A New Republic Chapter 1: Sacrifice, Part 1

Dave vigilantly surveys the yard, within the tenuous safety of the confines of the prison fortress he calls home. The hand sown fields will soon provide sustenance for the group, but he knows that it is not enough with memories of the winter's difficulties waning in the shadow of long forgotten desires of a civilized world and the advent of growing wants beyond the needs of a new world this agrarian outpost can never sate. Dave surveys the yard with an uneasy vigilance.

The relative security of fences has bred complacency which has in turn bred restlessness. Survival has been trivialized by surviving, while trivial desires have been tempered by unfulfilled passions. Dave surveys the yard with waning vigilance, uneasy in his knowledge that survival is not enough anymore. This is not the same group that cleared this yard and sowed these fields, for if it had been they would have responded differently to the distant report of gunfire.

The unmistakable report of a single shot in the distance lingers in the air, ominously. Dave recognizes it as a large caliber round fired from a rifle, faint in the distance but still lingering in his ear. His attention immediately goes to his son Benji who is standing next to Billy in the yard. They both stare uneasily in the direction of the origin of the sound, as does Karen who now stands with dirty knees in the field where she had been tending the crops. Marci and Jae Kyu appear out of a doorway, anxiously trying to assess the situation as Dave quickly inventories the group in his head.

“Is everyone ok?” pleads Dave, not waiting for an answer that he already knows as he ascends the nearest tower in an effort to get eyes on the origin of the gun shot. He can see no evidence of a threat from his vantage point. Nobody has been injured by the shot, and in fact the gunfire doesn't appear to have been directed at the prison at all. So who had been firing a weapon in such close proximity to their outpost, and why? Even a threat not directed at the group is a threat to the group, and any threat to the group needs to be evaluated, so Dave descends into the yard as quickly as he had ascended and begins to gather a scouting party. “Billy, Jae Kyu, let's go.”

As the group gathers in the yard Marci informs them that she is going with them and Dave nods his approval. He wants to argue, but he knows it's useless. Benji looks expectantly at his father, but Dave insists that he needs him to stay with his infant sister. Benji wants to argue, but he knows it's useless.

“It sounded like it came from the highway” surmises Billy, “probably a half mile away. Did you see anything from the tower?”

“No, but it did sound like it came from the highway” agrees Dave. “We'll go on foot. The noise probably stirred the walkers, so stay sharp but avoid using guns. We don't want to alert whoever fired that rifle to our presence.”

The team stays off the road behind the tree line as they move up the highway until they spot a figure with his back to them in the middle of the road, bulky under a dark hooded robe. He is hunched over, diligently dressing a large buck that had apparently been the target of the rifle fire under investigation. The robed figure seems unaware of their presence until Dave sights in on him with his scope.

“If you will do us the courtesy of lowering your rifle, we will reciprocate in kind” comes the voice from under the hood, calmly, without any other acknowledgement of the group's presence as the shadowy figure continues to skillfully run his sharp knife under the buckskin.

Startled and confused, Dave lowers his rifle, and addressing the back of the mysterious figure, questions “we?”

“You assumed I was alone? Thank you for lowering your rifle. You have nothing to fear from us.”

“Who are you?” Dave's voice was reticent.

“Some might call us hunters, killers, scavengers... survivors... Most people who know us call us friends. We are all of these. Sometimes we are a shadow in the night. Sometimes we are a beacon of light. We are exactly what we need to be, no more, no less. Right now, we are lucky to have more food than we can eat, and we are inclined to share this bounty with the four of you if you would put away your weapons and share our table in peace.” The words emanate from under the hood that never faces Dave or his group.

By now, Dave knows that the cryptic robed figure is indeed not alone. He had known when Dave had raised his weapon as well as when he lowered it and how many were in the group without ever laying eyes on them and without ever faltering in his task of undressing the deer. His voice was warm, his words were friendly and his actions were unnaturally calm, even at gunpoint. Still, Dave does not know this man's intentions toward his people, whose safety depends on his decisions. So, Dave is cautious. Altruism, if it had ever existed at all, had surely died with civilization, yet here he was, faced with a mysterious man who offered good will with no apparent agenda. So Dave doesn't respond. He looks to his own companions, but sees in their face the same confusion and distrust that he feels in his own heart. So, still, he doesn't respond.

The robed figure continues silently working with the knife until the buckskin is completely free of the beast's flesh before he turns to face Dave, his gloved hand lowering his hood to reveal a ballistic helmet with goggles and a black ballistic mask decorated with a blacker peace sign, and as he draws aside his robe to sheathe his knife Dave recognizes the ballistic armor he wears as dragon skin, which had only been available to elite military forces before civilization fell. This man is no ordinary survivor, and he most certainly has an agenda, although Dave has no idea what it might be.

“You still question our intentions? If we harbored ill-intent towards you, don't you think that you would know by now? I am Peace.” Peace approaches Dave, hand extended in friendship. “You wish to know our agenda?”

Dave meets Peace cautiously to accept his hand. “I am Dave. What is your business here? Do you have business with us?”

“You found us, Dave, we didn't find you. Shouldn't I be asking you that question?”

“We heard the gunshot. We came to see if there was a threat.”

“And?”

“You tell me.”

“We are no threat to you so long as you give us no reason to be. Now, we have to set up camp and establish a perimeter, so if you would like to join us for dinner you are welcome, but we can't stay in the middle of this road, so what will it be?” With the low growl of a diesel engine, a matte black armored Humvee emerges from the woods and approaches. As the vehicle gathers speed a flag unfurls, blue, emblazoned with a golden phoenix.

“We have a safe outpost nearby” offers Dave, “why don't you follow us there.”

“We appreciate your hospitable offer, but we can't do that for obvious security reasons. As you are cautious, so are we. How many are at this outpost of yours?”

“There are nine of us in all.”

“Go ahead and gather your people if you like and meet us at the parking lot about eight-tenths of a mile South of our position. We will go ahead and set up camp there. Don't attempt to enter the perimeter. We will have to let you in.” Peace signals the driver, who remains in the vehicle while another man, larger than Peace but similarly robed, emerges from the back of the Humvee to help Peace lift the deer carcass and hide onto the hood of the Humvee and strap it down before they both get into the vehicle and head south.

***

A New Republic 0: Prologue: Walking Dead

It has been a year since the the experiment allowed the dead to walk. What began as an effort to extend the natural scope of life mutated into the disease that extends the natural scope of death instead. In the beginning, efforts were made to cover up mistakes, but that only lead to more mistakes and the disease spread quickly without containment. By the time efforts were made to contain the epidemic it was already too late and containment became quarantine, but that mistake led to even faster proliferation which led to more drastic measures that turned out to be the biggest mistakes of all. Governments employed martial law and survivor camps, which only succeeded in hindering escape from the epidemic, and then carpet bombing and finally tactical nuclear measures were employed until there was no government left. It took only three months to exhaust civilization and complete the global apocalypse.

Pockets of life were hunted by hordes of death, but humanity persevered and life adapted. Morality evolved and survival among the living relied equally on trust and distrust alike. Individuals formed groups and groups formed tribes that sought safety and resources left over from the old world. Death became part of life just as life became part of death, and life would become more difficult to sustain before it would become less so. One of these groups has found refuge in an abandoned prison in rural Georgia as they try to begin again once more after suffering failure after miserable failure in this pursuit.

With the wisdom of his age and strength of his youth, Dave assumed the role of de facto leader to the group that had grown and dwindled simultaneously throughout the long months of the short year since it all began. His wife was lost to the birth of their infant daughter, and while others had lost more and less, all have suffered immeasurable loss just the same. Karen's loss of husband and child has brought her strength and compassion that is admired by none more than Billy, who shares in a similar upbringing without privilege or education to interfere with the earthly knowledge that has made him such an excellent woodsman and skilled hunter tracker. Jae Kyu's youthful wits and bravado sharply contrast Billy's mature sensibilities while the survival instinct they share has made the young Korean a peerless scout in his native concrete jungles and nurtured the young love he shares with the farmer's beautiful daughter, Marci. The young love that had begged a difficult approval from her spiritual and traditional father, Abraham, whose knowledge of veterinary medicine has been repurposed for the benefit of human life in this new world. Along with Marci, his youngest daughter Sarah is all he has left of so many children that he so dearly loved, and her sweetness is only surpassed by her sadness. Chell has become a brooding Amazonian warrior who has had to adopt unthinkable ways to survive the brutal realities of this world on her own, but her deep longing to end her loneliness has been met by distrust and animosity by the newly found group that tolerates her only so far as her ability to help them allows. Together, this group and many more like it must fight for survival if they are to form the foundation for a new world and overcome the mistakes that condemned the old one.

***

Amanita Muscaria

Since my TV is dead, I've been listening to a lot of music! Tonight I was listening to Life's Rich Pageant by REM, which is their best album, and I was particularly moved by The Flowers of Guatemala. I have always been partial to this song, but tonight it struck more deeply than before. I had always understood that it was a very political song about the atrocities committed by the US installed fascist dictatorship, which it is. The beautiful but deadly Amanita flower covers the graves of the victims of this regime, and that in itself has always given this song rich meaning and symbolism, but tonight I looked deeper at this "flower" and the more I learned about it the more the song meant until I think I have finally reached the heart of this song, which is very complex! On the surface, it is about the flower, but underneath that the flower is a symbol of the poisonous regime and its genocide, but if you look even deeper the song becomes about the flower again and its relationship to the people of Guatemala and these peoples' relationship with the global society. Very deep, but let's look at what this flower really is!

The Amanita Muscaria, although widely referred to as a flower by the people of Guatamala is, in fact, an extremely hallucinogenic and entheogenic mushroom - a red and white one like the ones in Alice In Wonderland! Now this is where we really dive in head first, but just stick with me. These mushrooms grow under conifer - read Christmas - trees, and they are mostly red and white but sometimes gold. Children are often sent to collect them from under the trees and bring them back to their parents. Much like brightly wrapped presents under the Christmas tree or the way that we send children to hunt for colorful eggs under trees to bring back to their parents for treats on Easter! I'm not the only one who sees parallels here - John Marco Allegro was the only non-catholic priest out of 12 who were qualified to read the Dead Sea Scrolls and he believed that the Dead Sea Scrolls prove that Christianity came from fertility cults and that the Amanita is the forbidden fruit in the creation myth. Is it any wonder reindeer can fly?

The entheogenic mushroom's close ties to Christianity don't end with Catholics "borrowing" Easter from fertility cults either. We all knew that anyway, but let's look at the Amanita a little closer. Rain and dew collects in the "grail" stage of the mushroom, turning a deep red, and shamens would drink this water. "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood..."  The Eucharist is certainly rich with symbols of the Amanita.

So let's explore how the celebration of the birth of Jesus and the Ascension comes full circle and relates to the creation myth through the magical mushroom, the Amanita! The most commonly consumed and most hallucinogenic part of the mushroom is called the "eve" and it comes from the underside of the mushroom, known as the "ribs." Do I even need to explain the obvious implications of this in the creation myth? Eve, the enlightened one, came from Adam's rib... Remember that part from Sunday school? So, the idea that the Amanita is the forbidden fruit becomes very convincing here, and as the manifestation of enlightenment, it is celebrated through symbolic collection on both Easter and Christmas along with the role it plays in the Eucharist. So, wherever we see the felix culpa theme represented prominently in the Bible we will most likely see the Amanita. This is not  surprising, as this magic mushroom has been a catalyst for enlightenment for shamens for ages, and in a very tangible way the "fortunate fall" is ever present in the duality of this mushroom as both a poison as well as a hallucinogen. People who indulge in the Amanita often get sick before they get "enlightened" so it is, in a very real way, a physical manifestation of the fortunate fall - "felix culpa."

It is clear to me that the Amanita is an ancient entheogenic mushroom that played a large role in fertility cults, and it is also clear to me that the people who penned the bible were well versed in the rites and lore of these cults as well. Certainly we shouldn't be surprised that some of this made its way into the Bible and thus into modern day Christianity, and I certainly wouldn't imply that this makes the messages contained in the good book any less relevant than they are to modern day Christians. It is also clear to me that Michael Stipe is aware of all of these things and is ingenious in the way that he weaves all of this into a song about pretty flowers that creates such a profound sociopolitical message. Ergo, Michael Stipe is a genius, but we already knew that too.

Plasma Pop!

So I was playing my xbox yesterday when my 18 month old, 58" Samsung Plasma TV went pop and died. That doesn't supposed to happen to new TV's! So I looked it up online to discover that my TV isn't the only one to experience what has become known as the "Samsung Pop of Death" or "Samsung Plasma Pop!" The failure rate on my PN58C8000YF and similar models is apparently extremely high, and there are endless cases of this failure happening within hours or days of unboxing! They are the lucky ones though - theirs are still under warranty! Mine is not... Still, I decided to chat with a tech online at Samsung.com who told me that I was out of luck, so I asked her if she had a webcam, cause I wanted her to play with her boobies while she fucked me. She declined, so I read an antique paperback book that I keep for rainy days and went to sleep. I dreamed of alligators...

The next morning I woke up at 7am for some reason and thought that perhaps it had all been a dream. However, when I pressed the power button on my remote, my TV still didn't work... So I got up and took my shower and had some breakfast before I decided to call Samsung and see if I could get anything accomplished. In fairness, the picture on my plasma was amazing when it worked, but this had been the third major failure for my TV in the 18 months since I bought it, and it just seemed to me that I had a reasonable expectation that the top of the line Samsung plasma TV that I paid $3,000 a mere year and a half ago should last for, oh, I dunno, maybe the 100,000 hours that Samsung claims their plasma TV's last. Screw their express warranty, I needed Samsung to remedy this situation under their implied warranty! So, I called 1-800-samsung and was connected to an agent directly with no wait time and he even spoke English without an accent! Bravo, at least Samsung does that right.

The agent was friendly when he explained to me that he couldn't do anything for me except help arrange a service call at my expense. I asked him why I should stand behind their product if they wouldn't and asked him if there was anyone who might be able to help me at which point he transferred me to a supervisor directly. I explained again, as I did with the agent before, that I didn't give a damn about their express warranty - this "plasma pop" is a known issue and the failure rate is way too high. This was the third major failure I have had with this TV in the short time that I have owned it and I had a reasonable expectation that their top of the line plasma should last within the scope of the 100,000 hours that was stated in their own marketing materials. He asked me what I wanted him to do about my TV and I told him that I wanted him to do the right thing! I expected the situation to be remedied by Samsung to restore my confidence as a consumer. To that effect, he offered to extend my warranty and send out a technician to repair my TV free of charge. I was happy with that and thanked him and wished him a good day. At this point I am actually feeling pretty fortunate, which is odd considering that I am the one who is aggrieved...

Later that day I did indeed receive a call from the repair man as promised, and I was at first very happy. That happiness soon turned to dismay as I recognized his voice as the same repairman who had visited me three times in the past... Shortly after I bought the TV it developed a problem known as "window shading" where dark vertical lines across the screen made it almost unwatchable so he came out and verified the problem and ordered a new screen which he returned with a week later. He proceeded to dismantle my tv, removing every single component and fitting the new screen until he realized that the screen was the wrong one before disassembling and  reassembling the tv with the old defective screen and telling me he would reorder the part and return. He did return a week later with the correct screen and once again went through the process of disassembling my tv and installing the new screen and reassembling the tv. When we lifted the tv off the floor I noticed that the protective film was still on the new screen and that a part of the tv was still on the floor that he had forgotten to install. He informed me that it was just a heat shield that wasn't important and that it was a good thing to have the protective film on the tv to protect it. I wasn't having it so he reluctantly disassembled the tv once again and removed the film and reinstalled the heat shield at my insistence and left me with a working tv. I never did have confidence in the tv after that, frankly. See, I own an Akita dog who sheds a lot and my carpet isn't exactly a sterile environment suitable for assembling sensitive electronics, and moreover, the stress on the components of having them disassembled and reassembled three or four times must have had some effect on their integrity. Still, my tv worked and that was that, but I cannot help feeling that all of this might well have played a part in my tv's recent failure. So now he was asking me if the power light comes on and whether it's flashing or staying lit. I told him it came on and stayed lit and he said he'll order the part I need and be out on Thursday or Friday. That's it? That's all the diagnostics he needs? I asked him what parts he is ordering and he told me not to worry about it. My heart sank...  The idea of the same guy coming out and disassembling my tv on the floor again just seems like a bad idea! I don't think I'll ever have confidence in this unit again, and I don't expect it to last for another six months frankly

After the tech called me I got on the phone with Samsung again and gave a supervisor my case number and explained everything I explained above to her. She said she completely understood my concerns, but that she was obligated to try to repair the unit before she could send me a new TV. She did, however, send me her direct contact information and told me that if I had any concerns after the repairs that I could get in touch with her and she would do whatever she needed to do to make me happy. That was very reassuring, but I really hope that the repairs don't go well! I don't feel like I'm asking for something for nothing - I feel like I paid good money for a product, and that I did not get what I paid for. At this point, I just feel like I need a new TV with a new warranty to restore my confidence in the Samsung brand.

A Million Dollars Isn't Cool. Know What's Cool? A Billion Dollars!

I stole my title from The Social Network, but I was wondering, what is cool? I've received "interesting" and "funny" responses to my blog, but no cool. Maybe blogging about video games and google isn't cool, so let me put on my shades, turn up the jazz, pour myself a glass of Absinthe and explore cool, man.

Why is a billion dollars cool? Money's not cool at all... And it becomes even less cool when it is apparent. When an artist makes money he becomes uncool, doesn't he? The bohemian artist and all that he embodies is cool until he finds financial success and its trappings at which point he becomes instantly uncool. The bohemian creates for the sake of creation, and his inspiration inspires us, while the artist who creates for commission is inspired by the motivation of his own reward, and in so is self-absorbed and greedy. So you'd think a billion dollars isn't cool, but you'd be wrong.

What is a million dollars? It's the alpha male roaring up to the club in his Lamborghini. He's cocky. He's got a pocket full of money, his choice of women and he doesn't afraid of anything. He is the master of his universe, and he thinks he is cool. But he's not. He's not cool. He's a tool! At the end of the day, the only thing he's proven is that his worth is measured by the length of his tab.

So, what is a billion dollars? A billion dollars doesn't have anything to prove. A billion dollars is the quiet man sitting alone in the crowd at The Spotted Cat, listening to the Jazz Vipers. He's happy there, and he is doing what he wants to be doing. He is not putting on airs or impressing anyone. He is content just being. Being... cool!

So, a billion dollars is cool because it doesn't have to be anything else. It can just be. And so is the starving artist, confident and content. He's not chasing success because he is success. He doesn't have a billion dollars. He is a billion dollars, and THAT's cool.

Google Is, In Fact, Smarter Than I Am!

OK, so we have had tools to protect us from ourselves forever, but we take them for granted except when they don't work. Spell check is great, but no matter how many times I tell it to learn my last name, which is "Starr," it always tries to change it to "star" or "starry." My iphone has developed the habit of changing "if" to "i'f" for some reason, and my old Mac in college used to tell me that my papers were 8th grade level unless I inserted ubiquitous ten cent words that served no other purpose than to add pretentiousness... Still, layout editors, spell check, auto-complete and any number of other tools do, in the end, make our lives easier to some degree.

Apparently, now, google has taken this to an entirely new level, and I'm thrilled that it can, but I am saddened that it needs to. You see, this morning I wrote an email on my gmail account to an associate reviewing a conference call that we were on and it covered several topics, but at one point in the email I mentioned that I would be attaching some tower photos to the email for her due diligence, but then I forgot to actually attach them before I hit the send button. Oops, not the first time I've done that, but something different happened this time. Gmail gave me a pop up that said, and I paraphrase, "Hey dummy, didn't you forget something! You said you were going to attach some pictures, but I don't see any pictures attached, so why don't you go back and try again before I send this email and embarrass you!" Holy shit, man! Google is reading my emails now, and not just for spelling and punctuation, but for meaning and intent! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that it caught the mistake, but now I can't deny that google is, indeed, smarter than I am, and THAT makes me sad face...

Finding Time To Game

I posted this a while ago in a forum thread on x360a about how people with large gamerscores find time to play so many games. I was feeling a little cheeky at the time, so I penned a short satirical guide, poking a little fun at the achievement community. It got a really good response with a lot of laughs from other members, so I decided to re-post it here on my blog for kicks. Hope you enjoy it.


Official Guide for Finding Time To Game

First off, dump your girlfriend! She wastes at least 3 hours a week bitching about how much time you spend gaming. If you don't want to lose the girlfriend, then give her that baby she keeps dropping hints about - that'll keep her too busy to waste time bitching at you about playing games! When you're playing your xbox at 3am and the baby starts crying, go stick a bottle in its mouth - that will win you bonus points with the misses, and possibly even add value to your gaming habit in her eyes! Resist the urge to snuff the baby out with a pillow over the face, as this will require you to make another one and waste more time and resources in the end! If you're in the middle of a multiplayer match and the little bastard starts crying, it is perfectly acceptable to wait until the match is over to tend to its needs – it's just hungry, and babies are too fat anyway! One possible downside to this is that the wife might wake up and feed the baby, in which case you will have to listen to her bitch for at least fifteen minutes before you can get back to your game. If this happens, one workaround is to leave the tv on really loud to drown out the babies cries.

Now that you have the situation at home under control, you need to get a handle on work. Working hard early in your career pays off in the long run, because once you get promoted to department head/middle management it's all about delegating responsibility, and delegating responsibility means more nap time for you! This is crucial, as the ideal gaming hours from 11pm - 5am can be wasted on sleep if you don't get enough nap time at work! Skipping lunch also affords you another hour for napping, and every cheeseburger you skip means less time at the gym and more time sitting on that couch getting achievements! It's win/win! If you can't seem to make it to middle management or simply don't want to put forth the effort, disability and/or social welfare programs are also popular means to your gaming ends. Some people think social welfare programs will limit the amount of disposable income available for Gamefly/Gamestop, but there are other ways to tighten your budget without sacrificing gaming goodness... Sell that condo in the city for a trailer in the park! Not only will this cut your housing expenses, but it is perfectly acceptable to forgo diapers and shoes for the baby in this social environment! Also, with an easily accessible and copious availability of Captain's Wafers and Slim Jims, you can really cut down on the baby food bill!

Pro Tips: Coffee is your friend, but avoid it at work as it may keep you awake during the daytime. Both whiskey and weed can enhance your gaming experience, but never at the same time. The synergistic effect of these two can make you fall asleep with the controller in your hand. Whiskey and cocaine on the other hand is the cocktail of rock stars - the professional all night party people, but this can be prohibitively expensive to all but the most wealthy trust fund babies and entertainment executives. Sexual activities (with or without partner) should be limited to after gaming or before work (and lunchtime if you have a cute assistant) as this can also cause you to fall asleep with your, ahem, controller in your hand...

This system is by no means set in stone! It is merely a loose outline for success, and you should feel free to make adjustments to suit your specific requirements! I hope this helps, and happy achievement hunting!