Author: Gene

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Mario

I bought the New Super Mario Bros. Wii last week. I was planning to get it eventually. I was sorta waiting for summer so I’d have Lauren to play with, but I found a deal and got it a bit early.

We played some last weekend. Mother played with us, as well, and I played a bit solo after Lauren left. I haven’t played enough to give a detailed analysis, but I enjoyed all the play experiences very much.

I get a great deal of nostalgia joy out of the game, since Mario for the NES and SNES were ever favorites of my youth. Plus, the game is just well made. It has enough new stuff to not feel dated, at least to me, but it has so much good oldie feeling to it.

I think the multiplayer along with features they implemented will give the game a long life and good replay value. It is a bit tough, I think, for the people I generally associate with, which is a bit of bummer. I hope other people like it enough to want to play it with me some. Even if they don’t, though, I’ll have enough fun playing it by myself to make the purchase worth it.

I’m trying very hard not to over play it when nobody is around to join me. I have only played maybe 1.5 hours alone, and most of that was trying crazy things on the first few levels trying to find secrets and such. So… I’m not practicing a lot. When you come over and see me, I’m just that good naturally. Don’t feel bad, I’m sure you have a talent, too.

I think I have a copy of Mario Galaxy 2 headed my way soon (thanks Pat), so I’ll use that to distract me if necessary. I hope to have fun with that Mario game as well.

I know I’m a bit late to the party, but just in case anyone was waiting for my stamp of approval for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, you have it.

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Hey party people

I think you guys should know about Hunch.com, so I’m going to write this blog post.

It’s a site that has many facets. The one that jumps out at you when you first get there is an endless stream of questions you can answer about yourself. So, that’s fun, especially if you are one of those quiz takers. Hunch also has those types of quizzes, and various topics to narrow down the questions for a specific purpose. For example, if you wanted to know what book to read next you could go to one of the book topics, answer questions about what you like, and then it will make recommendations for you.

The topics, questions, and results, are all user generated. So, if you are an expert in something that isn’t on the site yet, you can add a whole new topic. Or, if your favorite book isn’t in the list, you can just add it and tell the site what answers would lead to that book.

The site also keeps track of everything you do so it can recommend topics you might be interested in, and tell you of other users that answer similarly to you, and stuff like that. It keeps a giant database of answers and looks for strange correlations. Like 46% of moms who used a fake ID got really muddy as kids. Stuff like that is interesting to me. Plus the topics can be really helpful, if you want to know what TV to buy or whatnot.

Oh, and there are also badges you can get and stuff. Anyway, check it out. My username is geneo if you want to be my friend on there.

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Things I enjoy Update

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Today is the agreed upon anniversary of the start of mine and Lauren’s relationship. Go us.

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Awesome

This is very useful. I have to remember to study it carefully every once in a while. Ya’ll should too.

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The Economy and Me

A while ago I was bothered by the troubling realization that, fairly regularly, I was finding myself supporting government intervention, especially with regard to financial regulation. Not out loud, usually, but I’d read someone’s facebook status, or some similar such thing, and think to myself something akin to, “That’s retarded. More regulation is obviously better.” Which would be closely followed by, “That’s weird. I’m usually the libertarian nut job that people hate for being so callous and cooky.”

I don’t consider myself in any way qualified to speak authoritatively on the current economic situation, or the recent collapse, because I don’t know enough and I think it is probably way more complicated than general news coverage would lead one to believe, but I have listened when it has been discussed on the programs I subscribe to so I have developed some opinions. Yeah… how do you like that sentence?

What I’ve come to believe is that my opinions are pretty much unchanged, but the arguments on the subject have shifted a lot. I’m still largely libertarian. In general the government tries to expand it’s power and in general that expansion is bad for citizens and ill conceived. Concurrently, I think in general a free market leads to efficiency and effectiveness. So why do I think we need some regulation if I’m pro free market?

A free market does not only mean an unregulated market. How free would our society be if we had no rules or means of enforcement? It would revert to the strongest beating up the weakest and rights and liberties would be meaningless. The same can happen with markets, and it did. What we had leading up to the market collapse, and still have, is so unregulated as to closer to anarchy than free. We need some effective rules, and some effective police in the system, in order to make the markets free… or more free anyway.

The arguments related to the economy have been twisted by politics to a ridiculous extent. The Republicans, now committed to the “oppose Obama in everything no matter what” tactic, have managed to convince people that any new regulation Obama suggests is socialism. This is a simple redefinition of a word and has no relation to reality.

The Democrats, in order to counteract the political maneuvering of the Republicans, have taken to picking on a few cases, like Goldman Sachs, and just bashing on them to garner support. This may be effective, but it also somewhat dangerous. For one, if you hang your whole argument on a single case, then if that case goes against you somehow, you can lose the argument, even if the underlying principles of your case are sound.  Basically they leave themselves open to a hasty generalization, which though a fallacy, is non-the-less likely to be an effective argument in the political sphere.

A second potential problem with the Democrat’s tact is they may get distracted, pay too much attention to their chosen tree and forget the forest.  Any legislation they pass without considering the forest will be ineffectual, and possibly destructive, so they can’t allow the political debate to focus solely on Goldman Sachs.

In conclusion, I think that I have stayed in place while the political landscape shifted around me, and many of my “peers” and “compatriots” moved along with the landscape, influenced as they are by FOX News and their parents. 😛 Lawlessness does not lead to freedom, in the markets or in reality, so some regulation is a necessary function of a good government. And I can say that, cause I’m a libertarian leaning individual, not an anarchist.

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Dark Tower

I just finished the last of the Dark Tower series. I read them cause Pat seems to love them, primarily. And they were available, that’s a big thing. I have some problems with the work. In the following discussion there will be some spoiling, but I don’t think there will be anything too grievous. Still, if you are worried, u can just skip this post. 😀

I understand this series is well liked, but I can’t figure out why exactly. Although, generally, it seems those works that hold wide public acclaim get none from me. I site Harry Potter and Twlight as the most obvious examples, but also nearly every “classic” ever forced upon me and Anne Frank’s Diary. Don’t make me remember.

I didn’t read these books as they were released, and I think that that might be part of my problem. Not a big part, but I can see how the hype would help. Especially waiting for the next book and whatnot. I didn’t do any of that, though. I read the whole series in the last month or two. Also, I’ve never read any other Steven King, so it occurs to me that I might just not like his writing. /shrug Still going to write my critique. Onto the big complaints.

The smuttiness. Mostly this occurs in the first book, but it is still annoying throughout the series. I don’t normally mind smut, but in this case it just seems so wanton and extreme. It also seems purposeful and forced, like King thinks he’ll score a few points every time he strays from strictly “appropriate” subject matter. Each time he did it it took me from the flow of things, and it seemed to paint a world where it was normal to think in such terms, which maybe he was trying for, but I doubt. It seemed to me like he was trying to say to the readers, “See, I’m just like you. I know you all think about farts all the time, and you think the pompous of normal writers not to drop it into their paragraphs at least sometimes.” Which was annoying, cause I don’t think that, and I really don’t think that many other people do either.

I also don’t buy the whole thing about him not being in control of the story. I mean, the meta aspect is kinda cool, but it got old after a while, and seemed more like a crutch, and an excuse for doing such a bad job, rather than an interesting aspect of the story. He kept making the story more and more obviously contrived, using deus ex machina more and more obviously, that it became clear that he had to call himself out, or everyone else would. I mean, at first it’s just a guy who’s really good with guns. Then he has feelings and intuition. Then there are doors to other dimensions. Then there is psychic communication among friends. Then there is just general psychic’s everywhere. And then, finally, at the very end, there’s that new special kind of magic introduced just for Steve to write himself out of his final corner.

I also don’t like the meandering tone of the novels. I just think he didn’t know what he was doing long term, which he professes he didn’t. He started out with a gritty westernish thing, kinda making his own feel. Then he tried to expand it and got lost. Then he tried to make it a deep series commenting on the craft of story telling, and referencing many of the great stories. He fell down there by having to explain every minute reference. Then he hit on calling himself a great story teller, and the meta thing came to him. And he ran with that to the end. Except for not really, cause he hates endings, so he wrote like 3 endings. /shakes head

The characters were all right. I mean, it’s not like it’s the worst book ever written or anything. And the characters we likeable, which is more than most authors can claim. But he used them annoyingly on occasion, too. Like, Eddie, was clearly his cliché crutch. At first he just had Eddie being comic relief and using all the cliché lines, but after a while Eddie’s absence didn’t stop him, he’d just boiler plate in “as Eddie would say” somewhere in the sentence.

I’m not really going anywhere with this. I just was so often struck with this complaints during my reading, now that it’s over I had to voice them.

I guess I’d like to say that the story was pretty ok to read. It was kinda fun. Kinda different as well, if you’ve read tons of sci-fi and fantasy, it had some newness in it. But I think you’d be much better off if you spent your time reading Otherland or Ender or the Frank Herbert Dune books. I just expect more from my books. I’m picky.

Edit: Oh, also, at one point Susanna “leaps to her feet.” I mean real Susanna, not possessed of magic demon feet Susanna or anything. /shakes head

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Human Nature

Understanding human nature is important not to provide excuses for our actions, but to provide a tool for understanding each other and the world, and because it is an important variable in our work to improve ourselves.

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Politeness and how it makes life worse for everyone

The lack of a kindness is not a meanness… or an offense.

I must make a distinction. A kindness, for my purposes here, is defined as an act performed by one party to its detriment for the benefit of another party. I think in common parlance there is another kind of kindness, which is truly mutually beneficial, but I consider this a totally different situation. One I’d label a transaction.

It occurs to me that this is where my lifelong problem with politeness arises from. I have a lifelong problem with politeness if you didn’t know. Politeness, too, I think, really is two separate things.

There are some rules of politeness that dictate you respect another person as an individual, and grant them the rights they deserve. For example, it is rude to touch another person beyond the normal bounds of the relationship, or to invade their privacy. These are fine. I like these rules, although I don’t think they should really be defined as falling under politeness. They make rational sense and the actions they dictate are mandatory given a non-hypocritical ethics system.

Politeness, in the negative meaning I think of it as, also has other rules. Like, you have to say “thank you” for everything. Here is how this ties in with kindness.

Thanking someone is a kindness, as defined above. It’s a pretty small kindness, but it is. I don’t want to say the words, in general. I, on some small level, probably am thankful, but I don’t want to express it most of the time, and if I do, then it becomes a transaction.

Saying “thank you” has become an expected kindness, though. I dunno which came first, politeness, or the mistaken interpretation of the lack of a kindness as an offense, but regardless, politeness reinforces this mistake. Further, the fact the politeness of this sort exists, somewhat justifies its own existence. By this I mean, since everyone expects me to say “thank you” it sorta does become an offense if I don’t extend the kindness. Now we’re getting into the dichotomy of perceived reality and reality, though, which is not likely to be fruitful. Let me explain why this is problematic.

A kindness by my definition is a positive for you, and a negative for me, but this is not the most important quality. That would be that it’s voluntary. A forced interaction that is negative for one party and positive for another is not considered a kindness. Everyone knows this. If you ask to borrow my pen, and I allow it, that is a kindness. If you just take my pen, and I never find out, I didn’t extend any kindness. If I find out, and don’t enact any retribution, the act of not taking retribution is the kindness.

So what does politeness actually do? It removes an opportunity for kindness and replaces it with an opportunity for offense. If we go back to the simple “thank you” example it is clear. You have just done me a service of some kind, but I’m tired or distracted or have bronchitis or for some other reason do not want to say, “Thank you”. I can either act on my desire, and you would take offense, or I could go against my desire, cause me harm, and you would get nothing, as I can’t truly extend a kindness under the pressure of politeness. On the other hand, if I did want to express a kindness, I would have to more than say, “Thank you,” as that is what you already expect. I must go beyond politeness to extend any kindness.

There are two take aways. First, politeness is dumb and makes the world a less happy place. Second, pressuring a kindness in fact nullifies the chance of a kindness.

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Me solving all my roommates’ problems

Yesterday I made some exasperated comments to my roommates regarding the nature of their entertainment. It wasn’t, and isn’t, a very big deal, but this aspect of their group has been bothering me for some time. I think I’m getting close to an understanding, so I hope writing this will help me push through the conclusions that can be made, and the ambiguities that must be left unknown.
I have difficulty explaining the behavior in question, but I think it boils down to picking on things, and people. I know that sounds really lame, but let me try to explain.
In my interactions with my roommates, and a certain group of people they hang out with, it seems as though their primary activity is making fun of stuff, and the people associated with that stuff. Now, making fun of stuff, in the strictest sense, isn’t really a “good” activity, but I understand it’s appeal, and I obviously am not one who never criticizes for entertainment. So why does this bug me?
Reason #1: the quantity
I totally understand having a pet peeve, or getting into a mood and occasionally ranting about something. I’m kinda doing that right now. But it seems like the only pleasure my roommates can find is in gleeful proclamations of the “gayness” of everything around them. Part of my distaste of this particular situation is the ubiquity of the action.
In my pondering on the subject I’ve come to a few conclusions as to why things are not as bad as they seem. I think each of the individuals involved have lives outside of tearing down everything they see, but I’m not a part of that. Aaron has music, Kelsey has art and school and stuff, and Kim probably has Dancing with the Stars or something. Regardless, their constructive interests rarely overlap with mine, or each others. As a consequence, they unite around their destructive overlaps, which are sizeable. This effect is magnified by Aaron’s confrontational and obstinate assuredness on all things, and the unwillingness of normal people to fight about everything. So, since I am mostly only observing this crowd in groups of 2 or more, and usually Aaron is one of the 2, the odds of the discussion being about something everyone thinks is good, is pretty low.
Reason #2: forced enrollment
This issue is pretty inherent in the system, and there’s not too much my roommates can do about it. Basically, their group usually decides quickly, or has already decided in some previous meeting, that they hate something. Once they’ve decided, it means you are no longer allowed to enjoy, or attempt to enjoy, that thing. Of course, this is only in certain group situations. They don’t control what I do on my own, and don’t try to.
The quintessential example would be the group watching a movie. Often a movie is picked already with hating it in mind, just because it looks stupid, or because someone has already seen it and declared it stupid. In these cases, the ridiculing begins immediately, so someone who hasn’t decided to hate it cannot easily view the content to make a determination of its quality, since there is loud mockery going on over the dialog.
Like I said, there’s not much that can be done in these situations. It’s just a difference of opinion, and really two separate activities being tried in the same place. It would be like trying to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the actual film being shown, you’re just not doing it right. It does lead nicely to reason 3, though.
Reason 3: Seeking it out
I think humor is a good response to horrible things. It can turn something that upsets you into something that brings you joy, which is a great way to make your life suck less. However, this principle only makes sense if you it apply it to horrible things that you can’t avoid. Once you seek out horrible things for this purpose, the system breaks down.
Now, I think my roommates and their friends do seek out horrible things. They might disagree. I know Aaron says his Netflix queue is full of, “things that look interesting,” when I suggest he’s purposely putting stupid %$#@ in it. But I don’t think that’s true. He doesn’t treat them as such. He’s more likely to say, “Hey, come watch this gay documentary,” and then mock everything from opening to closing credits than he is to actually watch the movie and see if it was, in fact, interesting. And he doesn’t come up with very many diamonds in the rough, like I suspect he would, if he was actually sifting through the less popular products in life, looking for things of particular interest to his niche.
So, I could be wrong, and they might not be seeking out horrible things when they read the Craig’s List’s casual encounters or texts from last night, but so what if I’m not? Their life, they can do what they want. Which is true, I agree. If they really find more entertainment in ridiculing horrible things than in partaking in quality products, then that’s what they should do. I just am not in the same situation, and so rarely want to join in, or observe.
Which leads to reason #4: the quality
This whole issue wouldn’t be such a big deal if my roommates were better at making fun of things. I just don’t find the things they say humorous most of the time. I guess it’s hard to keep up originality given Reason #1.
I think some of you out there, when I describe picking a horrible movie, and then making fun of it instead of watching it, are thinking of some Mystery Science Theater 3000 type scenario, but that’s not how I perceive things. I like those scenarios, but they are about as difficult to come by as actually good movies. You can’t just make fun of any ol’ movie. The badness of the movie has to be of a specific type and at a specific level to make making fun of it really entertaining. If it’s not like that, then you end up getting what I was complaining about, which is repeats of what was said in a funny voice, or the replacement of random words with, any combination of dick, butt, poop, tit, etc. or just kinda stale jokes in general.
Now, obviously, much of this is taste and nobody really controls that, and also, of course, they’re not supposed to be doing a performance quality level of mockery for my benefit all the time, but come on. I mean, using “gay” as an insult is sometime humorous when mocking an individual who would do so seriously, but they’ve used it to the extent that they are now the people it would be funny to use it against. And immature “naughty” words like poopy head were kinda ironic at the age when our peers were all swearing like sailors, but they’ve been ironically immature for longer than they were really immature at this point.

Ok, so everything above that line I wrote like 2 weeks ago. I never published the post because I didn’t want to cause unnecessary strife in the home life, and because I wanted to tweak it and make it funnier. But, ya know, screw it.

That stuff up there really has no conclusion, and a good conclusion isn’t really springing instantly to mind here. I guess the conclusion should be that they can do what they want, including doing little but belittle their own choices in entertainment. I just wish they wouldn’t, so I wouldn’t be so bored/annoyed. But I can help the situation too by having books and stuff on hand I can retreat to. I suspect we’ll survive. Especially now that I monopolize the TV w/ Modern Warfare 2.