Back To The Garden

Back To The Garden is a compilation serving two complementary themes. I started putting it together because I was in need of something thematically appropriate to listen to on long car rides driving out to naturist resorts. Thus I began picking out songs honoring the natural life, depicting the need to escape the modern urban sprawl, and the inevitable damage mankind is doing to Mother Earth. The theme is summed up perfectly by the line from Joni Mitchell's song about Woodstock, where she sings, "we've got to get ourselves back to the garden" - the garden being, presumably, the Garden of Eden, where Mankind originated, and from whence was exiled after committing the Original Sin leading to the Fall.

The idea being, that it is time for Mankind to reclaim his innocence and divinity, and return to the Garden where he can live in peace and love and in cooperation with Mother Earth. Idealistic, for sure, but a beautiful vision nonetheless, and at least partly the feeling I get when I'm on my way to spend some time in a community that still values the natural, sensual experience of life, in spite of what the modern urban mindset prescribes, and does, at times, honestly feel like a little piece of Eden. Quite naturally, this theme bumps up against the free spirit ethos of the counterculture movement in America during the 1960s, and as such, consists mostly of songs from that era, and doubles quite well as a peace & love hippie compilation.

Back To The Garden

1. Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Woodstock
2. Canned Heat - Going Up The Country
3. Moby Grape - Naked, If I Want To
4. The Cowsills - Hair
5. Mother Earth - Mother Earth
6. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air
7. Neil Young - Homegrown
8. Bob Dylan - All Along The Watchtower
9. Sky High - Blues For The Green
10. Quicksilver Messenger Service - What About Me
11. Five Man Electrical Band - Signs
12. Ten Years After - The Sounds
13. The Animals - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
14. John Lennon - Imagine
15. The Guess Who - Share The Land
16. The Youngbloods - Get Together
17. The Grass Roots - Let's Live For Today
18. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
19. Joni Mitchell - Woodstock [Isle of Wight]

As you can see, the foundation of the compilation is the song Woodstock - it opens with CSNY's energetic rock n roll cover, and later closes with a more mellow (and haunting) live version by the original artist, Joni Mitchell. Canned Heat's Going Up The Country is included both because it is iconic to anyone who's seen the Woodstock film, and because its lyrics perfectly encapsulate the theme of heading into the country. Moby Grape's Naked, If I Want To and The Cowsills' Hair, both great hippie tracks, recall Adam and Eve, who, in the Garden of Eden, stood naked before the eyes of God, and (Eve, at least) are often depicted with long, beautiful hair.

Mother Earth is an excellent track, featuring Michael Bloomfield on guitar, which introduces the recurring theme of the primacy of nature, and the dire importance of honoring and not ignoring her. No matter how much material wealth you acquire in life, when it all comes down, you've got to go back to Mother Earth. QMS sings (presumably with tongue in cheek) about the restorative properties of fresh air, and Neil Young celebrates the value in homegrown crops. Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower warns of the danger of men raping the land, and Sky High (the only modern band on this compilation)'s Blues For The Green laments the damage that man is foolishly and ignorantly inflicting upon the Earth.

QMS returns with a paranoid track that really emphasizes the counterculture theme, taking The Establishment's treatment of nature and expanding it to cast doubt upon the entire system, while issuing a challenge and a notice that there are some out there who are not willing to fall in line. The Five Man Electrical Band continues the theme of becoming tired of the urban landscape with its scathing commentary on the authoritarian dictates of the scenery-blocking sign culture, and Ten Years After produces a poignant musical piece that echoes the madness of the constant and inescapable buzzing, mechanical, droning sounds that swarm the cities. Lucky for us, The Animals step in with their ballad of desperate escape.

Turning back onto our idealism, and forgetting again the neuroses of the city, John Lennon imagines a different kind of world, where the corruption of the modern system doesn't stand in the way of happiness. The Guess Who sings Share The Land, which taps further into the socialist implications of the previous song, and sets the stage for The Youngbloods' plead for us all to Get Together and love one another. Then The Grass Roots make their case for the value in living for today, and that leads into Neil Young and Crazy Horse's reprise of the theme of respecting Mother Earth, with a sorrowful warning of what will happen if we fail to do so ("respect Mother Earth, and her giving ways, or trade away our children's days"). Then Joni Mitchell sings her version of Woodstock, bringing us back full circle, but where we opened the disc with energy and optimism, Joni's haunting arrangement echoes the fear of all we have to lose if we don't get ourselves back to the garden soon...

Feelin' The Blues

My two musical loves are the blues and rock n roll. Rock n roll is all about attitude and energy and rebellion. The blues is about sadness and soul. Both feature a rich history of prominent guitarists, but it's always been the fusion of rock and blues that has been the primary target of my auditory affections. Rock songs that are steeped in the blues tradition, and blues that rock.

So in the music I listen to, I'm never far from either. I tend to gravitate toward the sort of rock that is more heavily blues influenced, and if you know me, you'll probably notice that I describe a lot of the music I like best as "bluesy". So when I described Joe Bonamassa's latest album as being heavily blues-inspired (even within the context of the very bluesy career of a very blues-inspired musician), my friend made a comment that emphasized, for me, the difference between traditional blues and 'progressive' blues, the latter of which is where I'd place Joe Bonamassa's music.

Now, when I think of the blues, I think of the 12-bar format, I think of shuffle beats, slow tempos, and I think of biting electric leads punctuating simplistic but stingingly depressing lyrics. Then again, I'm a fan of slow, electric blues. I imagine a lot of people think of something closer to folk blues, or more specifically, delta blues, where the modern blues tradition arose from. A lot of this is acoustic music, and so, although I've listened to it and have a lot of respect for it as a blues fan, I don't actually like it as much as electric blues (I'm particularly fond of the Chicago and Texas blues traditions).

In any case, thinking on this, I confronted the fact that a lot of the 'blues' music I listen to is derived, contributing to the fact that my CD collection contains at least ten times more blues-inspired rock (mostly classic rock bands who were heavily influenced by the blues) than actual blues musicians. Not that there's any problem with that - I listen to what I like - but it gave me the great idea to create a compilation of some of my favorite songs by genuine blues musicians, as a sort of document to myself and anyone else who might listen to it in my presence (or not) about what the blues is, as opposed to what the blues has inspired.

I call it - simply but effectively, as blues lyrics often are - Feelin' The Blues:

Feelin' The Blues

1. B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone
2. Albert Collins - Cold, Cold Feeling
3. Big Mama Thornton - Ball N' Chain
4. Freddie King - Going Down
5. Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got The Blues
6. Otis Rush - Homework
7. Albert King - Got To Be Some Changes Made
8. Jimmy Dawkins - Welfare Line
9. John Lee Hooker - Moanin' Blues
10. Lightnin' Hopkins - Bring Me My Shotgun
11. Muddy Waters - Still A Fool
12. Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'
13. Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying
14. T-Bone Walker - Stormy Monday
15. Robert Johnson - Me And The Devil Blues
16. Son House - Grinnin' In Your Face

My approach was to try to get as many different artists as I could (limited by my actual CD library), with an emphasis on covering 'all the bases' (or at least most of them) of your classic, traditional, blues artists. I decided to allow only one track per artist, to allow for more variety. Where possible, I have selected hard rockin' or slow and solemn electric blues (because that's just what I like), but I made a specific effort to include the old delta blues format as well, for a historical perspective.

Thus the tracklist reads as a veritable who's who of the blues. You've got the three kings - B.B., Albert, and Freddie. You've got Albert Collins, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy - who I've always considered to be the Jimi Hendrix of the blues. You've got Big Mama Thornton who sung Hounddog before Elvis picked it up. You've got Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. You've got John Lee Hooker who brought boogie to the blues. And I threw in Jimmy Dawkins as a personal favorite.

As you head towards the end of the disc, you start to move back towards the folkier roots of the blues. Lightnin' Hopkins sings Bring Me My Shotgun, a mellow but sinister blues that caught my attention the first time I heard it. Elmore James, the king of the slide, contributes The Sky Is Crying - a song that, like T-Bone Walker's Stormy Monday that follows it, has been covered ad nauseam yet is one of my all-time favorite blues standards.

By the end of the disc you've reached the legendary Robert Johnson, said to have sold his soul to the devil, and who has inspired generations of musicians across genres. But going back even further, you reach Son House, the Father of the Delta Blues. I had a hard time picking the song I liked best for this compilation, but I think that I ultimately chose the right one.

Grinnin' In Your Face represents the blues in its purest form, and echoes the first time I learned about Son House - in a video documentary of the Newport Folk Festival, where he talks about the soul of the blues. All of the trappings have been stripped away, and in this song Son House doesn't even play the guitar. It's just depression with a beat. But not without a faint glimmer of hope. After all, the blues, in all its sorrow, is a healing music.

Experiencing Jimi Hendrix

I love it when a friend of mine expresses an interest in some of the music I like, because I understand how individual musical tastes can vary, and if we're both going to be sitting in a car for an extended period of time listening to music, it's much more pleasurable if we can listen to something we both agree is good.

Of course, when that's not the case, I hold fast to the rule of driver's choice. Although I like driving, it requires effort and concentration, and the driver is the one in control of the vehicle (as well as the passengers' lives), and creating a pleasant atmosphere (which often includes putting on music the driver likes), is conducive to a smooth and unstressful journey (plus I've noticed that having good music on makes a long trip go much faster).

So, if necessary, I wouldn't hesitant putting on music I like that the rest of the car's passengers don't really like - if I were driving - but I'm always happy to put on something that the passengers can enjoy, too. Partly because sometimes I'm going to be the passenger, and it's always nice if the driver reciprocates that diplomacy and tries to find something they like that I don't object to, too. :p

So when my friend told me she likes Jimi Hendrix, and asked me to make a compilation for the car, I was ecstatic. I spent a week listening to my entire Hendrix catalog (which isn't that huge), and this is what I came up with:

Experiencing Jimi Hendrix

(I know, real original name)

1. Foxey Lady
2. Hey Joe
3. Purple Haze
4. Spanish Castle Magic
5. Bold As Love
6. Crosstown Traffic
7. House Burning Down
8. All Along The Watchtower
9. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
10. Hear My Train A Comin' [BBC #2]
11. Red House [Live at Winterland]
12. Machine Gun [Band of Gypsys]
13. Star-Spangled Banner [Woodstock]
14. Wild Thing [Monterey]

The compilation is split into halves. The first half is studio stuff. The second half is live. I wanted to pick out some of the best tracks from The Jimi Hendrix Experience's three studio albums, creating a balance between the pop hits that everybody knows and loves, and the deeper album cuts that are just as good or better but don't get played as often.

So I picked my favorite hits from Are You Experienced, opening the disc with Foxey Lady, which is an excellent opener on account of how the song begins. I included Hey Joe, which I've always loved, and Purple Haze, partly because how can you have a Hendrix compilation without that song? and partly because I've been learning to play that song and that tends to give you a greater appreciation for it. I skipped tracks like Fire, which is catchy, but I've never been super fond of, and Red House, which is one of my all time favorite songs, but I saved for later so I can stick on a live version instead.

The two tracks from Axis: Bold As Love fall into the 'overlooked album cuts' category, but are both really awesome. I didn't include Little Wing because, even though it's a great song, I actually like cover versions of it better (Derek and the Dominos and Stevie Ray Vaughan, for different reasons), and it's a bit too mellow for this disc which is all about Jimi Hendrix: Guitar God (seeing as I'm an electric guitarist).

Electric Ladyland, being a double album, contributes a whopping four cuts (lotsa great songs on that album). The first two are of the deep variety, Crosstown Traffic being a great, short rocker like Spanish Castle Magic, and House Burning Down featuring lotsa guitar tricks and effects and without a doubt the most contagious chorus on the compilation ("somebody's house is burnin', down down, down down..."). With the latter two we return to radio hit territory, with possibly Hendrix's greatest cover song (All Along The Watchtower), and the most incendiary track in his career (Voodoo Child).

Following Voodoo Child is the fantastic Hear My Train A Comin', the second version from the BBC Sessions, which follows in the spirit of Voodoo Child, and interfaces with the live tracks, having something of a 'live in the studio' atmosphere, having been recorded for the BBC.

The version of Red House I picked comes from an unofficial (I think) Live At The Winterland disc I have which is really a fantastic concert, featuring some of Jimi's best live playing that I've heard. Machine Gun (from Band of Gypsys) is the one song my friend required be on the compilation, and one song that I would have put on anyway. After that I have included Jimi's iconic performance of the Star-Spangled Banner from Woodstock, followed by Wild Thing from the Monterey Pop Festival, which was the Experience's American debut, during which Jimi Hendrix infamously set fire to his guitar as a sacrifice. The MC's wild cry of "Jimi Hendrix!" closes out the disc.

3 Compilations

I suppose it's destined that one of these days I'll eventually get an iPod, or some other portable digital music player, but for now I'm still in the habit of burning CD compilations for long car rides and such. Although, I really like the idea of putting together playlists, so I figure that even if I do get a digital mp3 player someday, I'll keep putting together 'compilations' of songs, they'll just be easier to play because I can just load them up on my player (like I load up my winamp playlists on the computer), without having to burn any CDs and worry about "what if it doesn't play", which has been happening entirely too frequently lately (car CD players are patchy at best).

Although, I do like putting a limit on the length of a compilation - a traditional CD can only play about an hour and fifteen minutes of music at most. That forces you to cull your songs and pick out the best, and actually put more care into which songs go on the comp and where, as opposed to just loading up a billion songs as soon as they come to mind onto a limitless playlist. It's like putting together an album instead of just releasing a new single every time you write and record a new song. And it was one of the funnest (and most frustrating) parts of being a DJ on the radio - choosing which songs to play and making sure they fit into the air time you were allotted.

Anyway, I've created three new compilations lately, and I'd like to share them with you:

Experiencing Jimi Hendrix
Feelin' The Blues
Back To The Garden

Prometheus (2012)

Warning: This review may contain general plot spoilers to Prometheus. I recommend you see the film first (it's worth it!), and then read my review, if you don't want to be spoiled. :-)

Prometheus is not an Alien movie. And that's really the only significant criticism I have for it. But while I was really hungering for another good movie featuring the Alien creature (the likes we haven't had since Aliens), I think it was the right decision for this movie. Unlike other movies that have capitalized on the marketing appeal of the Xenomorph (including the AvP series) - which were terrible movies, thus weakening the legacy of the Xenomorph - Prometheus is actually a really good movie; and while it may be a sort of Catch 22 in that featuring the Xenomorph would have cheapened the film (so sad that the Xenomorph itself has been prostituted to that extent), I sat through this film thinking how satisfying it would be to view those creatures in another film of this high quality (as I said, the likes of which we haven't seen since the original Alien and its supremely effective sequel).

That having been said, Prometheus is indeed an Alien Prequel - not in a strict sense, in that it ties directly into the latter film, but on a conceptual and intellectual level. And one of the strengths of this movie not just as a standalone title but as a part of the franchise is that, in exploring the genesis of the Xenomorph (albeit almost as an aside to the main thrust of the plot, which concerns the Space Jockey race), it contributes to the mythology of the creature and expands its legacy, which is also one of the main strengths of the Aliens sequel, in introducing the Queen and the species' hive-like properties.

But though the creatures in this movie are very cool-looking, with a definite sci-fi vibe, I felt that the movement away from H.R. Giger's original design reduced their impact as horror monsters. They were too smooth, almost soft, squishy. And while it's understandable that we're seeing related forms of the Xenomorph, probably predating the form that appears in Alien, which it hasn't yet evolved into, the net effect is that, while still being a sci-fi/horror, Prometheus clearly leans toward the sci-fi when compared with Alien, which, in spite of its heavy sci-fi atmosphere, was first and foremost a horror film - and one of the most fundamentally frightening of all time. Again, that's what I've really been wanting to see all these years - a good film (which rules out Alien Resurrection and Alien v. Predator and so on) that utilizes the Alien creature to its fully horrifying effect.

But just because Prometheus wasn't exactly the film I'd have liked it to have been doesn't mean that it was not a very good, very smart, and very appropriate continuation of the franchise (which is saying a lot given all the other titles in the franchise that have failed to do any of those things). I loved the implication that the Xenomorph was created as a biological weapon (indeed, the ultimate biological weapon), and am pleased that this film maintains the suggestion that the Xenomorph (which, ultimately, may appear in many more forms than the iconic one we're most familiar with - which I, personally, would describe as the "perfect" form) absorbs and retains qualities of its host, perhaps (this is my speculation) in order to keep the most advantageous qualities and discard the rest, in order to, from one generation to the next, improve its biological makeup in search of a more perfect form. This is a fantastic evolutionary advantage, and contributes to the appeal of this creature because it is not only aesthetically impressive but also conceptually fascinating.

Prometheus is an apt title for this film, which, to my nerdy delight, takes as its premise the "Ancient Astronauts" theory that an evolved, highly intelligent race is responsible for creating mankind. In the not too distant future, human technology catches up with our archaeological curiosity, and an expedition is sent to make contact with the race that presumably had contact with prehistoric man, thanks to identical star maps found in cave drawings across cultures. The myth of Prometheus tells of a rebel who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to man, and was then punished, and this infuses our story with a deep level of symbolism and iconic interpretation. The story is fused also, via one of the main characters, with a religious curiosity. And though I'd have loved to see the depiction of a future where religion is altogether eliminated in favor of atheism, this character's spirituality at least provides us with the theme of questioning what God's role in the creation of mankind is, when science provides hard evidence of our creation, and whether or not the ones who created us can effectively be viewed as Gods.

As I stated, Prometheus is a really good sci-fi film. I was particularly intrigued by the characterization of the requisite android on the crew, which is also a tradition in the Alien series. Ash in Alien was a cold-minded villain, who unsympathetically held the value of his mission (procuring lethal arms for 'the company') above any concern for the survival of his human crewmates. Bishop in Aliens turned that expectation on its head and turned out to be (thanks to technical modifications made in subsequent versions after the era of the Ash model) a very friendly and helpful addition to the team. Despite occurring previously in the timeline of human technology compared to Alien and Aliens (a nearly inevitable problem that frequently occurs in prequels that take place in-story years, if not decades, before previous stories that were actually released years before the prequel), the android character in Prometheus, named David, appears to be light years ahead of them both (while adopting bits of both of their characters), demonstrating in a variety of ways both his impressive sophistication at emulating human emotion and curiosity, while not altogether being able to completely bury the fact that he is a synthetic human. However, I find his character to be utterly fascinating, especially in the combination of his incredible processing power (giving him abilities far and above what any human could acquire in a single lifetime), and his genuine interest in very human pursuits like music, sports, etc.

Another compelling character, although perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, is the main lead, who follows in the footsteps established by Ellen Ripley in Alien and Aliens (and also the other, less noteworthy sequels) of providing films in this franchise with a very strong female lead. She is Elizabeth Shaw, who demands answers from man's creators - namely, why they created us, but also, as the information begins to come in, why they might be trying to destroy us. David rightly asks whether the answer to that last question matters, but I am in agreement with Dr. Shaw, not simply because I, too, am inquisitive by nature (and this film does not provide as many answers as questions), but because their reasoning could very well explain not just whether or not the continued existence of humanity is actually best for the universe, but also could provide great insight into the nature of humanity itself, and perhaps even the nature of those who created us (who may not be very benevolent after all).

Prometheus borrows a lot of other elements from the Alien franchise, but, perhaps due to how well crafted the film is, it avoids feeling formulaic, and instead comes off as hearty tribute. Or, perhaps, the little touches here and there that add further depth and complexity to the elements we are so familiar with imbue it with a welcome breath of fresh air, lending them a feeling of freshness that a more superficial treatment wouldn't be able to acquire. As a result of this and other factors I have discussed, Prometheus feels very much in line with the Alien franchise, while at the same time distinguishing itself enough that it doesn't feel like a rehash of something we've seen before, and thus something superfluous that may as well not have been made. Quite the contrary. It is a smart, fresh addition that expands on the Alien legacy.

And for the dedicated Alien fans, there are enough elements thrown in here and there ("easter eggs", if you will) to tie this title in with the previous film, while not restricting itself to being a direct precursor to its events. In that way Prometheus does really present itself as a spiritual prequel to Alien, but while giving itself enough room to suggest a possible sequel. This could be an exciting prospect - albeit with a lot of risk, as sequels seldom live up to their progenitors; Aliens, within this very franchise, being one of the most remarkable exception to that rule in film history. But, if done properly - and I do realize that is a huge if - a sequel to Prometheus (which, to be effective - and not merely financially successful, must accomplish what Aliens did and build on the mythology of the alien creature - or, now, the Space Jockey race) could be immensely exciting given that it could present a better opportunity to reintroduce the classic (or close enough to be terrifying) Xenomorph once again within the context of an intelligent film.

The lack of which, I repeat, is my only significant complaint with Prometheus, even as I comfortably concede that the decision to exclude them was almost certainly correct. For this title. But maybe, just maybe, for the sequel...

Dead Space (PC)

Dead Space is a sci-fi/survival horror third person shooter game. I'd say it's a sort of spiritual successor to Doom (a game with a very similar theme - encountering hellish monsters in space), which I grew up on, but with a third rather than first person perspective. On a cinematic level, it seems to draw inspiration from many classic titles in this genre, such as Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, and most obviously, Event Horizon. The result is a very effective (that is, scary) survival horror game in space, that also manages to be lots of fun to play. The game is not without flaws (which I'll go into), but except for one spot in particular, they didn't prevent me from enjoying my gaming experience very much.

In Dead Space, you play as Isaac Clarke, a seeming jack-of-all (or nearly all) trades, who is part of a very small crew sent in to investigate the USG Ishimura, a "planet cracker" (a large starship that mines planets from space) in the midst of a total communications blackout. After your inevitably rocky landing, it quickly becomes clear that some horror without precedent has occurred on this ship, as the crew is mostly dead, the few survivors seem to be insane with terror (or something else), and the ship is crawling with "necromorphs" - a kind of biological alien predator that manifests from corpses. The ship itself is in a state of total disrepair, and so you must embark on a quest to get the ship back in relative working order, while trying to uncover the mystery of just what the hell is going on.

And it has something to do with a "Marker" that was discovered on the planet below, which is probably alien technology, and certainly is the source of the necromorph invasion - but exactly how is a little hard to work out. Many of the crewmembers of the Ishimura were (perhaps not uncoincidentally) members of a fanatic religious cult that views the Marker as some kind of divine idol. Their fervor, which involves an unhealthy fascination with the necromorphs, does nothing to facilitate the needs of those who'd prefer to live - and stay human.

I think Dead Space is fascinating on a number of levels - first, from the horror perspective of exploring a ship crawling with monsters; but also the idea of trying to get this ship back up and running. That task takes you all over the ship, one section at a time. For example, you have to visit the medical bay to recover computer access codes from the body of the captain - who lies in the morgue. Than you have to travel to the engine room to get the ship up and running, after which you have to divert power to asteroid shields so the ship isn't torn to pieces. Then you've gotta head to hydroponics to sort out the problem of alien growths polluting the air. This goes on and on until the ship is almost as good as new (okay, I'm exaggerating), at which point it's inevitable that you're gonna have to find some way to get off of it. It's lots of fun, although from a logical perspective I think it's amazing that a crew of just three (with Isaac clearly doing the majority of the grunt work) could put a ship back together that its own much larger crew couldn't hold together. I mean, it's not like we're not also being ambushed by these necromorphs at every corner! But I guess maybe we have the advantage of not being subject to the sheer confusion of an entire ship under attack and perhaps also in mutiny.

Let's talk a little (or a lot) about gameplay, which is where my main gripes come up - although Dead Space has a lot of clever innovations as well (at least as well as I can tell, given my lack of experience with a lot of modern games of this sort). The primary difficulty I've had with this game is with the interface/motion controls/targeting. I'm willing to chalk it up to my inexperience with third person shooters that use the mouse (I like the simplicity of Doom's keyboard only setup), but I was a lot less confident in moving around, as well as targeting my gun. Of course, that enhances my feeling of vulnerability, but not in a good sort of way. I also felt that the mouse was a little slow or choppy in responding, which further added to my frustrations at trying to stay alive - particularly when the necromorphs swarm and ambush, sometimes causing considerable slowdown. That may be a function of my computer's capabilities, though, as I do not have a computer optimized for gaming.

Ultimately, I've been able to more or less adapt, but every once in a while there'll be a portion where it becomes a frustrating difficulty. That frustration is partly compounded by what is actually one of the cleverest innovations in this game - that the necromorphs, alien organisms that they are, can only really be killed by cutting off their limbs (though I'm still not sure why). So instead of firing into the large mass of flesh that's hurtling toward you, you have to aim for its flailing limbs (although shooting out the legs is a frequently effective strategy) - hard enough when the adrenaline is coursing through your veins, but even harder when your mouse isn't responding as fast as you'd like (and sometimes, when you start impatiently jerking it around, you find yourself spinning 180 degrees, losing track of the monster that's clawing at you, and then by the time you've got the gun trained back on him, you're dead...). I'd also mention the difficulty of opening up your inventory (a painfully slow process when each second could mean your death) to use a med pack to restore health in the middle of a fracas, except that I discovered there's a 'health' button that does that automatically, that I guess I missed the first time I went through the tutorial at the beginning of the game. (facepalm)

I have to take a moment to mention the Asteroid Defense System. About a third of the way through the game, there's a little "mini-game" portion, just before you get the asteroid shield up around the ship, where you have to manually shoot the asteroids hurtling toward the ship from a gun turret for a couple minutes (that feel like eternity). It's like playing Asteroids in 3D, except that it's IMPOSSIBLE! Maybe with a hair-trigger mouse it wouldn't be such a big deal, but with the slow response I had to deal with, it was really, truly, impossible for me to get past that portion of the game. I was honestly this close to just giving up and not finishing the game, but finally I turned in desperation to the control options and upped the mouse sensitivity the highest it would go. It was still kind of jerky, but fast enough that I was at least able to actually beat that portion of the game. But I still have very strong negative feelings toward it, and I was only slightly reassured (during the height of my period of frustration) to read an interview with the game's makers apologizing for that part of the game, and assuring the public that it wouldn't be reprised in the game's sequel.

More on gameplay. I love the stasis module (which freezes/slows things down - good for combat and non-combat situations), and even more, the kinesis module, which allows you to grab things at a distance, draw them toward you, and then shoot them away, if you like. Very cool. The weapons are lots of fun too. I ended up using the first weapon - the Plasma Cutter - well into the game because I was so familiar with it. But once I started picking up less ammo for it, I had to resort to trying some of the other weapons, some that are more useful than others. The Line Gun is currently my favorite. Powerful, with a wide shot - excellent for taking off an approaching necromorph's legs, and if that doesn't do him in, another shot will tear off his arms as he starts crawling toward you. Also great for those little buggers who jump on the walls and have those three tentacles that shoot darts (well, except when they're hanging vertically). I was excited when I picked up the Flamethrower, but I ended up using it very little, since fire just doesn't kill the necromorphs fast enough. The Ripper is really neat - it shoots a spinning razor blade that hangs in the air - but I've had a lot of frustrations trying to handle it appropriately. Love the Contact Beam - not for regular combat, but for taking out those nasty pustules (particularly on the grabby tentacles) in a single hit.

There are a couple of other guns; my only real complaint is that you can only carry four at a time. I guess that means there's some strategy to what guns you're gonna carry, and I think the ammo you pick up depends on what guns you're carrying - so that, I guess, you get ammo for the guns you're actually using. But I like the Doom method of having each gun designated to its own number. It makes getting familiar with the guns much easier as they're always in a particular spot (5 is the rocket launcher, 3 is the shotgun, 7 is the BFG, etc.), rather than being shuffled around the only four carry spots you've got. But oh well. I think it's interesting that each gun has a secondary fire mode, which is fun to discover (some of them I haven't even bothered to learn yet, since I don't want to waste ammo, and the middle of a scuffle isn't always the greatest place to experiment).

Other neat gameplay elements include the Zero-G and vacuum portions (which may or may not occur simultaneously). The Zero-G portions were lots of fun for me. After the first one, I said to myself, that was really cool, I hope there are more like it later in the game. The suit you're wearing has boots that can attach to the floor, so you don't actually go flying through space, but you can jump onto the walls and ceilings, and there are often large, circular rooms designated for Zero-G areas. It's lots of fun. As for the vacuum areas, they're cool, too, although there's an element of impatience involved, as your suit only has so many seconds of oxygen before you need either a refill, or to exit the vacuum. It's like the underwater portions of other games, where you can only hold your breath for so long. I've always hated those portions, because I like to take my time and not feel rushed, and make sure I'm not missing anything. But in this game, it's rarely so bad that you don't have enough time before you exit the vacuum or get to an oxygen refill station, so I'm less scared of those portions. Plus I love that the sound actually mutes in those sections (well, mostly), given that sound does not carry in a vacuum, which is very cool. On that note, I noticed that when monsters attack in those vacuum sections, it's less scary for me, which indicates that a not insignificant portion of their intimidation is a result of the scary sounds they make, as well as the scary music and other effects that usually accompanies their attacks.

Alright, I've almost exhausted what I want to say about this game. One last gameplay element is the bench. In the game there are benches where you can upgrade your weapons and equipment with power nodes that you can collect throughout the game. You can make your weapons faster, stronger, hold more ammo at a time, etc. You can also power up your stasis and kinesis modules (improving range and duration and such), as well as your rig (which is your suit) - you can increase your HP and the amount of oxygen your tank can carry. At first, I didn't like this gameplay element, because it involved making decisions - what to upgrade and how, as the upgrade dynamics are not linear: there are connected dots on a 2D grid, some of which indicate upgrades, others just placeholders, and you can only activate a dot adjacent to one you've previously activated, with only certain dots on the perimeter designated as entry points (sorry if that's not very clear). I just hate the feeling that I might upgrade one thing, and find out that I wasted those nodes because a challenge I face later in the game requires more functionality from one of my other weapons, for example. But I guess that's really just me being overly cautious. Because I've warmed up to the system, and I actually really like it a lot now - it allows a certain customization of gameplay: so that if I like a particular weapon, I can make it really powerful; or I can decide between upgrading a gun's capacity or reload rate in order to have faster or less frequent reloads (an added advantage of the latter is that the more the gun holds, the less inventory slots you'll use up for spare ammo); or if I, for example, have particular trouble on the vacuum portions, I can dedicate my power nodes to upping my oxygen capacity, whereas someone else who has no problem with those areas, but instead has trouble with the challenges that require stasis, can use his power nodes to increase the duration of his stasis!

And that's actually one of the biggest contributions to this game's replay value. I just beat it (finally) the other day, and I wasn't planning to play through it a second time. But you get to keep all your equipment on subsequent playthroughs, along with some extra gifts for beating the game, so the temptation for me to collect more power nodes and make my equipment that much more powerful is strong. There's another thing, though - I still have some questions about some of the details of the plot. There's actually a very interesting plot to this game (even if I think the cult's fanaticism is ridiculous, and no better than the ravings of a lunatic). I've got the basics down from one playthrough of the game, but I'm a little uncertain about the motivations of various characters, and what exactly the truth is about this Marker, because there are some different perspectives on it from different sources, and I'm not a hundred percent sure yet who's right and who's not. So maybe another playthrough will make that a bit clearer for me. I know I'll certainly enjoy it, even as my confidence and familiarity reduces (though definitely not completely) some of the feelings of fear and vulnerability that this game creates.

Which reminds me of one thing I forgot to mention, and that's how much I hated the one necromorph that's effectively immortal, constantly regenerating his limbs. I hate him with a passion. They throw you into a room with this monster, and then the ship locks the doors in quarantine, and you have to fight with this monster until one of your crewmates can override the lock and get the doors open. Trick is, you can't kill the immortal necromorph, you just have to run around, killing all the other necromorphs that break in through the air vents, trying not to let the strongest one catch up to you and tear you a new one. Even more difficult than it sounds, and very frustrating. I'll tell you, it was with great satisfaction that I finally had a chance, considerably later in the game, to effectively incapacitate him.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Warning! This review contains spoilers from the very end of The Hunger Games trilogy! For a spoiler-free introduction to the trilogy, see my review of The Hunger Games.

Having now finished the series, I am happy to report that The Hunger Games maintains its pace of drama and excitement through to the very end. In fact, the climax is probably even more exciting than Katniss' first foray into The Hunger Games, and the conclusion seems to hint at the story's underlying conscience. The writing in these books is so good in a way that you don't often come across - in that it is both highly entertaining, and also very intelligent and insightful, probing the nature of the human condition and asking some very difficult questions.

Like the age old question of what's fair in love and war, what sort of atrocities can be justified, and where you cross the line between self-defense and becoming like the enemy that oppresses you. But there is no easy answer. Gale's anger sometimes feels righteous, then seems to cross the line. Katniss makes some stupid decisions that put her at risk, yet you welcome her moral compass. Ultimately it's clear that war is a terrible, terrible thing, but what isn't clear is whether we can ever truly escape it.

But one of the most disturbing revelations, for me, regards the nature of entertainment. Lines are blurred in Mockingjay, when the war itself becomes a sort of Hunger Games. The propos (propaganda spots) that the rebels create have a clear tactical purpose, yet their effectiveness relies on their entertainment value. And it's instantly discovered by those behind the scenes that staged emotions aren't as exciting as the real thing. So Katniss is put in real danger in order to get good footage. And then later, in the warring streets of the Capitol, it's almost as if the rebels are in the position of the Gamemakers (and I'm sure it's no coincidence with Plutarch being around), realizing that in order to stir up some enthusiasm with their propos, some blood's going to have to be shed. It's chilling, really.

And at the end, in the epilogue, Katniss makes her statement on the games, and I want so badly to believe in the righteousness of that statement, but then I can't help realizing that I've been as bad as the smarmy Capitol residents, calling out for blood, all in the name of good entertainment. After all, The Hunger Games would not be nearly as entertaining if not for the horrors it depicts. Prim's death was the one thing I almost couldn't stand. Almost. It destroyed me, and I was really angry that it happened. But afterward, you still have to admit that it makes the story that much more intense. That it will stick with you for that reason, because it wasn't afraid to pull any punches.

But if there's one consolation, it's that in the real world, I think staged entertainment is just as effective as the real thing. More so, probably. Because in a book, when a character you love dies, it's very sad. But it's still just a character. You can move on. It's like what happens in real life, but on a much smaller scale, because you only knew her for those several weeks you were reading the book, and only in those moments. She's not someone you've known all your (or her) life, and you only know of her what the author has given you. In real life, when people die (especially violently), the horror and the sadness greatly outweighs whatever sick entertainment (if any, really) one could glean from it.

And so I can at least rest assured in the knowledge that though I enjoy reading The Hunger Games (and can't wait for the movies!), it doesn't make me like the Capitol in the story. However, the lingering question that does remain, is the question of war. War still rages on in the real world, and we don't seem to be any closer to ending it forever. Despite the clarity of its horrors - at least to me - on it goes. Just as Plutarch alludes to. I don't know how to solve that one.