What happened to the "typical" gamer???

I am a gamer.  I admit if freely.  I am not ashamed of being a gamer.  I am a grown man and I enjoy video games.  I'm not addicted to playing.  I can easily put it away after 15 minutes or three hours. 
As a young man, I fell victim to the typical strong pull of gaming having spent numerous hours with grandma playing card games like Spite and Malice, or Dirty Marbles... advancing to Monopoly, Sorry, Risk, and then delving into Role Playing games and excitedly throwing three dice to determine my strength and charisma scores in Dungeons and Dragons. 
I can remember the dawn of computer gaming and how cool I thought it was when the word games appeared... "You're standing in a long rectangular room.  Obvious exits are North, South, East and Dennis"... and the feeling of accomplishment after completing Police Quest, Adventure Quest, and the very first Leisure Suit Larry! 
I can recall the thrill of playing Zelda on the first Nintendo Entertainment System, and thinking how much fun it would be to play Super Mario Brothers with my son when he was old enough.  Systems grew larger.  Computers became more powerful.  8 bit games gave way to 16 bit games.  It soon became apparent that Games were driving the computer industry with their ever increasing need to be bigger, better and more realistic.  Computer components had to be more and more advanced just to keep up. 
Then came the onslaught on-line games, creating a new dawn in the era of gaming.  Hundreds of thousands of people all together playing side by side in a multi-faceted on-line universe.  We created on-line persona's, avatars, and like many role playing games, became the person we wanted to be, not the person we were.  I was, and still am, the stereotype of a typical gamer.  At least I thought I was.
Now, with the advent of social media like Facebook, gamers have a new face.  With the current flood of Facebook games like Farmville, and Angry birds apps for your phone, I am no longer a "typical" gamer.
Statistically speaking, the "typical" gamer plays games for an average of three hours per day. 
Statistically speaking the "Typical" gamer is now a "40 something" year old woman. 
What the hell happened??

Do the Corporations hold too much power?

An interesting thing happened today here in Canada.  Bell purchased Astral Media.  Astral owns a number of television stations/channels and over 400 radio stations.  Now most of you probably don't know why this is such a big deal, but I'll try to explain a few of the apprehensions I have about this.
First of all, I work for one of the small independant radio/tv combos still left.  Even though we're owned by the Pattison Broadcast group, we're still a small family and still run like an independant.  And the first issue I have with the Bell purchase is that another small media group has been swallowed by the corporate whale of Bell.  The independant stations are slowing going under like the ma and pa stores when the Big Box wave hit every community like a plague of locusts... and like the Borg on Star Trek, Resistance is futile.
Second of all, and to me this is also a frightening aspect, Bell now owns a major chunk of what you hear and see everyday.... they own phone, internet, radio and television... almost every form of communication to the masses.  Rogers communications also owns a huge chunk of these four as well.  I know this sounds a little conspiracy theory-esque, but whether you want to admit it not, they control what you see, when you see it and how you see it. 
Ever so slowly, day by day, bit by bit, we are giving up control of our lives to the corporations. Our Governments are allowing this as well, by giving them discounted taxation to buy their loyalties and political support.  Complete Power corrupts Completely.  and I, for one, don't like where this is heading.

Daylight Savings Time... you're a cruel mistress!

Why do we torture ourselves with Daylight Savings Time?  I know the theory behind it, trying to get more daylight out of working hours, but seriously... the week or so that it takes to adjust to Daylight Savings time can't be that productive.  I know I'm dragging my butt around for a week or two... Can't seem to sleep when you go to bed at the "regular time"... Can't seem to wake up at the "regular time" 
Anyone who knows me, understands my adversion to change, but honestly, Daylgiht Savings Time just beats the crap out of me! 
Our bodies get used to doing repetative actions.... I go to bed at the same every night.... I wake up at the same time every day... It's a great pattern and it works.  So what do we do?  We screw it up.  We tell our bodies... "no.. ignore what I told you earlier, we're doing it this way now."
I think Saskatchewan had it right..... just set the clock... and let it run...

Who's going to help hide the bodies??

A friend will help vanquish your enemies.  A true friend will help you hide the bodies. 
Now I've heard that statement from time to time but hadn't really thought about it until recently. 
A friend of mine told me his uncle had passed away and his parents had to go and pack up his Uncle's house.  We joked about the potential embarrasing things they might find and had a good laugh.  And later that night, I actually thought about the "what if's"... You know, If I were to die today and someone had to clean out my house, who would I trust to "hide the bodies".
Every single one of us has something to hide.  Doesn't have to be naughty or dirty... could just be something you find embarrasing and wouldn't want to be the last thing people associated you with.  Everyone has some kind of skeleton in their closet.  Men and women... whether it's the collection of soft porn magazines, the series of "royal wedding" gift plates, the ten thousand pictures of kittens on your computer, your 7382 pairs of shoes or the fact you haven't purchased underwear in over five years and just keep repairing the holes... whatever.  The point is, we all have something we wouldn't want broadcast as public knowledge. 
So, if you were to leave the world today, who would you get to go through what ever you left behind?
Who would you ask to hide the bodies?

Happy Birthday Henry Small!

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to only have an official birthday once every four years?  To me, that's quite a concept!  Each of us takes the annual celebration of our birth for granted, as it comes around, every year on the same day, (duh) and we choose to celebrate, or try to ignore it.  But for those rare souls who are born on February 29th, this is a monumentous occasion!  Oh sure, February 29th babies grow older every year and progress through the daily trials and tribulations, but an actual birthday seems as rare as a tax rebate!  
As my friend Henry Small celebrates his 16th birthday (or 64 in old man years!) I know he will be doing it up right on the wrong side of town!  Kick up your heels my friend and enjoy the ride!  Celebrate like it's 2016, 'cause you ain't gettin another one till then! 
Thanks for the cake.
luv ya

Are we being Governed by Pirates?

First off, I am NOT a political person.  I don't get overly involved in politics and I don't hammer my opinions upon anyone who'll listen.  I am informed, educated and realize that politics, like almost EVERYTHING these days is a two sided sword... There's never an easy answer... but lately things have really been pissing me off.
I read recently that the Pirates in Somolia have lessened their attacks but are demanding more money for their hostages.  Attacks have become viciously violent, and ships are now stockpiling weapons and guards to counter-act the terrorism.  Which brings me round, more or less to the question at hand.
First of all, the current Government here in British Columbia held the province hostage with a vote on the Harmonized Sales Tax, a tax that they brought in without any consultation.  After the electorate became surpemely agitated over that, they held a referendum to repeal the tax.  However, Government told us, using millions of dollars in taxpayers money, that if we did not accept the tax as such they would be forced to take Billions of dollars out of other areas such as education and health care to pay for it.  This made me feel like a hostage held for ransom.  The public voted the tax out and things took their course.  Health care is suffering, even more than before... patients are being held in hallways for a lack of space, surgeries are being cancelled and waiting lists are increasing.  I have no doctor as mine has retired and can't find a new one.  Education is suffering, more than even before.  In fact, Teachers and Goverment are in a stalemate over contract negotiations, and a resolution will most likely be rammed through in the form of legislation shortly.  Education is getting so rough right now, schools are forced to close and courses are being axed.  My daughter came to me the other day with her course selection for the next year and quite angrily stated that if she wanted to take Physics 12 at all, she would have to take both Physics 11 and 12 in the same year as they would only be offering the course every other year.   But there seems to be enough money to put a new retractable roof on the stadium and endless funds to make sure that drug addicts have a safe place to inject themselves with poison. 
True Piracy?  Terrorists??  Just the Politics of Pirates.

Is there a difference between "Cheap" and "Thrifty"?

I have been unceremoniously charged with being "Cheap".  I take offence to this and retort that I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.  I am told that it's the same thing.  I disagree. 
I would equate cheap to a Millionaire offering pennies when he can afford to spend dollars.  To me, Thrifty is making more, with less.  I repair anything that I can repair.  I recycle, and re-use what ever I can.  I prefer to spend Time over Money, because quite simply, I seem to have more of one, than the other.  But that doesn't mean I don't buy anything.  Sometimes you have to.  Sometimes you just can't repair it anymore.  Sometimes you just don't have a choice. 
I understand the difference between "value" and "price"... because the "lowest price" does NOT mean the best deal.  And personally, I think many people have a difficulty with that. 
Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money.  We had food on the table, and we had a roof over our head, but not alot of extras.. and that's ok.  It taught us that we had to work hard for the things we wanted; that if you didn't work, you didn't eat.   When I was my own, the latter was absolute.  Not knowing where (or when) the next meal was coming from sucks. 
When I got married I thought things would get better financially, but as the old saying goes, money isn't everything.  Financial sacrifices were made to create happiness : a happy wife means a happy life.... money was tight.  we budgeted, we scrimped and we saved for the items we needed to acquire...
and once again, I find that there's too much month at the end of the money.  Yes, I have food on the table and a roof over my head, but there's not much left over.  So unfortunately, I don't drive a new car, I don't have a new computer, and I don't have a big screen HD TV. 
but I AM...
Generous when I can be.  Tight when I have to be.  and I always try to give more of my time, than I take.
So don't call me Cheap.