Aha! And you thought May was going to get away without my monthly mix post? No way, Jose! Still enjoying the new mighty machine atop my desk. Loving the Steelseries cans. I've recently added a Creative SoundBlaster Z board, and as I mentioned in last month's post, I anticipated the sound was going to be incredible and it is truly amazing! Microsoft and Sony are leaking out (and proudly pronouncing) specs for their new consoles coming out at the end of the year. It's wonderful to be able to sigh and gloat in the fact the two consoles' hardware specs still won't touch my PC. Microsoft's big hook is, guess what? You can access Skype on your Xbox One! I've been doing that on my PC since 2003. Ah well, I know I'm personally prejudiced, but seriously, will you be able to play Rome: Total War 2 on any console? Battlefield 3 with 64 man servers? How about all of those mods for Skyrim and FarCry 3? Just goes to show, there's still no comparison.
It's been a quite busy month, tons of games, and I've been watching the telly, (for a change.) All of this, despite the incredible amount of work to get my novel to fruition. Oh well, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!
1. About Schmitt on DVD
When Warren Schmitt (Jack Nicholson) retires and looks forward to the "next chapter" of his life by traveling around with his wife in their new Winnebago, his plans go awry when she immediately passes away. He attempts a life of normalcy at home, but decides it's too difficult. He drives out to his daughter's in Denver to attend her wedding (and convince her she's marrying the wrong man.) He meets with several mini-misadventures along the way and confides them all in letters to a six year old Tanzanian boy he's sponsoring in a Feed the Hungry program. His portrayal of a man obsessed with orderliness and routine whose life is suddenly everything but, is spot on. And as he looks back on his life he thinks he's the same mere common star stuff we're all made of, nothing really significant; he will leave the world without leaving his footprint in it. But then something happens to make him realize he has made a difference, much more than he could imagine. This bittersweet comedy is one of Jack's best.
2. Lost 1st Season on Blu-ray
I've finally traveled back to that lost island near the equator that is so reminiscent of an adult version of Gilligan's Island. I'm still in the first season, I'm slow I realize, but each episode is a real treat. I'm extending it out for as long as I can. Strange things are happening: Said has been conked on the head and captured by the lost French woman, we discover the Korean woman speaks fluent English, and Sawyer is coming around as not only a conman and a conniver, but also a man with a heart. The Blu-ray looks beautiful, and commercial free makes it even moreso.
3. Placebo Once More with Feeling -- Singles 1996-2004 on CD
I didn't discover Placebo (actually Brian Molko "guesting" on The Alpine Stars) until I heard a song on a PC game I was playing, Test Drive Unlimited. There I was, cruising in my Saturn Sky convertible trekking through rural roads in Oahu, the shadows of the trees gracing the cool pavement ahead of me and this song came on, sung by Molko. It was called "Carbon Kid" and it was so fitting for that game. I researched it and discovered Placebo. Amazing a trio can capture this much angst, dissatisfaction, and depression with so much energy. Shoot, this album depicts feeling down as something fun! And there is true profundity in such things as "Special Needs" and "Every You Every Me."
4. Mass Effect 2 on PC
I finished the original Mass Effect way back in 2009. I was discouraged to try out ME2 because since it had been so long I thought I was going to have to replay the first one just to get caught up to speed. Fortunately, this game's intro refreshed my entry rather elegantly, and now here I am again, lost in this wonderful and exciting universe poised to try to save Earth again. The environments are so dazzling I play this game with the lights off, despite the high resolution of my HDMI monitor, and the NPC's in this game have more personality than, well, probably any other game I've ever played. Who needs to go to Hollywood to become a movie star? Play this game, and you'll feel like you're outshining anything Tinsel town has ever produced. I'm serious.
5. Sid Meier's Railroads on PC
Sid Meier and Firaxis Games tantalized us back in 2006 with what seemed to be a beautiful sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. The release proved to be a failure. They took the appeal of RRT3 and dumbed it down to appeal to the more casual gamer. And now there will probably never be a Railroad Tycoon 4. Still, I played through this game and enjoyed it. I'm running through another play through and having just as much fun. I'm disappointed in that the game came out in 2006 (it was actually released just after Windows Vista) and yet the game wouldn't work on Vista at all. That's inexcusable. It is, however, running on my Windows 7 system, albeit with occasional crashes to the desktop.
6. Battlefield 3 on PC
You always hear me extolling the virtues and my amorous love for Battlefield 2. Well, Dr. Ruth once said a man only falls in love one time in his life. I think she lied. I've traded in BF2 for the newer and younger BF3 and I'm not looking back now. The last week of May rewarded players with double XP, and I've taken full advantage. I'm now a Major (level 43) and I worked up through 4 ranks in two days. That's pretty intense, if I say so myself. My kill/death ratio still sucks eggs, just like it did in BF2, but my weapon accuracy is accurate than most, so I guess that's something to write home about. BF4 will be out for Christmas, of course EA is already bragging about its release for the consoles. (How irksome--the Battlefield series was born and raised on the PC). But if BF4 is anything like BF3 I may just become a polygamist.
7. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
I put off beginning this series for a long time. I'll admit I was a little bit intimidated by the series' length, but man oh man, this is great stuff! I'm surprised at how engaging Martin's writing is. I'm not a big fantasy fan, but of course I've read TLOR. I mean, it IS basically the shrine for any fantasy fan. But I think this series may just have it beat. Royal families deceiving each other to gain control on the eve of a terrible winter season that will last decades. There are so many characters in this book, and each chapter is told through the viewpoint of one of them, that I have to use a piece of notebook paper to keep tabs on everybody and their lineage, their squires, their servants, their stableboys, etc. But I've not been engrossed in a series like this since the first two books of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.
8. Manny's Search by Edward C. Burton
Ah yes, after just mentioning A Game of Thrones I can now put away the huge limelight and break out my cheap boy scout camp flashlight with the el cheapo Eveready batteries in it. But hey, it is my book I created and I'm pretty proud of it. I've made all of the corrections, and my editor suggested I rewrite the last quarter of it, and guess what? She was right. It was a ton of work, and I think I must have worn off a few more letters from my keyboard, but I feel so much more confident with it now. I just ordered another published proof from Amazon. Hopefully, this one will be ready to fly and next month I can begin selling. Fingers crossed.
9. The Munsters 1st Season on Netflix
This show came out in 1964 and I remember watching it in syndication a few short years later. Gee, I'm really dating myself here. But it exuded a certain charm to it I still find appealing to this day, despite its camp. I thought Yvonne De Carlo who played Lily was to die for even back then. Hard to believe she was actually a year older than Grandpa Munster, but still played his daughter. And on another trivial note, the house used as their homeplace of 1313 Mockingbird Lane still exists. And you've seen it! It was featured on nearly every episode of Desperate Housewives.
10. Amnesia - The Dark Descent on PC
I recently finished Doom 3 on a fluke. I was just wanting to see how it held up on a modern system being that when it came out in 2004 it pushed such technological envelopes. It holds up nicely. The game's sound design (and the immersion it encases you with on a good 5.1 surround sound speaker system) is nothing short of remarkable. Of course I had to cheat through some of it. Ugh! Hate when I do that, but I've talked to a few people recently about a survival horror game called Descent - The Dark Descent, and only one of them was able to finish it. It's supposedly that scary. I've started it; I'm about three hours into it, and yes, I've got to admit, the hair on the back of my neck and the goosebumps have flourished a few times. I haven't jumped out of my chair yet, (not done that since System Shock 2, actually) but they tell me that moment's coming. I picked up the game on a really cheap Steam sale. Add it to your wishlist and you do the same when it goes on sale again. Then we can tease each other about finishing it.
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