Has it really been so long since I’ve posted here? Wow.
I’ve been unemployed now for a couple of months and I guess it’s been taking it’s toll on my writing. In fact, I’ve not written much anywhere. Lack of professional stimuli seem to fuel my writer’s block.
Anyhow, the kid is screaming so I’ve got to bail.
/bleh
Posted in Uncategorized
Three Sides Live. This cassette tape kept me sane in 1981-82.
I was a troubled and angry young man at the time. My stepfather was being transferred so the whole family was moving to Italy lock, stock and barrel. We packed up quickly and rented out the house, got on a plane and left.
It was tough being in a completely new place and not being able to speak the language. It’s funny how the absence of something, in this case language, increases your appetite for it. We were thrilled to discovered that the local university played English/American movies for their English curriculum. I’d love to discuss some of those incredibly inane movies but that’s another blog post.
Being that troubled young man I spent quite a bit of time, prior to our move, listening to cassettes. Cassettes were my escape when the joys of familial participation weren’t enough to fulfill my angst ridden pre-teen attitude.
Since we moved so quickly I only took one of my favorite tapes with me, AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock. While that tape could be considered one of the best ever, it still only had 10 tracks on it.
I quickly needed more and the Italian pop scene was dominant at the time. I wasn’t about to go down that route.
Cut to a few months into our stay and I was walking along the passaggiata (beach walkway) and saw an African man selling hand carved ebony figurines and cassette tapes. Hungry for something new I ran home for some money.
Thankfully the guy was still hawking his wares so I dabbled through the tapes and found “Three Sides Live” and since I’m always one for a bargain I bought this double album cassette.
I couldn’t unwrap the cellophane quickly enough, forcing the small plastic box open so that I could devour it’s contents. That same tape stayed with me for at least the next few years. It was quite different than the American rock that I’d been accustomed to.
It wasn’t guitar heavy, but keyboard heavy.
It wasn’t about sex and drugs, it was about love, extinction and poverty.
It wasn’t a bunch of beer drinking buffoons smashing guitars, but about grown men telling stories with music.
So, with all the other changes taking place in my life at the time I was more open to understanding what I was listening to, and more importantly, changing my perceptions about who I was.
I listened to all 4 sides again and again not only because it was in English but because fueled my internal dialogue. It inspired me to become a pianist and perceive myself as something more than I was before hearing it. I discovered that anger wasn’t the only emotion deep inside me, but I was also sad, caring, hopeful…sounds weird, but it really made an impact.
Albums, Cassettes, and CD’s have had their day, but I still listen the Three Sides Live often. Unfortunately the fourth “studio” side has been lost to me. After some research I discovered that the fourth side contained different songs depending on where the cassette was released. So, I’m still searching for my original cassette.
It’s funny looking back at that time in my life…I’m forty now and so far removed from that angry young man but these songs…these lessons take me back to a nice, comfortable place.
Just like they did back then.
Cheers!
Eric
Posted in Music, Nostalgia, Uncategorized, YouTube
Tagged genesis, Music, three sides live
So, it’s 12:54 and I’m sitting here wondering why I’m still awake.
It’s during these weird times that I’m most introspective and it’s probably for the worst.
I’m a 42 year old wondering when the adults are going to come and tell me to turn the TV off. I don’t want to turn the TV off…so there is going to be a big fuss.
Well, funny or not it’s not good. I feel like I’m looking for confrontation. I’m still a bit miffed about being laid off despite my posts to the contrary. I kept pushing my point of view because it’s something I believe in. To see a company with the power to change lives ignore my pleas to focus on the end user was and is very frustrating. It gives me a perverse sense of pleasure to see that the company’s stock has dropped 40% in the days since my departure.
Yeah, I know it’s not because of me but I take pride in knowing it’s because they’ve ignored the principles I’ve been pushing for the past 4 years. Hey, I understand that I’m not the originator of the concept of developing content with the end user in mind, but it’s something that’s been lacking in our process. I’ve been working to reintroduce that concept into the workflow, but alas, I’ve been ignored. For a company full of people obsessed with impressing their boss I can’t imagine they’ve viewed their previous year’s work as a success. In working so hard to make bosses happy they’ve alienated those that originally gave them success…the end user. The project I was working on is…and WAS a mess because no one was interested in creating something that made a difference in people’s lives…it was all about monetization.
How’s that working out for you?
It also doesn’t make me happy to hear my direct superiors promoting my ideas as their own, when they shot them down when I initially proposed them. Wasn’t good enough for you then? That sort of action will come to light eventually and you’ll eventually be exposed.
I guess they got away with it because I’m the one unemployed but at least I’ve got some dignity. Unfortunately dignity doesn’t pay bills.
It’s 1:24 am, goodnight. I’ll review this in the morning and probably remove it…heh, funny how that works.
-FM
Posted in Uncategorized
I just saw a photo that really affected me and I can’t “un-see” it.
It was a photo of a very young, deceased child, buried all but the face. It’s eyes are wide open and a hand is coming down to brush dirt off this child’s face. It looked much like my child and I’m quite bothered. It takes me right back to the Caribbean and the tragedies I saw there. Seeing a child like that stays with a person forever, and becomes part of them.
Obviously tragedy like this happens everyday. This particular scene was taken after the Bhopal chemical accident where 3000 people died as a result. It’s only until you’re personally involved and forced to deal with the consequences of death that it becomes so shocking that it becomes you.
Being alive, but literally feeling death strikes a helpless chord inside of a person.
Please, go hug your children. Protect them.
Posted in Uncategorized
I’m always looking for games that can be played cooperatively because I play with a couple of grade school friends.
My friend Rich is a bit particular on what he plays. He’s big into sims and could stare at blue sky in Flight Simulator X for hours…no joke. Jim and I tend to prefer MMO’s which, by definition, are cooperative on a grand scale. I’m a FPS lover as well and the Infinity Ward’s MW2 is, in my opinion, the gold standard.
In the past we’ve found common ground in a few games such as Tribes and Rise of Nations, both great games but a bit dated. RoN is a sandbox game, Tribes is a futuristic FPS, MMO’s, sims…we’re gaming all over the map!
“Rich can stare at blue sky in Flight Simulator X for hours…no joke.”
So Valve was selling “Arma II” at 80% off yesterday. Figuring that, at $7.99, I couldn’t go wrong and even if I did it wasn’t a huge loss. It was Steam so it was easy to buy and send to my gaming buddies so I went for it. It’s also worth noting that Steam offers the expansion at 40% off, but as every good gamer should, I wanted to play this one before worrying about the expansion. I’ve spent $50 on games I instantly hated, so this game was going to get a few mulligans before I stopped playing.
“It’s quite daunting looking at 7 scrolled pages of assignable functions.”
Later that night Jim and I were going through the tutorials and setting up the controls, which leads to my first complaint. I’ve got a G13, which has a 24 buttons on it and they’re all assigned. In fact, there are more commands here that are necessary and it’s quite daunting looking at 7 scrolled pages of assignable functions. Assigning separate controls land, sea, and air vehicles is mind-numbingly painstaking and beyond my patience level. Picking out the pertinent ones and assigning them no easy task, but I was finally able to get in and play!
This complexity of the control options is also apparent in the overall game play. You can apparently drive, fly, fire, kill, everything…and I mean that literally. The “Shoot tanks” tutorial wasn’t very clear and soon I was driving jeeps into the water and blowing up buildings.
Jim and I had the most fun running around in the woods shooting cows with anti-tank weapons. (Note to the producers: Please patch in exploding cows! Falling over when struck by a missile is UNACCEPTABLE!)
“Jim and I had the most fun around in the woods shooting cows with anti-tank weapons.”
That open world concept can also be distracting, as my last statement can attest to. With our propensity towards MMO’s Jim and I were never really able to stay on mission. This isn’t a polished game like MW2 or Black Ops…this is very much a simulation despite the addition of a somewhat boring storyline.
So, these mulligans are adding up eh?
My last issue revolves around the graphics. The disparity between the “High” and “Very High” video quality is astounding. My GeForce 9800m prefers the former setting and everything looks like it’s from a Dire Straits video. I don’t mind this so much but every single Arma 2 trailer contains footage that looks photo realistic but that’s not what I’m seeing.
“Everything looks like it’s from a Dire Straits video.”
On “Very High” the game is unplayable for me so maybe it’s time to get a new machine. Other titles, more current than this 2009 release, run great on my machine so it’s either got awesome graphics or needs better coding.
So…all that and I’ve only played it for a couple of days. I probably should have played the game a bit more but these are obstacles I’m running into already, so they’re worth noting. If I’m able to get through the campaign mode I’ll make sure to update!
-Eric
Posted in Video Games
