Literary Gaming

So I grew up with games. As a kid I remember making my own board games out of sheets of plywood, painting the pathways and scenery on the board straight from my imagination. My grandfather would help me cut the game pieces from wooden dowels and other similar things and I'd paint them different colors and make instructional sheets on index cards. I even went so far as to type up the instruction boolet on my grandmother's typewriter. It came full-tilt with a custom illustrated outer cover made from construction paper, which I cut to the perfect size and stapled to the rest of the booklet. I was pretty crafty. I didn't realize the implications then, but as I sat there typing instructions for my games I was surely writing stories. After all, what good is a game without some sort of plot or goal to reach? Can this be considered literature?

Maybe, maybe not. At least, not at that level. There needs to be something more to it.

Some time later I got sucked into these new games that could be played on our television via something called a "controller". The first games I ever played were Karnov and Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt back when the original 8-bit NES was new. We had two of them - one at our house and one at grandma's. That was it, I'm telling you. It was too cool for words. Over some years these games became more and more intricate, and I have the fondest memories playing games with my brother and our friends and cousins. But for the times when they weren't around, I endlessly enjoyed immersing myself in RPGs. Final Fantasy II and III, Breath of Fire, and Chrono Trigger specifically. Those were really something else. I still recall those games as having some of the best story lines in the genre of Fantasy that I've ever known. Perhaps it was just because I was younger. Still, I think if someone ever takes the initiative to adapt those games into movies they'd be some of the best Sci-Fi films we've seen in a long time. I'd say they may even be up there with The Lord of the Rings, if done properly.

I think people interested in the Fantasy genre owe it to themselves to find a way, if they have not done so already, by which to go through one of those original RPG games and appreciate them for themselves. At some point the boundary between the medium, technology progression, and reality blurs such that you forget about how primitive the games are (compared to today's technology) and simply immerse yourself in the experience. Ultimately it isn't about how realistic we can make things look and sound. The most realistic-looking games in existence are nothing without that which made those old games truly original. There really isn't anything else like them. They are fairly epic stories, involving dozens of characters and sub-plots within the main structure. The stories and characters arc just as they do in books and movies. If you ask me I'd say that they are, in fact, literary experiences. They have that extra "something". The dialog may be simplified, but it is no less effective or emotional.

Paul Thomas Anderson

One of the most prominent aspects of Paul Thomas Anderson's films that I've noticed is his use of longer shots. Most of them are rather stationary, while some move quite a bit, often following one of the characters through an environment of some kind. I watched There Will Be Blood, Punch Drunk Love, and Magnolia. Of the three I think Magnolia is one I could do without. I'm just not into that kind of drama. I felt like I was watching a condensed soap opera and there were times I was questioning the integrity of some scenes and character behavior. I would describe it as overly dramatic. Still, Anderson's signature long shots and expressive camera angles are working to carry the story forward.

He seems to like the idea of stretching out time, only to later condense it or cut out equally large chunks. I felt that this was a good way of making the passage of time more noticeable. Again, his use of longer shots helps support this. At times he focuses in on subtle things, relying on the actors or some other thing to carry the weight of the shot. His cameras take more of a voyeuristic role in a sense. He does it intentionally. I personally like it. It really helps to push the immediacy of what's going on in the story when he does it.

Interview of sorts with a vampire

Interview with a Vampire - the bad version
Scene 1 (fortunately before the title and credit sequence, which had to be omitted because it made the film look poorly produced)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16457590/IWAV_1.mp4

The Evolution of Communication

My Generation

My Generation. Wasn't that the name of a Limp Bizkit song? I'm fairly sure it was. I haven't heard anything from them in a while. I suppose that's OK since I really haven't missed them. They had their time in my disc changer and now it seems that I've lost my taste for hot dog flavored water. Music always seems to have this sense of nostalgia surrounding it. A person can listen to a song and hear it again some time later and almost instantly recall the previous moment in time in a similar way that a scent does. Sensory perception is a curious thing... separate facets of experience curiously interconnected.

I suppose you could say the same thing holds true for different generations, though in a different light. Media transcends generations, thus connecting them in fascinating ways. While the generations do have things about them that clearly define them, each generation's characteristics inevitably lead the way for those that follow. So to define a generation you almost have to look for things that came and went during it's time.

Limp Bizkit came to mind as soon as I said the words "my generation" because from somewhere in the aisles of my brain I recalled it. Is hot dog flavored water a defining characteristic of my generation? No, though it does allude to a time in my own past that is heavily saturated with it. In my mind I tend to think of defining characteristics as those that have major impact on society and peoples' lives in general. Hot dog flavored water never made much of an impact on anything. Oh well.

I also believe defining characteristics can themselves be defined by generations. Consider this:

After listening to my mother reflect that her philosophy of life was developed from the original Star Trek television series and watching Star Trek reruns myself throughout my childhood, I believe that the series can be classified as defining the generation that grew into adulthood in the 1960’s and 70’s, the Baby Boomers.

The 60’s and early 70’s were a time of turmoil in the world: the Cold War; the raising of the Berlin Wall; the Civil Rights Movement; the Vietnam War; the Hippie Movement; the Woman’s Rights Movement; The Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert Kennedy; the Arab-Israeli War; the terrorist attack on the Olympics in Munich; Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon… It was also the time of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and the birth of true equality under the law. President Kennedy challenged scientists to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade and the space race against the Russians began, culminating with a landing on the Moon by the USA in 1969. It was a time of growing awareness of the injustices of the past, creating a restless desire to right those wrongs.  James Michener wrote Centennial in the 70’s which focused attention on protection of the environment, pollution being a severe problem in those years, and put aside the myth of the American Indian as the bad guy and instead focused attention of the attempted extermination of the Native American tribes.   

Children of my mom's and dad’s generation were raised by those of World Wars I and II, but the wars of their parent’s and grandparent’s generations had been successful against overwhelming enemies. Movies and books of their day glorified victories and war, but the reality of the failure of Vietnam had a very different effect on the Baby Boomers. They lived in a world that was post-atomic bomb. They lived in fear that the Communists, who also had the bomb, could turn it on America at any time. The weapon that ended World War II was now a tool of war which threatened the entire world. 

It was fitting then, that a series called Star Trek would come along to take everyone’s imagination out into space, beyond the moon and into a future where peace had come to the Earth and humans united to keep the peace with other species in outer space. The series only lasted three years, but in syndication it became a phenomenon, impacting a whole generation. The crew of the Enterprise was a captain from Iowa, a Scottish engineer, a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, a country doctor, an African woman communications officer, and an alien science officer; a fascinating combination of characters who all got along and were devoted to each other, the crew, and the ship…..and to peace.   

Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura (Swahili for Freedom), said that she would have turned down the a permanent role on the show except that she was encouraged to change her mind by Martin Luther King who was a fan of the show. He told her that her character symbolized a future where all people lived in harmony.   Dr. King encouraged her by saying, “…for the first time, we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.” 

Gene Roddenberry brought many social issues into the episodes of Star Trek. In many episodes racism was symbolically represented through the experiences of aliens…… Racism was primarily focused on the aliens of Star Trek from Spock, half Vulcan/half human and his pointed ears to other aliens met along the way. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (airdate 1/10/69),  an episode about two half-white half-black beings from the planet Cheron who brought their racial hatred to the Enterprise, resonated with a powerful message about racial hatred.   

War and peace were also subjects of the series. Intervening in the affairs of other planets was forbidden…the Prime Directive. Many of the episodes dealt with the crew of the Enterprise trying not to affect the cultures of the people they encountered in the galaxy although sometimes they failed.  The Federation was seen as the peace-keeper in the galaxy as America was becoming the peace-keeping power in the world at that time. Overall, I get the feeling war was seen as something to be avoided. The Baby Boomers grew up in the shadow of real war (a seemingly endless war) and looked back at World War I and II and the Korean War and wondered if there would ever be real peace. At least on the Earth of the 23^rd century peace was a reality. One episode, A Taste of Armageddon, was a mockery of war in which a war lasting generations continued with computer simulated battles and casualties. The people “killed” in the computer model reported to be disintegrated. The routine continued until they became aware there was a better way.

Star Trek, the original series, was only the beginning of a collection of movies and spin-off television series that crossed into the lives of the children of the Baby Boomers and gave them the chance to experience the power of the stories of the original series. The creators of the original Star Trek series reflected on the social issues through their medium, and carried a generation with them. Many of the issues are ones we still wonder about to this day. They continue to serve as reminders of the work we still have to do and the best hopes we have for our world, although peace seems even more elusive today than it did 50 years ago. In my family, I know the tradition will continue into the next generation. My mother and my brother have already introduced my 2 ½ year-old son to Star Trek.  Live long and prosper! 

So it's interesting to see how creative works like Star Trek can be both defined by a generation and simultaneously define the next generation as well. Wait... wasn't that the name of a Star Trek series? I'm fairly sure it was.

Reflections in Landscape

Girl in Landscape is one of the strangest stories I have ever read, but at the same time it is also very well written.  I often found myself feeling sorry for the characters because Earth had become a horrible place to live yet their lives on the Planet of the Archbuilders weren’t much better.  Sure, they could go out in the open air on their new planet, but now they were victims of a meaningless existence, an existence that seemed to lead them nowhere but into each others’ business.  The store was a place of gossip, and the household deer were ever-present invaders of privacy.

In spite of my feelings for the characters and the problems they had on the planet, I found myself drawn to the story by the use of similes and metaphors and the elaborate phrasing with which the story was written.  I am quite fond of poetic writing. The incredibly rich imagery gave me the power to transport myself into their world…..as another watcher, perhaps. 

I can see this novel adapted into a movie with a really great soundtrack, there is always a special mental image that accompanies text like this that would be ultimately spoiled by someone else's vision. The book has no illustrations and I like it that way. The cover illustration gives some hints but not really enough to ruin it for me.

The most vivid imagery of the story was manifested in my mind via reference to light. Throughout the book, the author constantly sets the mood in the scenes using shadow, brightness, and darkness.  At times the lighting was almost prophetic with a sense of foreboding of things to come.  Examples of this are as follows:

Efram’s confrontation and accusation of Hugh Merrow for his inappropriate attention to the alien he was painting:  The fading daylight shone too harshly on this scene.  Pella closed the door behind her, and it seemed a small act of mercy.

Pella’s visit to Efram’s house:  Efram closed the door behind her, squeezing away the last margin of sunlight, the effect was that of stepping from the day into the inner chamber of a star-lost spaceship, or an ancient tomb.

Pella’s visit to Efram’s house: She felt afraid, but again her words came out manic, assertive.  Her cheeks were glowing with heat.  She imagined they shone like beacons in this room and that they glowed like the colored lights.  She wanted to dip her fingers in the soda and wet her cheeks with it.

After the visit to Efram’s house:  The Kincaid’s house was lit, and Pella could see activity bubbling behind the curtains.  Efram stopped outside the penumbra of spilling light, at a rocky bend in the path, and lifted his heavy finger to point at the house. “There you go.”  She went ahead of him to the house, and didn’t turn until she reached the porch.  He stood like a monolith in the shadows, watching. 

Pella’s visit with Bruce: The lights of the house were behind her.  She knew Bruce couldn’t read her face.  She looked up at the shadowy ridge where Efram had last stood.  She could imagine him still there, a little back, veiled in darkness, watching the house.   

Of last note here, one poignant moment came to me even before the family left Earth.  I knew I was about to have a good experience with this book when I read Chapter 3.  Already fascinated with the way the author transformed Manhattan, I was drawin further in when I experienced the characters’ sorrow over the death of Pella’s mother, Caitlin.  The author had already portrayed extreme sadness over this event, but then, the last paragraph:

“Time heals, give it some time, what these poor kids need is time.” At the funeral everyone spoke of sorrow and time and then Clement led his motherless children and their sorrow into a tiny ship where they were frozen alive for a trip that lasted twenty months, but seemed to them an eye blink, a dream. So had they been given time? Or was their sorrow frozen with them?"

Definitely a passage worthy of reflection.

Girl in Landscape, in all its shadows, spoke of humanity’s (and alien’s) need for leadership that allows individual freedom of expression (limited government) rather than a dictator and a Big Brother of sorts (1984); posed the question of “what is normal?”; explored a world without creativity and the arts; and certainly gave us a look at what could happen if we don’t care for our planet.

Radio Program - The Thin Man

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16457590/db_TheThinMan.mp3

Tonight's show has been painfully brought to you by the burnt-out broadcasting company courtesy of one really tired producer