A Job I Am Done With

For the last 6 years of my life, I have been slaving away on peoples roofs in the blazing hot sun for 40 hours a week. I was a solar installation foreman, and while it had it's rewarding moments, I was never truly happy doing it.

Gotta be the longest one I ever built, 210 feet

Several factors, from the day to day wear on your body, to the fact that nearly zero contractors are willing to give you benefits or even pay you properly, to the fact that you never get to work in the shade (skin cancer anyone?) caused me to re-think my choice of career and eventually leave my company and head back to school.

It was SO FUN carrying all these panels up this hill in 100 degree heat

Even the best case scenario for this career path (becoming a contractor) sounded awful to me and was going to take much more money than I could make or save doing installation to ever accomplish. I felt like I would just be used by ungrateful employers until the inevitable day when my body couldn't manage to do the job anymore and then cast aside, left to start all over again, most likely in my 50's.

You never know what kind of hazards you'll face on a job site

 In my relatively short trades career (12 years counting carpentry) I have, been shocked nearly to death by solar panels, put a screwdriver through my hand, injured my back to where it hurt for over a year, worked on slanted roofs so much that my knees and ankles hurt every day now, cut myself more times than I could count and gotten awful sunburns hundreds of times. All this while never working for a company that provided health or even dental insurance. This was clearly not sustainable for me.

I will miss the views....and not much else

So here I am, just finishing my first semester studying for a computer science and game design degree and although I am struggling financially to make ends meet, I've also never been happier with the direction that my life is headed in. Just next week I am going into 2K games in Novato to do some paid game testing and focus group work and I really couldn't be more excited for what the future holds.

An Emotional Ride

         
          I'm not gonna lie, when I first heard that we were going to be reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, I couldn't have been less excited. As I made my way through the novel however I was pleasantly surprised by how engrossing the story ended up being for me.
          The vivid descriptions the Kidd musters are just as thick and rich as the honey that the bees work so hard to make. This beautiful writing style is coupled with a story that is both gut wrenchingly sad and glorious at the same time. The trials that the main character Lily endures throughout the course of the story are enough to make you shed a tear or two along the way.
          In fact, while I blame being sick and generally depressed, this was the first book to bring a tear to my eye since reading Where the Red Fern Grows in like 4th grade, (why did they make us read a book where dogs die?) so clearly Kidd has created something special here when it comes to making you feel her writing. I would recommend this book to nearly anyone who likes to read, it it amazingly well written and a story that I won't soon forget.

Reflections On Blogging

           As my first blog, I found  publishing my work on the internet to be a fairly rewarding experience and one that will most likely turn into a hobby for me. One of the things that worked well for me was the ability to easily illustrate my writing with various images, whether funny or serious, to better paint the picture I was looking for.
           My favorite post to write was the one that I wasn't assigned to do (big surprise), my review of Mass Effect 3 was a blast to write and made me feel like a games journalist. Future blogs that I publish will most likely be in a similar vein as I always have a good strong opinion on gaming and technology.
          Another thing that I enjoyed was trying to spice up some of my posts with a little humor, although I wasn't always successful. I really do look forward to blogging in the future and I am thankful for this class for showing me that this is something that I can enjoy.

Snatch Review

          In the year 2000 British crime flick Snatch, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, we get to follow the path of a recently stolen and quite sizable diamond as it makes it's way through the world of Britain's organized crime underworld. The film focuses on underground boxing promoters Turkish (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham) and the ever-expanding ensemble of thugs, cockney gangsters and even gypsies that they find themselves intertwined with as the story progresses. It is in this vast array of characters that the film finds it's greatest strengths. From Brad Pitt's portrayal of the gypsy bare knuckle boxer Mickey, to Alan Ford's icy persona as crime kingpin Brick Top, this film features a variety of truly wonderfully written and acted characters.

Turkish, Mickey, and Tommy

          With such a large cast of characters to follow, this film does require you to actually pay some attention if you want to fully comprehend the multiple story threads as they slowly converge. Luckily Ritchie has written such engrossing and often hilarious characters for this film that it doesn't have to struggle to get your attention. Still, it may take a second viewing for some to grasp all of the intricacies of Ritchie's sometimes overly complicated plot, and the thick cockney accents won't do you any favors either. In fact, Brad Pitt's character Mickey speaks in such a ridiculously thick cockney/gypsy dialect that even the other characters in the film can't understand him 90% of the time (I finally got most of his lines somewhere around my 5th viewing) and as annoying as this may sound, it only served to further endear me to the character, Ritchie's writing is just that good.

Alan Ford as the ruthless Brick Top

         If you are a fan of crime dramas and/or deadpan humor I recommend that you give this movie a chance. You would be hard pressed to find a better ensemble of characters anywhere in this genre of films, think Ocean's Eleven but funnier, more gritty and generally much more well written and acted. The way that Ritchie sets all of these interesting characters, all with their own motivations and stories on a collision course that plays out over the course of the film is really a testament to his skill as a writer and film maker. Snatch oozes cool from every pore and is truly not to be missed for fans of film. It laces a potent crime story with humor and brilliantly constructed dialog and still to this day stands out a Guy Ritchie's finest work as far as I am concerned.

A Clockwork Book Review

          In A Clockwork Orange, a novel by Anthony Burgess and published by W.W. Norton & Company in 1962, we get a glimpse into Burgess' dystopian near future version of northern England. The main focus and narrator of the story is a well spoken, cold and calculating teenage thug named Alex. Through Alex's eyes we see this story of youth run amok play out over the course of five years in his young life. The story spans all the way from Alex and his "droogs" (gang) fighting, raping and pillaging to his eventual arrest and very, I'll just say, Unique brand of rehabilitation. That rehabilitation is where the novel poses its true question, can you force someone to be good by taking away their option to be evil?

Alex, courtesy of Stanly Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation

         While Alex may be the star of the story, Burgess' excellent writing is what truly steals the show here. Alex's inner dialog ranges from childish to extremely eloquent all while being laced by the obscure and brilliant slang that Burgess lovingly crafted for the youth of Alex's world. While the entirely invented slang is easily one of my favorite elements of this book, it is also the greatest obstacle to potential readers. You will essentially need to learn somewhere between 50 and 100 new words, all by context, before you will be breezing through pages without stopping to think, for example "Our pockets were full of deng, (money) so there was no real need from the point of view of crasting (stealing) any more pretty polly (also money/coins) to tolchock (punch/beat up) some old veck (older man) in an alley". Now imagine that sentence without my parenthesized definitions and you'll have a fair idea of what reading this book is like.

Rehab....

          The tale that Burgess spins here is, make no mistake about it, very dark. If you are the kind of reader that shies away from violent or generally objectionable material then this book may not be for you. Burgess doesn't give you a classic 'hero' or 'good guy' to root for here. Alex is a rotten and possibly truly evil protagonist whom some readers may find hard to identify with. I would venture to say however that the majority of readers will be fully charmed by Alex by mid-point in the book, I know I was.

          For a novel of only 192 pages, A Clockwork Orange comes across as a fairly dense and slowly paced read mainly due to having to decipher a new language as you go. For those willing to put in the necessary work however, this is a downright excellent read. Burgess is able to blend very serious subject matter with a dash of irony and humor with a masterful touch. Just the fact that Burgess is able to really endear you to such a thuggish protagonist should clue you in to the excellent storytelling that takes place in this novel. If you are the kind of reader who can enjoy a good dark comedy or someone interested in psychological dramas, then I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt, you will find something to like in Burgess' modern day classic. Don't let the language hurdle deter you from taking in what is easily one of the top 50 works of literature from the 20th century.

Violence in Video Games

          For my partner and I the questions in the exercise were very easy to answer. We both felt that the image in question was really not graphic enough to cause any alarm. I may be biased as I have played video games for my entire life and am now studying to one day create them. Regardless of my predispositions, the idea that video games actually contribute to real life violence is downright ludicrous. The real problem here is that parents and politicians refuse to accept the fact that they are responsible for raising their own children properly. If your child decides to go to school and shoot half of the student body that is because of either pre-existing mental illness, or somewhere along the line you have FAILED as a parent,  not because they spent their nights playing Call of Duty. 
          Video games in their current state are UNDOUBTEDLY a form of true art. To really understand this fact one needs to look a bit further into games than just taking a cursory glance at the latest ultra violent blockbuster shooter. From indie standouts like the fantastic recent title Journey, to major commercial hits like the Mass Effect series or Shadow of the Colossus, it is plain to see that video games are an art form just as, if not more capable of producing a truly awe inspiring experiences as their counterparts in film and literature.  So why then are video games held to a different standard than print or film media?

Show me someone who says this is not art and I'll show you someone who doesn't know what "art" means.

        
           The website posits that video games' "representation of violence reduce mayhem and murder to an experience designed to entertain", But would they ask this same question of Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now? In short, of course video games present this content as an experience designed to entertain, they are a form of entertainment. But just as with any form of entertainment there is both tasteful and tasteless examples, for every Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket there are twenty movies like The Expendables or Commando, why should games be any different?
       

The Uncharted series possesses a narrative stronger than any summer blockbuster movie, why treat it as less?

                   

Mass Effect 3 Review

                                                     Mass Effect 3  

                                      

                                                        "This may not end well"

        After 5 years of shaping their galaxies as they have seen fit, the third and final game in the critically adored Mass Effect trilogy has finally made it's way into the hands of gamers all over the world. Mass Effect has always been an RPG series that stands alone in terms of narrative and player choice. In the first 2 games you alone have the ability to save or destroy entire races of alien life, to build meaningful (even romantic) relationships with the crew of your ship and to forge or sabotage alliances between various alien races all while saving the galaxy. The foundation of this series has always been player choice and it's effect on the game world. Does this latest installment of Bioware's flagship series live up to it's predecessors? Well, yes and no.

        

                                                               

                                              Even the characters themselves seem a little disappointed 

          The game picks up without a hitch after the events of Mass Effect 2 with the synthetic race known as "The Reapers" finally launching their full on assault on Earth and in turn, the rest of the known universe. From this point on players reprise their role of Commander Shepard. Assuming you played the previous 2 games, you are able to import you save files to carry over all of your major decisions and relationships from Mass Effect 1 and 2. Based on these decisions the game can play out very differently for each individual player, Past crew members may be alive or dead, old flames may want to re-kindle relationships and whole races of being may be there to help or completely extinct all based on your prior choices. Needless to say, it is highly recommended to play the first two games prior to the third as this would be a pretty confusing point to just jump into the story.

                                                      
                                                            The Reapers don't fool around 

          The game play here continues down the path forged by Mass Effect 2 and is decidedly more of an action game than those that came before it. During combat this could easily be mistaken for Gears of War or any other major Science Fiction shooter. Although you can still freeze time to command your  squad it feels less necessary than in the past two games. Upgrades and gear management have also been further streamlined from the second game, this makes for more time out on your adventure and less spent fooling around on your ship or in menus so for me this is a welcome change. The communication remains unchanged, still revolving around the familiar conversation wheel mechanic and the old adage "if it aint broke, don't fix it" applies well here. The dialogue is well written for the most part and the voice acting is superb as usual. As a bonus to the single player experience you also get a surprisingly fun series first, a multiplayer mode similar to the popular and often imitated "Horde Mode" from Gears of War. Unfortunately, Bioware made the ridiculous decision to make playing multiplayer essentially a requirement to get a "positive" end result in the single player campaign, effectively screwing gamers without a broadband internet connection out of a proper ending.
 

                                            "What do you mean I have to play multiplayer?"

          During the 30 to 50 hour campaign there are some truly spectacular moments along with countless agonizing choices to make. As opposed to the first two games where you had mostly clear good, bad and neutral choices, a lot of the choices here are either between the lesser of two evils or between a big sacrifice for the greater good and a seemingly "good" but irresponsible decision. There were times in this game when I sat for nearly 5 minutes to think when faced with a complex decision, not many other games can offer that kind of true immersion into their world. Sadly it is the weight of all of your decisions over the course of the game that also help to make the climax a fairly disappointing affair.

                                               "But......but I thought my choices meant something" 

          Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the ending was not very satisfactory for me. After investing close to 150 hours of game play over the course of the series I really expected to see a bit more of the, ahem "massive effect" of my hundreds of decisions. I wanted to see what became of the worlds I had saved or doomed along the way, I wanted to watch as my longtime squad mates fought their way to victory or defeat, instead I got a sloppily written ending that both opens up several plot holes and abruptly ends the series without a concrete resolution to your story.

                                                            Sweet Tali, what became of thee? 

          All my nitpicking aside, Mass Effect 3 was a brilliant game and when you look at the series as a whole it undoubtedly goes down as one of the best in gaming history. Bioware has shown once again that if done correctly, a video game can be like stepping into a great novel and changing the story where you'd like. As much as I disliked the ending this game is a must play for any real fan of video games and makes the case for games as a true art form better than any other you are likely to play this generation.

Overall Score: 9.5