Firewatch

I got my PS3 at Christmas 2011 having been fairly late to that party, and the same happened with the PS4. I'd been eyeing it up since it was released but couldn't justify spending £300 on one, especially since I had to save up for a wedding, fiancee visa fees, moving out etc etc.. However, come Black Friday I took the plunge, got a great deal at Tesco and abandoned Yakuza 5 on the PS3 (definitely hoping to return to it eventually)..

One of my favourite things about the PS4 is the ability to take screenshots. Had the PS3 been capable of that, I'd be able to look back at the good times had playing the likes of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, the Mass Effect trilogy and Red Dead Redemption.

One of the games I wanted to play first was Firewatch. Winner of Best Indie Game at the Golden Joystick Awards and currently nominated for six British Academy awards, it was heralded for its innovative storytelling. It was easy to see why from the very beginning. A hard-hitting prologue reveals that your character, Henry, sees his wife suffer from the early on-set of dementia and subsequently takes a job at a National Forest in Wyoming.

Laura was cross-stitching when I loaded up the game and that put an end to her progress. As soon as she started reading the prologue with me she put her needle down and only picked it up again 3 hours later when the credits rolled. Armed with a map and a compass, Henry traverses Shoshone National Park with a walkie-talkie taking orders from his supervisor, Delilah. The dynamic weather present in the game enhances the atmosphere and sense of place, and it's easy for minutes to pass by before realising you've just been watching a sunset or absorbing the view of trees and mountains before darkness falls.

The highlight of the game is the conversations between Henry and Delilah, as her voice permeates Henry's otherwise solitary marauding. The voice acting of the two characters is one of the game's strengths and over the course of the game the conversations are infused with humour but as Delilah delves deeper into Henry's past they become full of unspoken tension and empathy. After a forest fire breaks out the game's tension escalates as Henry and Delilah try, from their separate lookouts, to navigate their escape. While the ending felt somewhat anti-climatic, it was nonetheless poignant to see Henry confront his fears as he, and the player too, feel their stay in the Wyoming wilderness ends too soon.

Delilah calls Henry in his lookout

From the Ashes...

It got to the point where I felt this blog was condemned indefinitely to the murky depths of the internet, gathering cyber dust, only to be seen by the bored blogger wondering where the "Next Blog" button takes them.

After starting off promisingly in 2011, and a half hearted resurrection two years later, I'm hoping this is third time lucky for Hit and Hope. Restarting this blog once again is part of a greater plan to sort out aspects of my life. Not that it's all bad of course; since I last published anything on here I was re-united with and married my Canadian wife after being separated for three years because of the government's immigration rules. That would be a good subject for a blog post...

It's unlikely I'll write as much about sport as I did first (and second) time round. For various reasons I watch a lot less football than I used to, although declining viewing figures for live football on Sky suggests I might not be the only one. But I can confirm that being married has something to do with it as well...

Since political events of the past year have been enough to make any liberal run for the hills (or Canada), it remains to be seen whether or not I can bring myself to confront this series of unfortunate events. The long-running nightmare that's begun to unfold starring that gruesome twosome, Trump and May, only reinforces TS Eliot's quote that "Mankind cannot bear very much reality". 

Consequently, my next post will be about a virtual reality: video games.

Victims of North Korea

North Korea and South Korea at night

The tensions surrounding the countries at the heart of the North Korea problem couldn't be greater at the moment. An awful lot of the world's problems are caused by a lack of communication and by cutting off all communication with the South, North Korea are only exacerbating the situation.

Kim Jong-Il, who died in 2011, was portrayed as clownish by the Western world and his son is attracting the same level of mockery now. I'm tempted to feel sorry for Kim Jong-Un because he's been forced into adopting the Juche ideology of his father and grandfather. He must feel an enormous pressure to maintain the nation's stance towards its enemies while at the same time cultivate the kind of adoration from the people that is necessary in order to keep control. Being only 29 and despite having a large group of advisers, his alarmingly direct and aggressive rhetoric could surely be put down, in part, to naivety. The ruling class in North Korea may be mad, but they're surely not stupid enough to consider seriously the possibility of going to war with the United States.

While all the talk surrounds America's response, the role of China, and the inevitable debate about economic consequences of this or that (because heaven forbid that this conflict affects the markets), what is always neglected is the lives of ordinary people in North Korea. When a person in North Korea is declared a traitor, perhaps for listening to South Korean radio, or making fun of the Eternal President, he or she would likely be sent to a prison camp and tortured or executed. One of the many things which prevents any kind of revolution is the fact that if one man revolts, then his blood is 'tainted' therefore three generations of that man's family would be sent to a labour camp as well. It's one thing to risk your own life but it's another to risk the lives of your children too.

The chilling picture of North Korea at night is symbolic. North Koreans live in darkness, literally and metaphorically, and light needs to be shone and focus needs to be shifted onto them. Korean reunification will happen one day and it's hard to see how that can happen without significant bloodshed.

In any case, I think it's important to highlight more often the plight of the people in North Korea than the politics and warped ideology. As such, it's worth mentioning Liberty in North Korea, an American-based charity which sets out to rescue North Koreans, such as the one shown in the video below. In this, Hyeonseo Lee talks about how she escaped from a country with barely any food or electricity, no internet, and where children are taught everything through propaganda.

"Jesus wanted to build the Kingdom of God. Instead he got the Church"

I was genuinely excited by the drama that unfolded in Vatican City this week and the election of the new Pope.. aka Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles... etc etc... I didn't expect to be but there's nothing quite like it. There was more drama than on all manufactured reality shows put together. Few institutions maintain the aura and mystery of the Catholic Church after all.

I've read about some people who have expressed disappointment that Cardinal Bergoglio is doctrinally conservative, as if they thought the conclave would perhaps elect a pope who would fly a rainbow flag on the balcony while promoting the One Billion Rising movement and announcing a sponsorship deal with Durex. My sister pointed out the total lack of women involved in the whole process and it was indeed striking to see the absence of any female influence within Vatican City. The decline of the Catholic Church in Europe is hardly surprising when it's the least adaptable form of Christianity (although the CofE tries its best to be) and marginalises half of the people in society. Even the new pope's country, Argentina, is increasingly secular.

In my opinion, preventing their priests from getting married is one of the major defects of the Church and one reason often given, that the priest should be married to the Church, is disingenuous to say the least. Catholicism is the cult of the virgin and is obsessed with chastity and celibacy but not only is it an unnatural way to live, from personal experience a priest can only benefit in his ministry from having a family. It goes without saying that this situation must be one factor in explaining the endless sex scandals, in which case their stance does far more harm than good.

You could argue I suppose that if you don't like the Catholic Church, just don't be a Catholic. But if the pope is the direct successor to St Peter and is head of the 'one true faith' there surely has to be a greater sense of responsibility to adapt to changes in society. Evolution and 'survival of the fittest' isn't about fundamental change as such, it's about adapting to the changes in your environment and surroundings. If you don't adapt, you die.

Because of this, I think the appointment of Pope Francis is as progressive as anyone could hope for. The conclave recognise the need for change on the inside of the Vatican and it's hugely symbolic that he's named himself after Francis of Assisi who was said to be asked by God to re-build the Church from ruins. He takes the bus to work and told his friends to give their money to the poor rather than buy plane tickets to see him become Cardinal. Many of his views aren't in keeping with modern society precisely because they're Catholic views, but maybe he does, and hopefully will, ponder the question that too many Christians forget to ask themselves: What would Jesus do?

Lent. A good time for blog ressurection.

Well, this blog didn't turn out too well.

It's surprisingly hard to keep up a blog. Although I suppose it depends on one's motivation and inspiration which aren't things I've had in abundance recently.

In any case, when Lent began last Wednesday I decided actually to give up something for once. The temptation was to leave out the 'something' and just give up for Lent but in the event, I took the plunge and resolved to give up alcohol. I don't get drunk easily but I do drink most days, so I'm not enjoying this teetotalism at all. Not having a proper job and being reminded of it on a daily basis as well as living at home like I'm 17 again makes it even harder to resist the lure of the Glenmorangie in its sophisticated decanter.

I also went the extra mile by not just giving up Twitter for Lent but avoiding the internet entirely every Friday until Easter. I'm now expecting some major world event to happen during this time. Fortunately the Pope must have forseen this and decided to resign two days before Lent so hopefully that will deter the Queen from dying or North Korea from attempting reunification before Easter.

So far, so good. And while I felt really disconnected last Friday, I definitely felt more free to do other, more productive, things. The realisation at the end of the day that there wasn't that much I missed about being online made me wonder how I waste so much time. Just one of the latest triggers of my bidaily existential crises.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this flowchart: