This is going to be another "games and you" post, where I try to find out what gaming can teach you of real life and yourself. 

I think I have been thought a lesson today. I have blogged about this game before. About it being an insanely addictive, cheap (€5!) and crazy game. It is the ultimate example of: Easy to learn, difficult to master. In the case of Geometry Wars, extremely difficult to master. You get attacked by........shapes. Yes, shapes: squares, circles, triangles and it's a bunch of fun. The controls are simple: One stick moves, the other stick shoots. But the shit gets really really hectic. Check out this vid to see what I mean.

See what I mean? In amidst all these lighting effects and the 50 billion or so shapes  that attack you, you have got to learn to keep your cool and stay alive. In a time when videogames are very much like Hollywood productions, with castings and plots and themes that make you understand the character you are playing and his/her motives for wanting to move on, it is refreshing to be motivated in a game by a single thought: Don't die.  Or even better: When your heart is pounding, your palms sweating and you are surrounded by potential killers: Don't you f*cking die.

Now let's jump to something else real quick here. How do you know what language you have under control? Or what culture you are really from? Or what language you speak best? Don't know? It's when your emotianal, or rather: when you get mad and start cussing the hell out of every living and non-living thing.

Now if there is 1 thing about Gemoetry wars that is definite: (besides it being addictive) It will make you cuss. You will cuss the hell out of everything when you die. Because you are so in the zone , evading everything and escaping in the nick of time, and then something small hits you: BAM!! Dead, another life wasted. (and 10 minutes of your precious time)

So the lesson this game has learned me, I that I am citizen of the world. Isn't that a funny way to find out that you are a citizen of the world? Through cussing?  I swear, every time I die, some cuss-word comes out from deep within the defiled, rotten wastes of my insides. But everytime in another language. I cuss In English, Surinamese (which used to be the cuss-language of choice for me ), Dutch, Papiamentu and Spanish. Man, that is just so wrong.

But let's end on a positive note shall we? I found out that I am citizen of the world. Maybe in 5 years time I'll have added some more languages.....

Allright, I am on a roll here so I'll just keep going, 2 blogs in 1 day!

This blog started when I came across the site of Holland Casino.

This is going to be a bit of a rant, so follow me on this one. Holland Casino is organising an event they call: Latin Days. But the concept is so wrong on so many levels. I guess in an attempt to draw as many "Latin" people and dancers in, they created a mish-mash of so many things, that I am not sure what to make of it.

First off, they advertise with the terms : Latin, Hot & Spicy and ofcourse with Salsa.
What do they offer? I can see four major offerings (apart from getting you to gamble a bit)

1. Performance by Belle Perez
2. Performance by Remco & Charisse
3. South-American food
4. and finally a Salsa competition

In my opinion: That is the most horrible mish-mash of audiences ever. It looks like the campaign is geared towads Latin-American people and people that dance Salsa. Than why the hell do you have Belle Perez in the program? She sings Latin-Pop, not Salsa. That is a totally different crowd. That's like getting Micheal Jackson to perform at a Reggae festival, it just doesn't make sense.

But the biggest problem I have with this program, is that they invited Remco & Charisse to perform. Sigh.....For the record, there is a BIG difference between Salsa and Latin Dance. The way you do your basic steps is different, your movement is different, the music is different, hell everything is different! That's why they are totally seperate dances! It's just wrong, in my eyes. Not that they are not great dancers, they sure know what they are doing, but it just isn't salsa at all!

Videos illustrate much more than words. So I tried to find 2 videos that are similar, but still illustrate the differences. So here goes:

This is Latin Dance:

and this is Salsa (NY-style):

Please mr & mrs organisers, get with the differences.

Allright, so here I am again with another dance post. I love that more people around us are starting to experience this great feeling and are even getting more people to join in. Guys that used to despise dancing, especially if you had to go through some training to get good. They now love it and are recommending it to their friends. To me that's a job well done. Hey, I gotta pat myself on the back sometimes. And I'll make damn sure that I will do my bestest best to keep bringing it.

Now, my natural drug of choice is Salsa and all related Latin-American dances. But there is something universal about dance. When someone performs it right, it will speak to your soul, no matter the style or your unfamiliarity with that style of dance. If somebody does a waltz to perfection, it will speak to you.

However, the problem most dances have, is that in the public's eye they have these stereotypical images. Like waltz being an elite dance, or ballet for girls, etc, etc. The problem that salsa has with established dances is that the freedom to express and improvise is interpreted as: You don't need technique, just do something. (which obviously is not true) The bigger problem here in Europe is that it's associated waay too much with the Latin form of dancing here. Let me just say: It is NOT the same. It will never be, just because of the differences in the end-goal of each style. Salsa is more of a social dance and Latin is more of a competitive dance.

But..I am rambling, as I usually do. Getting to the point: Hip Hop also has to deal with it's streotypical issues. Being very street, the mvoements are most often agressive and hard. But there can be a softer style to Hip-Hop as demosntrate here by a beatiful choreography from the brain of Shane Sparks. he softer side of Hip-Hop. It is beign performed by Dominic & Sabra, for the show: So you think you can dance. (which is like idols, but for dancers) Watch & Enjoy. The performance starts at 2:22.

I came across this movie a couple of years ago. It is a awesome song originally performed by a musical broadway show called Avenue Q. Some guy/girl used World of Warcraft to act out this song using in-game characters. It is hilarious!