Name: Dave.

Age: 21, at least 'till Sunday.

Location: Hereabouts.

Ever led somebody on, just to leave them? Not that I recall.

Do you gossip about your friends? Often in front of them.

Have you ever dated somebody in secret? Yes, Sarah's evil twin.

Do you believe in soul mates? Sure.

What is romance, to you? Where true friendship meets infatuation.

What is your favourite memory? Couldn't pick one, but they mostly involve woods.

Who was your first best friend? Do you still talk to them? I have had more than one, and yes I do.

How do you feel about country music? Crushingly apathetic.

Is there a band that you wouldn't be caught dead listening to, but do anyway? No, I embrace my embaressing tastes in music, film and, indeed, fashion.

Quote some favourite lyrics:
"Born with the moon in cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters cannot fade her
Call her green for the children who've made her
Little green, be a gypsy dancer

He went to california
Hearing that everythings warmer there
So you write him a letter and say, her eyes are blue.
He sends you a poem and she's lost to you
Little green, hes a non-conformer

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
Therell be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the northern lights perform
Therell be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes therell be sorrow"

- Joni Mitchell, "Little Green"

Do you believe in miracles? Thermodynamic ones, and friendships in general. Anytime you can stand another human being enough to grow to love them, that's a little miracle.

How do you feel about communism? It was good in theory, bad in practice.

My three wishes are... Non-existant.

If i were to walk in someone else's shoes for a day, it would be... Maybe Alan Moore. With a day's worth of his ideas in my head I'd be sorted 'till retirement.

The weirdest dream i ever had was about... Waiting around for someone to come and take me to be killed. Can't remember who, or why.

The ideal life would include... Most of the things we already have, ironically enough.

I am the way I am because... I was born where I was to whom I was, I did the things I did when I did them, I learned what I learned and didn't what I didn't, because I've loved and lost and laughed and cried and if your taking the time to read this chances are I'm partly who I am becasue of you.

What is your biggest regret? I don't have it, yet.

What is the craziest dare you have ever gone through with? Nobody dares me stuff.

Do you have any kids? No, its my small contribution to saving the fucking planet.

What is the most cruel thing you have done or said to someone? I've got a good one, but its not for the likes of this to repeat.

Do you think war will stop? When we're all dead, yeah.

Knives? That's dumb, even for this sort of thing.

Are you a habitual liar? I prefer to think of it as creating my own reality. So, yeah.

Do you keep it real? Define "it".

What is your sweetest revenge? See the "Knives?" answer.

Are you a jealous person? More than you'd think.

Was there ever a time when you thought maybe you weren't gay/straight? No, but there was a time everyone else wasn't so sure.

Do you believe in heaven? No.

Have you ever come close to dying? Probably, 21 years of life will do that to ya.

Future child's name, boy and girl? Not applicable.

What was the last thing you touched? Scarf.

Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? Yes.

What's your favourite song at the moment? "Together We Will Live Forever" - Clint Mansell.

Do you drive a stick? No.

Have you ever been in an ambulance? No.

Describe a recent awkward situation: I can't, it just happened five minutes ago and I still feel pretty damn awkward about it.

Last time you slept in a hotel? Sometime in July, in Toronto.

Last movie you watched? "I'm A Cyborg" b

They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy. But we do
not say the words of cheer much any more. All smiles have become
archaic. Given a description such as this one tends to make certain
assumptions. Given a description such as this one tends to look next
for the King, mounted on a splendid stallion and surrounded by his
noble knights, or perhaps in a golden litter borne by great-muscled
slaves. But there was no king. They did not use swords, or keep
slaves. They were not barbarians, I do not know the rules and laws of
their society, but I suspect that they were singularly few. As they
did without monarchy and slavery, so they also got on without the
stock exchange, the advertisement, the secret police, and the
bomb. Yet I repeat that these were not simple folk, not dulcet
shepherds, noble savages, bland utopians. There were not less complex
than us.

The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and
sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather
stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the
treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the
terrible boredom of pain. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If it
hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to
embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost
lost hold; we can no longer describe happy man, nor make any
celebration of joy.
--Ursula K. LeGuin

from kotaku.com

Democratic presidential candidate nominee Barack Obama hasn't made major claims about the content of video games like his rival Hilary Clinton has in the past, but he's definitely been mentioning them. According to GamePolitics.com, Obama's been using video games as a metaphor for underachievement throughout his campaign speeches.

Many of his campaign speeches have contained advice for parents to get kids to "put away the video games." This isn't anything new, either. GamePolitics.com also points out that he's been talking about video games and underachievement in the same breath since April 2006.

In his victory speech in Wisconsin last night, Obama reiterated this sentiment:

"I know how hard it will be to alleviate poverty that has built up over centuries, how hard it will be to fix schools, because changing our schools will require not just money, but a change in attitudes.
We're going to have to parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children, and that's going to take some time."


I'm fairly certain my prime minister doesn't know what a video game is, so for now, Canada is safe. But it's scary when a potential leader of a country so passively attributes video games with failure. It sounds like yet another instance of a politician not fully understanding what he's talking about, and jumping on the bandwagon, proliferating the popular sentiment that "video games are evil."