Music review: Alanis Morissette - You Learn

Artist: Alanis Morissette Album: Jagged Little Pill Release date: 6/13/95 Video link: Via YouTube

Lyrics: I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone, yeah I recommend walking around naked in your living room, yeah

Swallow it down ( what a jagged little pill ) It feels so good ( swimming in your stomach ) Wait until the dust settles

You live you learn You love you learn You cry you learn You lose you learn You bleed you learn You scream you learn

I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone I certainly do I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time Feel free

Throw it down ( the caution blocks you from the wind ) Hold it up ( to the rays ) You wait and see when the smoke clear

You live you learn You love you learn You cry you learn You lose you learn You bleed you learn You scream you learn

Wear it out ( the way a three-year-old would do ) Melt it down ( you're gonna have to eventually anyway ) The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You live you learn You love you learn You cry you learn You lose you learn You bleed you learn You scream you learn

You grieve you learn You choke you learn You laugh you learn You choose you learn You pray you learn You ask you learn You live you learn About the song: When most people think of Alanis Morissette, the think of the angst-ridden song You Oughta Know. Amazingly, You Learn is on the same album. This song is about taking a chance in life, learning from your mistakes and growing as a person. It's a wonderful inspirational song and it's just one of the reasons I love this entire album.

Game Review: Virtual Villagers: The Secret City

I absolutely love the Virtual Villagers series. The Sims has always been a guilty pleasure of mine and, just the previous two, the third game in the series plays a lot like it. Instead of playing one or two characters, you control approximately six characters in the beginning. These people are stranded on a deserted island and it is your job to get them the things they need to live - food, water, shelter, etc. In each version of the game, there is a secondary goal beyond just keeping everyone alive. This one has you uncovering a lost city. The villagers are surrounded by ruins and you need to get them leveled up to the point where they can start rebuilding it. I haven't gotten very far in the game. Mostly because I keep forgetting that this is a real time game that keeps running even after you quit. So if you don't pause the game before quitting, it is pretty likely that all of your villagers will be dead when you return. I will beat the game though! This is my favorite downloadable game ever!

Game review: Hide & Secret 2: Cliffhanger Castle

Hide & Secret 2: Cliffhanger Castle is a mediocre hidden object game. You play a couple of archaeologists trying to find items for a museum. With some help from Merlin. Yes, this is the actual premise. I actually stopped playing this game for about a month before picking it back up. This is another game that tried to make the genre more difficult by hiding items in shadows. I didn't like it when I played it originally and I didn't like it when I gave it a second chance. Walk right past this one.

Game review: Money Tree

Money Tree is a weird time management-sort of game. You are a gardener trying to win the love of a girl. In order to do this, you need to raise trees that will bear fruit that will make you money to win the girl. Yeah, it's a little confusing. I didn't like the gameplay in this very much. You start out collecting falling leaves that somehow makes the tree mature. Then the tree starts to bear fruit and you need to pick/catch the fruit before it falls on the ground. If it falls on the ground, you don't get as much money for it. You also need to keep an eye on the water and sun levels your tree is getting otherwise it will die. Playing it isn't difficult - it's just annoying.

I can't really say I'd recommend this game. It's interesting for the first few minutes but then the tedium sets in. There are a ton of other time management games that are a lot more interesting.

Music review: X-Japan - Forever Love

Artist: X Japan Members: Deyama "Toshi" Toshimitsu (vocals), Hayashi Yoshiki (drums and piano), Matsumoto "Hide" Hideto (lead guitar), Morie "Heath" Hiroshi (bass), Ishizuka "Pata" Tomoaki (rhythm guitar) Album: Forever Love (single) Release date: 7/8/96 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: I'll never walk alone again, the winds of time are to strong. Ah, it's that what you hurts, which you'll have to live with... Ah, this tight embrace, and this burning, unchanged heart. In this ever changing time, love will never change.

Will you hold my heart? Stop flowing tears. Again, all of my heart is broken....

Forever love, forever dream Only flowing emotions,bury this intense, trying, meaningless times. Oh tell me why ... all I see is blue in my heart.

Will you stay with me? Wait until after the wind passes, all my tears are still flowing...

Forever love, forever dream Stay with me like this. Hold my trembling heart in the dawn. Oh stay with me...

Ah, everything good seems to be ending, in this unending night. Ah, what else would you lose if nothing at all matters.

Forever love, forever dream, stay with me like this. Hold my trembling heart in the dawn.

Oh will you stay with me... Until the wind passes, stay with me again.

Forever love, forever dream, I'll never walk this path. Oh tell me why, tell me true, teach me how to live. Forever love, forever dream, within flowing tears Bright seasons will forever change again and again .... forever love... About the song: Another gorgeous ballad written by Yoshiki. It's one of those songs that makes it very difficult not to cry while it's on. The more I listen to X Japan's songs, the more I love Toshi's voice. I only wish I had the talent that Yoshiki or Toshi has. Hopefully I'll get a chance to review some of their happier songs.

JDorama review: First Kiss

Title: First Kiss Broadcast date: 7/9/07 - 9/17/07 Genre: Romance Number of episodes: 11 Cast: Inoue Mao, Ito Hideaki, Hiraoka Yuta, Matsuyuki Yasuko, Gekidan Hitori, Abe Sadao Plot: Mio (Inoue Mao) is a young girl with a heart condition. She agrees to a complicated surgery that will either save or kill her. Before the surgery, she visits her older brother Kazuki (Ito Hideaki) for one last summer of fun. He promises to help her find her first love in order to show her that life isn't as bad as she thinks it is. What is good: All of the actors did a great job. What is bad: The show has an extremely slow start. Letter rating: C+ Overall: I started watching this show months ago. After the first three episodes, I just couldn't bring myself to watch more of it. It wasn't until I decided that I had to finish it that I sat through the rest of the episodes. I really enjoyed the acting in the show but I felt bad that the material they were given wasn't very good. The Mio character spends a majority of the time as a spoiled little girl and even when she learns that she's being a bitch, she still doesn't want to change her ways. Her brother, Kazu, mostly caters to her every whim and when he decides to stand up against her, he feels overly guilty about it. The show did get a bit better toward the end though it's really not worth sitting through the first half of the series just to get to it.

Game review: Eye for Design

Once again, the interior decorating gaming craze appears. Eye For Design. is more of a puzzle game than anything else. You are basically given a room with some vague instructions about what should go in the room and a list of objects to use. It is your job to make a lovely room that your client will love. Overall, the game was pretty fun. Each object can only be placed in certain spots in the room so there's the difficulty of trying to fit all of the required objects into the room. I think I might have liked it a little better if there was more free-form to it. Instead of having set spots for the objects, let us place the stuff wherever we want. Luckily, the game is still enjoyable despite this small drawback.

Game review: Mystery Cookbook

You are a mouse. Not just any mouse but a rather smart mouse who has to help a variety of animals find their lost objects. Yes, I know the game is called Mystery Cookbook but there is no actual cooking going on. Instead of cooking, you travel to different restaurants helping the owners' animals. This is a pretty run of the mill hidden object games. None of the games are too difficult but they are just hard enough to keep it fun. Even the in-between puzzles are a nice change. If you are looking for something new and innovating, you won't find it here. But if you are looking for a decent hidden object game, this is for you.

Game review: Supermarket Mania

In the time management game Supermarket Mania, you play Nikki, a girl about to start her first day working for TORG Corp. The Corporation is a supermarket that is run by robots. It is your job to make sure the shelves are stocked and there are no messes on the floor. Even though you don't have to deal with the customers in the game directly, you still have to cater to their needs a bit. This is accomplished by making sure all of the shelves are stocked so they can purchase whatever they want. If the shelf is not stocked, they will stand in front of it, getting impatient. You will need to fill the shelf before they get angry and leave. Since the customers will also leave messes, you will need to make sure these are cleaned up before someone falls. Neither of the jobs are difficult but it can get rather difficult to accomplish everything!

I went into this game thinking that I wouldn't enjoy it very much. Well, I was wrong. I found it fairly fun to try to make sure that each of the shelves were stocked with what I thought the customers would want. Of course, I wasn't always right so I ended up rushing around to put out what the customers DID really want but that's what makes the game fun, right? It wouldn't be any fun if we could predict everything. Supermarket Mania is definitely worth a try.

Music review: W - Daikishimenaide ~Nikki Tsuki~

Artist: W Members: Kago Ai, Nozomi Tsuji Album: 2nd W Release date: 3/2/05

English translation: Don't hold me Don't hold me What kind of facial expression should I make?

After we kiss After we kiss I can't look at your face 'Cause... I just can't look...

We were born far away from each other And then we met

There's a lot we don't know about each other, but We went shopping and got asked if we were siblings For some reason, I felt happy

I won't show my tears I don't want to show them I don't want to tell you what kind of tears they are

Everything, I mean everything! I like you This moment, just like this I want it to freeze

The environments we were born into Even our accents are different But still we met

We've still got a long fight with the unknown There's a lot of restaurants nearby, so let's go That station is famous for its ramen

April 9th, a clear Saturday. I wonder how many times we've gone on a date now. It was really fun. But really, I know what number date it is...

I know what number date it is, but... But, I can't count 'em... the second kiss I like you. I like you I like you. I like you. Ahhhhhhh!!! I like you.

The environments we were born into Even our accents are different But still we met

There's a lot we don't know about each other, but We went shopping and got asked if we were siblings For some reason, I felt happy

About the song: Another W song about liking a boy. Surprised? Like the rest of their songs, this is pretty cute but it's not as powerful as some of their other ballads. The way the lyrics are divided between them is interesting. They even share a 'deatta.' One sings de, the other sings at and the first sings ta. It makes the song a little bit different but it's nothing special. All in all, a forgettable song.