Rock Climbing

During the Thanksgiving break, I had a chance to go rock climbing with my cousins. We went to the Rock Spot Climbing in Lincoln, RI and it was a blast. This was my first time rock climbing and I'd have to admit that it was difficult. The staff was nice and accommodating and took their time teaching beginners the proper technique. When I first walked in, the sight of all the rock walls and pegs were sort of overwhelming but the feeling soon passed as I started signing the waiver form in anticipation of tackling my first climb. The daily rates were $24.00 to rent the harness and climbing shoes for the entire day. Although, they do offer special rates for events like “ladies night” where women only have to pay $10 for the same equipment rental.

After signing the waiver form, they gave my equipment and I was off. I had to get used to the harness as it tended to ride up and found the climbing shoes a bit uncomfortable to walk in. When climbing there's usually a spotter or belay person. This person supports the climber with a rope on a pulley system to prevent the climber from injury during a slip or fall. The Rock Spot Climbing had another option for solo climbers, they could rig up to an auto belay system that automatically supports the climbing and descends them gradually during a fall. The pegs on the rock walls are color coded and rated for difficulty. The higher the number means the harder the climbing route. Beginners normally start on a rating of 5.2, which means there are more secure holdings for the climbing and an easier climbing path. Each rock wall have many grip holdings on them and the challenge is staying on the color coded path and not using grip holdings of another color.

I consider myself an athletic person and I'm confident in my ability to handle situations that require physical strength. Rock climbing is harder than I though! At first I relied mainly on my upper body strength and quickly realized the amount of strain that was put on my fingers. In my first run, I managed to complete the 5.5 route easily and was running off the high of accomplishment and literally the high of being that high off the ground. I decided to try the 5.8 route with a protruding ledge. I literally spent 2 hours trying to complete this route, I must of slipped and fell about 10 times. At this point I realized the addition of the sport and understood why people liked to rock climb. I used to think that rock climbing was a boring activity and couldn't see how people enjoyed it, but that changed as I stared at the 5.8 route. I was frustrated and annoyed that this wall was beating me so I took a few minutes to evaluate the route.

As I mentioned earlier, I relied mostly on my upper body. After watching a few experienced climbers, I noticed that they used more of their lower body to push upwards and used their upper body to keep themselves balanced. I gave my forearms a rest and when it felt better I returned to the 5.8 route, this time with a new game plan. Prior to my new found knowledge, I kept falling at a pivotal point where there's a protruding ledge halfway up the route. Usually at this point, my forearms are so exhausted that I don't have the strength to advance up the ledge. This time I took my time, using my legs to primarily push myself up and only using my arms to balance myself. This time around, I had enough strength reserved to make it past the ledge and eventually made it to the top.

This was probably one of the hardest and most demanding sport I've participated in. The stress on my fingers and forearms is something I'm not used to and I found this frustrating but I would imagine with conditioning that frustration would pass. I give tremendous credit to these climbers that go free climbing without a support rope. This is a difficult sport and I look forward to going again. The feeling of accomplishment is great and the act itself is a great workout. It's a good activity to incorporate into your workout routines.

Rock Spot Climbing

Rock Climbing Workout Conditioning

Rock Climbing

Rock Climbing Rating

Tips and Techniques

Thanksgiving Stuff

It's that time again, Thanksgiving is less than a week away. As with most Americans, I look forward to this holiday because it's a day spent with family members. I'm going to be honest, I actually look forward more for the food then my family, I mean, I see them everyday and only get this much variety of food a few times a year. All kidding aside, my family usually invites extended family members so I'm actually looking forward to that. There's usually 20 family members that meet and everyone brings something different. My aunt plans to bring over a fried turkey, I've had my first fried turkey while in Seattle on Thanksgiving vacation a few years ago. It was delicious, more specifically, it was moist. Another aunt plans to bring a glazed honey ham and butternut squash. Her butternut squash runs out quickly so it's wise to always grab some on your first plate. Most of the food fare are the usual ones in most American homes consisting of turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry and gravy but one of the benefits of having so many people is that they each bring something different. It's also a good way to catch up with everyone and just more enjoyable with a full house. After the smorgasbord, the men usually claim the basement where we relax watching football and taking naps while the women watch television in the living room. Most of them rather not watch football so we retreat to the basement. Along with watching football, I could always remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory being aired. To me it's not Thanksgiving unless, there's family, butternut squash, turkey, football, and Willy Wonka. This year my cousin is making the trip from Brooklyn to be with us for Thanksgiving. She moved to Brooklyn from Seattle earlier this year so this trip to Rhode Island will be a much needed vacation. She's one of three sisters and lives by herself so it'll be nice for her to have a house full of family.

Along with food and family, the next biggest thing about Thanksgiving is the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday. Some items are marked so low that it's ridiculous. This years lowest product price are televisions. Best Buy is offering a 42” LCD 1080p Sharp television for $200, granted there's probably only 10 in stock and you'd have to wait in line but if you were in the market for one, it's worth it. This year a few stores are changing the hours of operation as well. Some stores are having a midnight opening for Black Friday instead of opening the next day like they normally do. Best Buy is even taking it a step further and starting their Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving night starting a 10pm. Regardless of when you plan to hit the retail stores, there are plenty of good deals out there. I'm a huge golf fan and play regularly. I go through one glove per season and Dicks Sporting Goods is having a special 3 gloves for $10, which is great seeing that they usually sell for $7.99 each. Blu-rays and DVDs are marked down considerably as well. DVDs are listed for $1 and Blu-ray's for $5. Being a film geek, I play to check out these bins, although the selection is limited. Retailers are trying to make shopping for consumers easier and evidence can be seen as they're changing the hours that they're open. I plan to buy a TV, gloves, and some movies.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Holidays. In my family we usually rotate where we have the family gatherings and as a kid my aunt usually had it at her house. I love the variety of food and hanging out with my cousins. It's nice to catch up and watch television with them. Another aspect that makes Thanksgiving great is Black Friday and this year if you're looking for a new TV, retailers are offering some phenomenal deals.

Thanksgiving Stories

Fried Turkey

Thanksgiving Recipes

Black Friday Ads

Best Buy Black Friday Ad

First Person Shooters

              Modern Warfare 3 was released this past week and it's highly rated by game reviewers. MW3 is a First Person Shooter and its theme revolves around military combat. As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, I'm a recreational gamer. I only play games every once in awhile and usually play when I'm hanging out with friends. It was at a friend's house that I played Call of Duty for the first time, back then it was Call of Duty: World at World. That game impressed me then and its newest title, MW3, impresses me now.

              The thing that impresses me about these games are their ability to develop agency between player and character. The FPS aspect alone allows the player to see the game world through the eyes of the character. Also, the peripheral view is limited in FPS, this forces the player to be alert of their surrounds. In contrast to 3^rd person view which usually positions the camera just above and behind the character. 3^rd person allows for a wider view and by seeing the character, the subconscious separation between player and character is involuntary. FPS also allows the creation of three dimensions in the game world. The use of space is more developed. Compare this to previous 2D games like Super Mario Bros and the 3D aspect of FPS allows for a more rich experience.

              Another aspect of games that allow agency between player and character is the highly developed narrative. Games allow the creation of not only plot sequences but also creates narratives through the game world. For example, in the game Fallout 3, which is another FPS, we walk into an abandoned school to proceed in the main narrative. As we progress we see dead bodies hanging from the wall. Upon closer inspection we see that there are knives in the eye socket of the corpse and empty bags next to the corpse. Now this is a great example of spacial narratives, the elements that make up the game world conveys a narrative that us separate from the narrative of the game story.

              Today's game technology has advanced greatly from games in the past. The most obvious advancement is in graphics. Developers are able to use programming software to create highly rich game environments. These rich environments take up a lot of storage space and with products like blu-ray discs, these developers can store more on them. Games along with HD televisions are working hand in hand to deliver the best game experience to the players. Games now are available in 1080 and 720 resolutions, delivering the best quality.

              Games are essentially puzzles and the puzzles in today's games are well integrated into the game's story. For example, in MW3, the puzzles are presented to players combat scenarios. Players must figure out the best strategy to advance in the level, in some cases the puzzle element involves the element of time. This makes the puzzle that much more interesting as players must negotiate between time spent over figuring out the best strategy.

             MW3 is a great game, ever since I played Call of Duty: World at War I was hooked on the FPS type games. The ability to connect and feel as if I was actually in the game world impresses me most. Developers integrated story really well into game play and their ability to develop highly rich environmental elements allows player to develop agency. Puzzles in video games come in many forms and range in difficulty according to skill level. These aspects of game play are all evident in game design and it's amazing to see how games have changed over the years, both mechanically and aesthetically.

Modern Warfare 3

Fallout 3

Game Mechanics

First Person Shooter

Game Technology

Reality TV

     There seems to be a lot of reality television shows on now a days. Earlier this week, I came home and turned on the television and Dancing With The Stars was playing. I changed the channel only to find another reality based program called The Sing Off. I changed the channel again, but this time to The History Channel and IRT:Deadliest Roads was airing. I never really noticed it but many programs being aired consist of the reality theme. I tried to think back to the first reality program that I can remember and it seems to be Survivor. I did some researching and found out that the show is on its 23^rd season. I thought about this a little more and now I understand why there are so many of reality programs, profit. Television networks make money by selling advertising commercial space to companies.

     These commercials are only effective if people are watching so television programs get viewer ratings or more specifically a count of how many viewers watch that particular program. If the ratings are high, then networks seek to make more money by creating different variations of the successful program, which creates a cycle. Other networks see the success and copy the program's format which leads to many channels having similar themed programs or content homogenization.

     Checking the FIOS program menu it was interesting to see how many programs were reality based, programs like American Pickers, America Restoration, Pawn Stars, Swamp People, Kate Plus 8, Jersey Shore, The Braxtons, just to name a few. I thought about why people like watching these kinds of program and I think that people in general are voyeuristic, we gain pleasure from viewing others. Reality TV allows us the ability to view people in a “raw” state. The actions supposedly are not scripted so it appeals to viewers that want a form of escapism after a long day, viewers find pleasure in living life through a reality show personality.

     Reality programming also allows the viewer to constantly evaluate and compare their lives based on the conflicts in the programming. It's funny how many people deny watching reality shows but someone's watching them cause there's so many of them on air. These reality personalities are now considered celebrities and people get annoyed by the stupid things they do, like the Kim Kardashian divorce. I personally, like informative reality shows like America Pickers and Swamp People but I can't stand shows like The Jersey Shore and The Real World. I feel that the The Jersey Shore and The Real World offer nothing good to the viewer. Viewers that like these shows often internalize the messages these shows send which causes a problem for societal values. I can see evidence as many students are referring to women as “grenades”. What annoys me most is that people like Kate Gosselin and Kim Kardashian develop these huge egos which to a certain extent sends a message to viewers that their actions are okay.

     We live in a capitalistic society, so the profit motive influences decisions made about programming content. Right now it seems as reality based programs are getting one of the highest ratings so the vicious cycle continues. Viewers, as a whole, find excitement in watching these shows and until we find more pleasure from information based programs we are at the mercy of the reality shows.

Reality TV

Rating System

Survivor

Kim Kardashian Divorce

Why Reality?

I'm BATMAN!!!

I recently had the opportunity to play a new video game called Batman: Arkham City. It was released on October 19^th, 2011 and has gained high reviews. IGN has rated the game 9.5 out of 10 and it looks to be a top contender for “Game of the year.” This is a sequel to the original hit Batman: Arkham Asylum and so far meets the expectations of gamers across the country. I have to admit I'm not a true gamer and classify myself as a part time gamer at best, I only play when I'm visiting a friend's house or a few times during the summer. I do own a Playstation 3 but mainly use it to watch Blu-ray movies. The games I normally play are First Person Shooters like the Call of Duty series. I like the excitement and perceived realism in FPS games but found Arkham City to be quite engaging. Arkham City is the 3^rd person adventure game. You play Batman, Cat Woman, and Robin as you make your way through the city of Arkham dealing with crime bosses like, Penguin, Joker, Two Face, and Mr. Freeze. As a kid, I played many adventure games like Super Mario Bros and Contra but haven't really experienced a game that caught my attention like Arkham City. The graphics and game-play amazed me, jumping from building to building was seamless and smooth, the fighting moves were fluid, and the graphics were nothing short of spectacular. It's amazing how the narratives in video games have are so well integrated into game-play. The controls were easy to get used to and once comfortable they allowed me the essential experience of being Batman. The game does have sexual suggested content and I often think if the rating system needs to be re-evaluated. It's currently rated “T for teens” but I feel because of its suggestive themes and violence it should be rated something equivalent to the rating “R”. I feel that a thirteen year old is too young to be playing this game, I often think about my thirteen year old cousin playing this and it disturbs me, especially during the scenes with Cat Woman and Harley Quinn. I do understand from a marketing aspect why they would rate this “T for teens” because with a higher rating they would be limited in amount of revenue they would be making. If the game was rated higher, parents or adults of age are the only ones that would able to buy the games and although younger teens are going to the stores with adults the lower rating allows them to make the purchase directly. Apart from the rating, I really enjoyed the story and appreciate how well the developers designed the game world. One of the most helpful aspects of the game is the ability to go into detective mode. In detective mode, the game space transform into a infrared version of the surroundings. Objects that can be climbed and grappled are lit orange while enemies are lit red. The game world is well detailed and can sometimes be overwhelming, I feel the designers took this into consideration as they developed the detective mode. The cut scenes are a pleasure to watch and adds to the game-play, the graphics are amazing, and I can definitely see why this game is considered a contender for “Game of the Year”. If you are in the market for a new game, I highly recommend Batman: Arkham City. IGN rates the game 9.5 out of 10 and there are many critic and user reviews on their website.

Batman: Arkham City

IGN

Arkham City Trailer

Arkham Asylum

Game of the Year 2011

Run For Your Lives!!!!

The Walking Dead premiered its second season last week and it didn't disappoint. If you're not familiar with the series, it's about a zombie survival narrative. The show follows a group as they try to maneuver their way to safety through the city scape. It plays at 9:00pm on Sundays on AMC. This genre has always intrigued me, I often debate with my friends what we would do first. The thought of such a scenario is scary and fun at the same time. The reason why I say fun is because we ultimately feel that it could never happen. Not at least the way most films make it out to be, brain hungry zombies that still have senses. But what if it really did happen and that's how the zombies acted? What would we all do? It's a scary thought, especially because we are so accustomed to living comfortable lifestyles, lifestyles that consists of electricity, accessible food, television, and the internet. I say the internet because it has become an essential component in our lives. I feel our society would transgress into a more farming lifestyle. Smaller communities would be formed to protect against the walking dead. In turn, the leaders of these communities would have more power and control of the members it protects. Life I feel would revert back to the familiar form of the wild west except now there's brain hungry zombies to contend with. My main goal would be to get protection, in terms of a gun or hand wielding object. I would then try to save as many family and friends as possible, then I would worry about shelter, food, and most importantly water. Once all the main objectives are complete, now you have the choice to make...do you stay and wait for the government for information or do you mobilize? I say mobilize, especially away from large cities. But what happens when a group member becomes infected? I feel the obvious answer is easy to say but when you actually go to do it, I would feel that it's harder than most people would think. Thoughts of doubt would be running wild in my head. Will there be a vaccine that could turn them back to normal? Would there be control where you can keep them safely, like in Shaun of the Dead? Ultimately, it depends on the type of zombies they turn into. I often wonder if the government would be able to survive this type of ordeal. I know it depends how it spreads but I still wonder what a world without is like. With Halloween around the corner, the thoughts run more and more through my head. I see zombies everywhere I go. I recently went to the library and heard someone moaning...maybe a student having a bad dream while napping but I found maybe daydreaming and asking myself that “what if” question. I immediately looked over my shoulder and looked for the quickest exits. Earlier this year, the CDC, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention even had a zombie apocalypse warning on their websites. The feel that the precautions citizens should make are similar to catastrophes like a major hurricane or tornado. The primary concern would be shelter, food, water, and clothes. So next time you hear that creaking noise or moan, look around and beware because a zombie apocalypse could be coming. Films like Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, etc. have forever changed the horror genre. With Halloween around the corner, I couldn't help but write about one of my favorite genres. The Walking Dead airs on Sundays at 9:00pm and I highly recommend that you set time aside to watch this remarkable series or DVR it for later viewing. I joke around about this subject but with all kidding aside, imagine the chaos and despair of a real zombie apocalypse.

CDC Warning

The Walking Dead

The Zombie Survival Guide

Zombies Wiki

Zombie Costume

80s vs. Reality Television Shows

Good Morning America had a special running last week called “80s Week” and featured the hit television show Growing Pains. The cast members were reunited and reminisced about the success of the series. Cast members answered questions concerning romantic rumors and the personal problems that some faced. Kirk Cameron (Mike Seaver) explained how he struggled with the attention of fame and Tracy Gold (Carol Seaver) talked about her struggle with anorexia. Television shows in the 80s like Growing Pains, Mr. Belvedere, Who's the Boss, Perfect Strangers, and Family Ties instilled values and moral messages that seems absent from today's programming. Programs today are “reality” based and often have sexual themes to them. Television shows like Jersey Shore, Survivor, Big Brother, The Housewives of New Jersey are all reality shows that is fueled by manipulation and sex. It's quite evident how programming has changed, MTV stands for Music Television and now has more reality or scripted programs than they do music videos. These are the kinds of shows that get ratings and in turn program executives are churning out more and more of these programs. I often think about the sociological concerns of these programs. I would imagine it's teaching the younger generation that you too can be famous, you just have to act like an idiot or set aside your pride. Socialization is learning and internalizing the values and beliefs that is considered the norms of a culture and by doing this develop a sense of self. I feel that people that watch these kind of shows will soon inherit those moral messages of reality programming and instill the wrong values. I'm already starting to see this when out in bars, guys are fist pumping emulating the guys from Jersey Shore and women are using the word “bitches” as a term of endearment. It's amazing how much society is influenced by mass media and in this day and age of the World Wide Web messages spread faster and faster.

A positive side that television programs have had on society is the change in structure and agency, especially between institutions. The typical understanding of family structure used to be father, mother, and children. Nowadays family structure has changed and has come to mean various forms. For example, family structure now could mean single mother, single father, gay parents, and grandparents. MTV has a program called Teen Mom that showcases the life of a teenage mom, the struggles that she must deal with while balancing life at home with her parents. This program addresses the concern of teenage pregnancy and demonstrates the daily hardships. I feel that most people when lectured, without emotional connection to the subject, feel that whatever it is...it won't happen to them. I feel the series Teen Mom allows the audience to emotionally invest with the different cast members and in doing so feel for them and learn value lessons about teenage pregnancy. Show's like Will & Grace and The Ellen Degeneres Show has advanced the gay movement in America. There are more shows within the past 20 years that have openly gay cast members than ever before. This has changed the structure of family in terms of the heterosexual family members and allowed members to better understand and accept homosexual family members.

Although, I feel that the popular television programs in the 80s are far better than the popular shows in the past decade, there are positive aspects of the television shows within the past 20 years. I guess everyone yearns for better times and I can see why people like watching reality shows cause it makes them feel better about their lives but I often think about the values and beliefs these shows are instilling in their viewers.

Reality Television Shows

Growing Pains

The Jersey Shore

The Ellen Degeneres Show

Teen Mom