La vie en gris

I start the year in Amsterdam. Maybe a sign of what was to come.  I come back in Bucharest only to soon find myself in the wreck of what was 10 seconds ago my car. I drive insanely and my insanity almost lost someone’s life, even so I left a friend with a multiple hand fracture. No car insurance, no inspiration to lie to the police that there were no victims. I lose my license, I lose my car and for some reasons in that crash I fell that I lost a lot more than that. From there it’s all s rollercoaster. For a second I lose my sanity, I lose everything. I run away, finding myself each day in a different place.  I wake up in a hotel room in Rome; I have no idea how I got there and not even bother to wonder. No plans, no purpose, only trying to fight off my own demons that consume me. I enjoy, I see and admire each of the beautiful things that my road has to offer me. I see old friends, I dig up ghosts of the past, I manipulate and dose my emotions to find the balance that I seek so much. And for the time being, it seems to work. Drugs, 100 GB of photos, 400 kilometers of walking, 10 hours of flight, 5 hours of sleep a night, 2 hours of sleep a day in strange places, thousands of beautiful things seen. Each day a new town, each week a new country, and for now the hotel room is my home. Eventually I come back. Work. I go to Sofia in delegation. I come back. I leave to Portugal. I come back but in 7 days I’m back in Barcelona.

And after all this, what’s left is a lot of beautiful captured memories through the lens ,much more in my head, and none of them feel  like being  mine.  Don’t bother asking yourselves what this post was all about; it’s more of a public monologue with only half of what is to be said  .
I hope you enjoy the photos; each one has a little piece of my soul that I lost on the way.

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I usually don’t write about something else than photography, but this time I feel is somehow my duty. As you know I work in the gaming industry. As an industry, it has little margin for something that is unsure to sell, something experimental, something more art oriented rather than existing bad recipes. So basically “the industry” only manufactures the same existing games over and over, with the same compromises made for accessibility and mass-market, the same action packed brainless, soulless, kitschy pieces of shit. Of course there are exceptions even in the high budget area with some developers taking huge risks to push onto the market games that have potential not to sell. Sometimes they make it, most of the time they don’t. And it’s a real pity since gaming platforms have the potential to push art to a new evolutionary step through interactivity, where the viewer becomes a part of the art piece. And that can be the one and only final step in modern arts, it cannot go beyond total immersion, it can only evolve around this idea along with technological evolution.
So anyway, this little article came to my mind as I played one of the most beautiful and challenging games I ever saw . And  that game is BRAID (homepage ). So beautifully written, such impressive hand painted graphics, such haunting score and story  and all this in the form of an apparent simple platform game that resembles Mario  and that is the work of only one man. Well, I won’t say more, others have done it better, however try it, enjoy, buy it. Buy the soundtrack too . It’s available on a nice little site called magnatune and you can actually pay how much you want or think it’s worth, in the true spirit of independent music  production.
Thanks to digital distribution like steam, xbla, psn, now indie developers have a real chance of standing out and actually make some money off their hard work.

And, to stay ontopic, I put together a little list of similar games, some of them from my own gaming experience, some of them thanks to Dominus and his page.

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World of goo (homepage, trailer)

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And yet it moves (homepage, trailer )

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Flower (homepage, trailers )

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The Dishwasher (homepage, trailer )

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Audiosurf (homepage)

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Portal. Well, not exactly indie, but sponsored by valve ( homepage)

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The Graveyard (homepage)

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Darwinia (homepage)

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And some work in progress but with huge potential:

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Limbo (homepage)

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The unfinished swan (homepage)

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Machinarium (homepage)

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Love (homepage)

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And perhaps some older games, not so low budget, not sow indie but very much art in one way or another

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Shadow of the Colossus (homepage)

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Okami (homepage)

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That’s about it for now, I will update the list as soon as I find something interesting.

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De bine de rau s-a mai dus un an si nici dracu nu il mai aduce inapoi, iar ce a fost facut sau nefacut asa ramane. Un an destul de ok, cu destule impliniri un singur regret. A fost anul in care am facut macar partial ce mi-am propus, sa vizitez cat mai mult din batranul si frumosul continent. A fost anul in care am mai evoluat putin si profesional la functia de lead 3d in Gameloft (eh, ma laud si eu ), am participat la GDC 2008 in Leipzig, unde am acumulat un bagaj de cunostinte substantial foarte util . Am avut prilejul sa vad dus la capat un joc de wii si am participat la multe altele pe diverse platforme. Ce e mai important e ca am lucrat cu oameni extraordinari alaturi. A fost un an in care am experimentat cu diverse substante si plante halucinogene si nu mi-am refuzat nici o experienta potential  interesanta. A fost un an in care am ascultat mai multa muzica decat de obieci, in care am descoperit artisti precum Yann Tiersen (de al carui stil m-am indragostit instant), Tom Waits, Dead can Dance, Noir desir , Nick Cave, Iain Ballamy ,Carter Burwell si multi altii, de multe ori prin intermediul unor filme pe care le-am vazut. Am vazut si multe filme bune ,ca veni vorba, si chiar o sa pun o lista zilele urmatoare cu ce consider ca merita. Evident am facut si multe poze si sper sa fac in continuare, mai bune. Am facut o multime de lucruri marunte si savuroase, am cunoscut oameni noi. Am avut aceiasi 3 prieteni alaturi in majoritatea putinelor seri in oras, singurii din trecut cu care ma mai vad. Si am spus ceva cuiva, dupa o tacere de 3 ani, iar ce a urmat nu mai conteaza, dar ma bucur ca am facut-o. Ma bucur ca am facut toate astea.

There you have it… an actual blog post.

Si cu ocazia asta multumesc lui  Kaizer Gogu ca ma face celebru intr-un fel in care nu stiu daca imi convine  si ca am trafic mai mult datorita lui.Si lui Lexis ca imi mai tine de urat din cand in cand (chiar si cand nu vreau sa imi tina cineva de urat ).

La multi ani !

Acest post este dedicat tatalui meu, pe care unii s-ar putea sa il cunoasteti cu pseudonimul Miron Manega din diverse publicatii, unele lansate chiar de el (Liceenii, HMM, Revansa, Nopti Albe, Cutezatorii…) , si care astazi a implinit varsta de 52 ani. Acum cateva zile si-a lansat (sau mai degraba i s-a lansat pentru ca a fost un cadou) , primul volum de poezie , intitulat “Salonul Refuzatilor”. Poezia a fost pasiunea si visul lui, vis umbrit in timp de grija zilei de maine, de intretinerea familiei si incet-incet a deviat de la planul sau de a-si dedica viata artei. Sper sa reuseasca sa isi regaseasca drumul. La multi ani !

Poezia care urmeaza este una din cele mai frumoase, daca nu cea mai frumoasa, si preferata mea din foarte putinele pe care le-am citit in ignoranta mea. Asadar :

POVESTEA ZAPEZII
de Miron Manega

Era o tara-n care nu ningea…
Cu oameni negri e povestea mea:
Atit de negre lacrimi, si de triste,
inabuseau in negrele batiste
incit, odata, un strain le-a zis
(Avea strainu,-n brate, un cais)
C-ar fi de-ajuns o lacrima de-a lor
Sa piara si cais, si calator!
Ei l-au privit cu ochiul stins si timp,
Dar cum stringeau taciunii de pe cimp
Si timp n-aveau de vorbe – au tacut.
Si dus a fost strainul cel limbut.

A mai trecut o noapte si ceva.
Si-n tara asta-n care nu ningea
Nici barem printre ginduri,uneori,
Veni pe lume un copil din flori…

Era frumos copilul, ca un vis
De nimeni povestit, de nimeni scris,
Si-atit de blind, incit ti se parea
Ca ochii lui imensi, de peruzea,
Te vindecau de triste si de negre.
Iar mai tirziu, cind miinile-i alegre
Si-au inteles menirea si norocul
Dezmeticind in colburi negre – jocul,
Cercat-au el si frigul, si arsura,
Si mingiierea ierbilor, si zgura,
Vesmintul trist pe trupul de vestala,
Pizmasul maracine sub petala,
Taisul, lantul, rugul si cenusa,
Si fulgul inefabil, si catusa…
Atit trudit-au gindul lui sa stie
Ce-i stins in rod, ce-i rodnic in pustie
Si-atit de tainic le-a deprins orindul
Ca se-mbunau stihiile, urmindu-l…

Cum a crescut copilul, nu v-as spune,
Ar fi un cintec negru – de taciune!
in zaristea posaca si putina
El n-avea loc de propria lumina,
Ca-l urmareau cu ura fara margini
Locuitorii negrelor paragini
Sa-i interzica miinile si visul
Care trezeau in amintiri caisul
Vestit cindva de un strain limbut…
Cerneau lumini in visul lui tacut
Peste pamintul parasit de iezi;
Lumini cu nume palid, de zapezi.

Si visul lui era o piaza-rea
in tara-n care nimeni nu visa,
Caci multi l-au ascultat. Si l-au crezut.
Si dorul de zapezi de la-nceput
Mocnea acum ascuns pe sub cenusi.
Si paznici negri se-nmulteau la usi
Cu jbilturi groase incercind sa prinda,
in latul lor, vreun murmur de colinda…

Dar cum, de la un timp, ii urmarea
in truda lor, o pasare de nea
Si de nesomn zareau lunateci iezi,
L-au prins pe visatorul de zapezi
Si l-au legat, departe de lumina,
Cu lanturi grele, intr-o fosta mina.
L-au judecat apoi, grabit, in taina,
L-au condamnat sa nu mai poarte haina,
Sa n-aiba drept la adapost ori mas,
La buna ziua sau la bun-ramas,
La somnul cel obstesc, ori la vreun pat,
Sa poarte vesnic lesa cu stigmat,
Sa fie ars de viu pe metereze
Vreun vis de va-ndrazni sa mai viseze…
Lasat sa fie-n plata nimanui
Cind s-o dezice de zapada lui!

Iar cind la temnita s-au dus sa-l vada
Gasit-au doar o mina de zapada.

Pentru cine e intersat, mai multe poezii si texte ale sale le puteti gasi pe poezie.ro

Povestea pe scurt: namila cu moaca si masina de mafiot ordinar a fost extrem de suparat pe soferul din spate care a indraznit sa-i faca semn cu luminile sa nu mai blocheze circulatia. S-a dat frumos jos din audi, si cu un pumn i-a spart greamul din stanga soferului daciei. In momentul in care am vazut faza, am sarit repede sa iau aparatul foto si sa montez teleobiectivul. Pana m-am intors deja soferul daciei era cu fata sparta si cu mana taiata de la cioburi. Am coborat, am mustrat politistul pe care l-am vazut la 30m de scena si nu a intervenit. Acesta a spus ca habar n-are ce spun si ca abia in clipa aia sosise si el acolo. In fine, a venit si politia, am predat fotografiile, am depus declaratie si totul ar trebui sa se rezolve iar ordinarul ala sa plateasca. Dar, traim in Romania si probabil nu se va intampla asa.
Click pentru fotografii mai mari.

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