Andrei Hasn't Got Back to Me Yet

From: petercorless@mac.com
Subject: Razumijen
Date: May 31, 2006 4:03:02 PM PDT
To: andrei@codrescu.com

Andrei,

It has been many years since I saw you here in San Jose, California. Memories of your voice, and the reading of your words, and your movie Road Scholar have always touched me with their wry humor and biting intelligence. I've always thought about the world, or about America, in a different way after hearing your views of these places.

I've thought about you a great deal of recent because of the Katrina Hurricane. I am glad to see that you are well, and that you have had published New Orleans, Mon Amor. Bon chance!

I also kept thinking about your book A Hole in the Flag.

This last work still stays with me.

Inspired by you in part, and by many others, this June I will be going to Croatia, on my own first visit for a project called Razumijen, to understand what happened in Yugoslavia c. 1991 - 2001. While I am not a Slav, and have no family ties there, I have a friend, Jana Krezo. She is from Vukovar. For her, and for the people of the Balkans, whose tale is so little understood by Americans and by many around the world, I will do what I can to create works to remember and understand what happened.

To begin with, the project Razumijen is going to be a board game about being an Interested Citizen of the World during the Yugoslav crisis. As the nation shudders, if you play your cards right (quite literally) and cooperate with your fellow players, you might alleviate some suffering of the peoples of the Balkans. If you play your cards wrong, or if you are just unlucky, you can even exacerbate the problems for the people.

If successful, this project may put perspective on the issues of the Balkans, and also perhaps give the people playing it — young men and women, and their parents and educators — ideas on how we can use different strategies to solve other world crises in more cooperative, less-violent ways.

I also have a friend from Moldova, Tatiana Scutelnic, who now hopefully wonders if I will do a project about her country, too. Perhaps when I am done with this chapter I can look at the history of Moldova and Romania as the basis of a project. Something other than about Dracula at least. For now, I just wanted to say thank you for providing your inspiring insights into the world. You have in a way, in part, without knowing it, inspired and led me to this new adventure.

My travel plans take me to Croatia 5-12 June 2006. I'll then be off to the UK for more weeks until 1 July. Hopefully when I return I will have more insight into the Balkans to share with you and others. Let me know if you'd be curious to hear how it went.

Of course, I respect you as a busy writer and media professional and can understand if you read this and say, "Who is this guy?" and hit delete.

Hope you are having a good year and enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend.

Sincerely,

-Peter Corless.
petercorless@mac.com
650-906-3134
Walking the Overnight for Suicide Prevention — Help Save Lives!

• The original link to the Overnight was here. I only raised $770. I paid the balance up to $1,000 myself.

• This year, I am walking for the same cause: the Out of the Darkness community walk this weekend. I’ve raised $270 so far. Please give!

Initial Images of Croatia

My Third Eye on Zagreb, Copyright © 2006 Peter Corless

I went to Zagreb in the spring of 2006 in order to look back on the history of the war of independence of c. 1990—1995. I had only recently gotten my “Eye of Horu” cap at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Train ride from Palo Alto up to San Francisco earlier that year. The cap symbolized a change in my life. “Under New Management,” as the saying goes. I prayed the trip would illuminate the issues in my mind and keep my mind open to new ideas and away from preconceived judgments.

Zagreb Park & Parking Copyright © 2006 Peter Corless

The hotel in Zagreb where I stayed had its back to a small green park and courtyard surrounded by various buildings of odd mixed heritages spanning from the Austro-Hungarian Imperial era (pre-World War I) through the Cold War (1950s-1960s). Vehicles crammed into the crowded parking in the back like Matchbox cars tossed in by a tempestuous child and bonked on repeatedly to force them into a spot however they would fit.

The biggest issue I had in that first twenty four hours was realizing that my power cords did not seem to work at all. My laptop was going to have problems. The “universal” power adapters and all the wiring I had gotten in the states in preparation for the trip seemed not to work. Thus, most of the trip was technically a bust. I filmed far less than I wanted. I wrote far less than I intended, and I felt more put upon by technology than sensed I was being served by it to do it’s job on the trip.

I did get photos and videos. Yet nothing was ever easy. Power and recharging became an instant and chronic problem, which detracted from the entire experience through Croatia, and later, England.

Zagreb Laundry Copyright © 2006 Peter Corless

After I woke and readied myself, I went down to the lobby to await Dorica Perak and Petra Gjuric. Both would serve as translators, interpreters, drivers, guides, and dear friends on my trip.

Progress Report

The goal for research and development is to have the initial prototype of Razumijen playtestable for an initial run-through sometime between November (Thanksgiving) to December (Christmas) of 2008.

Design Goals

• Make stopping genocide “fun”
• Focus on cooperative gameplay
• Reward doing what is right, not what will “win” you advantage over others
• Rewards based on playing the best you can given the cards dealt and events occurring

• Playable by 2-7 players within 2-3 hours
• Playable by ages 12 and up; key target ages 15 to 45.

• Board: Map of West Balkans focused on (Former) Yugoslavia
• Components: Playing pieces, markers, dice
• Card Decks: 108 cards (Leaders, Powers, Peoples, Events, Interests)
• 4 Pages of Rules

Tonight, I am working on the list of leaders for the game.

I also lined up a few people to playtest in the future. Jana Krezo and her son Mario have agreed to be the first playtesters. Since Jana was the person who spurred me to go to Croatia, to Vukovar, to see the land for myself, I believe she deserves to be the first to see the initial fruits of my labor. The game will be dedicated in part to Jana, Mario, and all the war survivors and extended members of the various ethnic diaspora in the world.

I also contacted Keith Redfield, my former colleague and boss from both ComputerWare and Cisco. I’d like to dedicate the game in part to him, his former wife Sally, and their daughter Amelia. The term ameliorate is the key theme of Razumijen: to lessen and sooth the harmful effects of war and human hatred. I have a great deal to personally thank Keith for in my life, and this game is in great measure possible only because of the opportunities Keith gave me in my professional life.