All Minecraft, All the Time

So, let's see what Damien has been up to in Minecraft since we last checked in.

His love affair with underwater pumpkins continues.

He's also developing his house-building skills.

...and sometimes combining the two.

Underwater pumpkin house!

GeoGuessr

Remember my little adventure to discover where some Ford Mustang marketing photos were taken? Well, someone made a game out of that: GeoGuessr.

It turns out I'm really good. So far, my boast is that I was able to correctly identify, to within two meters, a location in the middle of the Kalahari desert in Botswana.

Speaking of Minecraft

As previously mentioned, St. John Notch has been rescued via the use of a level editor. The details were that I recreated the level with the same seed, then copied and pasted the cathedral and surrounding grounds into the new version, then rebuilt the missing portion. The Crafting Murloc also joined me to help complete it.

Here's the restored portion of the cathedral. Note gold tabernacle.

Since it's east-facing, like all churches worth their salt, the sunrise shows through the window.

Preschoolers + Minecraft = Chaos

So, while Damien wasn't looking, I made a copy of his Minecraft save game so I could see what he's been up to. Join me, won't you, for this voyage of discovery into the mind of a three-year-old.

Before we begin, I would like to point out that I have spent very little time teaching him how to play. I've shown him how to move and look around, and how to copy items out of the creative mode inventory. He's learned just about everything else himself from either watching me play, or figuring it out on his own.

So the first thing we see when we log on is...

Wikipedia Fact of the Day

You know the movie Singin' in the Rain? Awesome movie, right? Y'know how the plot revolves around Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) dubbing her voice for Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), because Lamont's voice is so terrible?

Well, technically-not-ironically-because-it's-not-a-reversal-of-expectations-but-the-word-ironic-should-honestly-just-be-appropriated-for-these-kinds-of-funny-coincidences, Debbie Reynolds own voice was dubbed over in a couple numbers, "Would You?" and "You are My Lucky Star" by Betty Noyes.

Here's Debbie Reynolds singing "You are My Lucky Star", in a scene cut from the movie:

***BREAKING NEWS***

So, you remember my friend Patrick Leinen, and his brother Chip? Remember, they wrote the Confession app which got so much press for being the first smartphone app to carry an imprimatur and nihil obstat?

Patrick Leinen: 2001 file photo

Well, they're at it again:


First Mobile App to be Launched by Pope from Vatican

South Bend, IN — On Friday Pope Francis will break new ground by becoming the first Pope to launch a mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android. The Pontifical Mission Societies’ MISSIO app is a free app that features the latest news and video from around the world about the Catholic Church. This launch event marks a unique, historic moment for the Church and her use of digital technology to connect with the faithful.

Little i Apps, an app development company, was chosen by the Pontifical Mission Societies to develop both the mobile application and the proprietary software that will allow the app to be globally activated by Pope Francis from the Vatican. Little i Apps is no stranger to drawing connections between digital and sacred spaces. In 2011, they developed and launched, Confession: A Roman Catholic App, which triggered an international response to how individuals could properly make use of digital tools to aid their spiritual lives. “We are excited and honored to have been selected to develop the first app launched by a Pope. The importance of this launch and the opportunity to help spread the Good News globally is not lost on us,” said Patrick Leinen, co-founder of Little i Apps.  According to Fr. Andrew Small, OMI, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and visionary behind the app, the Pope has personally shared his eagerness for the release of MISSIO.

This event will fall on the heels of World Communications Day when the Catholic Church reflects on the former pontiff, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s invitation to Catholics to make better use of social media in sharing the Gospel. The Pope Emeritus, who opened the first papal Twitter account, challenged the Church to think about social networking sites as “new spaces for evangelization.” Pope Francis offers Catholics a new opportunity with the launch of MISSIO to reflect on ways their mobile devices can also be used as spaces for evangelization.

Catholics and non-Catholics alike are invited to participate in this event by downloading MISSIO today.  The app will remain locked until Pope Francis personally unlocks it with the tap of an iPad button from the Vatican. Users around the world will then receive a push notification that the app has been launched by the Pope and is ready for use.

MISSIO is available for free at the iTunes App Store and Google Play. For more information, please visit Little i Apps online at http://www.littleiapps.com or contact Patrick Leinen, developer and co-founder, at marketing@littleiapps.com or call 574-307-0853. To learn more about the Pontifical Mission Societies and their global work or to donate to their cause, visit their website at http://www.onefamilyinmission.org/.

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Another version of the press release added the line: "the Pope has personally shared his eagerness for the release of MISSIO and requested an Android version for his own smartphone."

That totally vindicates my choice of smartphone.

Quicker Takes

So, following on his ability to burp at will, Damien can now toot on command.

...which, we realized, means that he has total control over those muscles down there and he has no reason not to be potty trained.

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I discovered recently that I'd been unknowingly been buying vegan chili for the last month. Did not notice it was meatless, even after eating it numerous times.

It's good chili.

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More Damien adventures in Minecraft: I made his game public on our LAN, so Anne Marie could join. She tried to start building a farm, and building in a Minecraft game run by a three-year-old is about as effective as cleaning a house lived in by a three-year-old. Anyways, I pointed out Rie's character to Damien, and he ran to her said "Hi, mommy!" dropped TNT at her feet, and lit the fuse. He spent the next 30 minutes following her around doing this.

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I've been growing my moustache out. It's now long enough to twirl. It's great, because now I have something to do with my hands while I think up evil schemes.

Actually, it's always assumed that supervillains grow evil facial hair because they're evil. But has anyone investigated whether the correlation goes the other way? Maybe facial hair just makes one evil. Maybe the hairs implant evil thoughts into one's head. Like, here comes one now: "I shall shave all the bunnies, kittens, and puppies in the world, depriving it of cuteness! Muahahaha!"

Hey, I never claimed they were good evil schemes.

But on the plus side, if we ever find my long-lost twin, we'll know which of us is the evil one.

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When did "totes" become a word, and can I hate everyone who uses it?

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What's the difference between a terrorist and a three-year-old? You can negotiate with a terrorist.