A Sphere For Oat. Propaganda Radio. Satanic Pyramid. A Quaint, and Stupid Relic.

The limitations on Minecraft aren't so terrible. All shapes are cubic, so circles, triangles, etc. would be difficult. Right? Not so right. Sometimes restrictions and repressions act as a pressure, and push the creative force into directions you didn't realize existed. A grapevine that struggles to survive makes a better wine, as Napa Valley has proven time and again.

A builder named Oat was working on an ambitious outer space project, involving an eighth of the earth and some comets. Problem is, spheres are not so easy to render at a smallish size in Minecraft unless you use geometric principles.

Now, I am not very good at math, but when I make circles, spheres, and curves, I go by feeling and not by rules of mathematics. My circles and spheres may turn out crude, but it gets the job done. The problem with circles and squares is, it's too easy to make a circle too square, and it's too easy to make a sphere too "diamondy". I have provided screenshots of a 9 x 9 x 9 model of an eighth of a sphere, in case you'd like to take a shot. The sphere is located next to the Propaganda Radio on one of the WoM servers.
While at work yesterday, I contemplated a punkish piece of Minecraft art. I sometimes think about all of the bullshit spouted by the media from all sides: TV, radio, internet, periodicals, republicans, democrats, fuckwits and geniuses. Everyone can say anything, but that doesn't make their claims true. Everyone is so ready to jump to conclusions without really thinking things through. I am referring to politics of course, but this applies to everything.

You must think I'm paranoid. Perhaps I am. I just don't trust power very easily. The more powerful you are, the less I trust you. A trained tiger is powerful, more powerful than its human trainer. The tiger has the power, and the human just reacts. The tiger will jump through its hoops, but what if it just chooses one day to gnaw off some faces? When I make suggestions along these lines, people often say "No, that'll never happen." How well does that work in the face of betrayal? When you're left hanging in the wind, what good does any of that complacency and denial shit do for you? Shit nothing. Please remove head from ass, thank you kindly =)

Blah blah blah, to the point. I decided to make a radio that spouted the following floating words:
PROPAGANDA
MISINFORMATION
LIES


Later on, somebody mimicked my font and added "STATISTICS" next to "LIES". I believe this to be a statement on the uselessness of statistics as a pusher for propaganda... but if not, feel free to comment about it. Additionally, someone keeps adding "PINK!" in front of the message. The absurdity really doesn't bother me, as this entire situation - life, power, control, cheese, everything - is just absurd.

TRIANGLE FISH BUCKET

Today I helped Joman666 build another pyramid. It's a 25 x 25 gold monument, curiously enough, located behind my Propaganda Radio. Kind of gives you an Illuminati-ish feeling, yes?

The key to building a pyramid is to lay down your foundation with an odd number of blocks. Beginning with an odd number of blocks will give you a single-block capstone. If you start with an even number of blocks, you will have a 2x2 top with no capstone, and the pyramid looks stunted.

The pyramid, with its fiery entrance.

This is the throne room... I assumed the color purple to be sacred to the Egyptians, and made the purple throne at the end of a corridor of torches.

What's this? A secret passage behind the throne?

How far down does this rabbit hole go?

A garden of CULINARY shrooms...

A reversed lava cross with a crystal altar, and vaulted ceiling.

A hidden bedroom where Joman666 lives. The entire pyramid is a front for demonic workings. Here is a bath, and a stove(?). To the right, where you see the lighter colored blocks, is a secret escape route in case trouble comes home to Joman.

A quaint, and rather backwards relic visited the WoM server today in the form of a racist troll looking for attention. His name is Squfar, who claims to be a "proud asian man". The heights of his achievements in life include starting fights on the internet, stirring up petty drama, and banging his sister. If you see him, feel free to greet him with a ban-hammer =)

Sanctuary. Villa Redux. A New Friend.

The griefing of my villa had left a bitter taste in my mouth. I had not yet taken at least a cursory screenshot of my little creation before some jackasses gleefully took it apart. But that's behind me now. I have come to an understanding: your average griefer will be some lonely loser pleading for attention, or perhaps some weird dude who never bathes and peeks in on his sister while she's showering.

Actually, I just made that up. But you'll never know if it's true or not =)

I hopped on to the World of Minecraft server (soon to be locked and have a new server started, as it was full) to have a look around. Newcomers are immediately deposited into a customs-and-immigration style building within a red-walled courtyard. As I quickly learned, the courtyard is for guests, who are non-members of worldofminecraft.com. Guests may build at their leisure, and the server is almost always heavily policed by ops who don't look twice at applying the ban-hammer and spec-hammer on griefing.

Outside of the courtyard is a massive area where members and builders may build whatever they desire, as long as there is no offensive content, such as swastikas or massive penises. Massive penises? What's the deal with that? I suppose some fellows are short-changed in that department. Compensating for something? And what's up with the swastikas I see all over the place, on multiple servers? I am thinking, there's a lot of people out there who really like manji, or there are a lot of white supremacists.

I strolled around, looking at all of the strange and wonderful things that the members were building. Of course there were more gigantic video game sprites, but there were also strange sculptures that defied reason and logic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, from an artistic perspective! =)

Lastly, there is a large field encased in a blue fence, where only builders may make their creations. In World of Minecraft, a builder has a blue name, and gains that rank by building epic creations that make people shit bricks.

A server virtually untouched by griefers, where creative minds can come together??? I had finally found my sanctuary. I immediately signed up (Member name is SYNTAX_ERROR if you want to look me up), and was approved by an admin that was currently on. My creations were safe at last.

I started work on my villa again, except I made a few modifications due to space limitations. Imo, this new version is better. I did my standard 2 br w/ balconies and office, dining room w/ 7 seater table. However, I raised the ceiling height in the dining room and included floor-to-ceiling windows. The front door is through a smaller kitchenette adjacent to the dining room, and the living room is upon a loft that is above the kitchenette. Out the front door is a path that leads around the villa to a small private beach and a wine cellar under the home.

This is the front of the villa. In case you are wondering, it is tightly wedged between a convenience store and a church. Just to the left of where I took this screenie is a tank firing rounds. It's a good neighborhood, I promise!

Just through the front door, you enter the small kitchen. There is a sink and a traditional two-layered stone oven.

This is the 7-seater dining table. The dining room ceiling is vaulted and high, and there are tall floor-to-ceiling windows that allow you a view of the church and Kenny, from South Park, with his long penis. Penis not shown in the picture.

Behind the dining table is an entryway to a deck that wraps around the villa.

Above the kitchen is the living room loft.

This is the living room loft. Before you is a bayview window overlooking the street below and the land beyond, and the window to the right shows the church.

There's more to the villa, but you'll have to see it yourself =)

After working on the villa, I hopped out and met Joman666. When he mentioned building a temple to Satan right outside of my villa, I just couldn't resist! A quaint Satanic shrine would complement the gigantic Kenny from South Park and the convenience store practically latched to my home. We worked together, building a small, golden pyramid upon the entrance, and then digging downwards to create a series of catacombs containing a bedroom, set-in bath, a garden for CULINARY mushrooms, and the shrine itself. The shrine contained a small marble platform with a large, upside-down lava cross and of course, flowers to compliment. What self-respecting Satanic shrine wouldn't have pretty flowers to dress things up a bit?