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Time in possession: 3 years? During one of my several eBay sprees.
Description: Sega 32X system, minus cables. Works fine and is in decent condition. A wonderful reminder of Sega's excess and subsequent fall from grace. Also, one of my key "You've got one of THOSE??" comment-grabbing items.
Cost: Pretty cheap- I don't think I paid more then 20$. At least I hope so.
Story: As the end of the 16-Bit video game console wars drew to a close (for those of you not in the know, that would have been the competition between the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and Turbo Graphix 16 systems, all of which are now conveniently enough download able onto the Nintendo Wii system) there was much speculation as to what the next set of systems would be like. History now shows the next wave to be the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and to a much lesser extent, the Atari Jaguar. So where does this thing come in?
The Sega 32X was supposed to be a genuine 32-bit system (like the Saturn and PlayStation), but rather then a totally new console, it was an add-on to the previous generation's Genesis. The Genesis was no stranger to add ons- It had also had a rather poorly received CD add on which ending up being indirectly involved in the cancellation of Nintendo's planned CD add on and as such as the creation of the Sony PlayStation (hereafter the PSX). But that's all a totally different story. I'm sorry, you probably don't care about any of this, but this is what happens when I read a whole bunch of books about the history of the video game industry. I'm a dork. ANYWAY, to make a long story short, the 32X sucked. It didn't do 3D, which was what people were flocking to the PSX for, and it didn't even do whatever the hell else it was supposed to do well. On top of that, it looked ridiculous on top the the Genesis. For those poor (both in luck and money) folks who had both add ons to their genesis, they were left with a freakish Frankenstein-esque console that really only had a couple of good games that people with a plain old Genesis couldn't play.
So why did I buy the thing?
When I saw the opportunity to own a 32X, I really couldn't resist. It wasn't a lot of money (as I recall) and at that point I had only really known about it through reputation. So, I took it home, dusted off one of my Genesis systems, and plugged the sucker in. It didn't work. I realized it needed another power bar, so I dug one out, plugged it in, turned it on. It didn't work. Then I realized that it needed a cable connecting it to the Genesis for the visual inputs. There, I was stuck, and have been to this day.
As far as can figure, the system works by having some of the work being done by the Genesis, which it then superimposes it's own image on top of. For instance, in the Star Wars arcade game (the only game I have bought for the system) plugging in the Genesis shows me a HUD, while plugging in the 32X shows me a star field. It seems to me that that would be ridiculously hard to program for, which might explain why only a handful of games were made for the monstrosity. It currently sits on my shelf, a reminder of Sega's folly. And my own I guess. Anybody want to sell me the connector cable to one of these things? I don't really want to play it, but it would be nice to have the option....
Time in possession: About a year.Description: Video game card for the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. Includes box and manual. Excellent condition. Also, Sudoku-tastic.Cost: 30$ new.Story: Weird, my first really new item that doesn't really have any long history. What the hell is this story going to be about? I guess we'll see.When I got my Nintendo DS, I was excited by the possibilities that its touch screen presented. While I, like most, was sketical when it first came out, a succession of excellent games won me over to the system and made me want to play it. Brain Age came out shortly after I finally got my hands on it and I picked it up, a descision easily made since it was released at a bargain price.The idea behind Brain Age is that your brain needs excercise to stay fit: Therefore it has a succession of activities that do just that, help you flex those mental muscles. When I was in school, I hated doing "Calcule Mentale" (mental calculations), a weekly math quiz that followed me around through several grades. Why is this any different? Well, in some ways it isn't. There is actually an activity which is just that, doing quick math as fast as you can. I guess the real selling point is that while the game judges you on your performance, you have several other areas to work in as well with much more interesting games (Counting people entering and exiting a house for instance, something that gets a little harder when they start flying in and out of the chimney as well as the doors) . Also, the little floating head avatar (of the guy who came up with the idea) is hilarious, with his various barbs and encouragement.Strangly enough though, I found myself playing it mostly for Soduoku. So yeah, I was using about 200$ of electronics to play that game in the paper.
Time in possession: I can actually date this one pretty accurately: One and a half years and a couple of weeks.
Description: Plush donkey, floral patterns with a blue ribbon on gold painted block of wood. Slightly peeling paper label proclaiming "JENNY 05". Its eyes speak of an untold sadness that would utterly destroy a lesser award.
Cost: Won, so free. Let's call it 2.50$ for it's various parts.
Story: Winnipeg, my hometown, is the proud staging grounds for one of the largest (the second largest, and it's a close race) fringe festivals in North America: The Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Being an actor, it stands to reason that I should throw myself into such a festival with reckless abandon- I have, but for the longest time, I didn't.
I'm making up for lost time: I did 2 shows in '05, 3 in '06 and am currently lined up to do another 2 this upcoming year. But I'm getting ahead of myself: Despite my aspirations towards acting and the festival in general, for years I would fail over and over again to participate. It wasn't until my friend Seb approached me with the first couple of scenes on a play he was working on that I finally got into a project that would go the distance from planning to performance.Part of the secret was that I was determined to make it happen and having somebody (Seb) to let down drove me onward. Also, I had been told repeatedly by my Prof that year to take part, and so I was set on getting the show done. As time went on I assumed many of the responsibilities for it: Along with co-writing and doing much of the directing, I produced the show, did the publicity and otherwise whored myself out to ensure that my creation was going to be as much a success as possible. In the end, things worked out pretty well. Seb's couple of scenes became Coffee, a romantic comedy starring the both of us and a handful of awesome friends. While the show was met with mostly tepid reviews, our audiences were very appreciative and plentiful enough to pay everyone off quite decently for their hard work. Even better, during the final night of the festival we were awarded this, one of the annual Jenny Awards. I'll back it up again: The Jenny is an independent paper that is produced during the festival, which reviews show and posts audience reviews of shows, to essentially serve as a forum for festival goers to share their opinions on the various shows and the event at large. On the last night of the festival, as a sort of closing party, the people in charge of the Jenny take over the Kings' Head Pub (a popular drinking hole right in the middle of the proceedings) and hand out awards while everyone gets shit faced and enjoys the last moments of the festival together. The shows are grouped haphazardly together, usually according to their title (Shows about Jesus! Shows starting with N! Shows that remind me of my horrible childhood!) and the winner is chosen by whichever show gets the most noise upon it's mention. So, essentially it's a drunken popularity contest. But whatever.ANYWAY, to make a ridiculously long story short(er), we managed to win the "Food" catagory, thanks in large to the help of the cast of my other show that year, the huge-casted Illuminati: The Musical! Seb and I agreed to share the award, although it has been sitting in my room ever since. That's a problem with this project- What if Seb sees this entry and wants it back? He'll have to kung fu fight me for it.
Time in possession: 7 or 8 monthsDescription: White plastic frame containing several plastic containers/shelves. Has wheels for ease of movement. Sturdy. Is full of so much of my crap.Cost: Given away by a friend of my sisters, so free. I'll say 30$, although I'm probably under estimating.Story: During the spring last year Morgan, a friend of my sister Regan, was staying over at my house for a few weeks as she was between houses. During that time she slept in the main room of the basement, essentially giving me a next-door neighbor. She was a good house guest, and upon her leaving left the family with some of her things- Namely a case of flavored water (which was very slow in being used) and this tower, which I eagerly took on. This is lame, but I love "storage solutions". I'm kind of anal that way, despite the perpetual mess that I'm usually entombed in.Morgan had used the top containers to store make up, and so upon taking the tower I had the unenviable task of cleaning up the various messes left. I had taken a stage make-up class in University, but it didn't quite prepare me for the ridiculousness that was getting rid of al the make up. I mean, really. The worst part of the ordeal was finally (FINALLY) cleaning it off to find that much of the greasy mess was now lodged underneath my fingernails. Exquisite.It now resides in my closet, holding a whole manner of items and various knick knacks, probably a whole months entries in of itself. My favorite thing about it though is that it is designed in such a way as to only hold a certain amount of weight, which prevents me from over burdening it, which is something most of my bookshelves cannot claim. Looking at the picture now though, I do see a couple of empty shelves... I wonder what I'll put in there?
Well, there we have it. 11 days of this project has churned out 12 entries. I originally wanted to plan for one a day but didn't think I could manage it. Maybe I can. My question now is what people think of the project up until this point? Any suggestions, comments, complaints? Should I just give it up? I won't, but it's nice to know if people think I should, if only so I can know who exactly I'm spiteing. The project will continue on at least for another couple of months. I've got about 30 odd items that have had their pictures taken, and about a half dozen that are sitting in a basket waiting for my next bit of free time to photograph. That being said, there's only one entry waiting in the wings right now, after which I'll need to find the time to edit the raw pictures on my desktop PC. You probably don't care, but I like having entries like these to look back on later, especially if I change my methods. Anyway, thanks for enduring my first "month" of the project. Let me know what you think.
Time in possession: At least 5 years, although it could be as much as 6 or 7.
Description: Mostly alive cactus plant held in a coffee tin, painted red. Black label, with the name "MILHOUSE" printed on it. FULL OF MYSTERY (and dust). Cost: A gift from Erica. Shall we say 3$ for the plant and 1$ for the can and the paint and the label. Okay, 1.13$.Story: Erica (my former girlfriend of five and a half years) bought me this cactus plant for a birthday years ago, and named it Milhouse after the Simpsons character of the same name, as in "Everything is coming up Milhouse!". He's lived in the small basement window of my room ever since.Milhouse is a trooper. I constantly forget to water him and I'm pretty sure my window is a shitty spot to get light, yet he has continued to live for years now, something which is pretty damn impressive considering. He's been dropped multiple times, forgotten for many long months at a go and generally abused and neglected in all the ways one could do such a thing to a plant. (Wait, imagination kicked in. There are many ways I could abuse poor Milhouse which had never crossed my mind until this very moment, and I will emphatically never partake in them. I mean, in the first place, he's a CACTUS for crying out loud!)It's nice to have a plant in my room, and I'll be kind of upset when Milhouse finally kicks the bucket. You can see that his lower extremities are starting to lose the lush green colour, so it might be any day now. I hope not. I'm kind of attached to the little guy.I wrote a poem one day inspired by him, although more about a girl. The girl wasn't Erica by the way, although I suppose the poem wasn't really about the girl I was thinking of when I wrote it in the end so much as a fictional amalgamation of girls which is generally the case when I try to write about people I know. I actually read the poem at an open mic night days after writing it, something I hadn't really expected to do when writing it, but I suppose makes sense in hindsight. I mean, why would a performer go to an open mic night unless he takes his turn on the stage? I think I might have a problem.
Time in possession: Almost 3 years now
Cost: A gift from my sister's ex-boyfriend, so free. They were brand spanking new at the time though, so probably in the area of 100$.
Description: White and Red Adidas running shoes. Have sustained several stage combat classes worth of use, as well as some time outdoors. The back of the heels are also pretty worn, since I don't like to untie my shoes. This is why I can't have nice things.
Story: For a while my sister Regan (the middle one) dated a guy named Marcel, who happened to be a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, our local CFL team. After one season, his contract was not renewed and so he had to head back to his home in the States. He was a pretty cool guy, and before he left he gave a bunch of his stuff to the family since he didn't want to lug it back home with him: I got a pair of shoes, since they fit well enough.
I've got a thing about keeping shoes, especially since I've been replacing them before they are totally worn away. At the moment I've probably got about 7 pairs, which is actually really excessive now that I write it down and actually think about it. I mean, sure, keeping one pair around for doing messy stuff like painting or whatever is fine, but a pile of them? Ridiculous!
I should actually really get rid of these guys. I've since discovered that my actual shoe size is about one and a half smaller then what I had thought it was and keeping them around is not really all that useful. Will I get rid of them? Lord knows.That being said, I'm starting to think that this project is going to culminate in a big trip to the Salvation Army drop off box...
Time in possession: 3 years? During one of my several eBay sprees.
