Song of the week, other stuff.

My latest Biblical Reference post was delayed because of that Agony Booth article, but also for another reason.  You see, the article is going to be talking about creating a captain for a Star Trek game and I had thought I might provide links to Star Trek games currently running to show examples of the sorts of captains you do not want to be running.  But then after I started creating the links I realized that these guys are my peers and to single them out like that is pretty cruel.  Sure there was the whole thing with Drew last year but I consider that an exception due to the bad blood that had formed between us.  These other guys?  What had they ever done to me?  And one or two of the ships I had considered using as examples of bad ads?  I played in a couple of those games, I could come across looking petty and vindictive.

The problem with the internet is the apparent security of anonymity, of being able to say what you want about whomever you want and not have to suffer any consequences.  Well, potentially I could suffer consequences in regards to the gaming community but even if I did not I don't think it is right for me to be pointing fingers at guys who are just trying to have a good time and mocking them for running a game in a manner I don't agree with.  Does it frustrate me that I see Star Trek games with 24 year old captains or ships run by rear admirals?  Does it annoy me to see Marines sprinkled on these ships like a green fungus?  Yeah, sure.  Still no reason for me to be kicking dirt on these guys' shoes.


So anyway, I am in the process of re-writing the article so it is a bit friendlier and instead I will simply talk about how I go about creating NPCs and try to keep the vitriol to a minimum.  In the mean time, today is a very special song of the week as it is Kate Bush's Birthday.  Kate is 54 years young and still going strong, having released a new album last year on the heel of a remix album.  Below is the first song I heard of hers in which I knew it was her: Wuthering Heights, the new vocal, which was featured on her 1986 greatest hits album, The Whole Story:

Happy birthday, Kate!

Just a note...

Kate Bush is on the cover of the June issue of Britain's Uncut magazine. A substantial part of the article is focused on Kate's fifth album, Hounds of Love, as it's 25th anniversary approaches.

And Jesus Christ I suddenly feel old.

Hounds of Love is my favorite album, edging out Styx's Pieces of Eight, Rob Zombie's Hillbilly Deluxe, Garbage's debut album, Billy Squire's Don't Say No, Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes and the soundtrack to Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan (I am not necessarily huge fans of these artists. I just think those are some awesome albums, with a terrific collection of songs), I keep coming back to it. It is comprised of two parts. Side A contains four marketable hit songs: Running Up That Hill, Hounds of Love, The Big Sky and Cloudbusting, along with Mother Stands For Comfort. Side B is called The Ninth Wave, essentially a concept album chronicling the tale of a woman stranded, floating in the ocean, drifting in and out of consciousness. The album showed that Kate had learned from the errors made on her fourth album, that to succeed as an artist you must make compromises between the sometimes hard to understand, possibly even unapproachable art that only hardcore fans might appreciate with the demands of the market that allow an artist to thrive. Hounds Of Love's hit singles are by no means bad songs (I love all four) but in recording them along with her concept album Kate showed a very clear understanding of the market and the realities by which she had to live.

Also of note, at the time Kate was recording the fourth album The Dreaming she had to rent time from various studios, which meant she could not always record when she felt like it. Deciding that lack of freedom curtailed her creative energies, she invested in building her own studio, which allowed her near complete freedom. In the end Hounds of Love is a stronger album than The Dreaming, both commercially and creatively (some Kate Bush fans argue The Dreaming is the better album. I respectfully disagree.).

Creatively, I think Hounds of Love is Kate's high water mark, creatively. I still love her later albums (The Sensual World, The Red Shoes, Aerial) but Hounds is better than all three. If you are interested in getting to know Kate's work, I suggest you start with The Whole Story, her greatest hits album, or Hounds. And if you are damn lucky (like me), purchase the Hounds of Love EMI 100th anniversary edition with all the extra B sides.