I am writing this quick note from up in the clouds on June 18th. When I will actually get to somewhere with internet to post it, I don’t know. I’m on a plane now (Midwest Airlines, they give us fresh baked cookies!) heading from General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee to SEA-TAC in Washington State for my summer job. I will have my computer with me, but internet access on the Olympic Peninsula at the summer camp where I work is very, very limited. I may be able to access it once per week, if that.
Hope everyone has a great summer and thanks for reading so far!
Sean
P.S. I posted a link to another blog you may find interesting. The author is a friend of mine from my Seattle days. Take a moment to check it out!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Final Fantasy: My Life as a King Review
I recently purchased Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King on WiiWare, the buy-then-download game service that just debuted on the Wii. I decided to inaugurate my game review skills with this game. This review was originally written for Gamespot and can be found here: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/strategy/finalfantasycrystalchroniclestheyoungkingandthepromisedland/player_review.html?id=576822. If you are gaming inclined, it may be a game to look into. I have enjoyed it so far.
Here's the review:
-------------------
OK, so the game is pretty good. This game, like almost any other game, isn't perfect. Keep in mind that this is the first time a game like this has been made, at least by Square Enix.
When I first read about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (MLAK), I was immediately reminded of a very minor gameplay mechanic from Final Fantasy: Tactics (FF:T). In FF:T, you have the ability to send members of your clan on side missions that remove them from your party for a certain amount of time while you continue on the main storyline. Eventually, the clan members return either with the pomp of victory or the agony of defeat. To make a full game using just this mechanic would be a disaster, so Square Enix took that mechanic and made it the core of the gameplay for the RPG-City Builder My Life as a King.
The RPG aspect of this game does a pretty good job. It is clear that Square Enix put a lot of effort into making a role-reversal for your character, going so far as to include turn-by-turn accounts of the battles your adventurers engage in (while this may initially seem like a gimmick, it gets very useful when you hit a wall in a dungeon and can look up exactly what went wrong to adjust your next venture). All of your initial adventurers start as level 1 warriors, blank slates for you, the king, to write on. Each day you can either send your adventurers off to gain XP or to complete a behest. A behest is like a royal order - you can issue a behest that your explorers head out and map a dungeon (giving you tactical advantage against monsters in that dungeon) or send them off to face a dungeon boss. While occasionally other behests can be made (you can order a city-wide holiday, for example), these will be the main two behests you make. As you progress through the game and unlock more options, your gain the ability to order your minions to change jobs. This is one of the stumbling blocks of the game: to have your adventurers change jobs, you have to use up a whole behest. If you only have one behest (eventually you gain the ability to issue more than one a day, but that may take a while), you basically waste a day in order to have one or two characters change from one job to another. This problem is solved by your handy ability to end your day at any time by shaking the wiimote and selecting "End Day." Just like a standard FF character, your adventurers level up and as king you must make sure that they head into a dungeon that matches their skill level.
The city builder aspect is somewhat lacking in customization, but adds to the overall RPG experience. Don't buy this game if you are looking for the next Sim City. Your kingdom starts out an empty slate with sets of glowing green squares placed in city-block layout all about. To build, simply stand on a square and the shake the Wiimote to call up the building options (eventually, you get to demolish buildings using this same method). Your selection of buildings starts out with just a house. Eventually, as your adventurers explore the surrounding dungeons, you unlock more buildings. With each new building comes a new job, set of skills, set of items, etc. This adds to the overall RPG experience in that you start out simple, but branch out as the game progresses. Yes, the houses you build are the same 3 house models over and over, and your initial set of buildings is very limited, but if you are getting hung up on that, you aren't taking a holistic view of the game.
While the RPG and City Builder portions of the game hold up well, the remainder of the gameplay seems somewhat lacking. There are many minor issues that range from superficial details to truly irritating. Among the most irritating is the story, which is an absolute mess. I won't spoil any details, but suffice it to say that the high standard of story that Square Enix has held itself to for the past 8 years fell flat on its face. In one memorable cutscence, the storyline contradicts its own timeline twice! After many of the cutscenes, I found myself more confused over when the different events in the timeline happened. (SPOILER HERE) Even more irritating is the fact that the main characters seem unfazed by the corrupted of the crystal which provides the power to build the city. In the cutscene mentioned earlier, we find out that the crystal contains the life-essence of evil, and that their using it for construction causes the evil to get stronger, and they just keep chugging along using it. At least, that's how I managed to interpret the utterly disastrous storyline. (SPOILER ENDS HERE)
There are also several minor issues in the game, the most obvious being the lack of instruction, especially when it is needed. In order to build some of the buildings, you need to partake in special missions. The game never actually tells you this. I wasted 10 days sending my adventurers out on standard XP building missions before I figured out what the next step was. This isn't helped by the sometimes strange comments made by the townspeople. For example, the townspeople will tell you that 'all you need to do to declare a national holiday is click on the castle and issue a behest' well before you unlock that as an option. They will also talk about the benefits they are receiving from buildings they seem to think are in the city even if you have not unlocked that building for construction. I consider myself a well experienced gamer, but when townspeople start telling me to do things that don't yet exist in the game and no in-game instruction pops up to give more details I got frustrated. But, if a gamer is aware of this going in the negative effects are less.
Visually the game does well, save for the temporary lag that seems to occur whenever you build a new building. There is a nice vantage point that gives you an overview of the city and after you have built it up a bit, the view of the different rooftops and architecture can be spectacular. The city itself isn't so big that it takes forever to walk from place to place, but still provides the feel of a frontier kingdom. There isn't much variance in the building models for the individual building types, but since you will only have one (MAYBE two) of each building, it shouldn't be a problem. Most noticeably cookie-cutter are the houses, but in reality most houses in a neighborhood look the same anyway. In order to add a little variation (and to entice you to part with a few more Wii points), Square Enix has downloadable packs that vary from 100 points for an outfit for the king (useless) to 300-900 point building packs that give you different benefits. None of these are necessary, but are very helpful. The problem is that, after all is said and done, you have spent $30 on a game that was only supposed to cost $15, and while the game is good, its negatives begin to add up.
BOTTOM LINE: The important aspects of the game (the RPG and city builder) do a fairly good job, the game has enough minor issues, such as a confusing story, that add up to make it ALMOST worth a lower score. This is an example of a game's good qualities truly making up for it's problems. If you are interested enough in the game to read through this review, go out and buy it right now. You will enjoy it. For the rest of you: give it a shot, just make sure you know what you are buying and don't expect perfection. This game shows very good potential and with further revising and expansion of the mechanics, a sequel would be very fun indeed.
Here's the review:
-------------------
OK, so the game is pretty good. This game, like almost any other game, isn't perfect. Keep in mind that this is the first time a game like this has been made, at least by Square Enix.
When I first read about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (MLAK), I was immediately reminded of a very minor gameplay mechanic from Final Fantasy: Tactics (FF:T). In FF:T, you have the ability to send members of your clan on side missions that remove them from your party for a certain amount of time while you continue on the main storyline. Eventually, the clan members return either with the pomp of victory or the agony of defeat. To make a full game using just this mechanic would be a disaster, so Square Enix took that mechanic and made it the core of the gameplay for the RPG-City Builder My Life as a King.
The RPG aspect of this game does a pretty good job. It is clear that Square Enix put a lot of effort into making a role-reversal for your character, going so far as to include turn-by-turn accounts of the battles your adventurers engage in (while this may initially seem like a gimmick, it gets very useful when you hit a wall in a dungeon and can look up exactly what went wrong to adjust your next venture). All of your initial adventurers start as level 1 warriors, blank slates for you, the king, to write on. Each day you can either send your adventurers off to gain XP or to complete a behest. A behest is like a royal order - you can issue a behest that your explorers head out and map a dungeon (giving you tactical advantage against monsters in that dungeon) or send them off to face a dungeon boss. While occasionally other behests can be made (you can order a city-wide holiday, for example), these will be the main two behests you make. As you progress through the game and unlock more options, your gain the ability to order your minions to change jobs. This is one of the stumbling blocks of the game: to have your adventurers change jobs, you have to use up a whole behest. If you only have one behest (eventually you gain the ability to issue more than one a day, but that may take a while), you basically waste a day in order to have one or two characters change from one job to another. This problem is solved by your handy ability to end your day at any time by shaking the wiimote and selecting "End Day." Just like a standard FF character, your adventurers level up and as king you must make sure that they head into a dungeon that matches their skill level.
The city builder aspect is somewhat lacking in customization, but adds to the overall RPG experience. Don't buy this game if you are looking for the next Sim City. Your kingdom starts out an empty slate with sets of glowing green squares placed in city-block layout all about. To build, simply stand on a square and the shake the Wiimote to call up the building options (eventually, you get to demolish buildings using this same method). Your selection of buildings starts out with just a house. Eventually, as your adventurers explore the surrounding dungeons, you unlock more buildings. With each new building comes a new job, set of skills, set of items, etc. This adds to the overall RPG experience in that you start out simple, but branch out as the game progresses. Yes, the houses you build are the same 3 house models over and over, and your initial set of buildings is very limited, but if you are getting hung up on that, you aren't taking a holistic view of the game.
While the RPG and City Builder portions of the game hold up well, the remainder of the gameplay seems somewhat lacking. There are many minor issues that range from superficial details to truly irritating. Among the most irritating is the story, which is an absolute mess. I won't spoil any details, but suffice it to say that the high standard of story that Square Enix has held itself to for the past 8 years fell flat on its face. In one memorable cutscence, the storyline contradicts its own timeline twice! After many of the cutscenes, I found myself more confused over when the different events in the timeline happened. (SPOILER HERE) Even more irritating is the fact that the main characters seem unfazed by the corrupted of the crystal which provides the power to build the city. In the cutscene mentioned earlier, we find out that the crystal contains the life-essence of evil, and that their using it for construction causes the evil to get stronger, and they just keep chugging along using it. At least, that's how I managed to interpret the utterly disastrous storyline. (SPOILER ENDS HERE)
There are also several minor issues in the game, the most obvious being the lack of instruction, especially when it is needed. In order to build some of the buildings, you need to partake in special missions. The game never actually tells you this. I wasted 10 days sending my adventurers out on standard XP building missions before I figured out what the next step was. This isn't helped by the sometimes strange comments made by the townspeople. For example, the townspeople will tell you that 'all you need to do to declare a national holiday is click on the castle and issue a behest' well before you unlock that as an option. They will also talk about the benefits they are receiving from buildings they seem to think are in the city even if you have not unlocked that building for construction. I consider myself a well experienced gamer, but when townspeople start telling me to do things that don't yet exist in the game and no in-game instruction pops up to give more details I got frustrated. But, if a gamer is aware of this going in the negative effects are less.
Visually the game does well, save for the temporary lag that seems to occur whenever you build a new building. There is a nice vantage point that gives you an overview of the city and after you have built it up a bit, the view of the different rooftops and architecture can be spectacular. The city itself isn't so big that it takes forever to walk from place to place, but still provides the feel of a frontier kingdom. There isn't much variance in the building models for the individual building types, but since you will only have one (MAYBE two) of each building, it shouldn't be a problem. Most noticeably cookie-cutter are the houses, but in reality most houses in a neighborhood look the same anyway. In order to add a little variation (and to entice you to part with a few more Wii points), Square Enix has downloadable packs that vary from 100 points for an outfit for the king (useless) to 300-900 point building packs that give you different benefits. None of these are necessary, but are very helpful. The problem is that, after all is said and done, you have spent $30 on a game that was only supposed to cost $15, and while the game is good, its negatives begin to add up.
BOTTOM LINE: The important aspects of the game (the RPG and city builder) do a fairly good job, the game has enough minor issues, such as a confusing story, that add up to make it ALMOST worth a lower score. This is an example of a game's good qualities truly making up for it's problems. If you are interested enough in the game to read through this review, go out and buy it right now. You will enjoy it. For the rest of you: give it a shot, just make sure you know what you are buying and don't expect perfection. This game shows very good potential and with further revising and expansion of the mechanics, a sequel would be very fun indeed.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ahh, summer
Finished school for the year. Got a higher GPA than last semester!
I won't be able to post too much this summer. I'm leaving tomorrow for a road trip to New Orleans, then up to Annapolis and Virginia for a little while. We won't be back for two weeks. After three days at home, it's off to Camp Parsons (where the mountain meet the sea) for my summer job. We're celebrating our 90th anniversary this year and I am going up early to help set up. I'm a little concerned because my contract only said "Shooting Sports" without any sort of elaboration. I was talking to the camp director and he said that the new Shooting Sport director hadn't been on staff for a while and I was being put there to help out, but that's not very specific. I'd like to know what job I have before I go...
In any case, I'll post this summer when I can. Get out there and eat some barbequed meat!
I won't be able to post too much this summer. I'm leaving tomorrow for a road trip to New Orleans, then up to Annapolis and Virginia for a little while. We won't be back for two weeks. After three days at home, it's off to Camp Parsons (where the mountain meet the sea) for my summer job. We're celebrating our 90th anniversary this year and I am going up early to help set up. I'm a little concerned because my contract only said "Shooting Sports" without any sort of elaboration. I was talking to the camp director and he said that the new Shooting Sport director hadn't been on staff for a while and I was being put there to help out, but that's not very specific. I'd like to know what job I have before I go...
In any case, I'll post this summer when I can. Get out there and eat some barbequed meat!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Three Wishes
I wrote this for my HON 205 (Classical Myths and Modern Literature) course. We had to write a fairy/folk tale/myth revision using the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse as the setting. Consider it a followup to my earlier post on storytelling. At the end of the semester, we had to present it oraly to the rest of the class.
Enjoy!
-------
Author’s note: This story is a revision of the Greek tale of the Ring of Gyges. Gyges, a lowly shepherd, is dutiful both in his day to day duties and to the king of Lydia (the region where Gyges lives). After a massive thunderstorm burns a hole into the earth, Gyges descends into the hole and finds a ring. Putting the ring on, he finds that he becomes invisible to all others. Able to act with impunity, Gyges goes on to murder the king and seduce the king’s wife, becoming the ruler of Lydia. The idea behind the story, which is found in Plato’s Republic, is to see whether a moral person would remain moral even if there were no consequences for his or her actions. It can be found at the start of Book II of Plato’s Republic.
Three Wishes
Once upon a time, three UWL students decided to plant a garden. They thought long and hard about where to plant their garden. One of the students, Sam, suggested they plant it on campus. After all, that would mean they wouldn’t have to walk that far to take care of it. Sam was an impatient fellow. In his youth, he would have been considered a bully. He was the type of boy who would pick the wings off butterflies just to watch them squirm. When he first sat in the lap of a shopping-mall Santa, he pulled the poor elf’s beard right off. As he grew older, he learned right and wrong and by now, as an Animal Biology major in his third year of college, he would pursue what was right, at least when it was convenient for him. He skated by in most of his classes, keeping the minimum GPA of 2.00 required for biology. Oh, he could accomplish so much more if he really tried, but he chose not to. He was impatient to get out of college and get to work and most likely by the time he got a job, he would be impatient to retire. It was his impatient nature that led him to suggest a location so close.
The other two members of the group, Pam and Graham, said, “no!” After all, campus was no place for a garden. “Students already walk all over the grass,” they said, “The garden would get trampled!” Pam suggested that they travel across the campus and plant it in Myrick Park, just across the street from campus. “That way,” she said, “it would be far enough away from the road to keep car pollution from killing the plants, but still close enough to take care of without too much walking.” Pam was very smart and logical. She was also an Animal Biology major, but she was in her fourth year. As a child, she was what her family would have called a ‘good girl.’ She always followed the rules. When her mother asked her to take out the garbage, she would do it. She loved exercising her imagination; when she was 9, she adapted the book Little Women into a play and put it on in her front yard, with all her elementary school friends playing the roles. All the people on her block turned out to watch and the show was a great success. But when her brother took credit for the play, she ensured that justice was served. That was her nature; she was fair in both act and appearance. Many of her friends looked up to her and she became known amongst her peers as a girl of wisdom, morality, and logic. When she got to college (after completing only three years of high school), she maintained a 3.5 or above in all of her classes. It was her logical brain that led her to pick Myrick Park as the ideal location of their garden.
Graham spoke out against it. “Myrick Park is full of little children who run around and play all day. Surely they will trample all over our garden!” Graham suggested that they travel across campus and through Myrick Park to the marshes on the other side. He figured that such a location was ideal; the plants would get plenty of nutrients and would have the maximum protection from outside danger. Both Sam and Pam agreed with Graham, whom they referred to as ‘the shepherd,’ because he was a theology major and the leader their group. Graham was much like Pam. He was a good child growing up and maintained a moral and virtuous life through to college. When Friday night came and all of his friends went out to get drunk, he would remain at his desk and study Holy texts in preparation for the next week’s lectures.
And so the three began their journey. They left their dorm and traveled across campus and entered Myrick Park. Just the night before, La Crosse had been rocked by a massive thunderstorm (although fairly typical by Wisconsin standards) accompanied by a cacophony and intense, driving winds. These winds had knocked down many branches, so the trio was careful about where they stepped. As they left the park and entered the marshes, they found their way blocked by a tree that had been uprooted by the night’s events. The tree, whose roots had grown long and deep, had ripped a pit into the earth. Graham, ever the intrepid, descended into the pit to try to find a way past the tree.
As he entered the pit, he felt something crack beneath his feet. Upon looking down, he saw that he had stepped on a mirror. His step had cracked the mirror into three pieces. “How convenient,” he thought, “one piece for each of us.” As he picked up the broken mirror and placed the pieces together in his hand, he was startled to see that the pieces reformed into one unbroken mirror! He rushed over to where Sam and Pam were waiting and told them what happened. When he showed them the mirror, the impatient Sam grabbed it out of his hands. When he looked in the mirror, he found that the figure looking back out at him was not a reflection of himself, but the image of a little blue man in a white hat. In his surprise, Sam dropped the mirror and again, it shattered (this time into millions of little pieces). But, before their very eyes, the mirror melded together and formed the shape of the little blue man in the white hat and red coveralls. They stood, dumbstruck, as the creature began to speak.
“Well high there!” he said, “You don’t know how long I have been cramped up in there with no one to watch me or talk to.” He seemed impervious to their incredulous looks and plunged right along. “My name is Papa, by the way. I am the leader of a great tribe of little people like myself. Unfortunately, an evil wizard captured me (he’s always trying to capture my people) and stuck me in that mirror.” He took a moment and stretched his little arms, legs, and tendons. “Since you brave souls have so selflessly saved me from my prison, I will grant you each one wish.” The three friends looked at each other in excitement. “This won’t be just any wish,” said Papa. “No matter what you wish for, there will be no negative repercussions for you. You can wish for aaaaaanything you want, and you will get it.”
As Pam and Graham thought over their wish, Sam, whose impatient nature caused him to do such things, went right ahead with his wish without thinking. “I wish that I could become the President….no…no Dictator! of the United States and wield ultimate power over the country. Who needs Congress anyway? I know how to rule a country!” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and Sam’s wish was granted. The entire government was toppled instantly in one fell coup and Sam was installed as the first Dictator of the United States of America. And he ruled with an iron fist. He would order decrees on a whim. Anyone who displeased him was…dealt with. And so the people came to hate him and yearned for freedom. Sam was, after all, evil at heart. As he grew up he didn’t give up his evil ways, he just found ways to mask his true nature because he knew there would be consequences for bad decisions. Naturally, Sam would leap at the chance to make one decision, just one, without any repercussions to himself.
And so it was Pam’s turn to make a wish. She was a logical girl, and smart. She had lived a moral life and knew the difference between right and wrong. And so she wanted to make a wish asking for some great world solution; the eradication of some great humanitarian scourge. But then she saw Sam and the power he wielded as Dictator of the United States of America. And deep, deep inside the depths of her heart, darkness stirred. She couldn’t resist. She saw the chance to take the world and make it her own, the way she and her logical mind saw fit. And so she said, “Papa, will you make me Grand Empress of the World?” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and granted Pam’s wish. And so Pam became the ruler of the Entire World. And she brought order to the globe and put things in their proper place. And when something didn’t have a place in her ordered world, it was…dealt with.
And so it was Graham’s turn to make a wish. Graham was a descent man, genuinely good hearted, very much like Pam. Like Pam, he saw the opportunity to aid mankind with his wish. But then he saw Sam and the power he wielded as Dictator of the United States of America and he saw Pam and the majesty and grandeur she had surrounded herself with (all at the expense of others, of course). And deep, deep inside the depths of his heart, darkness stirred. And he realized that, if he desired, he could become Supreme Ruler of the Universe. All he need do was say the words, and Papa would make it happen. But then, he thought for a moment. “What use could I, a mere Theology major from a small town in the upper Midwest, have with being such a mighty ruler? I may excel at some things, but I am no superhuman being. I would probably not make a good ruler, anyway.” So, not without hesitation, not without pause, he told made the only wish he could think of. “I wish that you and your mirror would be banished to a faraway place where you could never come in contact with another human again.” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and this time, Papa smiled. And just like that, he vanished from sight. And there they were again, just three UWL students standing in Myrick Park. No titles. No riches and royalty. Just Sam, Pam, and Graham.
“Come on,” said Graham. “We have a garden to plant.”
Enjoy!
-------
Author’s note: This story is a revision of the Greek tale of the Ring of Gyges. Gyges, a lowly shepherd, is dutiful both in his day to day duties and to the king of Lydia (the region where Gyges lives). After a massive thunderstorm burns a hole into the earth, Gyges descends into the hole and finds a ring. Putting the ring on, he finds that he becomes invisible to all others. Able to act with impunity, Gyges goes on to murder the king and seduce the king’s wife, becoming the ruler of Lydia. The idea behind the story, which is found in Plato’s Republic, is to see whether a moral person would remain moral even if there were no consequences for his or her actions. It can be found at the start of Book II of Plato’s Republic.
Three Wishes
Once upon a time, three UWL students decided to plant a garden. They thought long and hard about where to plant their garden. One of the students, Sam, suggested they plant it on campus. After all, that would mean they wouldn’t have to walk that far to take care of it. Sam was an impatient fellow. In his youth, he would have been considered a bully. He was the type of boy who would pick the wings off butterflies just to watch them squirm. When he first sat in the lap of a shopping-mall Santa, he pulled the poor elf’s beard right off. As he grew older, he learned right and wrong and by now, as an Animal Biology major in his third year of college, he would pursue what was right, at least when it was convenient for him. He skated by in most of his classes, keeping the minimum GPA of 2.00 required for biology. Oh, he could accomplish so much more if he really tried, but he chose not to. He was impatient to get out of college and get to work and most likely by the time he got a job, he would be impatient to retire. It was his impatient nature that led him to suggest a location so close.
The other two members of the group, Pam and Graham, said, “no!” After all, campus was no place for a garden. “Students already walk all over the grass,” they said, “The garden would get trampled!” Pam suggested that they travel across the campus and plant it in Myrick Park, just across the street from campus. “That way,” she said, “it would be far enough away from the road to keep car pollution from killing the plants, but still close enough to take care of without too much walking.” Pam was very smart and logical. She was also an Animal Biology major, but she was in her fourth year. As a child, she was what her family would have called a ‘good girl.’ She always followed the rules. When her mother asked her to take out the garbage, she would do it. She loved exercising her imagination; when she was 9, she adapted the book Little Women into a play and put it on in her front yard, with all her elementary school friends playing the roles. All the people on her block turned out to watch and the show was a great success. But when her brother took credit for the play, she ensured that justice was served. That was her nature; she was fair in both act and appearance. Many of her friends looked up to her and she became known amongst her peers as a girl of wisdom, morality, and logic. When she got to college (after completing only three years of high school), she maintained a 3.5 or above in all of her classes. It was her logical brain that led her to pick Myrick Park as the ideal location of their garden.
Graham spoke out against it. “Myrick Park is full of little children who run around and play all day. Surely they will trample all over our garden!” Graham suggested that they travel across campus and through Myrick Park to the marshes on the other side. He figured that such a location was ideal; the plants would get plenty of nutrients and would have the maximum protection from outside danger. Both Sam and Pam agreed with Graham, whom they referred to as ‘the shepherd,’ because he was a theology major and the leader their group. Graham was much like Pam. He was a good child growing up and maintained a moral and virtuous life through to college. When Friday night came and all of his friends went out to get drunk, he would remain at his desk and study Holy texts in preparation for the next week’s lectures.
And so the three began their journey. They left their dorm and traveled across campus and entered Myrick Park. Just the night before, La Crosse had been rocked by a massive thunderstorm (although fairly typical by Wisconsin standards) accompanied by a cacophony and intense, driving winds. These winds had knocked down many branches, so the trio was careful about where they stepped. As they left the park and entered the marshes, they found their way blocked by a tree that had been uprooted by the night’s events. The tree, whose roots had grown long and deep, had ripped a pit into the earth. Graham, ever the intrepid, descended into the pit to try to find a way past the tree.
As he entered the pit, he felt something crack beneath his feet. Upon looking down, he saw that he had stepped on a mirror. His step had cracked the mirror into three pieces. “How convenient,” he thought, “one piece for each of us.” As he picked up the broken mirror and placed the pieces together in his hand, he was startled to see that the pieces reformed into one unbroken mirror! He rushed over to where Sam and Pam were waiting and told them what happened. When he showed them the mirror, the impatient Sam grabbed it out of his hands. When he looked in the mirror, he found that the figure looking back out at him was not a reflection of himself, but the image of a little blue man in a white hat. In his surprise, Sam dropped the mirror and again, it shattered (this time into millions of little pieces). But, before their very eyes, the mirror melded together and formed the shape of the little blue man in the white hat and red coveralls. They stood, dumbstruck, as the creature began to speak.
“Well high there!” he said, “You don’t know how long I have been cramped up in there with no one to watch me or talk to.” He seemed impervious to their incredulous looks and plunged right along. “My name is Papa, by the way. I am the leader of a great tribe of little people like myself. Unfortunately, an evil wizard captured me (he’s always trying to capture my people) and stuck me in that mirror.” He took a moment and stretched his little arms, legs, and tendons. “Since you brave souls have so selflessly saved me from my prison, I will grant you each one wish.” The three friends looked at each other in excitement. “This won’t be just any wish,” said Papa. “No matter what you wish for, there will be no negative repercussions for you. You can wish for aaaaaanything you want, and you will get it.”
As Pam and Graham thought over their wish, Sam, whose impatient nature caused him to do such things, went right ahead with his wish without thinking. “I wish that I could become the President….no…no Dictator! of the United States and wield ultimate power over the country. Who needs Congress anyway? I know how to rule a country!” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and Sam’s wish was granted. The entire government was toppled instantly in one fell coup and Sam was installed as the first Dictator of the United States of America. And he ruled with an iron fist. He would order decrees on a whim. Anyone who displeased him was…dealt with. And so the people came to hate him and yearned for freedom. Sam was, after all, evil at heart. As he grew up he didn’t give up his evil ways, he just found ways to mask his true nature because he knew there would be consequences for bad decisions. Naturally, Sam would leap at the chance to make one decision, just one, without any repercussions to himself.
And so it was Pam’s turn to make a wish. She was a logical girl, and smart. She had lived a moral life and knew the difference between right and wrong. And so she wanted to make a wish asking for some great world solution; the eradication of some great humanitarian scourge. But then she saw Sam and the power he wielded as Dictator of the United States of America. And deep, deep inside the depths of her heart, darkness stirred. She couldn’t resist. She saw the chance to take the world and make it her own, the way she and her logical mind saw fit. And so she said, “Papa, will you make me Grand Empress of the World?” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and granted Pam’s wish. And so Pam became the ruler of the Entire World. And she brought order to the globe and put things in their proper place. And when something didn’t have a place in her ordered world, it was…dealt with.
And so it was Graham’s turn to make a wish. Graham was a descent man, genuinely good hearted, very much like Pam. Like Pam, he saw the opportunity to aid mankind with his wish. But then he saw Sam and the power he wielded as Dictator of the United States of America and he saw Pam and the majesty and grandeur she had surrounded herself with (all at the expense of others, of course). And deep, deep inside the depths of his heart, darkness stirred. And he realized that, if he desired, he could become Supreme Ruler of the Universe. All he need do was say the words, and Papa would make it happen. But then, he thought for a moment. “What use could I, a mere Theology major from a small town in the upper Midwest, have with being such a mighty ruler? I may excel at some things, but I am no superhuman being. I would probably not make a good ruler, anyway.” So, not without hesitation, not without pause, he told made the only wish he could think of. “I wish that you and your mirror would be banished to a faraway place where you could never come in contact with another human again.” And Papa winked his left eye and wiggled his nose and this time, Papa smiled. And just like that, he vanished from sight. And there they were again, just three UWL students standing in Myrick Park. No titles. No riches and royalty. Just Sam, Pam, and Graham.
“Come on,” said Graham. “We have a garden to plant.”
Monday, May 5, 2008
Packaging Garbage
I find it incredible what people consider art. NPR recently did a story on Justin Gignac, a young New Yorker who is making a fortune selling garbage. He first got the idea when, at an MTV internship, someone proposed the idea that package design has no impact on consumer perceptions. To prove him wrong, Gignac went out and started boxing up good ol’ New York trash and selling it for $10. People would buy them as gag gifts or souvenirs of their visit to NYC. Over time sales improved, so he raised the price for the boxes. Now, these boxes of garbage are going for $50-100. The fascinating outcome of this price hike is that now the boxes are being sold to people who consider them art not just a fun nick-nack.
Gignac is amused with this outcome, as am I. Over Christmas break, I was at my grandmother’s house in Washington, DC. In the room I was staying in is a fascinating collection of National Geographic Magazine dating from the ‘80s. I was thumbing through one and I came across a picture of an art display at the Guggenheim where the ‘artist’ had carved animal fat into giant simple shapes. The artist said, “the point of modern art is to show that the artist need not be constrained by what is accepted as art in its classic sense.” But, come on. People will buy (into) anything if it is properly packaged.
To read the transcript of NPR’s broadcast on the garbage boxes, check out http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89237219.
Gignac is amused with this outcome, as am I. Over Christmas break, I was at my grandmother’s house in Washington, DC. In the room I was staying in is a fascinating collection of National Geographic Magazine dating from the ‘80s. I was thumbing through one and I came across a picture of an art display at the Guggenheim where the ‘artist’ had carved animal fat into giant simple shapes. The artist said, “the point of modern art is to show that the artist need not be constrained by what is accepted as art in its classic sense.” But, come on. People will buy (into) anything if it is properly packaged.
To read the transcript of NPR’s broadcast on the garbage boxes, check out http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89237219.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Storyteller
I never realized how important our work at Camp Parsons is until this week. I always knew that nurturing the next generation of leaders, both in Boy Scouts and the US (and consequently the world) was important, but another aspect has really shifted into focus for me recently, the act of telling stories. In my one of my classes, Classical Myths and Modern Literature, we have spent the past few weeks discussing modern storytelling and the oral tradition. We read a piece by a man named Benjamin (pronounced ben-ham-een) written in the ‘30s that said that storytelling was dead; we would never have the ‘speaker of the tales’ that past generations had because modernization. It was then that I realized how important our work at Camp Parsons has become.
I remembered being a scout and going to Camp (Parsons or otherwise) and looking forward to those nights when we would sit around the campfire and tell stories. Even as I have become a staff member, I remember waiting with anticipation to hear which horror or mystery story Bill Montgomery would recount for us at the closing campfire. This is storytelling at its purist – the fire crackling and popping in the background, the smoke rising off and heading into oblivion, the light of the distant stars reflecting off the waters of Dabob Bay, the bugs creating their symphony on the fringes of the campfire ring, and all of us listening, enraptured by the story. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that those stories are part of the reason I wanted to become a staff member. That way I could tell my own stories in turn to the next group of scouts. These stories don’t only get told around the campfire. As I thought more about storytelling at camp, I again realized that almost everything we do at camp involves telling a story. When we use an anecdote in our class to help scouts remember key facts, we are storytelling. Even when the staff gets trained, they emphasize that the staff has been one unbroken chain; there has always been someone on staff who had been on staff the previous year. In this way, methods and stories get passed down from staff member to staff member. Our Hullaballoo song, for example, is something that may have been passed down from year to year as a camp tradition.
I have gained a new appreciation for the storyteller. When I return to camp this summer, I hope to foster this appreciation into something more, and perhaps this will inspire the next generation of staff members to continue the tradition that Camp Parsons has been built on.
Sorry about the gap in posting. Finals time is upon me so it may be a while until I post again.
Until then, thanks for reading!
Sean
P.S. - Sorry for the repeat post last time. I didn’t realize I had already put up that poem.
I remembered being a scout and going to Camp (Parsons or otherwise) and looking forward to those nights when we would sit around the campfire and tell stories. Even as I have become a staff member, I remember waiting with anticipation to hear which horror or mystery story Bill Montgomery would recount for us at the closing campfire. This is storytelling at its purist – the fire crackling and popping in the background, the smoke rising off and heading into oblivion, the light of the distant stars reflecting off the waters of Dabob Bay, the bugs creating their symphony on the fringes of the campfire ring, and all of us listening, enraptured by the story. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that those stories are part of the reason I wanted to become a staff member. That way I could tell my own stories in turn to the next group of scouts. These stories don’t only get told around the campfire. As I thought more about storytelling at camp, I again realized that almost everything we do at camp involves telling a story. When we use an anecdote in our class to help scouts remember key facts, we are storytelling. Even when the staff gets trained, they emphasize that the staff has been one unbroken chain; there has always been someone on staff who had been on staff the previous year. In this way, methods and stories get passed down from staff member to staff member. Our Hullaballoo song, for example, is something that may have been passed down from year to year as a camp tradition.
I have gained a new appreciation for the storyteller. When I return to camp this summer, I hope to foster this appreciation into something more, and perhaps this will inspire the next generation of staff members to continue the tradition that Camp Parsons has been built on.
Sorry about the gap in posting. Finals time is upon me so it may be a while until I post again.
Until then, thanks for reading!
Sean
P.S. - Sorry for the repeat post last time. I didn’t realize I had already put up that poem.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
We'll Go No More A-Roving
Hello, everyone.
I was listening to one of my radio shows, this one by Ray Bradbury, when one of the characters recited a poem that really struck me. The show, in true Bradbury form, takes place on Mars in the future. The entire Martian population has been wiped out by the chicken pocks and one of the crew members, a descendant of the Cherokee tribe, sees that history may repeat itself as his fellow crew members begin desecrating the Martian civilization. The poem is by Lord George Gordon Byron, who also wrote Don Juan.
599. We'll go no more a-roving
Lord George Gordon Byron 1788–1824
SO, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
I was listening to one of my radio shows, this one by Ray Bradbury, when one of the characters recited a poem that really struck me. The show, in true Bradbury form, takes place on Mars in the future. The entire Martian population has been wiped out by the chicken pocks and one of the crew members, a descendant of the Cherokee tribe, sees that history may repeat itself as his fellow crew members begin desecrating the Martian civilization. The poem is by Lord George Gordon Byron, who also wrote Don Juan.
599. We'll go no more a-roving
Lord George Gordon Byron 1788–1824
SO, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
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