You by Austin Grossman

O.K… To say that I’m not a big gaming person is an understatement…  In fact I’d say that I the opposite…  In fact I really want to put this in perspective, I’m an ex-Arcade Junkie that, now, really just loathes the way video games and the industry have evolved.  The whole reality vs. fantasy line blurring that goes on…  The consumers demand visual reality.  The producers are producing the products in demand…  They also steer the production which increases the demand.  Unlawful and even worse immoral violence and murder are at the core of several of these games.  One of the hardest things to do is kill another human.  Shoot or don't shoot video “scenarios”, cant call them games, are used to aid military and law enforcement agencies in making the decision to kill.  Most of these personnel are vetted for their mental stability. Therefore the argument still exist about how these games will affect “off centered individuals”. Damned if ya do…  Damned if ya don’t…  Where do you draw the line who can get what?  Can you say Fantasy Games only are O.K….  Alright define Fantasy then…  After that then try to define what’s a stable individual on a scale that includes all people that would purchase a game.  Can't be done... The Cat’s Outta The Bag.  Still doesn’t mean I have to like "Gaming" much less be interested in reading even a fictional about the industry.

Hmm…  this one is looonnnggg and drawn out book.  Austin Grossman is at times effective in getting me into descriptions.  Then at times I begin to tune him out… Sometimes he’s just a bit over the top in describing a setting or feeling.  This is a book where nuance kind of becomes entwined with the nuisance.  Perhaps it’s opinion I have entered the book with but I don't think so.  I will say that the book has had an effect to change some of my personal opinion of high-end graphic video games.  There are tidbits of how the gaming industries problem solving has affected and contributed to the world of computing and information.
Anyways back to the book it’s exploration growing up in a “real world” only to find satisfaction (with some frustration) in a world of what has been an adolescent industry.  Growth of a company along with growth of an individual… Plus there is always the office politics is only made interesting because of their connection as youth.  I could have done without all the story line inside the game.  But it’s not my book and Austin wrote it the way he wanted.  So Grossman only gets a small kudos from me for developing this into the plot.

Cool... Todd's in Town!!!

Having the author of a published work such as “Newsworld” come to the class was very helpful in understanding a literary work like this.  Sometimes I don't always get the crux of written satire and sarcasm.  Having him here many of the comments on social issues were brought to the forefront with answers.  So rather than me walking around with lingering thoughts in my mind with the question such as “I wonder if he meant to say…”  Because ultimately I could have said  “Ah forget about it.  I’ve got other things to think about right now.”  I think just meeting Todd James Pierce gives us (the student/audience) a better understanding of his demeanors and what drives him to put his ideas in print.  Then when he tosses out a reading by another author it's like BOGO at WallyWorld!

On Viewing of Peter Greenaway

Blog 23 Oct 2013

So I picked Peter Greenaway at first because I heard he was an auteur with a Fine Arts background and a bit of an artist himself.

Peter Greenaway, Chernobyl 1986, 90.5X61cm

Well little did I know I would be picking someone that, for my generation mind you, was such a cult film “Phenom”.  Realizing that I am viewing a series of films from this producer as would “Joe… the Plumber”.  Except I’m just “Moe… the Po-Po” and don’t have all the liberal frame of mind just yet that an artist of my generation should.  However, I sense that I’m getting there because I actually saw five of his films not just once but several times each.  I reviewed: A Zed and Two Naughts; The Belly of an Architect; The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; The Pillow Book; and Nightwatching.  At first, with the exception of Nightwatching, I thought who would pay to watch such a thing?  (The typical Hollywood produced, no make that induced, reaction to a movie of Greenaway)  After time for absorption I am absolutely fascinated.  Admittedly, sometimes I had to restart them because they were long and tedious to watch.  Like 2hrs is the norm for Greenaway!  However, often I was re-starting them because they were intricate enough to visually re-view.  Either way it was still nothing short of being the witness to a train-wreck…  You want to look away out of fear…  Then you look back because of that very same fear…  Then you look away out of respect for the dead… Then you look back because you cannot control your own curiosity!  I don’t necessarily describe this as a “cult films” in the most popular genre one would think of when one mentions cult film.  This is not just death for the sake of gore.  See, as only he would have it, Greenaway’s film take on a defiantly different approach.  Greenaway has challenged the conservative film format and aspired to tear down their walls.  At the core of his films are the sins that break our humanity.  His films center around opulence, greed, gluttony, tragedy, conspiracy, treachery, sex & sexuality and murder & death.  In all of these films I was forced to ask what would I do in these same situations?  I think that any director that can force you to confront these same issues in such a personal manner deserves to have his own cult following.  Then there is the visual renaissance and baroque presentations alone that also warrants him a cult following.  Greenaway attempts to draw direct correlations to film and other art via sheer visual “Homage” to the great artists of history.  His films take on direct aspects of theater.  At other time he creates scenes that are direct likenesses paintings of the old masters.   His highly praised films include: A Zed and Two Naughts, The Draughtsman’s Contract; The Belly of an Architect; The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; Drowning by Numbers; The Pillow Book; 8 ½ Women; and Nightwatching.  I addition he has made more recent films that I also intend to explore.