De Blob: Anarchy, Art and Video Games

Fun, colorful and maybe it has a deeper message.

I don't really play newer video games, but I got the chance to try out De Blob, a Wii game that feels a bit like Mario Sunshine, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby and The Tick. De Blob even looks a bit like Tick, doesn't he?
I'm not saying it's original, but it's delightful. The plot is, an evil corporation called INKT has invaded Chroma City and turned the entire place to a colorless, soulless place. Your job is to maneuver De Blob to paint capsules and soak the entire town in color. You rescue citizens from their lifeless, cultureless existence and everyone cheers and music plays and it's great.
The bad guys, the Inkys, they're like Nazi's. Watching cut scenes of them are like old Nazi propaganda films and a less funny, less violent Happy Tree Friends. But it's an interesting perspective to have on fascism, at least for a video game -- that government is uncreative and soulless and the best way to fight back is ART.
There's even the Church of Inktology (which you destroy and turn into a skatepark), a thin veil for religious commentary or maybe just attacks on Scientology, but I don't see much difference.
Yes, it's a game about Anarchy and graffiti and it's marketed for kids. I think this is spectacular. My brothers and sisters who own it will maybe grow up thinking for themselves. Or maybe not. They don't read into much.
And that's half the reason I don't play newer video games -- there's nothing to read into. There were some bizarre, troubling morals in the games I played as a kid, like Majora's Mask, Link's Awakening, Metroid and Zombies Ate My Neighbors, but at least there was something. There's nothing anymore. Halo? Please. All those stupid WWII games? Yeah right, not even a "don't join the army" warning. Even the newer Zeldas and Marios are vapid.
But De Blob is an exception. A beautiful exception.

If I had a Wii, I'd buy it.

Day Thirty Se7en: Happiness is Arrogance

I am sleeping in the cabin again. The tenants my grandparents had left because of all the rain, but they still paid in full. Once again, I have an entire house to myself.

I was kind of enjoying the rain. When I wasn't ignoring it.

Today, my cousin Josh found a bow and arrow set in the basement. When I came home from work, we shot it at this dead tree my grandfather turned into a giant birdfeeder. I want to kill animals and grandpa says it's fine to shoot raccoons or cats, but not chipmunks or squirrels. Oh well. . .

So tomorrow I have a meeting with the Citizen to arrange a schedule. Fuckin' finally.

Next week I will be in Virginia for a wedding for some relatives I've never heard of. It will be just me and my cousins - no adults. It's a roadtrip except by plane. I'm pretty damn excited. I hope it is as cool as the wedding my friend Kyle attended. It was quite lavish. Some dude rolled cigars right in front of you and there was a bar that didn't ID. I want that. I also want to take some really cool pictures of family members I couldn't care less about. Except my 2nd cousin Becky. She is awesome, from what I remember.

Speaking of Kyle, he is in Washington D.C. I told him to spit on all the monuments for me. So he did. What a pal.

I hope that offends you. Those statues don't mean freedom to anyone. In fact, what Kyle did was a much better example of freedom than a swimming pool for FDR or Lincoln staring down from his throne. In fact, all those monuments vaguely represent Greek architecture, which is very pagan. What I'm saying, is there if you think it's wrong to hawk lougies on rocks, you hold them sacred. You mine as well worship them.

Anyway, things for me are going pretty good. How nice.

Day Two: Stranger in a Strange Land

I've been rocking out to Bing Crosby, driving that little Prius everywhere. The car of the future. But it won't stop global warming any. Tear.

I listened to some French radio station. Rudy Cayn sung a song about Guantanamo Bay. That's social commentary for you. Then some Mars Volta on full blast. Love driving that Prius.

The street signs are sporadic here. Can barely ever find the speed limit. I was confusing the route number with it and driving 25 down a 55 two-lane road. Pissed off a lot of drivers. Ha.

I usually keep the speed limit, but no one else does. Once I discovered that there are never any cops around, I began to really enjoy myself. Driving at night here is terrifying tho. No streetlights except on major roads. (There are no major roads).

The signs are also weird and unprofessional, compared to the authority of Phoenix. Blind Person. Beware! Pedestrians.

One of those tube-like ashtrays caught on fire. Some church employee tried extinguishing it with Lemon Flavored Fruit2O.

My grandpa had a meeting so he threw me the keys to his blue Chevy truck. It's Center Harbor. I have no place to go, not much money to spend. So I drove to a train station. For no reason other than unadulterated adventure.

I applied for a job working for this dismal little restaurant called Hart's. I hope I can find a better place to slave away.

I met Steve, a really overweight guy my dad has been friends with when he lived here. I think a lot of people have resentment or adoration for me just because of how well they knew my father. My father the Anarchist. The Smoker. The Rebel. It's interesting. It'll be more intense on Sunday, I'm sure.

My grandfather owns the church and he has a cellar filled with donated goods. There's a food bank and clothes, furniture, books and random bits of everything. It goes back out to the community. That includes me. Someone donated their collection of LP records. Most are boring classical music or gospel hymns, but I've found a few gems. Like Bing Crosby.

Someone donated an entire encyclopedia volume. Will people publish these in the future, with Wikipedia and About and the rest of the Internet? Wikipedia is just proving that knowledge is infinite, so I guess not. No point.

I flipped to the P's. Learned about the history of Mannerism painting. I've been reading up on the Siege of Sarajevo. Roses. Things I never learned about in school. Things I want to know.

I found a dream house. I didn't have one before. I'm not sure I'm serious about here. But this is a small town that isn't sucking me dry because it's not centered around trains or indoctrination. It's just nothing. I could live here and get things done. But I'm hesitant.

I don't fit in here at all. Not wearing my indie clothes, my fedora. My crooked haircut. Not my unfundemental anarchist value system. They give me stares. Some judgemental. Some vaguely familiar. Everyone knows me somewhere, somehow. Small town thing.

I haven't been this happy in a while. Probably since November. December. Most of January. Some Thing.

Nothing's superficial. Nothing really matters. Dreams and dreams and more dreams.