The power of inspiring voices in a darkened room.
The lights dim…the music fades out…and a joyful golden retriever excitedly bounds out to center stage and looks at the audience. He’s wearing an brown collar with a light bulb and stares at the audience for a moment. Then suddenly, the collar’s red light flickers on and off in sync with a booming and jovial voice announces “Hi there. My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you!” Dug goes on to welcome attendees to the event and explain that today’s keynote speaker “…made me this collar…
…unless you choose to give it away
I heard this quote a few years ago at church and scribbled it down so I could reflect on it. It seems all the more relevant now after a year of global separation. Each of us connecting virtually through our screens, often in an asynchronous format, where it is easy to ‘forget the human’ on the other side.
The sudden reversal of its structure is surprising in its positive outcome. It’s an elegant sentiment that reminds me of those riddles students used to excitedly bring to me hoping they’d finally discovered the puzzler…
I have a complicated relationship with Fortnite.
Its Battle Royale game mode is a mashup of the Hunger Games and Minecraft in that 100 random players are dropped on an island, scrounge for weapons and resources, use building, strategy, and swift reflexes to become the last player standing and win Victory Royale (see my screenshot below). Borrowed elements such as a menacing (and painful) storm narrowing the playable area and airdropped resources further enhance gameplay and add random challenges to be overcome by its aspiring champions.
Articles have been written comparing the game’s success to that of the 7-year old…
