erik

Mario was the front line of establishing a coherent system for narrative interaction. Modern games have begun to stretch further afield from Mario's primal themes and adolescent instincts, but the growing confrontation with moral gray zones does nothing to diminish the impact of that first shot into the darkness. The farther out all the subsequent shots go, the more it becomes apparent that Mario is still the glowing center of gravity around which everything else rotates. And it's the one familial experience to which we can all return and feel a small comfort of home.

I spoke to Shigeru Miyamoto in New York last month and he described Mario's enduring appeal in similar terms of youthful wonder. He recalled being a child and feeling the impulse to run around the schoolyard for no specific reason. The instinct to climb a tree or jump up and over a fence was irresistible; the potential energy humming inside the adolescent muscles was motivation enough to act.

Before anything else, Mario has been about that fundamental joy of movement. The layers of art and arbitrary mythology of Koopalings and toadstool genealogy are secondary to that. It's a reminder that, whatever we become over the course of a lifetime, our roots point back towards a common set of primal experiences.

theljstaff
news

Postcard winners!

We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude for sending so much joy our way. Frank is still blushing with excitement over the love notes, proposals, propositions, and occasional intimate photos sent from his admirers around the world (China, Norway, Japan, and Poland just this week)! At his request, we blindfolded Justin, one of Frank's BFFs, spun him around in five dozen counterclockwise circles, and asked him to point to ten random postcards/envelopes pasted to the wall. After a brief trip to the bathroom, he chose the following lucky winners, to whom we will give a six-month paid account token (for paid, basic, and plus users) or, for our permanent account holders, a $15 voucher for the LiveJournal gift shop.

So, without further ado, the winners are:

1. seraphene
2. fotog
3. boykitten
4. seshat_6
5. anti_aol
6. lisalees
7. katrinkacat
8. mistyboston
9. _woody_lein
10. another_slender

Bugs, Tweaks, and Enhancements

1. We fixed a bug from the last release that was causing screened comments to become unscreened if they were edited
2. If you happen to be gaming around the corner, check us out on Facebook and be sure to spread the word!
3. We've added new vgifts to celebrate Thanksgiving! Check out our feathered friend, below!

Give more with charitable vgifts

In honor of national adoption month, we're offering a charitable vgift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that provides healthcare and adoption to orphans suffering from life-threatening diseases. LiveJournal will donate 100% of gross proceeds from the sale (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries vgifts in the Virtual Gift shop. We'll keep you posted on how much we raise!

Photos of the week

We're delighted to showcase yet more incredible photos from some of our brilliant LiveJournal photographers around the world. Keep posting (and tagging). And be sure to show some love by commenting on the awesome view at lj_photophile.

Check out this week's photos and more amazing user content after the jump!

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. See you next week!

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The University of California Board of Regents was expected to approve a plan on Thursday to raise undergraduate fees — the equivalent of tuition — 32 percent by next fall, to help make up for steep cuts in state funding.

[...]

Since the school year began, thousands of students have protested both the budget cuts and the proposal for higher fees, which would bring in-state tuition to more than $10,000 a year. On Wednesday 14 protesters, including 12 students, were arrested at U.C.L.A., for disrupting the meeting of the Regents Finance Committee, which was eventually closed to visitors.

ermac

Tiny Art Director