We are now scheduling November and December workshops for our learning game "Collapse!". Please call us at 778-998-1377 or email us at ryan.leach@genusrex.com for more information. We also still have a few available dates in October if you are interested.
Further information can be found here.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Volunteers and Sponsorship
Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. is a social business and is not trying to maximize profit. That is not our goal. We need to make money so that we can continue to do what we do, and expand the services and resources that we offer. But we are not out to maximize profits. As a result, we give a lot of stuff away and do a lot of stuff for free. The reasoning behind this is simple- our number one goal is to get the message out. Money is simply the medium of exchange that society has agreed to use. So we use it, but we aren't very attached to it.
Volunteers
Right now, we are all volunteers. Nobody is being paid for what they do. We hope to reach a point where we can provide room and board for everyone and possibly pay people in the next year. This means we are all on the same level. Some of us have more of the picture than others, this site is a resource to put us all on the same level of information, so that we can all contribute on the same level.
We are working to create a massive social change that will improve competency in people under 30 across Canada. We want to save the world by making adults out of consumers, and leaders out of 'the masses'. This sounds huge and maybe a little intimidating, but it will happen one small step at a time. These small steps will not normally be difficult, but they will normally look difficult. We have to realize that things maybe scary, but they are not normally difficult once you grab them by the horns.
Sponsorship
As said previously, we do a lot thing for free and give away a lot of stuff. This is because we are trying to reach as many people as possible. We are looking to partner with other social businesses who would like to get word about their mission, product or service to people who would be interested in it, instead just throwing advertising at vast demographics and hoping to find people who want to change the world.
We'll go looking for them for you, and when we find them, your information will be among the resource pack that we give them.
Volunteers
Right now, we are all volunteers. Nobody is being paid for what they do. We hope to reach a point where we can provide room and board for everyone and possibly pay people in the next year. This means we are all on the same level. Some of us have more of the picture than others, this site is a resource to put us all on the same level of information, so that we can all contribute on the same level.
We are working to create a massive social change that will improve competency in people under 30 across Canada. We want to save the world by making adults out of consumers, and leaders out of 'the masses'. This sounds huge and maybe a little intimidating, but it will happen one small step at a time. These small steps will not normally be difficult, but they will normally look difficult. We have to realize that things maybe scary, but they are not normally difficult once you grab them by the horns.
Sponsorship
As said previously, we do a lot thing for free and give away a lot of stuff. This is because we are trying to reach as many people as possible. We are looking to partner with other social businesses who would like to get word about their mission, product or service to people who would be interested in it, instead just throwing advertising at vast demographics and hoping to find people who want to change the world.
We'll go looking for them for you, and when we find them, your information will be among the resource pack that we give them.
We do we do this? Shakespeare's St. Crispin Spech from "Henry V"
This speech that follows is from "Henry V" by William Shakespeare, and I felt that it was important to post it.
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
'Collapse!' A Game of Social Responsibility
In a free society, we are dependent upon the involvement of everyone to keep society running. The board game ‘Collapse!’ teaches, through play, about the interrelated systems that depend upon citizen involvement to keep working for all of our benefit. It’s a delicate web of systems that deliver food, run the buses, keep the peace, and respond to emergencies.
World Politics, economic upheaval, environmental concerns, and natural disasters (here and abroad) can disrupt the normal functioning of a city or community, and even cause its collapse if there is not sufficient infrastructure and community involvement (as in New Orleans during Katrina, Pakistan's recent flooding, or Haiti's Earthquake).
'Collapse!' helps players draw a connection between the world stage, the municipal stage and their own actions. It is available free as an electronic download for any use that is non-commercial in nature. And if you are located in the Vancouver area, contact us now to schedule a free demonstration session with mentors, enough boards for 30 to 40 players and a personal instructor.
World Politics, economic upheaval, environmental concerns, and natural disasters (here and abroad) can disrupt the normal functioning of a city or community, and even cause its collapse if there is not sufficient infrastructure and community involvement (as in New Orleans during Katrina, Pakistan's recent flooding, or Haiti's Earthquake).
'Collapse!' helps players draw a connection between the world stage, the municipal stage and their own actions. It is available free as an electronic download for any use that is non-commercial in nature. And if you are located in the Vancouver area, contact us now to schedule a free demonstration session with mentors, enough boards for 30 to 40 players and a personal instructor.
The Red Cedar Project
his is our first offering.
We’ve noticed a problem. This generation doesn’t know how to really live. We know how to play Farm Town, but can’t grow food. We can play Street Fighter, but not defend ourselves. We can play Civilization, but don’t know how to contribute in our own town. As young people today, we have become The Matrix generation- living in a dream world. And worse, we’ve signed up for this dream world without any coercion. We’ve bought our own prison cells!
The Red Cedar Project is a toolkit to help us re-engage with the real world. The Project is a set of games and resources to help into adults that we can respect when we look ourselves in the mirror.
It’s time to stop playing at having adventures, and actually live them.
We’ve noticed a problem. This generation doesn’t know how to really live. We know how to play Farm Town, but can’t grow food. We can play Street Fighter, but not defend ourselves. We can play Civilization, but don’t know how to contribute in our own town. As young people today, we have become The Matrix generation- living in a dream world. And worse, we’ve signed up for this dream world without any coercion. We’ve bought our own prison cells!
The Red Cedar Project is a toolkit to help us re-engage with the real world. The Project is a set of games and resources to help into adults that we can respect when we look ourselves in the mirror.
It’s time to stop playing at having adventures, and actually live them.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Off Topic Book Review: Ender in Exile
I just finished reading Orson Scott Cards's new book "Ender in Exile
" which covers some of the territory between the end of "Ender's Game
" and the beginning of "Speaker for the Dead
" and also wraps up some story elements form the "Ender's Shadow
" series.
I didn't care for the last two Ender books "Xenocide
" and "Children of the Mind
". I thought that they were good, but I had come to expect greatness from Card and so 'good' tasted awfully bitter in my mouth when I read them. "Ender's Shadow" and the subsequent series improved my mood and seemed to find Card back in fighting form.
Fortunately "Ender in Exile" keeps the successes going. Like "Speaker for the Dead" it is a very different novel from "Ender's Game", but still reminds you just how smart Ender is and how capable he is. If there is a flaw in this book, the flaw is that the book feels like two novels and a short story stitched together. They are all great stories, but the work did not feel like a single work. This doesn't bother me because, as I said the stories are all great, but the effect does make the narrative a little bumpy as the author transitions from one story to the next.
I enjoyed the book enough that I bought it, which says something. I rarely buy fiction anymore. And having finished the book, I am still glad that I bought it. I will likely regift it- but even there I think the book will be enjoyed.
" which covers some of the territory between the end of "Ender's Game" and the beginning of "Speaker for the Dead" and also wraps up some story elements form the "Ender's Shadow" series.I didn't care for the last two Ender books "Xenocide
" and "Children of the Mind". I thought that they were good, but I had come to expect greatness from Card and so 'good' tasted awfully bitter in my mouth when I read them. "Ender's Shadow" and the subsequent series improved my mood and seemed to find Card back in fighting form.Fortunately "Ender in Exile" keeps the successes going. Like "Speaker for the Dead" it is a very different novel from "Ender's Game", but still reminds you just how smart Ender is and how capable he is. If there is a flaw in this book, the flaw is that the book feels like two novels and a short story stitched together. They are all great stories, but the work did not feel like a single work. This doesn't bother me because, as I said the stories are all great, but the effect does make the narrative a little bumpy as the author transitions from one story to the next.
I enjoyed the book enough that I bought it, which says something. I rarely buy fiction anymore. And having finished the book, I am still glad that I bought it. I will likely regift it- but even there I think the book will be enjoyed.
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