JohnnyBGamer

Captain America

Director Joe Johnson’s The Rocketeer & October Sky are two of my most favorite films.

As an eleven year old boy, my fondness for The Rocketeer was unparalleled. Watching the movie a grand total of six times in theater, I was enamored with the world and life of pilot Cliff Secord. For those of you who haven’t seen the film– shame on you!–, The Rocketeer is akin to strapping a jet pack to Indiana Jones. In other words, you’re in for one heck of a ride!

Growing up, I always wanted to escape the town I grew up in. Those that stayed and didn’t commute elsewhere were destined to work at the local pharmaceutical factory. In other words, I could totally relate to October Sky’s Homer Hickam and his desire to leave the mining town of Coalwood. Homer’s tale of pursuing his dream of joining Wernher Von Braun, set against the backdrop of his dad struggling to understand him, make October Sky a must see. I love this film.

The newest trailer for Joe Johnson’s next film, Captain America: The First Avenger, came out a day or two ago. I am excited to see how this film turns out based on the director’s past work. Are you?

Office Thoughts

Working in the world of an ————- office has led me to experience some extreme highs and deep lows professionally. As a front office manager, I have been placed in the unique position to fully observe almost all events in the office. In thinking through the different situations I have observed/experienced, both the good and the bad, I have come to conclude that:

Education Should Never Cease – This is as simple as providing constructive feedback to employees without belittling them. No one ever learns by being verbally assaulted over an issue. Instead, taking time to work through/ explain a potential problem helps an employee when they tackle the same issue again in the future.
Management Needs to Lead by Example – Yelling at employees, slamming the phone down on the desk in anger, and demanding unrealistic expectations are the actions of an office diva/ dictator. Don’t do these things! Instead, treat others as you want to be treated. A manager who believes that he has “earned” the right to treat employees in this manner, due to time spent working for the firm, is a manager leading his employees into a personal (daily) Hell. Don’t be this person.

Lazy Sunday

Sunday afternoons always seem to drag on into infinity…

Lately, the weather has been rather warm for spring time in East Texas. The 80 degree days have started reminding me of our blazing hot/humid summers. All in all, it is far too early for weather like this.

Yesterday, in an attempt to stave off the cabin fever Sunday’s induce, my wife, son, and I piled into the family sedan and headed off to Target. Our mission: To spend some giftcards we had recently received.

Walking through the store, my wife and I looked at dinner plates, blenders, and solar powered lanterns–I love these things!–. Eventually we made our way to the boardgame aisle. It was then that my wife spotted this:

Now, I have found that boardgames can really be a huge hit or a miss. Usually, I won’t buy a new boardgame unless we have had a chance to test-drive it, per se. But, having giftcards to spend, we decided that perhaps it was time to Pass the Popcorn. Now, for those of you who haven’t played, Pass the Popcorn is a movie trivia game.

To play, one player reads out the top of the card (“1980 Comedy”), and then the other player asks a question depending on what tile they have selected (Tiles range from Quotes, Story, Cast, Characters, etc.). If you guess the movie title right, you win!

Long after the Target trip and soon after my son had been put to bed for the night, my wife and I tried the game out. We had a really good time!

Sometimes its nice to just turn off the TV and enjoy spending time with those around you.

Prayer

A good Sunday morning to you all!

Something I realized after writing last was that I have failed to pray over JBG as a ministry and have instead been relying on my own gifts and strengths. So, I want to take this Sunday and pray over JBG, it’s future, and discover what God’s will is for having a video game site that shares His light. If you’d join me today in prayer, I’d appreciate it!

Need

When I first started this site back in 2003, I started JBG to fill a perceived need. The lack of a Christian voice, in the gaming media, was deafening to me. Almost 9 years later, that lack of a Christian voice is still deafening. If anything, the gaming media has only grown more perverse…more bold in it’s love of sin and sometimes hatred for Christianity.

Starting out, I had wanted Johnny B Gamer to become a becon of sorts; a light against this growing darkness. This hasn’t happened to the extent I thought it would. I feel like I have failed…

So right now I am trying to figure out what it means to be salt and light online. How to create something that is competitive with the big boys.

You may laugh at me…but I still think the need to provide a safe place online to read about video games exists. I’m just unsure what that looks like and I am tired of being alone in this endeavour. Looking for encouragement…