-a-Porter, what’s that? It is a local program that helps the shopping community participate in the world’s efforts to go green. At a time when waste is anything but glamorous, the Green-à-Porter program provides retailers and consumers the opportunity to help the world while they shop! Purchase a linen bag today and start saving at local boutiques!

Upcoming Events:

This Saturday, Habitat ReStore will celebrate America Recycle’s Day with raffle prizes, interactive demonstrations and great sales!

Main Event: 9am-12pm

• Register for 1 of 6 great prizes!
• See how we turn denim into insulation
• Learn how to turn trash into treasure
• Pick up your free compost bin
• Drop off your cans to help build homes

All day savings: 9am-5pm

• 50% off windows and doors

• 35% off appliances

• 15% off wood furniture

Monday, November 16th-Saturday, November 21st: Help support National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week by donating non-perishable food items to ReStore. We will collect the donations and then deliver them to Manna Food Center, our neighbor down the road!

A list of food that Manna is always looking for:

Marriott International has announced the launch of a new brand within its portfolio. The Autograph Collection will comprise of upper upscale and luxury, independent hotels with distinct personalities in major cities and destinations around the world.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company has plans to add up to 25 properties to the brand in 2010. The iconic hotels will be grouped according to the unique experiences they offer to guests, ranging from boutique arts, resort getaways, to historic and urban-edge encounters.

The Autograph Collection combines the experience of an independent hotel with the product and standards of Marriott’s other full-service hotels. Each hotel will be featured on the group’s sales and marketing platforms, with affiliation with the Marriott Rewards guest loyalty program. The properties will also be required to maintain high levels of guest satisfaction and quality assurance to remain part of The Autograph Collection.

Marriott International joins rival hotel groups Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts in managing a portfolio of independent luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Collection and Luxury Collection brands respectively.

For more information, visit www.marriott.com.

Last week four of our AmeriCorps members spent the week in Talladega, Alabama at the National Service Leadership Conference. The theme to this year’s event was “Serve, Learn, Lead.” They had a great time meeting other Habitat AmeriCorps members from across the country and expanding their knowledge on Habitat (the gorgeous weather didn’t hurt either).

At the closing ceremonies of the conference, the location for this spring’s AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon was announced, and they will all be heading to….

Cedar Rapids, Iowa!

This will be the second year that the location is Cedar Rapids. The goal is to help revitalize the community after the floods in the summer of 2008. Last year in the week long event, AmeriCorps members built 20 houses! This year our goal is 25 homes in ONE WEEK!

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A quick reminder about tonight’s event at the National Jean Company in Bethesda!

If you haven’t yet had the chance to drop off your old denim to ReStore, don’t worry, you can still donate your denim at tonight’s event and receive 20% off at National Jean Co from 6-9pm! Also, a portion of the proceeds will benefit HFH-MC and the denim collected will then be turned into UltraTouch™ Natural Cotton Denim Insulation used in Habitat homes in the Gulf Coast region.

The event features drinks, food, raffles and music, along with a special appearance by fit specialist Oscar Adames of J Brand.

Help support this great cause while enjoying an evening of shopping and entertainment!

National Jean Company

7301 Woodmont Avenue

Bethesda, MD 20814

Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

This story, from John 5:1-9, took place just outside what was once the Sheep Gate at a place called Bethesda. Today, this is an archeological site in the Muslim quarter of the old city. Once there, we saw that (like many archeological sites), this one consisted of many layers built up over the centuries. The ruins of the original pool and colonnades were a good 30 feet down in a pit that had been dug by archeologists to reveal the past. At one end, we could see the stairs that the paralyzed man in Jesus story could have been sitting on.

In the time of Constantine, a church was built on this site. Then, later, the Muslims built a masque there. Both have distinct architectural styles that our guide pointed out, but I can’t remember the details of either by looking at my pictures. It’s enough to say that these places are hard to envision when we see them buried under layers of other things that other people built there.

This pool is also referred to as the Pool of Bethsaida. One thought I found interesting is that it is believed this might have been a translation error, and that translators of Ancient Greek Biblical manuscripts mistook the name “Bethesda” for name of the town of Bethsaida, where Jesus fed the 5,000 in Matthew 6 – a place to the NE, now in modern-day Jordan.

But the most interesting thing to me about this place is the Biblical story…

A man is laying there on a mat paralyzed for 38 years. Evidently, when the waters of this little pool “were stirred”, the first person who got in the pool was healed of whatever ailed him. What’s up with that!? Did that really happen? Seems a little mystical and bizarre, doesn’t it? Was this perhaps an ancient day version of the same shenanigans people like Benny Hinn have perpetrated in our time? Who knows!

But when Jesus arrived on the seen, He had compassion on this man. Who knows who else was there or what their problems were, but God “will have mercy on whom [He] will have mercy, and [He] will have compassion on whom [He] will have compassion.” (Exodus 30:19 NIV) So, God chose this man, ostensibly not choosing others. And who knows why? All I know is that it’s amazingly wonderful to be chosen by God, as it was for the paralytic at Bethesda.

So, Jesus asks him if he wants to be well. Amazing question. Most people – myself included at times – complain a lot, whine about their circumstances, blame all kinds of people for all kinds of things, but very few do the hard work of changing. I think we like being victims. I think we’d rather wallow in our circumstances and be pitied and get free lunches because we’re downtrodden than to do the hard work of actual change. And I think this has implications in my personal life, in the corporate life of the church, in our country’s pursuit of “social justice”, and all kinds of other areas.

But here, Jesus wants to know (I assume) if the man is sincere. “Are you sure you want to no longer be able to lay here and play the victim? It might seem like your life now is hard, and surely it is, but the new life I have the power to give you is also hard. It’s different-hard. Better, but not free of pain or challenge or obstacles. Even once you can walk, there will still be places you want to go that others will beat you to, etc. Now, do you want to get well?” Obviously, I’m putting words in Jesus mouth here, but they seem like reasonable words, don’t they? … knowing our Father.

The man says “yes”, and Jesus says, “well then get up and walk, and take your mat with you”. This was the Sabbath. Jesus knew that. It was unlawful (in the eyes of men) for the paralytic man to carry his mat on the Sabbath. Jesus knew that too. I love Jesus’ style! He was never all that intimidated by the laws of men. Nor is God intimidated by your laws or the rules of your church/denomination that don’t come from the Bible. God’s actually pretty secure. And He routinely and overtly tramples underfoot man’s attempts to “ascend above the tops of the clouds, and make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). And here He does it again.

The Pharisees wigged out. They couldn’t care less that the man could walk. No compassion. No mercy. No rejoicing in his new found life. Imagine the man’s shock when all they cared about was that he was carrying his mat. Talk about raining on his parade. Can you imagine how he must have thought, “Are you kidding? I can *WALK*! Screw the mat!” What else could possibly have mattered to him?

So, for me, the Pool of Bethesda is a reminder of many things…

• God has a new, better life to offer us.
• God desires this for everyone, but not everyone will be chosen to receive it. Harsh but true.
• We have to want it, and be willing to reach out for it. This will always mean leaving something behind in which we are tempted to place false value
• The world around us is always focused on the wrong things. They will always think they know better for us than God. Forget the mat! Focus on Jesus.
• The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
• When Jesus gives you a new life, make sure you remember that it was God’s doing and that others around you need to hear what God has done for you.

Hopefully I will take these things away from this place, not just pictures of a few layers of history.

Jeans image from Wikipedia

Looking to clean out your closet?  Here’s a novel recycling idea: Today from 6 to 10 PM the National Jean Company in Bethesda is collecting old jeans. The store will donate them to Habitat for Humanity, which – and this is the cool part – will use them as insulation in the homes they build.

You get something out of the deal too: National Jeans kicks in 20 percent off and you can even get a recommendation on the fit of those new jeans by J Brand’s chief stylist.

National Jean Company, 7301 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, 301-907-0295