Random Stuff...Again.

Sometimes, it’s good to just sit back and listen to music. Now, I’ve never been much of a music fan and definitely not a fan of much of the music coming out now. Sinatra, Elvis and The Beatles are staples of my music collection, as well as a slew of assorted more occasional modern tracks that offer no sense of consistency. I’ve got a list that has Rage Against The Machine, Blink 182, OPM (the band), Faye Wong, Abba, Bee Gees and who knows what else is in there. There’s really no consistent theme to it, as one moment the song playing is Air Supply’s All Out Of Love and the next it’s The Offspring’s Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). I’m sure I’m not the only one out there with such divergent tastes in music but I’m probably one of a rare few (in the Philippines, anyway) that has anime and J-Pop sneaking in more often than not. When you listen to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit one moment and feel angry, somehow it dissipates when listening to Galaxy Bang! Bang! from the first season of Galaxy Angel. Right now, I’m listening to a list that’s anime and J-pop, though I never bother to go for a full soundtrack of any anime but I do bother with whole Hikaru Utada and Yuki albums, rare as they are here. There’s a clear drop in quality when it switches from Hikaru’s Give Me A Reason to Soramimi Cake from Azumanga Daioh. Which brings me to my next thought for this entry…

When it comes to anime music, people tend to throw all good taste out the window and let the associations of the music to the anime they’re part of or inspired by do the talking. I can’t stand the Vampire Princess Miyu anime (but love the OVA) and, for quite a while, I couldn’t stand the music either. Then I stumbled on it again, forgot where it came from and actually found it pleasing. Any other time, I’d likely dismiss tracks from Galaxy Angel, Steel Angel Kurumi, Azumanga Daioh, Love Hina, Orange Road and countless other anime as too upbeat, a little too saccharine for my tastes. But then, I made the mistake of watching the anime first before listening to the music. Now I can’t help but love them, even though my original liking of the series they’re linked to has long been dead and buried. For now, about the only tracks on the anime side of things that I like both the song and the anime it came from are Nanka Shiawase (Flame of Recca), Kagami No Naka (Ultra Maniac), Agony (Kannaduki No Miko) and Successful Mission (Saber Marionette J). Odd how that is. Although I should note that while I’m not a fan of the show, the opening track of Bleach does somehow appeal to me. Exception that proves the rule, I guess. And if anyone out there can find me the opening and ending songs of Maria-sama Ga Miteru and Midori No Hibi as well as Yakusoku Wa Iranai from Vision of Escaflowne you’ll have a Geas/3 on me per song. For those who don’t play In Nomine, I’m not going to explain how it works or what it is.

Speaking of In Nomine, it’s been a while since I last had a good IN game session. For that matter, been a while since I had a good Vampire: The Masquerade session too. AD&D doesn’t appeal much to me anymore and I haven’t gotten my hands on Vampire: The Requiem yet, though I’ve been meaning to learn the rules for Demon: The Fallen for a while now, just that I haven’t had time. I’ll get around to that at some point. Some day. Yeah. I will. Anyway, where was I? Right. For some reason, I miss IN a lot nowadays but that’s mainly because my obstinate players insist on roleplaying Angels and I have them running into the plots of major Demon Princes left and right – not to mention having the Archangel of Animals, Jordi, soul-killed and the Archangel of Judgment, Dominic, driven partially insane and ordering Inquisitions left and right after certain events IMC – just to get it through their thick skulls that I’d rather run a Demonic campaign. I figured out there’s a lot of misery involved when a Demon working for Infernal Fire fails but it’s so satisfying to watch how my players squirm when Malbragothrax, Calabite of Fire and the longest running “villain” IMC – aside from a Free Lilim with the Word of Ritual Murders currently on contract to Nightmares that’s patterned after Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter. But that’s just incomprehensible techno-babble to those who’ve never played the game, so let’s move on.

I’ve been hard at work on another likely-to-fail fiction project, one that’s barely left the drawing board, as it were. I’ve really got to stop worrying about what people will think of it and just write but I can’t seem to get it completely out of my head. Which is exactly what’s been hindering me for so long, this pretense of caring about what other people think has somehow evolved and warped itself into something real. It’s so wrong.

Anyway, that should be it for today.

***Fin***

Currently Watching:

Ultra Maniac, Midori No Hibi, Maria-sama Ga Miteru (re-watch), Kannaduki No Miko

Currently Listening To:

Chairman Of The Board (Frank Sinatra collection), Hikaru Utada’s album First Love, assorted songs from Galaxy Angel and Love Hina

Currently Reading:

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz, Marvel Comic’s The Infinity Gauntlet saga

Currently Playing:

Triple Triad Gold, Guilty Gear Isuka (PC port)

Random Quote:

There’s an experience worse than blindness – it’s the certainty that your vision is perfect and the horror that there’s no world around you to see. (from some M:TG card)