taking it to the next level

I spent last weekend in San Francisco for my high school reunion (thoughts about which I shall try to post later).   On our way to Zeum (which, btw, so. cool.) we stopped by the Sony store at the doomed Metreon--an "entertainment mall" originally owned by Sony.  As you might imagine, the Sony store prominently features its products at little demo stations all over the store.  Kai and Jade were all over it like a hot rash.  The first demo station we visited involved some dude and his horse in a medieval setting.  Presumably gamers were supposed to get the armed warrior onto his horse so he could ride across the hills to meet his enemy.  Oh, how my two gaming amateurs tried to figure out how to mount the horse while the animal just looked around and occasionally tapped a hoof on the ground.  Jade finally gave up and ran off to another game, and that's when Kai took control.  Instead of trying to get the guy to mount, however, he made the warrior slash and stab at his horse.  He figured out those movements pretty quickly.

"Whoa, buddy. It looks like you're hurting your horse.  You're not supposed to fight the horse; you're supposed to ride it out to fight your enemy. I mean, if you can ever get on it."

"No, I'm twying to stab it.  It's funnier."

Er, oh-kay.  Is this what they mean when they say video games cause violence?

I backed away slowly. No longer interested in watching Kai slay Black Beauty, I looked around for Jade, who was with my best friend from law school. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this fair maiden, with a lovable toothless grin and a little mustache above that toothless grin.

For those living lives of leisure, San Francisco is a very livable city.  Apparently this is true of people at both ends of the income spectrum.  The homeless in San Francisco have always had it pretty good compared to homeless elsewhere. But now?  Now they have it so damn good. The whole time we were in the Sony store, this happy homeless woman stayed glued to the video demo, all her worldly possessions strewn about her feet.  Did she beg for money? No.  Did she ask for a place to sleep? A warm shower and shave? Negative.  All she really wanted was to make it to the next level.