I love being busy.  I’m not one of those people that always has to be out and about – actually, just the opposite – but when I’m at home, there is no end to the number of projects I’ve got going on.  I know my wife probably doesn’t think that video gaming counts as a project, but in the overall scheme of things, I’ve got a gaming schedule to maintain much like I have deadlines at work.; gaming is just the beginning though.  I’ve been wanting to learn the guitar lately (I have a bass begging for attention upstairs), I have my ailing blog to write for, I have a million short story ideas waiting to get put on paper, I have books to read, and more importantly, I want to spend time with my wife.  I use my time poorly which is probably my biggest failure, but going with the flow of inspiration usually keeps me energized and looking forward to my next project when the time comes.  Current book is the Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – so far so good.

Very briefly I’d like to recommend to you the movie Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino.  Originally part of a two-movie collection called Grindhouse, Death Proof was shown along side Planet Terror directed by Robert Rodriguez.  From what I understand, the official Grindhouse feature was only shown in North America and after poor ticket sales it was decided that both movies would be separated for overseas audiences and lengthened to a normal running time.  I had been looking forward to seeing Grindhouse – a throwback to the explotation films of the 70s – but after learning of the two movies being separated I decided to wait until video.
Well, to make a long story short, Death Proof was worth waiting for.  It’s not as good as some of Taratino’s other films, but the characters were interesting, and the way the story plays out is something of a surprise.  The movie hasn’t received very much praise from critics around the globe, but it serves up an entertaining hour and a half that most people should rent at some point.

Funny story, although not so at the time.

On my way home from seeing a movie today, I was playing a Sony PSP on the train. Like always, I was standing in the area closest to the door but pressed up against the seat to avoid traffic. At one point an old man (probably in his 70s) got behind me and actually pushed me off the train.  Since he was stumbling on the train as well I just figured he was trying to get off, and rather than block his exit, I just decided to get off and let him pass.  Well, much to my surprise, rather than exiting like a normal person, the old man continued to push me to keep me from getting on the train again. We got about 10 ft. away from the train door and I was trying to get around him to re-board, but he was doing a pretty good job of getting in my way.  Then things started to escalate.  He started yelling at me and tried to rip the PSP from my hands. He was obviously drunk and was yelling at me for both playing games and not understanding the rules being a foreigner.  I wasn’t quite sure what rules he was referring to, but I had had enough of his crap so I told him we were going to the police (in Japanese of course) and strangely he immediately agreed to go with me.

I was pissed as hell at this point, but I decided that rather than go to the police we should just stop at the station office and let them deal with this piece of work. When we got there I told the people what he did to me and he said, “Yep, that sounds about right,” and proceeded to explain to me that you can’t play games on the train. The office attendant butted in and told him that you can’t push other riders off the train and that playing games is not against “the manners” as long as you are wearing headphones and not playing the sound loud enough to bother other riders. The old man bowed and said something like, “Yeah, I suppose there are some things that I should apologize for too.”  After hearing this sentence I got even angrier and told him, “There’s no damn too about this at all.  You owe me an apology!”  At that point he started to berate me for not accepting his apology and the office attendant had me sit down so he could start talking to him about how playing games isn’t a moral offense. They then asked me if I wanted to call the police to report him but I told them I just wanted to go home.

It was a very bizarre experience and not one I would really want to repeat but I felt it was pretty strange that the old guy would actually physically accost me to stop playing games quietly on the train. I’m totally for this “Be mindful of your neighbors” campaign that they are running here to keep people calm on the trains but this was pretty crazy.

The worst part was that when the station attendant told the old man to apologize to me the old man tried to hug me. The station attendant jumped in between us because he was probably unsure of how I would react to getting touched by the old man. In the end, the old man did one of those politician handshakes (the two-handed one) and was sent stumbling off on his way into the sunset.

Needless to say I was pretty worked up about all of this.  Maintaining my composure was probably the most difficult part of this whole ordeal.  It’s not quite often that you have someone in elderly diapers attacking you for something totally irrelevant.   We’re told to respect the elderly but things like this really just sour your overall impression of them all.  I doubt this will ever happen again, but at least now I guess I’m prepared.

Oh, and on a side note, I saw American Gangster starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.   It’s a great movie and a must-see for people who like police dramas.  The story is based on a true story.

It’s funny. Sometimes I have a million ideas for blog topics running through my head but when I actually try to put them down on ‘paper’ I get writer’s block. I suppose it’s not all that strange; writing, according to Stephen King in his book On Writing, is mostly about practice. He says that in order to become an author you should be reading 4 hours and writing 4 hours every day. That doesn’t help me much for writing these entries based on my time limitations, but I think that my inability to write my blog is an indicator that I’m still not experienced enough. Like I mentioned in some of my initial posts, I created digitalKI not because I’m interested in sharing my ideas with the world but because I like writing. This is one of the best ways for me to practice and I find that the casual tone of most blog posts to be perfect practice for creating actual dialog in the short stories I write. I definitely think I’ve been making some progress but there is still a lot of work to be done. Living in Japan has been a wonderful experience, but at the same time it has also done tremendous damage to my ability to communicate normally using English. At least by maintaining this blog I’m able to get in some much needed practice. With that said, I think I’ll mention two things today and try to keep it light. There are a fair number of disturbing political stories going around right now and I’d rather not focus on those for now.
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Despite the excessive length of these blogs you might be surprised to know that for the most part I’m writing these on my cell phone. Usually on my way home from work I’ll have an idea pop into my head and since I’ve got around two hours to kill, it becomes a great way to pass the time. In this way it’s also interesting to see how the phones here have developed differently to match the needs of the market. The whole idea of texting as it exists in America and Europe never materialized here, and instead most people either send actual email from phone to phone or sometimes a lighter,more text-like message. It costs around 3 to 8 cents to send an email based on the length and attached pictures and it can be cheaper or free if that person is in your family. Unfortunately for Europeans and Americans cell phone companies saw how popular this technology could be and jacked up prices even for the bastardized format that is texting. Lrn2grmmrnoob … The future of our children is oh so bright.
Yesterday I talked briefly about a group of rocketeers making a replca X-wing and I was thinking that I’d focus on that topic more. Of course I’m interested in the project itself, but what I’m actually really happy to see is this kind of casual teamwork still alive in the US. I’ve always believed that what made Americans great was that sense of individualism and curiosity of our surroundings being applied to teamwork and ingenuity. It’s not so often that you see this kind of community activity anymore, and even more-so for one related to a scientific venture. Perhaps I’m simply uniformed or just plain wrong, but it really feels like times have changed a lot even in my short lifetime.

Also, as an update to last week’s X-wing replica story, you might check out the story again to see the launch video. The launch was a great success, but the X-wing fell to pieces very quickly after rocketing into the sky. It’s really a cool thing to see and a perfect time to cue the Porkin jokes.

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I’m posting two entries today. I actually wrote the one below a while back, but I was lazy and never got around to posting it. Scroll down the page to see that other entry.

For now however, I’m going to talk about videogame politics and also try to clear up some misconceptions. I mostly want to focus your attention on a crazy lawyer by the name of Jack Thompson. The name probably isn’t familiar to most people, but if you have heard any news linking video games to violence in the past 10 years you might be surprised to find out that it’s, for the most part, the work of this one individual.

I hear over and over (especially from my mom) about the concerns related to video game violence. Obviously there are violent games out there, but there is one crucial factor that seems to be ignored – games also come with ratings. Video game ratings are exactly the same as movies only with different lettering. For example, G (General) in movies is the same as E (Everyone) in games, and R (Restricted) is the same as M (Mature). The reasons why these ratings are given for each particular game are detailed on the back of every box, and in most stores now, you can’t actually buy M games without a parent present or unless you’re 17 or older. The ratings are done on a voluntary basis by the ESRB in the United States and there are similar groups all around the world making sure parents know what to expect when buying games. Video game violence is exactly like movies. If you would never take your child to see a Rated-R movie, then you should never be purchasing an M-Rated game. This distinction needs to be clearly made and especially if you are under the impression that games = children. For most people my age (late 20s) games have almost entirely replaced television as a source of entertainment. We are not children and as such have come to expect adult oriented content that maintains our interest, that doesn’t necessarily mean sex and violence, but also doesn’t rule it out. The same could be said for watching Disney’s The Lion King versus watching Friday the 13th. If I want to be entertained as an adult I watch Friday the 13th, if I want to enjoy family-friendly fare I watch The Lion King. I would never take a young child to see Friday the 13th. Period.

Jack Thompson is trying to confuse this issue however. He has spent his whole career trying to lump all games (whether they are for children or not) into one large violence-causing category. He was the person that got everyone to believe Columbine was caused by video games, he was again seen trying to prove that the Virginia Tech shooting was caused by video games (despite the shooter not actively playing games), he was the one creating unnecessary publicity concerning the “Hot Coffee” scandal related to Grand Theft Auto, and he continues to aggressively pursue any game company with litigation simply for the purpose of publicity. He is repeatedly used by the media in an attempt to create a link between violence and games and has actually sunk to threats and litigation against those who have criticized him. Jack Thompson’s role in strengthening the rating system of video games is a good one, but aside from that, it becomes a parenting issue. Any publicity regarding violent video games and high-profile shootings is merely a play by Jack to keep his name in the news and ultimately makes it harder for uninformed parents to figure out what is really going on. There has been no direct correlation found between games and violence (it may be one of many factors but not the sole one), and the idea that games are only for children needs to be fixed in order for this whole topic to move forward responsibly.

Before I go, I might remind you that Jack Thompson is the same man who actually gave a note to Janet Reno in order to learn if she was a homosexual, the same man who actually tried to get the Florida Bar Association voted unconstitutional because he felt they had a vendetta against him and his religious beliefs, and also the same man who has had disbarment proceedings filed against him due to his inappropriate behavior as a layer. I recommend checking out his wikipedia page to see everything he has done over the years. It’s very interesting and actually only the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t negate that violence and video games needs to be evaluated, but it does show you that you can’t always believe everything you read or see in the news.

Maintaining a blog is an interesting affair. For a blog like mine with maybe 2 or 3 readers it’s hard to actually say that I’m writing for others. Essentially it becomes a diary in all but name.

Some people have themes for their blogs which is what you’re really supposed to do, but to be honest I just like to think of my blog as more of a forum for collecting random thoughts and writing them down. It at least makes for some decent practice so that I don’t forget my English entirely.

Anyway, enough about that, there’s *important* stuff to talk about. First of all, for those game fans out there you need to get your hands on a copy of Bioshock – now! I only tried out the demo on XBL last night, but from my initial impressions it’s a really beautiful game. It’s obviously just another FPS but it has a compelling story, atmosphere like I’ve never seen before, really original concepts, and more importantly one of the coolest combat systems you’re going to see.

In the game you gain control over things like fire and electricity; with those elements you can pull off some pretty amazing feats such as lighting someone on fire in order to make them jump in water just to electrocute them. I know it sounds violent, and it is, but it actually gives gamers something to do that isn’t just shooting some boring guns.

Speaking of games, I’m starting to lose faith in what Nintendo is doing with the Wii. This is a pretty big change for me because I’ve always been a fan of Nintendo. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of such classics as Mario and Pokemon, has recently been quoted as saying that the Wii doesn’t need traditional gamers as much and that they’re going to continue to focus on the casual segment of the market. I think it’s great that they’re trying to bring in more gamers (especially older people typically unexposed to this kind of entertainment), but doing so at the expense of the tried-and-true supporters of the company seems a bit ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that the factory-line repetition of brain training and mini-games is just crap. I’m willing to bet that once these so-called casual gamers get their fill of mini games it’s going to go downhill from there.

I’ve finished another book from my brother-in-law’s book-list and I’d like to recommend it to whoever is reading this. It’s a sci-fi book called The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. The book is about what happens at the end of the civilization as we know it and the book is very well written. Strangely enough this is the second book of apocalypse that I’ve read in as many weeks – last week was Stephen King’s Cell. Both were very entertaining but also very different in approach. King’s version is more of a graphic look at how humans behave when literally stripped of their finer programming and Wyndham’s take is about how man will continue to look for stability even when the structure around us crumbles. Wyndham’s book is actually scarier despite its lack of gore, but mostly because of how real the situation seems. Not only that but even though it was written in 1951 it still feels extremely relevant.

Next, I wanted to share with everyone something I found pretty interesting. Apparently scientists have found a shooting star – a real one. Usually when we use that euphemism we’re in fact referring to debris falling towards Earth and burning up in the atmosphere. This time however it seems that scientists actually found a star (imagine the sun) that moves at 291,000 mph. Not only that, but this star is leaving a trail behind it that’s 13 *light years* long. To be honest, it’s hard to even fathom how long that is, but if you check out this website you’ll get a better idea. The universe is such an interesting place and it’s stories like this that make you realize how little we actually know about it.

Last on my list of things to talk about is the new Pixar movie Ratatouille. I’m a big fan of Pixar’s movies but this one just goes way above and beyond the quality you find in other movies. It’s fun for the whole family but in true Pixar fashion this is a movie you want to get a babysitter for and enjoy on an adult level. By far the best movie I’ve seen all year in terms of quality and light-hearted fun.

Things still really haven’t let up at work and so updating this blog has become more of a challenge than I was expecting. I’m getting home anywhere between 9 and 11pm every night now, and between eating and sitting on the couch (sometimes both at the same time) there’s not much time to do anything else. I’ve been trying to catch up on some games that I’ve been really interested in completing, but even that is hard to do. I will say this now and probably as long as I live, but I’ll never figure out why Japanese people work as much as they do. Obviously extra work comes with the territory of being in a marketing company, but even with tight deadlines it still amazes me how late everyone stays. I once heard somewhere (can’t remember where) that American’s consider work to be part of their lives and Japanese people put emphasis on work first – I think this says a lot about the difference in cultures. Here’s an example: in the US, people usually wear sneakers to work and put on their nice shoes when they get to the office. However, in Japan, workers usually (in older offices anyway) wear nice shoes to the office and change into slippers when they get to work. Supposedly, from what I understand, this was to signify the fact that the office was more like your home. This is a pretty antiquated practice now, but the fact that it exists is pretty interesting. I guess what I’m really saying is that when I look at workers throughout the country, I see very little importance placed on spending time with friends and family, and even less on the actual well-being of the workers as long as it helps the company. I’m actually very lucky because my current office has been very supportive in letting me visit the doctor and other various things that need to be done.

Since I’m on the topic of Japan today, I really need to talk about the election that happened this past weekend. It was great! The ruling party, the party that has been in power since World War 2 (with a brief lapse in 1993) was absolutely crushed. What makes this so wonderful is that the people in power were made up of a bunch of old farts who had very little interest in bettering Japan (from a liberal perspective anyway) and they continued to follow the status quo regardless of how much damage it was doing to anything. You might be asking why they have been in power so long, and the answer is really simple. Most of the people who are voting are elderly folks in need of security, and as a result they have continued to stick with the conservative party to secure that peace of mind. However, as if in some kind of Shakespearean comedy, the ruling political party made mistake after disastrous mistake. You probably have heard of some of these on the news, but there have been a number of financial scandals, one in which a politician (and also cabinet member for the prime minister) killed himself, there was the politician who called women “baby-making machines,” there was the politician who said that the atomic bomb attacks were inevitable (a big no-no in Japan), and to top things off there was the disclosure of the existence of 50 million social security accounts with no owners despite the fact that they were being funded by the social security money of tax payers. This last fact basically hosed the ruling party because if you remember, since most of the voters are elderly people, anything that actually puts their potential to receive social security money at risk is the same as political suicide. So the end result – the ruling party ended up dropping from around 65 seats in the upper house to 37 overnight. They still have the majority in the lower house of the Diet, but with this balance of power it will make it harder to pass bills; as a side note, up until this election (i.e. for the last 50 years or so) if they wanted something passed they just passed it – there was plenty of opposition, but since they have always had the majority vote, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Can you imagine the Bush administration passing bills without opposition – oh, wait…

On a side note about games, currently I’m working on finishing my career in Fight Night Round 3 and also playing Vampire Bloodlines for the second time. Both of these games are truly great games, and if you have the chance to get either of these, I highly recommend it. FNR3 is available for Xbox 360 and PS3 I think, and Vampire is available for the PC. Vampire is a few years old now and should run pretty well on slightly older machines – plus, it is available on Steam so you can get access to it very easily. It’s nice hearing from people about my blog, and since my updating frequency has been kind of strange, you should subscribe to this blog using the RSS feed links found on the page.

Oh yeah, one last thing…I finished the newest Harry Potter book so if you’d like to talk to me about the series, feel free to send me an email. Please don’t include spoiler information in the comments because I don’t want anyone to read them. I will remove anything concerning the book that might be considered a spoiler. I really liked the last book, and I felt it was probably the best way they could have ended the series. It’s hard to forget that the books are essentially written for kids/teenagers so having an ending like the Dark Tower by Stephen King would pretty much be impossible. I’ve been reading like a madman lately having finished the 4th book in the George R R Martin series, Old Man’s War, and now this Harry Potter book. I’m going to move to Cell by Stephen King next. Please feel free to send me some ideas for books to read. My brother-in-law has given me an awesome book-list and I’ve been working my way through that lately. Also, no fantasy. The GRRM series has really spoiled me and I would rather read something in horror or sci-fi for the time being.