Scrabylon (A Scrabble Movie)
After our "high energy" presentation, the questions were even strangerSomeone asked why humanities research got left out, and we had to say that we couldn't find it to be directly relevant on our top 10 list of bulleted pointsIan made the point, and I agreed, that doing the research for this panel made us think differently about academic researchWhile I'm not going to say that what we've done personally has no value, it was a definite challenge to try and make it *directly relevant* in a BULLETED POINT for developersAnd there are huge gaps in what we don't knowWhere is the research about sports games, to take just one example? Anyway, the point is, I enjoyed the exercise, and learned a lot from itI hope the audience did as well
But overall, I like to think that the attendance demonstrates that developers are interested in what academics might be able to tell them (again I will point out: no fruit was thrown)And all week, I talked with developers who were interested in what was going on with research, from the smallest to the largest companiesMaybe the issue is the "larger" communityIt's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that levelBut I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going onI don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to beBut then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet
You can Buy SWG Credits, a professional, loyal and reliable Final Fantasy XI Gil exchange corporation work groupWe are fairly confident that, in fact, Bob Moore is the brains behind the operation (Bob, if you're reading this, give me a call)But since we were uncertain about who was responsible for all the good work, we decided to grab as many of them as we couldEspecially those who, like Eric, are big fans of Jane Austen, have spent years living in Southeast Asia, and who hold the conviction that every American 13 year old should be packed off to live with a Third World family for a yearEric is particularly interested in quantititative methodologies of research in MMOGs
Description
"Scrabylon" is an award-winning, critically-acclaimed documentary on the cutthroat world of tournament Scrabble®Featuring the most fierce anagrammers, rack balancers, and bingo experts in competitive Scrabble®, "Scrabylon" delves deep into this sometimes wacky, sometimes odd, always compelling subcultureShot primarily during the World Scrabble® Championships in Las Vegas, "Scrabylon" features players from around the globe and gives an up-close look at why people get so obsessed with that seemingly benign game played at countless kitchen tables
"Scrabylon" spotlights "GI (gastrointestinal) Joel" Sherman, the world's only professional Scrabble® player - so named for his various stomach ailments; Jim Geary, a quick-witted professional gambler and all-around gamesman; Matt Graham, a stand-up comic from New York City; Chris Cree, a funny Texan who once won $256,000 gambling in Las Vegas during a Scrabble® tournament; Joe Edley, the Zen Scrabble master and only 3-time National Scrabble® Champ; Brian Cappelletto, an options trader and the first Scrabble® prodigy; Robin Pollock Daniel, a trained psychologist and the highest-rated woman on the Scrabble scene plus many other eccentric characters
The glue between all these players is John DWilliams, Jr., the Executive Director of the National Scrabble® Association, who describes in great detail the quirks, strategies and personalities of this fascinating group of individuals
DVD includes deleted scenes and director's commentaryDVD is region-free (region 0)For more information about the movie, please visit the official website at www.scrabylon.com.