Sponging

I was originally going to call this post "My Reculturification", and acknoweldge that this is both the best word to describe what I'm currently doing, and that it's completely made up.

However, I was discussing this very act with a friend and she referred to it as Sponging. As a hack journalist and admirer of words, I had no problem admitting that Sponging was the more accurate term.

You see, recently I've had both a lot of time on my hands and a renewed attention span. While writing hasn't come easily, I have been interested in augmenting my experiences with new culture I feel I've missed.

In the last couple of years, I've been so focussed on one type of media, the video game, that I ended up mostly shutting out all others. So right now I'm trying to absorb as many new experiences, thoughts and theories as I can lay my hands on.

And as an avid fan of movies, television and books, naturally my focus is there.

It's mostly an attempt to never use the phrase "nah, it's not my thing" ever again.

Which, consequently, means that some of the items on my list may seem out of place. It may be both surprising the movies I've not seen and books I've not read, or even that I've decided they're important enough to view.

But the point of this exercise is to expand my cultural knowledge in all directions, not just what others have deemed 'culturally significant'.

I'm trying, in effect, to remember every suggestion I ignored from friends and family previously and find inspiration for writing in new places.

So, with way too much introduction, here is the list of what I've watched and read in the last month. In future, I hope to continue to finish at least one book and one movie per week and keep track of it on this blog. I may also post my reading and watching lists (future consumption) later on.

Books:
- Slumdob Millionaire
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves
- Bloodletting and other miraculous cures
- The Nanny Diaries (don't judge me)
- Mother Night
- My Booky Wook (Russell Brand's autobiography)
- The Sirens of Titan
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Dreamseller (Brandon Novak's autobiography)

Movies:
- Raging Bull
- Taxi Driver
- American Movie
- Sneakers
- Tron
- Fletch
- Troll 2
- Annie Hall
- UHF
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- Wall Street
- World's Greatest Dad
- A Few Good Men
- Bruno
- In The Loop
- Date Night

TV Shows:
- Top Chef Seasons 1-3

ranting: this is why games (and movies) get a bad rep

i know i've spoken out about this before, but this weekend, i was given a whole lot more fuel for my fire on parents (and retail stores) responsibility for children's media consumption.

that's a fancy way of saying, wtf parents?


hmv

jesus. with all the media coverage around gta iv, you'd think that hmv would have some sort of a talk with their employers to watch out for kids when selling the game. but no, that would be too easy.

the whole reason that people still listen to wingnuts like jack thompson is that kids are still able to (easily) get the game.

i was in hmv on friday, picking up a copy of the new kooks album, and i look to my left to see a male employee of the scarborough town centre location, not only selling the game to an obvious minor (under 5 ft tall, and looking to be around 12 years old, no adult accompaniment) but also discussing the finer points of the game. namely, how realistic the driving and gunplay are.

for god's sakes. when i go to such lengths telling people the merits of the great story in the game, and how it's intended for adults, which is why it's given the 18+ mature rating by the esrb, it pisses me off that people go and ruin it for everyone by pulling this kind of crap.

going to the movies

when i finally calmed down from seeing this spectacle, i went on to have a decent weekend.

but then, when jen and i were out shopping on saturday, we decided to go catch a flick at the mall. we went to harold and kumar escape from guantanamo bay.

now, this is not a kids movie.

i don't want to say it's not funny, or a good movie, but seriously: nine year olds should not be there. there was lots of drug consumption, a hefty portion of nudity (male and female, tops and bottoms) and while it's all in the name of jokes, there is a reason the movie is rated r in the states.

but, not only was there a dad who took his 9 year old son to the movie, but some woman in our row had a god-damned baby in the theater! what?!?!? she had a car seat propped up in one of the theater chairs.

now, not to mention the content of the flick, but isn't it really bad for a baby's hearing to be in a really loud movie theater? aren't their ears still developing at that stage and super fragile?

this weekend i was supremely disappointed by the human race and if you work at a games (or music) store and sell to minors or are a parent who doesn't take your kid to age appropriate movies or give them age appropriate video games, shame on you.

what's at stake: kids staying kids and adults getting adult content easily

seriously, you're just making it harder for of-age people to keep getting the things they want without a hassle. by being bad parents and lazy employees, you're making it harder to make and distribute interesting, envelope pushing entertainment.

and to boot, your kids are missing out on the best parts of childhood, innocence.

i know it sounds cliche, but games like GTA and movies like harold and kumar are so much better consumed when you've got a bit of maturity life experience under your belt.

and in the end, all we'll get is a homogenization of our culture because politicians and crazed parents will think that they have to save children since no one else will. and to me, that's crap.

parent your own children so that the government won't try to do it for you.

and hmv, read the esrb labels, understand them and follow them. it's really simple, you just have to believe that you can still make enough sales without a 12 year olds allowance. suggest another game, something that won't get you in trouble for selling.

/rant

JD

what's wrong with this picture (actually, it's a screengrab...)

ok, ok. i get planet earth. and i can tolerate young indiana jones. heck, i like juno and dexter.

but 27 dresses? joey!?!??!!?

seriously canadians. we need a culture infusion in our tv purchasing decisions, badly.

/rant

JD

a slow day

another dreary monday for games. not much new on the horizon to get excited for just yet but it can all change.

for one thing, rez hd comes out this wednesday on live. and with 3 controller vibration support, this will be the best sexual stimulant shoot em up in the live library.

but honestly, i have heard that the game in mind-blowing and fun in the geometry wars, everyday shooter type of way, and that the vibration does add a certain element to the game.

in other news, i found the free live apology game to be quite boring, as underwater 2D fighting, that looks kind of 3D was never high on my priority list to play. really not into it right now.

i am, however, slowly getting into dead rising, a game i am woefully late to get a chance at first hand, but i'm finding the whole 'play over and over again until you can survive and win the main story line' thing kind of tedious. dying has never been easy for me to take in games, and it seems that the only way to get high enough stats to survive for long stretches of time is to do just that. it's counter-intuitive.

lastly, the king of kong: a fistful of quarters dvd has been dated, and it's coming out on the 29th in america. please check it out, gamers and non-gamers alike. it's another 'drag your girlfriend or dubious fiancee to movie' that will win them over. the plot line, while maybe not 100% accurate, as i stated before, is hard to not get dragged into.

hoping for more exciting developments down the line,

JD