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A Post-Modern Powerup

When you think of power-ups you think of oompf. If you are playing Zelda and you get the hookshot, you are able to attack, stun and pull yourself over wide precipices. If you get the leaf in Mario 3 you can make a little Italian fly and if you drink a potion in Final Fantasy a tiny bit of your life is restored.

The power-up is what makes games a little extra fun. We enjoy seeing power-ups sprinkled throughout the game as rewards for our hard work, they are instant and noticable changes to the nature of your gaming experience. In life there are no such power ups, save maybe drugs (which aren't really upping your life in any real way to begin with).

But when I think of a great power-up, I dont think of a leaf or a bottled fairy or a pac-man power pellet. When I think of a great power-up I think of the Mario Kart Star. The star in Mario Kart is unique in that it doesn't really give you anything. Yes you're speed increases, but only slightly. But it doesn't make you jump, it isn't a massive boost, and it doesn't serve as a projectile weapon.

The Mario Kart Star just ... makes everything alright. It let's you just "be." And when you think of the star as a concept for life, a momentary glowing barier that keeps out opponants and lets you just roll though the world smoothly...now that is a power-up.

We live our lives trying to just be and it's not an easy thing to do. With the Star power-up you become a more confident, less distracted. It doesn't make anything come out of you and it isn't primarily a tool for attacking, it is a state of existence power-up, maybe the only one of its kind.

When you have the star it makes you just want to be a better competator. It isn't a flamboyant power-up, it isn't extroverted, attack based or violent. It is a reminder to do better, to focus in and to just enjoy the ride.

Great Idea

toothpastefordinner.com

History of my Blog

The big 3 hunge is coming up.

Paul Rudd is the World

The Brave and Organized Scientist

"Your friends have voted on your strengths and weaknesses"
(Via Facebook)

STRENGTHS:

most organized
bravest
best scientist

WEAKNESSES:

most athletic
best to be stuck in handcuffs with

LET'S just assess a few things here. One: my friends are fools. These strengths are completely inaccurate. I am neither organized, scientific or brave. I suppose there have been instances in my life where I have demonstrated some bravery- I once picked up the poop of a dog that was not my own. I can also be organized at times as well, for example I check my Twitter Karma, polish my action figures and comb the loose hairs of my beard every day. The science strength really throws me though because I am the person who passed grade 10 science by doing an experiment on "The Sogginess of Cereals". I think I received the credit for bribing my teacher with some leftover Muslix.

Now, let's look at my weaknesses- I am rarely ranked as athletic. Now, I bike every day, I do 20 minutes of Wii Fit cardio, I am the only person I know to have completed the 100 day pushup challenge and I am not overweight; even though statistically I live in the most obese town in Canada. Still, I suppose my Facebook photos rarely flatter my ever hardening pectorals.

Handcuffs..well this is just depressing. People don't want to be stuck in handcuffs with me. Let's be serious though- if you are going to be captured and placed in handcuffs with someone, wouldn't you want the brave and organized scientist on your side to get you out of the disaster in an organized fashion?

I just want to know what the spandex feels like

I suppose I don't see anything wrong in being treated like an asshole when I go into American Apparel. It was my fault anyhow, I was wearing dark green and navy. I thought though, that maybe this time I would get a melancholic smile or something because I had on a hoody and skinny jeans- but no. Next time I'll wear my new pink cords and a sparkly dress shirt. I need to lose like 20 pounds and give off an air of gauntness. I'll probably have to straighten my hair as well and pretend to be as detached from emotion as possible. Then they will accept me.

EXPERiMENTS in ALTBEAT: Y/Gen Lament

Moving makes the mind go funny...you never really know how important the internet is to you until you're cut off from it. Can't explain the anger that went through me when our ISP botched the install. A week without highspeed- I'm addicted. I'd like to see if there's any research out there on internet addiction..I feel it would almost be wrong to google for the information, I should just call some prof, like you would in the old days, ten years ago. SEO culture is ruining our ability to search for things authentically...I miss the days when digging for information was hard, when a scrap of info felt rare. I guess I'm being nostalgic because I think my generation is the one that's gonna feel it the most- we were born into a world that used the word NERDS in a negative way, and now we're moving full force forward into the world's new store, the app/prog/browser store and we don't give enough of a shit to look back. Why do I feel like i neede spellcheck? Twitter is a cult movement and we're pushing it forward because we want to be on the crest of a new wave, we want to be forefathers of an electric country, we want netizen power, we want our gods to be anonymous and our Sunday service to be open source. No stopping now though because we're addicted to the point of blind ignorance. ZuckerB's cocky Billgatsing changed the rules and the your are forming celebrity community cults that companies haven't yet found a way to exploit. I miss the days when jump was the A button and people would twist their heads in confusion at the word "download". I'm 26.

I'm Moving

Yes, I bought a HOUSE and have a mortgage now and am at last enslaved by the norm. I suppose what's to follow is the great churn of adulthood wherein I succumb to severe depression, crippling debt and chemo on all of my motivations. Thankfully my new house is close to a Burger King...I'll eat myself old.

FPS Geezer

First Person Shooters are making my blood pressure go up. I just purchased Killzone 2 and after playing it for about an hour I just feel stressed out and fatigued. I strain to aim at this little enemies and they don't die right away. I feel kind of nervous when blood clouds around my stream of vision. It is a hard task. It is deep and engrossing and like a real job.
Yet I watch my brother breeze through these things like a pro, killing endless cpu's and moving forward. It makes me wonder if my 16 year old brother and I were fighting side by side in a real war- which of us would survive?
So I guess this is why I am probably too old for these games. I'm 26 and I feel out of touch with the current status quo in electronic violence. I still have three days to exchange the game, maybe I'll downgrade to Animal Crossing.

Change is Good, Restrictions Are Better.

Facebook needs to stop giving so much cred to their users. I see the sense behind giving people input, but it doesn't take a fool to know that the first impressions of any mass group are never truly accurate. People had like 3 days to play with the new facebook and 2 weeks to read up on the changes and noone really complained then. People hated the new facebook layout from last year too...internets people hate everything that is new. I am all for the change, not because I like it any better but because it is evolving within the norms of social media.

That being said, it is also copying Twitter, which I find hilarious. Blatancy is such a hideous thing on the internet, since we are use to subtle changes- a new app, a new side feature. If anything, copying is more of a turn off to me than the actual layout change. Still...micro-blogging is clearly our future. Who knew that it was 160 char. limitations we needed to spark a revolution in socializing? Restrictions are so seductive, limited space in an unlimited format. Love.

Blink to Rec.

I want to be an eyeborg.

In CANADA, the country where I live, there is a man making a documentary with his eyeball. The ball is une prosthetic and will video tape all he sees. He is experimenting to see if he can capture reality in a new way by eliminating a camera crew from his docu.

His main quest: To see if he can find out if we're sleepwalking in an Orwellian society. I would gladly and literally give my right eye for the chance to have an eye camera...this is unharnessing some power.

INFO

Poly-Addictions

SIGH. I am suffering from some major addictions right now. My novel progress has slowed and I am returning to insomnia.

>Twitter- Is something I just can't get enough of. Externally it seems like such a stupid thing; a micr0-baby-blog where you post your thoughts, seems like facebook-lite. But using it is a different experience. I'm convinced most people are in it for a soapbox effect, it seems like having followers is actually more important than having a message. That being said, it is nice to hear people's opinions and ideas as well as receive breaking news before it breaks from anywhere else ALL in semi-real time.

>Skins- This british show that is part gossip girl, part OC, part Hills and then something else all together. I knew I was going to adore the show when I saw a poster for Fellini's 8 1/2 in an opening shot. I like shows that go to extremes and this one gives me the same kind of rush I get from 24, only in on a more social level. I don't want to use the word raw, but I do.

>Lux/Cribbage Delux- 2 iphone app games that are totally addictive. Cribbage is addictive in itself, but playing a game that is smoother than Yahoo crib is so refreshing. Lux is just like Risk and some games the computer plays dumb while other times the computer plays brilliantly. I am debating getting the 8 dollar upgrade.

>Persona 4- Adult PS2 game, horror/mystery. It's half linear and half jap-cheesy, but at the same time it is engrossing and the day to day time passage system is addictive. I don't love the mechanics of the game, but there is something that makes me just want to keep pushing through. It might also be the only pro-LGBT game I've ever played.

ANYWAYS, what suffers from this is my writing and blogging. God knows I'm hanging on to Slate and Huffington like they're IVs. This has been a poor man's March Break. :S
Next Month: PS3.

Workout for Twitter Addicts

Use this workout if you are:

- stuck to your computer for most of the day Tweeting.
- surrounded by Big Mac wrappers
- gargling with bacon grease

10 Twitterers I would Follow to the Ends of the Earth

There are some people I can live without on Twitter, that is to say, about 80% of them. It is a hard world to wade through and sometimes I imagine who I would save if the twitterverse began to die away.

So, I think about my values as a spectator. When I'm using Twitter I look for two things in a poster:

A) That they are offering me some kind of useful or valuable information about the world. OR

B) That they are entertaining the hell out of me.

Therefore, I've compiled a list of the top 10 Twitterers that I would follow to the ends of the earth...my desert island tweeters if you will.

10) Popurls Always great links on a range of topics...never uninteresting.

9) jdickerson -One of the best political analysts around with a great sense of humor as well. He works for Slate and his podcast is great too.

8) mojojuju - I'm not sure if he is 1 part nerd 2 parts funny or 2 parts nerd 1 part funny. Great tweets all around.

7) zeldman - Pure hilarity.

6) Oblique_Chirps - Sometimes these tweets make me more neurotic, sometimes they make me less neurotic.

5) the_gman - Always posts great articles, very informative guy.

4) stejules - Another great social media article aggregator.

3) Mashable - Probably the crown prince of social media. I love him with fealty.

2) hodgman - Obvious one...very funny. How could you live without the man who made people turn on PCs?

1) stephenfry - Always entertaining, he has to top the list. He is a loyal tweeter, he puts his all into his posts and he consistently grinds out both entertaining and informative goodies for all his fans.

I'd like to hear the lists of others.