DECEMBER 3, 2003 CULTURE 17 All About Earson!! Portrait of a mildly annoyed Artist By Jaqueline Roulette There is an up and comer in the Canadian poetry community, and you can find him haunting the halls of UNBC.. As far as Earson Gibson is concerned, he is “a scurvy ridden flea on the majestic moose that is Canadian literature”. Known for underwhelming modesty in the face of praise, - Gibson's friends have this to say: “He acts really docile around strangers, but get to know him and you'll be shocked by the things that he says. One time out of the blue he lies.on the floor and says, ‘I want to be buried in a cardboard box underneath an apple sapling,’ so I asked him to explain, he said “Hoarding your molecules is an insult to Nature. Besides, for a lot of people, decomposing will be the most sincere thing they'll ever do. How do I know I’m not one of those people?’ and I asked ‘What about the sapling?’ Perfectly calm- ly he says ‘so my grandchildren can eat my nutrients”. Growing up in sunny Victoria, Earson went to five schools between K and 12. “The only school I was ever kicked out of was a private school. I launched myself from a catapult constructed from school gym equipment.” Earson’s parents have quite a strange history, meeting for the first time on a plane that was run- ning out of fuel over an airport that had lost power in the Quebec blizzards of 1980, “When I was old enough, I counted back the months from that incident to my birth, and you can guess what Photo by Bob Woob This picture of the early “Master of Disaster” Grog Gibson was captured at the exact moment Disco died. From this mighty oak, the acorn that was Earson would fall. But not far from the tree. happened on the plane.” His father, Graydon, struggled as a small time inventor for most of his life, not achieving a comfortable salary until he invented the ‘spoon fork’. “I hated those things, they were all over the house, and we weren't allowed to eat with any- thing else during the initial test period. The prongs are too short to be a decent fork, and eating soup I always stabbed the side of my mouth by accident. I don’t know what he was thinking with that one.” Earson’s mother Elizabeth is quite the character as_ well. Working as a model during her early life, she achieved relative fame when her features were blended with several others to form the visage of Betty Crocker you see on pancake mix. The young poet has this to say about his. writing: “Poetry is an - alternative to television, and ‘you get all the disjointed images’ with none of the commercials.” As a final note, Earson says “This con- sumer lifestyle we enjoy is a dou- ble edged sword. We consume things and call it luxury, but at the same time the things we consume, consume us by assimilating our personal identities into the American corporate mono-culture. Don't be fooled, ‘to consume’ means ‘to destroy’, and not only are we destroying our cultural her- itage, but the world along with us. Just ask any discarded refrigerator and it will tell you the same thing, but with less verbal foreplay and more refrigerator.” The Game Review Game Over By Brad Pragnell The Sims Double Deluxe In The Sims, you control a group of simulated people, or sims, as they go about their daily lives. You decorate their houses, find them jobs, even tell them to go pee. It’s really an interesting concept, though it sometimes makes for a boring game. The Sims Double Deluxe consists of the original Sims game, the Livin’ Large and House Party expansion packs, some new objects, and the character-building Sims Creator program. Part of the interest of The Sims is that it is entirely open ended. You do not have to fulfill any objectives as you play. There is no way to “finish” The Sims. You do whatever you want to do. The graphics in The Sims are nothing spectacular, but they have plenty of character. The sound, however, is wonderful: Everything in the world of your sims sounds perfect. There are very few genuine problems in “The graphics in The Sims are nothing spectacular, but they have plenty of char- acter.” The Sims. Sims sometimes have trouble finding their way around their houses, and occasionally “forget” to do things. Scrolling is painful. Overall, The Sims is an intrigu- ing game, with a very interesting concept. I give the Double Deluxe version 9.5 out of 10. The Sims Hot Date The third expansion to The Sims, Hot Date, adds dating, a new area (downtown), and new objects and lots. You can now take your sims downtown, and try to hook them up with some of the characters that hang around downtown. Downtown contains a number of lots, some of which come pre-built. The new objects, like the old objects, are very high quality, although the household ones are still rather similar to the old objects. Overall, Hot Date is much more substantial than previous ~ expansions. I give it 8 out of 10 The Sims Vacation The fourth expansion, Vacation, adds a new area (Vacation Island), and new objects and lots. Vacation Island consists of three diverse areas: a beach resort, a wilderness park, and a ski resort sort of place. You can send a family of sims on vaca- tion any time, as long as the entire family is present. There are vari- ous activities to partake in, some of which score your sims sou- venirs, which they take home with them. Overall, Vacation is rather sim- ilar to Hot Date: a new area and some new objects. I give it 8 out of 10. The Sims Unleashed The fifth expansion, Ulleashisa’ adds pets, gardening, Old Town areas, and new objects and neighbourhoods. Cats and dogs have personalities and serve some useful purposes, such as winning awards and hunting ver- min. The other pets are all basi- cally. objects. The Old Town lots are mostly. set up as pet shops and such to begin with, but they can be redeveloped. Gardening allows sims to grow food, which can be eaten or sold at the farmer’s market. Unleashed also adds stray animals, which wan- der around, pooping and peeing everywhere. Overall, Unleashed isn’t partic- ularly worthwhile, unless you really want your sims. to have pets. I give it 7 out of 10. >> It’s everything you ever wanted to know about being a god among ants... it’s The Sims! The Sims Superstar The sixth expansion, Superstar, adds fame and fortune to your sims’ lives. At the new Studio Town area, your sims can work on becoming celebrities in the new music, acting and fashion career tracks, or just hang around and enjoy the atmosphere. Becoming famous does require some work. To begin with, you have to hire yourself an agent. This gives you access to low level jobs, like commercials. To gain levels, you have to have famous people as friends. You also have to keep your fame rating up, so that people don’t forget you, and keep your fans happy, so that nobody starts’ stalking you. There are also numerous new objects, and the studio town lots can be devel- oped as you'see fit. Overall, Superstar is the’ most substantial expansion yet. I; pve it 9 out of 10. The Sims Makin’ Magic The seventh and final expan- sion pack, Makin’ Magic, adds that special magical touch to the lives of yoursims. When you first load Makin’ Magic, a mysterious stranger drops a magical ‘parcel on your sims’ doorstep. Inside is | a spell’book, a magic wand, -and - some various other stuff. There are spells for nearly every occa- sion. If:you want more fame, there's a spell for that. If you want to make sims happy, ditto. But beware; spells have a random effect if. they don’t need to be used, There is also a new magic town area; where sims can buy and sell magic spell ingredients, learn new tricks, perform for an audience, enter into wizard duels, and complete in objective-based challenges. Overall, Makin’ Magic takes The Sims in an entirely new direc- tion and is a nicely substantial expansion. 'l give it 9 out of 10.