So you’re interested in the title of the post, and you’re probably thinking ‘what the fudge is Monkey Island?’. Let me start off by saying that the Monkey Island series was one of THE best adventure games made in history. Amazing story-line, lovable characters and witty dialogue that never gets boring. Not to mention the catchy, but never annoying background scores.

If you haven’t played any of the games, you probably would after reading this.

Comparison #1: Captain LeChuck and Davy Jones/ Captain Barbossa

Davy Jones

Captain Barbossa

Captain LeChuck

The most obvious similarity between the two are the antagonists LeChuck, Davy Jones and Captain Barbossa.

LeChuck is an undead evil pirate (the most feared pirate across the Caribbean) who commands an army of skeletal undead.
Barbossa is undead and commands an army of skeletal undead (in the first movie).

LeChuck can only be destroyed by a special ‘voodoo root’. Davy Jones can only be destroyed by stabbing his heart. Both of these objects are kept closely guarded in a chest.

Comparison #2: Elaine Marley and Elizabeth Swann

Elaine Marley


Elizabeth Swann

The fathers of both were Governers of their respective islands, both are the love interests of the protagonist, both get married to the protagonist in the end. Both are the only ‘bootiful’ women in the respective series. Go figure.

Comparison #3: The Voodoo Lady and Tia Dalma

The Voodoo Lady.

Tia Dalma.

Do I even need to explain? Both dabble in voodoo magic, both are ’strange’, both have lived in a swamp at least once, in a wooden hut filled with candles and strange ingredients and other thingamajigs.

Comparison #4: Kidnapping the lead female.

LeChuck kidnaps Elaine. Multiple times.

Barbossa kidnaps Elizabeth. Sao Feng kidnaps Elizabeth. Davy Jones kidnaps Elizabeth.

Comparison #5: Herman Toothrot and “Bootstrap” Bill Turner

Herman Toothrot


“Bootstrap” Bill Turner

Herman is actually Horatio Marley the long-lost, thought-to-be-dead father of Elaine Marley. He has amnesia, but recovers later-on.

Bootstrap is the long-lost, thought-to-be-dead father of Will Turner. He suffers from short-term memory loss.

————-XXX————-

There’s also all this talk about the dog-having-keys sequence, but that is an oft-repeated plot point in many other stories, so it can be forgiven.

These are just the blatant similarities. The more we go into depth, more subtle similarities can be found.

All in all, the Pirates trilogy was great and I loved watching the movies. The acting was superb and Johnny Depp even more so. I just feel that it would’ve been better if an animated (a la Curse of Monkey Island) movie series would have been made instead; By Lucas Films, not Disney. Especially since the PotC “borrowed” so much from the series.

I’m bringing this weblog back from the dead, with whole new topics, rants and completely random thoughts. Stay on your toes.

Well, it’s been almost a whole year since I posted anything, and maybe it’s about time I did something. If anyone’s even reading this anymore, expect more from me in the near foreseeable future.

Well, term’s started and it’s about time I got busy with my college life. I won’t be posting a lot (as if I ever did), but just to assure all of yous that I haven’t dropped dead… here’s an ‘away’ note. I’ll probably try and make new posts on weekends, so don’t you walk out on me :p.

So the iphone was released. Big deal. Its just a fucking phone. I don’t understand all these legions of perennial losers who queue up in front of stores a day before a new product is released, just so they can get their smelly little fat hands on that piece of gadgetry before anyone else does and go ballistic. Sweet mother of God, it’s a fucking piece of over-hyped circuitry- a million others are going to own it. Who the fuck cares whether you were the one who first bought it? It’s not like you’re creating history…. the manufacturers already covered that part of the deal.

Same was the case with the xbox360, the ps3 and now the iphone. Steve Jobs must be laughing his head off at the hordes of people just dying to make out with their iphones. Can’t these people fathom the simplest of logic that they’re wasting precious hours of their miserable lives just to buy a piece of equipment that’s in mass production in a gazillion factories? It’s not like they’re gonna run out of iphones. Just take it easy, godamnit…. there’s enough for everyone.

I apologise for the lack of posts recently- I was too busy doing nothing.

Anyway, it’s time to talk about some local musicians. Now, the Indian rock and metal scene is not as great as we would like it to be, but we’ve got a few gems of our own. Today, I’m going to talk about the Mumbai-based band Zero.

I was oblivious to their presence till a friend lent me two of their albums half a year ago. I can’t say I liked their music the first time I heard them, but it kind of grew on me till I was addicted to them. The kind of music Zero makes is a bit hard to fit into one genre: they’ve got elements of blues, country, folk, funk, jazz, alternative and pop rock. They’re a fun band and are sure to make you smile.

Being an amateur guitarist, the guitar-work is a major factor I look for in bands. For me, a good guitarist equals good music, and an uncreative guitarist equals bad music. (At least where guitars are involved). Warren Mendonsa, the lead guitarist of Zero can pull off some very original and imaginative riffs. The guy has also done a solo album under the moniker Blackstratblues, called ‘Nights in Shining Karma’. I’ll be sure to have an article dedicated to him later, but for now, that’s enough about him. (I’m not sure about this, but I believe he’s no longer in the band, having moved to New Zealand. Too bad, I say.)

The rest of the band has Rajeev on vocals, Bobby on the bass and Sidd on the drums.

Songs of note include:
Not My Kind of Girl
PSP12″
Spitleaf
Christmas in July
The Everyday Love Song
Old Man Sitting on the Back Porch
Lost
Lijo
Lucy

Truth be told, I like almost every single song of theirs. You can listen to more of their music at their last.fm page. (It’s shared by two artists of the same name)

Well, that’s all I have for now. Tune for more bands, music and metal fallout.

If rock musicians are good, they ‘rock’. Following the same logic, why don’t metal bands ‘metal’, pop singers ‘pop’, blues people ‘blue’ and jazz people ‘jazz’? Why do they all ‘rock’ even if  they have nothing to do with rock?

I just love this song…. the lyrics are quite powerful. I heard cover by Ugly Kid Joe a long time ago and thought it to be the original one. I later learned that it’s originally wirtten by Harry Chapin. Just felt like posting the lyrics to the song.

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home dad?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok”
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head and said with a smile
“What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

Okay, so I’ve got seven cats under my care. I say that, because I don’t like to call them pets… it rhymes with slaves. Also, I don’t keep them locked inside my house to be fed on cat food and made to look terribly obese. When the kittens are around two months old, I take them out, and teach them how to survive by themselves, how to hunt and run when in danger (with the help of their mothers and the other big ones) . With four of them being full-grown adults, who’ve made it all fine and dandy so far, I feel quite proud of myself.

The time comes however, when you have to deal with some kind of loss… whether it’s one of them being beaten badly by a stray, being chased by a dog, or death. With the first two possibilities, I’m usually capable of getting them out of trouble (if necessary). But, the thrid possibility is where I (or my parents or any of the other cats) cannot be of any help. That is what I’m facing right now. I had eight cats yesterday…. now I’ve lost one.

He was an adolescent male, with beautiful, soft fur, big eyes and a very good-natured personality. He’d been missing for a whole day- I searched far and wide for him, but couldn’t find him anywhere. This morning, my dad found him a few yards behind my house under some bushes by the road. He had passed away, I don’t know when. I don’t know how he died; there are a lot of possibilites…. the rain, dogs, a car, another cat…. I don’t know. He was in a very bad state, and apparently he’d been there for quite some time… the rain had made it worse. We buried him in the backyard.

I know a lot of pet owners would be cursing me right now, calling me an irresponsible owner for not keeping an eye on him. I ask you people, was he not a living being like us? Should he not have enjoyed the freedom to do whatever he wanted, when he wanted just like we can? I treat all living beings as equals…. everyone of us has a right to this world. I care for my cats enough to make sure they share equal time with their family and the outside world. I just wish more people would think like we do.

As for the death…. I don’t really know how I should be feeling. I feel very bad for losing him, but at the same time, I feel proud of the way he protected and cared for his siblings, like a responsible member of the family. Maybe God wanted him by his side, to help all those little cats in heaven…. because I definitely know he went to heaven by the way he lived his life.

A picture of him (in his younger days) , for all to see:

All of us feel downright angry, frustrated, heartbroken at least once. Today, it’s my turn. This song/poem is very badly written- I didn’t give a second thought to it; I just went on writing whatever  came into my mind. It served as a vent for my anger, so please excuse the clumsiness; I felt so good after letting all the steam out.

I wanted you so bad
And you went with me all along
I never thought that you
Would leave me behind

What about all the times we had?
Did you just forget them all?
What about no questions asked?
Did you just rape it all?

Well I don’t need you anymore
You motherfucking liar
You can go your own way
And I’ll go mine

No need to show me pity
You already made your choice
Writ your doom in a slab of stone
Never thinking twice

Go wherever you want
I don’t need you
Do whatever you want
I don’t feel you

You can just leave me know
Why do you stay?
There’s nothing left between us
All is said and done

And you can just shut the door
When you leave the room
And shut yourself with it
I might just kill you right now

Are you deaf or don’t you
Want to listen to anything I say?
You authoritarian bitch
Fuck you and fuck your daddy too.