Fable

Fable is a great videogame that's been getting bashed a lot for not living up to its own hype. My take on it is that if I said I was gonna turn water into wine, but only turned it into beer, that would still be pretty amazing. It's an RPG (that's role-playing game for you non gamers)with a moral component. What that means is that while you explore the gameworld (a fairly traditional medieval setting)your choices have real consequences. Break into a house? If the police catch you, you'll have to pay the consequences. Beat your wife? Get ready for a divorce. On top of this complexity is the fact that its a beautiful looking game with a terrific combat mechanic. In some way's its somewhat like Grand Theft Auto. However, its unlike that game in two main ways, one philosophical, one technical. Philosophical: Grand Theft Auto, no matter what its developers say, rewards you for criminal behavior. You can't really play as a good guy in the GTA games. Because of this, the moral component in GTA is limited. Technical: Fable has a beautiful game engine, a fabulous combat system, and a beautiful looking game world. GTA to me is a lousy driving game and a lousy combat game thrown into a huge game world. Because its so huge, its interesting, but to me, its not as satisfying.

Anyway. Fable. Good game.

Change in Mood

Lately, I've been feeling a puff of wind, a barely perceptible flutter, that has given me a lot of hope. Ten days ago the presidential race felt static and stale, as if it were already over. The CBS scandal had hit, and had effectively intercepted an opportunity to hurt Bush over the National Guard issue. All across the country, progressives were hitting their foreheads in frustration. But the last couple of days, I've been heartened by a couple of things. First, the polls are tightening up again. This is good news. To me, this shows the Bush campaign's main weakness. They have to keep distracting people, and it's tough to do that all the way until the election. When people start really looking at the issues (mainly Iraq, but also the deficit), it's tough to argue that Bush appears to be governing from fantasyland. Before the GOP convention, the race was tied, essentially. Then those swing voters went away. But, as the swing voters, by definition, are stupid,they need to be constantly tended. Otherwise, little things like a 500 billion dollar deficit or 1029 US deaths in iraq start to make them feel weird. So the Thursday debate is important. I think Kerry has to 'win'. By that I mean, I have to think he won. Unless Bush feels he has been damaged in some way, he can continue to be the evasive, smirking, actor-in-chief he has been this entire campaign. If he actually has to debate the facts - well, then Kerry has a shot. If he loses-then it's pretty much all over.

Gulp.

The Moronic Middle

Something struck me the other day as I read GW's remarks to the U.N. on Tuesday. Not only is he lying, I realized, he knows he's lying, and so do all the diplomats. These remarks aren't even for the diplomats. They're for the most highly prized demographic in all of democracy - the 'swing voters'. Lets get something straight right here and now. You can be a republican and be smart. You can definitely be a democrat and be smart. But there is no way on God's green earth that you can be a swing voter and be smart. If, after the last four years, a time of disaster, war, and fiscal irresponsibility, you can't make up your mind, you're a moron. I mean, really. What's it gonna take? Is there anything that can be said in these last few weeks that would change your mind if the preceeding thousand days hasn't? How self involved or just plain clueless are these people that they're still waiting for one of these candidates to 'better make their case?'

If any of you swingers are reading. allow me to lay it out for you.

Bush is for pre-emptive war against people he deems to be our enemies. He pulled thousands of troops out of a country that had attacked us (Afghanistan) and threw them into a country that hadn't (that would be Iraq). He did this because he claimed he knew Iraq had baaaaad, baaaad weapons. It didn't. Incidentally, both countries are now falling apart.
Bush is also for incarcerating people without trial, many of which have never even been charged with a crime. he does this by keeping the prisoners on foriegn soil rather than here in the US.
Bush gave the wealthiest one percent 80% of his touted tax cut - a tax cut we can't afford with a 475 BILLION dollar deficit. (By the way, swinger, pre W, Clinton posted 2 straight surpluses.)
Bush is for deregulating the energy industry. Yep, that's right, the Enron boys, who incidentally, were his biggest corporate contributor in the 2000 campaign. Bush is for amending our most sacred national document (the constitution) to legalize disctimination against gay americans.
Bush is for giving the finger to the rest of the world including (but not limited to) Germany, France, Turkey, the United Nations, and anyone else who asks tricky questions.

Ok, thats what Bush is for. So, what's Kerry for?

WHO CARES???? HE AIN'T BUSH!!!! Seriously, Bush makes Nixon look good! If you need any more convincing, I can't help you. Your help should rest in the hands of mental health professionals.

Chip and Kim - Real American Heroes

Okay, how often do the people you root for actually win reality tv shows? Lets face it, usually you have some favorite contestant who seems like a decent person, and they survive through to a certain point, and then Darwinism takes over. The nastiest, sneakiest people bring home the victory. Thats why, on Survivor last year, they messed with the premise for Rupert and, after Boston Rob won, the producers awarded another million bucks to the contestant who received the most votes from viewers. The rule has been that in the dog eat dog world of the big reality shows, nice folks finish fourth.

Until now.

I don't know if you've been watching The Amazing Race this season, but its been a fabulous study in contrasts. Just look at the four teams that made up the finalists last night. You had The Bowling Moms, nice, solid ladies from the midwest. You had Colin and Christie, the evil, well off couple from Texas (Colin's tantrums are legendary and actually kind of scary - I seriously worry about Christie). Brandon and Nicole, the vacant Christian models (who, whenever they are in trouble, ask The Lord to help- quick example...on a train in Calcutta packed full of sleazy men who started grabbing Nicole's ass, Brandon's decisive defense of his girlfriend was to say, "Lord, help her")and then...you have Chip and Kim. Chip and Kim are in their forties, are decent family people, are African American, and are Christians who don't ram their faith down the throats of others.
They also did a great job of being decent to foriegners and just basically being the anti-ugly americans.
Of course, I felt they had a snowball's chance in hell to win, especially after they fell hours behind the other teams in a task that involved snowshoeing up a mountain and then overturned their luge twice in the next task.
Well, how wrong was I. How satisfying it was to see them come from behind and take the million dollar prize. I was cheering at my tv screen. Watching reality shows it's easy to believe that most people are backstabbing, self involved, arrogant jackasses. It's wonderful to be proven wrong.

Welcome....

...to Alpo! This is my first post, and my first weblog. I decided to do this because, well, I have a lot of thoughts and opinions. Some are pretty interesting; some are very conventional; some are just plain weird. Either way, I'm hoping people will find them entertaining.

A Little About Me

My 'real' name is Nick Henderson. I work as the Program Director for a summer camp in the woods of northern Minnesota. This camp serves children with AD/HD and similar needs. I hail originally from New Zealand, which is where my family still lives. I fell in love with the US generally when I first came here, and with my wife Amy in particular. My university education had an emphasis on psychology and politics, but I think many of my ideas were grown in the hothouse of family discussions as I grew up. My family are pretty unconventional, to say the least. More on them later.

What I believe

I believe that everyone should have three rights.

1) The right to be safe.
2) The right to learn as much as you can.
3) The right to have fun.

These, funnily enough, are the 'three rights' we use at camp. They are hung up inside every cabin. I truly believe that if these rights were extended to all human beings, we'd be in better shape as a planet. The key thing to remember is that the first right trumps the others, similar to Isaac Asimov's famous laws of robotics. For example, your right to have fun vanishes if it impinges upon someone elses right to be safe. Many of my ideas could probably be described as 'libertarian', except that I also believe that society should help those who need it. Because I support a welfare state, most libertarians would cross the street rather than talk to me. Oh well.
I should also come clean - I'm supporting Kerry in the upcoming election. I'm sure many posts in the next few weeks will be taking shots at the Bush administration - which sure deserves it. Okay, that's it for now. I'll post again later. Thanks for reading.