Tag Archives: Short Length (1-1000 words)

Nov 18 2013

Noh Theater Speech

This will be my end-of-semester speech for Japanese. This speech is a good example of what a student can do after four semesters.
エベレット　ジョン
John Everett
日本語２１２
Japanese 212
２０１３年１１月
November 2013

能楽堂
Noh Theater

Oct 14 2013

Notta Toccata

Have you ever wondered what a musical composition written by a non-composer would sound like? Wonder no more! I present to you my mess-terpiece, “Notta Toccata.” It’s not actually a toccata, but I wrote it at night so I called it “Notta Toccata,” because notte is the Italian word for night; and “notta” sound like “not a.” Aren’t jokes just extra-funny when they’re explained?

Continue reading →

Jul 22 2013

The Fables of Everett (Fable #1)

Fable #1

Many thousands of years ago, when our fragile race was still new, there lived two men who were quite gifted, but also quite poor. The first man had a knack for sewing clothes but hungered for want of food. The second man quite skillfully grew vegetables but cried in pain, for his back was scorched by the fires of the sun. One day the first man took up an armful of his clothes while the second man carried a bushel of his crops. Desperately the two wandered aimlessly until after a while they happened upon one another.

The hungry seamster and the naked farmer stood at a distance with their wares, each having what the other wanted. Lo, there was but one misfortune keeping them from quenching their desires. The government had not been invented yet, so these two merchants were incapable of trading with one another. Without the economic guidance of the government, they could only stare at one another, dumbfounded. O, how happy we are, for without the government we all would be everlastingly poor!

Jun 17 2013

Sonnet # 3 in B flat minor

Sonnet 3
John Everett

Two words are used to describe the same thing,
When man is without any company,
Opposing, though, are they in their meaning.
Has he solitude? Or is he lonely?

The first shows happiness without one’s friends.
In the second, sadness creeps in instead.
How can one root grow two different ends?
Any plant that did that would end up dead!

And yet one wants to put himself away,
Happy that time by others is not bound.
But then when Night comes to relieve the Day,
His heart aches that he has no one around.

We must cherish what we have that moment
Lest we by day or night be malcontent.

– Written November 12th, 2012

Jun 10 2013

A Selection of Sonnets

Summer Nights
The fireflies blink in the summer night
while crickets chirp by the riverside.
None has on his face the pallor of fright,
for the only sound is the trickling tide.
I relish these ev’nings; I always have.
I sit here with my loved ones next to me.
The soil is cool, the earth a dark enclave.
Our respite: to huddle with family.
I love the summer nights, the trees in bloom.
Golden wheat waves in the breeze slowly.
Death of fall has yet to rise from his tomb.
Leaves which Spring gave to trees drift mellowly.
I love these nights and the sweet things they share.
If they never ended, I’d have no care.
-Written April 2010
Just as Summer dies and gives way to cold,
we must surrender our youth to the young.
For some it is disease, some are just old,
but all give way and to our kin are sung.
Forever to live is not granted us.
For our progenitors lost it for all.
They ate the fruit; of God they were jealous.
Now we must toil until sleep in the pall.
And toil we do. From birth until our death
and watch those who came before go
to far lands and take with them their last breath.
Are we lucky? We will venture also.
Each comes here and at his time each departs.
They are gone but they live on in our hearts.
-Written April 2010
Jun 4 2013

Galaga (HONORABLE MENTION)

Original version: Galaga, released in 1981 for arcade

 

Welcome to my new category “HONORABLE MENTION,” which is reserved for games that just barely fall short of being timeless classics. Perhaps a game has a technical or gameplay flaw that holds it back, or perhaps a game’s core gameplay is completely eclipsed by a later game. Nevertheless, a game with the title of “HONORABLE MENTION” is still good and is deserving of an article; and if you were to play it you would probably have a great time. In the interest of fairness, only one game per year can receive this title.

Continue reading →

Jun 3 2013

Kaboom!

Original version: Kaboom!, released in 1981 for Atari VCS
I discussed in my review of the 1970s that Activision was the first third-party developer in video gaming. They took advantage of their new-found license to make games by producing a slew of titles for the Atari VCS, some of which were even good. OK, that’s a little harsh. Compared to the standard fair Activision’s games were better than average–well, most of them. Some games were still shovelware.

Continue reading →

Apr 22 2013

Centipede

Original version: Centipede, released in 1980 for arcade
Refinement has always been as central an aspect to video gaming as innovation. As soon as a brilliant idea comes to the medium, it is edited and polished at such a dizzying pace that cinema seems downright sluggish. Devil May Cry (2001) introduced a semi-fixed camera that was refined by God of War (2005). Stardust (1993) used pre-rendered 3D sprite graphics that were refined by Donkey Kong Country (1994) and perfected by Vectorman (1995). Back in 1980, Dona Bailey was inspired by Space Invaders which created the “shoot ’em up” genre in 1978. Let’s look at her addition to the genre after the jump.