@Pingu - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How did you discover the Internet?

Makes me sound way older than I am but either the one computer the elementary school had in the library, or my dad’s work computer. Newgrounds was one of the first sites I came across, suggested by a friend who had found stickfight animations.

Q: What’s the story of why and how you created your Newgrounds account, and how has it changed over time? What have you learned from using NG?

I made my original account in 2004 and briefly used it before coming back in 2005 with this account. This account has gone through about 5-6 name changes (at least one to remove hyphens when those needed to be taken from usernames).

There’s been a long evolution of the account to keep pace as I matured, one thing I got better at was not participating in arguments masking as debate. I think overall it’s been a good first hand lesson in how online communities differ from real life.

Q: What have your experiences been like on the BBS?

Mostly positive, Supporter Party has definitely shifted to be General 2.0.

Q: You've been part of many discussions on the BBS. What is your perspective on handling discussions and arguments on the forums? What are some common mistakes you've seen, and what philosophy do you think is helpful to have?

Approach discussions/argument with respect and be willing to learn or at least see the other person’s perspective. It does get challenging when one of you is unwilling to move along, some folks like to dig their heels in.

Q: What is The Elite Guard Barracks? What are some interesting moments you’d like to share from it, and why do you think people don't do the roleplay anymore?

EGB is a community for people interested in helping keep the games/movies portal free of rulebreaking and low quality things, with a military theme.

I came to EGB from the NGPD which at the time was originally a parody thread. The NGPD founder had moved on and I ended up running it for a while until I “ranked up” to the EGB, at which point I remained a bit of a liaison between the two.

I miss the roleplay, which in general has fallen off in forums as people maybe feel uncomfortable/silly about it. NGPD, EGB, NG Mafia and a few other threads used to have common mixed RP interaction on and offsite but after many of the core members left it tapered off. EGB keeps the framework of RP in the monthly updates and some flavor posting but it requires newer members to want to buy into the theme beyond posting a link. I'd love to see more of it overall.

Q: How did you become an audio mod, and what do you typically do in that role? How big of an issue is Geometry Dash in your moderation work?

I came back to NG in 2018 after about 10 years away and got active flagging in the audio portal since there were so many GD-related stolen submissions. I ended up being offered mod midway through that year, and accepted. As one of the mods joked “now you can deal with your own flags”. I set myself a (completely unsustainable) quota to help clear a lot of the blatant stolen backlog and went at it for a good while before finding a more normal groove.

GD is the vast majority of the audio mod workload, which has become a little easier with the verification program for unscouted users and RobTob finally making some changes. Now instead of 50-75 stolen submissions to remove from the audio portal every day, there’s maybe 20 or so which slip through and the remainder are appeals (either legitimate or begging to let them use the song in GD).

I’m aware of the NONG and other things, in the end I’m indifferent to the game but am just concerned with keeping NG safe from legal action. There’s a distinct lack of independent websites now and it would be unfortunate to have NG go down for a game hosted elsewhere.

AI is starting to become more of a concern, there are ways to determine most of them but it’s a tech which is improving and people are exploiting grey areas/loopholes.

(I got added to icon modding in 2021 to handle some of the more questionable audio/portal thumbnails as I came across them, BBS modding in early 2022, and games/movies in early 2024.)

Q: What advice would you give to someone about being an NG user?

If you sit on your hands waiting for someone to engage with you, you may be waiting a while. NG is very community focused so engagement in the forums and portals is important.

Q: Why did you like around voice acting?

I think I didn’t have as good an appreciation for how someone can have such a range of characters and emotions through their voice. I think generally we rely a lot on facial cues, which is probably why a lot of voice actors are also now doing facial capture for things like games.

I very much think it’s a skills that has to be practiced as well, it’s usually a little weird to be alone having a full conversation with a microphone (or yelling but hoping to not get the neighbours worried)

Q: What was it like hosting what did you enjoy about it?

I hadn’t run a contest before so I asked others with experience for their tips, but it was still a learning curve for all the little things you don’t really think about (IT issues, judging transparency, etc)

Q: Lessons you got from the contests?

I think I developed a little more personal skill in project management. I set a task with a deadline which had inputs from both the contestants and other judges. This was the first time I did something in that vein online, and it improved the second contest as I then had the personal experience to reference from.  

Q: What do you like about shooting? Your dad coached competition pistol when he was younger, so you started with his instructions, you would like to compete in multi-gun, though it seems unlikely at this point? Why?

I like that it is a physical and mental sport. A lot of people make shooting look easy, which is thousands of hours of practice like most skills. Rifle can be fairly forgiving, but for pistol if your hand muscles grip in the wrong way you miss completely. You get aware of how our bodies are structured, when you want to pull your index finger back and notice that your pinkie finger contracts as well and changes your grip. In longer range shooting, your breathing and heart rate influence where something will impact so you can either train physically to change your breathing/pulse or have to learn when to make a shot. Mentally, if you miss and then miss again it starts the mind game of keeping yourself from getting worse every shot.

As for the why no competitive, Canada has very strict gun laws. Without getting political, it is very difficult for Olympic level and prospect shooters to get permission to own/use certain guns, so doing something like 3-gun shooting (rifle, shotgun, pistol) is also impacted. AR rifles are now prohibited, as are handguns, and prior to that there was a limit to how many rounds you could have which disrupts your flow if you have to change a 30-round magazine every 5 rounds. Unless the law changes, it’s impractical to try competing.

Q: What do you like about gardening? What are your favorite vegetables to grow? And how often do chipmunks actually steal your vegetables?

It’s probably a midlife crisis thing, but at least I started a decade back… I had struggles when I was younger with having enough fresh vegetables at home for our pet guinea pig. I started a garden with mostly lettuce to always have a supply through the summer to avoid the threatening wheeking of a disappointed pig. I was also growing raspberry and tomato because that collectively made for a salad. This was also my first experience with animals stealing my things:

We had magpies in Alberta who would come into the yard and steal my berries, which became problematic enough that they ignored all my other attempts to discourage them. I ended up shooting one with an air rifle and then holding it as a display to the others so they knew it was me. Magpies didn’t come in my yard again for months, but they did scream at me when I went to the garden. By the next summer they were eating my berries again and we were getting ready to move so I let them.

Our new house in Ontario has chipmunks, black squirrels, and red squirrels who all like to do what they do and dig/forage. I don’t blame them, but one summer we had a dry season and the squirrels chewed the stems of my corn to get the water (at one point I watched a corn stalk be pulled up a tree like how leopards save their food).

We’ve had a few rounds of handling the most bold of the rodents, but also better account for them taking a few things. They can steal birdseed and berries in exchange for my husky sometimes catching one to play with.

For crops we rotate corn, cucumber, tomato, and lettuce with some random other things I want to try. We also have apple and cherry trees, blueberries, haskap berries, rhubarb, and a raspberry patch which are all perennial and give enough fruit for freezing/dehydrating through part of winter.

Q: You have a 6-acre campsite near the Atlantic Ocean that you’re turning into a homestead, though it’s challenging since it takes 14 hours to get there. How is living out in the country different from the city? What does it take to build a homestead?

I do already live about 2 hours outside of a major city, so I’m used to a lack of big convenient chain stores but the big consideration is hospital and cell service. If I’m using a chainsaw and get injured, my property barely gets cellphone signal and is about 30 minutes to a community hospital.

We’re still at the stage that all our water and food is being brought in with us until we set up a well, but we have a small stream on the property so we have a water pump and filter. It isn’t worth testing the water for bacteria at this point, so we drink bottled and the stream is for cleaning. The land used to be farm fields which went fallow before being logged back, so we do have 50 year old apple trees on the property which still bear fruit and are a nice bonus.

I have a lot more admiration for pioneers, spending every day clearing trees and brush by hand to make space even to set up a tent is a lot of work. We’re spoiled with our access to equipment.  

Q: You also enjoy hiking, swimming in rivers, and snowshoeing as much as possible. What effect does being out in nature have on you? What do the different seasons and weather say to you, what emotions do they bring?

I got back into willingly being in nature because I wanted to undo the dislike of camping/hiking/snowshoeing the army put into me (they take the fun out of everything). I still dislike winter, but a good friend was an artic warfare instructor and working with him has given me a better appreciation and admiration for winter. I did a mostly-naked walk (shoes and underwear) for about 20 minutes in the woods at -20c(-4f) while it snowed and learned more about how to recognize the kind of cold I could/couldn’t handle and how to recover from it.

Nature is where we were meant to spend most of our time, and most of us surround ourselves with concrete/steel/glass instead. Being outside for long periods does improve my own mental health.

Q: You used to play piano, what was that like? You also played brass instruments in school (trombone and trumpet)?

Piano was my Dad’s thing so he brought me to have lessons where he took his. I never really bonded with it and haven’t touched it in a while. I did want to learn violin instead when I was young (which our hindsight conversations my Dad acknowledges might have been better), and I’ve owned a violin but had trouble self-teaching from youtube and I don’t live near any instructors. Maybe some day I’ll take another shot.

Trombone and trumpet were two years of school music class, it was interesting but again I had trouble getting right into it and didn’t carry them on after.

Q: Why do you think your all-time favorite music styles are classical and jazz, which you blame mostly on your dad, given his record/CD collection? What are some of the classics, hits, and compositions you love, and why?

I think if you grow up around something you either develop a fondness for it or a deep dislike, depending on the other memories which form around them. I had some Classics for Kids which I listened to on car rides to see family, so it was positive association. Same with my dad’s classics/jazz/blues albums which came out over holidays.

All time I love Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and seasonally (mostly winter) get into having soft jazz mixes in the background while I do other things around the house.

Q: You also like synthwave and artists who blend traditional and electronic styles (like Lindsey Stirling and Magic Sword). Why do you think that style resonates with you?

I find physical instruments are better at conveying emotion, but some artists can blen that with more modern tools to build out depth in a way you used to only really get with a full orchestra. I think that all plays a part of why I’m drawn to that blend of style (and open to any new suggestions!)

Q: How did you come to participate in the group hug? And what was the process for doing the group hug?

The event was organized to raise awareness for cancer on behalf of a classmate, and I ended up volunteering to be on the event staff for safety. The group hug extended over a large area including over a makeshift bridge over a creek so they had folks spread out in case of any safety concerns.

Everyone got into a bog extended line which formed a very long 5000 person ring, there was an audible signal which indicated start and an overhead helicopter provided some kind of photo/video to show everyone was arm in arm to make a big hug. It was successful, and then the record was surpassed the next year and then again a few years later which still stands around 10,000 people.

- Boat over Car

I learned how to drive a boat before learning to drive a car. I had decent public transit where I grew up so didn't get my car license until I was 25, but needed the boat license at 16 since I was lifeguarding on a lake.

Q: What do you think about driving?

I enjoy it, my drive to work is about 20 minutes through forest so it makes a nice liminal space which separates my home and work lives, great place to shelve any frustration. I generally enjoy long drives as long as they avoid stop and go traffic and moose (I drove through a specific forest at late night and came across 10 moose in 45 minutes)

Q: What do you like about sailing?

(sailing wasn’t mentioned but it worked out) I got both my boating license and a sailing level 1 certifications. Sailing is interesting though I haven’t done it in years. I learned fast that the boom got its name from the sound of it hitting my head if I didn’t duck fast enough. It’s fun and you have to be focused as the wind can shift very quickly and force a reaction.

After my written motor boating test, my employer of the time taught me how to pilot a boat in a way to recover someone from the water, tow water skiers, and even practice beaching a boat to transfer a medical patient. I didn’t have to use any of the safety skills outside of practice thankfully.

Q: What is lifeguarding like, and how did you become a lifeguard?

In Canada the process involved going through a number of courses and then the lifeguarding course exam. I got a job right after at a city pool, and then in the summer on a lake at a campsite. I ended up as a head lifeguard/swim instructor after a few years before moving on.

It was interesting, teaching swimming I met a lot of interesting people and learned how to adapt my interaction to different personalities. I was super proud of getting someone from being very afraid of going in the water to a point they could jump off a diving board safely, which I hope set them on a path to more success.

Q: How did you decide to study political science and history in university? What did you learn, and what did you discover about yourself?

I learned that 17 (when I started university, November birthday) wasn’t a great time to decide how to plan my life path. In hindsight I should have taken a victory lap of high school or a short college program to give myself more time to figure my path out. Politics and history was interesting, but both don’t have good job prospects after university.

I later shifted to study anthropology which I think would have been more interesting from the start, but I’m still short of a degree as I carried on in my current job.

Q: You also took college courses on Macromedia Flash animation right before Adobe bought it. What's your perspective on Flash and what it represents in Internet history? What effects did it have on independent media?

I think flash overall (as well as Newgrounds and other community sites) helped the internet become more of a user experience. You had communities pop up where the user controlled the content (since NG preceded YouTube), which I suppose you could argue became the start of social networking. Flash itself helped thousands of people get into coding and animation, and is probably a big influence on how the internet of today exists.

Q: What's the story about someone from Newgrounds who was big into animation reaching out to ask if you wanted paid work helping with their webpage code? You ended up turning it down, how do you think your life would have been different in that alternate timeline?

I’ll leave them anonymous, but I do think I wasn’t the right person for the job at the time as I still had a lot to learn. This was 2006/7 timeframe, so there still wasn’t much money to be made in the coding side of the internet, in the end I think it was the right decision. I think there’s an alternate timeline where Pingu got into the coding/scriptwriting side of creativity (I was never skilled at art) though I don’t think it would have gone beyond that though, but who knows.

Q: You've been in the military for 18 years, which has been both your best and worst experience at times, but overall you've enjoyed it. What aspects do you enjoy and dislike about military service?

A less pleasant topic. I think the worst is seeing friends and coworkers lose their personal battles. I’ve had a few coworkers killed in combat but I wasn’t close to them so that aspect never really bothered me, but I have around 15 or so people from coworkers to friends who died by suicide. I had two in a week (unrelated, a friend and a recent coworker) which was pretty tough.

As far as work related losses, we’re a volunteer force so to a point people sign up with good intention.

The military overall is a weird family with stupid inside jokes and culture. I love it and every time I am with friends from outside the military I question the culture difference, but I think there is a lot to be gained on a personal level by choosing to be in. I think overall the benefits of joining have outweighed the negatives.

I’ve had great opportunities to see how people in less prosperous places live their lives, which has given me more appreciation for the conveniences I take for granted. I have four deployments of varying lengths (1-6 months each, on 3 continents) so I’m starting to also value time at home more.

Q: You plan to continue your military career until graduating with your pension at 25 years of service. What do you think will happen? What would you really choose to do afterwards?

Hard to say, unless a new political party changes things I’ll have a guaranteed income at that point. It’s hard to say these days how things will look in a few years, but I think I’ll be ready to start a new chapter. I joined young, so I’ll still have a good 25 years of potential second career in me to go.

I hope that I’m in a position I can pick a career which I’m passionate about, since I won’t have to worry as hard about paying the bills long term with an assured pension. I’d like to finish my anthropology degree and spend some years digging in the dirt to find small artifacts of history.

Q: What are your opinions on foods and drinks?

I am fortunate that my metabolism and personal fitness match my love of carbs. There are so many wonderful cultural foods out there, I love trying the local options wherever I go. Like my profile mentions, I want buns of steel but also buns of cinnamon.

- Right place wrong time

I have the uncanny knack of being one step removed from a crisis/right place wrong time enough that it feels like a trend but really is just a reflection of the job I chose. Some include being about to fly into a country just to be delayed on takeoff as the destination was having a coup d'etat (which trapped some coworkers for 2 months until the airports opened again), landing back at a home airport an hour after the country I left started COVID lockdown. Closer to home, a few years ago I helped get my neighbour and their kids out of a house fire; this turned out to have been arson/attempted murder by the person I helped and I had to testify at trial years later (they were convicted, it felt like a movie script).

Q: How would you describe testifying at a trial?

My experience was weird, both because of COVID changes to trials as well as the fact that I had moved since the event. I testified by teams meeting, which was awkward as it was a bit impersonal. It also ended up being about 6 years after the event.

Q: What is your view of the COVID lockdown?

I missed most of it, but when I came back home some random lady gave me heck because I was going down the grocery aisle in the wrong direction.

Q: How are your two coworkers doing after being trapped? Are they okay?

Yeah they were fine, I don’t think they had kids at home so it wasn’t a huge thing to be away a bit longer.

Q: Your advice for life?

It’s ok to change your opinions and beliefs over time, lots of people have trouble with that. We should always be learning and improving, and ideally see how far we’ve come from the person we used to be.