Indignant Desert Birds

One thing I have noticed over and over again regarding gaming columns written by women is an overwhelming obsession with “proving oneself”. I read an article in my boyfriends Game Informer over the weekend which displayed an odd image of a forlorn looking girl holding an N64 controller and staring up at the camera. The picture was creepy enough, and somehow evoked visions of childhood abuse and/or neglect.

Anywho, the article, written by a certain female star of a certain video game TV show, (I am really talking like this because I don’t remember. That’s professional journalism for ya!) started with a degree of frustration with the whole video gaming crowd and how they accuse her of being an imposter, (i.e. saying she doesn’t like video games).

The reason this article struck me as odd was not this frustration. I would imagine that this is true. Rather, it was the way that, without so much as a pause, she went on to try to validate herself by saying she had been playing video games since she was young, that she played them all the time, yada yada yada. I thought this was particularly strange, because frankly, who gives a shit?

I could have started playing video games yesterday and I really would find it annoying for some stupid video gamer to express incredulity that I had ever picked up a game controller. It is the same ire I feel when someone dares to say in WoW trade chat, “Girls don’t play video games!/WoW”, or every single time they refer to me as “He” despite the fact that my AVATAR. IS. FEMALE.

Okay, but that’s not really the issue here, is it? My point is, really, that by spending all of this pagespace trying to prove to her fans that she does, in fact, play video games, she is undermining the female video gaming base by succumbing to the ipso facto rule that women must prove their worth before being able to talk about enjoying video games, when it is accepted that just by the virtue of being male that you must play video games (which is really just as stupid).

Tags: zombies by futile
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…we need to make sure we never stop having a gay pride festival.

(via)

The GF and I headed to the one in SF. A good time was had by all.

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more cat pictures

I’m on vacation. Posing from me will be light…

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Via

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“The house could use a woman’s touch,” said my boyfriend’s step-mother, my aunt, my step-mother, and finally one of my friends when I moved into my boyfriend’s house last month. My first order of business was getting a kitchen cart, which will soon be followed by curtains and screens for our windows. These changes aren’t part of a “woman’s touch”, though, they’re due to “real” jobs that afford us the luxury of not worrying how to pay for dinner.

At least, that’s what I tell myself.

“Are you a trailing spouse?” asks the CNN.com headline. When married couples relocate, husbands generally get a salary increase of $3000; wives receive a cut of about $750. Why? “[M]en and women are taught to play very different roles within marriage. Women are socialized to play a homemaking role within the family, whereas men are encouraged to focus on their careers and breadwinning.” It’s good to know that after 40 years since the second wave of feminism began, we still have the same problems and the same answers: socialization.

Since my decorating skills are limited to “organized clutter”, I can’t imagine my “woman’s touch” is helpful. All the same, I do laundry, dishes, and make meals. He takes me out and buys me pretty things. I can’t imagine myself as a trailing spouse, but I never imagined myself doing all the cooking either.

Maybe I should just marry a woman, now that it’s legal in California. I mean, as long as she’s willing to re-locate for my $3000 increase in salary.

Tags: Feminism by wanton frolicking
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By Ara Rubyan
Cross posted at E Pluribus Unum

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

— Karl Rove, describing Barack Obama

When I first read about this comment, my immediate reaction was that I couldn’t think of a single country club that would admit a black man named Barack Hussein Obama. Then I thought Rove was doing his usual shtick, i.e., take his greatest weakness and ascribe it to his opponent. In other words, I felt that he was describing George W. Bush at the club, not Obama. Makes much more sense that way, given Bush’s history with alcohol — and his smart mouth. It was much the same technique Rove used to destroy John Kerry’s Vietnam war record in 2004, all but accusing the nominee of being a liar and a coward. All this while Bush was hiding his “war record” in plain sight.

But a commenter at Talking Points Memo unpacked Rove’s comments differently than me and I think he nails it:

The key to the statement is that (in the image) he is with “a beautiful date.” Not Michelle Obama or, in the abstract, his wife, i.e. a wife like Michelle Obama. When you think of a “beautiful date” specifically at a country club, do you picture an African-American woman? Would Rove’s target audience?

Or do you picture him there, a black man, smoking a cigarette indoors at a country club, with a white woman on his arm?

When I thought of this, I got a chill. When you think of Obama’s vulnerability, I think the primaries showed that race remains a real and very serious obstacle, particularly with white Americans over 50. When you think of where we are with racism in this country, I think its a pretty safe bet that the final freak-out factor to overcome may be black men dating white women, in particular, one’s daughter.

If I were a completely amoral Republican operative, I’d try to find some white women that Obama dated before Michelle and get them into the public’s stream of consciousness anyway I could. Its a tactic so vile I don’t even like speculating about it, but if you want to be ready for the worst, I think Rove just tipped his hand at where they plan to go.

In all fairness, I have to ask if there is (or isn’t) the analogous scenario that an “amoral Democratic operative” could spring on McCain? Remember, in order for it to work, it has to resonate at the emotional level and be absolutely radioactive in the extreme. It has to address a fundamental fear that the electorate has about McCain.

Tags: conservative, election08, games, human rights, politics by arubyan
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There were a few interesting new releases this week. After all of the Metal Gear Solid 4 hullaballoo, and the relatively unexciting Ninja Gaiden II release, it is interesting to see some lower-profile games being released:

Guitar Hero: On Tour: I have..really no desire to play Guitar Hero on my DS, and the controls have been described as clunky on most of the review sites I have read. It is an interesting idea, nonetheless, but not one I’m really itching to try out.

Rock Band on Wii: It makes so much more sense, doesn’t it? Put the strange peripherals all on one system. Honestly, I would have liked the white drum set, but alas.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: I had high hopes for this game, as I liked Final Fantasy Tactics Advance quite a bit, but it seems to be fairly mediocre. I was going to buy it, but I suppose not.

Overlord: Raising Hell: The game no one talks about. The price is really crap ($59.99) considering you can buy a new copy of the original game for $19.99, though the new version is on the far superior PS3, with a little bit of extra content. (Can you tell my Xbox360 has been in the shop too MANY FREAKING TIMES? Yeah, we don’t get along anymore)

I liked Overlord, not really for the humor (it wasn’t terribly funny), but more because it was actually fun, and it didn’t follow the stupid first person shooter bandwagon that it seems every game on a next-gen system is following. I also tend to like strategy games, but I get bored and frustrated with full-blown RTSs, so Overlord filled that tiny niche and I still want to play it, even though my 360 is still malfunctioning. Even though it is a lot like Pikmin, it is more fun because of the lack of time limit. I really believe that time limits only serve to make me want to stop playing the shiny new game I just bought.

Side Note: Look at this review: review, he referenced a game called “Boulder’s Gate”. Oh come on, it’s BALDUR, the SON OF ODIN, get it right!

Speaking of Odin, I have been playing Odin’s Sphere, which is pretty old by now. I forgot just how incredibly difficult it is, and also how incredibly gorgeous it is, especially for a PS2 game (and especially on an HDTV!)

Tags: Uncategorized by futile
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McCain’s campaign is encouraging trolls. They’re literally giving trolls “points” for leaving pro-McCain talking points in the comments section of various blogs. Their view of the blogworld is fairly skewed, they list Glen Reynolds (Instapundit) as neither right, nor left, nor moderate, but “other” (he’s a fairly doctrinaire conservative).

This isn’t the worst idea in the world– many large companies employ trolls to get their own word out. Its just so transparent and icky that I can’t think it will do much good. Yes, this blog is a bit annoyed not to be included on the hit list.

Tags: conservative, election08 by Punning Pundit
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PSP hackers have added a ton of functionality to the handheld device. They’ve let it play games that cannot be purchased in stores, play movies that otherwise owners wouldn’t be able to watch (at least, not on the PSP), every time I’ve thought about buying one, I’ve had the hacked-on features.

Naturally Sony wants to stop this. They can’t stand the idea that they’re selling hardware at the expense of losing control of that hardware. Somehow, the idea of “giving the customer what they want” doesn’t seem to enter into the picture.

Perhaps that’s why I own a Nintendo DS…

Tags: games by Punning Pundit
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Stardock has come out with a new game. It’s called Political Machine

It’s a turn based resource management game where the object is to win the US presidency. You do this by pandering to the public, begging for money, and giving speeches. It is a surprisingly fun game for one built around electoral math.

You get to build and control a bobble head-like avatar in a bunch of different scenarios. Wanna win the Election of 1860 and prevent the civil war? Go forth! The election of 2008 is the main feature, and there are a couple others. I’ve been fighting the ’08 battle as me, slagging the evil Republican U.S. Grant. Not the real grant who knew that fighting terrorists was a police job. The fake Grant who wants to rape our environment. Also, he hates the economy. At least, that’s what I’m telling people…

The only real criticism I can offer is that it’s not always clear what buttons do. Why should I want to take out an attack ad vs one lauding my own stances. What do some of the icons mean? Why can’t I put together a web machine to pull in money automatically? I may be able to mod some of these things into the game

It’s US$20, so even if you only get a few hours of entertainment out of it, it’s a better bet than a movie. I highly recommend the game. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Grant has just gained 6pts in 3 weeks and pulled even with me. Should I go after independents? Or try to win over my base? We’ll see…

Tags: games, humor by Punning Pundit
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