The Spinning Beachball In My Brain

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Good stories win. . . . Deconstruct them all you want in the graduate seminar room, they still take root and replicate in elementary school textbooks, Jerry Bruckheimer movies, and on the History Channel.

So, playful historical thinking. Where to start? I’m not really sure, but let’s get this out of the way:

“History is not the past,” writes Greg Dening, “It is the past transformed into something else: story.”

You can dress that up in narrative theory, making it an epistemological principle about how we experience the world. You can boil it down to an acronym and write an airport book for business travelers. You can rail against it as a pathology of the human mind. But I don’t think you can deny it. Histories are narratives. We make sense of the present by telling stories about the past.

Don’t want to go that far? How about this: Stories are memorable. To quote that airport book, which is really not bad: “Stories stick.” Our attention spans are woefully finite. There are more philosophies in heaven and earth than there are human brains to dream them. So our memes and ideas and beliefs are locked in a battle to survive and be passed on. In this Darwinian–or is Dawkinsian?–struggle, stories win. And histories that make good stories–those that have compelling characters, satisfying plots, cathartic lessons–have a powerful memetic advantage over those that don’t.

Hayden White says that our grounds for choosing one version of history over another are almost always aesthetic. Romance celebrates the triumph of the good after trials and tribulations. Satire delights in chance and folly. Tragedy laments the costs when irreconcilable values collide.

This seems to me a dirty secret of the so-called “history wars” over school curricula, museum displays, and other forms of public memory. We treat these like political battles–conservatives want this style of history, liberals want this one–but ultimately our attraction to one narrative or another derives from aesthetic grounds as much as anything else. We like that story. It feels right. It does something for us.

Old-fashioned master narratives about How We Got to Be So Awesome–what Peter Seixas calls “The Best Possible Story” approach to national history–are persistent to the extent that they offer satisfying stories, that they are dramatic, retellable, or memorable in some way. Deconstruct them all you want in the graduate seminar room, they still take root and replicate in elementary school textbooks, Jerry Bruckheimer movies, and on the History Channel. And critical counternarratives make their own aesthetic appeals too. Isn’t “agency,” the magic word of the new social history, at bottom an aesthetic or even a literary criterion? Agency means we want the protagonists of our stories to be protagonists, agents of their own destiny.

Among indie roleplaying game theorists (a thrice-marginal community: we play pen-and-paper roleplaying games (like Dungeons & Dragons), but favor small-press “indie” games (ie, not Dungeons & Dragons) and then, weirdest of all, we like to talk and think theoretically about how they work) there has been much talk of “deprotagonization,” which is what you call it when a game’s rules, referee, or other players prevent you from feeling like the protagonist of your own story. I’m struck by how closely descriptions of deprotagonization in gaming–nobody can quite pin down what it is, but everybody knows it’s bad–mirror discussions of agency in history.

But all of the above presumes a world of linear historical texts, like textbooks and movies and monographs. Do the same rules apply to historical games and play? I would say yes, in that aesthetic considerations are just as inescapable in the world of play. But the nature of those considerations may be different. In the world of historical texts, good stories win. What wins in the world of history games and play?

Fun. The history that is fun will win the day. If it’s also true, or useful, or responsible, great. If it’s false, frivolous, or irresponsible, that may be a problem. But for good or ill, fun is very hard to beat.

(Did I just use 600 words to say “play should be fun”? God, I despise myself sometimes. This is the problem with writing about these things in an academic register. I’m off to go play for real with my daughter…)

Good stories win. . . . Deconstruct them all you want in the graduate seminar room, they still take root and replicate in elementary school textbooks, Jerry Bruckheimer movies, and on the History Channel.

Shared by el rolio
looks quite focused on folks in the creative industries/services. Those who have a design sense and go thru 20 moleskins a year minimum. hmm. Also prolly users of FFFound. Interesting. Knock it out MSFT

We've been dying to know more about Microsoft's Courier tablet / e-book device ever since we first caught wind of it last September, and while our entreaties to Mr. Ballmer went unanswered, we just learned some very interesting information from an extremely trusted source. We're told Courier will function as a "digital journal," and it's designed to be seriously portable: it's under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn't much bigger than a 5x7 photo when closed. That's a lot smaller than we expected -- this new picture really puts it into perspective -- and the internals apparently reflect that emphasis on mobility: rather than Windows 7, we're told the Courier is built on Tegra 2 and runs on the same OS as the Zune HD, Pink, and Windows Mobile 7 Series, which we're taking to mean Windows CE 6.

As we've heard, the interface appears to be pen-based and centered around drawing and writing, with built-in handwriting recognition and a corresponding web site that allows access to everything entered into the device in a blog-like format complete with comments. We're also hearing that there will be a built-in camera, and there's a headphone jack for media playback. Most interestingly, it looks like the Courier will also serve as Microsoft's e-book device, with a dedicated ecosystem centered around reading. It all sounds spectacular, but all we have for a launch date is "Q3 / Q4", and we have no idea how much it's going to cost, so we're trying to maintain a healthy skepticism until any of this gets official -- call us any time, Microsoft. One more pic showing the interface after the break.

Update: We've added a gallery of user interface shots -- some of which we've seen and some of which are new.

Update 2: We've just gotten two full-length HD videos of the interface in action. We've seen parts of these before, but there's some new stuff here that's quite interesting. Check it below.

Continue reading Microsoft's Courier 'digital journal': exclusive pictures and details (update: video!)

Microsoft's Courier 'digital journal': exclusive pictures and details (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments looks quite focused on folks in the creative industries/services. Those who have a design sense and go thru 20 moleskins a year minimum. hmm. Also prolly users of FFFound. Interesting. Knock it out MSFT

Shared by el rolio
OMG. This R8 just uppercutted my sensibilities

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Audi

We got our first peek at Abt's R8 GTR late last year, but like with many cars, it was a whole different experience to see it in person. To say carbon fiber has been used liberally is an understatement, as the entire car is clothed in the lightweight material. The look suits the R8, and Abt has managed to give the car a more aggressive look without going overboard. The interior is lathered in carbon fiber as well, and lightweight Recaro racing seats help reduce weight even further. In total, Abt has managed to take 220 pounds off the R8's heft.

In addition to changing the look of the car, Abt has given the R8 more power as well. Its 5.2-liter V10 is now rated at 620 horsepower, good for a 0-100 km/h sprint of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 202 mph. Other performance upgrades include an adjustable sport suspension, ceramic brake system, lightweight 18-inch wheels and Michelin Sport Cup tires.

Sound like your thing? Abt will produce just 25 examples, so get your order in soon. More details about the car can be found in the press release after the jump and live shots from the show floor in the gallery below.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Geneva 2010: Abt R8 GTR is full of V10, carbon fiber goodness

Geneva 2010: Abt R8 GTR is full of V10, carbon fiber goodness originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OMG. This R8 just uppercutted my sensibilities

Whoa! Everyone knows I love a good poster, but these are phenomenal. Apparently BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts), who just announced this year's winners of their awards earlier this week, commissioned illustrator Tavis Coburn of Dutch Uncle to create a series of new posters for each of the five Best Film nominees from 2009 (which were: Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, and Up in the Air). It's becoming increasingly popular to create stylized posters like this and we've seen some great ones recently (like the Quentin Tarantino series). But these posters are incredible, take a look below!

  

  

Along the left side of each it says Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2010. I owe credit to In Contention for first discovering these. However, the images above all come from Tavis Coburn's portfolio on the Dutch Uncle website. Guy Lodge is right about one thing - these are definitely a lot better than the fairly unimpressive official Oscar poster for this year. I especially love the poster for An Education (on the top row right side), it just looks totally gorgeous and it's also perfectly representative of the movie itself. Now if only Duncan Jones' Moon had received a nomination, I would've loved to see how that poster would've looked!

Discover More: Awards News, Cool Stuff, Posters

Shared by el rolio
Brilliant proclamation into the potential of the Windows Phone 7, including highlighting possible pitfalls. I'm seriously impressed with the announcement and also want to see a lot of the *upsides become realised.

Microsoft's last decade began dark. They seemed to screw everything up. Then, over 10 years, they made Xbox, Zune, and a better Windows. And if the reborn Windows Phone can amplify everything, they've got a shot at being the greatest. Brilliant proclamation into the potential of the Windows Phone 7, including highlighting possible pitfalls. I'm seriously impressed with the announcement and also want to see a lot of the *upsides become realised.

Shared by el rolio
i hate soca music but i LOVE this video

Hey so we’re just finishing up carnival in Trinidad & Tobago, that special time of the year when we cumulatively say ‘fuck winter’ and jump on a plane and head to the caribbean, for two days of running up and down the street in our underwear. If for what ever reason you couldn’t make it to Trinidad this year (Jim Jones says the recession is just a figure of speech), check out the awesomeness of the videoness for this year’s landslide Road March winner (that’s like Song of The Year to you gringos) – ‘Palance’ by JW and Blaze. JW and Blaze host the country’s biggest morning show on Red 96.7FM, and this song has been a runaway hit for them.

Also check out ‘Police’ another mean track on the same beat. My writing might be whack but i gave you some free shit. You’re welcome.

Palance

Police

i hate soca music but i LOVE this video

Shared by el rolio
these are great. some are so awesome, i cringed

SA Studios Global's Film Marketing Division has teamed up with Quentin Tarantino, Upper Playground and The Weinstein Company to present The Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds. A new art gallery is being opened in downtown Los Angeles as a fundraiser for The American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake. We received an email today with a link to Upper Playground where they have over 14 shots of some the different artwork that's being sold and it's seriously AWESOME stuff. I thought it couldn't get any better than that unused James Goodridge poster from last year, but these are the absolute cream of the crop.

I've picked a few of my favorites which you can see below - head to Upper Playground to see a few more.

    

    

    

The gallery's creative team has assembled the following select group of accomplished artists: David Choe, Sam Flores, Estevan Oriol, Grotesk, Jeremy Fish, Patrick Martinez, Alex Pardee, Munk One, Dora Drimalas, N8 Van Dyke, Rene Alamanza, Morning Breath and Skinner Davis, to create their own poster art based off their interpretation of the Oscar Nominated film, Inglourious Basterds artwork. Only six of each poster is being made and each one will be numbered and signed by Quentin Tarantino. They sell for $300 a piece. If you think you can afford one, head to the Upper Playground Art Gallery in LA on February 18th from 6PM to 9PM to try and buy one. I'd love to get one, but I don't have that much money!

Discover More: Cool Stuff, Featured, Photos

these are great. some are so awesome, i cringed