It went straight from winter to
summer. Of course I’m not complaining. I’ll take heat over cold anytime. I’ve
got to have an excuse to stay inside and play computer games. I’m embracing my
new obsession for guitar, both listening and playing. My only regret is wishing
I’d began this journey decades ago when I was a young man. I had a
cardioversion this month and guess what? It worked!! Doctors said I should
start to feel progressively better. I didn’t realize I was feeling badly!
1.
Garbage Beautiful on CD: The album sounds like . . .
well, garbage. Beautiful Garbage failed to match the
commercial success achieved by its predecessors. I can’t believe the
disappointment of this album, Rolling
Stone Magazine cited it as one of their top ten releases of 2001. I don’t
see it all. And I guess I’m not alone. The album garnered critical complain yet
sales were wholly lackluster. The album sounds like a b-side compilation of Garbage 2.0. Better, it sounds like
songs that would have been culled from a new release. I don’t know how to
describe it. Each song is very samey . . .with a tinge of hip-hop and something
not quite electronica, but maybe close. I’ve listened to it twice now thinking
perhaps it would grow on me. Not happening.
2.
For Honor on PC: It was free to play
on Steam for a weekend this month. And the standard version of the game went on
sale from $60 down to $15. I couldn’t resist. This is the ultimate sword fighting simulation. It makes Medieval: Chivalry look like a mod some 7th
grader made for an Intro to Computing class. The game is super polished, but in
line with Ubisoft’s money generating schemes, there are a gazillion
incrementals which cost money. There is one “emotion” basically an animated
gesture your foe does when he defeats you that costs the equivalent of $9.00.
This is ludicrous. But of course, this is what Ubisoft does. I’m still in the
training academy, and I have to say my Xbox Controller hasn’t had such a
workout since Dark Souls. The game is torturous difficult. I can only imagine
how I’m going to be dueling someone online. I’m going to be like Curly of The
Three Stooges, self slapping my face and whoop, whoop, whooping . . .right
before I throw my PC out of the window. But hey, you know me: the eternal masochist.
3.
The Wolf’s Hour by Robert R. McCammon: Had a friend
approached me with this book and said, “Hey, I have this book I want you to
read,” and gave me this I probably would have laughed and said, “Ah, that’s okay
. . . just tell me what it’s about. And give me the Reader’s Digest version.” But this IS Robert R. McCammon, of whom I
am a big fan and it’s a book I hadn’t read so I decided to dive into it. The
book concerns a Russian spy in WWII converted to the English who does
clandestine (and sometimes not so clandestine ) missions behind German lines.
He kills his share of Nazis and steals his fair share of documents and he works
with almost superhuman aplomb. And the reason he’s able to pull these
shenanigans off so well is because he’s a werewolf. Yes, I know, it’s laughably
farfetched. But McCammon breathes life into this guy . . er . .beast? so
vividly that you can’t help but sympathize with him and believe in the
character.
4.
Battletech on
PC: Easily the most fun I’ve had in a PC game this year. This game was a
Kickstarter project, obviously by a band of people who were big fans of the
original FASA license of the 1980s, we’re talking the books, the table top
miniatures game. And yes, even the Activision and Microsoft games of the 1990s.
I’m loving the campaign, oddly, limiting my playtime with it because I don’t
want to reach the game’s end, though it has unlimited playability. And Paradox
Interactive is famous for oodles of DLC—this is a good thing. I’ve gotten to
play around in some online skirmishes. I suck, but I still have fun losing.
This is a game I’m going to play for a long time.
5.
Heat on Blu Ray: I watched this with
my good friend, John Wallen who had never seen it. This makes probably my sixth
viewing of the movie. It’s odd how one can watch a movie over again and pick up
details formerly passed over. Directed and produced by Michael Mann, this movie
makes me want to check out more of his work (Miami Vice notwithstanding.)
Coupled with an amazing soundtrack, this movie features one of the greatest
bank heist shootouts in movie making history. It’s no small wonder this movie
was the inspiration for the games, Kayne & Lynch: Dead Men, Payday: The
Heist, & Grand Theft Auto.
6.
The Cure Seventeen
Seconds on CD: Released in 1980, this is The Cure’s second album and
was made on a minimal budget. Some say it paved the way for Gothic music
(despite Robert Smith’s extreme aversion to that association.) My personal
favorite, “A Forest” reminds me of the
soundtrack to IonStorm’s venerable computer game, Deus Ex. The whole album
is seemingly consisted of as much minimalism of instrumentation as was the
budget, but I think it set the standard for that distinct Cure sound. And I can
see how critics claim it was at the forefront of Gothic music. Chris Westwood
of Record Mirror described the album as "sad
Cure, sitting in cold rooms, watching clocks". It’s a perfect description.
7. Ibanez
AW54LCE
Guitar: Progressing in my journey on becoming a master guitarist I’ve
discovered the following notions to be total falsehoods: “I’m too old to
learn,” or “I have no talent.” The truth is, it’s really just a matter of
practice. I’m keeping it fun, and each time I pick up the guitar I feel like I
come away from it having learned just one more little thing which made me
better than the previous session. And speaking of keeping it fun, I just picked
up a new Ibanez AW54LCE lefty acoustic.
Solid mahogany, it looks like a guitar dipped in chocolate. And I can’t say
enough for the folks at Sweetwater, out of Fort Wayne, IN where I purchased it.
Switching from electric to acoustic is different and more difficult, but I’m
enjoying the transition and my newly found passion for singing.
