Posts: 5

1. Terry Fator in Las Vegas

   17.Oct.07, 00:25 EDT
   
   Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

    
   What an amazing show at the Las Vegas Hilton.   
   
   This man totally deserved to win America's Got Talent. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   It is a million dollar act.   
   
   
   
   
   He had the audience from the initial standing ovation upon his entrance (and original song) to Maynard singing "Viva Las Vegas" and all the showgirls.
   
    
   
   
   If you ever get a chance to see his show, DO IT!  
    
   
   

2. ARG (Alternate Reality Games) - Defining the Genre??

   09.Sep.07, 17:52 EDT
   
   Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

   Prompted by a discussion (many discussions over the past few months, in fact), I have posted my take on the whole thing in my ARG blog, and reposted in here (both on my main page and in my ARG page). 
   
   Fiction 
   When a single author (or a collaboration between a couple/few friends) creates a work of fiction - that is Fiction as we read growing up. In the libraries. Or on the TV/movie screen. Static. One direction. Start to finish (unless you opened the book at the end or fast forward through the show), but it was always the same, every time you started it. 
   
   Chaotic Fiction
   Now we have the world of the internet, the premise of a billion different collaborators on any work of art. There might be a single leader (which has been called the "Puppet Master", or PM) conducting the orchestra, but when you let your piece out into the wild of the web, you are giving the story up to a little bit of chance. From this rises the chaos. It is up to the PM to keep things in order - or follow the new path if it fits within the scope of the design desired by the PM. 
   
   No longer are stories and movies and TV limited to a single direction. Ideas can be expanded, tangents explored, no two experiences have to be the same, and sometimes you can go back and follow a different path. Different people add to the fiction along the way. It's chaotic. 
   
   Alternate Reality 
   If you take the chaos one step further, create interaction between the characters in the fictional world (the alternate reality) and throw in a bit of mystery or purpose for the interaction, maybe even a few bumps in the road that need to be hurdled to get to the next chapter in the story, now you have a game or an experience. If the interaction is static, one sided, pre-determined and the players have very little affect on the story - it's not so much chaotic fiction, it's planned fiction in the alternate reality world and we are experiencing it. Alternate Reality Experience (ARE). If the interaction is fluid, chaotic, and affects the story, we are playing a game, an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). 
   
   ARG & ARE have Chaotic Fiction. But not all Chaotic Fiction is an ARG. IMHO. 
   
   Ariock further pushed me to expand and define so here is the second part of my blog post on the topic:
   "So, based on the lines you've drawn, where would you place something like the Windows Vista launch (I can't remember the name of the game now...with Loki)? Wasn't the story 100% static and predetermined and yet, wasn't it also a game? Or the NIN Year Zero game?" 
   
   Whenever we (the players) have to search around to find new parts to the story, that is a game, sure. And it is an experience. So everything is both. But I drew my own line to help create my own definition when explaining the differences. So I use the ARExperience vs ARGame. 
   
   So, for me, Vanishing Point & Year Zero fall into the similar genre as TLE (The Lost Experience) - we followed along a predetermined course within the AR world created by the PMs. LG15 & Heroes Online Experience fit into this area as well (although LG15 may start to move more toward my ARGame model in the future - seeking input & more interaction from the viewing audience). Last Call Poker would be here as well - there was a predetermined path and player interaction was needed to push the story forward, but no matter who won the poker games online, the outcome of the ultimate story was predetermined. 
   
   ARGames would fit the ideal of The Beast, Lockjaw, CTW, Urban Hunt, MeiGeist, Sammeeeees. The players affected the story and outcome. What is wonderfully chaotic about both is the community(s) that arise from the worlds created in the Alternate Reality. And the creations by players that might be used by the PMs within the story (i.e. the Raven Cells in Sammeeeees) or just for the enjoyment of the players (i.e. the artwork and ideas posted by folks in the 1-18-08 forums). This would not have been possible 15 years ago. 
   
   So maybe it's all a Game, AND it's all an Experience. But all of it is Chaotic (whether the chaos is IG or OOG). So sure, we just call them all ARGs and then figure out a differentiation between those those that are just "chapters we find" vs those "we help to write."

3. Congratulations Terry Fator

   22.Aug.07, 19:23 EDT
   
   Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

   
   
   We're Reality Show junkies (with some modicum of taste).  We watched America's Got Talent and wished they would disqualify singers.  Hello?  Go on American Idol.   We want acts that give us something to both hear AND see.  There were a few that made it into the finals this  year.  By the time it got to the top ten, we had our top choice.  Terry Fator.  And it looks like the rest of America agreed.  Terry Fator won.
   Yeah, I know he sings.  But he does it in a very entertaining manner.  Personally, I think his best act is when he interacts with the puppets, but at least the singing part is also entertaining (cause it's a unique talent).
   
   And we're putting our money where our mouths were yelling at the tv this summer.  We bought tickets to his Las Vegas show (Sunday October 14th, at the Las Vegas Hilton). 

4. Trying to think of happy thoughts

   17.Aug.07, 19:16 EDT
   
   Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

   The weekend is just about here:
   - I will not have to go to a job site this weekend (so I can finished setting up the online portion of the DeVry class that I'm teaching this fall).
   - The morning (around 7am) is perfect jogging temperature - not too cold, but not too warm (I don't mind sweating while working out, it's after the shower sweating that I hate).
   - I'll have time to get the oil changed in my car (and get it washed).
   - The massage school will be open ($16 for a 50 min massage! Cause I have coupons).
   - Late night date with Konashark!   Although I'm probably NOT going to let him talk me into another tattoo like last weekend. 
   
   
   

5. Sweating after the shower

   13.Aug.07, 13:02 EDT
   
   Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

   I really hate putting on a military uniform while still sweating.  The locker room at Runner's World was very humid and about 92 degrees this morning.  After squadron PT, even 5 min in a COLD shower didn't stop the body heat.  Now add the weight of the BDUs with thick socks, boots, etc.  UGH!  Could my face be any redder?  I know I'll need a shower after I get home tonight.
   Here's a shot of me when I was up at Thule AB (Greenland) last year. 
   
   
   
   
   But the opportunity to serve my country outweighs the hardships.  Afterall, the heat is TONS worse in the Middle East.  So I have NOTHING to complain about.