Friday, April 1, 2016

Edward's March 2016 Mix








 
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.



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