The Saint John's Mentality

It seems the people I went to grade school with continue to hold their prejudices against me. Ten years ago, I transferred to a new grade school called Saint John of the Cross. Right off the bat, my peers were noticeably more snobby than my former, [seemingly] lower-income classmates of the year before. I had never experienced such an uphill battle with meeting friends before. The girls were stuck up, the boys had already formed their impenetrable groups, and there was no way of reconciling either without completely conforming. I was reluctant to do so.

Yet I believe to this day, even if I had attempted to alter my interests to theirs, I never would have received full acceptance. Partly because of my name (it was not Irish, and nor was I), where I lived (which was not in the tiny, encapsulated village of ignorance known as Western Springs), I did not have any older siblings, and I was shy and unfunny. So unsurprisingly, my experience was rocky. Although this flies in the face of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X's pursuits of yesteryear, ethnic discrimination is alive and not well publicized.

I may have never been approached with open arms because I transferred in, and the same goes for my high school experience.

My point then is, incredibly people that attended Saint John of the Cross with me behave just as stiffly as they did over ten years ago. Back then, they would never invite me to their houses, now they never spark up conversation that is more than slightly meaningful in any real way, or invited me to any parties. They are the same, overly privileged suburbanite elite that will ever let more than a few into their highly exclusive social circles.

I'm about to say "screw you" to any reunion with Saint John of the Cross.

What the World is Becoming: According to the Internet

The world is in total disarray. People don't believe in anything anymore. People are growing up skeptics, unhappy hedons who want nothing else but a lower drinking age, to have sex with whomever they may please, legalized drugs, to be removed from any sort of religious or cultural obligations and to access all media free. This emphasis on pleasure will yield unambitious individuals in society and result in a loss of ethical values. Technology will progress in accordance with the law of diminishing returns, and eventually plateau for this betrayal of goal-seeking behaviors.

The only arbiters productivity and advancement of society are those who disdain from said shallow activities. As society gives the norms of yesteryear a greater metaphorical middle finger as time goes on, and deliberately rebels, more are encouraged to join the revolution. And this is for worse. Little do people realize is that when they pursue unethical behaviors, the will go along a downward spiral of mediocrity, never advancing. Aldous Huxley predicted correctly in his novel, Brave New World, only in ours, soma can be equated to drugs, sex, alcohol, and a lack of order. It appears only the destruction of all establishment will satisfy the constantly complaint-laden cesspool of individuals who make up modern society.

Today, people don't live in the moment, they don't live to find love, or live a virtuous life. Rather, they live solely to experience pleasure.

Inspiration: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Atheist

Do We Want Ditsy Female Hostesses on Video Game TV?

G4TV has essentially been gamers’ only resort for gaming-related programming for nine years now. As far as I can remember, it flew in the face of the corny and overly enthusiastic direction of GamePro TV and the more game show-emphasis of Nick Arcade that predate me.

Even in the early days of G4TV, the station had a vast array of very compelling content, with the late-night trailer reel of Cinematech, the incredible documentary series Icons, Judgment Day with the charismatic Tommy Tallarico and Victor Lucas, X-Play with its brutally-honest reviewing style, and the very informative, but not-so-in-your-face Screen Savers.

All the programming then looked to gamers with a certain degree of reverence and dignity. It was conceived with the understanding that the viewers are “nerds”, “geeks”, or technology enthusiasts in general, that they have habits that the normal human being does not, and that that difference was acceptable in society.

But perhaps that was not enough. Or, the hardcore gamers that viewed G4TV were not numerous enough to produce numbers that would sustain G4 in its current state. Then by 2006, according to Variety magazine, “G4 is evolving into a lifestyle channel, peppered with videogame culture, as opposed to wall-to-wall games." And this was evident, as this shift coincided with G4’s new logo, as well as a whole host of different non-gaming programs, which personally disappointed me. I can recall turning on G4 time and time again, hoping that I just might tune in at the time when something at least vaguely tech related was being aired.

Perusing G4TV.com can reveal the swath of shows that marred G4 for many. These started out with minor changes, but then G4 must have noticed a spike in ratings, and amped up the emphasis on non-gaming programs. These included meat-head shows like Ninja Warrior and Cops at first, but it all went downhill from there and progressively became more and more meat-headed in nature to include “shows” like The International Sexy Ladies Show, Cheaters, Web Soup, It's Effin' Science, That's Tough, Whacked Out Videos, and Wired for Sex.

The station was clearly pandering for viewers and this was to the detriment of their programming and their audience’s respect. Who are they trying to appeal to? Jocks? Bros? Brojocks? Douchebags? It seems the latter is true anyway.

They tried to appeal to too many personalities at once, that is for certain. Maybe this is the result of “jocks” vastly outnumbering “nerds” in society, and thus, an inevitability of mainstream entertainment culture to wholly engulf niche entertainment culture. Or even “nerds” increasingly using the internet as a resource to view content, whereas “jocks”, or at least their similarly shallow adult selves to continue to prefer entertainment on television. All of this is speculation, however, as I’m grossly generalizing “jock” and “nerd” culture, and ignoring any potential interaction or cross-pollination that may occur.

The internet is an important point though, as it appears television programming is a relic that is no longer revered in as high esteem as internet-driven forms of entertainment. I do not doubt that a considerable portion of G4TV’s viewership was lost due to the internet, which in part explains the channel’s current web presence.

So after all this involved self-discourse, I find myself right where I started with my title, “Do We Want Ditsy Female Hostesses on Video Game TV?” I got the idea for this title from watching Attack of the Show, the more in-your-face successor to the much beloved Screen Savers. With the rolling cast of Maxim models, and otherwise meathead heart-throbs, going in and out of AOTS, do we, or for that matter, did we ever come to watch G4TV as what was supposed to be a video game-centric channel to watch generally unintelligent and completely ignorant “babes” deliver news and issue completely anecdotal reviews on technology?

Let me answer that one for you, probably not. G4TV was popular because it was the only channel available that solely focused on video games and the industry. Now, we as gamers have virtually no where to go should we want to watch video game-related programming, unless we are willing to remain beholden to the station’s limited show spots like X-Play, and AOTS to an extent (although the bro-mentality has leaked into AOTS to an extent as well).

Do Candace Bailey, Sara Underwood, Kristin Adams, Olivia Munn, or Layla Kayleigh really have a passion for games? The prospect of this being true seems doubtful. It appears as if they were brought aboard for no other purpose than for their eye-candy value. This, along with the numerous other decisions like to increase the number and length of commercial breaks lost me as a regular viewer. I don’t see why Sarah Lane and Morgan Webb were not enough, and I doubt that they are the only truly tech-savvy female hosts that aren’t an eyesore to look at.

G4TV, why did you drop so many excellent shows, and add so many horrible ones?! There already exists a place for shows like that, and it’s called Spike TV!

Is the “Death of the PC” a Real Question Anymore?

It seems like it was just yesterday that the life of the PC as a viable gaming platform was being challenged. This was all the way back in summer, when all we heard were of rampant studio closings in which piracy was cited as a primary cause of lost sales. But gamers fought with their keyboards, arguing on message boards that they ordinarily would not purchase the given game regardless, even though we know through the numbers of pirated games that it was getting to the point where fans of a series would pirate even their most beloved titles.

Since then all that has been forgotten. All it took was for the consoles to gradually dilapidate in terms of graphical fidelity to the point at which PCs have once again become the preferred system of choice thanks to custom optimizing as well as the constantly evolving nature of the machine.

Now, rather than hearing about another Midway or THQ studio shutting down due to piracy, we hear of how much “better” Battlefield 3 is on PC, or that Skyrim on PC is “the way to go.” It stands to reason that until the next generation of consoles are released, the PC will remain the dominant way to play.

The PC has always had many things going for it, like the mouse and keyboard set up, its overall inexpensiveness, being able to mod at one’s will, free-to-play games, more indie games, Steam, a more mature multiplayer community, LAN gaming, being able to alt+tab out of a game to multi-task, not to mention that the PC makes a hell of a better Word Document machine than does an Xbox 360, and yet the 360 can’t even do half the things the PC can! So why even shell out upwards of $400 for the Xbox 1080 coming in 2013? Kinect 2.0? I think not.

With a PC, you can, for much less, progressively modify it to your specific needs and have a much better, and much more economical experience. (Thanks to Steam’s regular deals and free-to-play games, not piracy, you goon!)

I don’t believe the PC as a gaming platform is being put to question any longer, and for good reason.

Long live the PC!

Infinity Blade II: The Definitive Handheld Game

Infinity Blade II for the iOS platform is a deceivingly hardcore game. From the onset, you are presented with an easy, straight path that makes you wonder what all the fuss is about and why Infinity Blade II costs $6.99. But after completing this, numerous other paths are unlocked, making Infinity Blade II a whole lot more expansive. It doesn’t hurt as well that the enemies at each juncture are constantly being rearranged or new ones are being thrown into the mix.

The gameplay at first seems to be run-of-the-mill hack n’ slash style combat, but after spending some time experimenting with the three different weapon types (sword and shield, heavy, and dual swords), the game’s quality amongst the massive heaps of garbage that grace Apple’s App Store truly reveals itself.

Infinity Blade II has an interesting carrot-stick balance, one that favors the carrot for which may turn off the hardest of “core” gamers. Incentives such as experience points, leveling up, gold, the prospect of new and exciting weapons are things likely to keep players coming back when on the go. The game has many reasons for gamers to continue playing even after they’ve exhausted the purported five hours of playtime available.

Its single player increases in difficulty as your character becomes stronger, you find gold bags scattered around the gorgeous Unreal Engine-powered landscapes, which can be used to purchase new weapons, armor, helmets, shields, and rings. Equipped items can be leveled up and augmented, leading to both experience and strength, defense, health, or magic bonuses. Infinity Blade II, along with being a surprisingly robust action game is also a loot-whoring game, which can provide for a surprisingly exciting gaming experience on-the-go. Fights are short and to the point, and cutscenes between one area and the next can be sped up in case you’re in a hurry.

I played Infinity Blade II on my standard iPhone 4, and it is noticeable it was intended for the iPhone 4S. The occasional hiccup has the possibility of being either slight enough to not terribly reduce framerate, or severe enough to give you the sense that you didn’t get a fair fight and can turn the tides in your enemy’s favor due to your delay in commands. All of which leads to massive frustration, and let me tell you, this game does reach a point at which it becomes very challenging (if you’re reading this, and thought it wasn’t sufficiently hard, try playing with heavy weapons only!). But Infinity Blade II is one to reward you for your persistence, and becomes only more gratifying by getting past its issues.

The block-buster app makes an attempt at providing a story to tie together the chain of enemies, but really, it boils down to generic dialogue unfittingly voiced by what are actually some genuinely menacing enemies. The story, suffice to say, is not Infinity Blade II’s calling card, nor is it the reason anyone will pick it up.

Infinity Blade II combines even more fluid combat that was present in the first game, Gears of War-quality graphics in the palm of your hands, Shadow of the Colossus-level of epic boss fights, with on-the-go gaming practicality. I dare say it is one of the most satisfying and engaging games on iOs to date. Once you play Infinity Blade II for the first time, you will be coming back for more, I assure you.

Love the Beast: Pure Awe

Eric Bana's personal documentary/film, Love the Beast is a spectacular argument why cars represent much more than means of transportation. Bana's car a Ford Falcon XB means the world to him. He has had it since the age of 15, and has worked on it with friends for years. It meant a fireplace to his friends, it was a way to socialize, to make friends, to hang out, a discussion point, a place to keep away from drugs and alcohol, and to fuel a passion to last a lifetime. Bana has paired up with Dr. Phil, Jeremy Clarkson, and Jay Leno to help console Bana's love affair with his Falcon. Bana appears at times confused as to how he should act about his crash when speaking to the luminaries.

The film is a great example why cars have souls. They make mistakes, and behave differently than other car names, and thus, they can form bonds.

The film has an uncanny ability to provoke unintentional smiling, sympathy, and outbursts of emotion. Bana participates with his friend, Tony, in the Targa of Tasmania. Tony serves as Eric's navigator, and both, despite being rather amateurish, do quite well. Bana had participated in the Targa years earlier, and had famously claimed he would come every year henceforth. Suffice to say, Bana did not live up to this promise, yet was going to make the 2009 Targa Tasmania his last with his newly rebuilt Falcon. It was his dream to do this with his dream car.

Bana is making great progress through the Targa, but along the line, unfortunately collides with a tree. After the traumatic event, Bana says "This is not what I had in mind", as he stands, without a scratch on him, in absolute shock as to what just took place.

Bana is at a crossroads as to whether or not he should repair what was once his dream car. As he returns to the place that initially race-prepped the Falcon, he notes that he feels even worse examining the damage than he did when the crash happened.

There is rather implicit disclosure to end the film, with white text on a black background that reads, "Bana plans to rebuild his Beast".

The film overall was highly enjoyable, and had done stunning job showing audience members the bond between a man and a machine. The beginning, in fact was perhaps the most enjoyable where Bana accurately details the feeling of track driving, as scenes of him and his racing yellow Porsche 911 scream through apexes. Bana truly understands what it means to be a driver, as his natural skill is evident even through his heel-toeing technique as was involved in the Targa.

I highly recommend Love the Beast as an absolute mad car fanatic.

Racing Dreams: Play with My Heartstrings

Racing Dreams emphasizes three young karting drivers who strive to become national karting champions. The film emphasizes Josh Hobson (12), Annabeth Barnes (11), and Brandon Warren (13) for which Warren is placed in the senior devision, and the other two are in the junior division. Racing Dreams covertly conveys feelings that can only be attempted to be explained through words. For example, when Annabeth is sitting in her new stock car, anticipating to start it up for the first time, or when Brandon dresses in a military uniform, I couldn't help but feel pity for what an extraordinary driver Brandon could have become, yet unfortunately grew up with an alcoholic father and was underprivileged as a result, and there is nothing he can do about it.

Racing Dreams is an unbelievable film-style documentary of the lives of karting drivers and how much commitment it takes in order to be one. Annabeth claimed she found little time to 'be one of the other girls' because of racing, yet she said it was wholly worth the time away from friends in order to pursue driving as a potential profession down the line.

Josh Hobson was a known quantity; he won nearly every race, and was calm, cool, and likely has the best opportunity out of the other two drivers to make it in NASCAR later on. He was also the most forward-thinking, the most precocious, and appeared the best bet among sponsors.

Annabeth Barnes was also precocious, wasn't the absolute best driver yet finished fifth consistently, and for better or for worse, received recognition for being the only girl karting.

Finally, Brandon Warren was the most rebellious of the three thanks in no small part to his absent father, although due to his grandparents, with whom he lives he has a strong foundation. Brandon had ambitions to 'join the Marine Corps in order to whoop his father'. Towards the end of the film, it is revealed that due to financial issues, Brandon can no longer pursue competitive driving, but is pursuing his high school's ROTC program. On his sleeve, it said "U.S. Army", despite what he had said earlier.

Racing Dreams is a mixed bag, it alternates heartstring to heartstring as rapidly as the karts would pass one another. It is certainly an emotion-filled film despite the average movie-watchers' perceptions of racing à la Taladega Nights.

In Transit

For my entire life it seems, I have been in transit. From my transfer to a different school in fourth grade to my transfer to another school in sophomore year of high school. I seem to get bored rather easily. Currently, I am studying at Marquette University and while I have had a brilliant time meeting many new people, I find myself again, rather bored.

I can't tell if it's that I desire to be elsewhere, and that Milwaukee is too similar to my home in Illinois. Nor am I sure if it is in fact that I am not adequately challenged by my courses this semester. Or even if the student body, being the drinking school, and me being the antithesis of a drinker has a culture of providing 'buffer time' in which students may have sufficient time to alleviate any alcohol from their systems. Or is it even the constant image of a well-worn, mossy Ivy-League school building somewhere in Massachusetts in the back of my mind and that my sister will likely attend that school, and I may never even see such a thing. Is it envy? After all, I seem to have followed my sister, despite me being older, to a College Prep school in the city. Do I simply need to make a greater splash in the community in order to not feel so detached? Right now, I feel rather a part of the community, and maybe I need to give the school more time. Is it the cityscape Milwaukee provides that is again, too similar to my high school Chicago backdrop? Or am I overly adventurous, should there be such a thing? Do I like to be the different person, "the transfer". Do I like to meet people with difficulty? Do I like to not be ahead as I feel now? Do I feel uncomfortable when I feel "ahead" of the curve? Do I truly want to transfer again?! My intent with going to Marquette was that I was going to attend this, and no other school for four years! Should I rough it (because the social atmosphere is unrivaled) and take more challenging classes, maybe graduate early through summer classes, and take grad school at one of those historic, charming, and mossy Boston universities? Should I truly abandon my newfound friends so early by taking summer courses?

What should I do? I know for now, I will challenge to finish my assignments with yet more quality, contribute to the school newspaper, study abroad in Germany this summer, and maybe for another semester sometime down the line, join a fraternity, and achieve a higher GPA than was ever possible for me at high school what with all the commuting, sports, and excessive homework assignments.

The Beloit Mindset List

Beloit College makes an annual list that takes into account all of the events surrounding incoming college freshmen births. The conductors are virtually oblivious to the current goings on and new interests in our lives today (which would be helpful because they are very central in shaping our decisions).

Take a look for yourself.

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/

If you are my age, you may either agree with the two gentlemen, or be offended as I am for the sheer number of assumptions made regarding my generation. Then again, nearly anything said about my generation, I may very well take offense no matter how accurate or jarringly true. Many times I arrogantly fight the truth so as to avoid embarrassment and unscrupulousness at all costs.

The State of Books and Faces

Facebook for me has perhaps the most uncanny draw for me to return over nearly any other website. Begrudgingly, I came back to the social media site after a long hiatus during the Lenten season to, yet again, share my opinions and goings-on of my life via comments, photos, "likes", and most of all, status updates. There may be nothing else on all of the internet more self-indulgent or inviting of such behavior as those darn statuses.

The love-hate relationship between statuses and me begins whenever I see a "friend" of mine receiving "likes" or comments in which the jealousy flame is lit. Then I will perform a miserably sub-par attempt at garnering virtual popularity, and as if the beginning of this sentence wasn't obvious enough to indicate my fate, I fail every time. I think this stems from (1.) my reputation as someone relatively few people truly know, or (2.) most likely me trying too hard to be funny, charismatic, or poignant in my own way. No matter what though, my statuses fall flat. No one comments on them, or likes them. No one even gives a pity like for my broken ego all thanks to this service.

And at the same time, I question why it is that I care so deeply about what people think of me, or even what it is that forces me to interpret their actions, or lack thereof in a disparaging light. I think it's because I treat it like it's a game. And it's certainly one I cannot possibly succeed at.