Log the "B" yo!
So today I stepped on the scale to find that I am now 237lbs. That means I have lost 130lbs since this whole adventure started a tad over a year ago. Wee! I'm going to keep going until it just stops working for me. I hope to get to about 200lbs or so, but if it goes lower or not quite that low I'll still be ecstatic.
Had a talk at work about violence and its place in media. Specifically we were talking about the violence in Sin City. I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it or read the books it was based on, but there is a LOT of violence in that sucker. Body hacking, cranium impaling, "junk" being torn from men's crotches, etc. etc. It's all very stylized (blood is white or violent acts are shown as silhouettes only) but it is definitely there. I found this violence to be less disturbing than, say, the rape scene in Pulp Fiction or the "sorry you must remove your own leg" scene in Saw. Maybe I just like over-the-top violence, I dunno.
This violence thing got me thinking, especially when I started talking to others. You see, us video game makers are currently under assault by Big Brother (otherwise known as the government of the Land of the Free) which claims that we are training kids to murder. On the one hand, you can look at the types of entertainment I pick and point / yell / feel justified saying "HE'S A MONSTER!!!!!" since I like shocking violence. On the other hand, I have seen real violence 1st hand (never have had it inflicted on me, thanks be to the deity of the week) and it sickens me to the point of almost zero-functionality. I think the inability to distinguish fantasy (even fantasy done in a realistic manner or an INTERACTIVE manner) is a flaw that has been with some humans forever, not just since video games have come around.
How many of you have fathers that played cowboys and indians? How many of you have had dirt-clod wars when you were 10 or younger? It goes to reason that if video games ARE creating warriors who thrive on blood, the more intense or prolonged experience will generate a more vile monster. What level did Hitler get to in Grand Theft Auto? Did Saddam master Mortal Kombat fatalities? Did the Japanese army play a bunch of CounterStrike before invading Nan-king in China to get all worked up? Hell did God warm up on the uncensored version of the Punisher video game before unleashing the angel of death on Egypt so that the Israelites could be freed?
Sorry for the rant. I'll sum it up like so: Someone at work said "What situation would I have to be placed in to become as violent as a character in Sin City?" The answer is "You WOULDN'T become that violent. That's why the stylized portrayal of violence is cool to watch and discuss. And congrats on having the sanity to distinguish fantasy from reality."
Had a talk at work about violence and its place in media. Specifically we were talking about the violence in Sin City. I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it or read the books it was based on, but there is a LOT of violence in that sucker. Body hacking, cranium impaling, "junk" being torn from men's crotches, etc. etc. It's all very stylized (blood is white or violent acts are shown as silhouettes only) but it is definitely there. I found this violence to be less disturbing than, say, the rape scene in Pulp Fiction or the "sorry you must remove your own leg" scene in Saw. Maybe I just like over-the-top violence, I dunno.
This violence thing got me thinking, especially when I started talking to others. You see, us video game makers are currently under assault by Big Brother (otherwise known as the government of the Land of the Free) which claims that we are training kids to murder. On the one hand, you can look at the types of entertainment I pick and point / yell / feel justified saying "HE'S A MONSTER!!!!!" since I like shocking violence. On the other hand, I have seen real violence 1st hand (never have had it inflicted on me, thanks be to the deity of the week) and it sickens me to the point of almost zero-functionality. I think the inability to distinguish fantasy (even fantasy done in a realistic manner or an INTERACTIVE manner) is a flaw that has been with some humans forever, not just since video games have come around.
How many of you have fathers that played cowboys and indians? How many of you have had dirt-clod wars when you were 10 or younger? It goes to reason that if video games ARE creating warriors who thrive on blood, the more intense or prolonged experience will generate a more vile monster. What level did Hitler get to in Grand Theft Auto? Did Saddam master Mortal Kombat fatalities? Did the Japanese army play a bunch of CounterStrike before invading Nan-king in China to get all worked up? Hell did God warm up on the uncensored version of the Punisher video game before unleashing the angel of death on Egypt so that the Israelites could be freed?
Sorry for the rant. I'll sum it up like so: Someone at work said "What situation would I have to be placed in to become as violent as a character in Sin City?" The answer is "You WOULDN'T become that violent. That's why the stylized portrayal of violence is cool to watch and discuss. And congrats on having the sanity to distinguish fantasy from reality."
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