Brace yourself. September was a busy month. I believe this
one is a new record. Seventeen items, yes, that is a record. A smashing record!
My reading goal for this year is 18 books, and I think I’m going to hit it
(though it would be nice to surpass it to hit the 20 book mark.) My games
completed this year, not so good. Here we are heading into the fourth quarter
and I’ve finished five games. That’s terrible! And I thought 2016 was bad with
only eight games! My tubes in my guitar amp took a dump on me which really hurt
my playing this month, and Doom took me a considerable amount
of time to beat. Those things somewhat quagmired me, but looking at this list I
guess I did accomplish quite a bit after all.
1. Van
Halen II on FLAC: I hadn’t
listened to this album in years and then
I read a recent Guitar World magazine
that had an article listing the best rock albums of 1979. Lo and behold,
therein lay a pronouncement of Van Halen
II. Despite the commercial attributes of “Dance the Night Away” and
“Beautiful Girls,” this is a remarkable album. David Lee Roths’ vocals matched
with Eddie Van Halen’s guitar make the album. What really surprised me was
Michael Anthony’s bassing. Listening to this now I see the guy was underrated.
He is also naturally left handed (but plays right handed.) Admittedly I’d be a
bigger fan had he been true to his school, but sheesh, this man can seriously
play a bass! I remember really digging Van
Halen’s first album in high school, and then the summer of my senior year I
moved to another state, leaving all of my friends behind. And then Van Halen II released. Talk about being
homesick! Hearing this on my Digital Audio Player in FLAC I’m hearing things
I’d never heard on the cassette or CD version.
2. Big Wreck But for the Sun on 192kHz/24 bit FLAC: I’ve loved this band
since their debut in 1997. At the expense of sounding self centered I’m glad
nobody knows about them. Turning my friends onto them is still a pleasure
unequaled. Sadly, the band just lost their rhythm guitarist, Brian Dougherty to
cancer, that rapacious vulpine nefarious
beast.) But the band is carrying on. Ian Thornley is amazing with his
ability to sing, play, and write (“You’re still waiting for your ever after.”) His leads are enough to move you to tears,
seriously. He’s a major proponent of Suhr guitars, which to me is just an
overpriced Fender Stratocaster copy, but I’ll forgive him that. His vocal style
is reminiscent of our former Chris Cornell, and he’s been called the “Canadian
Chris Cornell,” an appellation he’s not fond of, but hey, if the shoe fits.
Interested? Simply YouTube “Alibi” or “So Clear.” You’ll be hooked. Don’t say I
didn’t warn you.
3. Back
to the Future Part II on Blu Ray: An interesting evolution of the first
movie, but not as good in my opinion. Oh don’t get me wrong, the plot was
engaging, how a sports almanac could have such a bearing on the future, I’ll
give Bob Gale that much, but like so many sequels, why? The most interesting
aspect of the movie was how inclusive it was of the first movie. I’ve not seen
a movie pull off such a thing before, and even Robert Zemeckis stated it was
one of the biggest challenges he’d ever faced in making a movie. Still, it’s
good fun. If you’ve not seen it it’s worth a viewing. It’s Michael J. Fox as we
remembered him best.
4. Sanford
& Son: Season 3 on DVD: This
came out when I was a kid. I remember watching it on Friday nights and though
I’ve said it here before, laughing out loud at what was probably the first adult
comedy I appreciated. Thankfully, it lacked the stupid laugh track you now hear
in modern comedies, which makes me by default hate them. I never felt I needed
a queue to laugh. Racy, as always, this would be a series even the Anti
Defamation League would find repulsive. Red Foxx and Demond Wilson both play
characters I’d be enthralled to meet in real life. If you feel like taking a
trip down memory lane this is a good series, but be warned, there are no rose
colored glasses with this one. The series is grainy to the point it seems they
simply slopped these onto disk and shoved them out the door.
5. A Million
Little Pieces by James Fey: This, a rather notorious novel, by James
Fey is a book I can hardly put down. Originally released as a memoir
(autobiographical?) and then later to be revealed as pure and utter fiction. I
loved Fey’s Bright Shiny Morning, so I was impelled to read this one
despite its controversy. The controversy involves Fey himself who promulgated
that he’d written a memoir about being in a rehabilitation center for six
weeks. He describes undergoing dental root canal surgery without anesthesia due
to his being a drug addict. The way he describes the pain and proceedings is cringe-worthy. I’ll continue to read this in spite of what I know to hold true.
6. Need
for Speed: Hot Pursuit on
Steam: Released in 2010 this is old by today’s standards. The graphics are
aged, but it’s still fun to play with an Xbox Controller. There’s no real story line. You simply boot up, select a race (of which there are a variety) and
beat it which opens up other venues. Cars and equipment used to foible the police
are unlocked with progression (Spike traps, EMP jammers, etc.) As always with
NFS titles, it’s a fun time waster. I’ve not tried the law enforcement side
yet, but I expect it’s going to be just as fun. The soundtrack is good, but
honestly, I’m not familiar with much of it. The songs included must have been B
sides by popular bands in the mid aughts. This game is certainly no Assetto
Corsa or Project Cars, but it will give your Xbox Controller a good
workout. Pick it up on a cheap sale. You will be entertained
7. Hang
‘em High on Blu Ray: Coming
hot off the trail of Sergio Leone's “Spaghetti Westerns” Clint tried his luck
with an American western. This movie wasn’t a disappointment, but it was surely
lackluster in comparison to Eastwood’s previous fare. Pat Hingle gets the award for this one. His
portrayal of a hanging judge attempting to ingratiate himself into New Mexico
Territory statehood by hanging each and every transgressor who happens through
is spot on. You’ll love to hate him, yet you’ll sympathize with his cause.
There is a riveting build up in the movie involving a hanging execution right
out of the history books. Cold beer being sold, bonnet clad women, little boys
being perched upon their fathers’ shoulders, all in attendance to watch the “public
hanging,” and when the sandbags fall, there’s a great hush that seems to
transcend the audience in attendance through to at home TV viewers. I found the
scene quite sobering. It may very well be worth watching the movie alone for
that moment. It stuck with me for three days after.
8. Doom (2016) on Steam: I hated this
game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a gorgeous game on modern systems. It has a
great metal soundtrack, and nothing quite hits gaming nirvana like glory kills
with a chainsaw, but this is a 15 hour game, and it took me 60 hours to defeat.
Of course, like the true masochist that I am, I played it on the hardest
setting “Hurt Me Plenty.” I eventually tried to cheat but couldn’t get the
cheat codes to work. So I settled for the “Please Don’t Hurt Me” setting which
is the minimal difficulty setting. It worked. I beat the final boss on my third
attempt. The game is pure eye candy, and definitely what was to Doom
3 what Doom II was to the original Doom. I had to play it
simply because of Doom:Eternal which will be releasing before the end of the
year.
9. Age
of Conan: The Original Soundtrack on CD: In my opinion the OST for Guild
Wars 2 will always hold highest place for the best soundtrack to an MMO
I’ve ever experienced. The discs alone are over $400 on Amazon. Good luck with
that. Running a close second, however, is this soundtrack released with the
game in 2008. The game captures over sixty years of all that is Conan, the
Robert Howard stories, the movies and the comic books. And this music is the
perfect conglomeration of all that. Composed and produced by Norwegian native,
Knut Avenstroup Haugen and hauntingly vocalized by Norwegian singer/actress,
Helene Boksle, this soundtrack could easily grace a Hollywood Conan feature.
Standout tracks are “Day of Wrath,” which is at the character login screen. (I
remember playing the game and logging in, staying on the login screen just to
hear this song in its entirety.) And “Foundations of the Temple – Mitra.” This
is the song you hear upon entering the temple in Tortuge. It’s filled with
women of the cloth administering aid to diseased people in poverty. The somber
deep bass resonance of the men in this chorus couldn’t have been a better
choice. If this song doesn’t move you emotionally, you must have a heart of
stone.
10. Classic
Guitars by Walter Carter: When I found out this was written by a former
historian employed by Gibson Guitar Company I thought, oh great, this is going
to be a shill job. I was pleasantly surprised. This book, on loan from my dear
friend Greg Cox, is pleasantly surprising as an informative guide to ALL
guitars I have ever known. Mr. Carter knows his stuff and makes it fun to read.
There is a well known phenomena among guitarists known as GAS. It stands for
guitar acquisition syndrome. This book is starting to make me feel symptomatic.
Heaven help me!
