| Ways to While Away the Winter Days |
[08 Jan 2010|04:18pm] |
A few minutes ago I finished Amir D. Aczel's interesting book, The Cave and the Cathedral (a feat for the me-of-recent-months, in that I finished reading something, and in a short space of time: no feat for any other literate person of rudimentary intellect...). It's a history of the discoveries (and discoverers) of Paleolithic cave art, with criticism of the various academic theories about the ancient works, along with instances of travelogue-like descriptions of the author's experiences in the caves. As well as finding interest in the obvious historical & anthropological value of the field, I was also quite moved by Aczel's concluding statements about his preferred analysis of the 'parietal' art by scholar André Leroi-Gourhan.
( Because a book is (traditionally) sequenced in a certain way for a specific effect, I have hidden away my impressions of Aczel's concluding words for those who might consider reading his work )
(A small note on the book: it does carry with it a very corny subtitle - "How a Real-life Indiana Jones and a Renegade Scholar Decoded the Ancient Art of Man" - which is quite crass in its attempt to attract a mass audience.)
I've also played a few more interesting independent game-works since my last entry. Terry Cavanagh's games are hosted at his self-effacingly titled website, Distractionware. I've played the three works he considers his "Major Games": Pathways, a game of repetition and branching outcomes, about the exploits of a man who goes out of the house for the evening; Don't Look Back, a game extraordinary in premise - an addictive retro-styled action-platformer that is adapted from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice; and Judith, a collaboration with Stephen Lavelle, that uses an engine & blocky graphics like the classic FPS Wolfenstein 3D to tell a story of an adulterous couple whose tryst reveals to the player a castle's gruesome history. All three games are wonderful and very different in the nature of their interactivity. I'm looking forward to Cavanagh's first 'commercial' game, VVVVVV (it's a larger project, so he's charging for it), which is to be released in a couple of days.
I also found a cool independent game by Adam Atomic, called Canabalt. I would describe it as the videogame equivalent of a chase scene from a cyberpunk freerunning movie, utilising only one button. Rather than being subtlely haunting like all the previous games I've spoken about, Canabalt uses its game mechanics and musical score to rack up tension, giving the sensation of running from an unknown aggressor. Good fun, with the 'one-more-go' addictiveness that marks out a great arcade-style game.
The shop booked off the week for me, although it's been too cold to go out much. I'd planned to get a lot of the prep work done for my new comic strip, but instead I've found other little distractions: experimenting with film stocks & push-processing; visiting & stepping out in the snow with friends, with an unusual day-long sniffle; a day lost to research for my new computer; and today, a spot of reading and art-gaming. How all the little things make a great heap in one's daily life... Sign off: 5.45pm
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| today i threw up every meal |
[07 Jan 2010|11:41pm] |
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Southern California was depressing. All I did was count down the days until I had to leave.
Oxnard makes me feel lazy and sad. The feeling is still in me.
I want so many things, but my miserable and boring life keeps making me work for nothing.
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[08 Jan 2010|03:09am] |
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[07 Jan 2010|11:11pm] |
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[06 Jan 2010|04:23am] |
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[05 Jan 2010|04:11pm] |
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mood |
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dry and no longer high |
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man, what a lazy lazy lazy lazy past 8 days. this little tiny town is lonely and slow. i spent too much money on drugs & mc donalds. tomorrow i am flying back north. happy christmas and merry new year. xxxxxxx
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[04 Jan 2010|10:41pm] |
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music |
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merzbow-rainbow electronics2 |
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| peeps |
[04 Jan 2010|08:22pm] |
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