It’s been a bizarre month. My mobile phone died. So, I did what I always do: buy a new one on eBay. The seller sent me a phone set up for the wrong network and then wanted me to try all kinds of things to get to work on the correct network. I went to two Sprint stores and one local phone repair center. No joy. I was finally refunded my money. I then tried to purchase a phone on the Sprint site and my bank suspended my debit card. When I talked to them about it they stated it was standard procedure. They don’t trust mobile phone websites. Go figure. I got the card reinstated, and made another attempt. Sprint sent me a text message for identification verification. Being that my phone was bricked there was no way I could receive the text. I called their tech support and was told they couldn’t help me. What? I ended up having to make the purchase in a Sprint store. I’m finally connected again. I’ll tell you, it was like being alone in outer space without a phone. Is such a dependency a good thing or a bad thing? To combat the frustration I listened to a lot of music and discovered a few new bands. Maybe something good does come out of everything.
1. Stranger than Fiction on Blu Ray: One of the best role casted movies I’ve ever seen. And no, I’m not so much a Will Ferrell fan, but I have to admit the guy was endearing and graceful in this film. A modern fable about a man buried in the mundane routine of his work days as an IRS auditor who suddenly discovers he’s actually a character in a fiction book. Realizing he’s going to be killed off in the book he embarks on an adventure to find the real life author writing the book. Emma Thompson (little known fun fact: started out as a stand up comedian) plays the author. She cites a line from her own book, and I’m paraphrasing here, but I’ll never forget it: “ We must remember the nuances, anomalies and subtleties which we assume only accessorizes our lives, in fact, are here for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives.”
2. Fender Mirror Image Delay Effect Pedal: Found this brand new at a bargain price at a local music store. It seems Fender released a whole arsenal of effect pedals, everything from distortion to reverb and chorus pedals. They even released a distortion pedal for acoustic guitars. This Mirror Image pedal is a delay pedal that even had my wife proclaiming how interesting it sounded. (She never comments on my playing. I think she just quietly tolerates it.) Imagine playing your guitar in the Grand Canyon during sunrise. This pedal is the sound of that.
3. Deaf Center “Pale Ravine” on CD: A wonderment of atmospheric soundscapes and ethereal instrumentation perfectly coalesced. One Amazon reviewer likened this music to the soundtrack of old grainy black & white 8mm films. I could easily see it. The band, comprised of two gentlemen from Norway, create some of the most achingly beautiful ambient music I’ve ever heard. Look up “Path to Lucy” on YouTube. You’ll be converted. What’s amazing is I paid 8 bucks for this CD a month ago, and now there are only 3 available on Amazon selling for an exorbitant $182.10. How did this music get so expensive so quickly?
4. Jeff Pierce “To The Shores of Heaven“ on CD: Pretty much to guitar what John Serrie is to keyboards when it comes to space music/new age music. Pierce is a one man show, using numerous guitar effects, especially reverb and delay to make amazing soundscapes. Take a drive on a late night Interstate highway under the stars, when it’s just you and the 18 wheelers and the lights of the dashboard. Chances are this music will take you to places in your mind you’ve never been. “Sudden Light” is the one to sample via lookup.
5. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit on
PC: Finally beat this on Steam. As I’ve
mentioned before this is old by today’s standards, released in 2010. There’s no
storyline, but there is a conflict as old as literature. True man vs man and
machine vs machine. There are two sides to the game, the first half played as
an illegal street racer trying to outsmart the cops. And the second half in
which you are one of the cops trying to take down the street racers. Some of
the exotic police cruisers are downright comical in their luxuriance. When was
the last time you saw a Lamborghinni Countach decked out in police markings?
Still the game was fun, and challenging enough I had plenty of do-overs.
6. The
War on Drugs “Lost in the Dream” on
CD: I never would have discovered this band without my friend Cary Gillaspy
posting one of their videos on my Facebook wall. It was a love at first listen.
I immediately purchased the CD. It’s a mishmash of so much good music. Try this
one for size: A spoonful of Bob Dylan mingled with a dash of Bruce Springsteen.
And I swear I can hear A Flock of Seagulls in the shadows (others state they
can hear Dire Straits.) This is like a
return to the 1980s for me. I’m amazed I had never heard of this band before.
Carey, thank you.
7. Twelve Monkeys on Blu Ray: I hold a
few film directors in high esteem. Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Christopher
Nolan (some of his films, not all). Ever since my old friend, Vic Berwick
introduced me to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen I’ve added Terry Gilliam to
that list. The bespoke film, Munchausen almost killed it for
Gilliam in Hollywood being the film was the most expensive ever made to date
completely lacking any computer generated special effects. Hollywood lost money
and all trust in Gilliam making money making films was pulled. However, when
Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt signed on to make Twelve Monkeys, the
Hollywood execs took another look. Financing was granted along with some
restrictions, but Gilliam’s maxim is “I have to start small because the film
will get big.” And this movie was no exception. Set slightly in the future from
1990, the film concerns a man sent into the future to get a sample of a virus that will annihilate Earth’s
population in 1996. Somewhat convoluted, it’s a movie you will want to pause
for bathroom breaks because if not, you’ll come back lost. The transfer to Blu
Ray (from DVD) is gorgeous.
8. Dungeon
Siege II on PC: My Grand Sorcerer is level 33 now and I’m 2/3
into Chapter 2 of a game with 3 chapters. It’s a mouse click festival, hacking
and slashing in its purest form, but it never gets old. I still wrestle with
trying find goal locations, but mowing down monsters on the way to them is
never a waste of time. It all adds up to leveling up. Despite its muddy
graphics, once I cut the lights and don the headphones I still get lost in the
game’s world. This is every bit as immersive for me as good music or an
enjoyable novel.
9. David
Copperfield by Charles Dickens:
Weighing in at 940 pages I’m only on page 150 and I already never want this
novel to end. My goal was to knock out 18 books this year, but reading this I doubt I get it done. It’s
okay though, it’ll be worth it to lose the goal over this novel. Remember the
90s movie, Matilda and how the titular little girl told her teacher she could
read Dickens everyday? Well, little sister I’m with you. Granted I’ve met with
one or two Dickens novels I found dry and dreary, but I think this one more
than makes up. The tale concerns a boy, David Copperfield, who’s lost his
father. He lives with his mother in a small cottage near a lighthouse. His world is less than idyllic, but he’s a
happy boy. One day his mother meets a charming gentleman named Edward
Murdstone. Charming, to her, that is.
Murdstone feels threatened by the boy’s relationship with his mother and
schemes. He has little Copperfield sent off to a boarding school filled with
harsh taskmasters. And so our story
begins.
