A Guest Post to the President

Posted on by under People Living Freely

Last night, as you’re all sick of hearing by now, was the first of the 2012 Presidential debates. Today, I want to publish a post by a guest author. Her name is Tasia Large, and she is my mother. Tasia grew up on the South Side of Chicago right across the street from the Cook County Jail. She has seen some shit and experienced most of the things that life can throw at her — loss of family, serious sickness of children, personal health problems — but she doesn’t quit on anything. She doesn’t blame her problems on misfortune, a bad situation, or somebody else’s actions. She has instilled these values in me, and her goal is for me and my sister to live a better life than she did.

The following is an email she wrote to another South Sider, President Barack Obama. It is completely unedited, directly forwarded from her iPad. I’m quite proud that she knows how to do that. In its message, you will see the South Side toughness and values. They’ve no doubt both seen enough from Chicago — the real Chicago — to harden them so they don’t take anybody’s shit. This email was sent from Momma Tas to President Obama to remind him of that. I’m posting it to remind all of you.

From: Tasia Large
Date: October 4, 2012 2:08:53 PM EDT
To: “info@barackobama.com” <info@barackobama.com>
Subject: Re: Hey Pres.Obams

You made me proud, but I want you to get tougher. You did not cause all this Bush stuff and money to the banks. You went  to the White House, and you are the only one  trying to help, thank God you passed OBAMACARE. And I know you had to make a lot of back door deals. I am from Chicago, the second debate I want you to fight like the Southsider who just had his garage door painted with Graffiti from the Romneyboys who want to take over your neighborhood and want your kids to join their gang.
Thanks, Momma Tas

Oh, this site is still here?

Posted on by under Uncategorized

I know it’s been a while, but that’s due to many reasons. Mainly, a great disdain for the Internet (halfway true). I’ve been out here experiencing and reading a lot over the past six months, learning about what it takes to lead a virtuous life. You’d be surprised how easy it is, in concept, but how much bullshit you have to filter out of our modern, technologically-enhanced daily lives in order to realize it.

Anyway, more to come on this at some point. I’m still digesting so much of what I’ve learned here. It will have to wait for some late-night cigar talks on the water with a few of you (you know who you are).

The main reason for this post is to let you, devoted reader, know that I am alive and well.

On Video Games

Posted on by under Large In London

The world’s youngest form of media and entertainment is video gaming.
It is still newer and less popular in the mainstream than books,
movies, and TV. That is something we can all agree on. But over
the past few years, video gaming has caught up (if not surpassed) in
both hours and dollars spent on the industry.

Still, there is one quality that separates all these other forms of
media from video gaming. And that, my friends, is interconnection.

I don’t mean the interconnection in multiplayer gaming, although the
cooperation and competition is indeed a characteristic exclusive to
gaming. I’ll briefly touch upon this later.

What I mean is, put simply, the type of relationship and interaction required between
person and game to thoroughly enjoy and play through a video game. The
difference compared to the others is that reading a book and watching a movie or TV show is simply one-way. They each have a definitive
introduction, conflict, and conclusion, and eventually, everyone will
reach them exactly the same way. You cannot change what path you take
within reading a novel or watching a film or television show.

In many video games, this is not the case at all. Every bit of a video
game requires an action from the user- from proceeding past the start
menu, to gathering that next power-up, all the way to viewing the credits scroll
up the screen. And everyone will have a different experience in
reaching a game’s conclusion (that is, if it even has one).

Those against my argument might reason that everyone reaches the end
anyway- How is that any different than finishing a book? That’s easy
to explain: every gamer has a various skill level and therefore uses a
different thought process and makes different choices to reach that end. Scores are tallied, items
are collected, side quests are completed or neglected, enemies are
defeated, and based upon the actions that are taken those totals will
vary from individual to individual.

The input into the video game is what really creates this
interconnection. You are part of the game, not just a witness to it.
Movies and TV can’t touch that experience. There’s no skill required
in being a viewer.

And, of course, playing video games collectively creates and
strengthens friendships. This can be said of the other media, too,
but it is still different because when you are simply reading or viewing,
you still aren’t producing. Gaming friendships can be competitive
as well as cooperative, and all the while even creative. Teams create
strategies across multiple genres, such as in fighting, sports, driving,
shooting, or puzzle games. The strength of these bonds is incomparable
to, say, a book club or a few friends who routinely go to the movie theater
together. There’s no inspiration when everything is being delivered to
you. Movie making and collaborative book writing has more in common
with this facet of gaming than consuming the other products.

The video game industry is still young and has a lot of room to grow. But there
have been a number of video games already that help establish my claim. Case and point of my essay is The Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Anyone who plays through this game will have a
different amount of heart containers (health), attainable items (not
everyone gets Farore’s Wind or the Biggoron Sword, or even come close to finding all the Skulltulas), and enjoyment. Ocarina of Time is a timeless game that never ceases to either crack a smile or a scowl.

The infamous Water Temple. Never before had a dungeon bred such
contempt in the eyes of a gamer. What made it such a pain? Ask the
gamer who plays through it with a smile. He’d be able to tell you that you probably
forgot to check that one wall on the second floor after you change
the water level. The smiling gamer would know from experience that that is the place where you can take a bomb to the wall and find the extra small key that will ease your way through the latter half of the dungeon. That one key brought so much turmoil to so many people, but that is how something so minute can vastly change the gaming experience. Each person will have varying levels of feelings and emotions based upon what they choose to do.

However, I must admit that there is one characteristic that video games, books, movies, and television all have in common: there is no one single classification of people who use them. Anyone from either gender, no matter what race or age, can enjoy a video game, just as they can a movie, TV show, or book. But the experience itself will remain unique to the individual player. That, dear readers, is the true beauty of video games.

Eliott Plays the Nintendo 3DS

Posted on by under Large In London

I played the 3DS today. Two things:

1) It is the most unnecessary video game console ever made (so far). I say this because the 2DS showed no signs of slowing down, and upon first impression, the 3DS brings little to the table besides updated graphics and a (very) gimmicky 3D effect.

2) The 3DS is the coolest video game console ever made (so far). I realized that a flashy 2DS cannot be a bad thing in any way except that the 2DS is no longer tops. The 3DS has so many cool tricks, and although the launch line-up is weak as hell, the potential for this system is obvious.

I spent over an hour-and-a-half with the mini-gams and Mii maker in the system, Ridge Racer (alright), Rayman (really gay), Rabbis (less gay than Rayman), Pilotwings (not bad), Super Monkey Ball (same as it has always been), and Super Street Fighter IV (cool as shit. Props to Akuma).

After the initial headache wears off, which only happens after you figure out your respective “sweet spot” for which you can focus on the game with the 3D on, it’s a great concept. I had to play without my glasses on for a while in order to get comfortable.

This is some nift tricky shit. It would have been best to have two 3D screens as opposed to only the top, but it works out well enough. Nintendo has a lot at stake right now because of the general population opting to play lesser games on lesser handhelds (read: Angry Birds on iPhones), so they better get the ball rolling to take a firm grip on the casual audience while they can.

That said, fuck the casual audience. Video games, in my critical opinion, are a form of media to be not only enjoyed, but also savored. I understand that people just want to pick up and play a game to pass the time on occasion, but that does not mean that we should have to sacrifice quality in our games and pleasure in our experiences for this to occur.

Best of luck to you, Nintendo 3DS. You’re going to need it. I’ll support you once I return to my home country (since it is region-specific). And I look forward to it, if only for Star Fox and Zelda.