Browsing: Arts and Life

Twenty-one can be a significant number to people. For some, it’s the legal drinking and gambling age. For others, particularly those involved in the military, there’s the 21-gun salute. This year, however, there’s the 21st celebration of Chilifest.

“Super Mario 64” all started for me, Mario, when I received a letter from Princess Peach, which asked me to come to her castle to eat a special cake she had prepared. Of course, next thing I knew, I was in front of the castle after what seemed like a blackout. I was so acting like a good little man in blue overalls. I ran up to the castle and entered in.

Cinematographer Stephen Poster set up a simple studio rig of three stage lights and a small collection of crude three-dimensional objects on a black felt top to display how easily one could produce shadows and harsh lines. With a camera attached to an external monitor, Poster shined and reflected light beams all across the room while students and faculty watched.

I leapt from my mother’s 1994 Mercury Villager, bounded for the front door, and with haste jumped the stairs to the room I shared with my younger brother. I had just returned from Blockbuster, my young mind’s pinnacle of joys — a reward for cleaning my room. I held the limited edition green case in my hands.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo — or E3 as it’s more commonly known — created in 1995, has always been a location for video game companies, as well as technology innovators, to reveal groundbreaking achievements and long-awaited products to the masses. This year is no different.