Author: Ben

After completing an Assassin’s Creed podcast, my partner and I gained some experience using Audacity. We learned how to delete segments easily, put two segments together and where to put blank space. Because of our experience, my partner and I had a much easier time editing our second podcast. We also were able to learn some new ways to edit the segment , including softening the sounds of different segments.

Because I had previously completed a podcast, I was more comfortable completing this assignment than conducting the first podcast. We had a script, but I was able to improvise more. This made the second podcast sound more natural than the first. My partner and I also collaborated better. We knew our academic strengths and weaknesses and we trusted each other. I was able to design the structure and discuss basic information about the game’s history. My partner was able to discuss his experience with the game.

Both podcasts used a similar structure. First, we explained some basic information about a game series. Then my partner, a veteran gamer, discussed his experience with the game series and why he enjoys it. Next we would play a game from the series and talk about what we were doing as we played. Finally, we related the podcast to Ian Bogust’s novel, How To Do Things With Video Games, and describe what we gained from playing.

Despite their similar structure, our first and second podcasts had some key differences. The biggest difference is the games we chose. For our second podcast, we decided to play Minecraft because it was the only game I know a lot about that we could access besides Madden, which was used in another podcast. Minecraft is a sandbox game. It is more of an art and a relaxation tool. Because of this, our goal for the second podcast was to discuss Minecraft as a relaxing art form, not a history teaching game. We spent less time discussing the history of the game and how it relates to the real world and more on how it relates to the art and relaxation chapters of Bogust’s novel. I also enjoyed the second assignment more. I felt more like an artist and that I was learning subconsciously. I was able to relax while building my own world.

Although I produced a podcast on a game I was familiar with, I would like to complete another podcast on a game I play frequently. I also hope to perfect my Audacity knowledge and learn to use other audio editing computer programs. Creating podcasts was one of my favorite assignments of the year, and I hope to make more in the future.

I had no idea what to expect when starting Fiasco because I had never played a role playing game before. The worst part was learning how to play. It took about a half hour, which felt an eternity, and led to a few group disputes. We, however, did a good job collaborating because none of us knew the rules perfectly and we combined our knowledge to determine the right rules. We then finalized the starting scene. The first scene started on Commerce Street. The objective of choice was food stamps/welfare check and our need was to get even with a police officer.

Although I did not enjoy setting up, I had a great time playing. I enjoyed creating my own alter ego and creating my own story. We came up with random character names we thought would be cool. I named my character Brian Blunt, and my partners named their characters Walker Smith and Parker Stone. We also came up with moves we thought of on the spot. I would never commit major crimes, but I was curious to see how certain crimes would play out. The crimes ranged from slashing a police car’s tires to creating a Ponzi scheme. These weren’t real crimes, but it was interesting to see how everything turned out in a role-playing situation.

The initial moves were conventional, but took strange turns quickly. The first move was Parker Stone and I smoking marijuana and getting caught by a police officer. By the end of our first turn Brian, my character, was in jail and Parker and Walker were working in a church. The game got stranger after that. Parker and Walker learned that one of the priests was molesting children, but when they spoke up no one believed them and they got fired. I got bailed out and made my own marijuana plant with Parker. Finally, I offered to investigate the pedophile priest for Walker. In the process I got caught, shot and killed and we ended the game. Walker ended up weak, Parker ended up grim and I ended up with “nothing to write home about,” which meant that I ended up where I started. Although I didn’t like that my character died, I enjoyed playing the game and making my own plot.

Some patterns developed while we were playing. We mostly gave each other white die (which meant good outcomes) at the beginning because each of us didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but progressively became less afraid to give each other black die (which meant poor outcomes) as the game went on. Parker and I also started to gang up on Walker. We gave him black die regardless of what he did. He ended up getting scammed by a Ponzi schemer, getting fired for accusing a priest of a crime and getting arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Walker did get his revenge, however, the one time I was nice to him. I offered to investigate the priest, and Walker had the priest catch and shoot me. Even though I didn’t like that my character got shot, I knew he deserved it after the way he treated Walker during the game.

This game was more like a podcast than any other form of writing we have completed this semester. Both assignments provided the class and I with a new experience and an alternative way of writing. Most of the writing I did before taking this class consisted of a basic prompt and required components for the essay. Fiasco and the podcasts, on the other hand, gave me freedom and forced me to be creative while still maintaining structure. Fiasco and the podcasts were two of my favorite assignments this semester, and I hope to play Fiasco and complete similar assignments in future classes.

For the “Unpacking Manuel’s Tavern” assignment, I decided to do research the Dead Guy Ale picture. I never heard of Dead Guy Ale, Rogue or Prost (the name signed on the picture) before I conducted my research. There is much more to this picture than a cold, powerless skeleton. Dead Guy Ale and Rouge have long, rich histories that one would never guess by looking at the logo. For more information, click on the links below.

http://readwriteplay.btenz.com/blog/uncategorized/reflection-on-manuels-tavern-1st-draft/

http://readwriteplay.btenz.com/blog/uncategorized/manuels-tavern-1st-draft/

For the “Unpacking Manuel’s Tavern” assignment, I decided to do research the Dead Guy Ale picture. I never heard of Dead Guy Ale, Rogue or Prost (the name signed on the picture) before I conducted my research. There is much more to this picture than a cold, powerless skeleton. Dead Guy Ale and Rouge have long, rich histories that one would never guess by looking at the logo. For more information, click on the links below.

http://readwriteplay.btenz.com/blog/uncategorized/reflection-on-manuels-tavern-1st-draft/

http://readwriteplay.btenz.com/blog/uncategorized/manuels-tavern-1st-draft/

At first, I intended to write about the national New York Times report because I thought it would be exciting to write about something from my home state. I decided not to, however, because I could not read the articles nor could I find information about them online.

I then stumbled upon the Dead Guy Ale sign. I knew nothing about Dead Guy Ale, the name on the top of the sign, Rogue, the name on the bottom of the sign, or Prost, the name signed on the sign, and wanted to find out more about each. I first researched “Dead Guy Ale,” the name on the top of the sign. I found the link http://www.rogue.com/rogue_beer/dead-guy-ale/, which described some aspects of Dead Guy Ale’s taste and looks. It turned out that the company Rogue, the name at the bottom of the sign, brews Dead Guy Ale. After, I clicked the link that displayed Dead Guy Ale’s history and awards (http://www.rogue.com/rogue_beer/dead-guy-ale/). The fact that Rogue created beer for a Mayan Day of the Dead celebration stood out to me. I learned about Mayans in history class, but I had never heard of this holiday before and wanted to research more about it. I found this link http://petergreenberg.com/2014/10/27/day-of-the-dead-celebrations/, which explained some aspects of the holiday, including the fact that Mayans believed that the spirits of dead relatives could visit from October 31 to November 2. Next, I researched Rogue. I discovered that Rogue originated in Oregon and emphasized making handcrafted brews. I wanted to learn how a sign sponsoring some small beer company in Oregon could end up in an Atlanta bar. I could not find anything except for the fact that the name on the sign is the name of a Seattle based pub. The last thing I looked up was http://www.manuelstavern.com/history.php, an article describing Manuel’s Tavern’s History, to find more information on how the Dead Guy Ale sign ended up in the bar. Again, I found nothing. Despite not determining how the sign got into the bar, I enjoyed learning more about a beer, a beer company and a holiday, all of which have never heard of until I conducted my research.

 

 

Other links used:

http://learn.kegerator.com/rogue-dead-guy-ale/

http://www.rogue.com/rogueabout/

Panotour Embed Test

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Tenzer

ENG 181

Unpacking Manuel’s Tavern 1^st Draft

 

Manuel Maloof, a World War II veteran, created Manuel’s Tavern in 1956 to bring the “old country tavern” style bars he visited while stationed in England back to the Northern Highland Avenues in Atlanta. The décor of Manuel’s Tavern, which makes it an historic landmark, was obtained in unconventional ways. Manuel’s father gave Manuel the main bar after it survived a fire. He took much of the furniture from “grand old homes and stores scheduled for demolition.” What makes Manuel’s Tavern truly unique is the decorations donated by loyal customers over the tavern’s long history. These decorations range from a beer can collection to a “nude painting of a customer’s wife, which Manuel bought for $200 because the man was pressed for money.”

One of the more bizarre decorations is the Dead Guy Ale picture on the wall of the first floor of the Full Room 360. The picture contains a skeleton holding a mug of beer sitting curled up in a ball with its arms crossed and its knees tucked in. It looks powerless, alone and cold. The skeleton’s hat represents a beehive. At first I thought it was to represent Dead Guy Ale’s “deep honey color,” but I could not find any evidence to prove that. In fact there is not much information on the skeleton’s hat at all despite its large, complex design.

Although it’s not clear if the hat is in the picture for a reason, the skeleton was put on the beer in honor of the Mayan Day of the Dead celebration. The Mayan Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday, which honors the dead. Mayans, a culture that used to live in present day Mexico, believed that the dead could visit their relatives from October 31^st to November 2^nd. On the Day of the Dead, it is common to sacrifice food and “several bottles of the preferred drink” to the deceased as shown below. The holiday also provides people with a good reason to drink and make toasts to the deceased.

Dead Guy Ale has expanded beyond being the preferred holiday brew. It is now sold all over the United States and is one of Rogue’s most popular beers. Its fruity yet spicy flavor has won it various awards, including multiple “World Beer Championships” and “The Great International Beer & Cider Competition.”

Despite this, Dead Guy Ale is much less popular than the beers from the big name brands such as Miller and Budweiser, whose logos are on most of Manuel’s Tavern’s decorations. Similar to Manuel’s Tavern, though, Rogue has a unique history and likes to “challenge the status quo.” Rogue was created in 1988. Its original brewery was below a 60-seat pub. Rogue used to brew only American Amber and Oregon beers but now sells a variety of beers, spirits, sodas and ciders. Rogue handcrafts all of its brews to give each one a unique, high-quality flavor. The Rogue owners also claim that they are part of a “small revolution” in which they will “stand up to” big named beer brands such as Budweiser and Miller by being honest and leading by example. They feel as if they lead big even though they have a small brand.

One question still left unanswered is how did the Dead Guy Ale picture get into Manuel’s Tavern? I researched “Prost,” the word signed on the Dead Guy Ale picture, to see if I could figure it out. All I could find is a Seattle Pub that opened in 2002. I couldn’t research the autograph because I can’t read the handwriting. I did figure out, however, that the picture must have been sent, or at least someone had some interaction with it, between 2002, the year that Prost was created, and April 5^th, 2010, the date on the picture. The picture contains few of many mysteries left behind at Manuel’s Tavern. Manuel’s Tavern’s owners recently renovated the bar, but pictures including the Dead Guy Ale picture will keep Manuel’s Tavern’s original legacy alive.

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Tenzer

ENG 181

Unpacking Manuel’s Tavern 1^st Draft

 

Manuel Maloof, a World War II veteran, created Manuel’s Tavern in 1956 to bring the “old country tavern” style bars he visited while stationed in England back to the Northern Highland Avenues in Atlanta. The décor of Manuel’s Tavern, which makes it an historic landmark, was obtained in unconventional ways. Manuel’s father gave Manuel the main bar after it survived a fire. He took much of the furniture from “grand old homes and stores scheduled for demolition.” What makes Manuel’s Tavern truly unique is the decorations donated by loyal customers over the tavern’s long history. These decorations range from a beer can collection to a “nude painting of a customer’s wife, which Manuel bought for $200 because the man was pressed for money.”

One of the more bizarre decorations is the Dead Guy Ale picture on the wall of the first floor of the Full Room 360. The picture contains a skeleton holding a mug of beer sitting curled up in a ball with its arms crossed and its knees tucked in. It looks powerless, alone and cold. The skeleton’s hat represents a beehive. At first I thought it was to represent Dead Guy Ale’s “deep honey color,” but I could not find any evidence to prove that. In fact there is not much information on the skeleton’s hat at all despite its large, complex design.

Although it’s not clear if the hat is in the picture for a reason, the skeleton was put on the beer in honor of the Mayan Day of the Dead celebration. The Mayan Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday, which honors the dead. Mayans, a culture that used to live in present day Mexico, believed that the dead could visit their relatives from October 31^st to November 2^nd. On the Day of the Dead, it is common to sacrifice food and “several bottles of the preferred drink” to the deceased as shown below. The holiday also provides people with a good reason to drink and make toasts to the deceased.

Dead Guy Ale has expanded beyond being the preferred holiday brew. It is now sold all over the United States and is one of Rogue’s most popular beers. Its fruity yet spicy flavor has won it various awards, including multiple “World Beer Championships” and “The Great International Beer & Cider Competition.”

Despite this, Dead Guy Ale is much less popular than the beers from the big name brands such as Miller and Budweiser, whose logos are on most of Manuel’s Tavern’s decorations. Similar to Manuel’s Tavern, though, Rogue has a unique history and likes to “challenge the status quo.” Rogue was created in 1988. Its original brewery was below a 60-seat pub. Rogue used to brew only American Amber and Oregon beers but now sells a variety of beers, spirits, sodas and ciders. Rogue handcrafts all of its brews to give each one a unique, high-quality flavor. The Rogue owners also claim that they are part of a “small revolution” in which they will “stand up to” big named beer brands such as Budweiser and Miller by being honest and leading by example. They feel as if they lead big even though they have a small brand.

One question still left unanswered is how did the Dead Guy Ale picture get into Manuel’s Tavern? I researched “Prost,” the word signed on the Dead Guy Ale picture, to see if I could figure it out. All I could find is a Seattle Pub that opened in 2002. I couldn’t research the autograph because I can’t read the handwriting. I did figure out, however, that the picture must have been sent, or at least someone had some interaction with it, between 2002, the year that Prost was created, and April 5^th, 2010, the date on the picture. The picture contains few of many mysteries left behind at Manuel’s Tavern. Manuel’s Tavern’s owners recently renovated the bar, but pictures including the Dead Guy Ale picture will keep Manuel’s Tavern’s original legacy alive.