The joys of being idle

There's a fantastic article by Tom Hodgkinson in the Guardian today about being idle. I've been laughing uproariously at some of the passages, but I think I will leave you with this section.

Idleness as a waste of time is a damaging notion put about by its spiritually vacant enemies. Introspection could lead to that terrible thing: a vision of the truth, a clear image of the horror of our fractured, dissonant world. The writer Will Self, arguing that long periods of motorway driving can be a method of recapturing lost idling time, puts it like this: "This cultural taboo against thinking ... exists in England because of the Protestant work ethic which demands that people shouldn't be idle - ergo they shouldn't think."

That probably goes double for America. Don't think, citizen! Unless you want to be labeled a "freedom hater." Shut up and buy crap!

I think my plan of sitting at home all day playing Beyond Good and Evil is sounding better and better. We've had this for a while at Rachel's urgings, but this evening is the first time I've really had a chance to play with it. Reminds me a little bit of Zelda, a little bit of Jak and Daxter, and a little of Max Headroom. (Taking photos is the way you save the world.) Only it's not coming to you live and direct--the sales were not great and the two planned sequels seem to have fallen by the wayside. It's like Ico all over again, dammit. (Though I saw footage from a theoretical sequel, so I hope I am speaking too soon and there is an Ico 2 on the way.)

If you have a PS2 and haven't played Ico, go do so. That is a great game--I've never had a videogame make me cry at the end before.