January 18th The restrictions were I must write anything but it must begin with, “I was pummeled as a teenager.”
In ten minutes
I was pummeled as a teenager, and now I wanted to return the favor. By the time I had my third drink that was all I could imagine. Bryant was standing twenty feet away with his idiotic looking red mustache. No one ever moves around here. Cheryll was talking to me non-stop and all I could think about was making Bryant’s face redder with the back end of a ketchup bottle.
Maybe I could taunt him until he swung his fat fists. I hadn’t considered those fists. Construction work really does broaden those physical horizons.
“What’s wrong?” Cheryll whispered as she knocked my anger spiel with a grip to the shoulder.
“Nothing, keep going. The kids, were they reasonable today?” She mumbled about how her students don’t understand responsibility. I guess things don’t change, considering Bryant is laughing twenty feet away without any knowledge of my existence. I’m gonna walk over there.
But I didn’t do it. I got up, grabbed my coat and just said, “let’s find somewhere else” and left. Pathetic. It was that mustache. I’ll never return the favor.
January 25th The restrictions were I must write about a character that is capable of change and changes from: Angry to Ashamed Attracted to Disgusted Exhausted to Enthusiastic Determined to Uncertain
In ten minutes
I am a man. I am a man with a helping hand. But now my hand was swatted away. I was always there when I was needed. She would look at me in the kitchen, silent, and I would plead with her. I would provide her shoe shopping. I took the kids to practice. I washed the damn dog. These things were an outward expression that I assume she never noticed. Because then I saw her. I saw her that night get out of our van and scurry to that other man’s house. I watched her throw herself at him at the doorway. I observed their uncaring aggression throughout the house. I knew somewhere that she didn’t appreciate me. She hated that dog. She detested football practice. She loathed me, and my job.
I am a man. I know that now. I’m going to fix this. Real men, real humans solve problems. I’ll solve this one. My office is very high: 13th floor in fact. I’ll get to wave goodbye as I fall. I approached the window. Slowly, cautiously, quietly, I opened the window. Traffic whispers clung below. I exited to the ledge and looked down.
My office is very high. I can jump. I can fix this. I will fix this. The cars below leaped in and out of focus. I turned and vomited on my office floor. I am a man, and I’ll never fix this problem.
There is something to be said about our garage rock, video game, insecure generation, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World says literally all of it in approximately two hours. Scott Pilgrim is fun, it’s hilarious, and it’s remarkably gorgeous. Whether it was the hilarious contrasts in women’s roles, or the quick smirks of witty one liners from male combatants, Scott Pilgrim is genuine. While people outside of the 12-30 age might view this as ridiculous or absurd, Scott Pilgrim is an angst movie that truly taps into what it means to be young in our time. Filled with video game cameos and never really overtly referencing one specific video game, Scott Pilgrim also manages to handle this well with music and their genres. And with every band or game every youth is able to place their own experiences into the details.
It just felt cool watching what we all love: good looking men and women, quick witty jokes, over the top action, and a character arc. This is a movie that was overlooked and should not have tanked like it did. Hopefully we will look back at 2010 and remember Scott Pilgrim as such a leap in movie style that it will stand the test of time.
#4 - Inception

The film whose ending was discussed vehemently for two straight weeks, Inception is so mind bogglingly incredible, people will talk about it for years. Like the matrix, Inception brings about a whole somewhat new interesting topic to the big screen, presents it in an intelligent, serious manner, and not only did everyone accept it, they embraced it. Inception incredibly managed to pull off “Transformer” viewers without subjecting the viewers to lazy crazy action and stupid plots. Inception is a movie with a particular attention to detail, and while not everything is explained to the audience, we have enough for “oohs” and “ahhs.” We all know and love Inception, and for those that have not seen it, you are really missing out on an incredible experience. With impressive acting from Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, along with good plot progression from Leonardo Dicaprio, audiences were on the edge of their seat for the entire film.
#3 - Shutter Island

Although the twist was easier to see than other movie twists, Shutter Island presents itself in a dark, highly emotional world. With a cold performance from Michelle Williams and a gut wrenching performance from Dicaprio, the world of Shutter Island is never what it seems. Visual moments such as the ash falling from the burning apartment, to the frozen bodies of the concentration camps, the film is so saturated with intensity that I could literally taste its intention. This is what Shutter Island did most that the other movies this year did not, and that was present me with exactly what the main character was thinking or experiencing with an almost 1:1 ratio of visuals. With some clever and intelligent script choices, people have to absolutely see this twice to fully grasp its power.
#2 - The Social Network

While I disagree most with the conclusion of the character of Mark Zuckerburg, this film is without a doubt a pure form of entertainment. Its pacing is flawless, its top moments are fun, and its bottom moments hurt. Jesse Eisenberg is absolutely incredible in his non-social (ironic) depiction of a brilliant man who wanted bigger things. And despite everything being dramatic, electrified, and extravagant, the movie does it just enough to keep us believing. That girl from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody was in it, and she was crazy/hilarious. With Justin Timberlake being Justin Timberlake I didn’t know what that would look like. It looked great. With his complete destruction of my brain with his monologue in the club, I was sold completely on this film. Being such a young age with them, it feels good to be able to root for people that are going to change the world. The Social Network is an excellently acted, presented, and well timed movie.
#1 - Black Swan

It was my most anticipated movie of 2010, and I wasn’t disappointed. Black Swan was beautifully tragic and relentlessly brilliant. Natalie Portman carries a transition with a character that I’ve never seen before in movies. Darren Aronofsky gives us a look at what it takes to be a ballerina and also what it takes to lose your friggin’ mind. While Black Swan may have gotten some heated controversy for its sexual choices, by the time that was in the film, it did not seem at all enticing or blatantly horrifying. It was believable and intense. The movement from reality to madness and confusion was seamless. There is something special in the mild scares to all out grotesque scenes in this film you have to see to believe. Like Shutter Island, this may be the only other movie that presented a pure visual form of a character’s personality and mood.
Worst Movie of 2010 - The Last Airbender

He ruined it. He could not have done worse. The Last Airbender was an experiment gone horribly wrong. With terrible acting, terrible plot structure, God awful lack of attention to important details, the movie was an unmitigated disaster. So what happened? M. Night happened. His spiral downward happened and it crashed into the solid earth here. But maybe it wasn’t all his fault. The source material is so good and maybe there were too many details. Wrong. Go watch Lord of the Rings.
Best Special Effects - Tron: Legacy

I was decently surprised by Tron, even though there are more plot holes than Alice in Wonderland. The one thing I went back for the second time in the theatres was the special effects. Disney created a world so amazing it has to be seen to be believed. Light cycles, disks, canes that shoot lasers, and other amazing feats that made me want to live there instead of here. It was a good time to bring the franchise back, and in my opinion it is our generation’s Star Wars. I geek out at Tron, but in all honesty it looked real good. The plot needs to sharpen up however, if it wants to keep my attention.
Most Fun in the Movie Theatre - Machete

Machete was hilarious in the theater, because we all moaned at the Devil trailer, we all laughed at exaggerated Hispanic vehicles, and our jaw drops at brutal shootings. Machete is a great group experience action comedy that has to be seen to be believed. What started as a fake trailer turned into a non-stop, insulting, and hilarious Hispanic hell bent war. Gritty, and filled with vice from start to finish, you may want to cross your heart before this one.
The South Korean’s equivalent to Football Americano in the United States is undoubtedly Starcraft. It’s a televised nationally recognized sport. It has radio commentators and televised arenas. It has seating for fans to watch live. It hires professional computer camera men who can click and observe the combat effectively. They get paid to do this. The South Korean Air Force has their own Starcraft Team. This is how big it is there. So with that basic level of understanding: we will never play star craft like them. We can never hope to become as good or better than them because they are the best at this game. If the whole world would be decided on games of star craft, they would take the cake and then eat it in front of us, then poop it out in our very own toilets. The first thing you as the viewer will notice as you watch is how skilled they are. Their actions per minutes are in the hundreds, and they do several actions in game simultaneously that take us multiple steps.
When Erich Late and I were freshman roommates, we spent a great deal of time, in fact probably most of our video game time playing star craft. I also got heavily into watching pro Korean games. Not only for tips and tricks, but also because I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s important to understand that me enjoying this is not a new thing, and it’s not even nerdy anymore. I’m not just trying to defend myself here. This is how big video games are becoming. The fact that even politics got into star craft in south korea says a little about the rise of video game in human history, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
There are a couple things you should know
Before starting this video (which I hope you didn’t because you might get confused), you should read these next sections to get a firm grip on jargon and terms and history.
The Commentators
The commentators of this match thank God speak English and they are SC2GG.com’s very own Klazart and Cholera. Klazart will be the british sounding, louder voiced commentator while Cholera is the American quieter other. For duel commentators they will usually have a straight and a bent set up. What this means is there is one commentator who is straight up facts and tells of events happening while the second is bent which means they stray off and mention other facts and broad ideas in the game. Cholera in this video, while he does make some theories, is the less talkative “Al Michaels” straight commentator. Klazart, the brit, is the bent. Klazart is also widely mentioned as SC2GG.com’s most eccentric and fastest talking commentator they have. Also understand that these guys bust their asses to get English commentary to us in America as all their funding is through donation. They do all this for free as their hobby. If you’ve ever seen their site, this is very hard to do, and furthermore they are good at it.
The Game
Starcraft for those reading, is a strategy game that came out in the mid 1990s and featured a simple approach to strategy and tactics. While it’s not quite as simple as to have a “paper beats rock approach”, it definitely is not complex enough to boggle the minds of many. This made it a sweeping phenomenon. Like the wii, or Halo, or Counter Strike, or Gears of War, it redefined a genre in gaming. Apparently for all our big talk as men discussing strategy, people want something relatively simple and arcade-like to compete with their friends. Starcraft’s style made games very quick, approximately 20 minutes on average compared to other strategy games now and then that take hours. This gave players the opportunities for more rapid adaptation and adjustment. It also allowed people to play more than one round before or after work or school and still feel accomplished. People often over look that simple and quick is not always a bad thing. In fact, blizzard made a sequel almost technologically exactly like the first with some improvements, and people kissed their feet for it. After a decade and a half of strategy games, all people wanted was more star craft. That says something about how domineering this game is. It owns strategy. You cannot have a conversation about strategy games and leave out the achievements Blizzard has made in their games, especially when an f-ing country uses it as an official sport.
The Map
The particular match that we are discussing in this essay will be played on “Neo Medusa”. Medusa is a map that is seemingly like all the other professional grade maps made for South Korea E-Sports. Neo Medusa (NM for short) is a map with resources and rough terrain on the outside edges in a complete circle around the map for bottlenecks and territorial advantage. The inside is a big flat landscape designed for no advantages for any race. This may seem easy since it’s a video game, but unfortunately it’s not. Now when mentioning maps, the commentators will mention this term: “Flash is starting at the 3 o’clock position.” This means that if you take the mini map in the bottom left hand corner and considered it a clock, then he would be located where a three would normally be; the right side of the map. So when they talk about the ever important 12 o’clock position on this map, that means it’s the top of the map. They use this a lot. Also keep in mind the resources available in general. If you notice there are hardly any resources in the middle except to prevent entry into certain locations on the map. The outer edges are meant for production while the middle is kind of a boxing arena. Flat and uninteresting. But NM does have several landmarks we should take into account. There are several bridges that like in real world encounters, do play a part. There is also destructible buildings that prevent entry into other areas, but it doesn’t play that big a part in this match in particular.
Also when they say “expo” they mean expansion. This is a position with resources that is not the initial location of the player, but instead is a position that the player places a base on to expand his territory of control. Usually pro maps will have an expansion right outside the initial location to rapidly accelerate games in their resource gathering phase.
The Players
The players in the match today are the best of the best. Flash, on the right as you start the video, is a legend already in the making. Most pro players are in their twenties. Flash was kicking ass at age 16 when he played this. Klazart makes a notion that Flash loses to himself more than other players and this is true. Flash is almost this super genius that becomes lost sometimes either in his own pride or battle strategy. He will sometimes make such grand mistakes that he has sometimes been doubtful when considering big events. This is also because of his age. Flash is THE best Terran at least in this point in history, and also is statistically the best Terran vs. Terran player, which means he wins best when he plays against his own race. Flash’s experience has also been proving well throughout time, and unlike other older players who crack and can no longer compete (I’m not kidding), Flash has plenty of time to adjust and perfect.
FireBatHero on the left is a new-ish up and coming star. While being embarrassed and made fun of time and time again by analysts in the beginning of his career, FBH worked on his strengths and now is one of the best Terran players out there. FBH has been known to lose to weaker opponents but win to stronger ones, and no one really knows why. FBH may have some hidden belief in the honor of battling more experienced opponents. Although FBH is best against Zerg, he also fairs well against other Terrans.
While neither of these is my very player (who is Jaedong, a Zerg pro and wildly popular, convinced me of many of the strategies I use today), they are both extremely talented players who could take on three or me or you and not blink.
Terran vs. Terran
This match features a same race conflict, which means that already certain strategy will be apparent. You’re going to see a Mech build. This means no marines, no medics, no troops. You’re going to see tanks. Lots of tanks. There will be goliaths that provide anti air and close combat, but nothing is more important than the siege tanks and their long range guns. The second thing you’ll see is dropships. Dropships are faster than tanks and goliaths and can move over rough terrain easier. Dropships increase maneuverability and allow easier flanking and attacking. Terran on Terran is great to watch because of all the cannon fire and how real it feels. You can’t relate to Protoss tribal thought or Zerg infestation all that well but you can relate to tanks and marines and dropships.
In the early stages of pro star craft, there were so many exploits and glitches used that they had to take away some glaring ones to keep the game fair. One of which is building lift-off blocking turrets. The terran are the only race with the ability to lift their buildings off to other locations. They can also build anti-air turrets for cheap. Now because the game is a point-and-click interface that’s 2D and one angle only, then a player could keep a building hovering over an anti-air turret and the enemy would not be able to click on the turret for their forces to kill it. They would have to blow up the building first, giving the turret a huge hit point shield. So when you wonder why they are not doing this in this match, because there are definitely a lot of turrets and definitely a lot of buildings moving, this is why.
So Why this Match?
My view of this game as the best in history is not the common view at all. I have no idea what is viewed as the best star craft game officially ever played. My view is my own and not many else’s I guess. I have seen quite a few, and this is the best, because many things taken for granted or assumed about star craft in korea or anywhere are thrown out the window. This match provides a true insight into the intensity and grit of the sport, and also helps us understand it’s important in the world of video games, and it says a little about us as human beings.
First off the game is a whopping hour and four minutes. Most pro star craft games last an average of fifteen minutes. There’s not a lot of room for mistakes or delays at that level of play. But this match becomes a brutal war between two players. And it’s awesome. It’s awesome because we hardly see a star craft map played this far, and interesting tactics arise and unbelievable events occur that make me love it even more.
Second both players make terrible mistakes. To some this may seem trivial, but the reason this game lasts so long is both players make dumb mistakes over the course of this game that change the way each play. At such a high level, even the pros make careless mistakes. It also comes from the fact that most players do not play such long games, and later strategy and handling of everything from production to force movement becomes impossible to perfect. We simply aren’t computers.
Third this is the golden age of star craft. It was right during star craft 2’s popular stage of development and right before the whole political debacle that I’ll discuss later. More people cared now than ever before, and it mattered then and it matters now.
Fourth this match has a lot of historical parallels to real life encounters. I think this is really interesting as a history major. I’ll list some in the chronological order of events.
Chapter 2: While you Watch
So now you may watch the video. The commentators do an excellent job of pointing out actions and events but if you want a chronological order of important events, I have them here with my own notes afterward.
Game Start - Flash is located at the 3 o’clock as forest green while FBH is in the 7 o’clock position as the yellow. Resource gathering begins and initial scouts are sent out. The most important factor in star craft after economic protection is information. Always know what your opponent is doing.
3:49 - By this time both players have blocked off their entrance. This means they physically place buildings in the way of their entrance to keep the enemy out. This also means they keep themselves in, but since this is Terran on Terran, they will eventually lift off the Barracks and use them as airline scouts.
5:00 - By this time the first factories are being built. Pro players will build anywhere from 4 to 12 factories to maximize rapid construction. Assembly line design is akin to the American tanks in World War Two, or British Naval Construction in the same conflict.
5:37 - Flash has expanded. Expanding first makes you vulnerable because it is so costly, but if you succeed, then you are ahead of your opponent significantly for later fighting. Remember this.
6:00 - Vultures are out. These are the first available units in the factory and are very fast and allow scouting, spider mines, and harassment of bases. Vultures combined with over vehicles are extremely effective, but are usually replaced in the late game.
7:45 - FBH builds his first starport. While this is early, he will use a wraith to scout incoming anything, and eventually will use it to build dropships.
9:15 - Flash tries an initial blitzkrieg that fails, unlike the Germans through Poland and France.
11:00 - FBH makes his first push with Siege Tanks that obliterate Flash’s main force. Players cannot individually tell siege tanks what to fire on, and SCV’s are provided as literal cannon fodder to ward off blows.
13:00 - Flash loses control of the center, and will not regain it for a considerable time.
13:20 - Turrets go up. Many are used to form a line of attrition that spans across the map for scouting and dropship control.
14:00 - Siege Tanks from FBH gather along ridge and siege Flash’s main base. Much like the geography in the Battle of Toulon in Napoleon’s early years. Unlike history however, Flash overcomes it.
14:25 - Flash sends out a flanking force to cut off the siege from reinforcements
16:14 - To truly understand how good these players are it often goes into First Person view to see how fast they are going. This is an example.
17:00 - Flash senses a blockade of Missile Turrets and Siege Tanks forming around him.
18:00 - A Stalemate begins with FBH placing a turret line and Flash rebuilding. Kind of like WWI trench warfare, but not too much like it.
19:38 - Flash expands to the 1 o’clock position: a staging area for a major battle in the game at the 12 o’clock
19:50 - Flash also lands units around resources at 12 o’ clock that will begin the major conflict in the game.
20:00 - Stalemate Two.
22:30 - Flash makes a push at the 12 o’clock position. The real fighting begins.
The units at the 12 are cut off on all sides by turrets and tanks. Much like the paratroopers at Bastogne in World War II
23:00 - Stalemate Three. Both players are poking and prodding for weaknesses.
25:00 - Major push by Flash in a BARBAROSSA attack through the center like in World War Two with the Germans against the Russians on the Eastern Front. Retakes middle.
26:42 - Massive drop by both sides that may have been most decisive battle in the match. FBH wins.
27:00 - Flash carelessly lets two dropships die to goliath fire.
29:00 - Flash desperate for forces, makes a quick Vulture squadron
30:15 - FBH makes a violent attack on the 1 o’clock expansion and blockades it.
31:00 - Flash retaliates by using superior height from the south to shell blockade
32:00 - Flash drops vultures behind enemy lines to cut off FBH’s line at 12 o’clock.
Destroys southern line.
34:17 - FBH attempts to reestablish southern line and middle with massive siege tank force
35:30 - Flash foolishly lets SCVs die on way to 1 o’clock position.
35:50 - Flash continues to reinforce 12 o’clock
36:20 - FBH makes an attack on middle, regaining lost ground and gaining mobility.
Flash continues to hold high ground south of 1 o’clock
37:00 - First Person view again.
38:00 - FBH reestablishes southern force at 12 o’clock
Minerals are running low across map. Late game tech considered
39:55 - FBH foolishly lets dropships die in worthless attempt
40:00 - Stalemate Four.
42:00 - FBH builds physic’s Lab on science building and builds more star ports. Proof that FBH will utilize Battlecruisers in late game.
42:52 - Flash from 1 o’clock retakes southern position AGAIN at 12 o’clock with massive force. FBH cannot retaliate because of Battlecruiser decision.
43:45 - FBH retakes southern position
44:00 - Camera men show that resources are gone across map.
44:44 - Flash retakes southern position
45:49 - Flash takes western side of 12 o’clock with huge landing force. FBH cannot retaliate because of Battlecruiser decision.
46:33 - In the luckiest scan of all time, Flash discovers Battlecruiser plan, and now has the time to stop it. Much like the Americans at Midway decoding the Japanese Naval Code. Flash now has crucial information on the enemy.
47:43 - FBH attempts to spear middle.
53:00 - Flash begins to systematically destroy FBH’s base. FBH does not retaliate. Instead he continues with Yamato pot shots at tanks at 12 o’clock.
54:32 - Trail of Tears for FBH’s factories
1:00:00 - FBH is completely surrounded by Flsash forces and eventually goes down in a proper shit storm.
1:00:45 - Flash rushes out of the playing room as the victor of the match. FBH can only sit in silence as he realized how he lost
Chapter 3: After Watching
So What Happened?
It was unfortunate that Flash discovered the Battlecruisers. Had he not, then Flash might have not had enough Goliaths to attack the battle cruisers and they could have hugged the northern coastline and harassed Flash because neither had any resources to build fighting force. While FBH played an excellent first third, Flash defended well and kept building forces! FBH grew stagnant towards the end. Flash’s experience in the game more than outweighed FBH’s.
It’s important to understand that had FBH kept pushing in the first twenty minutes, Flash would’ve lost. But FBH was psychologically over-analytical and grew restless and shy. In fact, Flash played the defense throughout the whole game until his systematic destruction of FBH’s base in the late game. Most of his drops were to break FBH’s blockades. Flash’s defensive play is surprisingly effective when you consider how low he started. Instead of playing the short game, FBH established missile turrets and blockades for a long term game, and lost because of it. Flash was capable of deterring every blockade.
So What Happened After?
They kept playing star craft. They are both playing rather well, but Flash was never quite as good as he was in his early teens. Flash and Jaedong were rivals for a while because they always ended up at the end of tournament brackets. But eventually Flash caved in because of rising vulture gameplay. Vultures as a legitimate strategy came back and Flash was not able to adapt. Either that or Flash refused to adapt. His ego-centric nature or his inability to play differently let him be overtaken. I do not know much about FBH. He never really was a top tier player, but he’s always above average. It’s amazing how well he played against Flash, and yet he still lost.
This was all right before a large bit of hell broke loose over the most amazing story of star craft in South Korea ever: gambling. Yes, just like Sumo-wrestling and baseball, word spread of cheating and rigging games in pro star craft leagues. Several pro players were caught. Flash and Fire Bat Hero were innocent, and so was this match. It all started with systematic tells in gameplay that simply were not possible as strategies. Missing scouts on purpose. Delaying in expansions. Lack of troop movement. Small things added up, and people confessed. But all this doesn’t have me worried.
I’m excited.
I’m excited that video gaming has risen to such a grand level. I’m excited that people are now taking it seriously. But it makes you wonder:
Could this happen in America?
I say no, because our culture may be irrevocably centered around stereotypes that we’ve liked since the 70s. And although “nerd” was a word invented by Dr. Seuss, it sticks on people hard. Even though everyone has played a game sometime in their lives, some refuse to believe that video games are an art. And even if they did televise Starcraft 2 games, would you watch them? Would you really keep up on all the stats and players and follow teams and go to matches?
I would, because I’ve embarrassed myself all my life anyway.
But for people that “want to be taken seriously” they’ll watch football: a true test of might. Physically that may be true, and maybe even mentally, and that’s why it could never happen here. And Eastern Philosophically based nation that includes a rejection of the body and a focus on the mind is begging for star craft, because it is the culmination of this and military strategy, something that the Asian world has always been fascinated with since Genghis Khan. A western, individualistic, physical mindset begs for us to make stars out of people who sex up women and snort cocaine off of more women. We want heroes, and those guys are people that live up to all the pleasures in life. We do not want a man who plays for a “team.” We do not want a humble but powerfully intellectual hero that bows politely, celebrates modestly, and returns to his teammates happy with them that they will succeed.
And this shows a profound amount of knowledge into who we are as Americans and who they are as Koreans. America is truly the Roman world, with Coliseums, corrupt politics, and dirty cities to boot. South Koreans seem to be bound by such better fundamentals like honor, dedication, intellectual prowess, humility, deep attention and silence. If you watch more of these videos, South Koreans hide their faces if camera men point the cameras at fans. They all hold up signs praising the player or the team in front of their face. That is such a different way of viewing a simple thing. I’ve never seen one person in America not blatantly wave at a camera at a baseball game.
It is rare for video games to get this kind of fame, and most often it does not. Most people have no idea about video gaming as a sport in South Korea. Most know that on the news they hear about GTA IV, and Mass Effect sex scenes and how “video games make kids kill their classmates” and other bullshit like that. Until Video Games accept themselves as art and remove unnecessary nudity (I like Mass Effect’s because there’s story there), until Video Games accept they’re an art and quit going for really shallow directions like the “family market”, until people recognize that video games are no longer “kill boxes”, and until people like those in Australia and radicals in California remove attempted political censorship of a new art, then life as a gamer will continue to be underrepresented.
I don’t hate America, I love America. I want to teach American History. I know I will usually never get my way. But I can always watch star craft that happens half a world away. And even though America may never change, I know in my little apartment I’ve changed, because of games like star craft.
Edward and Alphonse Elric are the greatest Alchemists to ever walk the world. The older, known as the Full Metal Alchemist attempted to recreate his recently deceased mother and wound up nearly destroying himself and his younger brother Al. Al was immediately sent beyond, leaving Ed alone without a right arm and left leg. Such is the law of equivalent trade. Miraculously, Edward did what very few have ever done; indeed he might be the only one. He performed a soul transmutation, and placed his younger brother's spiritual remains into a suit of armor. What begins as a horrible tragedy turns into an adventure filled with horror, humor, murders, thrills, traitors, and tyrants. So why do so few people know about it?
Because this is the world of anime, and while my sister Jamie and I got to experience one of the most incredible stories ever told this winter break, many will not even know anything about it or that it even existed. Anime, like video games, has fallen under its own weight of inward, criticizing and odd fan base, and also suffers from a culture gap between the west and the east. So what is happening to Anime? What makes it so inferior and what keeps it from being wholly experienced by much more people?
Embarrassment
I'll tell you straight up what the most odd places to find people is in a book store or movie store. It's the anime, manga, and role-playing sections. Do not deny that whenever you walk by those mainly white manga books with big overdrawn eyes and flawless pasty skin and ridiculous clothing and hair, you immediately look around to make sure your curiosity has not been noticed. It's okay to be interested in those kinds of things. That's why there are whole sections dedicated to people who want to buy them and experience them. But somehow it's just not the same as walking through the cooking, architecture, or sports section. Walk through the cooking section and if you're a woman, you might be looking for a great recipe for a get together. If you're a man, you're attempting either to stop eating tuna fish and hot dogs, or you wish to be a more cultured individual, or you're looking to drop a couple pounds. Architecture is a radiant show of competence. I can tell you right now, I would have a huge amount of respect for anyone just looking in the architecture section. I couldn't help but ask, "dude, do you build things?" Sports is a complete beast of its own.
Go to the Manga section, or Anime section of a movie store, and you're gonna get looks. I know because I've done it. Then I go check out whatever they're looking at online. The point I'm making is that like video games, a sense of embarrassment comes up when discussing these hobbies. Not I'm not saying all, because I can think of four people right now that would say, "no dude I don't care" but it all depends on the receiving end of the conversation. If I was ever at a bar sitting directly across a stranger of the opposite gender, there is no way in hell you will ever hear me say, "I watch Anime, play video games, read about philosophy, and eat hot dogs." Now granted I have a large problem being myself in social situations which is why I try to avoid them, but the fact remains that my self-esteem cannot cope with it. So like video games, anime has become an underground culture, and with that breeds....
Contempt
Let's be clear: we all know what kind of smack talk goes on in Call of Duty and Halo Reach. If a new gamer was introduced to this social experience, he could actually call it cyber-bullying. Veterans know "you just gotta let that stuff go" but it's not a for sure thing. As video game technology improves, like Kinect for the Xbox 360 which allows the body to be a controller, and the Wii, more family players and fringe consumers are getting in on the game, literally. This can be said for Anime as well. "Anime" is just short for animation. Try to count all the animated and computer generated movies and tv shows in the past five years. You can't, because now the world has become so used to it that it's a second nature thing. Ever since Toy Story, the animated world has skyrocketed forward. There's no going back, but this is a big sign that things are improving. But one big thing is stopping both video games and anime from taking off: the fanbase.
You guys have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores, it just makes it okay for guys to call you that. -Tina Fey, Mean Girls.
While this movie has nothing to do with video games or anime, I think it points out a blaring subject. As long as the community continues to debase itself with bad sportsmanship, ridiculous and unnecessary sexual content and sometimes violence, and crude jokes, these two will never take off. Anime has a huge problem with often times using women as a medium to bring in audiences. Sailor Moon anyone?
Not to mention the countless sex driven games like "Dead of Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball" which obviously used the volleyball to show off other things.
Until this kind of crap is halted, video games and anime to people comes off as being childish, when really it's not anymore. And until we prove this to people like Matt Chandler, all people will follow the rule that all video games and anime do is ruin our children. This is a bold faced lie when you consider amazing games like LIMBO, and Mass Effect 2 and consider amazing anime shows like Full Metal Alchemist, Trigun, Avatar(it's American, but it's good), and Dragon Ball Z.
Growing up Animated
Anyone in my generation will always conclude that TOONAMI, a program short consisting of anime that aired right after school on Cartoon Network, was the best thing that ever happened to them on TV. Sailor Moon, Reboot, Inuyasha, Gundam Wing, Hamtaro, Zoids, Batman: the Animated Series, and the ever famous Dragon Ball Z were all shown on it. It ran for over ten years. It defined our entire generation. Heroes and villains were all fully realized. What's amazing is that many people have no idea what any of these are.
TOONAMI died in September of 2008. Ever since, Cartoon Network in my opinion has struggled to find an identity. Zane and I continue to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Adventure Time (best cartoon on air right now). But other than that, CN needs to do something grand like TOONAMI to really blow off Nickolodean's goo and Disney's child stars. TOONAMI was everything for every child. Wanna see stuff blow up? Watch Dragon Ball Z, or Gundam Wing. Wanna see characters struggle with identity? Watch Outlaw Star or Inuyasha. Wanna watch philosophy of human nature? Watch the Big O, or Gundam Wing...again, or Outlaw Star...again.
It's important to understand where these shows carried us, and what they provided for a growing world of television and a loss of traditional family lifestyles. In an almost horrible or grand way (whichever you prefer), TV, and Anime really did become our "babysitter." And while some want to kill the babysitter, some do not even know who it was. And in our case, it was TOONAMI.
Every guy my age remembers hurrying home from school to catch whatever show they wanted. Remember? This was before TiVo, and it's not like my parents were running out to buy all 20 seasons of Dragon Ball Z.
TOONAMI wasn't the only breakthrough to mainstream life. Adult Swim, also on Cartoon Network also provided more mature shows for more mature audiences starting at 10 at night. Full Metal Alchemist, the show I started this essay with, is on air right now on Adult Swim. My generation experienced a golden age of anime. We could catch the shows after school, eat dinner, go to basketball or football or band or dance practice, come home and finish up with shows at night.
So what's wrong with it? After all these huge examples, I feel like Anime is in a lull. Maybe it is because I'm older but without TOONAMI, I feel like all the ground gained is lost.
I'm looking at the wiki page for TOONAMI. Their motto was, "building you a better cartoon show." Their slogan was, "the revolution will be televised."
The next time someone wants to watch Full Metal Alchemist, or wants to try showing you Animatrix, or maybe has an interest in Wolf's Rain, don't throw it away. Give it a shot. You might be decently surprised. The next time you become decently surprised at an anime cartoon show meant to entertain people five years younger, tell someone. Maybe then, we'll all be better for it. And for the people like me who feel horribly embarrassed about it: relax, and watch what you want.
During Finals week I went out of my apartment to smoke another cigarette. It keeps me awake and focused at night. I went and sat on the walls, the leaves gliding to a halt near my feet as I stretched out to relax. The cigarette dangled loosely from my lips as I looked out. The moon was just rising on the opposite end. I spat on the ground and smoked my cigarette. The smoke played games with the light as even it can leave a shadow. And as I finished it I looked down and stared at the splat my spit had spelled. I stared at it for a full ten minutes. And I thought of the tower of Babel.
I have these thoughts often.
Earlier that day I had wondered what exactly had made God changed the languages of man. My thoughts for that are for another time, but nonetheless I looked at the spit, and then looked at the stub that was left of a spent cigarette. I slowly and firmly placed the stub face down, in the spit. There it stood, my very own tower of Babel. It protruded straight up into the air, as if to sign off on a perfect structure complete.
My time home has been an act of attrition; a hiatus, from a strained fast-paced, and going world. My time home has been little more than a dream. Although the time in Colorado was memorable, the moment hardly was said to have occured at all. We all know how vacations go: "that one time I was in...". Did it really happen? I keep thinking to myself other possibilities. This break has been a hurtful break. I learned that home is right where I left it. With people I learned that I had missed my chance. With books I learned that there is no country out there for people like me. But then again, I'm writing, and I'm writing what I want to write. What else do I need?
According to myself I need a lot, but that's how we all feel right? A sense of entitlement. That's what gets all of us in trouble.
Colorado was cold, and I'm not just being literal. It was cold on my body and cold in my heart. So many people and so many moments I had with them got thrown under the bed when I pressed restart on my life at North Texas. And now that I see them again, my CPU crashed. Time gets away from us.
I heard some things I did not want to hear, and I said some things I did not wish to say. I don't think I would take them back though. I have gone too far to turn back now. Taking things back won't get me what I want.
The day it snowed was absolutely stunning. The hills to the west, which would cover the sun for a large duration of time, suddenly grew foggy that afternoon. Slowly and surely, inclement weather was coming, but it was so quiet. The kind of quiet that you hear in western movies and family trips to backwoods relatives but you just don't hear anymore. No cars, no music, just you, and the wind, and the grass. I looked out and there it was in my face. Snow was everywhere for the next four hours. Snow is white, snow is cold, and snow gets wet.
I ate with punitive and adolescent efficiency. The kind of efficiency that comes from a cynical nature. I ate in silence, listened in silence, stood and looked at songs lyrics in silence. I walked from A to B in silence. I stare at my past in silence, and I sit here in silence. Nothing has changed, and I suppose nothing will change.
Today the sun was hardly there to help me wash the sides of the house. The paneling on my father's house is a quick clean with water and brush. The cold water lapped on my clothes as I climbed a ladder to reach the second floor paneling. Shivers and goosebumps were plenty as I squinted to keep the water out of the fire in my eyes. And after we cleaned we watched a movie. And after we watched a movie, we smoked cigars had a beer. We talked, but I mostly looked at the sky. The sun was casting a red and purple hue on the clouds that hung on the sky from strings hung on the atmosphere.
I want to leave, but I have no reason to leave. I want to stay, and I have no reason to stay. It's a war of attrition. I am blocked by my own guilt, my own expectations, and my own passion.
I want to feel things, and I expect that without a life companion, I never will really fully understand the total worth of all objects in this world. I'm so scared of loving someone else, I think. I don't want to look into someone eyes and say, "I don't have any answers." because I don't. I'm just as scared shitless as the rest of us. I don't know what comes next, but I can't bring myself to ask someone to come with me. I'm no good at burying people alive, even if I'm with them. I guess that is what it all boils down to. I'm alone and I cannot cope with being independent no matter how much talk I put into it. I can't help but feel that I have nothing to offer.
I wake in the morning with cereal, the best thing ever invented by a human being. If I were a machine, then cereal would be the oil. I am an assembly line of vocabulary, and cereal is every Joe and Jane Smith connecting the parts together. And as I wake I read, and play, and work, and wait. And after I'm done waiting, I sleep. The next day I wake and wait all over again. I have spent 21 years of my life waiting, and I do not even know what I'm waiting for: death? Another? A chance?
Time gets away from us.
We're not supposed to use "you" in writing, because it feels like we're calling out the reader, threatening them. Bullshit. I'll call you out right now: what are you doing? Are you like me? Are we not as alone as we think? I'm angry at no one, tired of no one, upset with no one, afraid of no one. Are you the same? I want you to know that everything is going to be alright. With the thousands of advertising hours spent, and the millions of words written, and the hours of movie filmed, they are telling you that you will be alright. I'm doing everything it takes to be happy. I'm taking all the necessary precautions, and making all the right moves. We are going to be okay. You and I will be okay. I give good hugs so I hear.
That night that I was studying. That night I built the tower. Later on I went back out to smoke a second cigarette. It must've been hours later. I turned around the corner of my apartment entrance and felt something touch my foot softly. I lifted my foot, and there it was. My tower of Babel, in all its glory, smashed and bent over backwards on the ground. It was lifeless, and pathetic on the ground. I had crushed my own creation. And I forgot that I had placed it there. It was an accident.
His latest book, Chuck Klosterman IV, is really more of a collection or works he has written with SPIN and Esquire magazines, but also contain footnotes from the future that seek to explain some lines and place you within the context of the piece. Before we begin, understand that I am a huge fan of Klosterman. Klosterman presents himself as an extremely witty and sarcastic cultural writer, but also presents extreme common sense that many people (I hope) can understand and attach to in his books. I've read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Eating the Dinosaur, and Downtown Owl and I haven't been able to stop.
With that said, Chuck Klosterman IV is brilliant. Most of this work deals with musician interviews like Brittany Spears, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Led Zepplin's Robert Plant, and so forth. If you're into understand the people behind the lyrics, this book is for you. Some of my favorite parts also have nothing to do with music, like a chapter that deals with Goths going to Disneyland, or Chuck deciding to eat Chicken Mcnuggets for an entire week. These interludes are perfect in spacing out the subject material. So if we had to put a number on it, I'd say 65% of this book is music related, and everything else is everything else. Chuck manages to make me laugh out loud (which is hard to do reading alone) about Val Kilmer at his ranch, and Brittany Spears not wearing pants. Although the ending of the book ends in an existential putter, endings of these collections of essays are not really all that important. It could end randomly about an essay on KISS, and I would have no problem with it. I burned through 300 pages of essays faster than 67 pages of science fiction. His books really keep you turning because of a wealth of modern interesting material, and his smart commentary. Klosterman is excellent at making friends laugh (read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs essay "Billy Sim" and you'll be on the floor), and making intellectuals ponder (read "It Never Happened" from Eating the Dinosaur). What's important is that even for those who don't like reading, you can find something in here to keep your attention. Klosterman is appealing and enthralling.
Chuck Klosterman IV is just as effective at entertaining and informing as his previous works and in this case almost more so. A 5/5 is absolutely necessary because so far this was my favorite book to read this whole year. If you can pick it up, I hope you do, if not I can let you borrow it for those that know me. Chuck Klosterman is a writer for our time, and it's important that we understand that. So PLEASE read one of his books, before all the culture goes away.
If you are a libertarian, this book is for you. And while that can be used to both sides, Glenn Beck attempts to use factual data to convince friends and colleagues that something is actually wrong with America, whether you're Democrat or Republican. Before we begin let's be clear about our audience. I am not a die hard fan for Glenn Beck. Despite the fact that the last time I actually sat down to watch the news was him, that was over a year ago. It's hard for me to find the time and find the reason to watch FOX or CNN or any other news channel. Like sports, it takes a lot of time and effort to truly enjoy and most people do not have that kind of time. So let's begin.
Arguing with Idiots is an audiobook read by Glenn Beck and his co-workers about the implosion of America. While some of it is wildly dramatic and contains cheesy jokes and anecdotes, Glenn Beck does touch on several subjects such as Education, Housing, Capitalism, and Gun control that I actually believe are decent arguments. Yet, I am a somewhat radical libertarian (objectivist) so it's hard for me to actually know who all would take this book seriously or not.
This audiobook is pretty narrow, but also knows its audience well. Odds are you bought this book because you love Glenn Beck, or because you got it for Christmas and have nothing to do on a road trip. This also means that people will hardly read it if they despise Glenn Beck or their friends despise Glenn Beck, which makes you wonder how Glenn Beck will change anything while writing this. I suppose Beck can only hope that some middle man will pick it up on their way out of Half Price and give it a listen. Political works are difficult because it automatically presents a selected audience before it is even released, just on writer alone. It becomes obvious within the first twenty minutes that Beck read Atlas Shrugged and feels like America's destruction is coming soon. For some you can either take this seriously (me) or you can laughingly throw it away (?), but in my opinion his arguments are clean and reasonable.
This book is tough to get through sometimes particularly when Glenn Beck is reading. In this audiobook, it's a sort of fantasized argument between an idiot (which Glenn Beck reads horribly on purpose) and well informed libertarians (which his co-workers read stoically and wonderfully). Although the argument is obviously fake to promote certain points that Beck wishes to talk about, some points really do feel real. I could actually imagine someone using that while I would be attending the University of North Texas.
Glenn Beck makes it perfectly clear how he feels about each of the topics he addresses. His points are clear, so odds are you will either understand and adhere to his principles, or understand and reject the entire audiobook. I would give this a 4/5 mainly because although I like it, I can see people becoming annoyed or not even buying the book. Most people think he's an entertainer first and newsman second, but even with that angle he really is trying to do something good.
