Greetings and salutations, you few people who actually follow me here.
It's been a while, hasn't it?
Well, to tell you the truth, I really haven't had anything to write about. That's probably why I no longer write for Spawnkill, even though the people who invited me to write there didn't exactly give me a written notice of departure. Just a no longer editor/writer status. Which, to tell you the truth, kind of sucked. You know, a "hey, since you haven't written anything here in a while you need to pick up the pace" kind of e-mail would have alleviated the worry I had, but no. Just no more access to the writer side of the page. No worries, though. I hadn't written anything there in a while, and I kind of expected it. Some kind of communication would have been appreciated though. Whatever, I'll get over it.
So, things. Yes, I've been battling writer's block for quite a minute now. It's just that writing about video games hasn't really appealed to me lately, seeing as how everyone and their dog has been writing about how this game is great and how that game sucks and how their opinion is the be all, end all of everything, I just didn't find that that's my niche anymore. So I've been searching myself for what I'd like to write about.
And I can't find anything that interests me enough.
Sad, I know. Well, sad to anyone that's ever had an interest in doing something professionally and then realizing that the market is so over-saturated that regardless of how well you write and how much time you are afforded to put into it while having a nine to five job that even the few scraps that you're handed aren't enough to keep your "job" is. Not trying to bitch, just saying.
So, from now on, I'm going to try and write, not bitch like my fun little diatribe about American drivers was, about things that apply to me in my life. Can't say that I'll be on top of things all the time, but I'm going to damn well try to keep doing this. Stay in practice, for if and when I can actually do something that I really like to do, as opposed to the soul suck that is my real job.
Anyway, long story short, I should be back writing here at least a few times a week about... Well, whatever, but as long as people keep reading and responding, then I'll keep it up.
Thanks.
Mike
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
On Driving (a.k.a. I Fucking Hate You, American Drivers)
If you've ever followed me on an unspecified forums "Venting Anger" thread, you'd know that I rarely every rage against anything. Except driving. Because goddammit you stupid motherfuckers need to get out of my fucking way or at least drive with some semblance of intellegence. Now, don't get me wrong, not everyone out there is a moron, and I'm not the end all, be all driver, but there are enough people out there with no idea of what they're doing in such a large, expensive piece of equipment that I feel it's my civic duty to vent about it on the internet. It's what the Jesus would have done.
First things first though, and why, exactly, am I so mad at all these "innocent" people on the road? Mostly it's because they have forgetten what they're out there for, the main reason being DRIVING. Yes, that's right, you got in your car to go somewhere in a timely fashion, saving you the trouble of walking however many miles because we've moved on in the world. However, some people have forgotten this. The car, to them, is a social place, a place to have conversations with the people riding with them or on the phone. Nevermind that a car is a very complex machine, nevermind that the traffic system has been worked out for cars moving at certain speeds or even expectations of certain speeds, these people need to emphatically finish whatever it is they're talking about before proceeding to push their gas pedal down. That's not even counting the people busy doing something else, from lighting a cigarette to eating, that are too preoccupied in their own world to be considerate of the people around them. I know, it's easy to fall back into doing other things while moving, changing the radio station, seeing who's calling, wondering what that spot on the carpet in the passenger seat is, I've done it, you've done it, we've all done it, but it's really not appropriate behavior while in a moving, massive vehicle. It's dangerous, yo.
Let's now take the first person at the stoplight. You, sir or madam, are the MOST IMPORTANT person in your lane. You dictate the action of all the cars behind you. You are an ambassador of driving for Yourlania to the people from Theotherlania, which also helps dictate the actions of the people of Behindyourfuckingcarvia. So, you see, you have a very important job in which you should be taking pride and careful attention to detail. This means that when the light turns green and you sit there, oblivous to the fact that other people are depending on you doing your job in a timely fashion, you're not only failing yourself but EVERYONE AROUND YOU. You are a disgrace to your job and yourself. Pay a-fucking-ttention. Now, this doesn't mean jam on your accelerator like a mad person everytime the light turns green. No, a steady acceleration is fine, however the wait until the light turns, register, press, realize it's ok, press a bit harder, double check the cross lights are read, realize it's ok, and press harder until you finally start moving across the goddamn intersection is not an acceptable method of moving forward.
Speaking of intersections, I do realize that most people driving nowdays have forgotten what it is to cross an intersection on foot. Designers, realizing that not everyone has cars, decided to help not only the people walking, but people who want to turn right on red and would like to see to their left. They put in what is commonly referred to as a "cross-walk", which you can see as you pull up to the intersection as broad white lines that go from one side of the street to the other. A common misconception is that if you pull all the way up to the far one, that is the one closest to the middle of the street, you will get there faster or the light will change in honor of you being closer to it than anyone else. This is false. In fact, the only thing you're doing is making it harder for people to cross where they're supposed to be crossing, and making it completely impossible for people to see if anyone is coming before they turn without getting themselves hit in the process. Besides that, ninety percent of cars I see do this are the last to actually leave the intersection. So, next time you want to get a jump on being the first across the way, why not hang back and watch the light.
Now for you cell phone people, and I have a whole other post coming for why I hate you specifically, but for now I'll concentrate on the driving part of my hate for you. I, for one, don't understand this fascination with being able to talk to people all the time. Especially when it distracts you from other things, such as making a transaction at a store without being considered a rude asshole that wants everyone to know that you're buying chicken pot pies, to not being able to see that car that's coming and reacting quickly enough to not get hit, to being able to make a right turn without taking your hand off the wheel four times to turn your steering wheel far enough to actually make the goddamn turn. Actually, I can't talk about cell phones for an individual reason, they just make me so goddamn angry. I'll move on.
School zones are there to help you slow down and keep an eye out for kids going to/coming home from school. They are generally identifiable by the large flashing yellow light over the big sign that says SCHOOL ZONE. This means slow down to 20 mph and keep an eye out for children. Besides school zones, residential areas, and alleys you should not be going 20 miles an hour. Going fast is not the only way you can be dangerous to other drivers on the road. Going too slow, impeding the way, and not being seen until the last second by someone going twenty miles an hour faster than you can be just as dangerous as going twenty miles an hour faster than someone and slamming in the back of a car that is going too slow for its own good.
Anyway, TL;DR Learn to fucking drive, assholes.
First things first though, and why, exactly, am I so mad at all these "innocent" people on the road? Mostly it's because they have forgetten what they're out there for, the main reason being DRIVING. Yes, that's right, you got in your car to go somewhere in a timely fashion, saving you the trouble of walking however many miles because we've moved on in the world. However, some people have forgotten this. The car, to them, is a social place, a place to have conversations with the people riding with them or on the phone. Nevermind that a car is a very complex machine, nevermind that the traffic system has been worked out for cars moving at certain speeds or even expectations of certain speeds, these people need to emphatically finish whatever it is they're talking about before proceeding to push their gas pedal down. That's not even counting the people busy doing something else, from lighting a cigarette to eating, that are too preoccupied in their own world to be considerate of the people around them. I know, it's easy to fall back into doing other things while moving, changing the radio station, seeing who's calling, wondering what that spot on the carpet in the passenger seat is, I've done it, you've done it, we've all done it, but it's really not appropriate behavior while in a moving, massive vehicle. It's dangerous, yo.
Let's now take the first person at the stoplight. You, sir or madam, are the MOST IMPORTANT person in your lane. You dictate the action of all the cars behind you. You are an ambassador of driving for Yourlania to the people from Theotherlania, which also helps dictate the actions of the people of Behindyourfuckingcarvia. So, you see, you have a very important job in which you should be taking pride and careful attention to detail. This means that when the light turns green and you sit there, oblivous to the fact that other people are depending on you doing your job in a timely fashion, you're not only failing yourself but EVERYONE AROUND YOU. You are a disgrace to your job and yourself. Pay a-fucking-ttention. Now, this doesn't mean jam on your accelerator like a mad person everytime the light turns green. No, a steady acceleration is fine, however the wait until the light turns, register, press, realize it's ok, press a bit harder, double check the cross lights are read, realize it's ok, and press harder until you finally start moving across the goddamn intersection is not an acceptable method of moving forward.
Speaking of intersections, I do realize that most people driving nowdays have forgotten what it is to cross an intersection on foot. Designers, realizing that not everyone has cars, decided to help not only the people walking, but people who want to turn right on red and would like to see to their left. They put in what is commonly referred to as a "cross-walk", which you can see as you pull up to the intersection as broad white lines that go from one side of the street to the other. A common misconception is that if you pull all the way up to the far one, that is the one closest to the middle of the street, you will get there faster or the light will change in honor of you being closer to it than anyone else. This is false. In fact, the only thing you're doing is making it harder for people to cross where they're supposed to be crossing, and making it completely impossible for people to see if anyone is coming before they turn without getting themselves hit in the process. Besides that, ninety percent of cars I see do this are the last to actually leave the intersection. So, next time you want to get a jump on being the first across the way, why not hang back and watch the light.
Now for you cell phone people, and I have a whole other post coming for why I hate you specifically, but for now I'll concentrate on the driving part of my hate for you. I, for one, don't understand this fascination with being able to talk to people all the time. Especially when it distracts you from other things, such as making a transaction at a store without being considered a rude asshole that wants everyone to know that you're buying chicken pot pies, to not being able to see that car that's coming and reacting quickly enough to not get hit, to being able to make a right turn without taking your hand off the wheel four times to turn your steering wheel far enough to actually make the goddamn turn. Actually, I can't talk about cell phones for an individual reason, they just make me so goddamn angry. I'll move on.
School zones are there to help you slow down and keep an eye out for kids going to/coming home from school. They are generally identifiable by the large flashing yellow light over the big sign that says SCHOOL ZONE. This means slow down to 20 mph and keep an eye out for children. Besides school zones, residential areas, and alleys you should not be going 20 miles an hour. Going fast is not the only way you can be dangerous to other drivers on the road. Going too slow, impeding the way, and not being seen until the last second by someone going twenty miles an hour faster than you can be just as dangerous as going twenty miles an hour faster than someone and slamming in the back of a car that is going too slow for its own good.
Anyway, TL;DR Learn to fucking drive, assholes.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rambles on Gaming, Rock, and Media Interaction
When people bring up the "rock 'n' roll" comparison to the video game acceptance struggle, I've always said to myself that it's a completely different beast. Movies, rock, controversial art, these movements had something that video gaming does not, mainly, a public forum. And with that public forum people could come out and see for themselves what was being lambasted by the writers and talking heads, and (for most of them), be able to form their own opinion based on witnessing what it was that was being said was so wrong. I say had because in this day and age of the internet and "right now" culture, a public forum does little without becoming much more than a soundbite.
How many people went to those rock shows, those art house movies, those exhibitions of what one considers art? How many people want to go out and purchase a console and a piece of software to maybe get a chance at figuring out the controls of an unfamiliar medium to maybe be decent enough to experience fully what a game can truly be? It's a difference of seeing something and processing it for yourself right then, with purchasing, setting up, learning the basics, finally being able to experience, and then being trying to make up your mind from what you did, not knowing if what you did was right or not. Chances are that people not already into this experience are going to be able to easily access it to see what all the fuss is about.
With a movie, how much past interaction with movies as a whole do you really need to process what it is that's been presented to you? With a song, how much time having listened to music at all do you need to, at the very least, appreciate it? If you're playing a video game, how much time and effort do you have to put in to know if what you're even doing it right? Gaming, in it's own name, gives itself away. To play a game, you need to know how to play, how to play within the rules, and how to win. With any other form of interaction with a medium all you really need is yourself and an open mind.
And that's not even bringing into light the fact that most gamers didn't even live through those times. The most current event in the cultural landscape that I can even think of is when albums started being subjected to parental advisory stickers after 2 Live Crew went "too far" with their subject matter. To compare something like ratings and being able to purchase a medium to the struggle of an artist trying to get what they believe is a form of expression is just pretentious. And as gamers, we have a ratings board, we have classifications, we have numerous websites devoted to bringing this information to the forefront. So why is it still being looked down on as a kids hobby, and why do we still have to justify ourselves so fully to the "general public", even when that general public is the same demographic that's buying and playing these games?
I think it has to do with how gaming is still presented in the traditional media. While a plethora of information is available on the internet, only those people who know how to get to it get to share in it. Meanwhile, a talking head on the television is relaying "information" about gaming out to an uninformed section of people, using bullet points and avoiding sharing all the available facts while pushing their agenda, mainly fear, to get what they want someone else to think. Never mind if they themselves believe it or not, but an audience is what they want and, by pushing a "sex and violence being thrust upon the poor children of the world" mindset, they are getting their viewers. The unfortunate truth as I see it is that those people's children are growing up faster than they themselves would like while they're watching other people tell them what they should be doing to raise those kids according to an unrealistic standard being set forth by people who have no idea what they're talking about doesn't even come into their minds. Not even to mention that most controversial games are being marketed to a completely different age set that grew up gaming, and would like to see it mature into a new kind of experience. Are kids going to get those "murdergames"? Yes. Would a little parental guidance be a lot easier on everyone than banning one of the more profitable industries in the world? Hell yes.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where a bit of misinformation can become fact quicker than you can type Wikipedia. With repetition, anything can become fact on the internet and in the mind of the public. Just like any conspiracy theory, from the fake moon landing to the 9/11 truthers, if you get enough people yelling that they are right, someone, somewhere is going to believe them. Numbers can lie, and fact and fiction can be worded out to become the truth in different ways. While some studies show that gaming is, while not harmless not any more harming than television or music, some studies show that gaming is becoming the downfall of society. It depends on what information those studies are looking for, and how they garner their information. And with a population that more often than not is looking for a way to back up what they already think, less people are becoming informed on both sides of the issue.
How many people went to those rock shows, those art house movies, those exhibitions of what one considers art? How many people want to go out and purchase a console and a piece of software to maybe get a chance at figuring out the controls of an unfamiliar medium to maybe be decent enough to experience fully what a game can truly be? It's a difference of seeing something and processing it for yourself right then, with purchasing, setting up, learning the basics, finally being able to experience, and then being trying to make up your mind from what you did, not knowing if what you did was right or not. Chances are that people not already into this experience are going to be able to easily access it to see what all the fuss is about.
With a movie, how much past interaction with movies as a whole do you really need to process what it is that's been presented to you? With a song, how much time having listened to music at all do you need to, at the very least, appreciate it? If you're playing a video game, how much time and effort do you have to put in to know if what you're even doing it right? Gaming, in it's own name, gives itself away. To play a game, you need to know how to play, how to play within the rules, and how to win. With any other form of interaction with a medium all you really need is yourself and an open mind.
And that's not even bringing into light the fact that most gamers didn't even live through those times. The most current event in the cultural landscape that I can even think of is when albums started being subjected to parental advisory stickers after 2 Live Crew went "too far" with their subject matter. To compare something like ratings and being able to purchase a medium to the struggle of an artist trying to get what they believe is a form of expression is just pretentious. And as gamers, we have a ratings board, we have classifications, we have numerous websites devoted to bringing this information to the forefront. So why is it still being looked down on as a kids hobby, and why do we still have to justify ourselves so fully to the "general public", even when that general public is the same demographic that's buying and playing these games?
I think it has to do with how gaming is still presented in the traditional media. While a plethora of information is available on the internet, only those people who know how to get to it get to share in it. Meanwhile, a talking head on the television is relaying "information" about gaming out to an uninformed section of people, using bullet points and avoiding sharing all the available facts while pushing their agenda, mainly fear, to get what they want someone else to think. Never mind if they themselves believe it or not, but an audience is what they want and, by pushing a "sex and violence being thrust upon the poor children of the world" mindset, they are getting their viewers. The unfortunate truth as I see it is that those people's children are growing up faster than they themselves would like while they're watching other people tell them what they should be doing to raise those kids according to an unrealistic standard being set forth by people who have no idea what they're talking about doesn't even come into their minds. Not even to mention that most controversial games are being marketed to a completely different age set that grew up gaming, and would like to see it mature into a new kind of experience. Are kids going to get those "murdergames"? Yes. Would a little parental guidance be a lot easier on everyone than banning one of the more profitable industries in the world? Hell yes.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where a bit of misinformation can become fact quicker than you can type Wikipedia. With repetition, anything can become fact on the internet and in the mind of the public. Just like any conspiracy theory, from the fake moon landing to the 9/11 truthers, if you get enough people yelling that they are right, someone, somewhere is going to believe them. Numbers can lie, and fact and fiction can be worded out to become the truth in different ways. While some studies show that gaming is, while not harmless not any more harming than television or music, some studies show that gaming is becoming the downfall of society. It depends on what information those studies are looking for, and how they garner their information. And with a population that more often than not is looking for a way to back up what they already think, less people are becoming informed on both sides of the issue.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Yup. Sure is Quiet Over Here...
So.
It's been a while.
Well, I've been "busy", so lay off me. No, not really, I just have had the most horrible writer's block for the past month or two. Being starving artist broke will do that to you, along with the post-holiday blues.
However, I feel that maybe I have some motivation, some, INTEREST, in writing again. So, I'll be posting up some stuff in the next few days.
Hope you didn't miss me.
MGMT
It's been a while.
Well, I've been "busy", so lay off me. No, not really, I just have had the most horrible writer's block for the past month or two. Being starving artist broke will do that to you, along with the post-holiday blues.
However, I feel that maybe I have some motivation, some, INTEREST, in writing again. So, I'll be posting up some stuff in the next few days.
Hope you didn't miss me.
MGMT
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