best when viewed in low light

4.20.2013

I think in code now

animate:
    actions:
        - { action: character.show, name: phoebe, position: center, speed: slow }
    after:
        dialog:
              speaker: phoebe
              style: all_caps
              text: "ZOMG! MY BRAIN ONLY WORKS IN CODE NOW!"
              after: phoebe_reacts
phoebe_reacts:
    dialog:
         speaker: phoebe
         style: normal
         text: "I guess the only solution is..."
         after:
             choice:
                 options:
                     - text: "...turn off my computer and cry myself to sleep!"
                       selected:
                           increment:
                                         cry_baby: 1
                           action: oh_nevermind
                      - text: "...become an itinerant laborer and organic farm hand!"
                        selected:
                            increment:
                                         okay_hippie: 1
                            action: oh_nevermind
                       - text: "...munch and munch til I'm done with the crunch!"
                         selected:
                             increment:
                                          keep_on: 1
                             action: oh_nevermind

oh_nevermind:
    if:
        test: { cry_baby: 1 }
        then:
            dialog:
                speaker: phoebe
                style: whiny_baby
                text: "whaaaaaaah!"
                after: fin
    else:
         if:
             test: { okay_hippie: 1 }
             then:
                 dialog:
                     speaker: phoebe
                     style: sarcastic
                     text: "Everyone has an escape plan..."
                     after: fin
        else:
            dialog:
                speaker: phoebe
                style: peppy
                text: "Go girl! You got this!"
                after: fin
fin:
    animate:
        actions:
            - { action: character.remove, name: phoebe, speed: fast }
        after:

4.19.2013

Gross, Sophie!

You got dog hair stuck under my A key.

THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKS dog.

4.18.2013

Afternoon #DanceBreak! Five Seconds - @thetwinshadow

If you happened to see a screaming woman on the side of the New Jersey turnpike Thursday night...

that was me.

trying to stop my beloved fiance, who was running away from me on the southbound shoulder of the turnpike, because we were having the fight of the century over the definition of "enhancements" as it applies to professional athletes, and therefore what types of medical technologies should be considered regulatable and, thereby, illegal.

because that's what really matters, ok?

thank you for the photo, Matthew Gallaway
turns out we were both feeling stressed about other things and too much looking forward to spending time together.

4.17.2013

#AfternoonDanceBreak: Shuffle A Dream @twittledragon

Pretty convinced this is about Kanye West...

You're So Vain for the 21st century

Everybody's so serious...

Look. My heart stopped when I heard there'd been a bomb at the Boston Marathon - there are plenty of people I love there, and no one needs to get blown up. Especially no one that's just run 27 miles.

But it's adorable that there's this little trope formed on the late night comedy shows on Monday...

Stephen


Jon
[evidently I can't embed more than one video from hulu]

Craig
[evidently, CBS doesn't believe in embed codes]

Conan
[also, not an embedder...]


This project gets me really excited about the future of storytelling

I get all my tweets and logs and chats and texts and whatnot so mired that I actually have attempted to create some sort of system for what goes where, when and how often. That failed, because, well...when is the computer gonna figure this ish out for me?

But I digress. James Carter is one of the nicest dudes I've ever met. He also has a great sense of humor, and agreed with me when I bitched (yet again) about the lack of storytelling discussion happening at everyone's favorite meetup: StoryCode aka Transmedia NYC.

When we last talked in-face, which was a long ass time ago, he talked about doing real theater - real physical theater - as a transmedia thing, and had already done this wicked piece about feeding fetishes...anyway.

His new project is amazing and I absolutely must remember to go see it. Because I'm in crunchtime and that means that I can barely think about anything but the AWESOME game I am working on. In fact, if  NY_HEARTS wasn't so freaking awesome, I wouldn't even be here right now.


Mom loves Anthony Jeselnik

I think it's the glittering boyish smile, not so much the sense of humor...

though I'll take anything with Kristen Schaal...



4.15.2013

the milk of human kindness...or whatever flows in your veins

in stark contrast to Stephen's new portfolio site...



I love Louie C.K. He makes me feel kind of ok about being a shitty, hypocritical, unethical, irresponsible, lazy, self-indulgent, disconnected, angry, lonely, selfish, masochistic human. But only in the most momentary way...because by mid-laugh I find myself on a mental tangent going...

What is wrong with me? with us? that we stay apart from each other as much as possible. what injury hit me so deep that i just assume that other people will be cruel, indifferent, violent, inconsiderate, thoughtless, evasive, vindictive, and jealous with me? so i can justify my desire for isolation.

or, can i, can we, go confidently into the light with our shitty selves and ask for forgiveness, love, compassion, patience, admiration, acceptance, and connection? because Louie makes me feel all those things are possible, too, and that is what is so glorious about his humor.

best artist's statement of all time!

http://www.stephenelefante.com/statement.html

4.11.2013

KAPOW! I have to share this email...


Yo! My aunt is the bomb! And so is this documentary I'm making a game for...

From: Auntie Sarah
Sent: Yesterday
To: 'Auntie Sarah's Gal Pals'
Subject: FW: EXCITING NEWS: Wonder Women! to broadcast on Independent Lens this Monday, April 15 at 10PM! KAPOW!


Wonder-ful Women—Will you join me Monday, April 15th, at my house to watch Wonder Women together? My niece Phoebe
just sent me the message below a few moments ago. We can laugh and chat and nibble and nosh and bring out our
own inner Wonder Women together. Note: 10PM EST, so 7PM for us. Love to all – Sarah xoxo



Subject: EXCITING NEWS: Wonder Women! to broadcast on Independent Lens this Monday, April 15 at 10PM! KAPOW!

My dearest family and friends,
For the last couple months, I've been working on a game called Wonder City, which will launch May 1st on PBS's Independent Lens website! 

It's the companion piece to a documentary called Wonder Women!, which traces the history of our infatuation with Wonder Woman, and her role as an icon of female empowerment. I can't say enough good things about this film - it makes me laugh and cry every time I see it! I very much hope you'll watch it on PBS this Monday, April 15th at 10pm EST, or stream it from the Independent Lens website!

A heartfelt letter from the director, and more details on the doc, below...

xoxo
Phoebe

Begin forwarded message:

From: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan <kristy@vaquerafilms.com>

Subject: Fwd: EXCITING NEWS: Wonder Women! to broadcast on Independent Lens this Monday, April 15 at 10PM! KAPOW!

Dear Friends and Family,
I am writing you with some very exciting news: Wonder Women! - the documentary I have been working on  for the last five years - is airing on Independent Lens on your PBS station on Monday, April 15 at 10 p.m. (Check your local listings, as time and date can vary by PBS affiliate. Or check here for a complete list of broadcast stations, searchable by zip code.) If you miss the PBS television broadcast, Independent Lens will be streaming the film on their website for free for a month.
Here is a clip of Gloria Steinem promoting the Independent Lens broadcast of the film: http://youtu.be/jw8ExGoMZVs and look for other upcoming interviews on our Facebook page.
This is a fun film to watch with friends – I’ve attached a flyer with ideas on how to host a home viewing party! You can also share your thoughts about the film by posting on the Talkback section of the PBS website, or increase the film’s impact by contributing a copy of the film to your favorite school or library. For information on purchasing a DVD of Wonder Women for educational use, CLICK HERE.
Finally, producer Kelcey Edwards and I have been traveling around the country speaking to schools, universities, non-profits and corporations about the themes addressed in the film, and we continue to be available for presentations and workshops on issues involving representation of women in the media. To contact us, or to learn more about the film, please visit our website,WonderWomenDoc.com and sign up for our mailing list, and help spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends!
Love to you all, and thank you for your support and encouragement. We couldn't have made this film without you!
Kristy

--
WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines
a documentary feature directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
www.wonderwomandoc.com

WONDER WOMEN! press selects:

"5 Stars. It’s the personal stories that really got to me... If you have a daughter, it is a moral imperative that you show her this film as soon as possible." - Film Threat

"...Turns what could've just been a flat history of a comic book character
into a brief study of female empowerment in the last century." ­­- Wired.com

"...Makes a strong case that Wonder Woman should be reborn
on the big screen." ­­- Huffington Post

"A great way...to see how really far we have not come." ­­- Indiewire

 "...Makes a moving case for the necessity of heroic women
in pop culture, never more affectingly than when a fourth-grade girl...tells
how this fantasy figure in star-spangled shorts inspires her to never give
up."­­ - Austin Chronicle

"If you're like me, or one of the other 400 women mouthing 'Yes! Yes!'
during the screening, then Wonder Women! will be candy for your inner
feminist." ­­- Austin Woman Magazine

4.08.2013

On the flight home from GDC2013...

This is what I was thinking:

[I went to this one talk in which Tom Bissell said: "videogames are not a storyteller's medium..."]

Videogames aren't a storyteller's medium?!...I fucking disagree! It's up to us to redefine the relationship and perception if or relationship to our audience...even in a book the connection is my imagination to yours, mediated by an asynchronous technology I which we believe we have authorial control...but the that's an imperialist and archaic idea and asumes the audience is a bunch of idiots who aren't playing an interpretive and co-creative role!

[I can't even count the number of times I heard/read/saw the term "gamification" bandied about like it's the new key to everything...]
Fuck gamification. It's playification!
We already have rules. We have incentives and rewards. We have narratives - our own and others'. What we need is the spirit of play to invade what we do, what we define as "work" and remove the fear of failure, experimentation, and refinement. Lets not hide our weaknesses and keep them tucked away in the dark hoping no one notices...lets bring our curiosity and questioning and most importantly mistakes out into the light to be morphed into strengths. Augmented by the contributions of others, we all get better together

[Naomi Clark is a fucking badass, and she ranted on a topic very close to my heart: activism in storytelling/game design/media in general]
Following on what Naomi expressed at GDC, we as makers of media in the public eye must consider the symbols we put out because they say something whether we like it or not. So we have to use those symbols consciously. It's not just what big boobs say about women's value, or men's muscles and big guns. It's fear of aliens over and over and over - the brown folks of the new millennium - as if that xenophobia isn't influencing immigration policy worldwide. It's technology as the deus, deciding our fate as if we didn't make that shit with its killer instinct in the first place! It's "dystopia", as if utopia isn't an even worse fantasy. It's "evil", as if anyone is truly good. 



4.05.2013

I really wanna buy this guy's work

Name's Brandon Garrison, and he's got something to say.

In the past...