Hurting
My back hurts now. I have 15 pages. First draft can actually be considered done. Time to go home to wait for Noah to arrive tonight from Bergen. One week left. Actually, in 15 minutes and one week the test-lecture starts. Tomorrow I will pick up the thesis and see if I manage to wrap my head around it for long enough to write 15 minutes worth of description, to open the defense. Today's number seems to be 15. When I post this five minutes have passed, and it's one week and ten minutes until the test lecture. I think I have an obsession.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Dungeons & Dragons - the evil influence
Should a Christian Play Dungeons and Dragons?
Dungeons and Dragons death from Urban Legends
In defense of D&D
Should a Christian Play Dungeons and Dragons?
Dungeons and Dragons death from Urban Legends
In defense of D&D
The upside of procrastination
Esther - or Neveah - of Ten Seconds to Midnight and the Ran Clan generously answers a question related to LARP. I just love it when intelligent people just can't help themselves but have to analyse their hobbies. That's the stuff the fun research is made from!
Remember to read the comments, Dave Phelan adds a lot of good points. By now I wish I had a couple of days in which to talk about all the aspects of LARP.
(You probably know, Esther, but Ran means "robbery" in Norwegian, and it's also the name of Njord's wife (Njord being the norse god of the sea) and mother of his seven daughters, all named for the waves. So I wouldn't expect the Ran clan to be the good guys...)
Esther - or Neveah - of Ten Seconds to Midnight and the Ran Clan generously answers a question related to LARP. I just love it when intelligent people just can't help themselves but have to analyse their hobbies. That's the stuff the fun research is made from!
Remember to read the comments, Dave Phelan adds a lot of good points. By now I wish I had a couple of days in which to talk about all the aspects of LARP.
(You probably know, Esther, but Ran means "robbery" in Norwegian, and it's also the name of Njord's wife (Njord being the norse god of the sea) and mother of his seven daughters, all named for the waves. So I wouldn't expect the Ran clan to be the good guys...)
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Reward
I have been planning to reward myself for being such a good girl and finishing the PhD with a trip to New York, my absolute favourite so far of metropols. So, if everything goes well, I will be in New York from october 17th until november 9th. However: if I manage to find something related to what I do: somebody who wants me to give a lecture, a seminar or a conference I can attend - anything along that line - it will make the trip much more likely to happen. So, anything somewhere not too far from NYC, in that period, having to do with computer games, personal publication, blogging, hypertext structures, online communities - would you please let me know about it? I need something to look forwards to right now...
I have been planning to reward myself for being such a good girl and finishing the PhD with a trip to New York, my absolute favourite so far of metropols. So, if everything goes well, I will be in New York from october 17th until november 9th. However: if I manage to find something related to what I do: somebody who wants me to give a lecture, a seminar or a conference I can attend - anything along that line - it will make the trip much more likely to happen. So, anything somewhere not too far from NYC, in that period, having to do with computer games, personal publication, blogging, hypertext structures, online communities - would you please let me know about it? I need something to look forwards to right now...
Chris Crawford on storytelling
Kym Buchanan, PhD student and gamer, has Interviewed Chris Crawford for joystick101:
Chris is a game designer, author, and lecturer. He lives in southern Oregon. His most beloved project is the Erasmatron: an interactive storytelling engine. Chris believes games can be compelling, interactive stories, far beyond reflex tests and violent monotony. He created the Erasmatron to demonstrate the possibilities.
Kym Buchanan, PhD student and gamer, has Interviewed Chris Crawford for joystick101:
Chris is a game designer, author, and lecturer. He lives in southern Oregon. His most beloved project is the Erasmatron: an interactive storytelling engine. Chris believes games can be compelling, interactive stories, far beyond reflex tests and violent monotony. He created the Erasmatron to demonstrate the possibilities.
Heavy editing ahead
Not on my hand, but for the poor interviewer who tried to make me say that GTA3 is good for children, and that Trond Waage, the children's ombud in Norway, is stupid when he wants to control violence in computer games.
There were things Trond Waage and I did not agree on, and there were tendencies of conflict and debate - but the problem was that both of us thought it was a lot more amusing to arrest the interviewer when he tried to provoke conflict and tease him when he tried to control us, than to argue with the other.
However, I fear the public will not be allowed to hear any of that. Now I almost regret that I didn't agree to do the interview live. But if you really want to check, listen to P3 NÅ between 16.00 and 17.00 - I have no idea what comes out of it though! And I almost feel a little bad about being so mean to the interviewer. I mean - he could have been a student. Teachers shouldn't make fun of students and we should take their efforts seriously. Right?
(And obviously, we didn't answer properly - the debate was not aired. Well, that should teach me a lesson about wasting time on the media while I am trying to finish the test lecture.)
Not on my hand, but for the poor interviewer who tried to make me say that GTA3 is good for children, and that Trond Waage, the children's ombud in Norway, is stupid when he wants to control violence in computer games.
There were things Trond Waage and I did not agree on, and there were tendencies of conflict and debate - but the problem was that both of us thought it was a lot more amusing to arrest the interviewer when he tried to provoke conflict and tease him when he tried to control us, than to argue with the other.
However, I fear the public will not be allowed to hear any of that. Now I almost regret that I didn't agree to do the interview live. But if you really want to check, listen to P3 NÅ between 16.00 and 17.00 - I have no idea what comes out of it though! And I almost feel a little bad about being so mean to the interviewer. I mean - he could have been a student. Teachers shouldn't make fun of students and we should take their efforts seriously. Right?
(And obviously, we didn't answer properly - the debate was not aired. Well, that should teach me a lesson about wasting time on the media while I am trying to finish the test lecture.)
Online Radio
It's in Norwegian, but NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting, has web radio. Choose P2 and click "hør", choose isdn or modem (use isdn if you have broadband), and Norwegian State Radio, Program 2 (no commercials!) streams out of your computer speakers, no matter where you are in the world.
It's in Norwegian, but NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting, has web radio. Choose P2 and click "hør", choose isdn or modem (use isdn if you have broadband), and Norwegian State Radio, Program 2 (no commercials!) streams out of your computer speakers, no matter where you are in the world.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Media attention
OK, so I am the centre of the universe at the moment, and just need to get used to it. For those who are longing to hear my voice, I will appear in a radio documentary on P2 tomorrow, talking of computer games, and also in a debate on P3, again talking of computer games. And if you miss it, don't worry, there's a rerun of the documentary Tuesday next week.
14.30
AGENDA
GAME OVER Dataspill som drapsopplæring eller sanseutvikling Blir også sendt tirsdag kl 21.30.
At least I didn't need make-up for the radio... (but I just may lose my voice).
OK, so I am the centre of the universe at the moment, and just need to get used to it. For those who are longing to hear my voice, I will appear in a radio documentary on P2 tomorrow, talking of computer games, and also in a debate on P3, again talking of computer games. And if you miss it, don't worry, there's a rerun of the documentary Tuesday next week.
14.30
AGENDA
GAME OVER Dataspill som drapsopplæring eller sanseutvikling Blir også sendt tirsdag kl 21.30.
At least I didn't need make-up for the radio... (but I just may lose my voice).
Roleplay and murder in the media
Earlier comments from my own blog
Vampire youth drank victim's blood
Earlier comments from my own blog
Vampire youth drank victim's blood
Freemasons
The masonic lodge in Stockholm
masonic regalia, with pictures of knights dressed up.
The illuminati freemason conspiracy
Freemasons and conspiracy theories
Freemason myths
The masonic lodge in Stockholm
masonic regalia, with pictures of knights dressed up.
The illuminati freemason conspiracy
Freemasons and conspiracy theories
Freemason myths
Spelet på Stiklestad
Stiklestad.no - informasjon om og bilder fra Olavsspelet på Stiklestad
Hærmannsforbundet - gode bilder av hæren
Stiklestad.no - informasjon om og bilder fra Olavsspelet på Stiklestad
Hærmannsforbundet - gode bilder av hæren
Monday, September 01, 2003
D&D history
Dave Arneson in an interview in Gamespy
Gary Gygax in an interview with Gamespy
Gary Gygax in wikipedia
Gary Gygax the father of role-play in BBC
The forerunner to Dungeons and Dragons: Chainmail
A timeline of Dungeon and Dragons history
Dave Arneson in an interview in Gamespy
Gary Gygax in an interview with Gamespy
Gary Gygax in wikipedia
Gary Gygax the father of role-play in BBC
The forerunner to Dungeons and Dragons: Chainmail
A timeline of Dungeon and Dragons history
What vampire clan am I?
Ventrue - Kings and blue-bloods, the Ventrue are
the self-proclaimed leaders of the Camarilla.
Accordingly, they are either hated or feared by
most.
What White Wolf vampire clan are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Of course, after reading up on blood-drinkers, what better way to identify with them than a quiz?
Ventrue - Kings and blue-bloods, the Ventrue are
the self-proclaimed leaders of the Camarilla.
Accordingly, they are either hated or feared by
most.
What White Wolf vampire clan are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Of course, after reading up on blood-drinkers, what better way to identify with them than a quiz?
Vampire LARPs
Die Kinder Kains von Giessen
Vampire Live in Essen
Bloodbeat of Silicon Valley
Atlanta interactive theatre
White Wolf and their many worlds and stories.
Fred-by-night has a site with a fairly good description of how the game is played.
Die Kinder Kains von Giessen
Vampire Live in Essen
Bloodbeat of Silicon Valley
Atlanta interactive theatre
White Wolf and their many worlds and stories.
Fred-by-night has a site with a fairly good description of how the game is played.
Laiv pictures
On Hildreheimen.org, there is a collection of descriptions and pictures from LARPs arranged by the Bergen Role-playing group BFIT.
Esther at ten seconds to midnight has lovely pictures from her LARP group.
On Hildreheimen.org, there is a collection of descriptions and pictures from LARPs arranged by the Bergen Role-playing group BFIT.
Esther at ten seconds to midnight has lovely pictures from her LARP group.
Coming of age
I feel like the information study is growing up when I see my former students out there, contributing to society through work and research. Or, as in the case of Are Halland, also through blogging. Are's topic is user experiences, on both sides of the interface, an interesting, Norwegian contribution to blogging.
Are was one of those students a teacher can't forget: opinionated, procrastinating, and much too intelligent to ignore. His best quality as a scholar was his ability to do wild, jazz-like improvisations of theory and practice under pressure that somehow took on the shape of serious-looking papers and well-considered scholarship. Some minds just work that way, and watching it happen is always slightly more thrilling than a concerned teacher likes... but Are always landed on his feet.
I feel like the information study is growing up when I see my former students out there, contributing to society through work and research. Or, as in the case of Are Halland, also through blogging. Are's topic is user experiences, on both sides of the interface, an interesting, Norwegian contribution to blogging.
Are was one of those students a teacher can't forget: opinionated, procrastinating, and much too intelligent to ignore. His best quality as a scholar was his ability to do wild, jazz-like improvisations of theory and practice under pressure that somehow took on the shape of serious-looking papers and well-considered scholarship. Some minds just work that way, and watching it happen is always slightly more thrilling than a concerned teacher likes... but Are always landed on his feet.
Queering theory
Who would have thought a defense concerning a thesis on homosexual (gay and lesbian) top athletes would be just the thing to put my own upcoming defense into perspective? Heidi Eng, my once-upon-a-time roommate, former top athlete and Norwegian champion in handball, now lesbian activist, researcher and self-defense instructor (Oh yes, she's buff, fearless and amazing) was defending her work on the role of gay, lesbians and bisexuals in Norwegian Sports: Sporting Sex/uality. The question she got during her defense that got me going was: why didn't she "queer" her theory?
"Queer" her theory? The concept was as alien to me as life on Mars (which, of course, means that I have been playing with the thought, but never really considered making it a topic of my research). How could it be more or less queer than what she did? She had been giving her informants a voice, brought out a deep taboo in Norwegian sports, discussed what this means for the people concerned and what it means for a society that imagines itself to be open and tolerant in sexual issues - what do you mean queering?
That's when I realised it. It wasn't about the topic, it was about the expectations of her opposition. Her comittee had their own agenda. They had issues that needed to be aired, and a public defense in Norway, with its strong performative aspect is exactly that: a place where issues can be brought up and taken into the open. It's not an arena for playing by the rules, it is a theatre, and the participants don't play, they act. All the preparation isn't about questions, it is about display.
I can deal with display. And if needed, I'll queer my theory, consult my inner evil male gay elf and talk about taboos and assumptions. But for my defense there will be other hobby-horses that need to be saddled and ridden. All I need is to stay in the saddle. If I get really cheeky I may try to tame them, too.
Who would have thought a defense concerning a thesis on homosexual (gay and lesbian) top athletes would be just the thing to put my own upcoming defense into perspective? Heidi Eng, my once-upon-a-time roommate, former top athlete and Norwegian champion in handball, now lesbian activist, researcher and self-defense instructor (Oh yes, she's buff, fearless and amazing) was defending her work on the role of gay, lesbians and bisexuals in Norwegian Sports: Sporting Sex/uality. The question she got during her defense that got me going was: why didn't she "queer" her theory?
"Queer" her theory? The concept was as alien to me as life on Mars (which, of course, means that I have been playing with the thought, but never really considered making it a topic of my research). How could it be more or less queer than what she did? She had been giving her informants a voice, brought out a deep taboo in Norwegian sports, discussed what this means for the people concerned and what it means for a society that imagines itself to be open and tolerant in sexual issues - what do you mean queering?
That's when I realised it. It wasn't about the topic, it was about the expectations of her opposition. Her comittee had their own agenda. They had issues that needed to be aired, and a public defense in Norway, with its strong performative aspect is exactly that: a place where issues can be brought up and taken into the open. It's not an arena for playing by the rules, it is a theatre, and the participants don't play, they act. All the preparation isn't about questions, it is about display.
I can deal with display. And if needed, I'll queer my theory, consult my inner evil male gay elf and talk about taboos and assumptions. But for my defense there will be other hobby-horses that need to be saddled and ridden. All I need is to stay in the saddle. If I get really cheeky I may try to tame them, too.
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