My Return to Zork

When I was in high school my father brought home our first PC computer (486!) to compliment our fading Amiga 3000.  The computer came with a free CD game called Return to Zork.

One of the best parts of the game was the audio soundtrack that would play from the disc as the game ran.  The music wasn’t entirely original, but there was one piece I liked and that my mother remembered as a favorite song of hers from when she was young.

The track is called Forest of the Spirits and it’s a version of “Pavane”, by Gabriel Fauré.

Surviving Japan in San Francisco

The documentary Surviving Japan has a chance to be seen in theaters, but only if enough tickets are sold by March 4th, 2013. I’m excited, because it looks like only 20  – 30 tickets are needed to guarantee a screening in each location.

From the Surviving Japan website:

The lingering effects of the March 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters are captured by filmmaker Christopher Noland—an American living and working in Tokyo during the catastrophic events, who volunteered for the cleanup in Northeastern Japan, documenting true stories from those affected by the disaster.

The only film of its kind takes an indepth, critical look at the mismanagement of the nuclear crisis and tsunami relief efforts by corporations, the U.S and Japanese governments, and Tokyo Electric Power Company© (TEPCO), drawing questions on the future of nuclear power in the 21st century.

Update: 

The movie made it, and will premier in theaters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego on 3/11 and in New York on 3/12.  Tickets can be purchased via the link above.

Actual Sunlight

I’m really digging an indie game called Actual Sunlight: an interactive story about love, depression, and the corporation.  The game is an interactive novel and series of essays formatted into an early 1990’s Japanese RPG.

There have been a few recently launched serious games about depression,  but what makes Actual Sunlight special is the humor.  Despite the serious subject matter, it actually pulls off being entertaining.

Actual Sunlight is a free download at www.actualsunlight.com and there’s an Indiegogo for the project closing Monday, February 25th at midnight available here.   I hope it makes it!

The Plan for 2013

It’s about mid-way through February and I’m still focusing on what I want to accomplish in 2013.  I made some decisions in January, and I’m finally able to lay them out in a blog post.

  • Launch and improve this website.  Seems to be off to a good start.
  • Continue with harp.  It’s hard to sound bad playing a harp, and it’s quite relaxing to practice.  I’d like to learn to play at least a couple complex and recognizable songs.
  • Become a better cook.  I am still trying to figure out how to engage my interest on this.
  • Become a better reader and read more books.  Prior to 2013, I mostly listened to Audiobooks and didn’t read much fiction (or non-fiction) at all compared to my childhood.
  • Attend a few conferences, including Game Developer’s Conference in March and maybe a couple genre conventions in the summer.
  • Release at least one small video game.  I’ve been working on several small game projects and I’d like to complete at least one this year.
  • Release some of my mods. I have a thing for modding, especially discussion forum software, and I hope to polish and publicly release a few of my projects.

I have a few other more concrete goals, including financial ones, but I’ll feel generally good about the year with progress made on the above.