The Wonderful World of Warcraft

It’s a game! A virtual reality game. A dungeon game. Isn’t it? Isn’t that what it’s all about?

No.

In the clearing stands a boxer

and a fighter by his trade
and he carries the reminders
of every glove that laid him down
or cut him ’til he cried out,
in his anger and his shame,
‘I am leaving, I am leaving,’
but the fighter still remains.”

The times that find us and the ties that bind us

When I was a young man… yubba dubba dubba dubba dubba daidle diadle dum. All day long, I’d diddy diddy dum… no, wait. That was someone else.

In my folks’ day, it was The Red Menace. The danger of the Communist, one lurking behind every bush. It lead to some very bad fiction, even by very good writers who really ought to have known better. It lead to some very funny songs, like The John Birch Society, by… who was that, now? Kingston Trio? Chad Mitchell? “You cannot trust your neighbors, or even next of kin. If mommy is a commie then you’ve got to turn her in!”

I’ll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude…

 …there must be fifty ways to leave your lover.

Paul Simon sung that. Simon and Garfunkel. It wasn’t his song, though, he borrowed it. He was experienced enough to put a bit of polish on it, by then. Hmm, mid 1970s? Don’t look aghast, some of us were alive back then.

I remember it strongly, because it was a time of turbulence in my life. We were leaving Germany.

Reflections on WoW, the World of Warcraft

I’ve been playing some WoW, recently. It’s an unassuming little game… kind of an arcade shooter, with a D&D overlay. Repetitive, intentionally slow-paced (monthly fees, y’know), and distinctly simplistic. But, I don’t know, it’s kind of appealing anyway.

It must be, I guess. I think their customers run into the millions. It’s all the more perplexing, then, that their recent updates have actually shut out many of their customers for 6-48 hours at a time. Huh. If there was ever a major disaster in gaming… shoo-eeeee! Screwing over hundreds of thousands of people, at least, for days at a time, by not providing the content they’ve paid for…

The way of the hermit

I’ve been ignoring oh, about everything, recently. It’s a thing I do, on occasion. Pisses people off. Well, sorry, people, but if I am a sheep, I am a black sheep. Grex, gregis (Latin, “sheep”): gregarious.

I like people just fine but, it happens that I also like to be alone. Sometimes, it’s a compelling urge, and will not be denied. It has not always been good for my career or my friendships or, certainly, my blog, but I have a certain need for the silences.

Bitter about the Bible

I’ve been re-reading a few old posts. Vainglorious, ain’t it? And what a wonderful word is “vainglorious.” Oddly enough, Mozilla even recognizes it, campy old word-phrase that it is, a thing much like “proactive,” a word obviously invented by bureaucrats who could hardly speak their native languages.

Seems that I feel bitter about the Bible. Well, you can understand yourself better after reading your own thoughts. It puts some distance between you, if you know what I mean. Or if you don’t.

Chameleon people (they hide amongst us)

This is a text I write for myself because, I find, thoughts go better on paper. They are better resolved if you think on them, formalize them, and write them down. Perhaps that’s not the same for you. Talking thoughts over with a friend is also a good way to figure out if you’ve come up with something insightful or just stupid.

If I still put up with this text tomorrow, perhaps I will post it. Otherwise, it’s a good exercise. (it’s tomorrow, so to speak. I’m posting it.)

Chameleon people. My best friend was one, for many years. He’s not, any more. Oh… no, you get the wrong impression. He’s not stopped being a chameleon, as far as I know. He’s just no longer a friend. His choice.

WoW : World of Warcraft

It’s a party, my friends, and I was a bit late to it.

World of Warcraft (or Warcrack, as it’s been called) is one of the massively-multiplayer online role-playing games. An MMORPG, and ain’t that a mouthful. WoW has, literally, hundreds of thousands of players… divided amongst various realms, hosted on different servers or clusters thereof.

It’s a D&D game. Sort of. It has delusions of being a D&D game. Really, it’s more of a crappy old arcade game, with a little D&D and a lot of marketing slopped on top. But… is it fun?

Play the political game

I’m thinking it’s going to be a McCain/Hillary throw, at the moment… and it’s looking like I’ll have a choice between my “-6″ and “-10″ candidates. What a pleasure it will be to vote! Or not. Like it makes a difference.

Can’t we find anyone better than these vermin? Tweedlevile and Tweedleohhell are ever the choices. Call it a “representative democracy” if you like. Go on, make me snicker, and call it a “constitutional republic.” That’s what the almanac calls it. Sigh…

http://www.dehp.net/candidate/