Back in the Summer of 2013, almost nine years ago now, Sindel and I released the parody song slash video called "Eve Dumb Ways to Die". Yesterday I went over to my YouTube channel to find something to send a friend of mine and happened to notice that the video was just a few thousand views short of one million views. Wow.
It's easy to say I've been playing Eve Online for almost 14 years now when talking to someone or writing a blog post, but sometimes when that really sinks in - it can be rather mind blowing. The fact that next year this video will be ten years old is insane to me. I have a real love/hate relationship with this video. Which probably sounds like a statement I should explain in more detail.
In November of 2012 Dumb Ways to Die became an internet sensation. The video remains the most widely shared PSA of all time, who knew that rail safety could be so entertaining. I remember thinking, "This could easily be about Eve and all the horrible ways you can die in-game." So I went and wrote lyrics to a potential song and posted them here in these pages. Less than a month later and the video was finally released.
Without going into details 2012-2013 was not a good time in my life. That time-frame was an extremely challenging one for me and my family. No need to beat a dead horse, but the level of insanity I was dealing with at the time was truly epic. So sneaking a very time-consuming video production into the middle of that vortex was not an easy task. I remained undaunted and determined however and of course, as you know, I did manage to finish it. And I do love it. These days as I watch new players discover it for the first time, it is funny reading the comments and watching the confusion that discovery generates. What is this? What does legs on the internet mean? Why does this say "crap" all the time? The comments are amazing.
I just wish it was better. It is not my best work and it happens to be my most popular video, which is just the way the world works isn't it? So much of this was done in a rush, under stress, and in a mad scramble. And while I am proud of it in many ways, it's also like salt in the wound. But it is also magic and that can't be forgotten. A moment in time. A crazy, insane, and utterly ridiculous moment forever captured in Sindel's amazing voice and my crappy graphics, and a bunch of dancing garbage bags... errr, pods.
And yes, of course I have considered an updated version. To be honest time has passed and you can't always recapture lightning in a bottle. And this, this project was certainly lightning in a bottle.
What a strange trip this life has been.