Tag: lists

2011 Goals: A Review

Polar bear is cr? ying because his habitat is being destroyed and I didn’t accomplish many of my goals this year…

Before we get started here why don’t you click these two links first. They’re my original goal post written just about a year ago and my half-year review.  I’ll wait…

Back? Good. So, you already know that I wasn’t doing so well this year meeting my goals. I’m sorry to say that things haven’t really improved much. No use being gentle though, let’s tear this bandaid off.

1. Submit writing every month to a publication – I submitted some poems back in January and February. I never heard back and I never followed through. Worse, I haven’t even been writing. I do write book reviews almost every month and those do get published in either the San Francisco, Sacramento, or Portland Book Review but I don’t think that counts at this point. FAILED

2. Develop, outline, draft and write two short stories – I failed to write a single short story. FAILED

3. Participate in NaNoWriMo – Didn’t even sign up this year. FAILED

4. Review Latin – FAILED

5. Learn algebra – I was doing quite well with Khan Academy but I stalled out linear equations and fractions. FAILED

6. Do the Lake Berryessa two mile swim – Cancelled due to freakish weather. I didn’t sign up though so, this counts against me. FAILED

7. Bike a century – Didn’t do nearly enough training and never picked a day to do this. FAILED

8. Buy as few new things as possible – I was really good this year when it came to purchasing stuff. I got the Ipod and the cell phone and a couple of video games. SUCCESS

9. Do more with my hobbies (besides gaming) – I’ve continued to sell off the models and hobby stuff I no longer use. This goal sort of morphed from do hobbies into get rid of stuff I don’t use anymore. I’ve sold off a number of models that I hadn’t put together or painted, including all my Chaos Space Marine stuff. I’m in the process of selling my Necron and Ultramarine armies and will be putting up my Horde models for sale as well. That leaves just the Battlefleet Gothic, and Mordheim materials to get rid of. My main hobby has become book reading with fifty read this year. SUCCESS

10. Jump out of a plane – This joke goal stayed a joke goal. FAILED

11.  Meditate everyday – I did this for the first four months of the year and the last three months of the year. I’m going to round up and call this a win. SUCCESS

Three out of eleven isn’t that great. I’m thinking about my goals for next year right now and after doing this for two years (writing done my goals and keeping track of things periodically) I have some ideas on how to improve my performance. First, focus on a few important things. Second, break your goals down into action plans with simple do-able steps. Third, don’t put on your list of goals things you’d like to do someday. Only put down things you know you will do. Fourth, work on the actions plans every week if not every day.

I’ll have my goals for next year up next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you heard about these “Indie Games”

Like this art? Custom made by me! I'm open for commissions

“Indie” games seem to be popular right now. Or were they popular a few years ago and now are just another thing? I have a hard time keeping up with what is cool and trendy in the video game world these days. With services like PSN, XBox Live, and STEAM these indie games are becoming readily available. I don’t know if one can earn enough money making them for a living… Eh, before they were “indie” games they were just games you found on the internet and shared with your friends. I like to think of them as the shareware of the “00” without having to mail in a check to get the rest of the episodes…

Anyway, there is a lot of these games out there now. Some of which you’ll have heard of (Spelunky, Cave Story, Knytt) and some you haven’t (Hero Core, Lyle in Cube Sector, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.) Because I had no life in college (and today know people who are still in college or play videogames for a semi-living) I can help you wade through all the dross and find the ones worth playing.

Here they are in the order they occured/recommended to me:

Spelunky – Is a procedurally generated platformer wherein you play an Indiana Jones like character delving through mines and caves looking for treasures. This game was so popular that a publisher noticed it and decided to throw money at the developer to port it to Xbox Live Arcade. This doesn’t happen very often though, so if you’re thinking of going into the business… Anyway, what makes Spelunky great is the fact that its random and you can get your little guy into all sorts of absurd situations. Watch some videos on Youtube to get an idea (I recommend the adventures of Iowa Jack)

Viriax – I reviewed this game when it came out earlier this year. Viriax is a simple shmup-like (is that a word/genre? It is now I just made it one.) where you control a virus as it infects a host body. I use the term shmup-like because the virus doesn’t shoot anything instead it must swim past enemies and then attack them from behind. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very good at this game but it is enjoyable and the music is great.

Cave Story – Another game everyone has heard of at this point. What you didn’t know is that the game has been out now for more than 5 years now. I first heard about it at the end of 2005 and poked around with it for a bit before something else distracted me. I picked it back up after hearing that Nintendo was bringing it to Virtual Console… Cave Story is a Metroidvania style game where you control a little robot with amnesia stuck in a cave world. Charming visuals, a good soundtrack, and excellent gameplay can all be found in Cave Story.

Hero Core – The sequel to Hero and another Metroidzania. This is a very “retro” styled game. That black & white pic above? Is from Hero Core. I haven’t played much of this one (who has the time for all these video games?) but it’s intriguing enough to keep me coming back and checking it out some more.

Desktop Dungeons – Some people hate their lives. They hate their lives so much that in their free time they play roguelikes.I do not hate myself and even if I did I’d have better things to do with my free time (like cutting myself) Which is why Desktop Dungeons is nice. This way I get to experience a roguelike without the atrocious ASCII art and opaque design. I know, I know roguelikes have deep, complex gameplay that rewards investing time and effort into the genre. The thing is I don’t want to die 1000s of time before I manage to beat the game. Desktop Dungeon distills all the pain out of roguelikes and leaves a smart, quick, fun game behind.

Lyle in Cube Sector – The creator describes the game as a “block throwing action/adventure game.” I just found it charming and fun to tinker around with.

I Wanna be The Guy – The most infamous “indie” game on the planet. Not my cup of tea (I like myself) but it was made by a friend of mine so I couldn’t not put it here. Super hard, surreal platformer. Let me know if you beat it though. I want to shake your hand.

Strange Adventures in Infinite Space – a quick 4x (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) game that can be played in 5 to 20 minutes. Explore the galaxy, make friends, kill aliens. Nothing here but love.

That list though is only the beginning, and only what I could think of off the top of my head. I can vouch for all of these but there are 1000s of these games out there. Good thing we have the internet. Good thing some kind hearted soul (Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunkyand two other guys) has already done all the footwork and created a searchable database of independent games: TIGdb. I’ll warn you know though that TIGdb is a rabbithole and I can’t say when if ever you’ll find your way out.

As long as you have fun, I guess it doesn’t matter, huh?

Doing Without?

Composition No. 10 by Piet Mondrian. An excellent example of minimalist art

There is a minimalist living thread on Talking Time that I occasionally read. A poster recently linked to a post on mnmlist which is a blog on minimalism (not the art style but the way of living.)  The post asks what you could live without accompanied with a list of examples. After thinking about it some I came to some conclusions, here they are:

  • Cable TV – living without it now. Not for miminalist reasons but because it’s a horrendous waste of money and time.
  • A smart phone – Nope. This thing in large part is replacing my computer for many things.
  • Any kind of cell phone – We don’t have a land line a cell phone is the only way for me to stay in touch with friends and family.
  • Any kind of TV –
  • An Internet connection –
  • A couch – We could get rid of the couch but I don’t know where guests would sit when we have them over for dinner/parties.
  • More than one pair of shoes – I probably do have too many pairs of shoes. I could cut down to three pairs: work, exercise, and regular.
  • More than a few shirts, or pants – Another area where I could cut down, somewhat. My work though requires a lot of formal wear.
  • A microwave – For a while we didn’t have a microwave and got along fine, it is convenient though and makes cooking/baking easier at times.
  • A car – fixing mine up to sell now.
  • Sweets – I don’t understand why you’d want to get rid of this? Food is one of the best, and simplest pleasures in life.
  • More than a handful of books (at a time) – I try to only keep books that I go back to again and again. This is a slow process of removal. I’ve made a lot of progress in the past year or so having donated/recycled more than ten boxes of books.
  • Makeup – don’t wear any.
  • Hair – How is getting rid of your hair minimalist? I honestly do not understand this one
  • Mementos – Outside of photographs, not really.

I’m sure some people “score” better than I do and some worse. I understand that the author’s point wasn’t to judge or imply that use/possession of items on the list above is wrong or bad, but rather to consciously think about the stuff we buy/have. Some of it though makes little to no sense, “hair” being the best example. I have a hard time seeing how having hair could distract you from the goal of conscious living, even people who take time to do their hair aren’t letting it control their life, if they are “stuff” isn’t the problem they should be focusing on… “Sweets” is another example, what does that mean? Candy bars, sugar, fruit? Why remove those things from your life? They are simple pleasures that can help us escape from a bad day.

I think my real gripe with aspects of minimalism is the focus on necessity. Again, from the mnmlist blog post: “just as [sic recte ask] yourself the questions. Is it really necessary? Can you live without it?” This is not the question we should be asking ourselves! Why? Because it leads down a destructive path. The fact of the matter is that humans can live without everything but water, food, and some form of shelter (and not even that depending on climate.) The human experience is not a race to the bottom. In fact by our very nature we collect and by collecting we can create and through creation humanity has bettered its state over and over again. Do modern people have a problem with consumerism? Yes. Can people become a slave to the things they own? Yes. The answer though is not to throw all that away. The answer is rather to live consciously, be aware of what you have, why you have it, and the costs associated with it. If you do that then you’ll be fine and you won’t have to live like a cave hermit.

And why would you? Those guys smell!

 

Chiptunes that Bury Deep into Your Cranium and Stay There

Never figured it out, still awesome after all these years

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who spent countless hours on weeknights and weekends in front of their televisions as a kid playing Nintendo that to this day I find myself humming bits and pieces of game soundtracks.  Despite the limited ability of the old NES music designers managed to squeeze out of it, with the help of additional soundchips in cartridges, some astonishingly catchy music. Furthermore, despite all the technological advances these old catchy tunes remain the bedrock on which new music for old franchises are built upon. That tune that plays whenever Link gets a new item in the Legend of Zelda? There from the very beginning! Mario’s theme? Yup. Vampire Killer? Check! The music might be tweaked, reworked, remixed, and molded but behind it all you still find these iconic, simple ditties.

Ditties that have been firmly lodged in my head for over 20 years at this point! Here are the ones I find myself humming in elevators most often! Not all of these are from the NES but the majority are. (Click the images to listen to the songs.)  It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of the tunes showcased here are from games that I go back to play over and over again. How else do you think they became automatic responses for me?

Wicked from Castlevania 1 Stage 3
Bubbleman's Theme from Megaman 2
Wily's Stage 1 from Megaman 2
Frog's theme from Chrono Trigger
Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2: Simon's Curse
Overworld theme from Super Mario Bros. 2
Opening Theme to Shadowgate
Stage 3 theme from Metal Storm
Kraid's Lair from Metroid
Act 4, Part 2 theme from Ninja Gaiden

There are some more quite a few more (like Terra’s theme from Final Fantasy VI, or the second stage music from Shinobi 3)… This is enough to get you started though! Youtube is a great resource as are quality fan sites (think The Castlevania Dungeon) If you want even more chiptunes and don’t care if they’re from video games check out 8-bit Peoples.

So, folks what are your favorites pieces of 8-bit and 16-bit music? Please let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for great tunes as well as great games that come with them!

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