communication breakdown

Starting Anew

Well, I decided to change gears and go with the "Screw It" philosophy regarding my back - as in, not pay any attention and just do the things I normally do. Actually, most things I've been reading say that's what you should do - unless the pain is excruciating (which it isn't), try to keep getting your normal level of exercise. So I bit the bullet and tried to go out and do the very thing that caused this problem in the first place - play some tennis (at this moment, a certain friend in Macon is shaking her head and the word "stubborn" is probably crossing her mind)...

Actually, I think it was a good decision. I went out Sunday with a friend, we played about 2 hours, and at a certain point, after doing too many bend-overs to grab some balls, I felt some distinct pain. But it subsided quickly and didn't re-appear that day. Today we went out again and I played about 3 hours pain-free, which I consider a great sign. But I just know it's not 100%, because even when it's painless, it feels strange, either tight or swollen, I can't tell. Something in there is not exactly right, and I think it is still not OK to do TaeKwon-Do training, because when I've tried to do a few things to see if I could handle a class, it didn't feel so comfortable. It's amazing how much you realize you depend on something once it's not there. Anyways, the good news is that I'm at least able to maintain a certain level of fun-ness, but the bad news is I know that it's not all back to normal. I'll probably just break down and see a chiropractor and make sure it's not super-serious.

OK, something else that's on my mind that I figured I would share: most of you who know me probably don't know about some of the experiences I've had with ARG. That stands for Alternate Reality Gaming, by the way. Now, before you run screaming thinking that I've gone all geek on you, hear me out, because it's not what you think. This is a new trend that started up over the Internet within the last couple of years. I was going to write a lengthy description here, but I found a perfectly succint one out on a site I frequent often called unfiction (which I'll link to later). Here you go:

The first (and best) of these games was quietly released upon the public as a marketing campaign for the movie AI (by the way, go see this if you haven't already). Basically, several hints were dropped in some of the trailers for the movie. One of the trailers had a phone number hidden on the screen:

Notice the "random" dots under the date? Another listed in the credits a fake person named "Jeanine Salla":

For a while nobody noticed these, but eventually someone caught on to them. Well, this phone number, and this person's name, were entry points into this game that nobody publicly said was starting, but it was there nonetheless, just waiting to be discovered. The story of the game was loosely based on part of the story from AI, and it was bankrolled by Microsoft (amazing, huh?) which meant the funding allowed for some amazing things. In all, the game lasted about 6 months until the full truth was revealed, and it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I even got a prop from the movie as a result of playing the game:

If you want to read more about the Beast, or even see a little bit of what it was about (all of the sites used for the game have been archived), check out www.cloudmakers.org. This was the primary collective group of puzzle-solvers who joined to play the game. As a result of the success of the Beast and the popularity of Cloudmakers, an entire genre was born, called ARG. Though no game has yet to eclipse the Beast (money has been an issue for all of them, and who's got more than Microsoft?) there have been some great attempts and the genre is really evolving. Anyone who loves uncovering a good story would enjoy it - and it's all the more rewarding when you discover something that helps the entire group move forward.

Anyways - so why do I mention all of this? Well, I hadn't participated in any ARGs in a while, but just got an email from one of the collective groups saying that two new ones are just getting underway. So, I wanted to bring some publicity to them, and suggest some of you consider taking a look, if you have some free time - you never know, you might get hooked into the stories like I did. Anyways, the best source of information nowadays for ARGs is a site called unfiction, which is probably the largest collective of ARG participants.. They have a message board forum for each game, and that is where people gather to talk, speculate, solve puzzles together, etc. Most of the action goes on here, and from the main page, you can see all the ARGs going on under the "now playing" and "coming soon" headings. Here are a couple I wanted to highlight:

The first game that's starting right now has been named by the players 'The Haunted Apiary". Who knows what the real name is, we don't even know who's running it, and they haven't communicated a name yet! The way this game started is that somebody mailed a package to one of the people who runs the unfiction site. This package had a jar of honey in a ziploc bag - inside the honey were several cut-outs of alphabet letters. When placed in the right order, they spelled "I LOVE BEES". Weird, huh? Anyway, this gave someone the idea to check out www.ilovebees.com, which is the first site in the game. At first glance it looks like a normal, boring site - but things are not what they seem...

The other game is in "pre-game" and is currently known as Orbital Colony. Pre-game is a time for people to get the word out about the game, minor bits of the story are released, minor puzzles are revealed, it's all just kind of like warming up for the big show. This game was found when someone posted a message on unfiction announcing that an asteroid was put up for sale on eBay. One of the bidders for this asteroid had the username orbital_colony. If you look at that user's profile, you'll find some weird symbols. These symbols, when deciphered (someone else figured this out, not me) spell the name of the first game website: www.orbitalcolony.com.

OK, I think that's enough on ARG, either you're bored, or you can ask me for more information if you're interested. I'll probably put some more random thoughts up later in the week, but for now, that's all that's on my mind. Until the next time, keep on truckin'...