A philosophy professor in Washington stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2 centimetres in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognise that this is your life.

The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, and your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. "Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

But then ... An Australian student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer. Of course, the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.

Which proves: that no matter how full your life is, there is always room for a beer.

Thanks to 1959 for that one.

I haven't remembered a dream in ages (at least not one worth putting on this site) so when I woke up this morning I made sure that I kept the image of last nights dream fresh in my mind. I've also added an older dream that I forgot to actually publish. Check out the Dreams page.

As well as the OzChat Posting Board, one of the other forums I frequently... er... frequent is the Penny Arcade Phorum. One of the subject of most of the rants going on there at the moment is "Why videogames suck so much these days". Don't get me wrong, video games rock, but these days the market is being inundated with so much crap that it makes me wonder whether these game developers actually realise that their game has to be good to make them money. Graphics seem to be taking pride of place over gameplay, and the quality of the CD-filling FMV sequences seem to take preference over the story actually being told. But I think for myself, there seems to be more to it than just this.

I think for me, it was the step up from the Commodore 64 to the Amiga... I remember vividly saving for weeks until I could afford the latest release, whether it was 'Skate or Die', 'Spy vs Spy' or 'Paperboy'. I would then rush home, pop the cassette in the datasette, PRESS PLAY ON TAPE, then go do something for 20 minutes while the game loaded. Once loaded, I would play the game until beaten or until I needed sleep. The technology was new, the graphics were great, sometimes I'd just leave the chip-music playing just so I could listen to it. It was an uber-happy time of my life.

Now, I have a disposable income which has been spent on over 50 games across 4 platforms, any of which can be loaded in 5 seconds, played for one minute, then set aside. Over 2000 MAME roms at my disposal, and all I want to do is play Galaga. The exceptions are exceptional... Xenogears and Final Fantasy rock my werld on the PSX. Conkers BFD and Zelda, likewise on the N64. My DC gave me many hours of enjoyment through Skies of Arcadia and Soul Caliber. And I'm battling through Monkey Island 3 & 4 on the PC. Nowadays, if the game doesn't eat away a chunk of my life, it hardly seems worth playing, let lone buying.

My point is, I think, that enhanced graphics and 3D hasn't neccessarily driven the nail into the coffin of decent gaming. I dont care if a game's been done before: I enjoy every Final Fantasy or Megaman game I play. I just think that the answer is different for everyone depending on their gaming history and what attracted them to games in the first place.

... and lots of them. Yep, I'm sick. I absolutely hate being sick. It starts off as a sore throat, then comes the sinus congestion. then the sore throat goes away and you're just left with that phlegm that tickles at the back of your throat and theres nothing you can do about it. I bought a box of tissues yesterday, those cool Kleenex ones with the Aloe Vera ('ello Vera!) that's nice and soft on your snozza, and they're almost gone. Now I'm living on a cocktail of cough syrup, decongestant, cold and flu tablets and Red Bull, and I'm feeling a little bit better. Hopefully I should be back to (ab)normal in no time.

Well in one sense of the word I am anyway. DeviantArt is a great site where budding artists can submit their art, application skins, wallpaper images, poetry, icons, photography and more and have it perused and commented on by the masses. I've known about this site for a while, but havent really become inspired enough to join until now. Check out my profile now... if you like... please?