Mulders Review of "The Black Crystals of the Night"

            In the chapter “The Black Crystals of the Night” of the book “The Shadow of the Sun”, I found an interesting relation to the spiritual beliefs of the African people. The short story begins with the author, Ryszard Kapuscinski, driving through western Uganda at night, bound for the Congo, but his African counterparts are acting jumpy. They refuse to answer his questions, and the village where they pull in to rest for the night is unusually hostile. They get in with the classic African tradition of bribery, but Ryszard is unable to sleep due to insects continuously harassing him. As he admits defeat and steps outside the hut, he notices a group of people running stealthily from cover to cover, carrying something. When he questions his driver, Sebeyua, about the incident, he replies that “They are called Amba”, and after a short pause, adds “Kabila mbaya.” (rough translation: Bad people). Kapuscinski then goes on to explain just how the idea of evil, wizards, witches and spirits are embedded deep within the African mentality, before concluding by saying the people he saw earlier were trying to hide an ill man from the wizard plaguing him. For some reason, though I found the idea of how deep the mentality is buried the most fascinating aspect of the story.

            I will begin with the chapters mentions of the Amba. The Amba are like the super-Orthodox Christians of Western Society; always suspecting something or someone of being evil, harboring a witch or devil. However, unlike the usual African spiritual comfort zone that the wizards operate from afar: one can sleep safely knowing that their neighbor is not going to try to send a wayward mosquito over to spread malaria. No, the Amba believe that anyone among them could be harboring evil spirits or intentions. They live in constant fear of one another, that their own blood relative could soon lay a curse upon them and destroy them forever. However, their hatred and fear is not only to their immediate surroundings, but also to those who live in the villages around them. They are continuously practicing warfare on the so-called “evil villages”. Naturally, these villages fight back, and even partake in their own retaliatory wars. (Afghanistan anyone?) This constant destabilization allows them to be easy picking for other aggressive tribes looking for an opportunity to strike. However, the Amba are so paralyzed by internal suspicion, that they fail to notice the cracks. I find that this relates surprisingly well to our culture, seeing as we live in constant fear of the unknown, whether they be our neighbor or another country. Heck, we even go to the extreme of fearing the extraterrestrial. Fear is so deeply rooted in our society, that we are unable to notice it altogether. It has become a part of our lives, part of our bondage with fellow man.

Several quotes from the paragraph relate to my theory quite well. “The depressing fate that has come to weigh upon them at least unites them, makes possible a paradoxical solidarity.” (190) This clearly states that the people of the Amba live like we do, in a constant state of fear. Also, I find that the quote “Paralyzed by the spectre of an enemy within the gates, they tumble unrestrained into the abyss.” Do we not fear our own neighbors sometimes based on the strangest of concepts? Simple things can drive a mass insane with fear, so that we too, like the Amba, tumble into our eternal doom.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Mulders Video Game review: Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War 

 The flagship fighter is the F-15C Eagle.

A year and a half ago, I stepped off the Main to Queen bus, made my way over to GameStop, and quietly purchased Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for the PlayStation 2. I had only just beaten the campaign for its predecessor, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, a few weeks earlier, and the massive drop in the plot left me hungry for the next title. 20 dollars later, I had a copy of what I would later come to cal the greatest flight simulator game to ever hit the PS2. Fine tuned by Namco Bandai’s Project Aces for release in April 2006, the game became a favorite for me through it’s exceptional graphics, ingenious missions, compelling music and wide selection of aircraft; I can attribute my love of the skies to this series. Tying it all together, however, is the plot.

 Cutscene of Mission 14 with the player using a MIG-21 armed with missiles and Rocket Pods.

The plot is complex, but a watered down version is that you are a mercenary ace named “Cipher” who, along with his wingmate “Pixy” attempt to save the Republic of Ustio from the invading forces of the Belkan military. Along the way, you encounter and defeat several enemy ace squadrons, destroy a multitude of targets and learn a great deal about the so-called “just” ideal of the invading Allied forces as they push into Belka. Eventually, Belka detonates atomic warheads on it’s own soil, and Pixy defects to an organization known as “A World With No Boundaries” which seeks to create a unified planet through heavy military might. You go to destroy their missile system, but your replacement wingmate “PJ” is shot down by Pixy, flying a fictional aircraft known as the ADFX-01/02 Morgan. You fight a climatic battle above a dam, before you successfully shoot down Pixy, ending the threat to the world’s safety.

 The Raptor: Just looking at this thing will send any Russian ace scurrying back home with their tail between their legs...

The major things that keep you hooked on this game are its plot, the exceptional graphics for its system and the large selection of aerial instruments of death. As I pointed out, the plot is rather long and complex, and even the watered-down version is lengthy, but that’s what makes it so captivating.  The cutscenes that present the plot through multiple points of view are of an animation quality you’d expect from modern Xbox 360’s and PS3’s, yet on what nowadays is considered the “granddaddy” of gaming platforms. Topping it all off is the fact that you can get your hands on some of the world’s greatest fighters, from the legendary F-4 Phantom to the scarcely-put-into-service F-22 Raptor (personally my favorite). Not only that, every single missile, rocket, bullet and bomb is appropriately detailed and has just the right sound for it’s launch, including the NATO callsign “Fox Two” whenever a AIM-9 Sidewinder is released. Each and every single one of these facts makes this game so easy to pick up and play.

ZOMG, THAT THING’S FREAKIN’ HUGE!!!

The qualms I have with this game are few and minor. For one, I would like there to be a better multiplayer for the game, as the one available is of shoddy quality. Another thing would have to be the music; although Namco did a groundbreaking job with the orchestral score, the rest of the music is kind of blah. The final thing I have to say about this game is… GO AND GET IT!!!! It’s well worth the $20’s you’ll spend on it, and it’s coming from the series that HAWX will never top.

LONG LIVE ACE COMBAT!!!

One Soldier's War by Arkady Babachenkov

Over the summer, and especially at Camp Ahmek up north, a book engrossed me, taking me on a wild ride through the horrors of the First and Second Chechnya conflicts that entrapped the world’s largest country. One Soldier’s War by Arkady Babchenko was that novel. The story of a young law student drafted into the Russian Army to fight in one of the worst conflicts to rock the World Island, Babchenko drags you through the killing, disease, starvation and torture of two years of the worst fighting in Europe since WWII. Then, four years later, he goes back as a volunteer to fight in the second conflict, with more stories of horror flowing off the pages. The stories never seem to be in any sort of order, instead, it seems that Babchenko throws in stories of fighting alongside stories of him and his brothers in arms getting in various sorts of trouble. Throughout the novel, Babachenko reveals the lighter sides of comradeship in arms and a soldier’s brotherly love to his fellow allies. But also, he darkens the setting by adding horrible tales of children used as human shields, fellow soldiers tortured by orders from a higher rank and, of course, death, death, death. Death seems to play a prevalent part in the storyline, as it should, seeing as the setting is in the middle of a battlefield. This book is fluently and wonderfully written, and should defiantly be on anyone’s wish list.

Naturally, the character that one pays the most attention to is Arkady himself. He explains how he changed from a young man with a bright, promising career in law into a soldier scarred from the events that he witnessed while holding an AK-74. Ranging from killing unarmed civilians at the orders of a major, to watching men crawl out of a flaming tank and friends blown up by land mines, these stories are gripping, horrifying, and give you a good example of the true nature of the “war-loving” Russian soldiers. Without missing a beat, Babchenko can take you from hatred to peace to love to friendship to jealousy and back again. The language is descriptive in ways that engross you and make you never want to leave Arkady and the story alone.  

The main reason I loved this story was because of the fact that every single word of it is not fiction; this actually happened to someone. At first, I found that I couldn’t believe that these tales of death and misery could happen, especially in a European nation. Then I began researching the war and it’s aftermath. Imagine my shock when I found out that every word he wrote was complete truth, and there were facts to back it up. This story enlightened my views of the Chechnya conflicts, and the Russian people in general. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to truly understand the grueling horror of modern warfare.