Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, and I'll try not to sing out of key
So, since I wasn't posting about it, my achievement goals for 2010 ended with mixed results! By this, I mean I achieved one (2000 total achievements) and failed the other (41,628 total score).
Why didn't I achieve it? Work is the obvious answer; a full-time job that supports the gaming habit isn't conducive to playing as constantly as I was when I was unemployed or going to school. The other was that, while I got close by hitting 41,210? I didn't even come close. The idea was 80% of my total possible points. 41,628 was gauged off of a grand total of 52,035. That number at the end of 2010 was 55,215. Which meant the score to beat was now 44,172. I decided around November that playing for achievements was nice, but secondary. I wanted to play Resonance of Fate, for instance, so I got that. I didn't want to wait on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, so I went and popped it in. So maybe now I'll head for a new goal, but I'm not going to stop playing a game just because I didn't reach it yet.
I may do another music meme. I just finished up New Music of 2010, so now I think I'll do Top 10 of 2010. Namely, top 10 artists, top 10 albums, top 10 tracks. Figure out the entirety of the meme, write it down to prevent duplicates, then post one entry from each over ten days. Each entry, I'm thinking five songs, simply because seven seems overboard.
In fact, let's start that now.
Track #10: The Protomen - Unrest in the House of Light
I really liked the guitar in this. Plus, it's the Protomen. How can you possibly need more information than that?
Album #10: Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
I had this album earlier in the year, but it was listening to it at work that really got me interested. Modest Mouse seems to embody everything I hate about the indie genre from a fan perspective, unfortunately. They did good music, put out songs that people liked, and people responded in kind. But as time went on and they got more popular, they got more popular, and therefore mainstream, so now it's cool to hate on the band for it. Despite the fact that everything before and after was quality.
Dashboard is kinda stream of consciousness, lyricwise. Not as bad as Nirvana or Bush or other 90s alternative bands, but enough that you shouldn't really go searching for deep meaning here. Catchy as hell, though.
Missed The Boat took me a bit to warm up to, and I still don't like the part near the end that focuses on the word tiny. Still, a lot of it comes together really well for me, and it really grabbed my attention with the first line - while we're on the subject, could we change the subject now?
Artist #10: The Beatles
This is where I immediately regret holding myself to two songs per album or artist. How the hell do you sum up the Beatles in two songs? The answer is, you can't. You just straight up cannot. I don't really need to explain to you who the Beatles are, just that it took me until late last year to finally listen to them.
I can't really pick a favorite Beatle song, but Hey Jude would have to be my choice if pressed. The funny thing about Paul McCartney is apparent right off the bat - he's a babyface. He has grown a full beard and still looks like a babyface.
Okay I am cheating like hell here since this is two tracks by itself, but it's hard to play With A Little Help From My Friends without playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band first, since it leads right into the aforementioned song. It's hard not to like it, even with the skip in tracks you hear at the two minute mark.
Why didn't I achieve it? Work is the obvious answer; a full-time job that supports the gaming habit isn't conducive to playing as constantly as I was when I was unemployed or going to school. The other was that, while I got close by hitting 41,210? I didn't even come close. The idea was 80% of my total possible points. 41,628 was gauged off of a grand total of 52,035. That number at the end of 2010 was 55,215. Which meant the score to beat was now 44,172. I decided around November that playing for achievements was nice, but secondary. I wanted to play Resonance of Fate, for instance, so I got that. I didn't want to wait on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, so I went and popped it in. So maybe now I'll head for a new goal, but I'm not going to stop playing a game just because I didn't reach it yet.
I may do another music meme. I just finished up New Music of 2010, so now I think I'll do Top 10 of 2010. Namely, top 10 artists, top 10 albums, top 10 tracks. Figure out the entirety of the meme, write it down to prevent duplicates, then post one entry from each over ten days. Each entry, I'm thinking five songs, simply because seven seems overboard.
In fact, let's start that now.
Track #10: The Protomen - Unrest in the House of Light
Click to viewI really liked the guitar in this. Plus, it's the Protomen. How can you possibly need more information than that?
Album #10: Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
I had this album earlier in the year, but it was listening to it at work that really got me interested. Modest Mouse seems to embody everything I hate about the indie genre from a fan perspective, unfortunately. They did good music, put out songs that people liked, and people responded in kind. But as time went on and they got more popular, they got more popular, and therefore mainstream, so now it's cool to hate on the band for it. Despite the fact that everything before and after was quality.
Dashboard is kinda stream of consciousness, lyricwise. Not as bad as Nirvana or Bush or other 90s alternative bands, but enough that you shouldn't really go searching for deep meaning here. Catchy as hell, though.
Missed The Boat took me a bit to warm up to, and I still don't like the part near the end that focuses on the word tiny. Still, a lot of it comes together really well for me, and it really grabbed my attention with the first line - while we're on the subject, could we change the subject now?
Artist #10: The Beatles
This is where I immediately regret holding myself to two songs per album or artist. How the hell do you sum up the Beatles in two songs? The answer is, you can't. You just straight up cannot. I don't really need to explain to you who the Beatles are, just that it took me until late last year to finally listen to them.
I can't really pick a favorite Beatle song, but Hey Jude would have to be my choice if pressed. The funny thing about Paul McCartney is apparent right off the bat - he's a babyface. He has grown a full beard and still looks like a babyface.
Okay I am cheating like hell here since this is two tracks by itself, but it's hard to play With A Little Help From My Friends without playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band first, since it leads right into the aforementioned song. It's hard not to like it, even with the skip in tracks you hear at the two minute mark.