Edward's July 2015 Mix

I had two weeks off this month. I didn’t really go anywhere or do anything adventurous outside of the house because being I just started this year at a new company I didn’t have any vacation built up. But that’s perfectly fine. The majority of my adventures occurred inside through my movies, Blu-Ray series, music and PC games. It was nice to sleep in and not awaken to obligations of any sort. It’s just sad that after having that time off, a weekend off now just doesn’t seem quite long enough. Conversely, I guess if I’m going to play games and keep a television to watch my Blu-Rays on, and keep electricity surging through my devices I’m going to have to pay for them. And I haven’t won the lottery yet, so work seems like a viable option. It will have to do, for now. This mix is longer than the usual but it’s because I had so much more time this month to indulge myself. Enjoy!

 

1.  The Chernobyl Diaries on Blu-Ray: I picked this up at a local Disc Replay store a while back because it was cheap and I’d heard it was scary. It had that new and all the rage documentary feel to it, kind of like a Paranormal Activity movie. But the real hook for me was the location of the film, Prapyat, Chernobyl in the Ukraine. That place has been the central character in numerous PC games I’ve played such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. In every such game I’ve played, Chernobyl is a haunted broken place. And this movie seems to have captured the feel of it so precisely. It’s not the greatest horror film I’ve ever seen, but it had a few good jump scares in it. And it produced that uncanny sense of dread at all of the right times.

 

2.   The Witcher 2 on PC: Nope. I still haven’t finished it yet. But it’s amazing the things I’m discovering in a second play through that I missed the first time around. Lesson learned: sometimes it’s okay to forego the Steam achievements and just enjoy the freakin’ game. I’m not trying to speed run to write a silly Steam review anyway, what fun is that? I’m having much more fun revisiting this game, and if I’ve learned anything at all (especially in an epic length RPG) it’s that it’s okay to slow down, take in the scenery and smell the roses.

 

3.  Carbon Based Lifeforms: TwentyThree on CD: I’ve always loved Carbon Based Lifeforms and apparently I’m not the only one. You can buy their albums on Amazon for $79.00. Well, okay, you can also buy their mp3 albums there too, for a much more reasonable $8.99. But I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of them. Their music is usually accompanied by drum and bass. But not this album. This album is strictly ambient. It reminds me a lot of Brian Eno’s work. I don’t do this often, but when I heard the song, “Held Together by Gravity” I immediately bought the album. And then I listened to that one song twenty times straight. Life is funny sometimes, just when you think you’ve lived long enough to hear every good song on the planet, and then you discover this. It’s why I’d rather be blind than deaf.

 

4.  The Stanley Parable on PC: This is one game I finally cleared out of my Steam backlog. I played it in one play through and beat it in 19 minutes. Yes, I know, I know, I didn’t really beat it yet. There are multiple endings, and this game is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. But not really. Granted, I can respect its unusual narrative style and the exultations of it by hipsters who say this is the way a PC game should be made, but I wouldn’t really even call this a game. It’s more a game meets art concept kind of thing. (The whole product was born from a mod.) I was interested because of the way PC Gamer Magazine catapulted it into the stratosphere of rated 90+ games. I suppose the game’s gimmick is it’s a story about you (playing a character in the game from a first person perspective) but then it’s not a story about you playing a character in a game. You will follow rules dictated by the game, but then you will not follow those rules. People talk about the humor in it, personally, I didn’t find it all that funny, but then I rarely find comedy in this country funny at all, canned laugh tracks placed into Television sitcoms be damned.

 

5. The Austin Powers Trilogy on DVD: This DVD set is something I always thought I'd get around to seeing eventually, but never made the time for it. I had seen bits of particular movies, but I had never seen any of the movies all the way through. The first movie, Austin Powers, Man of Mystery was a great introduction to Mike Meyer’s titular character. I loved the atmosphere and the art style. It reminded me so much of Monolith’s wonderfully done game, No One Lives Forever (2000). The second movie introduced Scotland’s own, Fat Bastard. He made the movies as far as I’m concerned. I wonder if the people on the set were even able to keep a straight face long enough to shoot anything when he was around. The last movie, Goldmember, was okay, a fitting end to the trilogy.

 

6.  Star Trek The Next Generation: Season One on Blu-Ray: I finally finished this amazing set. It’s a nothing less than brilliant revival of the original Star Trek. And I’m so glad the series returned in this fashion. I know I sound like a glitched record here, but the transfer to Blu-Ray is simply stunning. If you’re a fan of the series at all then this belongs in your library. One episode stands out for me especially, “Conspiracy,” in which Captain Picard becomes involved in what he thinks is a conspiratorial takedown of Starfleet Command. And what ensues transports the show from sci-fi into straight out old school horror territory. The episode alluded to the bloody chest bursting scene in the movie, Alien, and the old 1950’s (and 80’s Tobe Hooper remake for that matter) of the movie, It came from Mars! And even the ghastly “pets” of Khan, the burrowing space slugs in the movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I’ll be attacking Season Two in the not too distant future, and I can hardly wait.

 

7.  Rise of Flight on PC: It’s been a while, but I picked up some Sopwiths during the 777 Christmas sale this year and thought I’d take them for a spin. I’ve only flown the Sopwith Camel so far, but it’s a joy to fly. It can be a little scary making a right turn because the engine torque makes you feel like you’re going to suddenly plummet, but putting the plane into a left turn has it turning faster than about any plane in the game’s arsenal. I have yet to down any enemy aircraft in it, but it’s the middle of January in the game and I just don’t see too many enemies up and about. Oh well, with all of this stick time, come warmer weather I’ll be ready and waiting.

 

8.  Outlaws on PC: Having picked this up from www.gog.com I committed myself to beating it during my two week vacation. And I did. This LucasArts game (2001) was built on the old Star Wars: Dark Forces engine and proved that a comical (with a very serious overtone) cartoon western FPS could be successful. The soundtrack though not composed by Ennio Morricone, is a wonderfully done successor to Morricone’s works. The game spiked up in difficulty in a few areas so much that I had to cheat to get through them, and I never feel good about having to do that, but I wanted to finish the game. As a PC gamer, one of my great weaknesses is to see old games on my shelf that I haven’t played. My intentions are good, I sure want to play through them and I always say I will, but we only have so many tomorrows. I feel quite accomplished for having finally finished this one.

 

9.  A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett: When I was a kid, there was a song released by Jimmy Buffett called “Margaritaville,” and gosh how I hated that song. It would play on the radio constantly, and it was such a long song! It got burned into my brain. I never thought I’d be reading a book written by this same man who brainwashed me as a kid, but thanks to my friend, Amy Lovett, who walked into work one day and said, “Here is this book. I want you to read it.” So I began it this month, and I’m finding it incredibly hard to put down. It concerns a cowboy in Wyoming trying to outrun his turbulent past as a drinker and womanizer, by being a hired hand and riding fences on an expansive ranch. And then he gets into a heated disagreement with his boss, a haughty millionaire. He picks up her dining table and hurls it through the plate glass window of her mansion. And then he hightails it out of the state chased by highly paid bounty hunters. He and his horse end up on a shrimp boat on passage to Mexico. He takes a job there under a 101 year old woman to restore her decrepit lighthouse. The locales, the scenery, the whole attitude of this place that Buffett has created, it’s just magical. Now, if every time I see his name on the side of the book I could stop humming, “Margaritaville.”

 

10.  Prometheus to Alien: The Evolution – 5 Film Collection on Blu-Ray: Me and my buddy, Neil Campbell, watched this great collection over a week time period. This is a great collection, especially on Blu-Ray. And it was my first time to actually watch, Prometheus. It meshed with the series well enough, but I’d hardly call it Ridley Scott’s magnum opus. The original Alien still stands the test of time as does the second film, Aliens where the series went to an action episode, somewhat departing its roots based more on horror. The fifth movie, Alien: Resurrection was probably the most lackluster of the series. It irked me when the US version of this set (which lacked the newest film, Prometheus) went on the Black Friday sale on Amazon, and since Prime members get first dibs it was sold out almost instantly. I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Phoenix of picking up one, but then I found this wonderful all inclusive set for even cheaper!

 

11.  Lost: Season Two on Blu-Ray: Yes, I know I’m slower than a seven year itch when it comes to watching my beloved seasons of episodic series, but Lost definitely has its hooks in me. As of this writing I’m about to watch episode five and so far I’ve been introduced to “the others,” and “them.” As it turns out, there were survivors from the tail section of the plane and they are being led by Michelle Rodriquez (definitely not my favorite character.) We’re still getting some backstory flashbacks from the old gang, e.g. Hurley, Lock and Sung. And it’s all good stuff. Despite their tragic predicament, the scenic vistas look so beautiful I almost wish I could live there with them. And still I can’t help but liken the show to a Gilligan’s Island for grown ups.

 

12.  John Carpenter’s The Thing (commentary) on Blu-Ray:  It wasn’t that many months ago that I watched this movie for the first time in probably ten years, but this time it was on Blu-Ray, which I might add is a most beautiful transfer. I enjoyed the commentary of John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China, I assumed this one would be every bit as good. And boy, was it! It was if these two great showmen were sitting in my living room with me enjoying a couple of beers. Kurt Russell guffawing in every scene in which he’s wearing his obnoxious front crushed cowboy hat was the cherry on top.