Your Lesson for the Day: "Dance With Those That Brung You."

[wickedorin]

• Nothing terribly special, but I do enjoy Punk Sparkle. See, more simple stuff. ........Which obviously means I have something a lot more complicated being worked out in my mind. BE AFRAID. I know I am. Mostly because I just took a look at all of the beads I have.

So I got the book I've been waiting on yesterday. *hugs it* An excerpt from The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness:

No matter how gifted and dedicated and such we are, we're not entitled to money and fame and a Ferrari. Sometimes we get those things and sometimes we don't. Whatever money and other gain we get will be compensated by an exactly equal and opposite burden that goes with all stuff like that. Whatever pain we have from being fearful isn't something we're entitled to or deserve. It either comes or it doesn't, and if it does come, it will be compensated by the strength of character, the bragging rights, the earthly cool that gets built by that kind of suffering.

So in review: There's Camp Fear on one side and Camp Desire on the other. You can go camping there or not. But the mountain is always there for you. If your mind is on the mountain, and you do your work and love it--experience it with unconditional acceptance--you will not only be certain to scale the mountain, but you'll find yourself instantly transported to its peak. Access to that peak is always available to you. Always unblocked. Nobody controls it but you.

I was very happy with my work one day, and Brian Moriarty [LOOM], then in the deepest part of what he calls his "Obnoxious Zen Phase", said something very true. He simply said of my happiness, "It can always be like this."

*hugs the book again* It belongs on a shelf with The Power of Myth, read and re-read and cherished deeply by me if no one else. Oh, and there's some stuff about game audio in here too. *snort* I'm sure it would have been worth the $120 price tag for a new book. Luckily I got a $103 discount and a book that looks like it was never even read before. Your loss, previous owner. This is a celebration of video games, game soundtracks, and general musical geekdom. I wish I'd had this book when it was first published; talk of how games aren't movies nor definable art being just a couple of reasons. Dammit I want to get involved in game-making just to have an excuse to meet this man. Check out True Stories and Legends for a sample of his writing.

Finally managed to see Hellboy 2 this past weekend. What can I say, I love shit like that... and they sure did seem to be setting up for a third, but I wonder if it matters. As always, costume and set design was drool-worthy being a del Toro movie, but the Angel of Death was fucking amazing. Of course, I would think so... but I didn't really need to know about the figure, thanks internet. I've said it before, but damn I'd love to see Guillermo del Toro's take on a Devil May Cry movie. Not just because of the amazing visuals, the incredible color, the humor and the action, but because he's a fan and it might not be shit. Of course then there's the whole discussion of who would play Dante and that's just... too difficult. (Not that Reuben Langdon couldn't pull it off again, clearly.) There's just an enormous, obvious difference between people who happen to be fans of what they're making a movie about and people making a movie they don't give a shit about. Though I am suddenly aware that I cannot recall a single detail of Blade 2. Hm.

But onto other matters. Important matters. Like how PBS will be airing a Video Games Live concert performed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. PBS. Video Games Live. Warm and fuzzy time. (The first person to use the words "finally" and "legitimate" in a sentence about this gets punched in the face. Unless the sentence is, "So PBS is finally picking up on how legitimate game music has been for some time now.") This is worth the donation mark-up for the DVD... possibly. The point is, this news fills me with happiness.

More happiness: the Indie Fund is now operational. As described on their site: "Indie Fund aims to support the growth of games as a medium by helping indie developers get financially independent and stay financially independent."

And now what annoys me beyond comprehension: Make Your Dude-Dominated Subculture More Accessible to Women. Granted, okay, it's a little bit of a boy's club--and i like it that way. But asking for special consideration to make sure that everyone has to say they welcome chicks with open arms is not equal. Maybe it's because I've always been one of the boys, maybe it's because whining women playing the victim card inspire violence in me, but what the fuck is this attitude of "you should make the effort to be more welcoming to me"? Kick down the mother fucking door and establish yourself as a person rather than a gender, alright?

I'm also linking to The Dumb Reasons Publishers Passed On PS3 Hit Joe Danger as an important public service. Check out reason #3: "We want games that are less about fun right now." The. Fuck. Are these the same kinds of people who think toys are things to keep in boxes? They must be.

The headline says it all: GameStop: “We don’t like being in the used games business” Then I will never, ever make a purchase from you again. Problem solved. Have a... day. Shit, have two of them.

But Found in Translation is a nice piece about Rom hacking vs waiting for game companies to localize Japanese titles. *grin* It's actually quite a nice trip down memory lane. Well, if you're me. It might be an interesting history lesson to some of you.

Nintendo Doesn't Want To Criminalize Obsessed Fans. So shut up. *grin*

Like most brainwashed fans, I've been looking forward to Tron Legacy. Now I look forward to it more. Reason? They brought in John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Brad Bird (whoot) and Michael Arndt for a little tweaking. In other words? They brought in Pixar. That's right, big guns. *grin* Well, December isn't... that far away...

Do you really think this man will ever walk away from MGS? Really? ...Well, I hope not. He amuses me so.

I can totally sum up Kuroshitsuji II, episode 2, without any spoilers: what the hell is going on here?! That said, still investing time and desperate hope for more merchandise. *sigh* Still your good little abused servant, S-E.