The Stanley Parable

     One of the most unique video games I have ever played starts with a normal office worker who starts his day at his normal job, but is confronted with a very abnormal experience. Our hero is Stanley, who loves to work his normal job and go to his normal home and live his normal life. When Stanley gets to work, he notices that his computer has no commands like it always does, and when he goes outside of his office he discovers that none of his coworkers are at work. For Stanley, this has never happened before.

     There is a narration to Stanley's actions, and when the player takes control of Stanley, he is faced with a choice. 

     "Stanley came to a set of two open doors," the narrator states. "He entered the door on the left." 

     Clearly, Stanley does not have to go through the left door. You can choose whether to follow the narrator or not, but what an interesting situation to be put through in a video game, where you have the chance to seemingly rebel openly against the game itself!

     What happens if you steer to through the right door? Well, I will not spoil that for you, but I will say this, it makes you think. Something that we take for granted all the time in video games (and even life sometimes) is the lack of true choice. Rarely do our decisions really make such lasting effects, yet The Stanley Parable is nothing but a series of decisions that determines the literal course of the game. We take for granted the decisions that the game makes for us, to ensure that we reach the proper destination with as little delay as possible. Even "sandbox" and "open world" style games have a very paced feel about them comparatively, that even though you choose what you want to do the same inevitable endings always occur. The Stanley Parable creates the possibility to not have the predetermined ending that so many other games have, but at the risk that the ending may not be an ending at all. There are many inconsistencies and holes in the game and universe, yet the more you play it, the less you care. The fascination of real consequences for our choices borderlines obsession with those who play this game, but funny enough, I think the important parable is lost on many of us (including myself).

     Arguably the most basic of human foundations is choice. We have the ability to choose our destiny, to create who we want to become! Too often though, we let family, friends, and society confine our paths to seemingly premeditated endings depending on our wealth, religion, race, and culture. We think that because we are part of this or that, we must become like it, and live like it. I do not think this is wise.

     You see, if we give ANYONE, our agency, we are surrendering our most basic right as human beings. We cannot let another choose our choices for us, or else we will not be who we choose to be. We cannot become the product of another's choices and expect to be happy.
To all of you anarchists and atheists, this sounds very right, but to religious and God fearing folk, this may come off as... different than what we understand. I think however, that this is actually not as far fetched as one may think, that agency is in fact the sole reason why Christ is our Savior, and why we are on earth. God does not enforce His will in us, even though He does enforce the consequences, be it good or bad. How else can people murder and rape, pillage and plunder? No, God does not force us to do anything, because He wants us to be happy. How could we choose to be happy when there was no other choice? We would never understand the principles of love, respect, and responsibility. We would never learn and grow. We would be in the exact same state of mind as we where before we came here.
     No, God wanted something more for us. He wanted us to be able to choose who we wanted to become. He gave us prophets and commandments so that if we desired to return to Him that we would have the proper set of tools. He knew that because of this agency there would be much confusion, pain, grief, and suffering. He knew it would never be "fair" because it was fallen, and people had the choice whether to be fair or not. He understood these great, great costs, and yet He implemented them, because He understood that the price for something great required the possibility of failure. Anything of worth requires sacrifice and the possibility that it wont work. Nothing of real value can be earned without some kind of work or sacrifice.

     This is exactly what the Stanley Parable is all about, choosing who you want to be by choosing what you want to do. Some of the endings are disconcerting and some are even psychotic, while others are peaceful and inviting. It all depends on what you choose.  Even though the entire game is of course scripted and staged, it gives a feeling completely opposite of that, and offers one of the most unique and interesting experiences I have ever seen.

The Stanley Parable is available on the Steam network for $15, though goes on sale for as low as $2 regularly.

The Civil Wars

     Sometimes life gives us deep, deep experiences, ones that are so powerful it literally brings us to a crossroads of our destiny. These experiences happen to all of us, and are such a combination of emotions and thoughts that it takes years, sometimes even decades, to interpret and understand. Very rarely do we ever see another's experience like this, and when we do it is most likely because we are a part of it. Even more sparsely do we ever get to see it from an outside perspective. When that happens, it almost feels wrong, like you should not be seeing/hearing/experiencing this because it is another's fight for their very soul and destiny. Though music can create that kind of intimacy, all too often it doesn't. When it does, though, it is pretty apparent, and sacredly beautiful.

     The Civil Wars' self titled second album is just that, a look inside the lives of something more than just music making. It is the look into a relationship that should never have happened, and the effects on themselves and others from it. Simply put, they are singing to each other, instead of with each other. For me, this is what makes a good artist great, or a good album great. It is the difference between listening to music and feeling music. These people aren't just playing their music, they are living it.

     Joy Williams and John Paul White are the creators and singers in the band. They met in Nashville in 2008, and released their first album in 2011. They recorded multiple songs and compositions for many movies and for other albums, including the Hunger Games (They co-produced the hit Taylor Swift track "Safe and Sound"), and in 2013 they released their latest album, self titled as The Civil Wars. Though musically it differs from their previous material, it reaches different levels of emotions.

     Joy is the focus point here, with her almost whiny vocals soaring across the country blend of acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional mandolin and banjo, giving an ethereal feel to the folksy blend. Her voice becomes almost angelic once combined with the dancing harmonies of John Paul. John's part is none the less despite her focus though, as he provides the grounding to allow the flow between Joy's delicate, and flying vocals with the rustic instruments to make the whole thing legendary. The lyrics are brutally honest, and make the album all the more chilling, speaking of forbidden love and other lovers.

     The X factor that makes the whole thing something more than just a listen though, is the chemistry of the two. More than simply singing with one another, these two sing to one another. They truly feel and believe what they are so intimately, longingly, and regretfully singing to each other.

     The first track, titled "The One That Got Away" illustrates this perfectly:

I never meant to get us in this deep

I never meant for this to mean a thing

Oh, if I could only go back in time

When you only held me in my mind

Just a longing without a trace

Oh, I wish I never seen your face

     Combine the lyrics with the music and chemistry of John and Joy, and you have something that literally puts chills up my spine every time I hear it. It is a ballad that has gone horribly wrong, and has turned into a funeral march. While many of the songs on this album are similarly and hauntingly noir, it is possibly the few genuinely happy tacks that invoke the most chilling emotions of the doomed relationship, as they describe just how happy things could have been. "From This Valley" paints this through a beautiful hymn of holding on to hope and love.

     In the end, this album may be the last we see from The Civil Wars, and while I am sad to see them go and especially in such a tough way, it is beautiful to be able to hear, and feel the truly human emotions and experiences that we all go through, yet rarely see in others. As said previously, it is haunting, chilling, and rich with beauty. Definitely worth a few listens.