The Branded and Gilded Life

Games. Now playing at a theatre near you


Listen Later

The pandemic threw movie theaters into steep decline.

Through lockdowns and social distancing norms, it looked as if theaters would have a hard time springing back.

But they have an asset no home theater can replicate

A 650 ft screen.

The older games would not have stood up to this level of magnification.

But the new generation has amazing graphics that are rarely exploited to their full potential.

That's where the idea clicked.

A group of competitive X Boxers approached a closed movie theater in Singapore 

The idea was to compete and have the game play out on the movie screen.

The theater agreed and they paid $325 for a 3 hour experience.

Of sitting in the darkened movie theater with Dolby sound and the thrills of the game playing out on an impossibly big screen.

Is this sustainable?

Can movie theaters thrive by renting space to gamers?

Well, they'll never know unless they try.

The initial reports are that the experience was 'epic' and 'awesome'

That will whet the appetite of other gamers

And with games overall being bigger than the movie business, there's a new model in the offing.

 A pure adrenalin rush on a giant screen.

So, you're doing the daily grind?

It's a form of expression.

The cliché describing how life is stuck at a particular point.

Let's go back to a time when the daily grind really existed -  thousands of years ago.

At the dawn of agriculture

Women spent five hours a day grinding stubborn grains on stones to prepare food for families.

There was no choice. It was either that or starvation.

So, for all those interested in time travel, it may not be wise to go back more than a few centuries.

Our soft, sensitive bodies and psyches certainly cannot endure the hardship.

And here's the thing.

An electric mill set up in one of the remote villages prevents more starvation deaths than any other form of development or progress.

Even today.

The ancient industrial systems, a precursor to the information age, started out only in the late nineteenth century.

It's hardly the stuff bestsellers and hits are written about.

As humans today, some of us are living in an impossibly fortunate period of history.

Our daily grind is boredom, not survival.

Women living at the time had shoulders which rivalled those of competitive rowers who train for 5 hours a day

And it wasn't a sport.

Finally, archeologists make an exciting discovery

It wasn't another tomb.

Or an ancient chalice of gold

It's something that would be considered a treasure even today.

The discovery of a 5000 year old beer factory 

In Egypt, of all places.

Not England or Germany where you would have expected the find, going by the tipple's current popularity.

They found a unit with a large number of pots in which grain and water were heated.

So, humans knew pretty early on the secret of a good time. Along with grains as food, they experimented with fermented grain as mood elevators.

Back then, of course, there were no pubs.

This spirit was meant for royal rituals within the funeral facilities of kings.

We would certainly like some of our earthly delights in the afterlife as well!

Beer has traveled a long way through civilization.

And settled into the large, comfortable bellies of the faithful.

They will argue the finer points of hops and the perfect 'head' of froth while it is poured.

As well as the bitter accent.

Back then, beer was meant only for the royals.

And Egypt can claim the original recipe.

You can't expect the English to be ecstatic about a historical twist in the tale.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with friends. Or Tweeting the link. The more people we can get to tune in every week, the merrier. Thank you.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ideascape.substack.com
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Branded and Gilded LifeBy Connecting the not-so-obvious branding dots