BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

So… Long story short, my kid got herself one of those small, Nintendo hand held games for Christmas…DX or DS…something like that…As I predicted would happen, she got just a bit wrapped up in it lately and ended up getting herself grounded from the thing for a week. (It all has to do with it interfering with her chores and such. I’m sure the parental units reading this know EXACTLY what I am talking about…)

Anyway, her favorite ongoing game is called NintenDogs or some such… Basically, she has a virtual dog she has to take care of…Well, of course, taking the thing away from her put the onus on US to look after this dog. Why? Because they actually get sick, etc, like a real dog if they aren’t taken care of daily… Now, in my opinion this is actually a good way for kids try their hand at responsibility without a real, live animal suffering from their young-age-induced forgetfulness… However, it doesn’t make life easier for the parents when situations like this occur… What they really need to add in is a “parental code” that lets you put the damn thing into suspended animation for a while… But, as usual, I digress…

Anyhow, EK has been taking NintenDog for her virtual walks since she seems to be a bit more savvy about this toy than me… She has also been giving VirtuoDog its baths… Feeding it…. All the necessary jazz to keep it healthy and happy…

But, we seem to have run into a problem… EK hasn’t been doing EVERYTHING she is supposed to…

Apparently, she has been neglecting to pick up the virtual dog poo.

So…I guess I’m glad this isn’t a virtual zoo animal like an Elephant or something…

Given that this little game device has voice recognition, etc, I am now dreading the day they decide to add olfactory upgrades, and such…

More to come…

Murv

In the 1986 Michael Mann film, Manhunter, based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, there is a scene where a sting operation is being set up and one of the FBI agents says to Investigator Will Graham, “Let’s walk the route…” Basically, the idea was for them to walk the path Graham would be taking during the sting in order that he be familiar with it and hopefully not get himself killed.

Well, I walked the route last night… Not the route Will Graham (William Petersen) walked in the movie…No, I walked the route Special Agent Constance Mandalay walked in the last pages of The End Of Desire. I’ll try not to give away too much, as I know some readers of my blog have yet to get their hands on TEOD, and are hoping it will be in their Yule stocking (Good luck to you on that – I’m pulling for you!)… Suffice it to say, I “walked the route.”

The Saint Louis Zoo does in fact have a special light display every year at this time. It is called “Wild Lights”. And, each year as a family we go there, pay our modest admission, and wander around the zoo in the dark looking at all the wonderous displays. Hence, the reason (with some minor name changes) it was featured as part of the climax in The End Of Desire.

Anyway, last night was our annual pilgrimage, and it was the first time I had been back to the display since writing TEOD (naturally). So, I walked Mandalay’s route…There was a crowd of folks, as usual, enjoying hot chocolate and the various light displays…But, for me, it was like moving slowly through a dream. The fictional scene replayed in my head, projecting itself onto the canvas of reality before me. Non-existent players in this world were suddenly very tangible, if only to my eyes and no one else’s.

For a scant 30 minutes, fiction became reality in my own personal world.

It was, to say the least, an interesting experience… Of course, we know that my characters talk to me all the time, so I suppose I should have expected it.

Yeah, I’m pretty disturbed. But we already knew that, didn’t we? 

More to come…

Murv