Angry Birds

(M: a word of clarification/caution...this is not about Justin Bieber.)

Alright, so we all know of Angry Birds. With over 250 million copies having been sold since its launch in December 2009, it would be rather surprising to come across someone who hasn't, in the least, heard of Angry Birds.
With that established,I believe that there are only four types of association that one can have with this game. My categorization goes like this-
>First, you have played the game and are addicted to it (obviously the degree and intensity of addiction will vary from one person to the other..and if you have problems with the word 'addiction' then well, give me an alternative to explain your bleary eyed self in front of the laptop/iphone playing the game while the rest of the world lives itself out and in through mundane boredom?)
>Second, you have an indirect association with the game...either you have heard of it, or read about it or have seen someone from the first category play themselves in an endless cycle that stops only when the pigs are all dead.
>Third, you are a subset of the second category...meaning you have had an indirect association with the game..you may even have sling shot'ed your way through one episode, but you are still confused about the rationality of it..you are still struggling (and for all you know, will struggle until the end of errr... the world or the green pigs) to deconstruct the 'WHY' of it.
>Fourth, you are one of the blessed few (a rarest of rare minority) who are just not concerned with it..(its an inconsequential thing in a world that is full of things and people that are nothing but transient?)

Where do I stand? Third group.
The target of all my questions are of course all those sitting firmly inside the first category and the most obvious question is "why do you play the game?".
Since this would entail an engagement with the larger question of virtual gaming, I steer clear of it...but only for now.

Angry birds right...well, why are the birds angry? The basic premise of the game, as quoted by the Wikipedia entry on the same (yes yes, it even has a Wikipedia entry!! Darn! Talk about twisted priorities!!!!!), explains that the game is about these bunch of birds trying to retrieve some eggs stolen by the green evil pigs and that the destruction of the pigs is their revenge. There is nothing wrong with the premise. Revenge would explain the sling shot'ing and bombardment of the pigs...I could even stretch it forward into the realm of the eternal struggle between the good and the bad. I don't dispute the philosophy of it. No no...my problem is more logistical in nature...my question is simple- How did the pigs steal the eggs?
They can't climb trees...so are we talking of some mutant breed of pigs which can clamber up trees, snatch some eggs and and race back down? Is this a projection into a degenerate future where the evil will manifest itself through beings we cannot conceptualize in totality right now? Will these beings be blessed with powers and abilities that are at once horrific and magnificient?
I would like to meet the creator of this game...where did he get the idea of these pigs in the first place...should I look deeper into things like religious beliefs and possible associations with dark magic in the life of this man?
Yes yes I know that you must be shaking your head in incredulous disbelief right now..alright, I admit I got a little carried away with the dark magic bit..but if I may please continue with my I-am-carried-away bit then, just think for a minute...suspend your rationality..what if this really has some connections with evil? What if there are deeper meanings hidden in the game? Like a possible preparation for an actual battle between the good and the evil to be fought in the time coming? Swords, flashes of fatal lightening, weird animals with hideous fangs, agents in black et al?
I shudder....time to change tracks and return to the question with which it all began.
So, why do you all play it? Hour after hour..how can you?
A very devoted player, when i asked him this question (knowing fully well that a philosophical answer would sit much better with me than any explanation that centered around things such as graphics or programming and the likes) said this- isn't it the same with everything else that we do in life? We start things to bring them to an end...a conclusion right? You read a book, watch a movie or listen to a song to finish it... to see what happens in the end...Its the same with the game. We play it to finish it.
Unbelievable....I had and have nothing to say to this line of answering. But to put it mildly, even as he said this I could see that he knew his logic was crumbling down and apart with every word. No tree-climbing-green-evil-pigs came to his rescue.

Even if I grant that you play it to finish it...what difference did it make? I read a book, watch a movie or listen to a song to finish it. Alright. But all of it makes a difference to me..I see something new, read about something new and so on...
But what did you get? Red birds flying like sling shots across a tiny sky in sometimes futile and sometimes successful attempts to kill the pigs?
I am told that there is intense strategizing involved- the arc of the shot, the force of the throw etc. etc.....Fine. And whats the practical translation of this intensive strategization in your life? That practice makes one perfect? Yeah right...a click on the mouse for the amount of time you spend practicing is more likely to end up inflating your physiotherapy bill in later life!

In my despair to understand this one elemental question, i googled this- 'angry birds philosophy'...(please don't laugh, I am really writing from the pits of dejection.)
The results tell me that this is a well thought out question.
Some examples (all from blogs primarily): that obstacles assume different forms at different stages, acknowledging them is the first step towards tackling them; that knowing the different birds and what they can do is to know your strengths and weaknesses and that alone can help you deal with problems and difficulties; that you must make the most of every opportunity and that team work is the best way to maximize human effort towards a set goal...Some one even went so far as to suggest that if you treat each bird as a child you would get excellent parenting tips from the game...How exactly? (I could tear my hair out in frustation right now!)
But the one result which was spectacular in terms of its incredulity was a project launched by the ISKCON group in Brazil which called itself 'Angry Birds Yoga'. The first lesson was titled 'How to eliminate the Green Pigs in your Life'. (I will of course post the link to this project at tne end of this..and maybe I should make in mandatory for those of you who have managed to reach this far in my tirade to check the link out...but then again, how will I enforce my authority and control over your actions through this virtual medium? Damn the shifts in power structures!!!!)
Each character in the game has been attributed with a quality in this project. So where the pigs are all evil undesirable traits we need to get rid of, the birds are the face of 'The Good'.
Moral? Copy the Red, Blue, Yellow and White bird. You shall fly into divine salvation on the wings of these birds...Oh errr...damn. they are all wingless aren't they?

One could talk about the absorption of symbols of popular culture into our daily lives...That alone could and would make some small amount of sense here..But still, Angry Birds as metaphors for parenting and spiritual teaching? I still need time and space to get used to this...And don't even think of crowding my space with flying angry birds!!1

This is turning out to be longer than I thought or planned...
I am already tired of writing about it and I have been at this for like an hour now I think...if nothing else, then i marvel at the persistence of those who play Angry Birds.
I guess its another one of those things which would fall into the category of 'each to his/her own'....
But it still beats me..Why?


(And the link:
http://pandavas.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/angry-birds%E2%84%A2-yoga-%E2%80%93-how-to-eliminate-the-green-pigs-in-your-life-part-i/)