PixlBit

Bing Image Mad Libz: Hollywood actor George Clooney and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai must take director James Cameron's submarine below the ocean, to find out who and what killed "the bar," turning it into a ghost well below the ocean floor. They find out reality television shows and a generally less educated public caused the death, and must stop time in order to change the channel on TVs everywhere to something like PBS, or put books in people's hands, so that the bar may once again raise and come to life.

They're still going, and the bar has not yet been brought back to life or raised back to an acceptable level, as you can tell by the fact I'm content to more or less plagiarize South Park plotlines for this blog.

Anyway, I've never played Ghost Trick, but I've wanted to for a while now. Of three games for DS that seem like puzzle games or point and clicks where you solve puzzles to advance, I'm leaning towards it the most because of its quirky comic book aesthetic and the inventiveness of its plot and gimmick being able to stop time and rearrange things to help solve clues that lead you to your killer, your main character being a ghost that was murdered.

But 999 seems to be no slouch in the creativity department either, with nine persons who have nine hours to solve puzzles behind nine doors to discover the identy of and escape their kidnapper. It actually sounds vaguely like Saw, but as a clever anime-style puzzle game as opposed to torture porn. Plus, you have to play it at least twice to get the true ending, so there's some replay value. I also recall one of the Pixlbit staffers praising it, I want to say Julian Titus when he was describing his trip from hell a while back.

Finally though, before I knew either of those games existed, I was intrigued way back when by the murder mystery point and click Hotel Dusk, in which you gather clues by talking to people in a hotel, and supposedly, it's a very well-written story. There's a sequel to it you have to order from UK on Amazon I forget the name of, but I'd want to play this first. It's also got a cool B&W noir/sketchbook aesthetic going for its character art.

What do you guys think I should get?

Can you believe I had this written sometime this morning, but Mozilla crashed on me and deleted it? Yup. Hate that living room computer sometimes. Usually goes faster than my laptop, then that happens.

Anyway, I had woken up around 9PM last night, closer to 7PM tonight if you're curious, and been hit by the inspiration bug and at least outlined the first chapter of what I might turn into a novel at three in the morning. Why the hell does it always have to be three in the morning when the powers that be decide to fill my head with my best thoughts? I'd like a more convenient time so I can get to sleep, but I digress.

In any case, since I was inspired today in some fashion, the theme of today's Waxing Lyrical Wednesday will be inspiration.

The first track I'm going with comes from a universally hated album, but one I've always admired and even liked for its ugliness. It also comes from the band I was most obsessed with and got me through a hard time in high school, so there's a bias there. It's a band whose frontman has said "there's a positive and negative side to a battery, we were really good at the negative."

That's right, that James Hetfield quote means there's Metallica today, but as some of you have already guessed from the universally hated talk, it's off St. Anger.

Now, I actually find some songs on St. Anger dare I say catchy and fun to listen to, and this is one of them. I also think St. Anger's strongest point is that it really does sound as if you're entering someone's mind during a mental breakdown; the screechy vocals, tin can drums, and comparitively simple and detuned bass and guitar might not be the greatest to everyone's ears, but those coupled with the lyrics in this song really give it the feel of "Sanitarium" if the actual in-patient in that song were to write his own music. That's weird praise for a professional studio album I admit, but along with the artwork that came with the CD, it really is a big reason why I at least don't find it as offensive as everyone else.

This song has a lot of symbolism that can easily describe a mental disorder like depression; "who's in charge of my head today, dancing devils in angels' way." However, it's mostly about the person's triumph over the negative thoughts affecting their own mind; "watch out motherfuckers, here I come, I'm gonna make my head my own." While it's very repetitive lyrically past that, I do think those couple of lines are great at conveying a battle and triumph over one's own mind, and musically, I'd argue this is the best song on the CD; most people don't think that's saying much, and I won't blame you if you don't like it, but for what it's worth, here is

Metallica - "My World"

Second song is from Macklemore and is less repetitive lyrically, at least in the verses, though its message of "make the money, don't let the money make you" is arguably rather cliche.

Despite that, his lyrics and delivery outside of that chorus refrain really do hit a chord with me, as in many ways I spent far too much time in college working a job I didn't like because it had the best offer, and it made me feel like a "slave to the system" to throw out some more cliched phrasing. Not only that, but one of his lines really hits home what music has meant to me; "See life's a beautiful struggle, I record it, hope it helps you maneuvering through yours and..." he hit the nail on the head. Music might seem unimportant, but it brings inspiration, and in my case hearing the struggle of other artists really has inspired me to keep going. In high school, realizing how far the ugly mugs in Metallica had come after listening to their lowest point being recorded on "Fade to Black," whose solo got me to pick up a guitar, really inspired me; now, the amazing music and lyrics in Macklemore's newest, which often returns to the theme of staying true to ones' self and perserverance has reignited my own artistic flame in some way. It's the album I had listened to before that 3AM inspiration came, after all.

I'm glad that while I may not have the highest paying job right now, I at least enjoy it and feel like I'm going in the direction I want. Here is

Macklemore - "Make the Money"

The third song is more about the emotional and physical feeling of being inspired. "Touch me, take me to that other place" perfectly describes the amazing feeling in a loving relationship, one that seems to transport you to another world, "teach me, I know I'm not a hopeless case" is how I feel when inspiration hits. There's more for me to learn and accomplish, and it feels like I can do anything I set my mind to, which everyone can.

My favorite line is actually "the heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground," as it perfectly captures the contrast between bland surroundings and inner inspiration. Personally, it always makes me thing of a relaxing, rainy day. But hell, the whole thing, music, lyrics and all is beautiful to me, hence its title

U2- "Beautiful Day"

Finally, here's a band you'll be seeing a lot of tomorrow, with a song that really lights a fire under my ass every time I hear it. I just want to run and create any time I click play.

The band is known for its amazing lyrics, and this one, off an album that often faces similar, though not as severe, chagrin from hardcore fans in a similar fashion to St. Anger, likes to go from low to high points, much like "My World."

"You're talking in the stratosphere, you're curled up on the floor, with such a wealth of information, why are you so poor" describes perfectly what I've felt after graduating Magna Cum Laude only to find myself back in my parents' house looking for work, but then reminds me "you've got a chance to confront the world today, desparate romance is the curse of castaways, don't you believe what the wise men have to say, despite circumstance, you've got a chance." In a lot of instances, even what we've come to know about medical possibilities and genetic predispositions has been shattered in the past; whether the 'wise men' say it can be done or not is no reason to not try, it's useless to not at least give yourself a chance.

From the album The New America, lead singer/songwriter Dr. Gregory Graffin PhD and co., in collaboration with legendary pop artist and album producer Todd Rundgren, comes

Bad Religion - "You've Got a Chance"

Oh, and tomorrow will be BR Thursday.