Jou, 216 (Blog Entry 5 - MLG Ohio 2012)

This past weekend has been a bit of a blur. After finishing up in Ohio, I spent the entirety of Monday traveling to San Francisco.  This will end up being a bit more of a placeholder until I am able to get some legitimate sleep, since it is now 3 AM for my natural circadian rhythm.

 This event featured multiple games, including fighter games Tekken, Soul Calibur, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, first person shooter Halo and real time strategy game Starcraft.  Players came in force, fighting for the top slot, honour, and prize money.  I was mostly in the Starcraft area of the venue, which ultimately focuses on the comparison between the Korean players, who hold the highest place among competitors, and "Team USA" as the foreign hope for everyone from the rest of the world.

Many of the players travel to the same tournaments to compete, which has generated a pretty tight knit community of friends and rivals.  Often friends and teammates will play their all against each other, even to the point of elimination in bracket.  Two of my friends, who are also teammates, had this situation in Winners Round 5, neither wanting to be defeated nor to be the one to send the other to the Loser's bracket.  The matches were intense, they know each others' strategies well from often practising together.

 As the match completed, the men had a moment of being awkward, then both smiled and shook hands while critiquing the matches the just completed.

Obviously, the matches are an important aspect of a tournament, but another side of it is a chance for fans to interact with their favourite players.  As competitive gaming is a sport which can be played and viewed from any location, large tournaments like Major League Gaming draw in massive amounts of spectators who wish to cheer on and meet the players they idolise daily through streams, online tournaments and match replays. 

Jou, 216 (Blog Entry 4 - Requiescant in Pace)

Any time I am free of obligations, I tend to adhere to the adage "sleep when you're dead".  This definitely rang true over the past week, sadly being coupled with the mortal sin of sloth.  To absolve myself of my sins, I decided to photograph a few local cemeteries in penance.  I personally prefer architectural or natural pictures, and graveyards are one of my favourite places of that variety.

"My Lord hath need of these flowerets gay," The Reaper said, and smiled. 

To say I enjoy graveyards sounds morbid and disturbed at first listening, but let me clarify.  They are very peaceful places, filled with interesting tidbits of history and a very real feeling glance into the past.  It really gives you a frame of reference for how much times have changed, yet have stayed the same, as time has progressed.  It can also be very humbling as well as occasionally entertaining to read the lasting vestige left behind by those before us.

"A precious one from us has gone. A voice we loved is stilled."

Familial pride and respect resonates strong in these old cemeteries, some graves dating as far back as 1801.  Plots are arranged by family; husbands and wives, sons and daughters at rest together often with joined headstones.

Glancing at the ages, one finds a pattern of child and infant deaths.  The more sobering coupling of a mother with "an infant at her side" which shares a deathdate.  Such reminders bring an appreciation for modern medical technology, and leave a momentary hollow feeling of guilt in your stomach.

At the same time, solace can be found in the heartfelt decorations and notes adorning the graves.  There is something sweet about the messages engraved for those who have passed on to the next adventure.

Some are simple, a verse from the Bible being the most common sentiment.  Others are a description of the person's life and legacy, giving you a peek into the window of their soul.

Then there are the truly deep ones that make you stop and inch closer to interpret the decaying stone.  The ones that even a complete stranger feels a tug on their heartstrings over the unadulterated emotion on display for the dearly loved departed.  Those are the intimate notes you almost feel like an intruder upon, the kind which invoke an appreciation and respect for the love you happened to experience from across history.

Some may claim graveyards to be a depressing place, but when truly explored, hope and inspiration can be cultivated.  It is a final chance to leave an impact on the world, where many go with a positive option versus a negative.

When it is my time to rest, I hope that I will have left an impact which deserves the kind of love I've found in these epitaphs.

"Alas how changed that lovely flower
Which bloomed and cheered our heart
Fair fleeting comfort of an hour
How soon we are called to part
Hope looks beyond the bounds of time
When what we now deplore
Shall rise full immortal prime
And bloom to fade no more." 




Click HERE for the rest of the set.