Everything Takes Time…

The Montreal Mirror has always had great horoscopes. I have cut out a few over the years – stuck them up on my bulletin board for future readings. While I am (no longer) a big astrological gal, this one is a great reminder of how long things really take to succeed:

To create a pearl, an oyster needs an aggravating parasite inside its shell. It builds layers of calcium carbonate around the invader, gradually fabricating the treasure. How long does it actually take from the initial provocation to the finished product? Five years for a pearl of average size, and as many as ten years for a big one. Hope that puts into perspective the tenacious work you’re doing on your own master project, Libra. It may seem sometimes as if you’ve been striving to transform your irritant for an eternity, but you’re actually right on schedule.

That Time of Year Again

Never fail, come spring or fall, I get the urge to change the look of my blog… usually lighter in spring and darker for fall, but for some reason, I am in a light mood, and so, chose something out of the limited templates that reflected the calm smoothness I have been feeling these days. In regards to the limited options, I have been seriously thinking about paying the whole kit and kaboodle and getting my own space, with templates I can manipulate again. Any suggestions in this direction would be greatly appreciated!

Off To London

I am off this evening to London for the Digra: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory conference where I am presenting with my colleague Shanly Dixon on girls and videogames (will post abstract eventually). As always I am rushing around trying to finish up the last bit of packing, trying to find all my papers/articles/books that I will need to tweak and edit our presentation, and a few fun things for the plane. In the spirit of procrastination (because it seems when the clock is ticking, this is what I do!), here is a fun Army of Two: 40th Day trailer filmed here in Montreal.

Depending on internet connections and my access to a proper power adapter, I will try to blog the panels / events that I attend. Have a great week!

Prepping for DiGRA

No matter how long I work on a research project, no matter how many tomes of reading notes and ethnographic synthesis’, I always find myself up against the clock when preparing for any important presentation. This does not help my fear of public speaking. We are speaking on Tuesday, Sept. 02, so technically we are still good on time. I mean, it’s not like we are adding content per se – it is just about organizing everything we amassed into a coherent 20 minute talk wrapped with a pretty little bow. When I look at how much stuff goes into 20 minutes (7 – 10 pages) – hours, books and articles read, notes and hypothesis’ made, it amazes me that we can even whittle it down to anything anyone would actually want to listen to. In an academic world (or at least in the discipline I was intellectually raised in), it is rare to talk off the cuff without references and a solid foundation of validation of new and innovative thoughts. 20 minutes – imagine!

On top of the power point prepping (which is where we are at now), I had to buy a new suitcase. This is a hard thing for me, I mean, a suitcase, if purchased properly, can be a long term investment/commitment. With all the styles out there, it is hard to pick something that you will still like in 5 years and you can be confident is your suitcase at the airport luggage caroussel (I learned that black might have staying power, but be damned if I know which suitcase is mine amid the kazillion other black suitcases!). Don’t even mention packing for 5 days with professional and social events in an unfamiliar climate. I learned that conferences are not places to break in new shoes.

Ok, I have procrastinated enough for now, back to work for me!

Horror: Hell in a handbasket I tell ya!

Sitting in the car last night, stuck in traffic, a radio announcement came on for the new movie “Drag Me To Hell“. At first we thought it was a parody, or some strange credit commercial; but no – it was dead serious – meant to make us scream in terror. If horror films follow contemporary social fears – from the  “Frankenstein Complex” to articles like this and books like this; then what does the premise of this movie say about the current state of our society? (can’t help but chuckle even as I type this at 7:49am!)

The premise – straight from IMDB:

A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

… and from Wikipedia:

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a loan officer with a good job and a promising future. With a promotion up in the air between her and another employee, her boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), advises her that she needs to demonstrate she can make “the hard calls” and make tough decisions. When Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly Slavic woman, asks for a third extension on her mortgage, Christine, against her better instincts, denies her in an attempt to prove herself. In desperation, Ganush prostrates herself before Christine, begging and kissing the hem of her skirt. As a crowd of customers and employees gathers, Christine panics and shoves the woman away, gravely insulting her.

That night, in a parking garage, Ganush, enraged and humiliated, exacts revenge by attacking Christine, pulling her out of her car and tearing off one of the buttons the sleeve of her jacket before using it to place a curse upon her. Shaken by this confrontation, but sure that no further harm will come of it, Christine tries to forget what has happened and move on with her life- that is until she is haunted around the clock by a mysterious and terrifying entity that only she can see.

Dead Ipod

I was against getting one. I hate(d) itunes (why, with three ipods in the house can we not have separate libraries!!!). But, back in 2005, when a good friend of mine offered to get me one (actually 2; a 30g first gen ipod video and an 8g first gen mini in black lacquer and apple green) at his company price – which was 50% off of cost at the time, I decided to push my generic MP3 player aside and took the plunge.

So, today, after all the rough and tumble my ipod video has gone through over the last 4 years, I dropped it in my bedroom (hardwood floors) and the screen went dark. I spent a long time trying to get it to work; did all of the button pushing combos that have worked in the past,  but this time, to no avail. The only thing that happened when plugged into the wall, my stereo or laptop is that the screen turns bright white (and blank) and if I pay attention, there is a grinding click click noise.

So – where does this leave me? The price of an ipod has dropped drastically for more capacity over the last 4 years. I can get a 120g ipod classic for $279 …. my 30g at the time was $300+ retail. I can move on up and get an itouch or something fancier… or leave apple all together and get some other fancypant mp3 player… my phone needs an upgrade (love my blackberry pearl, but I don’t take care of my tech toys well – i treat ‘em like any other object in my life – meant to be used – and its all scratched, the battery cover is loose…). Or do I get a nano, even though I dont really like them, but they are cheap(er) and small…. Something tells me I will end up with the ipod classic in the name of nostalgia (or is it fear of change?!)  – almost like buying a new hamster that “looks” like the one that just passed away (I can’t believe I just used that analogy, given the untimely death of our hamster only 2 months ago)… but ya … ipod classic – out of convenience …

/Rant On

RE: Online streams of TV shows blocked

I understand (some) of the underlying reasons about why American channels cannot (or will not) stream previously aired tv shows to Canadian IP addresses – but sheesh – we pay for American channels on our cable (since there is actually VERY LITTLE choice otherwise), so – in my logic – we contribute to their success – why not allow your shows to be viewed online by Canadians … I mean, even if I had to enter a cable code to prove that I at least subscribe to their channel to have access…

/rant off

Professional Identity

I have been working on the same stream of research on identity and video games over the last five years. My argument has been relatively consistent over the years, with a few flaws here and there as to be expected. Regardless, my goal has always been the same – to decentralize the concept of identity as a “result” or thing that belongs to the individual player and move towards thinking about identity as a process that occurs throughout game play instead. There is a lot more to it – of course – and you can read all about it when my dissertation is finished

That being said, I have had a few side-streams of research over the years as well, mostly concerned with how people (young people, and often girls) integrate technology into their every day lives and discussing the pros and cons of the increasing use of web spaces (forums, blogs, university hosted sites etc) for university classes. Over the last year, while I have been thinking about the details of my dissertation, I have been working  on these side projects (publication/conferences etc).

What has been worrying me is that it has been a year and a half since I presented at a conference, and it was not on my “primary” research. I have been becoming increasingly worried about my “professional” identity as a scholar of X or Y topic. Is this line of worry even necessary? Is it better to be known as a scholar of X topic or a scholar that researches a broader scope of issues that surround a particular topic or technology? I have many interests, and enjoy working on several things at once with different people, but my question is – does it damage my “professional” identity – do I even have one yet?! Perhaps it is a silly thing to worry about – but as I sit here working on conference papers and abstracts, I wonder how far from my ‘primary’ research is too far – or is that even a question to be asking myself/worried about?

Holiday Weekend Sword Play

Just a quick note – this weekend, I was sitting in my kitchen when I noticed out my back window 2 kids with huge duct tape & foam swords (one massive sword and another massive axe). They ran up and down the alleyway swinging their swords at each other yelling “on guard”. Shortly afterwards, I noticed what I assumed to have been their father – I was thinking he would tell them to stop yelling,  or to stay out of people’s yards – but instead, he pulled out his own sword! And with him was a wee little one – perhaps 3 years old, swinging an itty bitty thick sword. The four ran through the alley, ducking behind cars and clashing swords merrily. It was definitly a (great) sight to behold.

Plagiarism and Patents

Throughout my academic career, the question of plagiarism has always been at the forefront of my mind. Many conversations have been had over the years about what constitutes an “original” idea, and what ideas are merely a result of some form of intellectual ‘mash-up’ of books read, stories heard and other intellectual conversations. It has been argued that there isn’t really any “new” ideas out there anymore, with the bombardment of media forms (etc) we are filled with external information from the get-go. When writing papers for my undergrad, a colleague and I used to discuss to what extent our paper was at all orignal (since the primary form of paper writing at that stage is synthesis writing …). Even now, my ideas are a combination of what I have read, what I have thought about and what I believe in (all influenced by some ‘external’ source or another at some point).

So, as an academic we learn the boundaries of (and ways to reference) original thought, quoted material, and speaking/writing generally about ideas that have been previously written about by multiple authors (even if their ideas are contradictory, as long as the ‘topic’ has been discussed).

All this to say – I don’t quite understand how patenting works. How can one person say they thought of something independently of everything else, and they, therefore, own it, and all of the profits that can possibly come from it? The general idea of a virtual world is of no exception. It is a vague concept – that can embody MANY types of online spaces – yet, after reading this article, I am amazed that this is even legal at all. I mean, I might have come to learn about identity through the works of many theorists, but I don’t think anyone can patent the general idea of “identity” and profit when anyone else uses the word…at least I hope not.