Edward's April 2012 Mix

April and March decided to go nutso this year and switch places (it's annoyingly cold here) and that is my perfect excuse for staying indoors this month and losing myself wholly to all sorts of indoor goodness. You will see this has been the busiest month I've had as far as activities. I've been engrossed in good tunes, good books and games that started out good, but sheesh, at this point I just wish they were over with! I'm hopefully two months away from my new uber gaming PC, and when that beautiful day comes that the FedEx man knocks on my door I can't be still playing these old games. 

1. Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour ’08:

Okay, yes, I'm embarassed. I should have been done with this a long time ago. But hey, I'm 3 golfers away from Tiger! It's still pretty much been easy so far. 114 hours so far. Let me see if I can knock it out in less than 120. I am still in the amateur tour. And I'm not sure I'm going to make to the pro tour before I get to Tiger. Oh well, far be it from me to brag (excessively),it will be cool to say I beat Tiger Woods while wearing my K-Mart polyester pants and Wal-Mart windbreaker and using clubs I picked up at U Get Credit Pawn stores while still in the amateur circuit.

2. Thor by Wayne Smith on Kindle:

In 1996 Morgan Creek Productions made a tiny sleeper of a film starring Michael Parre about a werewolf seeking refuge from his blood crimes by hiding out with his sister and her little boy. The movie was surprisingly good, based on a young author's first novel. That novel is now available on Amazon.com for a lowly $157.00. Good luck finding it for much cheaper on eBay. I picked it up for a mere three bucks for my Kindle, however, and it's entertainment value so far has blown away the movie. The novel is told through the eyes of a German Shepherd named Thor, and Wayne Smith should get kudos for his handling of this type of narrative. Smith makes me want to get a German Shepherd! If you're a fan of horror in general or if you love dogs you'll enjoy this amazing novel.

3. Tomorrow's Technology and You by George Beekman & Michael J. Quinn

This was actually a textbook my daughter left behind from one of her college Computer Science classes. I started it and couldn't put it down. Being the hardcore gamer I am, granted, I have more than a passing familiarity with much of the material. (I don't know any dedicated PC gamer that doesn't know his or her way around a desktop computer like the back of their hands) but this book has been very enlightening. It's filled with all kinds of great historical footnotes about the beginning of the Internet, and small bio's about the man who invented the World Wide Web, and even touches upon Bill Gates' rather unscrupulous business practices that got him to where he is (and the fact that he may have indeed redeemed himself through his charitable foundations.) Fascinating reading.

4. Eluviam "Copia" on CD:

An ethereal ambient tour de force by solo musician Matthew Cooper. Stunning work, and truly magnicent what this guy can do with a piano. The album contains such wondrous titles as, "Reciting the Airships," and "Indoor swimming at the Space Station." The music is as haunting as these titles evoke. If you get a chance go to Youtube and look up "Hymn #1" and try not to think of the movie, The Road. Beautiful heart-rending tuneage to say the least.

5. Gravitational Pull vs The Desire for an Aquatic Life by Stars of the Lid on CD:

Austin, Texas duo Adam Wiltzie and Brian McCbride are prophets to the electronic ambient music which has become my religion. Hard to imagine a guy playing a single synthesizer note for a minute straight coupled with a guitar on heavy reverb can have the effect it does on me, but I could toss my collection of 200 plus CD's and keep SOTL and be happy about it. Their songs take me back to 1st and 2nd grade, riding my bike to school, racing home to catch Dark Shadows on TV, and Saturday morning cartoons, distant summer lawnmowers and doves sadly cooing on telephone lines.

6. Second Life:

I spent six months of the year 2006 unemployed. But I certainly was occupied. I stumbled upon Linden Labs' virtual environment inspired by the metaverse in Neil Stephenson's epic novel, Snowcrash.  Pablo Picasso once said, "What you imagine is real." Truer words were never spoken especially when it comes to Second Life. The whole world is created by the very occupants who live in the environment. People are agog about Minecraft because of the same conventions, but Second Life was first. Some dismiss it as a 3D chat program, and some a cyber sex simulator, but I've made friends for life in this software program. I've made RL money writing for publications within the game, and the September 2006 issue of Computer Games Magazine published an essay I wrote about a sad but beautiful experience I had within the game. You probably won't get this game, but if you do, its hooks are worse than chocolate meth.

7. PC Gamer Magazine 2002:

Still reading through the year 2002 PC Gamer Mags. This was definitely a good time to be a gamer. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Ghost Recon (probably my favorite game of all time) had been published, and the top games on the horizon were such wonderful titles as Deus Ex2: Invisible War, Everquest 2, Halo and Rise of Nations, not to mention Doom III,  Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield (my favorite in the series) and World of Warcraft (which didn't release until 2005). Still, a great time to be a gamer. Ah, times were much simpler back then. 

8. Napoleon: Total War on PC:

I'm still slogging through the European campaign. (On EASY, mind you.) But I'm starting to feel like a staggering old captain who's not seen his family in four years and looking out on the grey horizon from the black dirt trenches at a terrible winter approaching and knowing the damn war is far from over. This game has been fun to play, but frankly I'm getting my ass stomped. I'm about to lose and I don't know whether I'm going to try the campaign again,  hopefully having gleaned some lessons from this epic failure or just delete the game from my hard drive and try something else. I love the Total War games; I just wish they weren't so difficult.  

9. Seinfeld: Season 8 on DVD:

Enjoying this penultimate season of my favorite modern television sitcom. But I do have a confession. I think Season 7 was funnier. It seems like Kramer's physical comedy isn't as prevalent in this season, and George is, well, I don't know . . .different, as if he stepped into a time machine and came back out of synch. Newman has definitely lost weight since the last season. All good things must come to an end, and it's kinda sad really, because I can discern the end of this great show looming in the distance.

10. Company of Heroes on PC:

Been playing this a tad, and convinced an online friend to purchase it, and I'm looking forward to playing with her. Despite being PC Gamers Magazine's 2006 GOTY, I still think this game holds up quite well to the test of time. I think it will always remain on my hard drive. I can beat the AI consistently on Normal. Going to be interesting to see if I can even come close when I bump it up to Expert. Still the most fun I've had even when I lose. Grabbing a buddy and playing co-op on Xfire voice or Teamspeak against the AI is a wonderful way to spend a Saturday evening.