HUGE LONG JOURNAL OF RANT (possibly)

"All of our lives are funny, babe.  We're God's animated cartoons."  -Tom Hanks, as Steven Gold in "Punchline" (1988)


Journal 015
[20050807 / 1057CST]

Yeah, so, SVT is down at the moment, so my responsibilities there are nil.  I am bored, and thus have no excuse to write a loooong journal here, which I suppose is only fair because I never update.


First, a rant: if anyone follows the walking mental hazard known as Jack Thompson you'll know exactly where I'm going with this.  It seems Jack has nothing better to do with his time then research M-rated games (yes, research, not play, because then he'd get cooties from them, ew.) and line them up in some political crosshairs if they border the line between M-rated (ages 17+) to AO-rated (ages 18+, a ridiculous distinction, purely political, as AO-games won't be carried in most retail stores).  His line of terror has stretched from the obvious (Grand Theft Auto, the "Hot Coffee" debacle) to the questionable (The Sims 2, pixelated, un-detailed nudity that you can remove the blur on, OH NOEZ!), to the nearly-ridiculous (Bully, a Rockstar game that hasn't come out yet), and now he's moving on to a Capcom title called Killer 7 (he was probably drawn by the name).  (I'd provide links, but seriously, if you haven't heard about this yet, Google is your friend.)

(paragraph break for breath)

Jack's ultimatum when targeting these titles is mostly the same: "ESRB, you raise that rating to AO or I'LL DO IT FOR YOU" (How exactly he plans to do that is beyond me).  I don't know what justification he gives to rationalise his crusade against games, since he's mostly a violation of freedom of speech.  He claims the whole "games corrupt youth" spiel that makes news reporters wet themselves with glee, yet doesn't realise the fact that kids shouldn't be playing these anyway.  He thinks that upgrading the ratings to AO, thus preventing Wal*Mart from stocking them, will prevent kids from buying them.  WAKE UP, JACK!  Wal*Mart and all them shouldn't be selling to the kids anyway!  It seems to me he should be focusing on policy tightening, not going off on some unholy tangent.

Besides, what he's really doing is garnering more publicity for these games, which will make kids want to go out and get them anyway.  If he were smart (which he obviously isn't) he would shut his big mouth and stop making such a fuss about this.  But instead, he pulls this crap.  Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Thompson is not against questionable content in video games, nor is he against retail practices like he sometimes claims.  No one who had the game industry's best interests at heart will be pulling this crap.  No, Jack Thompson is against all games, ever.  He's just looking for an excuse.  In an email correspondence with Scott Ramsoomair Jack writes, and I quote from Scott: "Are all of you gamers on drugs, or what?" (He also has atrocious grammar.)


Anyway, 'nough of that.  Geez, I'm almost too tired from all of that to keep going.  We'll do a quick run-through of my summer.

Been doing a lot of reading and writing this summer, and still had enough spare time to beat Legend of Zelda, LoZ: Ocarina of Time, and Mario 64 (120 stars) -- and, since I'm so darn musical and can't stop, I've pounded out the themes to each on the electronic keyboard beside my computer.  I read "Interview with a Vampire" and started "The Vampire Lestat," which were pretty okay, but Anne Rice's books can be very long, and not the kind of thing you want to read in a bad mood; the book will not change that.  I've also read more amusing things like Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and squeezed in "Nine Princes in Amber" by Roger Zelazny, but the latter didn't quite click with me -- don't know why.

Writing-wise, I've gotten nothing finished (nothing of any substance, anyway, just short little quick-fics that I needed to get out of my system).  I've been working on a series called "Zephyr," based in a world I created from scratch, but it's not finished yet, and at the rate I'm going, won't be anytime soon.  I've also been co-webmaster at SonicVerse Team as I've mentioned, and we've really given the message boards a shot in the arm lately; I've been putting up a bunch of writing tutorials and help guides there, as well as keeping the roleplaying board alive and vibrant.  Things there are looking good.

School starts first week of September; not sure if I'm going yet, though, as things have conspired against me.  I'm registered, classes picked out, and everything, but my family is moving very soon.  My choices are to transfer schools, stay in the dorms (which I probably don't have enough money for), or choose something else.  Not quite sure what my plans are yet.

Anyway, my life as I know it.  Ever-evolving, ever-changing, hard for me to keep up most of the time.  Just have to trust God and keep on going.  Be back later with more material, hopefully.