These are well worth checking out — especially the ‘song’ of multi-instrumentalist Lyre bird. These samples are part of yet another great nature series by David Attenborough, Life of Birds. See link: http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/songs/
Category: media
media, culture and society
evolution in game design, research, education?
I wrote recently a newspaper article (published in Aamulehti, June 6, 2006) on the direction of game design and research. In summary, I think that examples like Nintendo‘s Wii control and the emphasis on easily accessible games appealing to ‘non-gamer’ audiences are promising signs, that the need for true multimodality in game design (not only multimodal interfaces, but the support for multiple modes of gameplay and style) is also something that at least some people in game industry seem to recognize. But any true evolution in game cultures will require also public recognition for games’ cultural significance, including education (meaning also us in universities, and the Ministry of Education funding us) paying serious attention to games. See the pdf manuscript version: link to article (in Finnish).
play, freedom, childhood – things of the past?
Tim Gill writes in the Guardian blog about “risky childhood” and how it actually might be necessary for children’s development. In a society increasingly obsessed with surveillance, it appears to be getting harder for children to play in freedom, and escape the (well-intended) suffocation of adult eyes. Link: Comment is free: The play’s the thing.
mcdonald's interactive spoof in the serious games uk
It appears that a social activism group pulled an interesting spoof at the Serious Games UK conference; take a look at the detective work in: Water Cooler Games – McDonald’s Interactive Sticks it to McDo… or do they?
lordi – victorious finnish monstrosity
Last night, an increasingly amazed and exited audience followed how a Finnish monster rock band “Lordi” won the Eurovision song contest. This is good news for Finnish fantasy art (in which heavy rock is actually a major element), the band (which can continue rocking with increased popularity) and to the song contest itself — it is high time for someone to break the tired format. And that Lordi had such a clear victory was just amazing, too: their final points were highest ever recorded in the contest. Being myself from the same town (Rovaniemi, in Lapland) like Mr. Lordi, I just toast happily: congratulations guys, and good luck!
sun'n'games?
I visited Leinola school in Wednesday evening, speaking in a Media Education panel. Finns tend to be rather liberal and open-minded in international comparison, and this was also rather civilized event. I talked about need of parents to 1) pay attention to games, 2) to listen their children in order to understand both them and their relation to games, and, 3) join games themselves, to bridge the digital divide, and to enjoy some free time. Media fasting was also discussed; my point was that it is demeaning our lives and anything of value in media culture to bury ourselves in media indiscriminately — it might be wise sometimes to switch off all media from our lives for a few days. Might try that even myself. Sun, outdoors, what a combination.
rick random – jet-ace logan
This is pure nostalgia: Egmont in Finland has republished 1950s pulp scifi with a series of Rick Random and Jet-Ace Logan comics. Were the stories really this bad? But Ron Turner‘s style of drawing has certain “Edgar Rice Burroughs style” fantasy in it.
fans in film
In weekend, I ended up watching the Ringers: Lord of the Fans film. An interesting blend of pr material for the LoTR film trilogy, Tolkien literary tutorial, and anglo-american fandom history. I think the film is half fandom-produced, and that might explain its a bit uneven quality. But it was fun looking at this layer of history of enthusiasm into modern fantasy.
church bells
This is when you know you are having a slow day: I actually became interested in a HS/Yle story about rerecording of church bells. There is a radio ritual in Finland, started apparently in year 1944, to play the sound of Turku Lutheran Cathedral bells at 12 noon every day in main Radio 1 FM channel. There is something smoothing and relaxing in its slow, echoing sound. You can read a story of the bells and listen to the recordings in MP3 files from here (in Finnish only).
The Video Game Revolution: "Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" by Henry Jenkins | PBS
Tired of facing the same old myths about games being the direct cause for real-world violence, about the antisocial nature of game playing, of digital games being a child’s plaything? Well, Henry Jenkins of all people must be, but still he continues to set things right. Please check out his column “Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked” in PBS.org.
frans goes blog 
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