Deep down inside...I'm really a Warlock

That's me!

Most that know me, know I'm a "gamer". I game. I really enjoy losing myself in a good game. I also believe that video games are quickly moving to the forefront of entertainment. Every year the game industry makes billions of dollars. The amount of people who own consoles or play pc games increases exponetially every year. Some of these games are as close to virtual reality as we are going to get for a while (for $50 anyway). Games are also slowly being recognized for what they are. Art. This year marked the second Video Game Awards. And while it still isn't being recognized as an Academy Awards for games, it's the step in the right direction.

One game in particular, World of Warcraft, has been occupying a lot of my time. I have HAD the time, still being unemployed. But inbetween job hunting and little side projects to keep me feeling productive, I have immersed myself in this MMORPG. That stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. I play this game along with thousands of others, (300,000 copies sold in the US only). I have played this game with people ranging from 15 to 60 yrs old, from all walks of life. This is interesting to me.

Now I know at this point I have probably lost some of you. "GAMES?!" you say, "what a waste of time." I don't feel this way. Because I have had the recent luxury to really immerse myself in this game. I have played for a total of 29 days. 696 hours. One whole month.

I started the game in a quiet town nestled in a forest glade, with nothing but tattered clothes, barefeet, and a stick to defend myself. But since then I have explored worlds that most will never see. Dark forests, burning craters, desolant lands, deserts, and snowy peaks. I have ventured deep into caverns that twist and wind far below the surface of the earth. I have killed monsters of all kinds like ogres, giants, and demons. At first I had to run everywhere to explore. But now I can fly or ride my horse. I have the abiltiy to harness the power of shadows and call forth a rain of fire. I can summon more than 5 kinds of demons to do my bidding. I can tailor my own clothes, and enchant items with magical powers. In short....I am a warlock.

I just wish more people would understand what these games have to offer. For thirty days I have explored and adventured in lands and places that most people will never see or know of. And I have had a blast the whole time. Just thought I'd share a bit of it with you.

The steam of GOOD and EVIL

Steam on St. Marks

On Saturday, after my photo shoot with the moon, I happened upon a theatre playing Constantine. It was one of those moments where you realize you just happened to have arrived at the right theatre at the right time to catch a movie you wanted to see, without even trying.

I ALSO happened to have some movie gift certificates my parents gave me. It was like a credit card, swipe it, and get two free tickets. Now, I knew it was going to be a hassle, and the theatre employees would tell me they knew nothing of this card. And they did. But I insisted it was legit. Two managers and 10mins later, they accepted it. But there was a fine print catch. The card was "one time use only" meaning it was good for two tickets, not just one.

So now I have a free ticket, but an extra as well. Being the good samaritan I felt like being at that moment, I offered it to a couple (man and woman) behind me. Conversation went something like this: "You going to see Constantine?" "uhhhh, yeah?" "Here, have a free ticket." "What do you mean......free?" "I mean for no money. Here, take it." Now, at this moment I pushed the ticket in his direction, and his reaction was one of horror. He actually recoiled from the ticket in my hand, like it was dripping with blood. That was seriously the look on his face. It took me about another 3mins to tell him the full story, on the gift certificates and how they worked, and why I was trying to give out a free ticket. It was the girlfriend who eventually spoke up. "I trust you." she says "take the ticket honey." The man looked at her, bewildered that she spoke, then took the ticket.

The point of the story? New Yorkers question everything. I mean, I didn't ask for five dollars. I happened to be wearing a suit, from the interview, and he STILL thought it was too good to be true. I find that funny, and sad at the same time. Can people trust people anymore?

The point of the Blog? I saw Constantine AGAIN today, with Greg. I liked it that much to turn around and see it again, within a day. Visually it was very impressive. I'm fond of visual effect laiden, fantasy movies (check out this link for an new Linklater flic, A Scanner Darkly, looks cool, also stars Keanu). But the story is really what drove the piece, and the characters. I'm not ashamed to say it, Keanu Reeves was great. A lot of that had to do with the writing. But his performance was good. He was an asshole, and I liked him for it.

It must have been the subject matter, good versus evil, heaven and hell, and such. But as I walked to the F train, I stopped and took a serie's of photo's of some steam. There was something about the way it was twisting and writhing in the air from the ground below, and something about the motion of the people as they moved through it. It looked surreal to me, like they could have been on another plane, and the steam was trying to suck them back in. It wasn't until I got home and downloaded them that I noticed the pair of wings in the background. Weird.

The moon is my bitch

Moon suicide

After my 2nd interview (which went well) I strolled in and out of the galleries in the Chelsea area. Some interesting art in some, including one gallery showing very large nude prints of Pamlea Anderson, and when I say art I mean HOT.

Upon leaving I noticed the moon quite low in the sky. It was that time of day, approaching the magic hour, so I decided to make the moon my bitch for a while. I walked from the west side to the east allowing the moon to dip, slide and jump over the tops of buildings.

In an unprecedented astronomical event, and before my very eyes, the moon, tired of it's nightly reign and 2nd place in the sky decided to end it all and leap from the roof of a lower Manhattan penthouse, somewhere around Madison Ave and 23rd st. AND I caught it on "film"!

Let us observe a moment of silence for the moon. She will be sorely missed.

Copy "Cat" Gates

Zhann

You know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery....and my cat is WAY cuter than Hargo's cat, don't you think?

The Gates 2.12.05 

Joe IS art 

2nd Interview

Alright!! I got the e-mail today and I'm confirmed for a second interview for the position of PA to Perry Rubenstein this saturday. My first interview, I thought, went extremely well. I really like this guy. He's straight up. He knows what he's looking for in a personal assistant and that makes my job that much easier. The job sounds like a lot of work, but work that I already know will be very rewarding. My duties would be comprised of your typical PA stuff, which for me, has always correlated to "do whatever he/she needs." If you don't know how to do something....LEARN, and learn fast. But in addition, I would also become the gallery's front man. I'm the guy who says hello to you when you walk in the door. I'm the guy who answers your questions.

Could you think of a better candidate? I love talking to people. I think another thing that swung me the second interview is that I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. Meaning, if they need a wall spackled, I'll spackle it. If they need someone to help package and handle some art, I'm your man. Pretty much anything I can do to make the gallery run smoother.

Added bonus? I like the art. They have show everything from Oils on Acrylic, sculpture, photography, installation, animation, films. How cool is that? Check out the Gallery's website here.

Speaking of art.....I had the chance to swing by central park and check out Crisko's Gates......(totally not my joke, rights reserved by J. Vena). I had a blast. My sister and her friend Kristen came down and along with my trusty collaborator of all things good, Joe , as well as the ultimate badass bitch and one of my closest friends since grade school, Lindsay. It was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day for it. I like his stuff. It's surreal. He puts things where they shouldn't be. He wraps things in fabric, like ISLANDS. Christo....u so crazy.

I am including not my usual "art" photographs, but a snapshot that i took of a very sweet women. I took one with her camera, then one in mind. If you zoom in a litlle, you'll see some very interesting things going on in the background. We went up to the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to get a supposed "good view" which turned out to be totally bunk. But while we were there, we roamed for a few hours, and checked out some art. I saw a lot of great stuff. Some good contemporary, a cool chalk animation. Very inspiring.

Of course my favorite is this piece....a little art within art.

Jean Louis David

Me

Trying to figure out how to post my photo in profile. Not quite there, as you can see. But I did figure out how to post photo's in the blog, EASY. This is me in between shaving off my beard for my first job interview since November 2004 (more on the interview tomorrow perhaps). I'm not usually a goatee man, but I chose this picture for it's obvious brain motif. AND, this is the best haircut EVER. I'm big on Jean-Louis David. Sure, it cost more than your $8 Butcher....I mean BARBER, but for $22.50, the wash and head massage are totally worth it, not to mention the haircut.

Apparently, this cannot be considered a universal feeling. Some people out there might even consider them dangerous. Sure, that incident is upsetting, but will I condemn all employees of the chain for this one act, certainly not.

But hey, I won "Best Hair" in highschool, what do I know?

My first BLOG

Well, I've done it. I've created a BLOG. Hurray for me and hurray for you, becuase now you can enter inside the wonderful world that is my brain. Don't you feel special?

Few things off the bat. I suck at typing. Sure I can pound out 55-65 wpm, but that's hunt and peck style, so be prepared to see a few typos. I'll do my best on spellchecking and I'll even start to learn how to type for real.....just for you.

I also like to make up words. Go with it. I am Mr. Malaprop. I often switch words, getting words confused with other words. I combine words to make new and exciting words. You want an example, hmmmm, lets see, FANTABULOUS. I've always liked that one. One of my more famous is DRAMASTICALLY. Now, I wish i could say I did this on purpose, but that would be a downright lie. Sometimes my brain just works too fast I guess (or...not fast enough?) and the result is always entertaining, let me assure you. Entertaining for others.

I won't bore you with the typical introductory paragraph of who I am and what I do. I believe there's a PROFILE setting for that. I'll be setting that up next. Along with playing with the template. Boy this is fun.

I promise you these will get more interesting once I'm in the flow. I'm using this as a launching project to get my ass motivated to update my website, which I would love to link here ............. but I don't know how to do that yet, so keep your pantyhose on. I'm OUT!