Edward's July 2025 Monthly Mix

 

 Blistering summer days or eternal rain, it’s one or the other here. What does one do? The easy answer is, stay inside and lose yourself in music, movies, books and games. Well, that’s what I do, anyway. And as this mix proves, I kept rather busy. This is a big one. I can say undoubtedly, this one is one for the record books. You may even have to create another FB or Google account just to read it in its entirety. Sorry about that, but I don’t do tl;dr here. When I write I simply open a vein. And here you get the full enchilada.  

F1 in IMAX: Not so much a fan of Brad Pitt as I am of Formula One racing. This movie was definitely popcorn fare, but it did show a lot of Formula One racing from some interesting angles. The IMAX experience was over the top, as is F1 racing itself. Despite having two official tracks in the United States, it still baffles me why we have no American teams. Brad Pitt plays a has been racer that never really was. His character is compelling, however, and by the end of the film you are truly rooting for him. I play F1 racing sims, and this movie depicted the sport with authenticity. In truth, it made me want to go home and jump into a race. 

  

The Terminator on Blu-Ray: Though it seems antiquated now, you can see the nascent roots of the genre. The sets were pulled off with miniatures using orange flashbulbs and walnut dust to create the explosions which depicted the whole future war scenes of the machines fighting mankind. The stop motion animation of the exoskeletal Terminator is laughable by today’s standards, but this movie paved the way for James Cameron’s future successes and began a franchise that would make millions of dollars. Cameron helmed this film while working on the script for Aliens and Rambo: First Blood Part II.  Brad Fiedel (Terminator, Terminator 2, Fright Night, Gladiator) scored the film and used a percussive heartbeat sound to emulate the heartbeat of the Terminator throughout the movie. This percussive heartbeat sound became the signature sound of the soundtrack in future Terminator movies. Both Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of The Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his 17 lines and less than 100 words makes the role tingle, however, and as James Cameron said, “his accent just . . . worked.” 

 

Arma 3 on PC: My adventure began with Operation Flashpoint back in 2001. This was the ultimate watercooler game, and what I mean is a game that created stories to be recounted at work around the watercooler or soda machine. It’s been said Warren Specter’s System Shock and Deus Ex gave birth to the “im-sim” (immersive simulation.) I can see that, but Operation Flashpoint delivered it in spades, and playing Arma 3 has refined it to the point I feel it’s the most realistic shooter I’ve ever played. I’ve only just begun, but the sense of immersion is of the intensity that I almost feel out of breath running up hills or trying to hold my weapon steady after scrambling for cover. The game’s authenticity is far more reaching than my mere experiences with it. Footage that was posted online by major news sources in 2018, 2021 and 2023 were eventually determined to be footage from this game. That’s how realistic this game is. Not too shabby for a game that came out in 2013. 

Timeline by Michael Crichton on Kindle: I’ve always felt I came away with an education after reading a Michael Crichton novel. Often referred to as “fact-ion” novels, each one is a delve into plausibility. This novel involves a group of history students who travel to 14^th century France to rescue their professor. I’ve only begun it, but I have a feeling, as with all typical Crichton fare, this will be a fun amusement park ride.

SOMA on PC: Made by Frictional Games, the same company behind the Amnesia games, this game follows the same tradition, a horror walking simulator. This one finds you going into a clinic for a therapeutic brain scan, and waking up suddenly in an undersea biosphere, and being the only person alive. It’s creepy and startling. It evokes a great sense of dread without the jump scares (which is a good thing.) The game reminds me a lot of Interplay’s Bioshock which is a game that still harbors one of my all time favorite in-game environments of all time. 

 

 

Gameplayers of Titan by Philip K. Dick: More a speculative writer than what I would call hard science fiction, Philip K. Dick was responsible for the basis of one of my all time favorite movies, BladeRunner. I’ve always thought his writing a bit on the dry side, but he always told a good story. This dark tale concerns a disheveled Earth after being conquered by one of Jupiter’s moons. Most of Earth’s population is wiped out and Jupiter’s moon denizens treat our planet as a puppet government would. They have us play a game called Bluff, a strange Life/poker-like game played to determine economic and marital fate and ultimately that of Earth itself, the "luck" of a mostly barren post-apocalyptic population in conceiving children. The book resonated with 1960’s tropes in a fun way. It was like reading a naughty version of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on Blu-Ray: Thanks to my good buddy, Vic Berwick for netting this rare find for me. I’ve had the DVD Collector Edition for decades now, and I’m eagerly anticipating a 4K release of this classic Disney movie, but you could do much worse than this beautiful Blu-Ray edition. This was one of the first feature-length films to be filmed in CinemaScope, and Blu-Ray truly reveals how beautiful the film can be. The film also won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. This is another great reason to track the movie down on Blu-Ray. Unfortunately, there are no extras with this edition. Hang onto your double disk DVD set because it has all of the cool extras that collector’s seek. 

 

 

StarCraft on PC: I was first exposed to Starcraft  in 1999, a year after the game’s release. My friend, Vic Berwick and I would play endless games over dial up modem at the time. To my chagrin, I was never able to beat him in our 1 vs 1 matches. I’m working on the single player campaign in hopes of honing my skills well enough to win a rematch against my devious foe. I’ve beat the human campaign and since moved onto the Zerg campaign. The Zergs are an insect like group that attack in numbers, hence the term “zerg rush,” which has become an accepted term for online RTS rushes in any capacity. Blizzard’s rendition of a new “remastered” version did the game justice, as this game is much shinier and crisper than its original. This game was definitely not the first RTS, but it was an important game that caused an almost religious type following in South Korea. 

 

The Thing on 4K Blu-Ray: It’s easily on my list of top tens. My PC was built from its inspiration (you can see it in every Mix photo I post.) Seems I just watched this not so long ago, but each time I do I take something more enriching from it. I’ve previously commented on how beautiful the film looks on 4K, but this time watching it, I got a sense of how much hard work went on behind the scenes and by some of Hollywood’s best cast to ever work in movies. Dean Cundey, who has worked with John Carpenter since Halloween (1978), was one of the very first cinematographers to use a “steadycam” rig, which revolutionized filmmaking at the time. He went on to film other movies including, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Back to the Future trilogy, Jurassic Park, and Apollo 13. Being Halloween was an independent project, this was the first time Carpenter and Cundey worked on a film for a big budget studio (Universal Pictures.) The OST, created by the legendary Ennio Morricone, was simply Morricone creating a film score that sounded like John Carpenter’s Halloween. Carpenter, dissatisfied with some of Morricone’s tones during some of the more intense stressful parts of the film, interposed his own simple tone synth music which he now states was nothing more than “sound effects.” Albert Whitlock did the set matte paintings for the movie. Whitlock got his start in Alfred Hitchcock films, which you can quite easily see in The Birds (1961). He did remarkable work in The Hindenburg (1976) and even more extensive work for Earthquake (1974) for which he also received an Academy Award. Perhaps the most interesting take of all, however, is the story of Rob Bottin, who was hired to do the special creature effects for the movie. This poor guy lived at the Universal Studios studio for a year as the movie was being created. He slept on sets and in locker rooms. He worked late nights and didn’t take a single day off for that year. He was ultimately hospitalized for exhaustion, ulcers and pneumonia. Bottin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on Legend (1986), but lost out. He finally received one for Special Achievement for his work on Total Recall (1990). Rob Bottin has since retired from moviemaking, given that CGI took away his job, but man! The dedication he put forth for The Thing, and how that dedication turned into his job being replaced by CGI. Sad. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiger Leader by DVG Games: So, you know how much I love solo boardgames. I was searching online for a particular one, seeing if it was being sold at discount somewhere and I stumbled upon this game, made by the same company. I didn’t hesitate. A few days later I had a 5 lb. shrinkwrapped box on the kitchen counter. I spent 2 full days setting up the game, poring over the manual repeatedly and on Board Game Geek.com trying to wrestle the game into a playable state (read: wrapping my head around the rules enough to where I could play it.) After watching 3 hours of YouTube vids by a guy named oddly simply enough, “Jeff” I was able to get a handle on it, AND THE TIME OF MY LIFE! Of course I got bug squashed on my first playthrough, my marauding German forces couldn’t take the 1939 Poles, no Blitzkrieg for me. But for a solo boardgame experience, this ranks right up there with Nemo’s War. You command a German panzer division from the beginning of WWII to the fall of Germany. Recruiting and developing commanders, each one gains experience and skill points to better his abilities as you play through the war. As you mete out orders and your commanders execute them, the good ol’ imagination kicks in and you develop camaraderie with these cardboard chit commanders. Good times.  

  

Memoir ’44: Had a visit from my cousins, two brothers, and introduced them to Memoir ’44. After our games I asked them what they thought. They both said they were picking the game up when they got back home. Who needs YouTube to be an influencer? This game which won the 2004 International Gamers Award for General Strategy – 2 Player category and the 2004 Award for Excellence by The Wargamer. It received the 2004 International Gamers Award for General Strategy. You’ve seen me extoll its virtues here before, but it’s a game I never get tired of. I get so much enjoyment out of it I often play it solo. A mixture of dice, cards, military figures (artillery, tanks, soldiers, sandbags, concertina wire, etc.) This is truly a gateway game if you want to get into war strategy boardgames.  

 

 

 

Edward's June 2025 Monthly Mix

 

 I prefaced this entry last month with the statement, Endless Summer. It’s peculiar that one of the Beach Boys’ best selling albums was entitled Endless Summer and now Brian Wilson has left us. Ah, it’s like a part of my childhood dying. I’ll never forget living in a suburb that looked like a diorama piece from a Tim Burton film, my mom cleaning the house on a Saturday morning and awakening to the sound of “Sloop John B” playing on the radio. If only I could return to childhood for another day, but alas, putting squeezed toothpaste back into the tube would be an easier task. Adulthood was inevitable, but no matter. My motto is: have as much fun as you can as often as you can. I never have to do another freaking inventory again. How can life not be fun? I am learning Kiss’s “Detroit Rock City.” And that’s so much fun, I can barely contain myself.

BladeRunner 2049 on 4K Blu-Ray: I may have said it before; this time this statement supersedes all others. This is the most beautiful 4K Blu Ray I have. Kudos to Denis Villenueve, the director for his artistic vision (yes, he did consult with Syd Mead) who, with his use of neon and mist, shadow and silence, created a dreamscape film that simply lingers. Roger Deakins, the director of photography, cleverly made light itself a character in the movie. And of course, Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack which is a beautiful homage to the Vangelis’ gorgeous soundtrack from the original. The storyline is ingenious, and the expertly sought cast brought that story to life so well, this film now has a home in my top five films of all time. I’m struggling to say it, but this film has the rare honor of being a sequel that surpasses the original movie. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call of Duty Warzone on PC: Last month this spot was occupied by World of Warships. My friend, Garrett Thrasher, convinced me to take a break and give this one a go. It comes in at a walloping 260 gigabytes, and begs the question how can graphic shaders and accruements take up so much space (especially for a free to play game), but the end result might be worth it. Despite the game’s convoluted menu interface system and the other paid games nestled imbroglio-like into the warzone game, the game itself is beautiful, easy to play (and relatively easy to be good at.) It has an addictive leveling system, and much fun is to be had playing with a team of friends. If you have the buddies and the real estate on your hard disk drive, it’s worth a try. I’d like to give special mention to playing solo. The game takes on a whole new spin when you are alone against the world, it becomes so quiet you can hear your own breathing while wearing a gas mask, and every sound becomes suspect.    

Boston Third Stage on CD: Releasing in 1986 (after taking six years to make) this album was the first CD-formatted album to have been certified gold (500,000 copies) by the RIAA. It was also certified gold in the LP format, believed to be the first album certified in both of these formats. Considered to be darker and more somber than the two prior Boston releases, this album is my favorite. Everybody gushes over “Amanada,” but for me what does it is the song, “Hollyann.” Listening to that beginning guitar playing the beautiful arpeggio. I think you’ll agree.

Patrick O’Hearn Metaphor on CD: Patrick O’Hearn has always been my great little secret. You can find him in the New Age section, but he’s much more than that, having rubbed shoulders with (and cut albums and done tours) Frank Zappa, guitarist Andy Taylor (Duran, Duran) and one of my other personal favorites, Mark Isham, O’Hearn also co-founded and played with the new wave band, Missing Persons in the early 80s. He eventually went out on his own as an electronic artist. Metaphor was O’Hearn’s 7^th studio album and featured a soundscape that evoked great sadness (the album cover depicts a sad and dejected statue that looks like it resides in a cemetery.) The song “The Women of Lachaise” is the one song that makes my eyes well up at its mere beginning. The album is a bit more acoustic than O’Hearn’s previous titles, but it still carries that great soundscape characteristic that is totally Patrick O’Hearn.

Angel Heart on 4K Blu-Ray: Decades ago, on a typical Friday night I would have ordered a pizza and popped a rented movie into the VCR. This was one such movie. And I’ve not seen it since. It’s been too many years. Set in 1955 in Brooklyn, NY and New Orleans, LA, this is a dark psychological thriller bearing grim, morbid overtones from the beginning to the end of the film. From its ominous back alley bowels of Brooklyn to the sinister religious innuendos infused throughout, this movie has no chance of a happy ending. But the hopeless journey is so frighteningly engrossing that you can't take your eyes off the screen. Alan Parker’s direction was meticulous. The movie’s set designs look authentic enough that this movie could be used as a period piece for the 1950s. The 4K transfer with its lugubrious dark blues and gashing sanguine reds, is a far cry from the original VHS version which released in 1987. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: This was truly a summer read, taking me three months to ingest. I last wrote about it here when I was well into the novel, but not near the end. Tolstoy referred to this book as his first true novel. It centers on the titular Anna Karenina, living the stately life, being married to a prince, who has a sordid affair with the charismatic calvary officer, Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky and the ensuing scandal that follows. The novel deals with several themes intertwined with the book’s plot, Karenina leaving her husband, pursuing happiness in Italy with her lover, Vronsky, where their relationship begins to disintegrate. They have a child, and later return to Russia where their relationship deteriorates further. Karenina gets to the point in which when she looks at her daughter she sees Vronsky’s face and it depresses her further. The book deals with themes of betrayal, family, marriage, imperial Russian society and the differences between rural and urban life. The book, like all novels penned by sad Russian authors, ends in tragedy. It’s a book that will make you feel smarter for having read it.

The Burbs on Blu-Ray: One of my gaming buddies has seen this movie three hundred times at least (or so he claims.) He along with some other mutual friends are always quoting lines from it. I felt oddly out of place, until now. I finally have been made privy to the zaniness. Despite the film’s masterful transfer from DVD, it just didn’t do much for me. I’m rarely impressed by comedy in the first place. This one just struck me as . . . well, silly. Screenwriter Dana Olsen, who was inspired by her own upbringing in the suburbs, decided to pen a screenplay in which Ozzie and Harriett meet Charles Manson. Tom Hanks stated Joe Dante did a great job with the direction, truly telling the story through the lens of the camera, and Tom Hanks was his usual Splash era self, much more a funnyman than the serious drama guy he became later. Carrie Fisher played her role with a slightly humorous poignancy in the best of ways, but not sure I’d want to watch this one again.

Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher #11) by Lee Child: After having finished Leo Tolstoy’s epic Anna Karenina, I have to say this book is a guilty pleasure. If Anna Karenina was a marathon, this book (like all Jack Reacher books) is a 5K run. Child’s books move quickly, despite their thickness. If you’ve watched the series Reacher, then you already know the gist of this one which was the basis for the entire second season on Amazon. Jack Reacher teams up with the remnants of his old MP unit from the Army to discover who murdered one of their own.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning in IMAX: With a shooting budget of $400 million dollars, this is historically, one of the most expensive films to make under Earth’s sun. Shooting took almost a year long hiatus due to a SAG strike affecting all movies being shot at the time. Oddly, the film was released first in foreign markets before being shown in the United States, (I’ll never understand why movie studios do that!) I consider myself a bit late to the party, because to my chagrin, this was a sequel to the last Mission Impossible movie, which I have not seen. Being the big budget popcorn movie it is, it didn’t take long to come up to speed. I got to see it on an IMAX screen, and lo and behold, goodness gracious! Watching Tom Cruise get the bends after diving to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve a high-tech McGuffin from a sunken Russian sub (the underwater photography is gorgeously haunting) and then seeing him walk on the wing of an old biplane in a death-defying stunt will make you hold your breath. Watching this at the IMAX theater did just that, made me hold my breath. This movie, being the end of the series, made me realize it wasn’t just the end of a three-decade-old franchise, it felt like the end of a certain kind of popcorn blockbuster Hollywood is giving up on. (I don’t like Marvel superhero movies.) It is a tragedy of sorts, but at least Tom Cruise goes out in epic style.   

 

 

  

 

Edward's May 2025 Monthly Mix

 

Endless Summer. That’s what my life is now. Time has no meaning for me. I wear a watch, but I rarely look at it anymore, well, not in a way of dependence. Going to bed when I want and rising when I want has oddly caused a paradigm shift. It’s as if suddenly the world has stopped moving. I’m slipping fingers into the curtain break of my living room now and watching the world outside, but sort of not feeling a part of it. This is what retirement is for me. I embrace it, but it still feels weird, but goodness gracious, so wonderful! I did get to go to a school reunion in Illinois this month and have memories of me recounted by other people which has given new meaning to the word bizarre. People recalling memories of you that you don’t specifically remember, and that impending smile of recognition because you can easily see yourself in those moments through someone else’s eyes. I drove back home feeling lonesome because I was leaving a part of my childhood behind.  

Bram Stoker’s Dracula on Blu-Ray: This should have been titled, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (boy, that’s a mouthful) because this was Coppola’s dream movie after having watched monster movies as a kid. And Gary Oldman took the titular role because he wanted to work with Coppola. Once that was established, Oldman took the character Dracula and made it his own, since stating it was the most physically exhausting film he’s made. Before filming began, Coppola sat with the cast and they read the original novel together. How cool is that? He insisted the movie set itself would be the costumes used in the movie, even going so far as to mute the coloring on the sets to augment the visual appeal of the costumes. He enlisted the expertise of fashion artist Eiko Ishioka who executed the costuming with grandiose aplomb. (She won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the movie.) Even though I thought there were liberties taken with the original book, Francis Coppola captured the imagery of the novel perfectly. The scene of Lucy Westminstra in her beautiful shroud, lying in a glass coffin is one of the most visually haunting scenes I’ve watched in a movie in a long time. 

World of Warships on PC: This is probably the best free to play game I’ve ever played. Reluctant to give it a try per the suggestion of my friend Andrew Collins, I finally bit the bullet, took the projectile lead poisoning and never looked back. I take leaves of absences, but I always return. This is a thinking and strategic game for old guys. And you get bonus points for being Navy vets. I’ve sparked up many a conversation with enemy team members because of their all too revealing user name which betrays their time spent in the US Navy. Right now, ranked tournaments have stolen the show for me. There are three leagues, bronze, silver and gold. I’ve made it to number one in Bronze. When I was poised to move up into the silver league, the season ended. And now I’m seemingly stuck in Bronze. I can get to rank 6, and then like crabs in a bucket, inadvertently pulling each other back down as they’re about to make their egress, I’m suddenly back to rank 8. Grrrr!!!

Ottmar Leibert Nouveau Flamenco on CD: Ottmar Leibert’s first album which garnered double platinum sales, was his first exposure to the world. He played a new style of music he termed “new flamenco,” to the chagrin of other flamenco artists at the time who were trying to rejuvenate and reinvent traditional Latin America flamenco and jazz styles of guitar. I discovered him on the New Age program, Musical Starstreams I used to listen to in Austin, TX on Sunday nights years ago. An Amazon reviewer once deemed this album, “pheromone for the ears.” Yes, I can definitely hear that in the music. If you like The Gypsy Kings, you’re going to love this. Put this on around friends or family. I guarantee you’re going to get at least one, “Hey, who is this?”

Detroit: Become Human on PC: I was gifted this game by a wonderful Steam friend, and playing it made me think of the old days of slavery and the Civil Rights Act. The game involves a near future in which androids are as common as pets and put to use in households doing domestic chores, shopping, taking care of kids, and being caregivers. A dark side also rears its ugly head: people bear animosity because androids are taking their jobs. (It’s peculiar how we are now hearing whispers and Internet headlines about AI potentially doing the same thing today.) Androids are treated as second class beings and we see signs posted on businesses stating, “No Androids Allowed.” The androids ultimately lash out with a desire to be free from their human captors. Playing as one of these androids you are faced with heavy hearted decisions, each one affecting the outcome of the game via a branching storyline. This is a narrative game with an all star cast and big bucks funded by Sony to make it a thing. They knocked it out of the park. Decisions I made caused me to pace the floor and think about the game when I had shut it down for the day. I’ve never felt so discombobulated playing a game before, the ambiguous feelings of being glad the game is over so the stress comes to an end and being saddened at its end because you know the experience came to an end. Despite its beautiful graphics and smooth gameplay, this is a game that ascends such trimmings. This could have been an 8 bit mobile phone game and it still would have captivated me.

Steelseries Arctis Gamebuds: After having a recent procedure done in which I had to temporarily eschew the use of a bulky headset due to the band that touches across the top of my head, I picked up a set of earbuds. These weren’t typical ordinary el cheapo earbuds, however. These were the PC Gamer magazine heavily lauded Editor’s Choice earbuds. They sure do look snazzy, but in all honesty, color me not impressed. They seem cantankerous, always losing Blue Tooth connection when I leave the room for anything, and they sound a bit on the tinny side. I have to manually press them against my ear to hear any kind of engrossing bass to signify I’m really a part of the game’s world I’m playing in. I’ve tried numerous sized buds, but I just can’t get them to fit deeply enough for convincing sound. I can’t wait to get back to my headset. 

 

Sniper Elite on PC: This is a game released in 2005 . . . and it shows. You play Karl Fairburne, a German-born American operative disguised as a German sniper. He is inserted into Berlin in the final days before the city’s fall with the critical objective of preventing German nuclear technology from falling into the hands of the invading Russians. The game is quirky and muddy looking (because of its age.) I was in one mission in which I had to clear an enemy base camp, hiding the dispatched bodies and then steal a code book from the base’s commander. The base commander arrives by train and immediately goes to his office to his safe where he makes the code book available. There’s a catch, however. As he ambulates from the train car to his office, the base must look as if you were never there, no dead bodies or anything amiss. I failed one mission because a guard I had sniped in a tower had a foot sticking out. Another failure occurred because a fallen guard fell just past the game’s invisible confines. I went to retrieve the guard’s body and couldn’t reach him, even though there he was right in front of me. Having to restart the entire mission from scratch, that one had me reaching an all time high level of frustration. Why do I punish myself like this, you ask? Very simple. I, being the purist I am, have to play all of the games in the series!

The Art of Mass Effect: Mass Effect was released in 2007 and became a gaming phenomenon. Creative studio, Bioware, hit a mega-homerun with the game which netted millions of sales and spawned three more games in the series (with a 5^th game forthcoming.) I picked up this fancy coffee table book detailing the original trilogy. In spite of its 2012 publishing date, it does include most of the content from all three games of the original trilogy. It details each iteration and art style change that occurred in each of the first three games. This book is liking having the whole Mass Effect universe at your fingertips anytime you pull it from the shelf. A space opera that has elements of Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, this is a series that could rival any one of those venerable franchises. It’s the first space-military type game that made me feel like a real-life Captain Kirk or Picard.