Max Igan: The Crowhouse

Ok folks, well this is the nitty-gritty. This is ultimately who I am and no, you dont get a photo or a real name. If you are reading this, then I can only imagine that you are a friend or associate of mine as I cannot possibly imagine who else in the world would be remotely interested. This page will also serve as a blog of sorts and will be added to later.

My real given name will remain anonymous and my second name is Maxwell. My last name will also remain anonymous. I live in Queensland, Australia and at the time of writing this essay, it is June 2007 and I am 49 years old. The pen-name Max Igan that I have become known by is a combination of my middle name and my sons’ middle name. As a matter of interest, Igan is the original Irish spelling of the name Ian, and no, I do not have any Irish roots, we just liked the name. :) I decided upon the name Max Igan as my pen-name & internet identity as a tribute to my son and as a dedication to him. Any and all work I have done on the internet I have done mainly for him, first and foremost.

I have always had a strong love for art and music and spent many hours constructing drawings I would give away during my teenage years and a few pencil a pen drawings that I kept, some of which are displayed on this site. I began messing around in Photoshop, Bryce and a few other 3D programs in my spare time about 3 years ago and most of the art found on this site is a result of those ongoing efforts.

On a more personal note, I have spent most of my life as a traveling musician and continued to do so up until about 3 years ago. The life that is led by a traveling musician may seem strange or exotic to most people and definitely pointless and irrelevant to some, simply because a musician just doesn’t do regular stuff. They don’t work regular hours, are often only ever in any town for short time and many don’t even have regular homes for months or sometimes even years on end. A traveling musician lives more on the “outside of society” than within its confines but because of that, and because of the music, a musician is able to meet, and interact, with a great many people from all walks of life and a great many countries, cultures and classes that many other people are not. This gives them a unique perspective. If they are astute, take advantage of such situations and learn from such interaction, they are able to gain a valuable insight and understanding of many facettes of human kind and many things that remain unseen and unknown to most other people.

Many people may say, “Oh what would they know, they are just a muso” but they often forget that they themselves listen to music and would gladly interact with most musicians and it is the same with people that they themselves are unable to meet. Somehow music breaks down the barriers between most cultures and classes and opens doors that would have otherwise remained closed. Plus because a musician is able to make a living from his or her art, they are able to pursue more philosophical and intellectual interests and to ponder, investigate and connect the information they have gathered in their spare time, as they have so much more of it than a person who must work regular hours at the same job. I feel very privileged to have been granted the gift of music and to have been able do many of the things I have done and meet the many people I have because of it.

For my own reasons, I have remained a reasonably solitary person for the last 12 years and somehow cannot see that ever changing. In the last 3 years, and strange as it may seem to some, one of my greatest loves has been for the Game clan I belong to, the Alliance of Defiance. I am by no means, a game junky and I don’t love the clan because of the game. The game is fun, but the clan is where the love lies.

The Alliance of Defiance was a strange advent in my life, and is a tale worth mentioning. I am by no means a young man and have been on the net for years but I had never had the desire to belong to any game clan.

Then came the AOD.

I had begun playing the internet game “Enemy Territory” about 5 years ago, mainly as a way of interacting with my son, who lives with his mother. Enemy territory gave us a great way to go do stuff with each other while not actually being together. If you are unfamiliar with it, ET is a free online first person shooter game based in WW2 Europe and far from promoting violence, I find it promotes both teamwork and friendly competition. It was my son who found the AOD “All Generals, All the time” game server and insisted I come and play with him on it. I was not really keen on the server to begin with due its distance from my location. (America) - like, almost exactly on the other side of the world to me, but eventually I complied and I openly admit it was mainly due to the Australian servers we used to play on closing down. For those who know anything about online gaming, when I switched to the All Generals Server, my “ping time” instantly went from 30-80 to 250-300, where it has remained to this day, but it is worth it for the quality of the people.

While playing one day, my son noticed a message on the screen offering the chance of applying to join the clan upon the acquisition of 10,000 experience points on the clan server - he had always wanted to be part of a clan. He worked ferociously for an entire weekend towards that goal while staying at my house and managed to gain about 9,920 Experience points in two days. He applied and was accepted. Knowing the nature of the internet - and as a father of a 12 year old boy - I contacted the head of the clan and informed him that he was dealing with a 12 year old in the case of the new clan applicant and trusted he would act accordingly and responsibly. I received a reply and was offered membership into the clan myself and again, simply for my son, I joined.

Being frank and honest, I admit that for the first year of my membership, I simply played the game as a team mate for my son and not even always on the clan server. I didn’t even visit the clan website or the forums. Then I began to visit the clan forums and got to know many members of the clan and again, as with music, via the instrument of art, I managed to interact with and get to know a great many of them, more than many other members have. Again, I found myself dealing with people from all walks of life and many countries from around the world ranging in age from 11 to 70 and one of the real beauty’s of the internet is that it is a non-judgment environment, inasmuch as appearance and personal defects do not come into the equation in your relationships with people. Its almost like people are more equal on the internet because again, they are not bound by the constraints of normal society and though in actuality, I really hardly know these people - and not at all in a personal sense, I now count many of the clan members as some of my dearest friends be they 14 or 50 - though I don’t get to see half of them nearly enough.

My friends among the clan are really too numerous to name but some people deserve special mention here. These are the people who, for my own reasons, reside on my own personal Honor Role.

Of course, my son, Black Knight, who is not only my son, but is also a great friend and my source of inspiration. Beo, who has shown himself to be a caring man of great integrity. Twizt, who was my first real friend in the AOD, DragonOverlord, for just being himself. Joykiller, Crashley, Flieger, Raven Fire, Toker, Tweeker, Toecuter, BazookaTom, Arpium, n00b.cfg, Luftwaffe, Morten Harket, Dead at 27, Casper, Kimi, Cant Shoot, Bartman, The Random Device, Fender, A7X - I love you all.

Gamesmann, who allowed me the opportunity to correspond with a soldier based in Iraq and proved to be a formidable sniper foe upon his return.

APTPupil, who has provided me with this web space.

And of course my math whiz little sister Blondie.

Some people may find this next bit uncomfortable but being who I am I will say it because its just the kind of person I am to say it, simply because I feel it needs to be said and I wish to say it while I still have the freedom to say such things.

I’m sure many clan members and many other people besides, including members of my own family, find me somewhat of a strange entity and possibly a touch nutty. I don’t watch television, except for a couple of documentary programs, I think television is a propganda machine that feeds false information to the masses. I believe television teaches people what to think, not how to think. I don’t use credit cards, I am very outspoken and have strong views on politics, the war on terror, fractional reserve banking and some aspects of many religions and I can be highly opinionated. In regards to the book I have placed on the projects page (still a rough draft and as yet unfinished) and in regards to the bible, I must stress that my views do not extend to Christianity itself nor to the New Testament. It is not my desire to attack the religious beliefs contained in the Bible and the work should not be interpreted in that way. My questions relate wholly to the Old Testament and are viewed in a historical context.

In regards to my political views, I must also stress that it is not nor has it ever been my desire to appear anti-American or anti western because I am most definitely not. I am however, very anti-corporatism and very anti-fascism and in the words of WW2 dictator, Benito Mussolini: “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is the merger of corporate and state power”. This is exactly what we are witnessing now on a global scale and it spells a very frightening and dangerous scenario if the situation is ignored and such corporate power is allowed to continue.

I am very pro American which is one of the things that makes me as outspoken as I am, but I recognize the reality that the thing that makes the US great is not the Nation itself, it is the American Constitution and the American people, some of whom I count as my dear friends. As a responsible citizen of the world I cannot idly stand by and watch the only true beacon of freedom in the world and the freedoms of my friends be extinguished due to the actions of a corporate controlled administration and an irresponsible president who committed electoral fraud to gain office, and whose family has long standing ties to some very sinister people. And I am utterly appalled by the media’s failure to address these issues. People would do well to remember the words spoken by former US President Thomas Jefferson: “That we are to stand by a president whether he is right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, it is morally treasonable to the American People.” And of former US President Ronald Regan who stated: “It takes only one generation for a Nation to lose its freedom”

What happens in America is echoed strongly in Australia and if America falls from within, then so will my country fall, and again, all the signs are there, and now far too many to be ignored. Due to 911, the so called “War on Terror” and laws that have been passed by the current administrations, presently, America, Australia, and Britain are politically in the position of Germany in 1937 whose people were also in denial. It is crucial for the entire world that history be remembered and this situation is taken in hand, and for that reason I am, and will continue to be, outspoken about such issues in the name of what is right, regardless of the consequences, and to offer one more quote that I believe can be adapted to fit almost every situation in daily life, this time from Martin Luther King:

"The Ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy... Cowardice asks the question – Is it safe? Expedience asks the question – Is it Politic? Vanity asks the question – Is it popular? But Conscience asks the question – Is it right?

And there comes a time when a man must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is RIGHT!” .

Most of my time these days is spent on my radio show and video presentations, research into Government Corruption and Ancient History, working on my next book and artwork when I can find the time .

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

- Patrick Henry

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