Xpinionated

A study of World of Warcraft players aged 12 - 83 has found that after some violent gaming, the players were actually more relaxed or tired than aggressive. 

“There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type,” said Jane Barnett, who headed the Middlesex study. Translation: If you’re an aggressive jackass before you play a video game, you’ll still be one after; and video games don’t magically turn peaceful people into violent offenders.

Hopefully, more studies like this one will make it to the mainstream media so every violent outburst doesn’t fall at the feet of gaming.   I dare wager that the same could be proven of music and other forms of media.  Though, these forms of media do effect us, the foundation for violence toward others is built on something more than an album, video game, or shoot ‘em up movie. 

An Australian couple has come forward admitting their incestuous relationship including the birth of two children, one of which died on congenital heart problems.  The other child is now nine months old. 

The 61 year old father/grandfather has been having relations with his 39 year old daughter since they fell in love back in 2000 after 30 years of separation.

A judge has ordered that they stop doing the nasty and also given them a fine for their ‘behavior’. 

Oddly enough, I don’t even have a funny joke for this.   It’s kind of disgusting, well not kind of, it is disgusting.  On the other hand, it’s been eight years since they started so they may ‘love’ each other but I still think there is a huge psychological research project here just waiting for the undertaking. 

Stephen King recently wrote an article at EW.com concerning his take on violence and video games spurred by a Massachusetts’ bill that would ban violent games from being sold to anyone under 18. 

What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop culture — not just videogames but TV, movies, even Harry Potter — as a whipping boy. It’s easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room. Elephant One is the ever-deepening divide between the haves and have-nots in this country, a situation guys like Fiddy and Snoop have been indirectly rapping about for years. Elephant Two is America’s almost pathological love of guns. It was too easy for critics to claim — falsely, it turned out — that Cho Seung-Hui (the Virginia Tech killer) was a fan of Counter-Strike; I just wish to God that legislators were as eager to point out that this nutball had no problem obtaining a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Cho used it in a rampage that resulted in the murder of 32 people. If he’d been stuck with nothing but a plastic videogame gun, he wouldn’t even have been able to kill himself.

So we bought a new digital camera as ours had four solid years of service, and coincidentally 4 megapixels of resolution.  Needless to say unless you’re not a digital cam fan, that is nothing.  Today’s average camera is at least 7 megapixels.  Anyway, we were torn between buying a point-and-shoot camera or a dlr camera.  At first, somewhat encouraged by keeping up with the Jones’ so to speak, we were leaning toward the DLR camera….you know the one that people take classes to properly learn.  Then, in January, I stumbled upon an article about the forthcoming Fujifilm s8100FD.  I liked what I read and decided that it was more of an advanced point and shoot which should suit us nicely.

Anyway, long story short (and because the experience with the scam artists Broadway Photo.com continues to piss me off anytime I think of it), here are my early favorite pics:

I am thinking about getting this tattoo on my back.  I have been going back and forth about whether I want to get another tattoo.  If I do get this one though, it means I will need to get a tattoo for every child we have, if I want to be fair and not show favoritism.  Whatcha think?  I may add ‘Lil Man’ above or below it….