Exploring the World

Great photography has always been of interest to me, especially nature photography.  It always amazed me how these artists could have so much patience and skill to be able to take the perfect shot of a sometimes very unpredictable animal.

I recently discovered the works of William and Matthew Burrard-Lucas: wildlife photographers from the UK. I found their photos of a Leaf-tailed Gecko and Wildebeests particularly interesting.



Leaf-Tailed Gecko (above) and Wildebeest Crossing.
check out more at http://www.burrard-lucas.com/

 

The great things about these photographs, besides all the technical aspects, is that they showcase new animals and animal behaviour that many have never seen before.

Living in the industrial environment that comes with living in the city, I rarely see any animals besides the random bird, squirrel, or fly.  To see a species that I've never seen before is interesting, like the Leaf-Tailed Gecko, and tells me that this world has so many interesting and different species that what lives in my little bubble of the earth.  The wildebeests crossing the river shows animal behaviour that I know exists, but have never seen before.  With great photography, it's like I'm really there, watching this event take place.  It's amazing to see the enormity of how many single animals take part in one event, such as these wildebeests migrating.

The detail captured in both of these photographs, as well as other works by the brothers, make city-dwellers like many of us experience the real world, and inspire us to be a part of it as well.

Gamers Are Becoming More Feminine

But don't worry - it's not that all the males gamers are loosing their masculinity, but that 40% of gamers in the U.S. and Canada are females, according to a recent article in Toronto newspaper, The Toronto Star.  This just goes to show that society is constantly changing and accepting certain things that were once considered inappropriate or taboo.

The article goes on to say that of these females, most of them play the same games as their male family member(s), and few play "girly" games.  However, this is most likely because of the lack of female game developers.  But the fact that it has become socially acceptable for ladies to play these, at times, (very) violent games says a lot about how our society has changed in the past couple decades.  I am not old enough to remember, but in history classes I got a sense that females were always the ones needing protection and are, in general, very innocent people that should not be exposed to violence, in general.  As far as I know (meaning collective titles of games from the gamers in my life), most of the games out there are about killing your opponents to be the last one standing / the winner.  If these games were out a couple years back, I don't think as many females would be playing the.

But the main point of the article is how two sisters are developing games for the more feminine of females, aka the ones who are not into the whole "kill everyone in your way and then some" games.  The article goes on to explain the concept of their work in progress.  Now, after reading it, I realized that although I'm not a huge fan of some first-person-shooter games, I still play them on occasion, and games such as the one mentioned in the article do not appeal to me.  It may be because I'm not in the targeted age group, but I think if I was in that group, then I still would not be interested.  It is admittedly an interesting concept, and I think it would appeal to many young girls, but growing up with a gamer for both a brother and a father, these "girly" games aren't as interesting to me as the more "manly," violent games they play.  Again, this farther shows that society is changing, because if I'd been born a couple years earlier, I may not be allowed to even watch people play these sorts of games.

The fact that more females are slowly becoming a part of the gaming industry is also a huge show of the equality between females and males becoming accepted and acknowledged.