Friday, April 2, 2021

Edwards March 2021 Mix

 

 

 


 A very interesting month indeed, this one. My heart, which has been broken for a while now has finally been repaired. I went to see the wizard and got another ablation completed. It really took a lot out of me. And it was my first experience with a urinary catheter. All was fine and dandy until they removed it. Not fun. But on the brightside they informed me all is well now. I should be feeling much better. Other than that, this may be the shortest mix I’ve had in a long time. I didn’t do much, but what I did was intense.                               

  1.   Assetto Corsa on PC: 505 Studio/Kunos Simulazioni released this racing sim in December of 2014, and up to that time it was the most realistic racing simulation there was. It was one of the first games I bought into Early Release, which can sometimes be a burn if you buy into a game the developers stop developing. This one, fortunately, turned out okay. With laser scanned race tracks and real time wheel wear physics, this truly is as real as it gets sitting in a chair racing in your pajamas. I even had a buddy sit down to it and learn to drive a manual transmission playing this game. It doesn’t get more authentic than that! The only thing missing: rain races and night races, but what this sim does it does exceedingly well. 
 
 
 2.   Assetto Corsa Competizione on PC: It’s been said one must walk before he or she runs. This simulation is the successor to the above aforementioned Assetto Corsa. And to be honest, the only reason I went back to the original was to compare it to this new one. Not surprisingly, the old one is now easier to play because of the fierce difficulty of this one. A friend convinced me to pick this one up, lauding its extreme difficulty. And I’ve always been a glutton for punishment so it made perfect sense. He told me I wouldn’t even have to choose a fast set up, simply choose “safe set up” and hop into a car. Turns out he was right. The sim hosts GT3 and GT4 cars and it’s all I can do to get a car around a lap intact. I’ve been watching YouTube videos now to learn how to drive. Turns out after 30 years of racing sims, I’ve been doing it wrong. Doh! Braking too soon, throttling too hard, ignoring racing lines to name a few. I’ve turned a 2:08 lap at Silverstone, my favorite circuit. Some of these YouTubers turn 1:56. I have some room for improvement.

 

3.      Type O Negative World Coming Down on CD: I didn’t like it. I hate to say that, being I’m a Type O fan, but this album, the band’s 5th studio release was just too slow and too dark. Maybe it’s me. 1996’s October Rust set the bar pretty high for me. This album was just so disappointingly different in comparison. The album dealt with numerous deaths frontman, Peter Steele was going through at the time. (Hey, they don’t call the band the Drab Four for nothing.) I can’t say it’s a bad album, it’s just that October Rust was so good, despite Metal Hammer Magazine christened this album one of the best metal albums of 1999.

 

4.       Rush in Rio on DVD: Loaned this by my good friend and guitar mentor, Michael Stevens, this was truly enjoyable. And it’s caused me to find a new favorite Rush song, “The Pass” on the Presto album. These guys are truly proficient with their instruments and it’s sheer fun just to watch them having fun with their instruments on the stage. It’s truly appreciated by the live audience in Rio because one would think they had just won the soccer world cup. I never did see Rush live and it’s been a big regret. At least with this remarkable DVD I’m getting a semblance of it.

 

5.      Thrustmaster TX RW Leather Edition Wheel/TH8A Shifter:  I used a Logitech G27 Wheel/paddle set for my racing games/sims for the past five years and it served me quite well. That set has always been considered the ultimate beginner wheel. I figured it was time for an upgrade, so I went with the intermediate Thrustmaster set. There is a noticeable difference. The wheel is stouter and the shifter, being made of metal, has all of the girth and feel of the real deal. (You can actually remove the shift knob and replace it with an authentic one of your choosing.) If you roll over a curb or run over the apex on a track you’re going to feel it with this wheel.

 

6.       Blue Oyster Cult Cult Classic on Hi-Res FLAC: A really good greatest hits album. And a great score on the loudness wars site. I sang this album’s high praises a few mixes back, but I keep coming back to it. It’s probably one of the greatest greatest hits albums I’ve ever listened to. If you want to hear some delightfully charming solo guitar work that will put a grand smile on your face, look up “Buck’s Boogie.” The last time I heard it I was in the middle of doing something and I was so taken aback I stopped what I was doing and simply stood there listening. I love when a song has that effect on me.

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