What does the J.R.R in J.R.R Tolkien stand for?

I just heard a good discussion on Apologetics.com with a reading of Lord of the Rings and the music from the movie running in the background. Find out what the J.R.R means and hear why Tolkien hated allegories and more, you can download it here.

Faith in Millions

millions
Originally uploaded by tosh913.

I've just see this great film a 2nd time, and truly love this film. The innocence and faith of this one child just transcends the screen.. and who can't love this adorable kid. See the trailer here

This truly is such a brilliant film that I just can't recommend it enough, please go and see this film. Read about it at the site, here

Akiane- 10 year old painter extraordinare

Originally uploaded by tosh913.

Here's Akiana's website. If you don't already know about her, she's a 10 girl who can paint amazing portraits among other things. If you haven't already seen her Prince of Peace painting, here's a photo of it. Also check her website to see her process of painting the masterpiece Prince of Peace. See it here

From Father to Son -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Sex:

Tolkien on Sex?

I just saw this on Leo Partible's site FilmPR

Fascinating article on Tolkien's view of sex, marriage and love.

From Father to Son -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Sex:

In 1941, Tolkien wrote a masterful letter to his son Michael, dealing with marriage and the realities of human sexuality.
The letter reflects Tolkien's Christian worldview and his deep love for his sons, and at the same time, also acknowledges the powerful dangers inherent in unbridled sexuality. "This is a fallen world," Tolkien chided. "The dislocation of sex-instinct is one of the chief symptoms of the Fall. The world has been 'going to the bad' all down the ages. The various social forms shift, and each new mode has its special dangers: but the 'hard spirit of concupiscence' has walked down every street, and sat leering in every house, since Adam fell."

Read the entire article here

Evolutionists are jumping on the comic book wagon

Holy Evolution, Darwin! Comics Take On Science

Korn Co-founder and Guitarist leaves to follow Jesus

Yep, its true. Read about it here


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"Pillars" and "Props" in Creativity

Pillars and Props

I read this on Sewardstreet.com and realized I have way too many props!

Sometimes we think we need this and that to make us better artists, when all we need to is just have plain paper and pencil.

Creativity without Props

No, I don't mean when someone looks at your scene and doesn't give you the "props" you think you deserve.

I'm talking about this section out of Hugh MacLeod's post "How To Be Creative" entitled "The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props."

Ouch.

I know world-class animators who have trouble using a fax machine or reading their email. Me?

I've just spent the last couple of weeks building my own Media Center PC, buying all the parts, hooking it all up together, making sure I had the right drivers, the right software - all in an effort to have a really cool interface to quickly access animation scenes.

Supporting that, I've got a TabletPC with Alias Sketchbook Pro, a Rio Karma (MP3 player), an XM MyFi, hundreds of DVDs and laserdiscs, and every screenwriting/moviemaking software/outliner tool devised. All of them purchased with the idea that they would help inspire and motivate me to create my own Secret Project. (A Secret Project is the thing you work on after hours - your own personal vision that you keep a secret because it's so great nobody can know about it, lest they try to steal it from you!)

With all of these props how many Secret Projects am I currently working on?

Zero.

Hugh is big in the blogosphere. His site gapingvoid is one of my favorite to read, although he's so prolific that it's hard to keep up. I've been working my way through "How to be Creative" and when I hit this section about props it sounded way too familiar.

The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me.
Meeting aperson who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would SERIOUSLY surprise me. Abraham Lincoln wrote The Gettysburg address ona piece of ordinary stationery that he had borrowed from the friend whose house he was staying at.

James Joyce wrote with a simple pencil and notebook. Somebody else did the typing, but only much later.

Van Gough rarely painted with more than six colors on his palette.

I draw on the back of wee biz cards. Whatever.

There's no correlation between creativity and equipment ownership. None. Zilch. Nada.

Actually, as the artist gets more into his thing, and as he gets more successful, his number of tools tends to go down. He knows what works for him. Expending mental energy on stuff wastes time. He's a man on a mission. He's got a deadline. He's got some rich client breathing down his neck. The last thing he wants is to spend 3 weeks learning how to use a router drill if he doesn't need to.

A fancy tool just gives the second-rater one more pillar to hide behind.

Which is why there are so many second-rate art directors with state-of-the-art Macinotsh computers.

Which is why there are so many hack writers with state-of-the-art laptops.

Which is why there are so many crappy photographers with state-of-the-art digital cameras.

Which is why there are so many unremarkable painters with expensive studios in trendy neighborhoods.

Hiding behind pillars, all of them.

Pillars do not help; they hinder. The more mighty the pillar, the more you end up relying on it psychologically, the more it gets in your way.

And this applies to business, as well.

Which is why there are so many failing businesses with fancy offices.

Which is why there's so many failing businessmen spending a fortune on fancy suits and expensive yacht club memberships.

Again, hiding behind pillars.

Successful people, artists and non-artists alike, are very good at spotting pillars. They're very good at doing without them. Even more importantly, once they've spotted a pillar, they're very good at quickly getting rid of it.

Good pillar management is one of the most valuable talents you can have on the planet. If you have it, I envy you. If you don't, I pity you.

Sure, nobody's perfect. We all have our pillars. We seem to need them. You are never going to live a pillar-free existence. Neither am I.

All we can do is keep asking the question, "Is this a pillar" about every aspect of our business, our craft, our reason for being alive etc and go from there. The more we ask, the better we get at spotting pillars, the more quickly the pillars vanish.

Ask. Keep asking. And then ask again. Stop asking and you're dead