Two Worlds Colliding

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet up with a friend of mine, Heather and her boyfriend Nick. Two good friends of mine from Champlain, hell Heather and I even went to Africa together! She moved up to Montreal earlier this week, because she's going to be studying up here for the semester. I had been pretty excited that her and some other people from Burlington would be making their way up to Montreal. Although it really didn't hit me how awesome it is until last night. I had been a little jealous of Benoit, some of his friends had begun arriving from France to study and suddenly he had a small group of friends where I still had none. Being able to hang out with them last night was the start of what can only be a really great fall/winter.

I couldn't help but laugh and appreciate Heather's awe that she took in while we walked some of the city last night, I have been here for almost four months now and still this place remains big for me... I'm ok with this. Although I've become used to Montreal, I'd rather keep it with a sense of awe. While walking we bumped into Keith (another friend of mine from Champlain), and for me it was SO cool! To actually bump into someone I know in Montreal! Not to mention it had been so long since I had seen Keith, it was just very cool to have randomly bumped into him.

As I was saying good bye to Heather and Nick last night, it really occurred to him how strange it felt seeing them in this environment. Just so far removed from what we've been used to in Burlington, to Montreal where I've been living for some time now. Last night was definitely an indication that some things would be changing for me in Montreal, between moving and friends arriving... it's like a whole new chapter in my "Canadian Adventure." I'm hoping at some point to integrate some of my Burlington friends with Benoit's France friends, which could make a pretty interesting group I think :)

Anyways it's a very welcomed familiarity in a place that has been pretty foreign. Which leaves me to wonder who might be arriving the Spring semester, and if after wards I'll see more friends in Montreal who will be getting jobs too. I could easily see a small Champlain community growing up here, and just how wonderful that would be.

(ps if your wondering about the picture on the top... I just thought it was cool hehe)

Books

I went for a walk last night... it could have been for many reasons but in all reality it was because my room was too hot, filled with a few french people, there was lots of wii... which I've sort of become bitter against after playing with a very competitive Benoit.

As I walked I couldn't help but take in the people around me, as always really. This is something that I sort of enjoy in my daily routine, although I've begun to notice how perhaps it's a bit more of an oddity to take such close not of the people around me, as I've begun to question and share my observations with Benoit. I may ask him what he thought about one person, or did you notice "blah blah blah." Inevitably every time he hasn't and coins it up to me being a fruity artist. Although I'd like to think it's just because I'm observant but I guess being an artist has something to do with.

I found myself in a book store, a good place to be considering I just finished another book this summer. Going into the store I wasn't sure what I was looking for... Walking around I couldn't help but make many stops and continued to look at different covers or brief quotes inside some of the books. I really like books... I don't really know why... probably something to do with a subconscious Myst fascination but I've always liked books. While I do read some, I'm not as heavy a reader as some I think.

It's funny how sometimes a book can remind you of people. I inevitably ended up in the art section, (I wonder why) and I couldn't help but take in as much as I could. At first I picked up a book with all old photography and mainly photography of Western Native Americans, and I couldn't help but think of the adventures I've had with my Parents in Arizona. I found another book about business card design, and thought of Ken Howell who spent so much time trying to help me with mine. Then I found another book, with a picture of a young girl's face (who was obviously from a third world nation). I was drawn to the book and began flipping through, pages upon pages of child's faces from impoverished areas. Looking into their eyes and seeing their faces, they were so familiar to me... and in that moment I was brought back to Africa. I can remember it as clear as day sometimes, and one of my brightest memories is of their smiling faces. I had to hold back a tear, a feeling of remorse and a feeling of regret of having to leave the EMC behind. I couldn't help but think of Ann and their continued mission. I never could shake the feeling I was doing some real good there. Seeing some of their latest art too makes me feel jealous of not being among them still. If you haven't checked out their blog, be sure to do so.

Anyways I had to continue on my journey, and I stumbled upon this cover...

I couldn't help but be immediately intrigued... I've read a few pages thus far and so far it's really good. It's sort of fun in a first person perspective of this 12 year old boy who is trying to figure out the world around him. He continues to have side comments about most of his thoughts, which might make it feel like his thoughts are scattered and all over the place... but I really enjoy it. Sort of feels familiar =P

Anyways lunch break is over... back to work!

Censorship

So I've been thinking a lot lately about video games and the impact they have and potentially could have in the future. I've talked quite a bit in the past about my hopes for video games and interactive applications for the future, mainly in the form of education. While I'm very hopeful, video games still seem to have a lot to overcome before it seems as though they can prove themselves in the eyes of many. Video games have definitely begun to proliferate more of today's markets, but there still seems to be a negative stigma surrounding video games. Of course this debate has gone on for years, but we're starting to see some serious infringements on human rights as a direct result of video game stereotyping.

Sure in school we talked about governmental restrictions on video games, and the topic that came up most of the time was Germany's restrictions on blood and gore in video games. I've begun to hear more interesting reports coming from China and their fight against video games. There are actually video game addiction camps that children are being sent to, to "cure" them of video game addiction. While I'm not saying that there’s such a thing as video game addiction, things like "Shock Treatment" for video game addicts seems to go a little over the top in my opinion. Luckily for Chinese WoW addicts, this practice has stopped, but these camps are still being used and are potentially more brutal then ever. There has been the first reported death of a student enrolled in one of these camps to cure his video game addiction. According to the report the student was beaten to death by the camp supervisors, for running too slowly. While the camp claims “Our methods are tough but do not include torture or other methods that might damage a child’s health," post mortem reports of the boy's body finds that at one point the boy had been handcuffed.

China has gone further on their infringement of human rights by banning certain online games that "glamorizes gangs." Although I can't help but feel as though the individuals who might actually be in Chinese gangs, are more then likely not partaking in online gang warfare but I could be wrong. Even if your not a gamer you might think that some of these things may not effect you, but China has gone as far as threatening jail time for "dirty" text messages. So just in case you were wondering, big brother is most definitely reading your text messages and deciding on jail time depending on what language you might be using. Jail time might include up to five days for one text message or up to ten for three. This sort of thinking is extremely dangerous for not only the future of human rights but the way we perceive technology in the future. Just as we're beginning to see new and evolving emergent media, we also witness new forms of discrimination against it.

China isn't an isolated incident either, Germany is another country that has been well known for it's crack down on video games. With it's recent run of anti-game laws that are looking to get passed, game companies are feeling pressured to relocate out of Germany. I thought it was best put here...

"A ban on action games in Germany is concerning us because it is essentially like banning the German artists that create them.If the German creative community can’t effectively participate in one of the most important cultural mediums of our future, we will be forced to relocate to other countries.

The current political discussion will deprive German talent of its place on the global game development stage, and deprive German consumers of entertainment that is considered safe and fun around the world."

Companies like Crytek have an unstable future as a result of these new measures being set in place by the German government. Ironically enough Germany has become the top game market in Europe... This year's GDC Europe is even being held in Cologne, Germany, where game developers are speaking out to gamers attending the conference; asking them to help support petitions against these laws.

So I know I don't typically blog about these sorts of things, but I find a lot of this pretty troubling. Yet I guess I could be named a hypocrite for saying that I believe in the positive impacts of video games, and disregard what is being said about the negative impacts. For what it's worth I still believe in the human mind and subconscious, I don't believe that video games make us more prone to reenact what we do in the virtual environment. While I agree that there are plenty of irresponsible games out there, and irresponsible parents who let their children play them, I don't believe that video games make us more aggressive or violent then we already are. I don't really have much more to say on this topic right now, I just felt as like sharing some of this information for others to maybe start thinking about too. Maybe I'll have more to post on this later, but for now I'll let you draw your own conclusions... I've certainly been left wondering about the future.

Laser Quest

A week ago, roughly, I received another inhouse e-mail in french at work. As I skimmed the words, picking out common words that I've begun to pick up, I was still lost until I came across two words in particular... "Laser Quest." Immediately I replied to the e-mail saying, I'm not exactly sure what this all means but I can read Laser Quest and I'm totally in!!

Luckily for me it was a night of laser quest for the employees of Mistic with a dinner afterwards. I have to say this was SO much fun, I had been looking forward to this since I got this e-mail. This afternoon when we arrived everyone had no problem smack talking each other , and as always they had no problem singling me out as the "American." As always I take it, with a grin and a smile, not shameful of where I come from. Yet after the first game, there was a lot less smack talking as I had the top score out of everybody. I couldn't help but laugh and tell them that they really shouldn't mess with Americans haha ...

Although I had a good time crushing my co-workers, that's not my reasoning for blogging tonight. Really it's because tonight I was able to talk to some more people and even some of the programmers who had never spoke to me attempted to talk to me in english , which I think is a big step. There are many people who don't talk to me at work, and I think it could be for several reasons but one of them being that they don't feel comfortable speaking English. A few tonight even started talking to me in french, which I could only smile and nod, and try to understand the conversation. I'm really starting to feel a camaraderie with the people I work with, and I can honestly say that I've really valued my time with them thus far.

A side note, I was talking with one of the artists tonight and he was telling me about his cousin who spent most of her life living inHong Kong, and how when she was 19 she went to a more rural area outside of Hong Kong. He was explaining to me that she had never really seen a sunset or the stars until this trip. I find this so strange and sort of sad... I spent my childhood outside, in the woods, enjoying nature in it'spleasantries . I can't help but really miss both New Hampshire and Vermont because of this. Although I will say that one of the most amazing skies I ever saw was when I was in Arizona. My folks are out there right now enjoying their new place, I'm severely jealous that I'm not out there with them! Someday I will have a nice place, and I will be able to see the stars.

One last thought! I recently had a conversation with a lady writing an article for a Vermont based website, as soon as I know I'll post it for sure, but she was writing about "young people's" perspectives on gaming industry and where it's headed. It almost felt automatic answering her questions, it's funny sometimes I don't think I really have many opinions about things but I guess I really do. I really do believe that the lines between "video games" and "interactive tools" will begin to be blurred, and these sorts of tools are going to proliferate the market. If you know me at all you know my stances on education, and so I won't get into that. I'm not sure really what I mean to say right now but it's exciting to feel at the cusp of it. Perhaps I'm not but as a young person who is just starting in the industry I hope to have some influence on some aspect of it in the future. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing, or where, but somehow I just know that whatever it is it will be interesting... and hopefully help people's lives for the better. Another thing I can see is Champlain Students starting to head the medium and the industry in new directions, yes you may take this as just me boasting my college again but really... Champlain students are sort of a different breed. I think it's going to be interesting as more alumni begin to enter the market, which I'm sure many of them will. I'm also hoping that in the future I'll be in a position to maybe help some of them get on their feet professionally, of course this is coming from someone who still isn't quite on their own feet yet either haha.

Anyways I'll end it with that... Benoit and I have signed for a new apartment today, we're having a meeting with the landlord tomorrow and hopefully this will be a done deal. My third apartment in Montreal should be the best one thus far I think haha.

Apartment Search Continues!

So remember that apartment I blogged about yesterday? Well unfortunately we didn't get it, due to the fact that the landlord wanted this young couple to live there instead of two foreign guys.... sigh... The apartment search continues! For those of you who haven't been following this will be my third apartment in Montreal...

Friendly Faces

I had the pleasure last weekend to spend some time back in Burlington. Being there made me realize just how attached I had grown to both Burlington and it's people over the past few years. While I'm enjoying Montreal, to me it will never be Burlington.

The main thing for me was actually being able to spend some time with people that I haven't seen since I started work. I keep forgetting that I've only been in Montreal for two months but it feels like ages, and so much has passed. I tried my best to tell stories, and "get them up to date" but really I'm sure there is so much I missed. I feel pretty bad that I haven't kept in better contact with people, but it did feel great being around them again. For me it was great to hear how they were doing, and just news of my fellow classmates in general. I've heard NOTHING while I've been up here and I can't help but be really interested in how everyone else is doing. It was pretty interesting to get back into some EMC talk, I can't help but really miss being there.

I've been able to keep up with a few people who I graduated with, one in particular quite often, and it really sucks to hear about their job hunting woes. Theres one artist in particular who is just incredibly talented in my opinion and he's yet to find something. All of this makes me more thankful to have found Mistic when I did. Although I have felt sort of strained and... well sort of removed in a way... It's hard because sometimes I wonder if I jumped into things too fast. I worked really hard in school, I graduated, and didn't give myself anytime before I started working. I miss home and being able to spend ample time with my friends... Yet I know if I had chose not to start work or if I hadn't found Mistic, I probably would have felt pretty miserable.

Talking to some of my friends about their plans for their Senior year at Champlain and others, I'm brought back to a blog post I made a few weeks ago called "guilt." I see a few doing some of the things I did and over burdening themselves, and I get nervous for them... Really these are some of the most talented people and I would hate to see them struggle to produce quality work for every project that they are apart of. While I wouldn't give up any aspect of my Senior year, it was the most troubling time for me. It was the hardest on me both emotionally and mentally, and while I'm a better person because of it, I wouldn't wish the same on other people. Slowing down has been good for me... but sometimes I do miss running.

Seeing people this weekend only made me want to return to Burlington every weekend haha, but luckily for me some of them will be studying in Montreal in the fall. Which I'm super excited about! Also we've found a new apartment for September and it's really nice! I can't wait to move and I really can't wait for people to visit me!

Anyways back to the daily grind =P

I'm still Alive

So it's been an interesting week and a half... At the beginning of last week I started to develop what I thought was a minor cold. The glands in my neck swelled up, but really the rest of me felt fine, no fever, no sore throat, no nothing... Needless to say I was a little concerned but there wasn't much to do so I tried to get more rest, have more vitamin C or whatever. Got through the week but by the end my neck was pretty swollen and it had begun to hurt a little to swollow. Managed to make it home on Friday though, and enjoyed an AWESOME weekend with the folks. Since I had only one symptom, I decided it was safe enough to go out and do stuff and so I managed to get out Kayaking for the first time this year on Saterday. Certainly made me miss a lot of things about back home, one of them being the kayak shop. So after a beutiful day, I discovered I had quite the sun burn... because you know me... I'm not one to put on sun tan lotion. Sunday was a nice day chilling at home, watching horrible class B sci-fi movies with Mom. Although for whatever reason the Sci-Fi channel changed their name to syfy since I've been away... which I find odd... Luckily though my neck was starting to get better before my drive back on Sunday.

Monday though my sun burn was in full swing, with the itchiest sun burn that I think I ever had. Concentration at work was SOOO hard... This took my mind off my throat for the time being. I had another itchy day yesterday, and a bit of a sleepless night because of it. Today though is the first time in a while that I feel moderately normal! Neck swelling is gone, I can actually touch my back again, and yea feeling pretty good! I was finding it pretty ironic for a while that if it wasn't one thing it was another... Now I'm pretty sure I have some intense peeling to look forward to... awesome =P

On a happier note, it sounds like I'll be in Burlington this weekend and I'm super excited!

That's all for now!