Thursday, November 15, 2007
Influential Bao
Bao likes being influential... hey David, watch this episode of Firefly! Hey Duy, come on, play Zelda! Hey Vinh, try this food! Hey guys, do my trivia! Hey guys, watch what I watch, eat what I eat, play what I play, and like the things that I like! So... that's what I do. I'd be lying if I said "that's what I used to do", although I have cut back on some of it. It's part of my nature... also, if I were to become a famous movie make or game producer or whatever, I would also continue to do this. Play my game, watch my movie, share the same interests as I, agree that the movie is awesome, like what I like, give me your attention and do what I say.
It's like I want to a be a leader, someone who influences you a lot, someone important. It's like, I feel a person will be better off if they have shared an experience that I have... experienced. Let's go back and look at a specific case... like I mentioned before - Hey David, watch Firefly!
So I think of David as a... person with limited tastes, but also at the same time, as a person who is somewhat open to new ideas, or wants to try them out or wants to be exposed to new things, while still staying in familiar territory. So David, he likes things like country music, and stories with character development and things he can relate to. He likes charming, happy people, and he's comfortable with "movies where nothing happens". He prefers shows with massive character development over shows with massive plot/action/situations. He values human lives, so he does not like it in movies when people die senselessly as many henchmen and unnamed terrorists do.
I think David is on a mission to seek out more things that he likes - he is open to different forms of art, but he is unsure of himself. So he can't just go out to a movie rental store and describe his situation and have the movie clerk recommend him something - that's where we come in. He trusts us to be able to recommend things he will like. Sure, I've had made some bad judgements in the past (True Lies was worst, Fight Club didn't go well, we previewed Face/Off, that didn't go well), but overall it's not too bad. At least now I know the upper limit, hehe.
I feel offtopic... so anyway, David, let's watch Firefly? Why? I think he will be more exposed to more things, I think he will like it, and... yeah, that's about it. Also, if you know Firefly then we can discuss it with Wen and Alan and a lot of people too. So, will David be a better person if he watches Firefly? That's not really the correct question, but I think if he gave Firefly a try, then it at least means he ... gave it a try, so he's more exposed to that type of show. If he can see meaning in the show, that would be good too.
What's in it for me? I would receive some sort of enjoyment, through David, if I see him enjoying the show. Then comes that thing where I can influence him, and he likes what I like, and... that brings us closer, yes? A bit, but only a little bit. Apart from this, there's not much else in it for me.
So, fast forward to the future - David did watch a few episodes of Firefly, and I promised I wouldn't make him watch anymore after a few episodes, and that time has come. We saw episode 8 (Out of Gas), an episode about family and characters... we saw Episode 7 (Jaynestown), a funny episode with underlying themes of community... and we saw Episode 6 (Our Mrs. Reynolds), my favourite episode, with a little bit of everything but a bit more funny.
Ideally, I'd like him to watch more episodes, including War Stories, Trash, and Objects in Space, but the deal was done. The verdict? Hmm... I think David likes Firefly a bit... some themes are there, but maybe a bit more character development and interaction would be ideal for David.
Additionally, it's really hard to get David to come over now and watch stuff. I also want him to watch Gankutsuou, a really beautifully done anime with really good themes that David would love, but that's really hard. He doesn't come over very often anymore, and whenever he does, we're always doing something interactive with each other rather than something static, like watching something. So, I've given up on influencing him like such.
So I said before, maybe David's on a mission to seek out more things; or maybe it is I, that is on a mission, not the other way around. My mission is to help others, and I do that by exposing them to new things, new works of art. I get some sort of fulfillment when I accomplish my mission, but lately I've been learning that it's a lot more effort than it's worth.
What else am I giving up on? Well, there's Vinh and his food. As we all know, Vinh only eats rice, chicken nuggets, egg, some breads, some icecream and cakes, milk, a few meats, fried fish, french fries, potato wedges, fried chicken, and a few other things. Oh, and not mixed; he likes rice with fried fish, or rice with fried chicken, but rice with fried fish and fried chicken and egg... well, that's a no no.
So, earlier in the day, I would ask Vinh to try some food, and if he doesn't, I'd probably get upset. And then I learned that it's impossible to get him to try new foods, which would logically result in me getting upset 100% of the time, so it wasn't worth it. Now I never ask him to try new foods, and I also discourage those around me who are about to try (because I am saving them from getting upset).
When we first got Zelda: Twilight Princess, Duy played for an hour and 37 minutes. A few days ago, Duy bumped that up to about 3 and a half hours. As we all know, Duy spends 99% of his gaming time between WOW, Smash, and the occasional Halo. So here is another classic case of my "I think a person will be better off if they have the same interests as me", or in a more general sense, "more interest in other things". That's the way I feel! I feel Duy will be "better" if instead of 90% of his gaming on WOW, it becomes 30% WOW, 30% Zelda and 30% Metroid, for example. Be introduced to new games, new stories, all that. Kinda like Vinh, but for videogames instead of food.
But, just like Vinh... it's almost impossible. To get Duy to play Zelda is almost as hard as getting Vinh to eat Fried Shrimp. And what's in it for me? How does Duy playing Zelda help me? He goes through the same dungeons, same experiences, same story, same hardships and troubles as I do, if he plays Zelda. Does that help me? In a way, we bond a bit more if we have had the same experience. Some more conversation here and there, some more laughs and stories. But beyond that... there's not much. It seems a bit surfacey, like, vain, or shallow, or all these other negative adjectives. So I think I should just let Duy be too... Vinh, eat your nuggets, Duy, keep clicking and pressing numbers...
But... so if I am no longer "trying to make people more like me", or "making people bond closer to me", it means... I'm becoming more... self... something... I am more single-player-ish. Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime Corruption, Super Paper Mario, and the new (bought yesterday) Super Mario Galaxy... they're not D&B's games... they're my games. Because I'm the only one that plays them in the house. Ambrose probably plays a few of these... but most of these... are exclusively mine. I know the story of Super Paper Mario. I'd like to share that story to others, the laughs along the way, the adventure... but I can't. It's my own story that nobody else knows. It's like a beautiful secret that I'd like to share, but I can't.
I'm experiencing all these beautiful pieces of art. Some new anime, some new game, some new tv shows. But I can't share it with anyone. Or, I can't share it with "everyone". Maybe that's what's troubling me. The less people I share it with, the more singluar I become. More singluar, more secretive, more hermitlike. And I don't like that.
Neato, I learned something about me as I wrote this entry.
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It's like I want to a be a leader, someone who influences you a lot, someone important. It's like, I feel a person will be better off if they have shared an experience that I have... experienced. Let's go back and look at a specific case... like I mentioned before - Hey David, watch Firefly!
So I think of David as a... person with limited tastes, but also at the same time, as a person who is somewhat open to new ideas, or wants to try them out or wants to be exposed to new things, while still staying in familiar territory. So David, he likes things like country music, and stories with character development and things he can relate to. He likes charming, happy people, and he's comfortable with "movies where nothing happens". He prefers shows with massive character development over shows with massive plot/action/situations. He values human lives, so he does not like it in movies when people die senselessly as many henchmen and unnamed terrorists do.
I think David is on a mission to seek out more things that he likes - he is open to different forms of art, but he is unsure of himself. So he can't just go out to a movie rental store and describe his situation and have the movie clerk recommend him something - that's where we come in. He trusts us to be able to recommend things he will like. Sure, I've had made some bad judgements in the past (True Lies was worst, Fight Club didn't go well, we previewed Face/Off, that didn't go well), but overall it's not too bad. At least now I know the upper limit, hehe.
I feel offtopic... so anyway, David, let's watch Firefly? Why? I think he will be more exposed to more things, I think he will like it, and... yeah, that's about it. Also, if you know Firefly then we can discuss it with Wen and Alan and a lot of people too. So, will David be a better person if he watches Firefly? That's not really the correct question, but I think if he gave Firefly a try, then it at least means he ... gave it a try, so he's more exposed to that type of show. If he can see meaning in the show, that would be good too.
What's in it for me? I would receive some sort of enjoyment, through David, if I see him enjoying the show. Then comes that thing where I can influence him, and he likes what I like, and... that brings us closer, yes? A bit, but only a little bit. Apart from this, there's not much else in it for me.
So, fast forward to the future - David did watch a few episodes of Firefly, and I promised I wouldn't make him watch anymore after a few episodes, and that time has come. We saw episode 8 (Out of Gas), an episode about family and characters... we saw Episode 7 (Jaynestown), a funny episode with underlying themes of community... and we saw Episode 6 (Our Mrs. Reynolds), my favourite episode, with a little bit of everything but a bit more funny.
Ideally, I'd like him to watch more episodes, including War Stories, Trash, and Objects in Space, but the deal was done. The verdict? Hmm... I think David likes Firefly a bit... some themes are there, but maybe a bit more character development and interaction would be ideal for David.
Additionally, it's really hard to get David to come over now and watch stuff. I also want him to watch Gankutsuou, a really beautifully done anime with really good themes that David would love, but that's really hard. He doesn't come over very often anymore, and whenever he does, we're always doing something interactive with each other rather than something static, like watching something. So, I've given up on influencing him like such.
So I said before, maybe David's on a mission to seek out more things; or maybe it is I, that is on a mission, not the other way around. My mission is to help others, and I do that by exposing them to new things, new works of art. I get some sort of fulfillment when I accomplish my mission, but lately I've been learning that it's a lot more effort than it's worth.
What else am I giving up on? Well, there's Vinh and his food. As we all know, Vinh only eats rice, chicken nuggets, egg, some breads, some icecream and cakes, milk, a few meats, fried fish, french fries, potato wedges, fried chicken, and a few other things. Oh, and not mixed; he likes rice with fried fish, or rice with fried chicken, but rice with fried fish and fried chicken and egg... well, that's a no no.
So, earlier in the day, I would ask Vinh to try some food, and if he doesn't, I'd probably get upset. And then I learned that it's impossible to get him to try new foods, which would logically result in me getting upset 100% of the time, so it wasn't worth it. Now I never ask him to try new foods, and I also discourage those around me who are about to try (because I am saving them from getting upset).
When we first got Zelda: Twilight Princess, Duy played for an hour and 37 minutes. A few days ago, Duy bumped that up to about 3 and a half hours. As we all know, Duy spends 99% of his gaming time between WOW, Smash, and the occasional Halo. So here is another classic case of my "I think a person will be better off if they have the same interests as me", or in a more general sense, "more interest in other things". That's the way I feel! I feel Duy will be "better" if instead of 90% of his gaming on WOW, it becomes 30% WOW, 30% Zelda and 30% Metroid, for example. Be introduced to new games, new stories, all that. Kinda like Vinh, but for videogames instead of food.
But, just like Vinh... it's almost impossible. To get Duy to play Zelda is almost as hard as getting Vinh to eat Fried Shrimp. And what's in it for me? How does Duy playing Zelda help me? He goes through the same dungeons, same experiences, same story, same hardships and troubles as I do, if he plays Zelda. Does that help me? In a way, we bond a bit more if we have had the same experience. Some more conversation here and there, some more laughs and stories. But beyond that... there's not much. It seems a bit surfacey, like, vain, or shallow, or all these other negative adjectives. So I think I should just let Duy be too... Vinh, eat your nuggets, Duy, keep clicking and pressing numbers...
But... so if I am no longer "trying to make people more like me", or "making people bond closer to me", it means... I'm becoming more... self... something... I am more single-player-ish. Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime Corruption, Super Paper Mario, and the new (bought yesterday) Super Mario Galaxy... they're not D&B's games... they're my games. Because I'm the only one that plays them in the house. Ambrose probably plays a few of these... but most of these... are exclusively mine. I know the story of Super Paper Mario. I'd like to share that story to others, the laughs along the way, the adventure... but I can't. It's my own story that nobody else knows. It's like a beautiful secret that I'd like to share, but I can't.
I'm experiencing all these beautiful pieces of art. Some new anime, some new game, some new tv shows. But I can't share it with anyone. Or, I can't share it with "everyone". Maybe that's what's troubling me. The less people I share it with, the more singluar I become. More singluar, more secretive, more hermitlike. And I don't like that.
Neato, I learned something about me as I wrote this entry.