Ok, so I did my measurements today and officially I am down 17lbs and 25 inches (total from chest, stomach, waist, buttocks, legs and arms). I know it could have been more and next week will be. At least I am finally doing the right thing. WOOOOHOOOO!!
I want to thank everyone who has been encouraging me and sending me advice, tips and help. I will continue to need that as I push for my ultimate goal of being under 230lbs which is another 114 lbs to go.
“Hello Old Friend” is another quote from Bablyon 5. This time from Jeffrey Sinclair to Garibaldi. It was fitting given the situation.
I have been working the program and doing really well. I had gained a couple of pounds due to a large meal on Mother’s Day but I expected that. Up to yesterday, I had lost just over 20 lbs. However, last night we were on the run and got pizza for dinner. I had three slices, some breadsticks and diet soda. This morning I am up 3 lbs. I am bummed about this. Not because I gained weight but because I knew better and didn’t heed the warnings. But I know better for next time. I am committed to losing weight and I am going to do that. One set back will not stop me. I am just bummed that I had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Anyway, I am down to 343 lbs which is 17 lbs down from my start. This week I had gained back a total of 6 lbs due to events above which would have had my total weight loss at about 24 lbs. But I learned and will continue. One thing is totally for sure. These products work. Now back to work for me 
So now I must say Goodbye Old Friend, at least until I get to my ideal weight and can eat in more moderation.
Keep all the love and encouragement coming.
A quote from Ambassador Kosh of Babylon 5 seemed appropriate for the frogs, ducks, bugs and anything else that has been enjoying our algae infested green pool.
Ok, after a bunch of research, we discovered that we could swap the waterfall pump for the main pump as they were exactly the same except the main pump was an off brand and the waterfall was a Hayward Northstar, not the most energy efficient but works just fine. So, we swapped the pumps today. Once we did that we have two options for the pool. Spend a bunch of money on chemicals and eventually we will get there. Or drain the pool, clean it and then refill, shock and balance levels and go. We chose the second option as we now had many live in frogs and other things. As of right now, the pool is completely drained. Tomorrow I will pick up a power washer to wash the pool and then we will refill and chemicalize it. In the long run, considering that we pay for our water by the 1,000 gallons, it will probably cost the same. But at least this way I know we cleaned out the pool before we reset it and got it ready for swimming.
So, in about a week, whose ready for a swim party. WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!
And you know what, my wife remarked that this is our first major project as homeowners and we didn’t kill ourselves doing it. Hooray for our side.
“There are more of you! THERE ARE MORE OF YOU!” a quote from Londo Mollari on Babylon5 speaking of insects. It is however fitting because I mentioned the other day that I have a frog in my green pool. Well, I was wrong. I don’t have “A” frog in my pool I have at least “FIVE” in my pool. That is until Tuesday when I will get the pump and get rid of the water. I can not believe I have so many frogs and all of them seem to think they need to croak at night. What a mess!!!!
WOOHOO!!! So, I mentioned the other day I am declaring that I am going to lose weight. Well, as of this morning, I have lost a total of 14lbs! Yes that is 14lbs! Makes all the work worth it. And I haven’t even started adding in the exercising yet. I am so psyched!! I love all of your encouragement and support and love. Keep it coming as I shoot for my ultimate goal of being under 230lbs (I am 346lbs this morning down from 360lbs).
Ok, so our pump is busted and I am still looking for someone who can replace that and come up with the money to be able to afford them replacing it. In the mean time, my pool is green. And not a lovely green but a yucky green with “things” like growing in it. We have been advised at this point it is best to drain it and then clean out the pool. This way when we get the pump fixed we only need to fill it and then shock it and be good to go. Otherwise, we will be spending money and time attempting to correct the mess we are in. So, now I need a pump and the money for that. I am slowly learning that a house is AWESOME to own but apparently costly as well. But I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Ok, so I have been working as a contractor doing Java software development at Southwest Airlines. They told me just yesterday that they love the work I am doing and that is AWESOME to hear. The issue is one of finance. Right now, my current contract ends on May 15th. They have put in for my extension but seeing as Southwest just reported a loss for last quarter, the request is kind of in limbo. Couple this with my supervisor telling me that they “hope” it will be approved without me having to have time off in between. So, I am waiting.
Now, hope is in the future and faith is in the now (thanks Pastor Bill!). I am not hoping for this to work out. I am believing in faith that whatever happens God is in control and if he wants me to move to a new job that is cool. I just know that I know that I know HE has it under control.
I am asking everyone to pray and believe with me that I will not have a break in employment even if that means that God moves me to a new job. I have been getting calls for interviews but all of that is in the hands of the master. So, please pray with me and I will keep you posted.
I have been wanting to lose weight for some time now. And wanting is really great but one must have action or else nothing gets done. I tried a bunch of things and they didn’t work for me. So, I have been asking the Lord for help. Well, another product has come into our lap and I am going to give it a whirl. I am not going to mention which one because if it sucks and doesn’t work what good would it have been. But I am getting serious this time about losing weight and will push myself to see it happen. If this product does the trick then Praise God. If not, then Praise God and I will move on.
I am looking for everyone’s support, encouragement and love. I am starting out at 360lbs and my goal is to be under 230lbs. Of course, I have intermediate goals of being under 330lbs (the most I have lost in the past), being under 300 (allows me to weight on any scale instead of a special one) and then the 230. I figure if I can get myself rolling and under 300 I would not need many more goals after that. Anyway, I cherish your support and help wherever possible.
On April 15th, the Band of Brothers held their April Men’s Meeting. The message was on “Becoming a Man of Courage” continuing our in depth study of the components of the Resolution from the movie “Courageous” (http://www.courageousthemovie.com/). This is the message that I gave at the meeting. It is time for the men of God to become the men of God. Have a listen and feel free to let me know what you think by sending me an email (jesterhawk@gmail.com) or visiting this post on the web and adding a comment at the bottom.
As a note, we will be having our May meeting on Sunday May 20th from 3pm til 5pm and will be discussing, “Becoming a Husband of Courage.”
This will be followed in June on June 10th from 3pm til 5pm where we will be discussing, “Becoming a Father of Courage.”
We will wrap this series up on June 17th (Father’s Day) immediately following morning service at 1pm where those who desire to commit before the Lord will be signing “The Covenant” (slightly modified Resolution from the movie).
THEN, we will build on our momentum by entering July (on July 8th at 3pm) beginning a brand new series for the men that will give the devil the ultimate black eye. You don’t want to miss this, well you don’t want to miss any of the Men’s Meetings, but you seriously don’t want to miss what we will be beginning in July and continuing every second Sunday of the month at 3pm from there out.
I am so excited and I hope you are also!!
Love in Christ,
Pat Aquilone
Check out all the Men’s Meeting Messages.
Band of Brothers Men's Meeting - Becoming a Man of Courage [ 1:00:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (8)
My first book, “The Land of Ather”, in the “Quest for the Golden Book” series is now available in a wide variety of formats at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/149234. I am really excited and hope that all who were not able to get the book when it was exclusive to Amazon can get it now.
As for the second book in the series, I am working on it and hope to have it out soon. I would project a date, but I learned from the first part not to do that.
P.R.Aquilone
On March 11, the Band of Brothers held their March Men’s Meeting. I opened the meeting and gave a small message before we watched the movie “Courageous” (http://www.courageousthemovie.com/). This is the message that I gave at the meeting. It is time for the men of God to become the men of God. Have a listen and feel free to let me know what you think.
Hello,
I have been off trying to promote the book and get some writing on “Day Two” all the while life has been happening and, well, getting in the way of all of that. But that does not mean there haven’t been cool things happening. So, I thought I would list a few cool things that have happened since my last post both about life and about the book (which is in a way my life ).
See my family and I have been busy. Good busy of course. Now looking ahead, I am hoping to be able to get “Day Two” worked on and done by the end of the month so it can go to my editor and we can begin that processes putting us on track for March 1st release. Of course, that depends on how much life intrudes on working on this but we will see and I will keep you posted.
A mix up between me and Amazon caused the FREE promotion to slip a day. The book will be free on Sunday (Jan 
and Monday (Jan 9). I hope.
“The Land of Ather” Day One of the “Quest for the Golden Book” story is for a limited time available at Amazon for FREE. So, don’t delay and follow the link below and get your copy today.
The book is available in Kindle format. If you do not have a Kindle you can read this on the Kindle Cloud Reader or via the Kindle App available on PC, MAC, Android, iPhone, iPod, and iPad.
“The Land of Ather” Day One of the “Quest for the Golden Book” story is for a limited time available at Amazon for FREE Saturday and Sunday (Jan 7 & 8). So, don’t delay and follow the link below and get your copy today.
The book is available in Kindle format. If you do not have a Kindle you can read this on the Kindle Cloud Reader or via the Kindle App available on PC, MAC, Android, iPhone, iPod, and iPad.
The Land of Ather : Day One of the Quest for the Golden Book story is now available through Amazon for the Kindle (app, cloud, eReader devices). This book is priced at the affordable price of $0.99 which should allow people of any budget to be able to afford it. This book is also part of the Kindle Lending Library should you have a Kindle Library account. So, do not delay, jump over to the link provided below and buy your copy today.
I have made the final format settings and uploaded the files to Amazon Kindle Publishing. They said the files checked out and are in process and will appear in the store soon. I am so excited. In fact, ”I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy.” (Scrooge, A Christmas Carol) So be watching soon because the book is just about available to buy. I will post a link to the page as soon as it is ready.
I started my blog way back on July 13, 2006. Back then this was being hosted by the guys who were behind the popular Two Blind Squirrels podcast under their My Life Ministries monicker. While they are still around, they have faded much throughout the years. As time marched forward, I moved my blog from being hosted there to being a part of LiveJournal with the social aspect that had over there. But lack of freedom to make this what I wanted moved me to host my own blog. Several websites later, here I still am moving forward getting ready to publish my first eBook and still typing away for people to read. I am surprised at the number of readers that I have in many ways, but I will get to that in a bit.
My blog has seen its ups and downs. It has been featured on award sites and digg sites and even occasionally visited by thousands of people on an odd change that I have no idea why. Sure I have statcounters that give me information but in truth they never really tell me why last Monday (Dec 26th) I have almost 200 people visit my site and yesterday I had 2. With all I have read and learned and done to make this a nice place to stop by and see what is happening, I still have no idea why some come and some don’t.
What got me thinking about all of this was that I just went through and cleaned up my Google Feed Reader. I had somewhere in the order of over 300 feeds that I was actively watching for contents. However, when I began doing a feed by feed check I discovered many of the blogs that I followed hadn’t posted any content in a while, one in over two years. Perhaps these people have gone “social” and only post to things like Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Or perhaps they are gone gone as in no where on the net producing content. That made me think of my blog. I try to post things that I find relevant about my life, my family and my God, but at the end of the day is it enough. Is this just a vanity press where I am boosting my ego and when that runs out this will fade like all those others. Or am I really providing something for people to enjoy and perhaps learn something. I don’t know. But one this is for sure the web will swallow me up some time in the future if this is the former and not the later.
I also wonder why I just about never get any comments. I have read that you can tell a good blog not by the number of people reading it but by the number of comments because that truly tells you that people are reading your posts. Well, if that is the case, then I am nothing. I have gotten all of about four comments that were not spam and that is not near enough to speak of a blog that people want to read. Especially when you consider that I have been posting for over five years.
Anyway, these thoughts were running through my mind as I widdled down my Google Reader to just over 100 feeds and I thought I would share them with you. Why? Well, because I hope you are listening out there.
Well, this is a learning experience as I go. A friend of a friend on Facebook who is an author, suggested for many good reasons to make an “author” page instead of a “book” page. Honestly, I had just found out I could make a page for the book and now know I can make a page for the author, me. So, I did. You can get to the page HERE. As an oddity for the author page, I can not create a username (http://www.facebook.com/username) until I have at least 25 people like the page. So, I am asking everyone who has Facebook to hop over to the link (https://www.facebook.com/pages/P-R-Aquilone/245222348881758) and like the page so that I can get to the point where I can make a short Facebook like for it. Thanks everyone!
So, the way the writing process works, at least for me:
At this point, I am on step 8. The Land of Ather : Day One of the Quest for the Golden Book story is almost ready for prime time. I am thinking that we will be releasing the book within the next couple of days. May not quite make the January 1st deadline I had internally set, but we will be very close to it. So, get ready to begin your adventure in reading as this book is coming soon.
Well, editing and reworking and rewriting and all is quite the chore. But things are coming along nicely. I would have been farther in this process but had a few bumps in the road with compatibility and such. I use a program called Scrivener to write the story with, which is a great program. I exported it to Word for my editor. She made the edits just find and when I re-import it back into Scrivener it loses all of the changes and comments. I had to do some doing to get it to keep the comments and then I had formatting issues. Since the Word had it’s “own” formatting when I copied and pasted the changes into my document it messed up all the formatting. If I pasted without formatting, I lost the italics to denote a character’s thoughts. I am still fighting with it but decided to go on and do my checks and further editing where noted by my editor in Word and then deal with things after I get the editing done. In addition, the cover concept is coming along and very soon will have something for everyone to look at. I am hoping y’all like it. Anyway, I am not sure if I will make the January 1st self imposed deadline because of these setbacks, but it will be very soon and we (my family, my editor and me) are all excited and can’t wait to have this first part in your hands.
So stay tuned!
Today, Christmas day 2011, while about midway through the morning church service, I got a call from the nursing home. I actually didn’t realize that I was receiving a call because my phone was on vibrate and in my suit coat pocket. The only reason that I happened to find out about the call was that my son, James, who was supposed to read a piece of Scripture for the Pastor happened to feel the vibration. James told me that I was vibrating. I looked at the phone and recognized the number. I walked out into the foyer and took the call. My grandmother was being sent to the hospital because she was unresponsive. I came back in and told my wife and we quickly left the service. In fact, you can notice the pastor seeing us leave on the video ( http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19380456 @ time 1:10:55 ). We told a few people so that they knew why we left which we knew would get back to the Pastor so that he knew what was going on. What we found at the hospital, I will explain in a moment.
Several moments later, as we are arriving at the hospital, I get a text from the Pastor’s grandson that the church prayed for us ( http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19380456 @ time 1:18:50 ). I can not tell you how much that lifted my spirit at the moment when I was concerned about my aging and ailing grandmother, concerned about making sure I could keep people informed, concerned about making all the right decisions and concerned about what exact state I would find my grandmother in. The Glory Church ( http://www.theglorychurch.com ) stood with my family and I coming alongside us spiritually praying for us. A couple told us as we left to call if we needed anything. And tonight as I was watching the rest of the service on our streaming channel ( http://www.ustream.tv/channel/theglorychurch ), I was struck by how rare this is. I have visited several churches in this area and tried to fit in and do my part and none felt like home like our church does now. And I can tell from experience many would not be there for us when we needed them. But this church does and it reminds me that this is how church is supposed to act. They aren’t supposed to be about themselves and about what they can get. They are supposed to be able ministering to God’s people and teaching people to get close to God so they can minister. It is all about Jesus and so many miss that now a days and I am really glad that I am in the church I am in under the Pastor who loves me any my family so much!!
Now, my grandmother, she arrived at the hospital unresponsive but with good vitals. Kind of like she was in a coma or a very deep sleep that no one could walk her in. She would scream out as if in utter pain when they would put an IV in or take her blood pressure which made me just want to toss these people out of the room. But I knew they were just doing their job and by doing that it was somehow upsetting my otherwise non-responsive grandma. As the time progressed and several tests were complete, I found myself feeling a sense of deja vu. It was two years ago, on the day after Christmas, that my grandfather went into the hospital for a broken hip that lead to his eventual death just seven months later. I couldn’t help but be reminded of that as I spent another holiday in the hospital being concerned about a grandparent.
About mid-point in our stay at the hospital, grandma woke up and was disorientated. After a few moments, we were able to explain to her that she was in the hospital and that she would not be coming over our house today because she was at the hospital. When the doctor did discharge her, he wanted her to return to the nursing home where there would be nurses to watch over her. When we finally were able to convince her of what was happening, she began to weep. And she wept for probably a good hour. I know she was so looking forward to coming over our home and I would have loved to have taken her but with all this going on and the fact that we didn’t even return home until almost six ourselves, it was just not going to be possible. After being awake and talking or crying for about an hour, she returned to her non responsive state.
After all was said and done, the doctors were a bit confounded about what was causing all the problems. They are suspecting that it might be seizures that are causing the comatose like state but do not have any conclusive evidence to support that. They did place her on anti-seizure medicine to see if it would help with a follow up with a neurologist. Then they sent her back to the nursing home. She never woke up in all the moving and bumping around to get her back to the home and in her bed. The staff was going to keep a close eye on her and keep us posted. In the mean time, we continue to pray for her.
At the end of the day, one needs people to stand with them. They need good Godly people to help lift them up when they are overloaded, and my church is that place. I urge you to find such a place as this. If you are in the DFW area, go to the church website ( http://www.theglorychurch.com ) and get the address. If you are outside of this area, look around there is a good church near you somewhere you will just have to look for it. Because one day things will happen that will put you in a position to need the Godly people at the church.
The Aquilone family and the Aquiman Blog want to wish all of our readers and their families the very merriest of Christmases. In addition, we want to thank and wish Jesus Christ a very happy birthday because he has been and continues to be so amazing to us.
Merry Christmas!
I was watching Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back last night and I happened upon a couple of thoughts while I was watching. I posted them to my Facebook and then thought that I have people who follow my blog that are fans of the series and might want to see this. Before I post them, realize that this is my favorite movie of my favorite movies of all times. So, when I poke a bit of fun it is because I care.
I just want all of you my friends to know that if you happen to be out checking flying falling objects from the sky when an abominable creature swats you off of your carrier beast–because I guess you could afford a car–and said beastie takes you back to its lair in the middle of the frozen wild and freezes you to the ceiling leaving all chance of hope for you to cut yourself down just outside of you reach while he eats your carrier beast as an appetizer and you are hoping for me to come save you that … Well, it’s been nice knowing you. LOL!
And
Another message to all my friends all of you that should you find yourself suddenly in a beautiful city where an old friend of yours is the mayor while my dad is after you and you get caught because you couldn’t bother to look out your rear view mirror and see you were being followed and I happen to get wind that you will be made to suffer to draw me into a trap so I can’t finish my super cool super human powers that would give me the ability to wield the coolest weapon in the universe so that daddy can try to kill me because he turned out to be a really bad and he is dude bent on controlling my life and the universe and your only hope is me falling into this trap then … Good luck. You are on your own. I mean really how could you not know you were being followed. And don’t give me that whole ‘he’s a bounty hunter and has a special ship’ because I remember you boasting how great your hunk of junk was and how it was the fastest in the galaxy. So what were you doing driving like a grandma so you could be easily followed. I mean really. And that is why you are on your own I am staying with the little green dude.
Ah, you just gotta love Star Wars and if not, what is wrong with you … LOL!
This is totally hilarious. Merry Christmas
Day One
Dear True Love, thank you very much for your lovely present of a partridge in a pear-tree. We’re getting the hand of feeding the partridge now, although it was difficult at first to win it’s confidence. It bit my mother rather badly on the hand but they’re good friends now and we’re keeping the pear-tree indoors in a bucket. Thank you again. Yours affectionately, your love.
Day Two
Dear True Love, I cannot tell you how surprised we were to hear from you so soon again and to receive your lovely present of two turtledoves. You really are too kind. At first the partridge was very jealous and suspicious of the doves and they had a terrible fight the night the doves arrived. We had to send for the vet but the birds are okay again and the stitches are due to come out in a week or two. The vet’s bill was $80 but my mother is over her annoyance now and the doves and the partridge are watching the television from the pear-tree as I write. Yours ever, your love.
Day Three
Dear True Love, we must be foremost in your thoughts. I had only mailed my letter when the three French hens arrived. There was another sort-out between the hens and the doves, who sided with the partridge, and the vet had to be sent for again. My mother was raging because the bill was $160 this time but she has almost cooled down. However, the fact that the birds’ droppings keep falling down on her hair while she’s watching television doesn’t help matters. Thanking you for your kindness. I remain, your love.
Day Four
True Love, you must not have received my last letter when you were sending us the four calling birds. There was pandemonium in the pear-tree again last night and the vet’s bill was $320. My mother is on sedation as I write. I know you meant no harm and remain your close friend. Your love.
Day Five
True Love, your generosity knows no bounds. Five gold rings! When the postman arrived I was scared stiff that it might be more birds, because the smell in the living room is atrocious. However, I don’t want to seem ungrateful for the beautiful rings. Your affectionate friend, your love.
Day Six
True Love, what are you trying to do to us? It isn’t that we don’t appreciate your generosity but the six geese have not alone nearly murdered the calling birds but they laid their eggs on top of the vet’s head from the pear-tree and his bill was $680 in cash! My mother is downing 6 mg of Valium a day and talking to herself in a most alarming way. You must keep your feelings for me in check. Your friend.
Day Seven
True Love, We are not amused by your little joke. Seven swans-a-swimming is a most romantic idea but not in the bath of a private house. We can not use the bathroom now because they’ve gone completely savage and rush the door every time we try to enter. If things go on this way, my mother and I will smell as bad as the living room carpet. Please lay off. It is not fair. Your friend.
Day Eight
True Love, who do you think gave you the right to send eight, hefty maids-a-milking here, to eat us out of house and home? Their cattle are all over the front lawn and have trampled the hell out of my mother’s rose beds. The swans invaded the living room in a sneak attack and the ensuring battle between them and the calling birds, turtledoves, French hens and partridge make the Battle of the Gettysburg seem like children play in a sand box. My mother is on a bottle of whiskey a day, as well as the 6 mg of Valium. I’m very annoyed with you, your friend.
Day Nine
Listen you louser! There’s enough pandemonium in this place night and day without nine drummers drumming, while the eight flaming maids-a-milking are beating my poor, old alcoholic mother out of her own kitchen and eating everything in sight. I’m warning you, you’re making an enemy of me.
Day Ten
Listen manure-face, I hope you’ll be haunted by the strains of ten pipers piping which you sent to torment us last night. They were aided in their evil work by those maniac drummers and it wasn’t a pleasant sight to loot out the window and see eight hefty maids-a-milking pogo-ing around with the ensuring punk-rock uproar. My mother has just finished her third bottle of whiskey, on top of 24 mg of Valium. You’ll get yours!
Day Eleven
You have scandalized my mother, you dirty Jezebel, it was bad enough to have eight maids-a-milking dancing to punk music on the front lawn but they’ve now been joined by your friends–the eleven Lords-a-leaping–and the antics of the whole lot of them would leave the most decadent days of the Roman Empire looking like Sesame Street. I’ll get you yet, you old bag!
Day Twelve
Listen, slurry head, you have ruined our lives. The twelve maidens dancing turned up last night and beat the living daylights out of the eight maids-a-milking, cause they found them carrying on with the eleven Lords-a-leaping. Meanwhile, the swans got out of the living room, where they’d been hiding since the big battle, and savaged the hell out of the Lords and all the Maids. There were eight ambulances here last night, and the Police as well. My mother is in a home for the bewildered and I’m sitting here up to my neck in birds’ droppings, empty whiskey and Valium bottles, birds’ blood and feathers, while the flaming cows eat the leaves off of the pear-tree. I’m a broken man never speak to me again.
- Frank Kelly (some modification by me for clarity)
This was originally heavily Irish in the writing and I modified it to work with America. Video of the original can be found HERE.
I have actually been a follower of Redemption since it first came out in 1995. At that time, I was heavy into Magic: The Gathering (MTG) but was desperately looking for something that had the same depth but could be played with my Christian friends. So when Redemption was introduced, I was there. I bought several starter packs and a bunch of boosters just to start. I raced home broke open the box and boosters and read the rules. And then the disappointment came. I walked through the first game and then played a couple of times with a friend of mine. He had never seen MTG and totally loved the game. I was not. On the surface it was alright and I know over the years they tweaked the rules. But the game bored me. To be fair that was because I had come from MTG with great depth and range of strategy to one that had precious little strategy. That said, let us take a deeper look at the game itself and see how it fairs.
LOOK
Honestly I think this game suffers from a lack of ability to change. I mention this because the “Game of Thrones” card game came out and was good in design. However, after the company (Fantasy Flight Games) that produced the game achieved some notoriety and developed a few more games, they went back and redesigned the entire graphics of the game using an artist. The result was their new “Game of Thrones” Living Card Game line that has won awards and is slick to play. Redemption is in the same boat. The original graphical layout of the cards was alright in the beginning when the company was brand new and breaking into the market, but needs a redesign by an artist now that they have been around and also won awards and has made a name for themselves. I think if they were to redesign the cards and give them a more mature makeover, the game would have greater appeal.
All that said, looking at the cards one can’t help but get the impression that they were made for children. They look cartoony and hand draw almost with crayons. The banner on the bottom of the cards where the Scripture resides is awful. To add to the mess, much of the text is not easy to read sitting on top of the image (for cards with special text) as well as obscuring the artists image. As an example, “Canaan” and “Cherubim” just to name a couple are very hard to read the special ability text. Sometimes the card name is hard to read as there is not enough contrast with the background. As an example, “Angel with the Secret Name” is very hard to read the title of the card. Finally, the artist images themselves vary quite a bit from ones that are very comic style to one that are fairly slick almost painting style to ones that just look awful.
With all of this said, I have to give Redemption a 1 out of 5 for LOOK.
FEEL
Perhaps because I came from playing MTG, I can see just how simple this game is and almost one dimensional in strategy that I can be very critical. I know some people love this game and will defend it to the bitter end, but I think if they were to sit down for a moment and take a real look at what is right and wrong with the game they would agree that it is in need of a makeover.
The overall concept of the game is to win lost souls from your opponent. The first problem that I have with the game is that in order for you to have a chance at winning the game your opponent MUST draw lost souls from his deck to put in play. Often when I would play, one of us would wind up drawing more lost souls than another. This means that one player might have four lost souls out while another player may only have one lost soul in play. This unbalances the game making the victory condition random as to when it can be completed and in some cases makes victory impossible for a player whose opponent draws well and just does not get five lost souls before the game is over. I am sure since the game has been around for sixteen years with many tournaments and the like that this is rare and they probably have statistics on how rare this is but it is possible and that in and of itself makes the game unbalanced and unfair.
The next problem with the game is that it lacks in depth. One can argue with me, but if you create a deck that is designed to just win souls (i.e. no evil characters or evil enhancements just heroes and enhancements and any other supporting style cards) then as long as you do not draw your five souls before your opponent you will win every time. The only other real strategy is to fill your deck about half and half with evil and hero style cards and attempt to battle it out while defending your land of bondage. I realize there have been expansions that add a bunch of different style cards to enhance the game play but at the end of the day, you need the lost souls and therefore, have very limited strategy.
Take the “Game of Thrones” LCG game and you will find that while the way to win the game is to gain twenty influence, there are multiple ways to achieve that end. Especially since, characters can participate in three different and distinct styles of attack to gain those influences. Not to mention the one with the most strength gains influence and the host of many other cards that support this end. In short there are a multitude of ways to achieve the main goal of winning the game.
If we look at MTG for a moment, there are really two victory conditions. The first is to kill your opponent and the second is to run his draw deck out of cards. Even with just two victory conditions, the game has thousands of ways to win. You can directly attack with lightning bolts and fireballs, you can indirectly attack with creatures (and there is a host of different ways these work including blocking, trample, banding, flying, etc), and the list goes on and on and on. In fact, when I was playing I had a dozen different themed decks all of which were designed to take out my opponent and played against an equal number of themed decks my opponents created and none of these were the same. Redemption lacks this depth.
All of this said, Redemption does get a few things right. On the table, it accurately depicts what spiritual warfare is like with the forces of good battling against the forces of evil to save the souls of man. In addition, the Scripture on every card adds to its biblical authenticity (even though you can have people fighting together or against one another that never lived in the same time period, but I can easily see past that). I can honestly see that I see where they were going and it was a valiant effort that just didn’t pay off the way they would have liked it too.
As much as I would love this game to have great depth and slick gameplay, I have to give Redemption a 2 out of 5 for FEEL.
FUN
Let’s face it, no matter how the game looks or feels the real test of a good game is whether or not it is fun to play. For Redemption, I can say that it is fun to play. There are things that I wish were different about the game, but cracking open a box and sitting with friends around a table with this game will amount to an evening of fun. At least it will for those who have not played other more involved collectible style card games.
I will add that this game is more fun for children than adults as this game seems to be, from my perspective with the simple rules and kidish look, to be geared more for younger age groups.
I will give Redemption a 4 out of 5 for FUN.
FAMILY
Since Redemption is based on the Bible and works out the concepts of saving people’s souls, which is in essence the great commission, this game is very family friendly. There is really not much negative that can be said from a family point of view.
I will give Redemption a 5 out of 5 for FAMILY.
STAY
This is really where the rubber meets the road. How likely is one to pick this game out of a stack of games and play it again. How likely is one to call up their friends and invite them over for a gaming night with Redemption being the headliner. From my perspective, the answer is not that likely. Yes, it was fun and family friendly to play but there are serious issues with how the overall game plays making it either simple to play or frustrating (if you are the one waiting for your opponents to draw lost souls so you can try and win the game).
I will have to give Redemption a 1 out of 5 for STAY.
OVERALL
Overall, Redemption scored a 1 for LOOK, 2 for FEEL, 4 for FUN, 5 for FAMILY and 1 for STAY giving us a sum of 13 out of 25 for total of 52%. On my scale, that means a good effort by the designers but a game that is best just passed over.
OVERALL SCORE 52%
CONCLUSION
I know from many emails that Rob Anderson and the Cactus Game Design company are a bunch of great people with a great heart for Jesus. Their effort was amazing in creating the game and charting the new territory of getting this game to market in an environment that is still wrongly hostile towards gaming thinking it either demonic or a waste of time. They have achieved what some might have thought was the impossible. However, to be true, now is the time to go back and redesign Redemption from the ground up (Redemption 2, or maybe Salvation, or something) with new slick graphics that effectively convey the important information while having a mature overall look and feel and new game mechanics that will advance this game from it’s infancy to a mature solid game that people of all ages will want to play over and over again. At least I think that is what I would do if I was in their position. Either that or just stop producing Redemption and create an entirely new card game using the popularity of Redemption as a springboard to the new game.
Recently, I discussed what truly is at the core of all gaming and that is fellowshipping (“Gaming – The Lost Art of Fellowship”, http://www.aquizone.net/blogs/aquiman/stuff/gaming-the-lost-art-of-fellowship). If you have not read this post yet, I highly recommend that you do because it will give insight into the gaming community and simply why people play games and are passionate about them.
This post is about setting up ground rules for reviewing game playing, the gaming community and what is the state of Christian games. If you are a Christian or a gamer or a geek or a nerd or (like me) all of the above, then this post is for you.
Recently, I discussed what truly is at the core of all gaming and that is fellowshipping (“Gaming – The Lost Art of Fellowship”, http://www.aquizone.net/blogs/aquiman/stuff/gaming-the-lost-art-of-fellowship). If you have not read this post yet, I highly recommend that you do because it will give insight into the gaming community and simply why people play games and are passionate about them.
To begin with, you might be wondering why I am qualified to review the gaming community. There are two main reasons why I believe I am qualified. The first having been emphasized in the article mentioned above that I have been gaming my whole life. In addition, I have played a wide variety of games from board games to role playing to collectible card games and beyond. And that just covers non computer based games because I have also played a large amount of titles covering games on personal computers, consoles and even handheld and mobile. I believe that in many ways I have seen or touched just about every type of game and can speak from a deep understanding and love of playing.
The second reason why I am qualified comes from the fact that I have developed and created several games. While I will admit that none of mine have made it to market, I believe that this is more due to lack of funding for an untested entity in an extremely competitive market. However, I do have a few accolades to speak of that propel my talents above the average dreamer.
The first accolade comes from a company that had acquired the license and created the Stargate SG-1 Collectible Card Game (CCG). I created (and by created I mean that I developed, built fully playable prototypes and completed a detailed rulebook for the game) a Stargate game and contacted MGM about attempting to acquire a license. The lady that I emailed my ideas to thought my concept was great and pointed me to the company who had gotten the license just a month before I sought after it. I contacted them and after signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement sent them my complete prototype of the game. They were holding a contest of sorts to see who created the best Stargate game. The winner was to not only have their design be produced but also get a job as the head game developer. I really stumbled upon this because I had created my version out of a love for the series and gaming. Out of all the entries (which I heard was somewhere around 50) the top five were chosen to advance. My design was one of the top five. From there, they gathered a large play test group to play each of the five and vote for their favorite. My design came in second by a very close margin. Out of the five I was told that really it was between my design and the winning design having the other three designs not gain very many votes. While my game did not see the light of day, it advanced very far to the point that had it been the best received in the play test group a major company was willing to put money behind it. I think that speaks at least a little to my ability to create a descent game.
The second accolade came after I had decided that I was going to design and create a Christian Collectible Card Game. As mentioned in the previous post, I played for a bit the game Magic: The Gathering because it truly is a beautifully designed game from a mechanics point of view. I decided that I could create as such a compelling game but with a Christian flair. And I was not the first to think this as Rob Anderson created the game Redemption (which has been an award winning best selling Christian game since 1995 and I will have a review of this game posted soon). I made my first mistake by attempting to basically create a Christian version of Magic. This would not work mostly because the game needed to have an opponent. I could easily create a “Christian” deck that would seek to attack the enemy and stop his attempted advancements. I was even thinking that I would call the game “Spiritual Warfare” and thought the game would be great. Until I realized that no one would want to be the opponent. Imagine your Christian friend coming to you with this game and saying, “So, I will play Jesus and I need you to play the Devil and see if you can defeat me.” See the problem? No Christian will want to play the devil and attempt to destroy God and his plan. And if by chance there be some that might for the sake of playing the game, I can guarantee that those people are already gamers seeking games in the secular market to quench their desire for a great game. After realize that my first attempts were a failure, I decided to restructure my ideas and create a game solely on my merits and design. “Gospel: The Game” was born out of that. For a long time I had this game posted online with all the cards and rules seeking to find funding only to not find it (this is actually one of the biggest problem with Christian games that people are not supporting the genre and therefore most games wind up being home-grown instead of well designed). After a time, I sent my design to Rob Anderson and asked for his input on what he thought. In general, he liked the game. He did have some great comments on what he thought were some of the weaknesses that could be strengthened with some tweaking. But the real message that I received from him (and did not accept at the time but realize more and more that he was correct) was that they had done research and discovered that the Christian gaming market could not support two collectible style card games and since they already produced one (Redemption), they would not seek to support a second. I have to give great kudos to Rob and his company “Cactus Game Design” because they have blazed a trail where there was none. They have fought hard to get Christian games into the hands of those that want to play them. The problem is that the Christian community as a whole out of ignorance has not embraced gaming seeing as either childish or demonic making most Christian games to be relegated to the kiddy section of the catalog or store no matter how involved and mature the game is. Anyway, this game was well received by both those in the industry and those who were able to play test it. The fact that it never saw the light of day for production is sad.
Given all of these facts, I believe I am more than qualified to provide in depth reviews of games that are on the market (or on their way to market). I will be able to give insight into how well the mechanics of a game work as well as how astatically pleasing a game is from the point of view of knowing just how hard it is to fully create a game. In addition, I will also be able to give you an idea how enjoyable a game is from the simple fact of being a gamer with a deep love for gaming and the desire to find those great games that you want to play over and over again. And I think that will work its way into becoming the single stop for all Christians seeking good solid family friendly games to play and that is my goal as a Christian, a father, and a gamer.
With all that said, I thought I would give some insight into what makes a good game. Today more than ever with the internet and media outlets, people are more educated and knowledgeable than ever before. This makes the general gamer more mature and involved than ever before. If you add to this that many of the early gamers are now leading industry people with money to spend on games, you might see why so many try to make the next blockbuster game and why it is so difficult to do so.
What is a good game? Simply a good game is one that looks good, plays well, is fun to play and has staying power. When I review a game I will be marking it on the following five basic areas; Look (aesthetics), Feel (mechanics), Fun (is it fun to play), Stay (staying power) and Family (how family friendly is it). Let me break down a bit further the five areas so that everyone will know where I am coming from.
The very first section is the LOOK of the game. Let’s face it, how something looks will go a long way in how often you play the game. A bad looking game will quickly get on the dust pile of the shelves unless the player happens to be industrious and creates a homemade mod that will spruce up the game and even that will only happen if the game is firing well on every other cylinder. There is an old saying that “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” and this will kind of be the motto of this section of review. From the moment the game is cracked open until the end of the review how well is the game to look at and how easy is it to find all the important elements of the game. That will define the overall LOOK and what the score will be.
The next section is FEEL of the game. This is where I will be breaking down the mechanics of the game or how the game is actually played. The game can look great and be family friendly but if it is hard or confusing to play people will not return to play the game. This is also probably where most of the Christian games I have played have failed. I am not sure if it is because they didn’t play test it well enough or long enough but when it came to how the game played they were clunky at best. I dare say that this is probably the area that should receive the most design time because while the look is important if you can’t play it then it is nothing but garage sale fodder.
The next section is FUN of the game. Let’s face it, the game can look great be great be easy to play but if it is not fun, then no one is going to play it. You have to feel like you didn’t just waste the time you spent playing the game. You have to feel like it was well spent time with your friends and family playing the game. You have to not walk away feeling like you just finished taking a college exam. And that is what this section is all about.
The next section is STAY or staying power of the game. Staying power means that the game can be played over and over again without losing its allure or playability. Trivial Pursuit is a great game, but eventually you will have exhausted all the questions in a box making the game no longer as much fun. The makers of the game realize this which is why they have worked hard to create all sorts of additional editions expanding the question base to a point where it would take a long time before you ran into repeated questions. But this lends to a major design issue with the game on staying power causing the creator to have to constantly supplement the game to keep it fresh. When I look at a game, I will be looking at how likely am I to get additional hours of fun playing. How likely am I when I want to play a game reach for this game over that game to play and that is staying power.
The final section is FAMILY or family friendliness of the game. It is sad to say that in this day and age not all games are good for all age levels, and I am not just speaking on the ability to read and understand the game. I am speaking about the ability of the game to avoid hot issues that would make at least some parents to give pause about letting their children play it. Recently a friend of mine suggested the game “Batman Arkham Asylum” as a good game, but he added the following to the description “but it is not a game for your kids to play or see.” He was referring to both the use of violence and the overall look of the game that was very adult. For me, that immediately marks the game as not one for my house. I am looking for fun games that the whole family can play.
On each of these sections I will give the game a score from 0 to 5 and then sum the total for a grand score of 25. To make things easy, I will then multiply the score by 4 so that the final score will be based on 100 where a good game would get something like a 90 and a bad game would get something like a 50. I may find that I will need to refine this in the end, but I will start with this and see where we go. I will attempt to be as fair as possible giving each and every game a fair chance at getting a good score starting with no preconceived ideas about them. But in the end, the game will stand or fall based on how well it is designed and played.
I hope you are excited about this because I am. I am hoping to not only find a large set of great games but find many games that all of my friends and family will want to play with me. In the end, I am hoping to help develop and foster the Christian Gaming Community.
I love love love games and game (if you have not read my post about “Gaming – The Lost Art of Fellowship”) therefore I am going to start a new category on this site where I will review games and say what I like and do not like about them. While my original focus will be Christian games and the hope in finding awesome Christian games, I will not limit this to just those in that category.
If you have a game you would like me to review then please send your request to me and I will get to it as soon as I can. More over, if you are a Christian game producer you can email me and send me a copy of your game and I will review it. I can not promise anything other than I will be fair, but getting free stuff does inspire me to want to like your game
SO, let the games, and the reviewing begin.
This post is about the social fellowshipping aspect of gaming and how it has diminished over the years. If you love gaming or if you love fellowshipping and enjoying the company of a group of friends, then this post is for you.
When I was young, we used to play a lot of games with one another. The console video games had not been heard of yet and the only computers took up small rooms. In those days, the name of the game was board games like Monopoly, Life, Careers, even a Battlestar Galactica game and many others. All designed to get a group of people sitting around a table enjoying each other’s company. It was the best of time.
As I got a little older, the first console video games appeared on the market. I remember going over my friend Scott’s house to play his Atari together. Eventually, we got a ColecoVision and everyone was at our house playing the games. At least it was for those who could afford a console as they were expensive back in those days. Video games while in it’s infancy was much more about getting your friends to come over and play than lock yourself in a room and play by yourself (or online).
At that time, Commodore introduced the first real home computer. Of course, the price was so high that most people could not afford it even though it was cheap compared to IBM or Tandy models. Very few people had or used computers let alone had a computer at home to use and or play on. Gaming for the personal computer would be years away. But I remember back in the early 1980s typing away on my first Commodore C64.
With consoles and computers out of reach, most of us turned to playing games outside. Yes, that is right, we played outside whenever the weather would allow, which in the American North East is less than half of the year. Providing plenty of time to play those indoor board games mentioned earlier. Ah, the good ole days when board games were in their hayday.
As I got older, my family would introduce me to more games like card games that involved bidding and trick taking or large scale games like Risk that took forever to setup but allowed for hours of fun. I can remember one of my friends, who belonged to the chess club because yes that was cool back then, who would come home from school and setup Risk on his kitchen table. That way it was ready to play by the time we all got there. Lots of fun times attempting to take over the world. But the real fun was being around a table with a group of friends where we would discuss everything from girls to homework.
As I got older, I met and married my wife. The old group I used to play with disappeared a few years earlier because my family moved across states making it impossible for me to continue in that group. But attending a college and meeting and marrying my wife opened new doors for friends–couple friends. Couple friends are just what they sound like a set of friends that are also a couple. Getting together regularly with couple friends was great where we would do many things together especially play games together. It was during this time that I was introduced to new more involved games like “Axes and Allies” “Fortress American” “Victory at Sea” and many more. All fun games that again got us around a table fellowshipping.
Somewhere around this time, I got introduced to the concept of the Role Playing Game (RPG). This was the mid-1990s and this style of gaming had been around for about 20 years starting with “Dungeons and Dragons” (D&D) and exploding into many different styles and genres. The first game I played happened to be a D&D game and I didn’t do well and didn’t like it. But a new and persistent friend who seemed to know me well suggested that I try his gaming group. I did and became in love with this style of gaming. The game we were playing was a modified version of “Freedom Fighters” which takes the basic premise that the Russians had invaded the United States and we all became freedom/survival fighters. Remember the wall had only come down a few short years earlier. This was like a match made in heaven. Why? I am glad you asked. The actually contents and story of the game are fun but what makes this an awesome way to play games is the comradery that takes place around the table at each and every gaming session. I got to know my group of friends better than I knew most of my family members (my wife excluded of course). Many, and I mean many Friday nights were eaten up to the wee hours enjoying the depth of story that this Game Master (GM) has developed and the friendship and fellowship around the table. I couldn’t wait for the next session.
At this time, I was introduced to another style of gaming called the Collectible (Customizable, Trading, etc) Card Game (CCG, TCG). The main concept of these games was to mix the collectible card concept (think baseball cards) with an actual game. Therefore, each card you collect can be played in the game. Add a few rules for building your own deck and soon everyone was off creating their own arsenal of draw cards with which to play. Finally, add shuffling the deck to make a random draw allowing for never the same game twice and the uniqueness of playing against decks customized by your opponent and wa-la you have the CCG. Actually an immense amount of fun and strategy as you try to determine what cards work with which cards and then hope you draw them when you need them all the while avoiding being knocked out by your opponent.
My first outing was a game based on Star Trek that had awesome looking cards but lack of down right fun playing the game. The next game I tried was one based on Star Wars, but distribution problems plagued the set creating the new term ultra-rare cards. Couple that with mechanic issues that also plagued the Star Trek game and these went to the wayside.
The whole time I was searching for a card game to play my friends were playing a game called Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a CCG based essentially on D&D. Of course, MTG differed in many way the biggest being that it was a card game and not a RPG. At the time I was a young Christian and very concerned about the dungeon style themes. I was in a church that was very strict and legalistic and was against such games and most games in general. But especially MTG because it had creatures, magic, sorcery, spells, enchantments, etc. Of course, all of this was in a game context. Eventually, I caved in and started playing. The game mechanics are great and the amount of cards (back then was nothing compared to now) made for great concept and theme decks which is where I excelled. But the biggest thing was getting people around a table to fellowship while playing a game.
Eventually, I moved for college and left my gaming group behind. I did get my degree and wind up in Texas for work. Today, I live in the American South West and we have something like nine months of weather in which we can do something outside. That is awesome. But I have one exception and that is the people here just are not interested in carving out some time, even once a month, to sit around a table and play a game while fellowshipping. It doesn’t have to be a CCG or RPG if you do not like those although there are good Christian games in each of those (Redemption CCG, DragonRaid RPG, Holy Lands RPG, Bible Battles TCG, etc) and many non D&D style (Game of Thrones LCG, the new Star Wars LCG, Mutants and Masterminds RPG, etc) and of course the old favorites (Monopoly, Life, Trivial Pursuit, SceneIT, etc). Because it is really all about getting around a table and sitting face to face with people and sharing, growing, fellowshipping all around playing a game. And it is this that I deeply miss.
Let me add one last thing about online gaming (MMO, MMORPG). This is not fellowshipping but pseudo-fellowshipping in that it gives all the allure of actual fellowship without actually achieving it. Why? At its core, fellowshipping is about face to face interact with people who you can call when you are down, troubled, lost your job, got dumped by your girlfriend, came short on rent, etc. It is a friendship that allows for close bonds of the people who spend time across a table with one another. In the online gaming, I know people think that they are creating bonds and to an extent I will agree. But these people that you play with scattered across the country or across the globe are not there when you need a shoulder to cry on (figuratively or actual physically). These are people that have only a passing investment in your life and truly do not care about. This is not because they are bad people but the nature of the online community breeds this sterile cold friendship environment. When you sit face to face with people close enough to smell their bad cologne (or lack there of) and still enjoy their company because you have developed this close knit bond, when you need them they will be there. In a small way, it is like a family you get to choose and loves you for who you are.
Ok, I have rambled on for long enough.
Well, things have been going a bit slower than first anticipated but that only means a much better story. So, I am excited about how this story is shaping up and can’t wait to release it. With that in mind, we are hoping to release the first part “The Land of Ather” on January 1st. I am not sure if we can do that yet as there is an approval process to go through once the story is done before it will appear online for purchase. I am not sure how long that process takes just yet but I have heard it is fairly quick for the digital eBooks (and longer for the paper because they have to mail you a proof copy to check out and approve). I will have the part one of the story back from the editor this week and then another week for polishing and final tweaks. After that, format and upload to the various places for distribution. Then I hope everyone buys a copy (the eBook, iBooks, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, ePub, etc will be priced at $0.99, not sure how low I can price the printed paperback yet) and tells all their friends and family to buy one as well. I truly believe that everyone will enjoy this epic tale that hopefully will begin on January 1st.
PS-
The title of the book was formerly "Avatar" and has been changed to the more engaging series title, "Quest for the Golden Book"
I have just finished merging my old blogs into this one. I used to have several (AquiMan, FireKnights, AquiFamily, AquiKnight, and even the Aquicasts podcast) and it was not easy to maintain them all. I have now merged them all into this one blog where I believe it will better server everyone. So, if you are wondering where a few things are, let me point the way.
I know this single blog will help get information flowing more easily to everyone who is interested. Thanks for reading my blog I so totally appreciate all of you!
