What a great way to kick off the new year! Our logo for HK based interior design firm Two Monkey Creativeworks was featured on logooftheday.com!

Admittedly, the feature went up on Dec 30th, 2010… but what matters is that I received the email on Jan 1st, 2011! Sort of in between Joseph’s 3rd and 4th bottle of vodka and/or champagne.

Thanks goes to the friendly folks (Alan and Richard) at Two Monkey Creativeworks for letting us go crazy on their logo. We’re also building them a portfolio website, so stay tuned for more.

Check out the featured page here: http://www.logooftheday.com/2010-12-30-two-monkey/

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Are you a fan of cool and quirky logos too? If you’ve seen something totally out of this world, drop me a note with the link!

It used to go something like this:

“So, how long have you guys been dating?”
“Let’s see… 13 years.”
“That’s crazy! / You’re crazy! / What’s wrong with you?”

The second great thing about marriage is that you get to make some sick looking wedding stationery. You’re your own client so you can letterpress to your hearts content! Oh, and don’t forget the 450gsm card, custom envelopes, bright colours – that’s right: no client to bicker with! You also need a cool wife with a taste for wacky stationery.

Letterpress! Letterpress!

Check out that envelope, man.

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It’s nice to be writing again.

Dawn approaches the Inner city - megalithic slums built on a monstrous heap of garbage...

Here, personal desperation guides the collective growth of this thriving, throbbing, community of peddlers, prostitutes, and junkies…

A toy factory hangs precariously over a motel – on the fifty-sixth floor. The thumping of a strip club seeps through the walls into the flat of a family of eleven…

A stagnant, yellowish fog lingers fourteen stories above the putrid ground level...

Higher up, on the thirty-sixth floor the rhythmic, gyrating music of a disco leaks from broken windows…

TV antennas, clothes-lines, and other balcony junk creep over one another. Worn underwear flap in the wind like tattered sails…

And in a niche tucked away between towering building blocks...

Something is happening.

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Some of my sketches and words inspired by old photos of Kowloon Walled City – the ungoverned organic megalithic growth that once existed in Kowloon up until it was torn down in April 1994. These sketches were part of a fictional graphic series based on the location.

As far as I know, there was only one major effort to photographically document the Kowloon Walled City. Other than that, this fascinating physical expression of the hopes, dreams, and fears of a unique stratum of Hong Kongers has been lost to history.

I suppose we’re still getting there – I’m not discounting online gaming as a whole (social online games deserve another genre to themselves – I’m talking about MMORPGs, shooters, story-based games).

But the fact of the matter is this: it’s a little disappointing when your supposedly wise, sage-like online companion – a wizard who’s older than the land itself – suddenly turns around and utters, “yo n00b wtf is wrong with you. get teh (sic) crossbow.”

It’s the nature of online gaming that breaks the illusion. The previous example from an MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) illustrates a part of the problem. What’s the difference between an online game, and a single player game? One key factor is the addition of human controlled characters (as opposed to computer controlled characters) in online gaming – which introduces issues like unpredictable dialogue, questionable decision-making, unrealistic actions and so forth.

Somehow it all just seems like a farce.

The responsibility of storytelling has been shifted steadily onto the shoulders of the players – we’re only professional consumers after all, not professional game makers, so who are we to create intricate, nuanced and fully fleshed-out characters for the benefit of other gamers? Would a novelist write a novel, or a filmmaker a film, without characters – then ask the reader or audience to fill in the gaps themselves? They could but we’d inevitably get lousy stories.

Sure – there’s such a thing as participation. But participation for the sake of participation, and involving yourself in a story are completely different things. The greatest novels and films succeed on so many levels because they draw you into the fabric of the story – without having to place you and your friends literally in the story.

What about the social aspect? Not all games are about stories – some are about multi-player action. That’s true – but then what differentiates one shooter from the next? If you take away the story – what’s left? Realistic sprites running around shooting at each other. That’s what it boils down to.

So why do we play online games? Why the growing trend? My theory is that we play them because they’re good excuses to play video games. We feel better playing online games because they’re more “social” than single-player games. Let’s not beat around the bush: if you were in the mood to socialize you’d meet up with some friends for dinner. Online gaming isn’t about socializing – “social” is merely a construct to make you feel that it’s “okay” to play video games again. We feel “social” while actually being quite anti-social.

So I say let’s embrace it. Gaming is still an anti-social thing. Like reading, or watching a movie – in that they are best enjoyed on our own individual terms, as envisioned by the creator. I said “still” because while I don’t think we’ve reached a stage where the issues I’ve discussed here can be fully addressed yet – I’m not discounting the fact they someone somewhere will figure it all out someday.

In the mean time, if you feel like “devolving” – look back at some of the classic adventure games and you’ll be surprised at the quality of the stories and characters. I’ll leave you with two of the best old school adventure game characters ever to grace my computer screen. (I don’t think anyone under 25 will have any idea of what I’m talking about.)

Roger Wilco - space janitor

Roger Wilco – Wilco stars in all six Space Quest games. He started off as a janitor aboard a space ship, saved the universe from alien scum, and ended up… as a janitor aboard another space ship.

Guybrush Threepwood - badass pirate

Guybrush Threepwood – Guybrush is the main character in the Monkey Island series. His adventures lead him to incredibly strange places with ghost pirates, voodoo magic, rubber chickens, and of course, monkeys.

If you’re interested in old school adventure games, check out my top 10 list here.

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What do you think about the latest online games? What about old school adventure games? Let me know!

1) First things first – read the script here. It’s an original work called “One More Glass Please”. It’s Four Rooms meets Reservoir Dogs (Hey, I got that from Entourage - sum up your pitch in 3 seconds flat). It’s also got guns, a geriatric porn star, a blind woman seeking revenge, a gold fish, Russian Roulette, and even pungophobia – the fear of penetration. I swear – this is not an adult film. It’s just twisted.

2) Choose a scene, or an act, or if you like the whole darn script.

3) Leave me a comment to let me know which part you’ll be filming. And also to let others know which parts are still available.

4) Get some friends together and start shooting! You can interpret the script in any way you like. There are no requirements on budget or production values – all I ask is that you enjoy the process and that it shows in the film.

5) Upload the clip to YouTube when you’re done. Just remember to credit the original script, and link your clip back to this blog so people have something to refer to. Each segment will be fully credited – so remember to send me your film credits when you’re done.

Once all the scenes have been filmed, I’ll put them together into one full length movie (don’t worry each segment will remain untouched.) I’ll then upload the whole thing online.

Good luck! I hope you enjoy the script, and please comment and let me know what you think!

Admittedly, the site does have a transient coolness to it (that fleeting moment when you meet someone completely random on the other side of the world – and then get “nexted”). Oh, and the name apparently was inspired by The Deerhunter (watch it). But seriously, how far are marketers willing to go these days?

You know, come to think of it I think we’re about a Chatroulette-and-a-half away from the world depicted in Warren Ellis and Dick Robertson’s Transmetropolitan – set in the 23rd century where 24 hour cable channels blast 3D sex-charged ads directly into your brain, and all-pervasive billboards sell you “Ebola Cola: The Hemorrhage that Refreshes”, “You Drink It, It Eats You!”

On the one hand, you have to admit that’s awesome. (If you don’t think so – read the comic.) On the other hand, what choice do we have but to trundle along with the unrelenting tide of progress?

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What do you think about Chatroulette? Transmetropolitan? Our ad saturated way of life? Leave me a comment!

You know, the ironic thing is that the most memorable bits weren’t actually the graphics, it was the soundtrack: you spent so much time trying to find the crowbar that opened the latch that released the pigeon that distracted the pirate, that you could remember every single MIDI note that was playing in the background.

Maybe one of these days I’ll compile a list of game tunes – but for now, here’s a quick countdown of my top 10 favourite old school graphic adventure games:

10. Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers

The shuffling old geezer with the brain contraption meant instant death - and it freaked the hell out of back then.

9. Leisure Suit Larry 3

My first encounter with boobies - sneaking a peak at a sprite from behind the bushes.

8. Grim Fandango

One of the last great adventure games from the late '90s.

7. Sam and Max Hit The Road

The dialogue and setting were hilarious - even the episodic remakes don't hold a candle to the original screwball comedy.

6. Full Throttle

That guy was a total badass.

5. Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon

My dad actually introduced this to me when I was a kid - and now I'm almost 30! They just don't make 'em like they used to.

4. Beneath A Steel Sky

Great sci-fi plot, awesome characters, fantastic locations.

3. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

The sense of mystery and awe just sucks you in. And you're Indiana Jones!

2. Day of the Tentacle

Time travel, super quirky characters, and an unforgettable soundtrack. What other game would have you transport objects through time in a toilet bowl?

1. The entire Monkey Island series!

I know I'm cheating a little by naming the whole series - but seriously, we're talking about a franchise that has both ghost pirates AND rubber chickens - how can you say no to that?

And there you have it: the Jiksun Top 10 BEST old school graphic adventure games. I have to admit it’s heavily skewed towards Lucas Arts and Sierra, but they were really THAT good.

You can find a whole bunch of these old games at Home of the Underdogs. Let me know if you find anything else that’s good!

Are you a fan of old school adventure games? I’ve probably missed out a couple other classics, but hey there’s only room for 10. Let’s hear your thoughts on the list!

Some years ago I worked with an entrepreneur who was raising his first $10 million of VC investment (“Series A”), without which the company could not proceed. One key element in the investment pitch was a strategic relationship with a multinational customer. The day before finalizing the investment, the customer announced that they were backing out. I advised my friend to inform his investors, but he chose to let them know at the first board meeting after the money was in the bank. I don’t know how he told them, but there was no apparent negative fallout. Was I being naïve? “I might have lost the company if I had made a fuss over the lost customer.” Today this venture has strong revenues, top-tier venture backing, and is a strong IPO or acquisition candidate. Was it acceptable for this entrepreneur to lie to save his venture?

I run a small creative agency in Hong Kong, and what I do know is that a differentiation needs to be made between “lying” and “positioning”. The differentiation between the two, and how an entrepreneur chooses between them is what really matters. The former is obvious enough – an untruth told as a truth. The key is defining the latter.

While I think lying is ethically unacceptable, NOT telling the truth is not – and there is a difference. Before you dismiss this as mere semantics – here me out. In the HBR example above, the entrepreneur was faced with two choices: tell the investors the truth about the key customer backing out of the deal; or lying to them about it by saying the deal is on. There is in fact a third option – not telling the truth, “positioning” the facts (which is perhaps what the author also hinted at when he wrote “I don’t know what he told them”.) “We are on the verge of signing the deal” or “The customer is in place to sign the deal” would not have been The Truth, but would have made the best of a bad situation – for the entrepreneur anyway – while remaining ethically ambiguous.

Call it what you will – “bending the truth”, “stretching the facts”, “spinning the story” – but the sticking point remains that “positioning” has become, or perhaps has always been, an integral part of the sales process.

What do you think?

Ever had one of those nights where you keep getting the same pocket pair and then proceed to hit a set every time on the flop? I did, and boy was it a ride.

I was well into my third coffee (of the night) a few weeks ago and stuck in one of those long marathon sessions. It was around 3am when I looked down at my hand: pocket 6′s – for the fourth time that night! The last three times I had hit a set twice on the flop, and once on the turn. Mind you, this was over the course of a 12+ hour stretch – but hey, I’ll take what I can get.

I had built up a reasonable stack until a couple from Fuzhou sat down with chips piled up to the ceiling, and then proceeded to call everyone to the river, miraculously hitting everything from wild inside straight draws to runner flushes – with all-ins on the flop! It was not that they were completely nuts – the wife was actually a relatively conservative player, raising only with AA, KK, or AK (and then hitting on the flop) – it was the combined unpredictability of her obviously immensely loaded husband that threw everyone off.

A couple of the old-timers on the table got pummeled hard, and some of the short stacks were cleaned out within a few hands. It was like watching them ram against an unrelenting brick wall, and then getting crushed by an anvil shaped piano falling out of the sky. I myself took a hit when my top two pair got called to river – to be beaten by a runner runner flush, 8 high. 8 high! Against some pretty f*cking heavy betting! I was incredulous, but that’s poker I guess.

The atmosphere at the table had changed from friendly competition to serious calculation. Almost everyone had a stake in that couples growing stack of chips. Most of us knew that if the couple continued to play like this their chips would be transferred, entirely, and probably in a single hand, to the person who A) got lucky, and B) took the opportunity.

So it was with this mentality that I limped in with my fourth pocket 6′s under the gun. I was immediately raised to 300 by the wife. Her husband folded. FOUR other players simply called. Now let me just take a brief moment to clarify that this raise was 15 times the big blind, and with four players calling her the sh*t was going to hit the fan.

I thought about my pocket 6′s. I’m not usually a superstitious player, but four in a night? Maybe my poker stars were aligned – my track record on the flop was excellent – maybe I’ll hit my set again. I thought to myself, if I hit this flop I promise I’ll never limp in with rockets like a sleazeball ever again. And with that, I called the 300.

The flop came: 10h, 6s, 2s.

It was a miracle that I didn’t spray coffee over the table. I had to restrain myself from opening out to protect my middle set, but I had a gut feeling that the wife would do the work for me. And that she did. She bet out with a massive 2000 bet, which was just over the pot. The four other players had obviously missed and folded to me. I took a look at her remaining stack – there was about another 2000 left – and proceeded to put on my best Hollywood face. Two minutes later, and realizing that I might have overdone it a bit, I pushed her all-in. She called, and turned over pocket Aces.

The fact that she had Aces (or Kings) was more or less a given. What I didn’t expect was the turn card – another 6! The Korean guy who had been sitting on my left for many hours just completely lost it: “Holy sh*t! Pocket 6! Quads!! More 6!!” I raked in the chips and sat there in a daze. Uncanny 6′s. Yep – it was definitely time to go.

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Got an interesting poker story? Let me know! Drop me a comment if you play at Grand Lisboa too!

I looked down at my hand: K Q suited. I was up about 2 buy-ins and I was hungry. I was on the verge of mucking my hand to get some food when I thought (as I now realize most amateurs like me must do) “I’ll just stay for one more hand.” I limped in at early position along with Glasses-Guy and Red-Shirt-Guy. The flop was K Q 7 rainbow. My heart skipped a beat, and involuntarily blinked to double check that I had got the flop right.

My gut told me Glasses-Guy had missed with either a small/middle pair or suited connectors. Red-Shirt-Guy was a little less predictable, so I checked to him to see if he would try and steal the pot. RSG checked, and Glasses-Guy bet 100. [On a side note - a 100 bet is considered spare change at Grand Lisboa.] I thought: “100! Are you kidding me?” I raised to 300.

RSG insta-folded. Glasses-Guy thought long and hard about it. The dealer called time twice. Finally, with one hesitant look he pushed 2700 all-in.

I was in one of those moments known colloquially as a “What The F*ck” moment. I had pictured in my head at most a hesitant call from Glasses-Guy, and maybe, if all went well with the cards, calls all the way down to the river where I would (very stylishly) flip over my top two pairs and rake in a couple hundred bucks. And there I was staring at a full stack all-in holding top two pairs on a rainbow flop.

Was this guy crazy? I had been in about two hands with the guy. He had folded early so I never actually saw what cards he was playing with. I asked myself whether this guy knew what he was doing. Was he a fish? Then I asked myself whether I knew WTF I was doing. There was no pre-flop raise, so I ruled out KK/QQ. In fact I was hoping he had pocket aces and limped in, but that would have been hoping for too much. Did he hit a set with pocket 7′s? If so, why go all in on a rainbow flop? Why not string me along? Perhaps he has AK. Yes, that’s it. He hit his top pair and is going for broke.

I called with a third of my hard earned stack. The turn and river cards were a blur because it was over so fast. Glasses-Guy (very stylishly) flipped over pocket Q’s and raked in the money. A set of Q’s versus my K Q two pairs. Needless to say I was floored. It was a brilliant play by him, and I fell for it completely. I sat there trying to keep up a cheerful demeanor, mouthing “Nice hand, very well played” as if on autopilot, but on the inside I was beating myself up for falling for something that must have been so obvious to the other players. I took my leave and shuffled off to dinner.

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About two hours later I returned to the table feeling recharged. Glasses-Guy was still there, now with about double the amount of money he had when I left for dinner. The next thing I did would probably be frowned upon by the regulars and the pros – I consciously made the decision to win back all of my money from Glasses-Guy. For the next few hours I played a couple hands here and there. I waited, and folded, and waited, folded…

About 3 and a half hours into the session I looked down at my hand. What I did next was (at that point) unprecedented in my poker playing track record – I limped in at middle position. Glasses-Guy called. Old Geezer called.

The flop was K Q 3 rainbow.

Old Geezer checks to me. I bet 100. Glasses-Guy raises to 400. Old Geezer folds.

Gee, doesn’t this look familiar?

I wondered to myself whether I would be able to pull of the exact same thing on the guy who had taken a third of my stack just hours ago. I re-raised to 900. I could see in his eyes that he was weighing the possibilities. Was I on tilt? Did I have KK/QQ? Wouldn’t I have raised pre-flop? Did I have a small set? “Tell me you have pocket Aces” he says as he pushes all-in.

I call instantly, and flip over my pocket Kings. My set of Kings holds up all the way against his K Q two pairs and I rake in his entire stack along with the 3000 I had deposited earlier. He comes over and we shake hands. It had been a huge night, and we both enjoyed the rivalry. I bathed in the victory, knowing that it could easily have happened the other way round – but for that one fleeting moment I didn’t give a sh*t.

And that is why I play poker.

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Interesting poker stories? Leave me a comment! Let me know if you play poker at Grand Lisboa too.