We have finally succumbed to the Guitar Hero/Rock Band tidal wave of video games. I think it was the drums that did it. Oh and playing Guitar Hero World Tour (the full band version) at a friend's house. Aside from my lack of drumming skills, it was fun. We'd played Guitar Hero at another friend's house a few years ago, but with my repetitive stress issues with my wrists, I didn't think it would be healthy for me to injure myself on a video game, playing a mock instrument I hadn't previously expressed any interest in learning.
So when Guitar Hero added drums and vocals to their game, we perked up. Rock Band had already started out with the full band experience, but all reviews pointed to the guitar controllers of Guitar Hero being better made. After test playing it at the aforementioned friend's house, we headed out to Target and gave it to ourselves as a Christmas present. I later found out via internet research that the controllers for Guitar Hero World Tour would also work for Rock Band 2 so we got that also. After a few weeks of playing it, we've mostly switched over to Rock Band 2 (with Guitar Hero controllers) as our music game of choice.
Our music game collection (at my instigation) started with something very different: Dance Dance Revolution. I saw these in the arcades and movie theater lobbies and I was intrigued watching the people who were clearly very skilled at it. They had their water bottles and towels nearby, hopping in intricate patterns in time with the arrows scrolling by on the screen. In many cases they weren't even looking at the screen; they had memorized the steps from playing it so much. Over time, we bought the game and all subsequent releases, and even upgraded our flimsy dance pads to hard plastic ones in the quest for mastering harder and harder songs. Then, I pulled my Achilles tendon playing ultimate frisbee. Once I healed (many weeks later) I got back into my DDR habit only to find that it was painful. I have this weird quirk where I'll ignore non-excruciating pain when I'm really focused on achieving a goal (finishing a song or 15 in this case). I thought it might be best for my health if I put it away.
But there was a game preview on one of the Dance Dance Revolution games that bridged the way to my next music game obsession - Karaoke Revolution. With my dreams of Dance Dance Revolution divinity dashed, I turned to the less physically strenuous activity of singing. But it was more than just singing, this game would tell me when I was off pitch and possibly train me to sing more acceptably in bathroom acoustics. I come from a musical family. My sisters and mom are all trained singers, performing solos and in choirs, etc. My Lolo (grandfather on my dad's side) would always serenade my Lola (grandmother) whenever there was a microphone and an audience available. For my part, I once attempted singing in public, but it was probably an event best left to the bloopers reel.
At any rate, with practice in my own home and a scoring system, I got up enough confidence to agree to semi-regular karaoke parties at Todd and Ali's house complete with cocktails. Once again, I collected every version of Karaoke Revolution and SingStar games that they put out and have now started the collection on the Playstation 3.
This meanders me back to the Guitar Hero/Rock Band 2 acquisition. The nice thing about the band experience is that if my arms start to hurt from the guitar, I can switch to the drums and even if that starts hurting, I can fall back to the singing. Nothing like cross-training to keep the music flowing. According to Lee, who has actually been part of a rock band, the games actually do a decent simulation of the cohesive feeling playing in a band and trying to keep the songs together. I suspect, having never been in a rock band, that the real thing did not require near blinding focus on little colored bars or dots scrolling by on the screen (concert band, marching band, pep band, jazz band: yes. rock band: no. Yes, I was once a band geek, why do you ask?).
Rock Band 2 seems to do a better job at actually teaching beginners how to work with the instruments than Guitar Hero does. They have tutorials on the disk for guitar, vocals and drums - how to read the symbols on the screen, how to make the guitar work and beginner practice sessions and even trickier tips for the more advanced. For the drummers, they have a whole series of beats and rhythms to practice without getting scored. It also has a wider selection of downloadable songs for pay. We've probably spent an additional $20 on additional songs for Rock Band 2 and haven't bought any for Guitar Hero.
There's character creations for both games. A friend of mine insists on creating as close of a personal likeness as he can, while I prefer trying on the craziest outfits I can find. I did try creating myself in Rock Band 2 this past weekend and my normal t-shirt and jeans just doesn't look like it belongs on that sort of stage. I figure if I were actually a rock star, I would have a wardrobe and makeup to match the production level of the concert. I might be more casual for a small bar setting and crazy glammed out for an amphitheatre setting. My latest phase is creating my favorite video game characters so that I can watch them rock out in this video game.
One thing I don't think these music video games does is teach you how to play the actual instrument. Perhaps vocals might be the closest, because you're actually using the real thing - your voice. But as I said earlier, it mostly helps you find the right pitches in song rather than teach you how to sing well. Drums might be the next closest. There are fewer drums in the game than you can actually play in a drum set. But it does make you practice rhythms and coordinating your eyes, hands and one foot to follow the screen. While they do provide you with real drumsticks, I'm sure the drums themselves have a completely different feel. The guitar is the farthest away from the real thing. Unless of course you take away five of the strings on a real guitar and make that remaining string really thick. Interestingly, a lot of my friends who actually do play guitar seem to enjoy the mock guitar playing anyway.
I don't have any delusions that I'm going to take my music game prowess on a public stage, but it combines my love of music, satisfaction in improving a skill and the capability to gather with some friends and enjoy an evening of gaming. Who ever said gamers can't be social?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Video Games the Musical
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Oh, Happy Day!
I knew I was going to watch the inauguration of our 44th president today. I expected to fire up a live feed on my computer and watch from there. Then my office offered to have it showing in one of the conference rooms on campus. Which was better because I would be able to be with other people, other Americans witnessing this moment in history. Then I found a text message from a friend inviting me to watch the inauguration at the Oakland Arena. Without much further thought, I went and bought tickets. My inauguration-watching experience was even better - I managed to talk Lee into going with me so that I could weep at will on his shoulder and I got to feel the energy of an arena full of hopeful, cheering people. We the People, indeed. Before Biden and Obama took their oaths, we were asked to stand. Lee wondered whether that really included those attending via live television. I felt, and apparently the rest of the people in the arena did also, that since I was witnessing the ceremony, I was a part of it and was therefore included in the "Please, rise.." request. (Admittedly, I might have felt a little silly standing had I been watching at my cubicle.)
While I could have done without the tv pundits bloviating over the video feed, I did learn from them that after noon today, he could officially drop the "elect" part of his title and become President Obama, per the 20th Amendment. However, he can't execute power as the president until after he uttered the oath. Yay, for learning about our Constitution!
I thought President Obama's inaugural speech was excellent. I still think he's one of the finest orators of our day. It was grittier and more somber than I expected. I thought he would employ soaring rhetoric as might have been called for under these ceremonial circumstances. But perhaps the grittier, more realistic look at the challenges we face as a nation is more appropriate for the times. I think I'll have to listen to it again later to digest it better. Ah, the wonders of the internet.
I liked the musical interlude, composed/arranged by the awesome John Williams and played by a quartet that included a clarinet player (REPRESENT!). My favorite may have been the end of Reverend Joseph Lowery's benediction: "...help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right." It's not so much the words, but his delivery and cadence that brought a smile to my face for the umpteenth time this morning.
Have I ever watched an inauguration before? Not until this time. Have I ever paid tickets to join hundreds of other people in watching said televised event in an arena? Not until this time. Have I even seen a presidential election process through to the very end and felt like I was a part of a proud, national process? Not until this time. I think I'm going to need some champagne before dinner tonight.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I Like to Read: Past, Present and Future
One time, shortly after my sister was born, I gave my parents a fright by disappearing for several hours. At the time, I figured with all the hullabaloo about the new baby no one would miss me heading off to entertain myself. I was 10, I had a bike and an afternoon to myself. I'm not sure what horrible, perhaps criminal scenarios entered my parents' minds at the time - maybe they imagined me loitering at the mall, vandalizing neighborhood property, doing drugs/alcohol, trespassing on some abandoned industrial building or somesuch. Alas, I was a much nerdier delinquent than that.
I had gone for a luxurious visit at the local library. I spent hours poring over my favorite sections, doing as thorough a sampling as my attention span would allow of the authors I hadn't read yet in the mystery and sci-fi/fantasy categories. A kid's bike and a healthy anxiety around traffic could only get me so far on my afternoon of freedom. But at the library - the books there could get me to so many more places and situations! When I got home I got in big trouble. (Hey, I was even home in time for dinner.) But it remains a cherished and amusing childhood memory for me.
My family still teases me today about my reading appetite. But their teasing is a little less warranted these days. I only get a chance to read books on vacation or any flights where I know I'll have a lot of waiting around to do. I'm far too easily distracted with gadgetry (computer, PS3, iPod, and other shiny, powered objects) to pick up a book in my daily life.
Come to think of it, most (but certainly not all) of what I'm trying to do on such gadgets is read. Web content provides me news, further information on my latest obsessions, gadget reviews, troubleshooting guides, a whole slew of opinions ranging from well-informed to comedic. Not only can I search for any of these things, I also have choices of sources when I find them.
Right before Christmas, Lee got an Amazon Kindle as a company gift. When I first heard of the e-reader idea, I was skeptical although I'm not entirely sure why. I'm fine with reading on gadget screens and being able to cart around an entire library of books in the size of a single book seems like a fantastic idea. It would make vacation packing easier. I think now it was probably more of a knee jerk reaction to changing the way I've always interacted with books. Despite my love of gadgets, I'm not an early adopter type; I prefer that new things have been proven out for a bit before I latch on.
Now that I've had a chance to interact with the Kindle, I'm less skeptical. I probably wouldn't mind one of my own so I don't have to distract Lee with a Terry Pratchett paperback so I can read a book on the Kindle. In the meantime, Lee was happy enough to share his new toy.
It's roughly trade paperback size and comes in a leather case that makes it look like a Moleskine notebook when closed. It turns out that the case actually helps make it usable. Buttons span the length of both sides where you would conceivably grasp it. And since very few people tend to stick their thumbs on the screen they're trying to read, it makes for some accidental page turning when you first pick it up. This layout makes the case the only thing you can comfortably grasp without hitting buttons. I think they're fixing this in the next generation device.
The Kindle is based on e-paper technology which is much easier on the eyes than the typical computer screen. The text is dark grey on a light grey background - not quite the black ink on paper look but a pretty comfortable approximation. There were a few times I was so engrossed in the story that I forgot I was reading on the Kindle and looked for a page to turn instead of a button to push. The font size is adjustable on the fly. It uses advanced cell phone network to download the things you want to read, both pretty quickly and with no need to find a Wifi hotspot. You can download books from Amazon's store, subscribe to newspapers, blogs and probably some other stuff I haven't thought of using it for. Buying is linked to your Amazon account - so you don't have to fiddle with entering transaction data on the Kindle (even though it's got a keyboard). Battery life is excellent. The e-paper technology doesn't consume power to merely display the image on the screen, only when it changes the image on the screen. As a matter of fact, when you turn it "off" it puts up a random literary image. During a 2 week trip over the holidays, it was charged only once and even then it was more of a due diligence act rather than really needing it.
How will these e-readers affect how we read books in the future? With Amazon, a main-stream distributor and store, and Sony, one of the largest electronics manufacturers jumping into the fray, the e-reader has definitely entered general consciousness. It's still an expensive gadget, but within the same range as Apple's iPods. Will books end up like vinyl records - accessible and wanted only by the uber bibliophiles? People have been predicting a similar destiny for newspapers for some time now and indeed, the newspaper industry has been struggling and making cutbacks for years in an effort to stay alive.
I think we'll still have books on paper in the long run. In the vinyl record/book analogy, I think there's one important distinction. With music, each format needs a player to enjoy the content. Vinyl records need turntables, CDs need CD players and mp3s need mp3 players. E-books need an e-reader. However, books in their current printed form don't need a specific gadget to deliver content. Nor do they need battery power. I think that alone will stave off any pending demise. It's actually easier to consume book content in its current form than the new, emerging form. But as e-readers, handheld computers (Blackberrys, iPhones, Google phones of the future) become more prevalent, the issue of ease of consumption changes. On the other hand, it's easier for content providers to provide many copies of content (books) in electronic form than in physical form. If the money starts coming from electronic content rather than physical content, that's where the providers will focus their efforts.
Which brings me to the other side of the equation: the source of the reading content. With the internet came the advent of the new information model. It used to be only a few providers would funnel information, entertainment, etc. through to the masses. Compared to the numbers of consumers of such information, such providers were very few. Only the few television networks, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses could provide content to the masses. If you wanted to get out your message, you needed to go through these gatekeepers to access the consumers. The internet has changed that to open up the content sources to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Youtube serves up user created mini-movies. Wikipedia serves up definitions of people, places, things as defined by many people. Bloggers have served up everything from news to opinions to obscure hobbies and much more. Self-publication in terms of providing electronic reading content is trivial. There is a button at the bottom of this Blogger window that says "Publish Post". Obviously I've hit that by now, or you wouldn't be reading these words on my little blog.
Self-publishing has been encroaching into the book publishing world as well. Many authors, frustrated with the process of trying to get agents to represent them to publishing houses and possessing a lot of self-promotional enthusiasm and skills, have published small runs of their own work and sold them to book stores. A small percentage of these self-published authors have garnered enough attention that a publisher decided it wasn't so risky to take them on and publish their work in larger runs. Which seems like a win-win situation. The book publishing business isn't particularly lucrative in the average book's life. Obviously, at the Harry Potter level of bookselling, there's a lot more money. But that's more of a dream realized every once in a while rather than the norm. Agents and publishers wade through thousands of manuscripts searching for the next Harry Potter and are unwilling to risk publishing and advertising costs to something that will sell only hundreds of copies. Which makes the chances of getting published seem miniscule. Authors who have taken on the cost of that initial small publication and advertising and have proven successful enough to gain a wider audience represents less of a risk for the publisher.
Common wisdom among author wannabes is that self-publication doesn't get authors street cred. "You're not a real author until someone else has judged your work and deemed it worthy of publication." But recently, I talked to a fellow Nanowrimo writer who had attended a writer's conference. She told me that there were some agents at the conference who expressed the opinion that self-publication may be a legitimate future for the book publishing industry. So perhaps this common wisdom is softening and turning around.
Which brings me back to Amazon and their Kindle adjunct system, the Digital Text Platform where anyone with an email address and SSN can publish their work to be bought on the Kindle. They don't charge you for publishing, but they need a bank account to deposit your earnings into. I plan on looking into this system more closely if/when I have work that I feel would warrant digital publication. Perhaps even multiple things that would warrant publication. After all, if a reader likes an author, they tend to want to read more things by that author. At least I do. Judging by my content producing pace (glacial), it might be good for me to have a couple things ready in that happy event people actually like my novel/writing to want to read more.
Regardless of what format my reading takes, I know I'll still hopelessly be addicted to it in the future, even if I write my own stories in order to read something!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
2008 Year in Review
In one of my favorite Christmas movies, Bing Crosby advises Rosemary Clooney in song: "If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings." Like many song lyrics, it sounds a little less redundant and nonsensical in song. But I like the sentiment. It's not only appropriate just for when you're worried, but for just about any other time, including year end reviews, bad moods, stuck in traffic and tightrope walking while juggling flaming torches (though you may need the advanced class to do that last part).
Things I'm thankful for:
- My health: Probably the easiest to take for granted until it all goes wrong. All it takes is a split second accident or having genetics fail you. My grandmother on my dad's side of the family is still going strong at 95. On the other hand, I have no idea what sort of health issues are on my mother's side of the family - it could be the health roulette for all I know.
- My loved ones, friends and family: It's the gift of their presence in my life that keeps life rich and rewarding. Whether I've known them since I first took breath or only developed a friendship in the last year, it's those relationships I cherish. I don't make friends easily, being the shy type. And no matter what they tell you in the fairy tales and sitcoms, relationships take work to maintain. It could be as simple as keeping in touch or as difficult as going to therapy to work out stuck points in communication, but it's all effort. And the reward is the connection and closeness that makes a world of difference.
- This year I stayed employed: Given the world economy meltdown, this one is worth celebrating.
- We bought a new house: It's bigger than the previous house. We can have family and friends come over to visit. So far we can afford it.
- We have Ka and Zaia: I've already written a few times about this. But having them as part of the family and household has brought chaos and comedy, responsibility and a whole new set of things to pay attention to like which breakable objects in the house could be seen as potential cat toys.
- We traveled to Bali: It was a wonderful trip (which I promise to write about in more depth next year). It took a long time to get there and really felt like we got a glimpse of a different world. At the same time, it reminded me of growing up in the Philippines.
Things I'm proud of:
- I wrote another book: Again, it's only a first draft of a novel, but it's a complete story and may turn into something worth sending around at some point. I'm glad to have some potential projects to work on in the future. For now, I think I'll go back to my first novel from last year and see if I can make something of it.
- I progressed to purple belt in karate: The belt progression from here goes purple, brown, then black. It gets harder from here with a higher chance of my breaking something, I'm sure.
- Winning first prize at DNA Lounge's Halloween costume contest: See my previous post on this.
- Paying attention to and participating (somewhat) to the 2008 presidential election: Never done that before. I learned lots about how our government works (or doesn't).
There are many more things I'm thankful for and probably a shorter list of things I'm proud of, but for the sake of actually submitting this post before the end of the year, I'll decline from enumerating them further. I'm very happy for the blessings I have.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Cirque of Ka and Zaia
We haven't gotten very far with new tricks. Ka and Zaia get so enthusiastic about receiving the treats that my fingers bear battle scars. So I guess we need to work on some kitty zen with them - that clawing and biting don't get them the treats any sooner. The trouble with learning that rule is that it involves more battle scars before they get it. I have to space it out and let my fingers heal in between lessons.
But they do have the following trick down pat:
Ka is a much more linear and impatient student than Zaia. Once he figures out what will get him the treats, he'll repeat it over and over and over and over. He does experiment now and then but gets frustrated easily. Zaia loves the treats too, but perhaps not with the passion of burning suns that Ka has. So she tends to be much more random. I think she picks up tricks by watching Ka do something and then she follows. However she is more willing to do random things to try and figure out what I'm trying to get them to do. Except that without Ka's powers of retention, it remains somewhat random until Ka learns it and repeats it (over and over and over).
We're working on getting Ka to High-Five sans claws. Right now, I put a hand up, he puts a paw out with claws to bring it closer and see if there's a treat in it. But when we leave the house, he has taken to sitting on his cat tree next to the window and putting a paw up to wave goodbye against our hand on the other side of the window.
Then there's Fetch. I've seen them both pick up things and carry them around so we just need to get them to bring those things to us. Right now, they tend to carry it off to their favorite spot (i.e. under the Christmas tree) to play with it there. It's a hit or miss endeavor.
As for the Litter Robot, it's like it's always been their litterbox. (And there was much rejoicing in the household.) They still go to the bathroom together. And they both find they have to go right when we're adding new litter to it or otherwise tending to it. There's no longer any flinching and looking nervously towards the upstairs bathroom when it starts cycling. So we'll call this a win-win.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Christmas Card Writing
Tonight, I put some Christmas music on (Harry Connick Jr., Charlie Brown Christmas, The Carpenters and Diana Krall on iTunes party shuffle), printed out our Christmas card address list, gathered this year's card selection, address labels and stamps and sat at the coffee table near the Christmas tree to start our annual ritual. I didn't always enjoy this process. When we first started this tradition, it had the scent of obligation. We would receive warm holiday wishes in the form of cards from the mailbox. It was such a nice feeling to actually receive mail that didn't suggest or demand an extraction of money from us, that we figured it would be nice if we provided a source of that feeling to our friends and family too. Prior to that year, I had written plenty of Christmas cards, but it was generally delivered to my family on Christmas Day in person. This ritual, this tradition was different. Family was now in different corners of the country and we wouldn't always see each and every one of them over the holidays. I poured the foundation on the ritual when I opened up Microsoft Word and generated the matrix of names and addresses (in alphabetic order of course).
Our Christmas card list includes both family and friends. Some friends we have come to treat as family. Other friends have drifted away such that the Christmas correspondence has become our sole communication. I have argued with myself that maybe those folks should be dropped off the list. But every year that I have received cards from them, I enjoyed hearing from them. Whether it's their holiday newsletter, telling us what their family has been up to in the past year, or a simple signature on the inside of the card. It has me thinking about them, the times we'd shared in the past, the gratitude that we were on their Christmas card list. The same thing happens when I pick up my Pilot G-2 fine point gel pen to write out their card. Whether it's fond memories of the last barbecue we had with them or wondering what they're up to now, we're sending our best wishes out to them at this time of year.
It's a process that goes well with Christmas lights and Vince Guaraldi Trio's jazzy O Tannenbaum. I guess it's just another way to count the blessings we have in friendship and kinship.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Electric Mayhem Movie-watching
It's that time of year again. Time for the Christmas specials, that is. More specifically, time for the Muppet Christmas Carol. Ali found that it was playing at the El Campanil Theatre in Antioch. She called to let the owner, Rick, know that the Mayhem wanted to show up for the movie. While it is customary to show up in costume in San Francisco on the opening night of highly anticipated movies, it's probably less prevalent with even time-honored classics like the Muppet Christmas Carol. Thankfully, Rick didn't think us too crazy and allowed us out in public at his theatre. Where children would be! And with free tickets! 
There was even press about the event ahead of time. 
The movie started at 2pm, but Rick asked us to show up at 1pm to greet our fellow movie-goers and get pictures taken, if anyone were so inclined. It was a little quiet early on, but we did get our first posed picture with a little girl. Her brother declined the photo-op. We waved at a few cars that slowed down as they passed by. Then we went inside the lobby to greet the guests there, after we took a brief tour of the beautifully renovated, eighty-year old theatre. After becoming incorporated as a non-profit organization, it went through a face-lift to reopen in 2004. In the lobby, we stood next to the Christmas tree and a mechanized Santa and Mrs. Claus making out their list. I noticed that Animal was distinctly not on that list. It must have been the 'Naughty' list.
We had a few brave children that came forward to shake hands and introduce themselves at their parents' encouragement. Animal's head got petted several times and some even posed for pictures holding onto Animal's chain. Most were shy though, intimidated by 7-foot tall Muppets. It was fun and fascinating to wonder what the little ones thought of large, stuffed-animal looking creatures. On the one hand, we looked like cuddly Muppets. On the other hand, we were two, three, maybe four times their size. I guess it's akin to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the first Ghostbusters movie without the whole world destroying rampage. One little girl didn't make it into the lobby. She took one look at us through the glass, screamed, and took off running down the street. We thought that was a good time to retire from greeting duty and wave to the people in the theatre.
The movie, for those unfamiliar, was Dickens' Scrooge tale with Michael Caine playing Ebenezer Scrooge. Kermit was Bob Cratchit and Gonzo narrated as Charles Dickens himself. But the most important part of the movie came during the ghost of Christmas past's lesson where the Electric Mayhem, clad in Victorian garb, rocked out Mr. Fozziwig's Christmas party. Highlight of the movie, I tell you.
Afterwards, some of the previously shy kids shed their reluctance to come say hi. Or maybe we looked smaller sitting down. At any rate, we got hugs and escorts and high fives as we all filed back out of the theatre. Having kids standing that closely to us was a bit of a hazard as none of us had visibility directly downwards (blocked by our huge jaws). As a result, I had to make sure to tilt my head down as much as I could before taking a step. Outside, we posed for more pictures and waited until the younger kids were gone before decapitating ourselves and revealing our true identities. Rick invited us back sans costumes for a future show and judging from the line-up coming up, I know we're sure to have a good time then too.