Invisible Work And Other Things We Can’t See

There is a great mirror effect that works in the Bardo Safari environment when working with the group. I think without the group the mirror itself is invisible. The mirror is part of the reflection.

Isn’t it? Or is it? What I noticed is that tendencies that are invisible to me in this realm are visible and undeniable in the Bardo Safari realm.

There is no time to forget what happened because you have a present and very visible view the 3 Vs) of the whole situation. It is true that seasoned voyagers will have a better knowledge of what they are looking at on the screen than a noob and noobs will be more or less knowledgeable of what they are seeing depending on the degree of attention but no matter how much you see or don’t see, exposure to the space gradually sharpens, strengthens and focuses the attention and, other things as well. It seems to happen as if by magic but we know it took many, many BTUs of heat to get that little kernel to pop. When the motivation to change is for the benefit of the group and not for oneself it becomes a whole new bowl of cherries.

— Yoyodyne

Although, compared to some, I have not worked in Bardo Safaris much at all, however, each time I do, I notice how much the Bardo Safari situations are a mirror to life in this realm where I now sit.. I wanted to share this, most recent observation with you, today. Today, as I was entering a game with a plan to hunt for runes in the Tower (Countess Quest), where runes are guaranteed, it came to my attention that in the Bardo Safaris one is able to observe how “different characters” handle the same situations-differently depending on what kind of “character” type they are. One can choose a number (7) different characters to operate and learn to “voluntarily” operate each one.

In “the game” the NPCs (non player characters, like Akara, Charsi, Flavie … are programed to do what they do, without variation. They respond in a constant to the “character’s'” prompting.achievements…They always say the same things…They will sell pots, weapons, armor, anything the character wants can be had, as long as the character has the gold. The characters (sorc, druid, necro…) are not programed in exactly the way but they do have to abide the rules/laws of that particular environment that were developed by the “game designers” and their actions and
behaviors are completely tied to the directions given by “the player/operator” ( you, me, Joe Smith…). If the player/operator directs a level one character into a situation it has not been properly prepared for, it will die, likewise, if the character has been sufficiently prepared it will succeed perhaps in accomplishing one or another of the quests/obstacles on the path toward the shared goals. The player/operator cannot change the laws of the game universe for the character but can
assist the character by playing him/her/it. They, the character and player/operator have a relationship in which they “learn” the game together, do the Bardo Run together. The more the operator plays the character and understands the game, the better the character will perform in the game. This is one area where practice, practice, practice makes a big difference, like playing an instrument.The more the player/character “operates the character, the more likely she/he/it will learn how “to play” “the game”.

The character is programed to do certain number actions only.
With the vigilance of the operator it can come to perform these actions incredibly well. The operator will learn what skills the character has at his/her/it’s disposal and exploit them in the most advantageous ways. The operator will outfit the character to protect it, make it fast, make it strong or whatever is needed to achieve the aim at hand. The character and the player/operator learn the game together as they play. This brings to mind the ventriloquist act. A good act will convince the audience that there are two entites operating.even though there is the only one.

The character serves the operator in that it is through the character that it is possible for the operator to participate in this particular environment
for whatever reason the operator has in mind. It appears to quite a pleasant symbiotic situation since it is my supposition that the character does not have a life without the possession of the operator but I have no proof. I can see it like the “spirit/essence” giving life to a material form/machine. The operator/essence can work on “this” particular plane by taking possession of a character/machine/material form. The player will try to keep the character alive during the given situaltion in the order to further the mission.

It turned out to be much longer than anticipated but if you care to
add to, comment on, with any thoughts or inspirations you have had
along these or other lines related to the Bardo Safaris I would be
interested to know them.

Yoyodyne

Aloha,

…sometimes the solution to a problem is simply a sacrifice.

We saw this lesson in the Bardo Safari game yesterday.

We were having a hard time getting to the Throne Room in Hell.
Our telesoc was really having to work.

Just want to say that the transformation fwas tangable.

I am sure there are many verbally past down analogous stories that
would describe this event and, in EJ’s case, it would be a number of different jokes. Like the time…just kidding.

But, yeah, so any, our telesorc seemingly (on my pixel screen, anyway) transformed out of the catapillar mode, spread those teleporting wings and flew to the destination and although I could not see the movement from my post at the time I hold an image of a very quick but gentle vertical ebb and flow of rainbow colored light, well, with lots of bright white mixed in. When a gateway of such magnitude is opened for the group to witness,who cares where your experience bar registers. I am very grateful to have partaken in such an experiment and experience.

gg’s all,
Yoyodyne

Spiritual Gaming has a channel on YouTube. We’ve just started the process of adding bits and pieces selected from the hundreds of hours recorded on the topic.

Take a look, have a listen.

The channel is http://www.youtube.com/spiritualgaming

Survival is not the goal.

That doesn’t mean to suggest that death or reckless behavior is called for.
Simply, survival is not the goal.

When running a set of linked equations and optimizing on survival you get one answer. Take that same set of linked equations and optimize on something other than survival and you’ll get a different result.

I can’t really put into exact words the nature of what that other thing would be. I can’t put it into words for two reasons. One, the true nature of that other thing is non-human and thus can not be bound in a simple container of human language. Two, the exact nature of what that other thing could very well be different for me than it is for you.

So given that confession of wiggly-fuzziness consider the following as possible alternatives to survival as the goal:

Making the most of the life that one has been given.
Quality of life.
Contribution.
Communion with the underlying is-ness of it all.
Right action.
Not dying like a dog.
…
und-sew-forth

Somewhere in and amongst those phrases may lurk a valid alternative to survival as the goal.

This is the title for an old but still very relevant article found in the BBC news on the topic of video game development. The link can be found here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/6047566.stm

Quoting from the news article:

“Spiralling production costs, development time and accusations of a lack of innovation are causing problems for gaming companies. But some in the industry are hoping the revival of user-generated games may provide the solution.

Boasting 3D, photo-real graphics and 5.1 surround sound, contemporary video games are pretty impressive.

But games that look and feel next-gen do not come cheap.

With development costs running into tens of millions of dollars, the games industry relies on sequels and tried and tested formats.

Eidos’ Ian Livingstone says: “The industry really is relatively young but already it’s surpassed Hollywood box office in receipts. It’s [earned] $20bn [£11bn] a year in software sales alone, so it’s a huge business.

“I think publishers became a little bit more risk-aware because of the amounts of money involved.

“You get two or three titles wrong, and you’ve spent £5m [$9m] to £10m [$19m] each on them, you’re out of business in a hurry.”

Popular game genres like sports, racing and first person shooters, dominate the charts.

But where are the new, innovative ideas?

Observers think the industry needs an injection of imagination. “

The article then goes on to discuss the attempts by Microsoft and other software moguls to provide platforms that will allow individuals to penetrate the development scene.

Unfortunately, these platforms also serve the purpose of locking the would be developers into the preferred platform of the supplier.

There are two solutions to this dilemma that we like. One involves the creation of group productivity tools similar to those used on sourceforge.net for open source software. This would need to be enhanced in a wiki type fashion to allow for parallel development of story-lines and other non software aspects of the project.

Another solution we like is the use of simpler development platforms that are more friendly to small team (or solo) development.

In this regard I’m very familiar with the G.O.D.D. engine — as one of the co-developers I’m more or less forced to be aware of it. However, you may know of other small-team friendly development systems. Heck you might even be involved in such a beast. If that is the case please drop a line. It would be good to know about and perhaps review.

The problem with massive projects is the demand for justification. You simply can’t ask 150 people to work on a project without justifying to them in some fashion the why, where, and how of that project. This is not conducive to exploration of a creative hunch.

This is not as easy as it might seem. But not to worry, if you happen to jump to the next grade of sandpaper too soon there is one sure fire method to test your progress and determine if you need to bump back to a previous grade of sandpaper.

After you graduate to 320 sandpaper, it is time to let your sculpture dry and look at it under a strong light.

The sculpture to the right was more than a bit of a bear to polish. It took my quite some time before I could find and remove all of the scars from the crevices. That is what drying will bring to light — scars and scratches.

When you let the sculpture dry and look at it under good light, you will find all of the scratches and scars left by the chisel and rasp. Scratches are a natural result caused by the use of chisel and rasp.

When the sculpture is close to its final form I wills top using chisel and switch to course rasp. The course rasp is useful in the process of shaping and in the process of removing scars left by the chisel.

When the sculpture is even closer to the final form I will switch to a medium rasp. The medium rasp is useful in the process of further refining the shape of the sculpture and in the process of removing scars left by the course rasp.

After the initial shaping of the sculpture each stage requires more and more delicate tools — leading from hammer and chisel to 1500 grit sandpaper. While shaping is the main goal of each stage of the sculpting process, removing the traces of work from the previous stage is the other equally important goal.

By the time you get to 320 grit sandpaper shaping is done. Now it is all a process of removing traces of work and achieving an appropriate surface for the sculpture. In the case of my sculptures that is smooth — real smooth.

If when studying the dry sculpture in the light one notices a scratch or scar, then one simply reverts to a previous grit of sandpaper to remove that scratch. Depending upon the depth of the scratch one can just bump up to 220 — or it might be necessary to go back to 120. If you find it necessary to revert to the use of a rasp, then you jumped into the polishing process a little too early.

After fixing the scratch, proceed with the 320 again, dry the sculpture and study it again.

Sand, rinse, dry, study and repeat as necessary.

When you move on to the 400 grit sandpaper you should have zero worries about scratches. From this point on it is all a matter of polishing.

More than once I’ve heard complaints about apparent violence contained in games that have been recommended as vehicles for spiritual gaming.

“So what’s the deal with all this violence in the video game? I can’t do spiritual gaming with something that contains violence.”

If you have a problem with yucky stuff you might want to take it up with those pesky Tibetans. They might have something clever to say on the topic. For myself, I’d just point to the bardos and ask if you’d like to be prepared for all of the bardos or just part of the bardos.

As mentioned in a previous blog there are games that I find harmful and avoid for myself. Others may not find them objectionable. I don’t play them and I don’t recommend them. If someone stumbles across such a game themselves and decides to play, that is their path — I wouldn’t dream of interfering, other then to give my opinion if it is called for. And as mentioned in the same previous blog, the aspect of these games that I find objectionable has nothing to do with shooting, explosions, and/or flying body parts. I find the infliction of authority on a child by an adult just because they happen to out-weigh the child and can beat the crap out of them to be a form of violence. And yet, this is typically not labeled as violence. Yes, yes, yes there are occasions when it is the responsibility of the adult to take charge and insist on a particular action and/or behavior by a child. Using the attention that is your rightfully heritage you will notice I said “just because they happen to out-weigh the child and can beat the crap out of them”. The world is not black and white. Check out the shades of grey. It will help you sort out this rather complex video game we find ourselves in.

Maya or video game, a world hallucination by any name can be just as seductive.

Any way, back to the part about violence being an apparent contradiction in games used for spiritual gaming.

Do you want to be prepared for all of the bardos or just part of the bardos. Apparent violence is an integral part of the bardos — just as much as apparent non-violence. However, keep in mind neither of these reflect the true unfiltered, unadulterated vision of the void. The Voidness of the Void is beyond words and beyond judgments of G, PG, R, and X ratings.

In the Voyager’s Quatrain, one will read:

• All phenomena is illusion
• Neither attracted nor repelled
• Not making any sudden moves
• My habits will carry me through

I don’t necessarily find body parts flying off in every direction to be particularly violent. The number of red pixels on the screen is not a direct measure of violence.

While it is true that I find 98% of all video games violent to one degree or another, it is also true that most folks find my designation of non-violent games to be a bit odd.

For example, I don’t find Diablo Lord of Destruction or TF2 (Team Fortress 2) to be violent games. In both cases body parts being cast about the landscape is a definite part of the game. In fact, in TF2 the programmers are kind enough to point out my various body parts (such as foot and head) when I’m dead with arrows — “Your head here –>”. This bespeaks an underlying sense of humor in the game. This along with the larger than life characters and slightly cartoonish graphics keeps the game fun, not violent.

Old school games such are Zelda 1, Zelda 3, Soloman’s Key, Solstice, Faxanadu, and their ilk are definitely not violent in my book. Zelda 2 on the other hand had some serious problems. Myself and other Spiritual Gaming testers found it to be abusive of the player. The grinding necessary to do anything was a real joy killer. Hear this Blizzard? You might want to rethink the constant grinding necessary in World of Warcraft.

My idea of violence: the ankle breaking scene in Misery, or the scene in Spawn when the hell clown licks Wanda’s face.

I found Grand Theft Auto to be violent, but had no problem with the original Going Postal — go figure.

As an experiment, take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of the page. On the left write in a column header “Violent”. On the right write in a column header “Not-Violent”. Consider the games that you have actually experienced and place them on either the left or the right. Do this with games you have played. Don’t go all silent majority and list games that you have only seen advertised on television, looked at the game packaging, or just heard about in the media. Do this with games you have experience.

When I did this experiment I ended up with about 100 games on the left and a couple dozen on the right. Looking at these games it became clear to me that it would be impossible to apply a predictive formula to games in order to sort them. I could not find any of the obvious attributes in the violent games that did not also exist in some of the non-violent games. Nor could I find any of the obvious attributes in the non-violent games that did not also exist in some of the violent games.

However, when it came to the less obvious, and less used criteria, I could easily find attributes in the violent games which did not exist in the non-violent games. Racism, sexism, demeaning of spirit, brutality and brutish behavior in general could be found in some of the violent games and none of the non-violent games. But these are qualities that are not easy to subject to quantification. Unless certain words are used it is hard to label racism and sexism — even though they are unmistakably present. There is a reason it is hard for schools to enforce statues related to bullying, racism and sexism — it it hard to define these things in statues.

Bottom line, there is such as thing as violence. To this I agree whole-heartedly. But, to those that suggest squirting blood, explosions and flying body parts are a measure of violence I say: “too simplified, it won’t work.”

The trick to working with wet/dry sandpaper is working wet. (Keep in mind all of my sanding comments relate to alabaster, chlorite, and pyrophyllite).

To do this I use a large black rubber pan that I purchased from Sculpture House. I The pan is designed for use in mixing plaster. Actually, I believe it is manufactured for use in the barn — pigs, goats, horses, etc. If you hunt in google for “Kanguro bucket” you will find many referencese. All of the references relate to farm/barn and most of them are in the UK. Here is a quote about the Kanguro bucket:

“Kanguro are made from reinforced rubber, they are virtually indestructible ( even for pigs!), and are impervious to frost, sunlight and manure acids. They are the long term answer to all your bucket requirements. 17 litres”

I suppose manure acids aren’t a regular part of sculpting. But it’s nice to know that if there are any the bucket is impervious.

The part number at Sculpture House for the rubble tub I use is C-100 — called Cesta Rubber Bucket. I am gonna order one to make sure it is the same as the ones I bought back in 1986. As you can tell, they last a long long time. The only down-side is that the rubber marks my white alabaster. So to prevent this I use a large cloth (old t-shirt) to line the pan.

So with rubber tub filled (about 1/2) with water and the sculpture partially immersed I am good to go for the wet version of wet/dry sanding.

There are several advantages to this:

1. It keeps the dust down (yay!) .
2. I achieve a better surface faster.
3. The sandpaper lasts much longer.
4. It is easier to tell when it is time to switch to the next grade of sandpaper.

On the larger pieces I can’t fit the sculpture in the pan, so I will either run water over the sculpture as I sand or I will have a basin sitting close by and dip into it every few moments to re-wet the sandpaper and rinse the sculpture.