Archive for December, 2008
The 108th Carnival of the Godless is coming!
Posted by CyberLizard in Uncategorized on December 28, 2008
Yours truly, the CyberLizard, has the honor of hosting the 108th Carnival of the Godless on 11 January 2009. Now is the time to get your submissions in.
The new year is traditionally a time for making resolutions about what you intend to do over the coming year. So what are your atheistic resolutions for 2009? Are you coming out this year? Do you resolve to let your family know about your godlessness? Are you resolved to finally let those three midgets that you’ve been keeping in your basement free? Or is that just me?
Anyway, check out the carnival guidelines and make your submissions. Don’t miss out on the fabulous 108th Carnival of the Godless!
My Google Reader overfloweth
Posted by CyberLizard in Blogging, Me on December 28, 2008
A side effect of vacationing is a realization of how much time you actually spend on the internet. My little Samsung BlackJack has been my lifeline to the electronic world and, as admirably as it has performed, there is no subtitute for a good 8 hour work day for getting caught up on the blogosphere. There have been some amazing conversations that I would have loved to participate in and some mind-blowing revelations of intelectual brilliance of my own that I would have liked to share with you (riiiiiight, brilliance. suuuuure).
Technical difficulties aside, the "Real World"(tm) keeps rearing it's ugly head, preventing me from keeping tabs on what's truly important. I mean, can you believe that I've been distracted by piddly little things like having to take my 2.5 year old girl to the doctor on our vacation? The nerve of her to get a URI that lead to bacterial pneumonia and a blood oxygen reading of 60%! Doesn't she realize that I have better things to do than to change her oxygen tank at 3am? I suppose that I can cut her some slack; we are at 10,000 ft after all. But my blogging activities have been severely hampered.
Wintery Xmas Eve
Posted by CyberLizard in Me, Stuff on December 24, 2008
Just a shot from my cell while sitting in the car listening to John Denver and the Muppets (probably the best xmas album ever) and waiting for the Goddess to get out of the store.
Enjoy a safe and love filled holiday season!
Musings on the cold
Posted by CyberLizard in Me on December 21, 2008
I may have mentioned before that I am a native Floridian. Lived my whole life there. So going to a place where snow lays all around and you can't sit around in your underwear is like travelling to a foreign land. It is magical and exciting. In my youth I would fantasize about living in such a winter wonderland. I would go skiing every day and go trecking across snow covered mountains.
This was a beautiful fantasy that the Goddess (my wife) and I shared. And when children arrived we expanded our dreams of snow dusted bliss to include them. Then we brought them to Colorado in December.
Instead of travelling in a one horse open sleigh and strolling down a quaint Main Street we are experiencing the joys of perpetually running noses and attempting to bundle sqirming creatures into multiple layers of bulky clothing, and then subsequently load them into a filthy minivan while trying not to track muddy snow inside.
Don't get me wrong, it is still amazing up here but adding kids to the equation definitely changes the result. To all those who have raised children in these frigid climes, I raise my mug of hot chocolate to you and your indomitable spirit!
I’m going to have a sore tongue
Posted by CyberLizard in Me on December 21, 2008
From biting it that is. The CyberLizard family has arrived at my grandmother-in-law's house in Breckenridge, Colorado. Fantastic place, fantastic people, but on the coffee table is a copy of BillO's book. How long is it appropriate to wait after arrival to begin the political discussion? 
Just wait till they find out I'm an atheist. Then the fun will really start!
I’m a sucker for a meme: Movie get-a-life meme
Posted by CyberLizard in Blogging on December 19, 2008
I lifted this from Greg Laden’s blog. I love filling out forms and checking off lists. I’m just weird that way.
SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 movies, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 219 movies on this list. Copy this list, then paste it on facebook or on your blog. Then, put x’s next to the movies you’ve seen, add them up
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG which version?
Total so far: 9
(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving -MAS
(x) Flubber Orignial version only
Total so far: 11
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 11
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Si teen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 14
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled both versions
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x) Curious George
Total so far: 24
(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bron Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 29
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 37
(x) x-Men
( ) x2
( ) x-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 43
( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pa
( ) Kippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 46
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 52
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander (there can be only one)
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History
( ) Three
Total so Far: 54
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 57
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
(x) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 61
( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness (Hail to the king, baby!)
Total so far: 62
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 67
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead (Groovy)
(x) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 73
( ) Battle Royale
( ) Battle Royale 2
( ) Brazil
(x) Contact
( ) Cube
( ) Dr. Strangelove
( ) Enlightenment Guaranteed
( ) Four Rooms
( ) Memento
( ) Pi
( ) Requiem for a Dream
(x) Pulp Fiction
(x) Reservoir Dogs
(x) Run Lola Run (Fantastic movie; gotta remember to pick this one up on DVD)
( ) Russian Ark
( ) Serenity
( ) Sin City
( ) Snatch
( ) Spider
(x) The Sixth Sense
( ) The Village
( ) Waking Life
( ) Zatoichi
( ) Ikiru
(x) The Seven Samurai
( ) Brick
(x) Akira (Tetsuooooooo!)
Grand Total: 80
Well, according to this, I still have a life, but I can think of at least 20 movies I have seen that aren’t on the list. I’ll try to find some time to scrape them out of my brain and put them up.
Also, was there any rhyme or reason to the groupings? Some of them I though shoul dhave been grouped with others.
Just a quickie
Posted by CyberLizard in Blogging on December 19, 2008
In case you were wondering what’s going on in teh interwebs:
Here is the original. I haven’t had time to peruse it, but I caught some good ones.
Happy Monkey!
Posted by CyberLizard in Blogging, Stuff on December 19, 2008
No clue what I’m talking about? Try here. And if you grok this, join the facebook group.
Pencils and graph paper and dice, oh my!
Posted by CyberLizard in Stuff on December 18, 2008
I’m a geek. About this fact we are all in agreement. But sometimes I feel like I’m failing in upholding the standards and values of true geekdom. Wil Wheaton is a geeks-geek who has never lost the faith. I got re-hooked onto his blog recently and this article he did about playing D&D made me totally miss my crystal dice set. I haven’t played a good old-fashioned pencil-and-paper RPG in way too long.
Wil got to play in a campaign of Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition with Gabe and Tycho from Penny-Arcade and Scott Kurtz from PVP and, to top it off, Chris Perkins from Wizards of the Coast was the DM! Dude, I would have given my left nut to be in that party (especially since I’ve already had two kids and aren’t looking forward to more). Even better than all that, he got to play a new unreleased character class. Man, why do washed up former child actor geeks get all the opportunities? jk Wil, I love ya’, in a totally platonic man kind of way. Did I mention that my wife[1] once got your autograph at a convention, but had you sign the back of Marina Sirtis’s head shot ’cause that’s all she had? I’m just jealous.
My kids better learn to read soon, ’cause I’ve got shelves full of RPG goodness just waiting for them to be able to fill out a character sheet and not put the dice in their mouth. I’ll bet the boy could calculate THAC0. I can hardly wait…[2]
Hardcore atheist? meh
Posted by CyberLizard in Atheism, Blogging on December 18, 2008
The Friendly Atheist has a fun little exercise to find out if you are a “hardcore atheist”. I don’t necessarily find all of the items to be “hardcore”, but, whatever. I like lists and forms so what the hell. I’ve made my own little comments along the way. Bolded items are ones that I have done.
1. Participated in the Blasphemy Challenge.
2. Met at least one of the “Four Horsemen” (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris) in person.
Does PZ count? I’ll give myself a point
3. Created an atheist blog.
You’re reading it
4. Used the Flying Spaghetti Monster in a religious debate with someone.
5. Gotten offended when someone called you an agnostic.
Nah, takes more than that to offend me. A lot more than that.
6. Been unable to watch Growing Pains reruns because of Kirk Cameron.
Not specifically because of Kirk Cameron; just because it was a bad show
7. Own more Bibles than most Christians you know.
I don’t really know how many they have, but since I’ve got a shelf for them, I’ll count it
8. Have at least one Bible with your personal annotations regarding contradictions, disturbing parts, etc.
9. Have come out as an atheist to your family.
Certain members
10. Attended a campus or off-campus atheist gathering.
11. Are a member of an organized atheist/Humanist/etc. organization.
12. Had a Humanist wedding ceremony.
13. Donated money to an atheist organization.
14. Have a bookshelf dedicated solely to Richard Dawkins.
15. Lost the friendship of someone you know because of your non-theism.
16. Tried to argue or have a discussion with someone who stopped you on the street to proselytize.
17. Had to hide your atheist beliefs on a first date because you didn’t want to scare him/her away.
How does this make you hardcore? If you were hardcore you wouldn’t date a theist period.
18. Own a stockpile of atheist paraphernalia (bumper stickers, buttons, shirts, etc).
No, but I want some *gift hints*
19. Attended a protest that involved religion.
20. Attended an atheist conference.
21. Subscribe to Pat Condell’s YouTube channel.
22. Started an atheist group in your area or school.
23. Successfully “de-converted” someone to atheism.
Mostly
24. Have already made plans to donate your body to science after you die.
Just to clarify, this hardly has anything to do with atheism. My mother is a dedicated Lutheran and has always been an organ doner.
25. Told someone you’re an atheist only because you wanted to see the person’s reaction.
That’s the most fun part 
26. Had to think twice before screaming “Oh God!” during sex. Or you said something else in its place.
I scream lots of things during sex; “Oh God” isn’t one of them
27. Lost a job because of your atheism.
Not yet
28. Formed a bond with someone specifically because of your mutual atheism (meeting this person at a local gathering or conference doesn’t count).
Online counts, right?
29. Have crossed “In God We Trust” off of — or put a pro-church-state-separation stamp on — dollar bills.
30. Refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
I’ve been doing that since junior high. Started by just not saying the “under god” bit, then finally rejected the whole thing
31. Said “Gesundheit!” (or nothing at all) after someone sneezed because you didn’t want to say “Bless you!”
32. Have ever chosen not to clasp your hands together out of fear someone might think you’re praying.
Weird to have to think about that, but I have
33. Have turned on Christian TV because you need something entertaining to watch.
Always good for some lulz
34. Are a 2nd or 3rd (or more) generation atheist.
35. Have “atheism” listed on your Facebook or dating profile — and not a euphemistic variant.
36. Attended an atheist’s funeral (i.e. a non-religious service).
Never had the opportunity, thank god (pun intended)
37. Subscribe to an freethought magazine (e.g. Free Inquiry, Skeptic)
38. Have been interviewed by a reporter because of your atheism.
39. Written a letter-to-the-editor about an issue related to your non-belief in God.
Do comments on blogs and online newspaper articles count? Sure, why not. I’m egalitarian.
40. Gave a friend or acquaintance a New Atheist book as a gift.
41. Wear pro-atheist clothing in public.
Would if I had some *more gift hints*
42. Have invited Mormons/Jehovah’s Witnesses into your house specifically because you wanted to argue with them.
Never actually done this. They always seem to come by when dinner is trying to be cooked and the kids are running around like screaming banshees. Mostly I just tell them that I’m satisfied with my lord and saviour SATAN!
43. Have been physically threatened (or beaten up) because you didn’t believe in God.
44. Receive Google Alerts on “atheism” (or variants).
45. Received fewer Christmas presents than expected because people assumed you didn’t celebrate it.
Nope. Keep ‘em coming, guys!
46. Visited The Creation Museum or saw Ben Stein’s Expelled just so you could keep tabs on the “enemy.”
I’m slacking. I need to go hit the Holy Land Experience. I hear they crucify jesus hourly.
47. Refuse to tell anyone what your “sign” is… because it doesn’t matter at all.
48. Are on a mailing list for a Christian organization just so you can see what they’re up to…
Gotta love the WorldNutDaily 
49. Have kept your eyes open while you watched others around you pray.
Been doing that since I was a kid and officially a christian
50. Avoid even Unitarian churches because they’re too close to religion for you.
Nope. I’m even a member of one, except I think I let my membership lapse ’cause I moved too far away to go to it every sunday. Our minister was a lesbian Zen-Buddhist atheist. Gotta love it!
So, how did I do? 24/50. Let’s see where I fall on the scale:
And just so you know how you fare, here’s a scale to rank yourself (adapted from Darwin’s Dagger’s suggestions):0-10: Impressive, but not too far from agnosticism.
11-20: You are, literally, a “New Atheist.” But you now have something to strive for! Go for the full 50!
21-30: You are an atheist, but babies aren’t running away from you. Yet.
31-40: You are the 5th Horseman! Congratulations!
41-50: PZ Myers will now be taking lessons from you.
Dammit, no babies running away. Time to buckle down and get to work.
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