So last night I dreamed that I went on a weird mission to Pluto to deploy a camera-satellite. It was a white circular device equipped with a lens that took pictures of the planet's surface.
After deploying the satellite, my partner and I donned our astronaut costumes--tight pants and capes--and disembarked the shuttle (which looked hauntingly like the Real Canadian Superstore) to have our photos taken by the satellite (so everyone back on earth could see us in our astronaut costumes??)
Anyways, when we got back to earth I wrote everyone an e-mail telling them that I was in space for a couple of days. So if you got that e-mail, it didn't really happen, it was just a dream, okay?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
On Across the Universe
Janelle and I watched Across the Universe last night. It was really good; one thing that I really liked about it was that it didn't preach. It didn't have a big political message that was right at the forefront. It just had a handful of relevant themes.
One of these themes was war. And it depicted the anti-war and the peace movements in contrast to the Vietnam war. What becomes very evident, though, is that the anti-war protesters are in fact waging a war against war--an exercise that is eventually showed to be self-defeating. Other characters, though, while not waging a public and physical war, are nevertheless engaged in a real battle. What the film shows is that all the characters are deeply tangled in battles of their own.
I think this is true of every human being. We all have wars. Whether they are public and physical wars that we participate in--perhaps by going to Afghanistan as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces--or private, personal wars that we engage in every day. I believe in war. I believe that this planet--and that life itself--is a battlefield. Refusing to fight or denying that there is a war is denying the nature of humanity. I like the line from that film on WW1: "We do this because we're good at it."
One of these themes was war. And it depicted the anti-war and the peace movements in contrast to the Vietnam war. What becomes very evident, though, is that the anti-war protesters are in fact waging a war against war--an exercise that is eventually showed to be self-defeating. Other characters, though, while not waging a public and physical war, are nevertheless engaged in a real battle. What the film shows is that all the characters are deeply tangled in battles of their own.
I think this is true of every human being. We all have wars. Whether they are public and physical wars that we participate in--perhaps by going to Afghanistan as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces--or private, personal wars that we engage in every day. I believe in war. I believe that this planet--and that life itself--is a battlefield. Refusing to fight or denying that there is a war is denying the nature of humanity. I like the line from that film on WW1: "We do this because we're good at it."
Friday, February 8, 2008
Adventures
Yesterday I was reading an article about video and online gaming culture. At the end of the article, several gaming addicts and their partners or people close to them commented on the effects of this kind of addiction. Reading it, I was surprised at first at how many ordinary people are addicted to online gaming. I mean, these were nice, regular, family people, not computer geeks who hide out in basements and have no friends or significant others.
There were some women, but most of the online game addicts were men. And while I haven't much insight into why women would be addicted to this sort of thing, I think I can understand at least some of the reasons why some men can be addicted to video games. I mean, we sometimes automatically think--video games? and put all the gaming addicts into one box (or dingy basement) and label them all "geeks." But they're not, they're regular people...
So here are my thoughts; some reasons why men can be addicted to video and online games. I write from personal experience; I know about this because I know myself.
One game that I find particularly addictive is called Freeciv. It's got poor graphics and all that stuff, and when you get right to thinking about it, it's not so much fun. You just build an empire and conquer the world or send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri before the year 2000 or something like that. Anyways, the whole reason why I find it addictive is that I get to make big decisions, administer an empire, and while I know that it's a fantasy, it makes me feel competent and in control. It's a fantasy that I'm doing something meaningful and it's easy to get so caught up in it that you can think and believe that you're doing something meaningful and important.
I also like to play real time strategy games, for the same reason.
A different genre I find particularly addictive is the role playing game, also known as RPG. The reason this genre is addictive is that it gives me an adventure with varying degrees of freedom. Not that the freedom in itself is very important, but the fact that I have control over my adventure, my choices govern my adventure. The game presents me with a series of problems that I can solve whichever way I want. And that is pretty significant. Along the way to solving the problems there are always battles to fight.
I think there's something in the male psyche that is starved without adventure (I can't speak for the female psyche--I don't have one.) and these games offer us adventures. Sure, the adventures are artificial, but our world seems to have cut out adventure. For many of us, it's impossible to find real adventures outside of these games. I think these games wouldn't have nearly as much marketability if the real world offered real adventures. Instead, in the real world, I'm finding it hard to find a place for myself. My actions, my decisions have no impact. I don't make a difference--worse, I can't make a difference.
I know... people will say, I do make a difference. And I know what you mean and I can accept that. I make a difference to the people who love me. I hope you know, you make a difference to me too. But...
...I'm talking about BIG difference here. I'm talking about adventures with far-reaching and life-altering consequences. I don't particularly care if people in Thailand know about me or not, the issue is not that I want fame or even money or glory, what I want is to feel like I've done something, accomplished something. Without that feeling, it's so easy to feel bored with the real world.
I don't hate my job. In fact, I have a lot of fun at work and I like my coworkers and I enjoy my work-environment. But I do find it by far the most boring job I have ever had or could ever have. Maybe that's an exaggeration... but the point is that I come to work, make and sell pizzas, and go home. I'm not saying that that's boring, on the contrary, making pizzas could be a very exciting thing. Let's pretend there was video game where you have to build a chain of pizza shops across a city. You have to pick the best locations for your stores, you have to interview and hire employees, you have to manage your stores and compete against other stores. Wow, that would be a great game! It would be addictive too. Isn't that weird? Something so brutally mundane as making and selling pizzas could become a best selling video game. (Ok, I'm not so sure about the best-selling part, but it would definitely turn a profit.)
Do you get the point though? The most exciting thing I've done at my job so far is sheet-outs. I try to make as many sheet-outs as I can in the smallest amount of time possible. That's exciting because I'm racing against time. I have a goal, and deadline, and I'm racing to meet it, working with my whole body, as fast as I can. Another exciting part of my job is when I'm on cash and we have to do a ring-off every half hour. Every day, Manager Colin sets a sales goal (well, he thinks of it as a forecast, I like to think of it as a goal because it makes my job more meaningful) anyways, the ring-offs are exciting because I get to see how we're doing compared to the goal. When we exceed the goal I'm thrilled because I feel like I accomplished something, I feel like I'm a contributing member of a winning team. And I think that's an important feeling. But in the everyday life of the real world, thrills like that are few and far between. In the artificial world of online and video gaming thrills like that are almost unavoidable.
There were some women, but most of the online game addicts were men. And while I haven't much insight into why women would be addicted to this sort of thing, I think I can understand at least some of the reasons why some men can be addicted to video games. I mean, we sometimes automatically think--video games? and put all the gaming addicts into one box (or dingy basement) and label them all "geeks." But they're not, they're regular people...
So here are my thoughts; some reasons why men can be addicted to video and online games. I write from personal experience; I know about this because I know myself.
One game that I find particularly addictive is called Freeciv. It's got poor graphics and all that stuff, and when you get right to thinking about it, it's not so much fun. You just build an empire and conquer the world or send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri before the year 2000 or something like that. Anyways, the whole reason why I find it addictive is that I get to make big decisions, administer an empire, and while I know that it's a fantasy, it makes me feel competent and in control. It's a fantasy that I'm doing something meaningful and it's easy to get so caught up in it that you can think and believe that you're doing something meaningful and important.
I also like to play real time strategy games, for the same reason.
A different genre I find particularly addictive is the role playing game, also known as RPG. The reason this genre is addictive is that it gives me an adventure with varying degrees of freedom. Not that the freedom in itself is very important, but the fact that I have control over my adventure, my choices govern my adventure. The game presents me with a series of problems that I can solve whichever way I want. And that is pretty significant. Along the way to solving the problems there are always battles to fight.
I think there's something in the male psyche that is starved without adventure (I can't speak for the female psyche--I don't have one.) and these games offer us adventures. Sure, the adventures are artificial, but our world seems to have cut out adventure. For many of us, it's impossible to find real adventures outside of these games. I think these games wouldn't have nearly as much marketability if the real world offered real adventures. Instead, in the real world, I'm finding it hard to find a place for myself. My actions, my decisions have no impact. I don't make a difference--worse, I can't make a difference.
I know... people will say, I do make a difference. And I know what you mean and I can accept that. I make a difference to the people who love me. I hope you know, you make a difference to me too. But...
...I'm talking about BIG difference here. I'm talking about adventures with far-reaching and life-altering consequences. I don't particularly care if people in Thailand know about me or not, the issue is not that I want fame or even money or glory, what I want is to feel like I've done something, accomplished something. Without that feeling, it's so easy to feel bored with the real world.
I don't hate my job. In fact, I have a lot of fun at work and I like my coworkers and I enjoy my work-environment. But I do find it by far the most boring job I have ever had or could ever have. Maybe that's an exaggeration... but the point is that I come to work, make and sell pizzas, and go home. I'm not saying that that's boring, on the contrary, making pizzas could be a very exciting thing. Let's pretend there was video game where you have to build a chain of pizza shops across a city. You have to pick the best locations for your stores, you have to interview and hire employees, you have to manage your stores and compete against other stores. Wow, that would be a great game! It would be addictive too. Isn't that weird? Something so brutally mundane as making and selling pizzas could become a best selling video game. (Ok, I'm not so sure about the best-selling part, but it would definitely turn a profit.)
Do you get the point though? The most exciting thing I've done at my job so far is sheet-outs. I try to make as many sheet-outs as I can in the smallest amount of time possible. That's exciting because I'm racing against time. I have a goal, and deadline, and I'm racing to meet it, working with my whole body, as fast as I can. Another exciting part of my job is when I'm on cash and we have to do a ring-off every half hour. Every day, Manager Colin sets a sales goal (well, he thinks of it as a forecast, I like to think of it as a goal because it makes my job more meaningful) anyways, the ring-offs are exciting because I get to see how we're doing compared to the goal. When we exceed the goal I'm thrilled because I feel like I accomplished something, I feel like I'm a contributing member of a winning team. And I think that's an important feeling. But in the everyday life of the real world, thrills like that are few and far between. In the artificial world of online and video gaming thrills like that are almost unavoidable.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
new look at 3dhippo.com
in case you haven't noticed yet, 3dhippo.com has a new look... okay, the penguin wasn't supposed to have a black eye and his bow tie was supposed to be white. there are still a few glitches.
anyways, i plan to add product somewhat regularly. especially movies, now that i can make them again. (i found a way to make my computer run swish.)
anyways, i plan to add product somewhat regularly. especially movies, now that i can make them again. (i found a way to make my computer run swish.)
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