This is has been a strange month. Well, in a good way, actually. Evening porches are graced by people conversing with cigarettes and coffee in hand. Pedestrians populate the sidewalks and jogging trails in shorts. Winter coats are going into long term closets. Spring is in full swing. And of course that means summer is just around the corner. But the strangeness I'm talking about is that in this merry month of May you'll notice I don't have many PC games listed. My time has been consumed by other media. I'd like to think I took a break from gaming, but oh no, that's not quite the case. What I've done is bought into a new game that has consumed me!
1. Shiny Toy Guns We Are Pilots & Season of Poison on CD
I'm a big fan of The Birthday Massacre. If you like grunge guitar work and beautiful landscapey synthesizers played from a moon filled haunted house, then TBM might be right up your alley. Now imagine TBM's first cousin, the grunge guitar work accompanied by dreamy landscape synth music, but played from an abandoned house on a gray day in a big city back alley, holes in the roof, rain falling in sheets. This is Shiny Toy Guns. First introduced to me by my friend, Dillon Gard, I was hooked upon my first listen. "You Are the One," and "Rainy Monday," are excellent first choice listens to see what this band is about. Their remake of Peter Schilling's "Major Tom" is brilliant.
2. Angels And Airwaves We Don't Need to Whisper on CD
I wasn't a fan of Blink 182 when they first came out years ago. They were like some garage band that snuck out of the pages of National Lampoon magazine. And then I really listened to Tom Barker's drumming and Tom Delonge's barre chords on a simple Fender Stratocaster with no special effects. I realized these guys were really talented. And then with each passing Blink album there seemed to be a thread of maturity interwoven into each one. This was a band growing before our eyes . . eh, umm, ears, rather. Then they broke up. Out of the ashes was born Angels And Airwaves. Delonge's somewhat nasally voice spewing out lyrics that could be interchanged into any other A&A or any later Blink song is guilty of repetition, no doubt. But I can't stop listening to this stuff. Blink's original soundtracks to youth, rebellion, and teen angst has mellowed and matured.
I wasn't a fan of Blink 182 when they first came out years ago. They were like some garage band that snuck out of the pages of National Lampoon magazine. And then I really listened to Tom Barker's drumming and Tom Delonge's barre chords on a simple Fender Stratocaster with no special effects. I realized these guys were really talented. And then with each passing Blink album there seemed to be a thread of maturity interwoven into each one. This was a band growing before our eyes . . eh, umm, ears, rather. Then they broke up. Out of the ashes was born Angels And Airwaves. Delonge's somewhat nasally voice spewing out lyrics that could be interchanged into any other A&A or any later Blink song is guilty of repetition, no doubt. But I can't stop listening to this stuff. Blink's original soundtracks to youth, rebellion, and teen angst has mellowed and matured.
3. House of Cards Season 1 on Netflix
My daughter was home for a visit from Chicago. I was out with friends, and when I came home she was sprawled on the couch watching a series episode of something on television. She explained it was a new original Netflix production helmed by (and starring) Kevin Spacey based on a British political drama. I appropriately winced and mouthed, BORING! But then I proceeded to watch it until the end. I was ensorcelled! I think this could be Spacey's magnum opus role. He's a South Carolina whip congressman who is looking forward to his new appointment as Secretary of State. Just when he's about to prepare his acceptance speech he discovers he's been passed up by the very people he groomed into office! He goes on a vendetta to not only discredit the buffoons who had him passed over, he sets his sights on becoming the next president. The under the table antics he and his equally rapacious wife employ for his crusade make this a compelling series to watch. It's depressing in a way if this show reflects Washington authentically. We are peons and how we as simpletons vote and think our opinions and stances matter make little difference in the game of big politics.
My daughter was home for a visit from Chicago. I was out with friends, and when I came home she was sprawled on the couch watching a series episode of something on television. She explained it was a new original Netflix production helmed by (and starring) Kevin Spacey based on a British political drama. I appropriately winced and mouthed, BORING! But then I proceeded to watch it until the end. I was ensorcelled! I think this could be Spacey's magnum opus role. He's a South Carolina whip congressman who is looking forward to his new appointment as Secretary of State. Just when he's about to prepare his acceptance speech he discovers he's been passed up by the very people he groomed into office! He goes on a vendetta to not only discredit the buffoons who had him passed over, he sets his sights on becoming the next president. The under the table antics he and his equally rapacious wife employ for his crusade make this a compelling series to watch. It's depressing in a way if this show reflects Washington authentically. We are peons and how we as simpletons vote and think our opinions and stances matter make little difference in the game of big politics.
4. The Wild Wild West Season Four on DVD
You've heard me say this before, but the kids on the block where I lived in elementary school in Urbana, Illinois had Batman and The Hulk as superheroes. I was an exception. My hero was James West. The fisticuff pretty boy who worked for the US Secret Service was bigger than life to me. Having acquired the whole series in the handsome box set allows me to relive those memories. I'm watching season four now, which I've not seen since 1969. It's not quite as campy as the old Lost in Space episodes I also loved, but it is quite funny to recognize the same four stuntmen dressed as different cowboys, dockworkers, jail guards, etc. and realizing when they enter the scene there is inevitably about to be a knockdown drag out fistfight. And the environments of this show, oh man. It's all straight out of an H.G. Wells/Jules Verne concoction. This is the show that pretty much gave birth to the Steampunk genre. Who would have known back in 1965?
5. Baal by Robert R. McCammon
Sometimes called the poor man's Stephen King, I think Robert R. McCammon is an underrated writer. His novel, Swan Song, is every bit as well written as King's The Stand, and a hardbound edition of his Boy's Life shall forever reside on my bookshelf. Baal, his first novel seems to be moving along as a quick easy read. I can tell it's a freshman effort, but along with his other early novels McCammon refused to allow reprints because he felt they weren't written well enough. I spotted this hard to find gem for a buck on the clearance rack at Half Price Books. This concerns a demon taking the guise of a boy at an orphanage. McCammon's characterizations are decently crafted, and I can see this book paving the way for his later and better written material.
6. The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore on Kindle
Most modern horror movies have lost the spark of their yesteryear counterparts. A typical vampire film has the main character spewing about for the first hour trying to convince the other characters he or she has actually seen a vampire. Enter Hammer Films. Hammer Films was a studio that took the horror genre very seriously. A typical Hammer film would open with the inn closing the doors for the night and barring them to prevent entry from the aforementioned vampire. In 1961 they released one of the greatest werewolf films of all time, The Curse of the Werewolf. The titular star was Oliver Reed in his first role. After seeing the movie for about the seventh time I became curious about the novel on which it was based. Unfortunately, the novel was selling for ridiculously exorbitant prices. Thank goodness for the Amazon Kindle. I found a Kindle edition for less than three bucks. This novel is incredibly more detailed than the movie, although it does take some liberties. The book is lusty, atmospheric and engaging. If you like gothic horror this is worth checking out. This book could be to werewolf folklore what Stoker's Dracula was to the vampire lore, or the quintessence of Frankenstein's monster birthed by Mary Shelley's brilliant novel.
7. Hearthstone on PC
This is the only game I've mentioned this month. There's a reason: it's about the only game I've played this month. Blizzard has a corner on Internet gaming addiction, and this game is living proof. It's a collectible card game akin to Magic: The Gathering, but this is the kindergarten version. You play online with human opponents, yet you can't talk to them. You acquire cards, some quite valuable, but there is no trading them let alone selling them. An average session has you winning two out of six games. The forums even allege that many of the games are comprised of Blizzard bots instead of real players. So, what's the big deal? It's that chance you might unlock some seriously phat loot which you can use as a component in your next killer deck. This game is in beta and free to play. I'm telling you now, don't go check it out. Save your sanity and your life. Remember, I warned you. Don't. Go. There.
5. Baal by Robert R. McCammon
Sometimes called the poor man's Stephen King, I think Robert R. McCammon is an underrated writer. His novel, Swan Song, is every bit as well written as King's The Stand, and a hardbound edition of his Boy's Life shall forever reside on my bookshelf. Baal, his first novel seems to be moving along as a quick easy read. I can tell it's a freshman effort, but along with his other early novels McCammon refused to allow reprints because he felt they weren't written well enough. I spotted this hard to find gem for a buck on the clearance rack at Half Price Books. This concerns a demon taking the guise of a boy at an orphanage. McCammon's characterizations are decently crafted, and I can see this book paving the way for his later and better written material.
6. The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore on Kindle
Most modern horror movies have lost the spark of their yesteryear counterparts. A typical vampire film has the main character spewing about for the first hour trying to convince the other characters he or she has actually seen a vampire. Enter Hammer Films. Hammer Films was a studio that took the horror genre very seriously. A typical Hammer film would open with the inn closing the doors for the night and barring them to prevent entry from the aforementioned vampire. In 1961 they released one of the greatest werewolf films of all time, The Curse of the Werewolf. The titular star was Oliver Reed in his first role. After seeing the movie for about the seventh time I became curious about the novel on which it was based. Unfortunately, the novel was selling for ridiculously exorbitant prices. Thank goodness for the Amazon Kindle. I found a Kindle edition for less than three bucks. This novel is incredibly more detailed than the movie, although it does take some liberties. The book is lusty, atmospheric and engaging. If you like gothic horror this is worth checking out. This book could be to werewolf folklore what Stoker's Dracula was to the vampire lore, or the quintessence of Frankenstein's monster birthed by Mary Shelley's brilliant novel.
7. Hearthstone on PC
This is the only game I've mentioned this month. There's a reason: it's about the only game I've played this month. Blizzard has a corner on Internet gaming addiction, and this game is living proof. It's a collectible card game akin to Magic: The Gathering, but this is the kindergarten version. You play online with human opponents, yet you can't talk to them. You acquire cards, some quite valuable, but there is no trading them let alone selling them. An average session has you winning two out of six games. The forums even allege that many of the games are comprised of Blizzard bots instead of real players. So, what's the big deal? It's that chance you might unlock some seriously phat loot which you can use as a component in your next killer deck. This game is in beta and free to play. I'm telling you now, don't go check it out. Save your sanity and your life. Remember, I warned you. Don't. Go. There.
