The following three individuals are the only three individuals whose presence I suspect, in a sudden chance meeting, would yield from me some sort of embarrassing yet mirthful case of being star-struck.
I permit you to speak
More than anything Steve Martin's verve would would send me into an
embarrassing tailspin. Just the physical sight of him would send my
brain swirling as I recall the history of what this man has
accomplished, all done with panache and style. Were he to suddenly walk
into my living room I would first apologize for the Navin Johnson
shrine, and ask him to ignore the ostentatious display of LP covers of
his old standup gigs. And my silver-haired wig. I would then probably
start rambling about Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Three Amigos
and his vignette about smokers, entitled "The Smokers", where smokers
are smoking; And then there's the one where he writes a fake news report
about a shortage of periods and how he doesn't use a single period in
the whole thing - oh man it's great. I'd just keep prattling on while
he'd stand there like royalty, refusing to make eye contact, and
maintaining that s#&$-eating grin of which he is so adept.
Rick Steves is so high right now
Unlike Steve Martin, Rick Steves will not suddenly walk into my living room. Instead, we'll have a chance meeting in a town square somewhere in Istanbul or Oslo or Rhodes or Rome or Devonshire or not midwest USA. And like Steve Martin, Rick Steves has spent his life fully and with joy. Steves has done so by being a professional traveler of Europe. Our chance meeting would witness Steves being the first to extend a hand in cordial greeting; I would follow suit awkwardly because I would have just choked on my own sputum in excitement. My mind would be flashing through all those cataloged images of this man standing before fantastic sites during his travels, and in thinking of all the wisdom he's accumulated. I would stutter and spurt and making weird grunting noises because my brain would be short-circuiting, when all I'd really want to say is "Please tell me a story".
No, Triv, microphones are not for eating.
Mike Trivisonno is a local drive-time radio personality who is Cleveland through and through. He's also a fat, greasy old man with a big mouth and a temper. No Frills. No Patience. And although he would be the first to agree with this personal assessment I would never say it to his face in a chance meeting because I am afraid of Mike Trivisonno. I'm like the freshman and he's like that 20-year old senior that just can't quite get over that last hump. I would care about what he thinks of me. I would want to be measured in my conduct and want to say only the correct things; to stand upright and assertive. His positive opinion of me would be like a divine blessing, which I would accept it with loyalty with the hopes that he'd let me kiss his pinky ring.
The better part of 2012 has witnessed a great tempering of my intellectual faculties. I feel more alert, confident, humble. Acute. I feel more in-tune with myself, aware of strengths and weaknesses. And I have the growing mental musculature to overcome many self-imposed obstacles and will myself to action - which is key. This maturity has been brought about not only by aging or an increase in domestic and ecclesiastical responsibility. Prior to the better part of 2012, I was still the same age and possessed the same amount of responsibility. I even graduated with honors, having successfully pulled my GPA up from the pits where I had left it years ago. All of these are but minor influences to my intellectual tempering. The true fire continues to come from my studies of Latin and spending some of my leisure time playing FromSoftware's 2011 title Dark Souls on PS3.
Do not furrow your brow. Perhaps one might have a knee-jerk reaction to the claim that a video game possess a tempering quality, to claim that a video game has been more of an impact than a college course. And this reaction is perfectly valid because many popular console 3rd person Role-Playing Games do deserve a furrowed brow. Despite the fantastic technical strides that developers have reached, gameplay has suffered. But developer FromSoftware created an exception with Dark Souls. This game is intricate, foreboding and purposefully constructed. It shares these qualities, and many others, with the gnarly, enduring linguistic system of Latin. Undertaking Dark Souls and Latin at the same time yields remarkable results.
As a primer, pop this sucker into full-screen. Give it due attention.
Ne timeam; cum arte sapientiaque superbo
I first watched this video when I was well into my first playthrough of Dark Souls, and I have
watched it many times since. And every time - every.single.time - I watch with wonder and pride. The trailer is true to the game's immensity. Although its focus is Dark Souls the same sensations felt can also be applied to the study of Latin.
Similar to the general misplacement of Dark Souls, sharing my desire to learn Latin has witnessed many furrowed brows. "Who the hell speaks Latin anymore? It's a dead language." This post will not be the place for my in-depth reaction. But allow me - a blooming intermediate Latin student - to posit: Latin is not the official or national language spoken within any current geopolitical border, yes, but its prestige remains; its history is rich and vast. It is a fascinating and frightening linguistic jigsaw puzzle, and I have reaped only benefits from its study. One of which includes the realization that I am far more analytical than previously thought. It has given me a stronger command of my own natural language. Latin has altered the way that I see the world as I do not just read but cannot help but try to parse sentences, break them down to their grammatical components and intents. And in doing so I am more aware of the bedeviling nature of language. Indeed, I have glared down the rabbit hole after asking 'What is language?' and felt more than I saw, and saw more than I can say. These are not the effects of a dead language.
Dark Souls has also unjustly earned an antagonistic reaction, even from players who separated the game from the ever-growing blob of mediocre RPGs. Many feel that the game is too difficult, unfair - a pathos that may spook off interested players. But the perception here, as with Latin, is shallow and misaligned. Believe the hype that surrounds the game, but do not be mislead by those who have failed. Dark Souls is not notoriously, unmercifully difficult; it is demanding. Many players will not meet the game’s high level of expectation - and they fail, blaming everything and everyone but themselves. As for myself, the average gamer fairly inexperienced with HD 3rd person
RPG: I started in April 2012, flabby and proud (ignorant); I came out chiseled and
humbled. It is a transformation that is earned, and treasured with reverence. Advancement in Dark Souls requires grit, patience and forward-thinking. Until Dark Souls I gamed, and lived, far too passively.
tuus ferrum in ventrem mollem timoris treudete!
Undertaking Latin and the gameplay of Dark Souls are behemoth situations in which I was suddenly thrust without a clue or a lifeline. Overtime, I began to see how their mechanics phased in and out of one another. Just as in the paragraphs above, certain adjectives, certain concepts, may be directly addressing one but can surely be applied to the other. Indeed, these are universal attributes that lend themselves to intense intellectual tempering. And so begins a series of posts about the parallel forges of Latin and Dark Souls, and how they are contributing to my transition into this stupidasscrap called adulthood.
I've always had the vision of this track as a stage production. It would be a menacing exploration of what happens when definitions and limits dissolve at a very slow, sure rate. It would be highly amplified and stereophonic. The lighting would be earth tones, morphing, bleeding that gradually dim down to 30%. There would be a single array of standing drums and percussion mid stage. Flanking this would be two massive gyroscope frames with a mounted drum kit, and at certain parts of the program it will slowly follow the tracked loop. Other percussion and instruments will be tiered up and down stage: I want the performers - the motley forms of shadow and light - scurrying around. Vocal microphones will be either solo down stage right or shotgunned at specific locations of the drumline to capture the orchestration of voice and drum. The electronics will be helter skelter around the stage. No stage dressing; The cables should look like vines running across the deck. Ample DSP at FOH. The whole thing is meant to saturate.
