First - thank you to every one for the faves, features and follows (I know it's watch, but I didn't want to break the flow). You've all been incredibly busy, and I'll make it around to all of your galleries at some point in the near future.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last updated my journal. I haven't had much time to get out and spend some quality time with my camera as I'd like - then again, time management has always been an issue. If I had more time to manage, there might be some improvement, though - and as a painful lesson over the past week brought to the forefront, we never know how much time we really have. I lost a cousin last Tuesday in a horrible car accident, one that was caused by a third party who left the scene, turning his back on the mayhem he left in his wake. He caused the deaths of two women in two cars, and just drove away. Thankfully the police did catch him, but we have had no word since in what legal consequences he will face for his actions. My cousin lived her life to the fullest - she was always busy, always smiling, always helping out wherever she could. She worked as both a Corrections Officer and a Special Constable for the SPCA. She shouldn't have even been working, but she was doing what she loved - heading for a meeting to better the lives of abused animals, filling in for a colleague who was on maternity leave. While I will be sad for her passing, I will celebrate her life and honour her with the lifetime of memories she has left behind.

On the lighter side - I have been asked to be a panel speaker at the Casual Connect Conference in Seattle next month. Women In Games International, Women In Games Vancouver and the IGDA are presenting a Leadership Development forum the day prior to the actual start of the Casual Game Association's annual conference, and our Women In Games Vancouver is the main organizing body for the forum. I've wanted to attend this conference for a few years now but was never able to get there - it's an event I'm definitely looking forward to - except for the public speaking part.

Our news site has grown a lot since we launched it, as well. It, along with my involvement with various digital media associations is what has made the severe dent in my time to get out and shoot. There is so much going on in the Canadian digital media industry and so many research studies to read - and games to play, that time just disappears. There have been more than a few nights where I only intend to check on a few things, and before I know it the male population in the house is wondering what happened to dinner. Oops.

I'd also like to congratulate the organizers of the annual Canary Derby in Vancouver and Victoria. I don't know how much they raised today in Victoria, but yesterday in Vancouver the total was just over $113 000.00 for early detection cancer research. The Canary Derby (www.canaryderby.com) is a soapbox derby made up of teams mainly from the technology industry. We had great weather for the day, there was an excellent turnout, and that much more money directed to researching ways to detect cancer cells earlier - something which is sure to save many, many lives.

Congrats as well to the recent graduates of Vancouver Film School and Art Institute Burnaby - many of them have work on this site, as do past grads, and they are very talented indeed.

So...how have you all been?

Yes, I'm lazy - I stole the title of my last blog on my personal site (as those of you who read it know), and I'm going to steal most of my last blog off of there too, just because I can.

Anyway, as I said in the title....

Coming up for air …and taking a deep breath before rolling into the next list of projects. August has certainly been an incredible month - Digital Storm, Mendella here for a two week tour, the Abbotsford Airshow - busy, tiring, but oh so fun.

While the tournament component of Digital Storm wasn’t as well attended as we’d hoped it would be, those who came to play had fun. It’s too bad the weekend was marred by a thief who made off with two 360 Elite hard drives, but I’m sure that in the long run, the thief will be enduring some serious payback. The show put on by the boys in Mendella kicked some serious butt and won themselves some new fans and friends. As always we’re indebted to our crew and sponsors for the assistance in putting on a fun event - and we wish those who are moving on to the World Cyber Games Canadian Nationals the best of luck on their road to Cologne and the Grand Finals.

The day after Digital Storm ended, we had a houseful of friends over for a barbeque. It was great extending some BC hospitality to Mendella and their management - Dave, Jo, Luke, Jason, Toby, Lewis, Tom and Sam - and serving up some fine Canadian steaks, some good Canadian beverages, some Guitar Hero and a radio interview. Okay, they hijacked the station Mike dj's for, but that's a minor detail. Maybe we’ll even have the new patio done before they return in 2009

We spent BC Day at the Tom Lee Music Hall in Vancouver, where the boys had a 3pm performance. After the boys’ show, we were treated to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Yaletown by Dave, Jo and Luke. The food was incredible - almost as good as the company we were in. Unfortunately we had to cut the evening a bit short due to the fact that our parking time was going to expire and we didn’t want those parking lot hawks making off with our wheels.

During the week we made preparations for Mendella’s Saturday afternoon performance out here in Aldergrove. We’d hoped to be able to host a small-ish Battle of the Bands for some local groups, but due to logistics and a few other issues, the bands who wanted to participate couldn’t. Friday afternoon we took everyone to the Abbotsford Airshow, introducing Dave and Jo to the President’s Club while the boys, with Mike as their guide, wandered the static displays until early afternoon when they were able to join us in the President’s Club. They definitely made an impact among the crowd, making new friends all around - especially with the USAF Strike Eagle Demo team. The photo shoot we were able to conduct after the show ended for the day was very exciting. I haven’t processed those photos yet, though.

Saturday’s outdoor performance in Aldergrove was definitely unique. After a week of hot, sunny weather, I bet you don’t have to try very hard to guess what it did on Saturday. Yes - it poured. It was windy. There was lightning and thunder. However, we had hoisted - and re-hoisted - a very large tarp which kept the ground and our audience dry. Even with the weather, we still had a great time, again with a great crew. This was the first time we had an opportunity to work with Ryan and Curtis from Sonic Voodoo Productions; we all worked extremely well together - the weather conditions and stringing up the tarp created several moments of amusement, and we are definitely considering doing more shows with them in the future. While the weather did put a big dent in the audience size, those who came to watch and listen enjoyed the band’s performance immensely. I must make mention of Dave from Sweet Max. If not for his loan of a guitar amp, the show may not have gone on. The Fender DeVille we’d rented for Lewis didn’t work properly and had an awful squeal in its valve. While it was a cold and windy afternoon, working with great people always makes the worst situations seem more fun. The experience of performing in such conditions was a learning experience for the boys in the band as well - and they had a good time too. Packing up in torrential rainstorms isn’t all that much fun, but we got the job done anyway.

We all had some relax time, and then it the was boys’ final Vancouver performance for this year. They rocked The Roxy, and have been invited back anytime they’re in town. This was followed up by dinner at MileStone’s in YaleTown, which was relaxing and a great time - even though we all knew that our friends from the UK would be going home the next day.

I met up with everyone the following afternoon to provide the extra vehicle needed to get people, instruments and luggage to the airport on time. It was a bitter-sweet parting - knowing that they would be back next year, and that they will soon be off to record their first commercial album. I am thankful for the time I got to spend growing a deeper friendship with everyone, and I especially enjoyed meeting Dave’s wife, Jo. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her again, as we have so much in common and get along quite well - and at least now she knows who her hubby has been chatting with in all of those late night (for them) phone calls.

So…what are we doing now that our events are done for the year? Well - we have sites to design for some new clients, and I have about another 1500ish band photos to go through and choose which ones to spend time on - and a few new landscapes/sunsets too. We have planning to do for next year’s event, PAX is coming up at the end of August, and of course there’s Greg’s final sentencing date in September, when we get to find out what the judge has to say in regards to the amount of time he will serve and any restitution he will need to make to KillaNet.

And now you are basically up to date on where I've been and what I've been doing - and seeing as the dispatcher is on holidays for the next week and I'm stuck in the office filling in for her, I will have time to get more caught up on here - it's always good to have something enjoyable to do at work, isn't it?

Game Boys: Professional Videogaming’s Rise Form the Basement To The Big Time
Author: Michael Kane
June 2008

Games Boys: Professional Videogaming’s Rise from the Basement to the Big Time by Michael Kane is the best inside look at the competitive videogaming industry I have read to date. He peels back the layers of this very complex subculture and lays it all out there for anyone to read - from the gamers themselves to the parents who try to understand. Game Boys has it all - the celebratory victories, the heartbreaking losses, the passion of its supports and accompanies it all with backroom dirty laundry. This book is an informative, exciting read. Author Michael Kane has managed to translate the excitement of competition into his words, and sometimes I found myself reading faster through the competition gameplay to get to the moment of victory - even though I already knew the results of many of the matches he wrote about.

As a participant full of passion for the videogame industry, there were so many times I found myself identifying with CompLexity GM Jason Lake and harbouring feelings of resentment towards Craig Levine. Like Jason Lake, I believe in the grassroots foundation of this wonderful industry, and even though Craig Levine has done much to get competitive videogaming out there into the main stream of today’s world, I often felt that Levine’s tactics were less than honourable, and I am of the generation when honour was at the forefront of how you conducted your life. These are elements which make for a great book - eliciting emotion and appreciation from the reader, making the reader care about the characters in the story.

Michael Kane has artfully included every aspect of our advancing technological world - global friendships and rivalries, heroes and villains, supportive families and families who feel the gamer is wasting his or her time. Corporations who only look at the biggest and the best for exposure, instead of looking at and supporting the grassroots events and players who keep the industry churning forward on a daily basis. Event promoters who are in it for the dollar, and to heck with the injury they do to our industry by scamming the players who have poured their heart, soul and often their last dollar into feeding their passion for gaming in hopes of making it to the winner’s circle.

I commend Michael for the honesty of his words, even the ones which cast a less than idyllic light on the e-sports industry, because the end result shows that our cyberathletes truly are no different from the mainstream sports athletes. They train, they play, they do things they shouldn’t, but when it comes right down to the final seconds it’s all about the game and the opponent in front of them. Game Boys shows how far we as a competitive market have come, but also shows how far we have yet to go. Michael touched very briefly on the girls in gaming, and while some things have changed since Game Boys went to print, much has stayed the same, from the disdain which meets many girl gamers head on, to the insults and unwelcome photos hurled at them on XBL. While the industry is still very much a boys’ club, the girls are rapidly gaining ground - perhaps in the future we can look forward to a book on Gamer Girls to compliment Gamer Boys - what do you say, Michael?

Good thing I'm not holding my breath, though. Having three or four clones would make my life sooooooo much easier. One could work at the day job I hate, one could write all of the game and book reviews I have piling up... The other clone could be the maid, cook, laundress, gardener, etc. Then I could do all the fun stuff - shoot photos, go to conferences, work on the network stuff I like to work on, and read. And game. And game some more. Did I mention that we bought a Wii? It doesn't like it when I ignore it to play Call of Duty 4 or Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 or the dozens of other Xbox 360 games we have. And Scott just bought Quake Wars Enemy Territory for me. He said something about "see you in a week or so" ...dunno why though

So no, nothing has really changed - Digital Storm LAN is coming up in 6 weeks. We're just about ready to launch a different project as well - or the first stage of it, at least. We've been having some serious discussions about where this new project is going and exactly what we want it to become.

You are now basically up to date on stuff, sorta kinda. I'm still breathing, still alive, and still trying to find the time to fit as much as possible into one day.

I hope you are all doing well, and I will be plowing my way through all of the deviations and comments that have piled up in my absence. I'm sure that the Feared Pirate Dog Bud has been busy and needs some more chapters added to his story.

To all of my new watchers .... Hi there, and thank you!! At least I've finally put up something new for you to see.

bbs,
T.

It’s official - Digital Storm LAN 2008 has a date and location, and the website is now live!

The tournament, which is a KillaNet Technology Ltd. production, will be held August 1, 2 and 3rd 2008 at the Croatian Cultural Centre, located at 3250 Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC.There will be space for 350 gamers, and the event will once again be a regional qualifying location for the World Cyber Games. Tickets go on sale March 10th at a cost of $45.00 each for the weekend. This event is reserved seating, so any teams or gamers who wish to sit together, must buy their tickets in blocks. We will be announcing more about ticket sales as we get closer to the On Sale date. We are still working on some areas of the website, but it will be 100% live very soon.

Game events will begin on the Friday night and run right through to the final events on Sunday afternoon. We are working on some special tournaments, but the WCG tournaments will be dependent on the Games List chosen by the World Cyber Games producers. There will be some casual play time available during the weekend, and all players qualify to win some very cool swag. We will also be offering event shirts for sale at a very reasonable price, we will announce when they become available for order.

We are currently working to finalize sponsorship deals, and will post them as they are confirmed. You can hear news and broadcasts about Digital Storm on Blade Radio, the official internet radio broadcaster for Digital Storm. There is also a rumour floating around that two Vancouver studios will be going head to head in a Team Fortress 2 match, but this challenge has yet to be confirmed.

We still have room for a few more good volunteers and referees (and sponsors), please see our Event Opportunities page for more information. Digital Storm’s community forum is also open for business, where you can talk with other attendees, ask questions, issue challenges and more. We also have a chat channel on KillaNet’s IRC server - you can simply click here for the AJAX browser chat client, or if you are a mIRC user, it’s irc.killanet.net 6667 #digitalstorm.

Digital Storm 2008 is a warm-up for an even bigger event in 2009 - there will be further announcements on that later in the year. Everyone at KillaNet is looking forward to a funfilled weekend of rabid gaming this August, and we hope to see you there!


T.