The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other oddities.

[aubergine]

@Zydonk, if I understand your sentiment correctly, would you agree that this is a good meme for capitalism...?

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell"

[aubergine]

Upload your brain to a computer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6XoHUE5W34

[zydonk]

@Zydonk, if I understand your sentiment correctly, would you agree that this is a good meme for capitalism...?

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell"

It seems cancers grow forever if let - a perfect example of the principle of vegetative growth that capitalism tries to emulate. Unfortunately - and despite talk of "wealth creation" - there is no growth principle in capitalism, only inflation of currency that someone else must pay for. You can put a seed in the ground and come back later and find nine/ten in its place, but the only way a dollar bill increases is by printing more dollar bills (thus reducing the value of that dollar).

[aubergine]

Yes, I think we are on the same page.

[cumandgetit]

likes your new avi rman. the fightin over cans of dog food days be my guess. but i digress. on to what you're postin.

your landess garibaldi future history post is a good trope but you need to take the crafting a whole lot further to bring it to full life in a story that's not preachy or lecturing on all this ideological talk. showing it in effect. showing it in action. pretty sure yu know this. big challenge, i think.

i can see the cinematic tension in your visual compositions even while your balancing perspective elements in frameing. also see how you try to bring that to some of your narrative sequences. all these science fiction authors mentioned reminds me of a great one who did this with brio. you probably know him. roger zelazny. im thinking in particular of all 10 of his chronicals of amber novels. they are like word movies.

trust this sabbat journey brings you the renewed spirit and fresh eyes you said was your longing. and that when you return you still have the interest to carry on with these oddities. id like to see that hardcore military yarn you talked about, bud.

[Rman Virgil]

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To use story to proselytize is a mistake for me to be sure and, as such, a challenge to avoid, a trap to subvert with artistry. But that is just one side of the Janus coin I would mint. The other aspect, is to create within the monomyth tradition layed-out by J. Campbell in "The Hero With a Thousand Faces". That too is a challenge because, like the flower, it cannot be forced to fill a pre-fab mould like some tired formulaic effort or plastic floral arrangement. It needs to be a naturally flowing, pulseing, epic to be memorable. Also, like having your hair set ablaze. And thoroughly unlike the end of the original campaign which I believe fizzled to a conclusion instead of sizzling to an epic culmination that left you breathless. Even while satisfied up to a point, the epic nature should still tug at you with an undercurrent of foreboding, of urgency, leaving you somewhat mystified and wanting more meaningful action, wanting more answers that are generative, that lead to other questions that draw you in firmly with an ever deeper stake in ultimate outcomes.

Over the years many game reviewers and essayists have made lists of the best all time stories in vid games. (In the same manner that there have been lists of the best all time comp-vid games.) WZ 2100's story has never made any of those lists (just as it has never made any lists of best all time comp or strat games). In fact, in any review of WZ I've read that mentions the story specifically over the last 14 years, the terms used have ranged between derivative to cliche-ridden to pedestrian. If you are a fan of Sci Fi of the last several generations, this assessment is totally fair. Same can be said for WZ never making any lists of best vid or strat games over these many years. I believe in both respects that WZ is a diamond in the roughest sense but not at all a lost gem. This, more than anything, shines a light on why I still have any interest. The gift that keeps on giving. That, to me, is WZ and not re-hashing what was, of short-sighted economic necessity, aborted unfinished 14 years ago.

While I have a good idea of what GPM enhancements it's gonna take to put WZ on those best all time game lists, all the pieces are not yet in place to set that in motion. Maybe within a couple a years they will be. I'm optimistic on that score. As for the story, there is no need to wait on code base evolution. The crafting can proceed and for me the key trope is the aforementioned monomyth.

But before I continue along those monomyth story crafting lines, while I've been away, I have grown to feel the need to go down a road that is not so overtly serious and explore some comedic copia, slash illustration, efforts I've been mulling over and rough sketching. I'll start getting some of that out there over the weekend, I think.

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And a few things I was working on before I left on my AZ mountain trip..
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[aubergine]

wb How was your excursion to the mountains?

[Rman Virgil]

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Thanks aubergine. It was a marvel-filled trip. All the logictics worked out beautiful too. While it's good to be back I wish I could have stayed longer and am already planning my next trip out there in October because while I did get to a lot of places, there were also quite a few I couldn't fit in this trip like the Biosphere project (my last visit was 10 years ago) and Chaco canyon (never been to).

I did much hiking and climbing. Made it to all 4 energy vortexes in Sedona and summited one - Boynton (that was scary). Made it to Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti archology (& am seriously thinking of volunteering to work on the new skirt of green houses structure next year). A few of the 450 undeveloped and secreted archeological sites in Agua Fria first made a nationalized preserve by Clinton in 2000 and because of lack of funding the site coordinates are not published to any of the sites in an attempt to dissourage looters (seriously rough access to 99% of the sites). Montezuma's Castle. Tonto national monument and an other steep climb. Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

Took lots of pics. I'll share these three.

1. Sedona vista.

2. Montezuma cliff dwelling abandoned some 600 years ago.

3. Soleri's Arcosanti amphitheater and my photo homage to the great Man Ray...
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[Merowingg]

The Sir is back

Hello Rman

Most importantly, did you rest as you wished to?

So nice weather you had, we still have winter here. One of the strongest since last years. And one of the smallest amount of light since over sixty years.

I have also a news report. I upload so many maps to the new cool looking addons that some Staff members (playing with words) type to me to hold my horses

[Rman Virgil]

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Hey Mero. Yeah the weather was perfect and I did get a good rest from my loony tunes work experiences which I didn't give a single thought to while adventuring in N. AZ. From 70-80 sunny degrees, I came home to a snow storm. Oh well, i like snow too.

Saw the new Add Ons went live. Big job. Good work. You have like, what, 125 maps... I can understand where the system ops can be overwhelmed (and resources stretched thin) when you think of everyone else uploading all their work simultaneously. Huge backlog I would imagine. Gonna take time and much commited energy and attention to get current again with rating-reviewing.

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[Rman Virgil]

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Constantly have to feed the beast of curiosity, questioning assumptions along the way, to get the creativity monkey on my back and jones on. (How's that for a mixed metaphor. )

Just started studying these 2 new works that I can already tell will have a lasting influence on my odd crafting in these proceedings.

One is the 3rd installment of Jared Diamond's monumental anthroplogical trilogy, "The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies".

(The first two volumes, respectively, are: "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societes " and "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed".)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067002 ... ttom_links


The other work is by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco: "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156858 ... er=&sr=1-1

I've yet come upon a topical interest of mine that doesn't some how, in some relevant way, relate back to WZ activities in my oft overly agitated brain. WZ, the gift that keeps on giving.
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[aubergine]

Ah, you will certainly enjoy Chris Hedges work.

[Rman Virgil]

Ah, you will certainly enjoy Chris Hedges work.

I believe that 100%.

Discovered him by accident earlier this week perusing the shelves of new books at my local library.

He is already on my shortlist of authors dealing with these subjects, which includes:

~ Noam Chomsky

~ Michael Parenti

~ Derrick Jensen

~ John Zerzan

~ David C. Korten

~ William R. Catton

~ William McDonough

~ Naomi Klien

~ Christopher Alexander

~ William H. Kotke

~ Jack D. Forbe

~ Richard Heinberg

~ Chris Martenson

~ H. Bruce Franklin

~ Paul Levy

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[Merowingg]

Rman, Noam Chomsky, thanx I am on my lectures again

[Rman Virgil]

Rman, Noam Chomsky, thanx I am on my lectures again

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