Rant 138 / We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Had Seasons In The Sun. But The Wine And The Song, Like The Seasons Have All Gone.

I just rickrolled myself. Was testing all the tracks in my collection, when I realized I have Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley among them.





http://www.morphthing.com



Gollum.. with too many cosmetic surgeries. Apparently, Michael Gollum's nose is similar to Jackson's only in their ugliness.




The CEO of the capitalist world. Meet George Koizumi.




Stopped playing Jack Keane. A puzzle adventure game, aka point-and-click game, set in a very colourful world, it is basically a Monkey Island ripoff. But the only problem is, while Monkey Island was hilarious, Jack Keane is full of the so-called British wit. That, I believe, is something only the British can understand. Because I don't find the game funny. Silly, yes, but funny? Not exactly. To my Recycle Bin you go, Jack Keane. Oh wait, I'm going to hold the Shift key when I delete you. :D

In comes Culpa Innata. I've only played the introduction part so far, and have been reading the background story the rest of the time. This is a much darker game compared to Jack Keane. It is set in an alternate universe in the future where our systems have mostly collapsed and died. In their place, there is a New World Order, which is a twisted form of Capitalistim pushed to an extreme. In this society, Selfishness is the highest virtue. Only the fittest can survive, and the fittest achieve their status either by hook or by crook. By this logic, only the most intelligent, most cunning and most selfish can the best people to pass on their genes.

Everytime I play a sci-fi point-and click, I remember the good old days when I first played a game of the same genre, Under a Steel Sky. That was quite an unforgettable experience. The end was just so unexpected. And because of this game, I began to love sci-fi point-and-click games.

I believe it is the same with music. One day, I'd hear a stunningly good song, and suddenly, many songs of the same genre catch my interest. If I hadn't heard that song, the rest wouldn't have been as attractive.

My theory is that what genres we like depends on what songs/films/games we heard first that gave us that special feeling which comes so rarely in our lifetimes. The delightful experience that ranks second only to an orgasm. And we keep getting similar things ever after, in hope of an encore, even with full knowledge that it will last merely seconds.

By accident, I have discovered an alternative to the never-ending search. I don't usually listen to music, since I have long gotten used to playing music in my mind when I am doing nothing. One day, I discovered that if I listen to music that really caught my attention many years ago, I'd get almost the same feeling again. For a few songs, I did experience it again! But this took an interval of over five years before I listen to them again, so it might be hard to the addicts of the life-long hunt.

I'm not one.