for what it's worth

this is not a game

Right. So we all know Neurocam is not an ARG.

(We, uh, all do know that, right?)

*casts doubtful eye at n00bs on unfiction board...*

Nevertheless, I found this recent editorial over at the ARGN blog to be irresistibly germane to current (and past) doings in the house of Cam. Here's a snip:

By far the most prevalent theory is that by splitting the player base into factions, the game, and therefore the genre, suffers. People in this camp tend to believe that one of the major unspoken laws of ARG are that community is the thing -- that only through cooperation, can the game progress as intended....

The vocal minority's point (and one that I, personally, tend to side on more than others) is that an adversarial role can only be good for gaming in general for many reasons. Primarily, in the form of added depth and realism. How often in real life, do we see a group of people, all attacking a major problem from the same angle, all lined up in unity and harmony, with a single purpose? While it may happen from time to time, there are often people who "side with the enemy" or those who "aren't sure someone is bad". People of this mind tend to believe that the added realism added by playing adversarial roles (intended by the Puppetmasters or not) only adds a dimension to the gaming experience that could not exist with an idyllic "purely hive mind" situation. Another strong argument is that the challenges to the Puppetmaster can create entirely different plot and puzzle scenarios that would not otherwise occur. (However, one must feel some pity on the poor, scrambling PM that did not anticipate the actions of a rogue set of players, who all of a sudden destroy a major plot point, by revealing the motives and actions of the player base to a malevolent character, who was really not intended to know the information.)

While Neurocam was never meant to be about a group of people working together to solve puzzles (far as I can tell, anyway), I think it's fair to say the masked ones didn't anticipate (or intend) such strong adversarial elements to manifest in their world. And it's been interesting to watch the reaction (from the community as well) when those adversaries strike.

I've no opinion on what these challenges mean for the Cam (at least no opinion I'm willing to state publicly  -- especially since things are still shaking out from the latest incident). But I find the whole debate to be interesting, and I thought you might too.

That is all.

where are you going, where have you been

Hello there. I haven't been posting much over here, and that's the point of this post.

I've noticed (and I'm sure you have too) a trend amongst the Neuroblogs. Those that deal specifically with the Cam have been gathering dust for the past month or so, and some have been taken offline completely. Others have been declared defunct by their authors, but left online (which, as an archivist, I wholeheartedly support). And some Cam blogs, like mine, have suffered a slow death through increasingly sporadic posting.

The Cam blogs that have flourished, on the other hand, are the ones that have been diverse in topic from the beginning, or that have evolved to such a state. Certain blogs among those are more entertaining than others, and have developed a loyal following. I like that. Even when there's not a whiff of Cam in the room, the esprit de corps persists in its absence. Or, as Tript says:

I think I'm more interested in seeing cool bars and cooler nights out from around the world than reading about the cam, this is what we should all be doing.
Using the community for good, not evil.

Here, here. Because, and it's taken me an absurd amount of time to realize this, Neurocam can't exist in a vacuum. If we're going to derive any value from an online component of this experience, our output is going to have to consist of more than just assignment updates and wild speculation about upper management. We have as much to learn from each other as we do from the Cam, about both the pure and the profane in life. So I guess I'm simply encouraging all of you to keep talking about yourselves, and the things that interest you. Because I dig it. And I'll be at [edit: my personal blog] from now on.

If we're going to derive any value from an online component of this experience, our output is going to have to consist of more than just assignment updates and wild speculation about upper management.

Uh, that said ... When's the last time anybody heard from old Charlie? I think I'm officially concerned.

twisp

Does weird shit ever happen to you? Like you’re reading Poker Without Cards, you get to page 52, and “Roll the Bones” comes up on shuffle? There's been a lot of that in my life lately.

In other news, hello Alex. Boo-yeah for more estrogen in the House of Cam!

(Also, Toby has deleted his blog, so I removed him from the list. And metacam is gone. It was really only ever there for Xul. Sigh. Dear Xul...)

more drunk-girl-with-camera action

Over here (link deleted) .

This blog may be sad and lonely, but utterly off-topic for six posts in a row, it will not be.

Blaaarghghg. This would be off-topic post #6. Dammit.

sundays are for hangovers

What? Is the constant camera in your face really that annoying?

Notte says, "If I had a band, this would be my rock star picture." Or something like that:

Food, beer,

and more motherfucking rain:

If we're standing on the front stoop with our wine glasses, it must three in the morning, and we must be wasted:

And look, we made a new friend! He was too drunk to drive, so we brewed him a pot of coffee. Then I gave him a beer and made him drink tequila with me:

Here comes the sun:

Rough night for the bicycle:

And it's time to (deliver) the donuts, oh hell yes:

Or just go out for breakfast with the crack-a-dawn fishermen. Our waitress, Drew Barrymore:

bubba's sulky lounge

Bubba's is a world unto itself. Down in the seedy part of town, I'm told it used to be a blue collar locals-only place, until us hipsters rediscovered it and started booking cool gigs there. And really, who could resist a joint with a light-up disco dance floor? That alone, man. That alone.

But no, Bubba's has more to offer than Saturday Night Fever album art. (And a Patty Griffin tune in its honor, apparently.) There's the sprawling front bar area, sure enough, decked out with rockabilly kitsch and side-nook diorama scenes that look like something out of a bad acid trip shared by Disney's animatronics team. There's the huge center room, with stage, dance floor, tables, and yet more side rooms full of weirdness. But the best part of Bubba's, in my opinion, is the back bar. Long and narrow like a box car, crammed full of about eight barns and attics worth of creepy antique shit, and adequately removed from the sound system to make drinking yours PBRs (ahem, not Pabsts, Notte) an enjoyable experience no matter how avant-garde and intolerable the band. So that's where we tend to spend the majority of our evenings at Bubba's.  Come on back and find us if you ever stop by:

And of course, no walk home from Bubba's is complete without confronting the lobsterman statue. Witness, Notte gets all up in his grill:

Can I get a wut, wut?

tear it up, summertime.

Because I have nothing Cam-related to post, and because all the cool kids are doing it. The last two weekends of my life, in photographs:

memorial day weekend

Geno's, which was once The Skinny, which was once the Fine Arts (read: porn) Theater:

My friend Notte, visiting us in the fair city of Portland, reads a book in the park while Creepy Asian Guy stands behind him and stares. For half an hour:

Creepy Staring Street Artist:

And completing the triangulation, Creepy Staring Pedophile Smoking Cigarettes In His Van With The Engine Idling for TWO HOURS Guy. That canoe? You're not fooling anyone, buddy:

Clearly a change of venue is in order, as my favorite park has become a stakeout for some sordid scene about to go down. Did I mention the JoHos are also in town?

Yes, we sat on the dock of the bay:

Up next, an evening at Bubba's. Pictures can not do justice to this establishment, so I've barely tried.

the bridge to dimension zed

That entrances assignment? Pshhh. I get the feeling these guys would have smoked us all.

(And I so totally fricken dig the Goonies reference, considering they're actually like, you know, doing that kind of shit.)

(ETA: I can only imagine how much asbestos these guys have inhaled...)

this is the part where i slit my wrists and ask that my ashes be scattered in the tropics

(Realize this is the fifth straight week of wind and torrential rain)

Nowcast as of 9:50 PM EDT on May 23, 2005 Now expect strong winds to continue for a few more hours... An area of low pressure moving west from the Gulf of Maine will move inland in the next few hours. Once the low moves inland winds should begin to subside. In the meantime expect winds to 20 to 30 mph with higher gusts to bring down some tree limbs resulting in scattered power outages.   Forecast for Coastal Cumberland County Updated: 10:10 PM EDT on May 23, 2005 Coastal Flood Warning in effect from 10 PM EDT this evening to 2 am EDT Tuesday... Tonight Windy periods of rain. Lows in the mid 40s. Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph with higher gusts. Tuesday Rain likely. Breezy with highs around 50. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent. Detail Tuesday Night Showers likely. Lows in the mid 40s. Northeast winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent. Wednesday Showers likely. Breezy with highs around 50. Northeast winds 20 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent. Detail Wednesday Night Showers likely. Breezy with lows in the mid 40s. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent. Thursday and Thursday Night Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the upper 50s. Lows in the mid 40s. Chance of rain 50 percent. Friday Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 60. Chance of rain 40 percent. Friday Night and Saturday Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows in the upper 40s. Highs in the lower 60s. Chance of rain 50 percent. Saturday Night Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 40 percent. Sunday Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 30 percent. Sunday Night Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 40 percent. Memorial Day Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 50 percent. Scientific forecaster discussion (NWS)

And now, I promise, I'll stop bitching about the weather.

/goes off to book cheap flight to Mexico...

the last girl on earth

Right, so I can't visit anybody's blogs today because I STILL HAVEN'T SEEN EPISODE III and everybody is talking about it. I won't even watch movie trailers if I can help it, I'm such an anti-spoiler purist. And reviews? Anathema. So I've had to cruise around the web today doing the equivalent of "la la la, I can't hear you" with my fingers stuck in my ears.

Which means I won't be able to converse with my husband when he gets home from work tonight either, since he went WITHOUT ME to a sneak-preview midnight screening yesterday. Thanks, Intel, for giving all us wives the finger. Fuck you too. One ticket per person my righteously indignant ass.

And if you get the bright idea to leave a spoiler in my comments as some half-baked attempt at humor, know that I will hunt you down and have you castrated.