April was busy. My free time was put to some good use though, good music, good reading, good movies, and of course, good gaming! I finally finished two series I had been watching which always fills me with a sense of accomplishment. And as visible on my GoodReads.com page I'm well on my way in my goal of knocking out 18 books this year. That may change, however, with George Eliot's tome-like, The Mill on the Floss. I'm really harboring an interest in board games which is strange because I have hardly anybody to play them with. Ah, the non-perks of working an off shift. I'm still contemplating a new PC. I'm just waiting for those 2080 cards to go down just a tad more in price.
1. The
Mill on the Floss by George Eliot: And so begins another foray into
great 19th century literature. Published in 1850 this almost
autobiographical tale of a miller’s daughter growing up in rural England is
some of Eliot’s best work. The story concerns Maggie Tulliver, the girl, who
has both beauty and brains, but is dismissed for any formal education because
she’s a girl. Her brother, whom she idolizes is being groomed for scholarly
learning at an academy despite his more obtuse demeanor and desire to play with
pocketknives and fish, and chase through the woods. I’m only in to the first
100 pages, and the book is sending me to the dictionary a lot, but so far I’m
well immersed.
2. The
Hurt Locker on Blu Ray: This is a thinking man’s take on modern Middle
East warfare. Interestingly, it was directed by Katherine Bigelow, a woman, who
as a matter of fact is James Cameron’s ex-wife. Jeremy Renner plays a bomb
defuser who carries a flippant attitude toward the dangers of his work which
puts him at odds with his fellow soldiers. The movie seems to capture the
authenticity of US Army soldiers being deployed to Iraq, but the main star of
this show is the Barret Light .50 that appears in a sniper duel halfway into
the movie.
3. Pet
Sematary at the theater: This was an entertaining deviation from
Stephen King’s famous novel, and an even further departure from the original 1989
film. Metacritic gave the film a 57. This is a rather tepid score for a movie I
really enjoyed. Amy Seimetz gave a brilliant performance as Rachel Creed, the
little girl star of the show, (and enough of a lookalike to actor, Matthew
Lilliard to be his daughter. I was surprised she was not) who is at odds with
her parents who each take separate stands in explaining the concept of death to
her. And when little Rachel meets the concept head on we are filled with terror
and then horror when we see what she does with it. Liberties are taken from
King’s novel, but in a good way.
4. Boston Boston on DSD: Weighing in at hefty 1.49 GB and 24.99 on the ol’
wallet, from HD Tracks this one is for the pure snob audiophiles. I bought this
album to put my DAP through its paces. I realize the human ear is only capable
of so many frequencies, and the dynamic range of this album In this format far
exceeds these, but I have to admit, this album sounds pristine beautiful. I
believe this edition is the best I’ve ever heard, and believe me, I grew up on
this album. When the organ subsides on “Foreplay/Long Time,” and the drum kicks
in to welcome that amazing high E string guitar, it was an utter moment of
aural bliss.
5. Lost:
Season
4 on Blu Ray: I finally knocked out the 4th season. I’m
still very much enjoying the series, especially with more science fiction
mechanics stepping in. There were several episodes flash forwarding to events
happening in the future (after an apparent rescue of the survivors) which is
slightly disconcerting, and one has to be careful of bathroom breaks because
important plot movements are bound to be missed. The show had an uncanny ability
to make me hate one character in an episode, and then to go into backstory
about that character in the next episode and finding they ingratiate themselves
to me again. I love when art, whether it be literature, oil paintings or shows
make me feel this way. I guess that’s what it’s all about.
6.
The Last Samurai on Blu Ray: I saw
this when it first came out in the early oughts and enjoyed it then. I watched
it with my parents this month and found it equally as enjoyable, given they had
never seen it. It’s along the same lines as Dances with Wolves and Avatar,
but I got so involved watching it I never took notice. Tom Cruise portrays
jaded US Calvary soldier, Nathan Algren, who is sent to Japan as an advisor
against the ancient Samurai. He is captured by his new enemy and becomes
smitten with their ways, eventually joining them to combat the very sources who
hired him in the first place. The movie depicts a 19th century Japan
that makes me sad it didn’t stay that way. Change is the only constant, and
“The Land of the Rising Sun,” is not exempted from it either. This movie shows
that in a most bittersweet manner.
7.
Project Cars on PC: Much like its estranged cousin,
Assetto
Corsa, this is a revered car racing simulation adored by its fans. I
was prompted to pick this up by my Steam friend from across the pond, Ausmerica so we could do some online
racing. “It will be fun,” he said. “It will be challenging,” he said. “We’ll be
on equal footing,” he said. The truth is, I suck at online racing. I’ve only
come close to beating him one time and he came from behind on the last lap, I
bounced into a wall and sat there in frustration gunning my engine (in a
go-kart of all things) trying to find reverse and get back on the track. Doh! Still,
this game is a joy to play against the AI racers. The tracks are gorgeous, the
cars are magnificent, and the sunshine looks so real I’m tempted to don my
Ray-Bans. If you’re torn between this game and Assetto Corsa I’d say the
latter might be a tad more realistic from a physics standpoint. They both seem
to handle about the same. Just do like me. Pick up both of them!
8.
World War II in Color on Netflix :
This is an excellent narrative on layman’s terms of the whole of the last good
war. The series takes no biases either way, and in pure journalistic fashion
tells it like it was from both sides. I had no idea the Germans would slaughter
the population in cities they were about to lose back to the allies. I didn’t
know the Russians raped women AND children when they marauded Germany. And I didn’t
know the Japanese had no intention of surrendering after the first atomic bomb
was dropped. Each episode is about fifty minutes long and covers one
aspect/theater of the war. If you have any interest in Word War II, this will
set it on fire.
9.
Hitman Codename:47
on PC: Yeah, I know I’m a masochist because I play so many difficult PC
games. The thing is, I want to play the newer Hitman series, but I just don’t
feel right doing it without going through all of the legacy games in the
series. And brother, let me tell you, this one is hard. I’m thinking back to my
Dark
Souls days. I’m only into the 5th mission, but with no
in-game saves or stupid console-style checkpoints I’m struggling. I’ve made
twenty-one attempts so far on this fifth mission. Typically, when I do get
killed and fail the mission I’m laughing so hard because I did something so
foolish I don’t even get angry. When I’m on my 70th attempt I’ll see
if I still feel that way. Released in 2000, the game has a great art style, and
that coupled with the music reminds me of one of my other favorite games from
2000, Deus Ex. I’m always pushing it just to see how “intelligent”
the AI really is. They seem to be pretty sharp. I trip one alarm and the whole
flock of them scramble to meet me in the closet where I’ve been hiding.
Suspect!
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