Kultuur

Some people seem to think you have short attention spans or are simply unwilling to read any length of text that exceeds your screen, but I try not to care. Read until you are bored or you reach the bottom; I'm not writing for you. But anyway, on to *drum roll* culture!

First, my apologies, but I am going to use the word 'podcast', even though there is nothing 'pod' about it. Damn iPod, corrupting everything it touches, it epitomizes the culture industry, and you'll have to download that damnable iTunes to subscribe to this podcast, but then, most of you are Apple whores already (no offense).
So, anyway, This American Life, an award-winning radio show, with a television off shoot and, more importantly, a weekly podcast published by Public Radio International and hosted by Ira Glass (who was named best American radio host by Time Magazine), somehow brings a very appealing mixture of human interest and interesting stories (usually opposites) without resorting to cynicism or ridiculing. In the hour long broadcasts, our world seems like a strange and sometimes even hostile place, but the people inhabiting it are ever so beautiful, odd, vulnerable, strong. It is an hour of serenity in a world that can use it.

Assassin's Creed, on the other hand, does not provide serenity. And yet, few things seem to compare to a smooth assassination; slowly making your way through the crowd, taking out two guards without drawing attention, you approach your target as he is arguing with a merchant. He is unaware until your hidden blade is lodged beneath his jawbone. As his guards come running, you dispatch two of them with expertly executed counter moves, slicing the tendons (I think, my anatomy isn't great) in the knee before severing the artery in his neck. You knock the other one to the ground, jump on his chest and push your sword through his heart. And then it's time to run. Through the crowds, on to the houses, over the streets, to the tops of the highest towers and in a straight line to a haystack on ground level.
The game opens with 'This work of fiction was designed, developed and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs.' I was sceptical (really, why do they have to be religious?), and the game is far from perfect (a little to much 'rinse and repeat'), but the atmosphere and the delicious climbing and fighting... See a really cool trailer here, or download a slightly longer movie here from Rapidshare (well, from me, really) - just press 'Free'. You gotta hand it to the Canadians...