Strange month. Strange and
frustrating, actually. I found out my wonderful little Vespa scooter is
operating with illegal license tags. I was issued off-road tags by the Indiana
BMV. They assured me it’s what I needed. I went to ask a question about those tags
this year and was informed by a different local BMV worker that not only were
my tags illegal, but I had to verify with a police officer that my title
matched my scooter! This is all stemming from a screw up on the original title
provided by the dealership where the scooter was purchased. I’m in process of
fixing it, but of course it’s costing money, money required to be paid so I can
lawfully ride my scooter. The BMV worker informed me my new tag which is
actually a plate will probably cost me about $55.00. This is more than I pay
for my car license plate. Could it become any more ridiculous? Yes, in
actuality, I suppose it just did. I completed my Federal Income Tax and
discovered since I didn’t have health insurance for five months last year that
I’m being fined-- to the tune of almost a thousand bucks. President Obama
guaranteed his new health care law would benefit us. I’m just not seeing it.
1.
Lily &
Madeleine: Keep it Together on CD:
I was driving home one rainy night and FM 92.3 WTTS out of Bloomington played a
track I immediately fell in love with. Arriving home, I ordered the CD that
same evening. It’s not often music affects me in such a manner, but after a few
listens to their other other stuff on YouTube, I realized I had a winner. Lily
& Madeleine (Jurkiewicz) are two young sisters from Indianapolis who harmonize beautifully. They sing about Midwestern folksy things, but their
sound is somewhat more jazzy. They remind me of the singer, Ivy, or Dido. One remarkable thing about the duo is their enunciation when they sing. As a
reviewer noted, you can understand every single word sung. This is almost
unheard of in popular music. Give “Something for the Weak” a listen. I think
you’ll be hooked.
2.
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition on
PC: I bought this game on Steam way back in 2012 during a summer or winter
sale. I’d heard how difficult it was over the years, but oddly, these
complaints were followed with one simple statement: “It’s the best game I’ve
ever played.” PC Gamer Magazine stated the game was their favorite game ever
made. My cousin played the game and rage uninstalled at the first tutorial
boss. This frightened me because I knew if my cousin couldn’t get past the
first boss I was just wasting my time and money with this game. But with Dark
Souls 3 on the near horizon, I thought I’d at least give the original a
spin. Yes, it’s extremely difficult, it’s dark and grainy dismal and gloomy.
But I beat the first boss on my third attempt. Talk about inspiration! I
bragged about my feat to my cousin and my boasting even prompted him to
reinstall and readdress the game (he has since passed me up.) But as OCD as I
can be in enduring the punishment factor of certain games, I actually believe I
can defeat this game.
3.
Train Simulator 2016 on PC: I’m
still chipping away at the London – Faversham route pack. The DLC pack contains
five routes, and there are Steam achievements associated with each one.
Unfortunately, the final achievement is bugged. It requires an engineer to
travel 875 miles in the course pack. Only one single course recognizes any
distance traveled for the achievement. Talk about frustration! I basically have
to run the same route over and again for about ten times. I’ve finally whittled
it down to about 120 miles. We’re looking at about two more full length trips. And
all of that for a lousy virtual badge. A junior G-man badge toy surprise
plucked from a box of Cracker Jacks would be more tangible. But that doesn’t
matter to me. OCD is a harsh master.
4.
If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler:
This makes probably the tenth book I’ve experienced by the lovely Ms. Tyler. I
first fell in love with her The Accidental Tourist (which was a
great movie as well) two decades ago. This particular novel concerns a young
man away at college who feels his family back home doesn’t function particularly
well without him, so on a whim he takes a night train home for a surprise
visit. The book began slower than I like for a Tyler novel, but it did pick up
speed and blossom into another great Tyler work of art. She has the wonderful
ability to describe characters and write dialogue stolen from real life. I was
surprised to see she wrote this book in the early 1960’s. I hadn’t realized
she’d been writing for so long. Next time you’re in the library pick up The
Accidental
Tourist or Searching for Caleb, or A Patchwork Planet. You’ll be made a
fan.
5.
Hell on Wheels: Season Three on
Netflix: I just finished this superbly done Western season. The fictional
character, Cullen Bohannon and his trials, spoils, triumphs and misadventures
are carefully woven into real events surrounding the building of the
transcontinental railroad. Each season thus far has ended with a properly
amazing cliffhanger, and this one is no different. We find Bohannon making
restitution to a Mormon deacon whose son he had hanged for an alleged murder of
a lawman. Bohannon is kidnapped by the deacon and about to be hanged, himself.
He escapes his demise by marrying the deacon’s daughter. And as beautiful as
she is I would probably consider my adventuring days over with and hang my hat.
But Fate, she sure likes to have fun with Cullen Bohannon. I’m eager to see
what season four has in store.
6.
Star Trek: Season Three on Blu Ray: Fans
state the first season of this remarkable series weathered the pangs of birth,
and the second season endured growing pains but began to find its place. If
this is the case, then the third season was its blossoming into adulthood. I’m
only on about the twelfth episode, but so far my favorites are “The Bonding,”
in which one of the Enterprise’s children loses his mother as she is killed
during a mission accident. And then an energy being mimics the boy’s mother,
come back to life. As Picard explains to the boy that this “being” isn’t really
his mother, I felt so sympathetic to the boy’s plight and the struggle he
underwent to believe Captain Picard. And “The Hunted,” in which a band of
specially trained super-soldiers are banished to a penal colony when the war
they were created for comes to end, simply because their creators fear them and
want them controlled for safekeeping. This was a sort of homage to the soldiers
who fought in Vietnam. The lead prisoner/soldier Roga Danar, puts Worf’s
combative skills to the test more than once in this episode. It’s fun to watch.
.
7. Flaked:
Season One on Netflix: Up to the seventh episode now, and despite the
show's humor which mainstream viewers (I'm sure) would find funny, it's the
characters that have grown on me. Chip, a recovered alcoholic who runs a stool
store (he builds them/he sells them) is
the lovechild of Bill Paxton and Kevin Costner. He's full of himself, and he often makes poor choices which lead to relationship
break ups and missed opportunities. He eventually falls for a girl who seeks
him out for less than noble motives, which throws in a plot twist I didn’t see
coming at all. But the real character in the show for me is Venice Beach where
Chip resides. It's Grand Theft Auto V's Los
Santos, as seen while on a mellow cruise on a commuter bicycle. Having lived in
California, the show resonates on a level that makes me miss the place.
8.
Assetto Corsa on PC: I finally moved
up into the next rank in this, probably the best auto racing simulation I’ve
ever played. I’m driving open wheel cars now, and I’m required to earn seasonal
points to advance to the next level. The game is turning serious because it’s a
one shot deal. There is no redo of races. If you place 6th then you
place 6th. The little snappy
Tatuus F.Abarth reminds me of something from Skip Barber racing school. But
it’s quite fun to drive and seems to be the gateway into the big league levels.
9. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window on
DVD: I first watched this movie about two decades ago on VHS. Admittedly, the
transfer to DVD is nothing less than pristine, despite the film’s medium
limitations of the day. This is not my favorite Hitchcock film, but it is
wholly entertaining. The film, with the exception of two quick scenes, was
filmed entirely from the apartment of the main character, a convalescing
professional photographer named Jeffries, confined to a wheelchair. Hitchcock
actually used a handheld radio to give instructions to the actors who were
wearing flesh colored hearing aids, while standing inside Jeffries’ apartment
during the filming. If you want to introduce someone to “the master of
suspense!” this is a great movie to do it with.
