Another artist I decided to listen to since I found "Cat's in the Cradle" to be a beautiful song.



He also did this gem which I think sums up America's current political climate and overall psyche among its sheeple.

Hearing James Taylor's "Secret O' Life" on the season three finale of The Orville gave me the idea to listen to some of his tracks on Apple Music, and damn, he's talented, great soothing voice, one of my favorite male musicians.



I've also taken a sabbatical today from gaming to focus on my half of an art trade with a furry on Discord, and I'm making good progress, hoping to have the lining done before my dental appointment.

I've decided from now on to split my posts so they don't get too saturated with content, such as my gaming updates.

Chrono Trigger

Got Robo and am going through the factory. Will have to go back and get the password for the door down below since I've already forgotten it.

Also...





Despite the similarity, it was the first time composer Yasunori Mitsuda heard of Rick Astley when informed of it.

Fantasian

Did some more grinding. Will continue to do more next time I pick up the game.

Final Fantasy VI

Finished! Didn't bother completely uncursing the Cursed Shield, and took on Kefka. My initial party was Celes (with the Lightbearer sword), Strago (since he had Mighty Guard and Grand Delta), Mog (since he really kicks ass as a dragoon), and Sabin with his Blitzes. Celes and Sabin got killed on the way up, due to one of the tier's use of instant death on them upon defeat, being replaced with Edgar, whom I had do a Chainsaw massacre on Kefka, and Shadow, whom I had throw Shurikens at him. He quickly became a fallen angel, literally, and the ending was very satisfying and conclusive as I remember it being in previous incarnations of the game. Expect my review eventually. Here are some of my endgame screenshots.

Grandia HD Remaster

Cleared the Herb Mountains while doing a shitload of weapon and magic grinding, which is actually pretty fun. The dungeon design still sucks, though.

Charles Dickens's classic novella A Christmas Carol likely sets the record for having the most film and television adaptations, among them the 1984 live-action made-for-TV version directed by Clive Donner, starring the late George Campbell Scott as the misanthropic Ebenezer Scrooge, who considers his payment of taxes to the British government his main contribution to society, being a thrifty businessman and not a people-person. Scrooge displays apathy towards the Christmas season at his nephew Fred Hollywell, son of his deceased older sister Fanny, and his current business partner Bob Cratchit, who replaced the long-dead Jacob Marley.

On Christmas Eve, the earthbound specter of Marley visits Scrooge and admonishes him that he will meet a similar fate if he doesn’t change his ways, warning that three spirits will come after midnight. First is the Ghost of Christmas Past, which shows Scrooge in his youth, beginning with his abandonment by his father at a boarding school after his mother died in childbirth. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the Cratchit family’s celebration of the holidays, with the disabled Tiny Tim vulnerable to early death, and his married nephew’s festivities. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge that nobody misses him after his demise, some even purloining his possessions, which makes him change his ways.

Overall, I believe this to be the definitive adaptation of Dickens’s story, which is one of few pieces of literature I would term a masterpiece, given that despite being written in the mid-nineteenth century, it’s still readable by contemporary standards (more so than the author’s other works), and has a timeless message that the well-to-do should be more compassionate towards the lesser-privileged and of high character. I have a minor issue with Fred not mourning or bequeathing his uncle’s property in the alternate future where Scrooge dies. However, the central theme, “God Bless Us, Everyone,” is one of the most beautiful pieces of seasonal music ever composed and had me cry happy tears. Very highly recommended.

Listen to the main theme yourself:

The first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe subseries features Peter Quill, who becomes Star-Lord and head of the eponymous band of intergalactic heroes after his mother on Earth dies of terminal cancer in the late 1980s and he is abducted by a group of alien thieves known as the Ravagers. Guardians is probably one of my favorite Marvel subseries due of course to Rocket the raccoon (and there’s a reference to Ranger Rick in the film), has pretty good action, walks the balance between being serious and humorous, and has a good selection of music taken from the period Quill was abducted from.

The first Indiana Jones film sequel, actually occurring chronologically before the first, opens with American songstress Willie Scott performing a Chinese rendition of the titular theme from the old Broadway show Anything Goes in 1935 Shanghai, where the eponymous college professor, archaeologist, and adventurer negotiates with Chinese mobsters in an exchange of treasured artifacts, which culminates in a shootout that leads to Indy escaping with the woman who semi-serves as a love interest, along with his trusty sidekick Short Round, portrayed by Vietnamese child actor Ke Huy Quan (who would ultimately append Jonathan to his name upon becoming a United States citizen, his other notable role being Data in The Goonies).

The party of three escapes on a cargo plane whose pilots eventually bail out, and after a lucky escape, they find themselves in colonial India, where the first village they encounter has lost a precious stone along with its children used by an evil shaman as child labor, and Indy decides to help them, traveling to a Maharaja’s palace for a hearty “meal”, and that night, after an assassination attempt, he finds a passageway into the eponymous temple, Short Round coming along and Willie following suit to rescue them from a trapped room that nearly kills them, although she needed to overcome her fear of bugs (which I very much share, so it would be hard for me in such a situation).

The remainder of the film involves the three dealing with the cult that stole the sacred stones and kidnapped the children and concludes satisfactorily. It’s very much a good film, but it’s probably my least favorite of the series due to being way too dark and gross at times, and when it originally came out showed the flaws of America’s film rating system (it was instrumental in adding PG-13 to it, although I more think it should have been rated R). Apparently in the eyes of the MPAA’s film raters, saying the f-word is a lot worse than ripping someone’s heart out or otherwise attempting to murder someone, which says a lot of the sorry state of how Americans perceive certain “offensive” content.

The film’s overall xenophobic attitude is another reason I don’t hold Temple of Doom to the in the same regard as other Indiana Jones films (and Short Round is a memorable sidekick, but not in a good way), given the portrayals of the Chinese and Indian people and society, and that I think is another factor to consider when giving movies content ratings. Even so, John Williams’s score is also notable, given the mentioned Chinese rendition of one of the older Broadway showtunes, along with several pieces fitting the Asian locales throughout the movie, along with “The Raiders March” and its various remixes, the ending theme worth sitting through the opening credits to hear. Not a bucket-list film like Raiders but has nonetheless aged well.

Great sequel with a lot of excellent music. I also managed to glean the name of an awesome classical piece, Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights.

Even early Japanese RPGs tended to have good soundtracks, even when digitized, and some standout tracks from this album include the simple but catchy DAEDALUS dungeon theme, the entrancing "Hallucination" and its respective remix, and "Dawn of the Human Being", which brings to mind Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek: The Motion Picture theme (used also for the fifth numerical film and The Next Generation).

Also...

Link

I imagine JRPG soundtracks would largely sweep the category, since I somewhat find Western game music a bit bland.

"Beyond the Waves" to me really brings to mind classical pieces such as "The Blue Danube".

The vocal version of the ending theme is good as well.

I would describe this game's soundtrack, especially with regards to the "vocal" tracks as rock-operatic, and it really entranced me when I played the game itself years back.