Edward's February 2017 Mix

 

I state each year I’m going to move away from Indiana because I hate the winters so much, but this winter sets a personal record for the mildest winter I’ve ever experienced here. And I could easily change my paradigm now and say I’m here to stay because maybe, just maybe,  the winters aren’t so bad after all. But that’s the thing, see? You never know until you’re on the other side of it. You have to experience the winter and come through the other side to determine whether or not it was in fact a bad winter. Even when it is bad, it’s just that much more time I can stay inside and do my hot chocolate and coffee and immerse myself in my media cultural quicksand. Despite this winter’s warmth this time around I still stayed inside and indulged in a great many things. Oh yes, busy month indeed!

1.      Dirt 3: The Complete Edition on PC: As stated before, my least favorite of the Dirt series. (I’m really looking forward to Dirt Rally which I’m told Codemasters really redeemed themselves.) I’m on my last season and I’ll be glad to get this one behind me.

2.      Once Upon a Time in the West on DVD: I’m the world’s biggest fan when it comes to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. His “man with no name” trilogy is by far my favorite, although this one is quite spectacular on its own. I had seen it way back in 2005 or 2006, but for whatever reason wasn’t that impressed. This time around, however, I fell in love with it after watching it that I watched it again with the commentary by numerous directors (including John Carpenter) and saw the movie in a whole new light. Leone was famous for inferring inspiration from the great sprawling westerns from the 1950’s and adding his own unique spin on them. His gunfights were up close and violent, often including full frame close ups of the participant’s eyes moments before the guns were drawn. There is one such scene of Charles Bronson’s eyes that, as John Carpenter stated, was probably the most up close of a gunfighter’s eyes in any movie. This classic tale of man VS man in which there is no solid line of good and evil, still holds up today as one of the better westerns ever made. And casting Henry Fonda as Frank, with his cold blue eyes and black clothes works as one of the best movie villains in the history of film. And of course, the icing on the whole cake is Ennio Morricone’s haunting score. I couldn’t help but get emotional each time I heard it in the movie.

3.      Running Blind (Jack Reacher #4) by Lee Child. Just completed this one. This one was not Child’s best. We find Reacher reluctantly assisting the FBI who is tracking down a serial killer. We find each victim in a bathtub filled with olive drab paint. I’m not going to say the ending was a deus ex machina, but it did seem to be a stretch nonetheless. I don’t think we’ll be seeing this one as a movie.

4.      Interpol “El Pintor” on CD: Interpol caught my attention way back in the early oughts with their song, “Not Even Jail.” It had one of the best haunting guitar solo endings in a song I’d listened to. I picked up the album and really liked it. I found “El Pintor” at my local Half Price Books, and despite every song is similar, the album is a good one. Emerging from the post punk era of the early 2000s their sound is reminiscent of notables such as Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division. Give “My Blue Supreme” a listen if I’ve piqued your interest.

5.      Dark Souls  on PC: This, truly, is the most grueling and difficult action RPG I have played. Getting its source from traditional Japanese fighting RPGs, this game is considered to be the paragon of difficult PC games. PC Gamer called it “our favorite PC game.” And in 2016 the game was reverently included in their list of “the top five RPGs ever created.” There is no storyline. The world’s history is mostly inferred by what is left behind in the dialogue of NPCs. The player creates a character and grows up with this character from level 1 to infinity? The setting is bleak, dismal, gray, lonesome, sad, depressing, forlorn, and just about any other gloomy adjective you can come up with. The game’s bosses are notoriously famous for how hard they are to kill. I’ve talked to numerous people who gave up after ragequitting. I have 90 hours into the game and I’m about ½ through the game. This past week I dispatched the Great Grey Wolf, Sif. Sif is a giant wolf who fights with a giant sword in his mouth. His strikes are delivered by swaying his head back and forth. One strike easily takes ¾ of one’s life away. It took me 13 times to dispatch him. And that is where the joy of Dark Souls comes through. After so many defeats come victory: taking out a boss . . .finally. There is nothing so satisfying in nearly any game I’ve ever played before, where my buddy, Tommy Stevens says, “Even the camera in the game is your enemy,” an allusion to how viewpoints can change, tricking you into falling from ledges or into deep water from the shallows ensuring instant death. Interestingly, the spidery boss, Quelagg only took me three attempts to kill. I had two people watching my Steam broadcast when I did this. I felt pretty elated to say the least. Bragging rights ensued. I’m currently playing a knight decked out in the Stone Armor set, which is perhaps the strongest (and heaviest) armor in the game. True, I’m on cloud 9 right now, riding stately upon my high horse. But I know that’s going to change. Like the silly Facebook meme says, “You never beat Dark Souls, you just get better at it.”

6.      A Song of Fire and Ice: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. This is the second book of the series. Each book is a tome that in size rivals the complete works of Shakespeare. Martin’s writing is super compelling. I thoroughly enjoyed Tolkien’s venerable Lord of the Rings, but I have to be honest. This is more enjoyable to read. And what’s with everybody calling it A Game of Thrones? I’m thinking that’s HBO’s faux pas that started this. (A Game of Thrones is simply the title of the first book in the series.) Characters you love to hate, and love to hate against a backdrop of an impending winter that lasts 400 years in the age of dragons. This is good stuff. It’s like The Edge of Night soap opera for fans of RPG games, or fantasy readers, or anybody who appreciates well written stories. I’ve heard the HBO television series is good. I won’t watch it though, not while I’m reading the series, and by the time I finish it I’ll probably find the books leave the show far behind in quality.

7.      Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC: I’m still engrossed in this remarkable homage to old school shooters from the early nineties. Nazism meets Sci-Fi in an alternate 1960’s universe in which Germany stormed the world and won WWII. Playing as special forces (back before they had “special forces,”) B.J. Blascowitcz, I’m heading a one man full force resistance against the whole Nazi regime. Hey, just like Jakob Dylan from The Wallflowers said, “We can be heroes.” The gunplay in the game is a blast, and the stage sets are good enough that they seem to be real places I often day dream about while I’m at work. The only bad thing is when I beat it, I will have had the experience and there is no first time experiencing it ever again.

8.      The Iron Giant on Blu Ray: I found this sleeper of a movie on Amazon on Blu Ray for a great price and couldn’t resist. It’s sad this movie was so invisibly critically acclaimed. I watched an interview in which after its release in 1999, Warner Bros. decided to put all of their marking into The Wild, Wild West and left this poor movie out in the cold. This had a harrowing effect on the film’s release. When the movie was released on DVD and Blu Ray it became a cult classic and is now regarded as one of the best animated films ever made. The animation itself, the voiced characters, the setting of  the cold war 1950’s, but above all, the story. If you’ve not seen it, watch it.

9.      Larry Crowne on Blu Ray: I’m not a fan of romantic comedies, well, let me rephrase that, not a huge fan. This particular one though, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts took me by surprise. Hanks is a company man summarily fired from his job and tuns to a local community college to become educated, “so this will never happen to me again,” he tells the school’s dean. He signs up for a speech class and things develop with his teacher, Julia Roberts. I’ve watched this movie three times since I acquired it and it warms my heart every time I watch it. My parents liked it, and in this viewing I shared it with my sister and her husband. I glanced over to see my brother in law smiling the whole time.

10.  Black Rain on Blu Ray: Released way back in 1989, and directed by my almost holier than thou, Ridley Scott, this is an action crime drama set in Japan. When it was filmed I had moved away from Japan a mere five years earlier, so the movie brought back many memories of my time there. Filmed mostly at night against neon backdrops the film has all of the trappings of Syd Mead’s fantastic art design from Scott’s magnum opus, BladeRunner. Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia shine as police partners involved with a member of the Yakuza, with Douglas trying to redeem himself after some crooked shenanigans involving confiscated money from a drug bust and an ongoing internal investigation. The transfer to Blu Ray isn’t quite as color bold beautiful as John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, but if you like action movies with character, you could do much worse than this Ridley Scott vehicle.

Edward's January 2017 Mix

December was quite the busy month for me. Crunch time at work, my daughter coming up for a much needed (and long overdue visit), and the holidays. I got little time for gaming and actually closed the year out completing a paltry 8 games! That’s pathetic. Last year I finished 20. I need to get on the ball. The throes of winter have been frightful, and this being the start of a new year it’s the perfect time to step up my game. (So far I’ve finished two games this year, not a bad start.) I’m still trudging through XCom: Enemy Uknown and Dark Souls, but I have started a few new games. We’ll see where that takes me.

1.      The Appleseed Cast Mare Vitalis on CD: I purchased The Appleseed Cast’s 7^th album, Sagarmatha after hearing one song on Pandora or GooglePlay (don’t remember which now) but the whole album was love at first listen. It was the best post rock band I’d ever heard. The 3 man ensemble has some of the prettiest chorus/reverb guitar out there. So, I took a gamble and picked up this, their second album released in 2000. To my dismay, it sounds totally off kilter with Sagarmatha. The band, originally from Lawrenceville, Kansas started as an “emo” band. And I do love the way they blossomed out from that into a post rock band. But I think this release leans much more to their emo roots. Definitely not my thing. It pains me to do this, but this album is eBay bound.

2.      Lost: Season 3 on Blu-Ray: I just wrapped this up about a week ago. In traditional Lost fashion, the series ended on a cliffhanger. And boy, was it! Are our much loved island denizens being rescued? It would seem as much, but of course with 3 more seasons to visit, I’m sure a rescue is out of the question at this point. This season revealed so much about ‘The Others,” and how there really isn’t black and white good and bad on the island. I’ve seen John Locke who I thought was the strongest character on the island suddenly quite vulnerable and indecisive. And I’ve seen my first brush with the enigmatic facet of the show where we see Jack and Kate in an alternate existence outside of the island. And then, Charlie’s demise. Heart rending.

 

3.      Dirt 3: The Complete Edition on PC: I thoroughly enjoyed racing through Dirt 2 with its splashy graphics and exciting “sim-arcade” physics. Shoot, even the music was good (and prompted me to buy two CDs by bands who performed on the game’s soundtrack. But this game is somewhat lackluster. It’s still fun with an Xbox controller, but I absolutely abhor the “Gymkharta” antics in which you perform car acrobatics in sport arenas with drifts, donuts, sign bashing, and aerial jumps in near impossible time constraints. To me this is just total killjoy, and its saving grace is being allowed to dumb down the difficulty level on the fly. Fortunately, this game is only four short seasons and then it will be over with.

4.      XCom: Enemy Unknown on PC: I’m still struggling in this acclaimed TBS game. I’m not sure whether I’m progressing or not, truth be told. I’m attacking my first alien base and so far each bout is a less than epic failure. Most of the major countries in the world are still under Project: XCom’s control, so I must be doing something right. Still, if I could just take this one alien base! I have a feeling once I accomplish that the game will take a turn for the better and I will have broken through a strong slow point. The game despite its difficulty is fun. PC Gamer magazine said this about XCom 2 and it really holds true in this game as well, "This is your favorite action figures battling it out in the living room on a Saturday morning." Wonderful summation of this game.

5.      The Wake of the Red Witch on DVD:  John Wayne, always the white hat good guy, brings to the screen something different. A sea story in which Wayne’s character is more like a movie version of Jack London’s harsh and cruel-like whaler, Wolf Larson in his great novel, The Sea Wolf , John Wayne is anything but good. He double crosses the merchant he sails for, scuttling the rich merchant’s ship and sinking millions in gold bullion. Interestingly, not out of greed, but over a broken heart. The woman Wayne loved fell into the clutches of the merchant and became lost to the sea captain forever. This movie isn’t quite swashbuckling jolly roger pirate fun, but close enough. And it’s the third movie I know of where John Wayne dies in the end.

6.      Running Blind (Jack Reacher #4) by Lee Child. Former military cop, Jack Reacher is still enjoying a settled life with a Wall Street lawyer girlfriend and a nice house bequeathed to him from the girlfriend’s father when a series of unfortunate events trap Reacher into being blackmailed by FBI agents and coerced into helping them track down a killer who preys upon military service women who’ve brought up sexual harassment charges against their male counterparts. Child’s Reacher novels are difficult to put down once started, and this one is no exception. Part Leroy Brown, part Big Bad John, seemingly part T-1000 Terminator, and as tactical and fast thinking as Angus MacGuyver in an enemy fortress, Jack Reacher is a hero for the modern man.  

7.      The Brothers Johnson Right on Time on CD: Back in 1977, being the invisible kid as a sophomore in high school, I fell in love with a song on the radio by these two esteemed godfathers of funk, The Brothers Johnson. That song, “Strawberry Letter 23,” epitomized that year in high school for me, accompanying my friend Mike White who worked as a pizza deliverer on Friday nights, going to English class after gym class, my hair still wet from the shower, always picking pizza and fries to eat in the cafeteria instead of eating the nutritious stuff. Back when the Saturday Night Fever disco soundtrack blocked the horizon, this duo exuded much more in the cool factor department. Propelled by famed producer, Quincy Jones, this is a band I’m honored to say contributed to the soundtrack of my youth. This CD is as pure as it gets with the aforementioned, “Strawberry Letter 23,” and “Brother Man” unremixed, unremastered and virtually untouched by a “Sound Wars” engineer.

8.      Fallout on PC: I had the original big box and the stoutly manual back in 1999 two years after its release by Interplay.(Which now sells for well over $100.00 on eBay.)  I started the game, but didn’t get far. I was too captivated by the likes of Half Life and Rainbow Six. I started it again some years later, but got snagged in a game crashing bug and stopped playing it. And then I installed Fallout 3 and loved every single moment of it. Being the purist I am, I don’t have the heart to undertake Fallout 4 with having another college try at the game that started it all, the one game my favorite former Computer Gaming World Magazine writer, Jeff Green quipped as “the best RPG on the planet.” With its third person isometric over the shoulder view and its action point movement/combat system and its default difficulty, definitely not a game for the squeamish. But like the hellishly difficult Dark Souls, this is one you can truly be proud to say you’ve finished. Hopefully, I’ll get there.

9.      Penny Dreadful Season One on Netflix: Recommended by my friend, Neil Campbell, this darkly disturbing series has seduced me into its sinister spell. I remember reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the 8^th grade, and I immediately discerned I was way in over my head. I remember spending most of the book with an accompanying dictionary, but then years later as an adult I tackled Bram Stoker’s Dracula and found it wonderfully entertaining. Now, couple those great books with Jack the Ripper’s Victorian slummy London, and insert Oscar Wilde’s self incarnation in the guise of Dorian Gray who is also a character in this series and it makes up a compelling serial. There is a scene in episode 3 that’s really stuck to me, and not in a good way. Dorian Gray takes the show’s main character to a shady underground club in which we see a rat terrier tossed into a pit with a hundred rats. The dog chomps, shakes, and eviscerates the entire group of rats in minutes. Digital trickery has become the new magic of the medium because the scene looks so real I can’t stop thinking about it. And Josh Hartnett, the aforementioned character who is a former Indian fighter who is led to watch this spectacle has to leave to go to the bar to chase two whiskeys. The cruel sport is even more than he can bear.

10.  Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC: I remember delving into Wolfenstein 3-D way back in 1994. I don’t even think I beat it entirely, but I enjoyed the heck out of it. And then in 2002 I played through Return to Castle Wolfenstein twice. 2009 saw the release of Wolfenstein which I also revered, although I do remember a horribly difficult final boss fight I struggled to beat. And now I’m playing an alternate version of Wolfenstein occurring in an alternate universe where the Nazis win WWII. This game is why I love First Person Shooters, and in that they offer a sense of place for me quite unlike anything else. I can come home from work, dim the lights, don the headset, and suddenly I’m actually in a bleak gray stone castle commandeered by Nazi henchmen. This game has all of the trappings that make my high end system glow, and yet it’s a homage to its old school roots to Wolfenstein 3-D, often called “the grandfather of FPS games.”

Edward's November 2016 Mix

Geeze, the year is just about over. Where did it go? And even more depressing, winter is befalling us. But then look on the bright side: no more lawn mowing, and the perfect excuse to stay inside and veg out on games, good television and even better books. Speaking of television I caught a documentary this month on Netflix that struck my life like a candid flash bulb shot in a dark room. Actually, however, it’s been a rather slow month for me due to oogles of hours at work. I need to play the Lottery more.

 

1.      Radiohead Amnesia on CD: I’ve always loved how experimental this band is. It’s funny how I dismissed them when “Creep” came out. I hated the song, but then when OK Computer was released and swept the Grammy Awards, I went out the next day and bought it. I’ve grown with them. Over the years their work has been my steadfast companion. I was happy to find this in my local Half Price Books. Copyrighted 2001, its sound is definitely the successor to OK Computer and Kid A. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed at first. I guess I keep trying to find OK Computer in every other recording they’ve made, but I’m warming up to this album.

 

2.      Lost: Season 3 on Blu-Ray: I’m moving through this series painfully slow, but perhaps that’s a good thing, like savoring a good wine, or a great cigar. The series is still capturing my interest, especially, Juliette. Jack trusts her, and I want to trust her, but in the end of one episode we see her ostensibly being as wicked as a double agent in a World War. And Sawyer continues to redeem (and ingratiate) himself through his actions. This certainly isn’t my most favorite television series, but I have to admit it’s one of the most fun I’ve watched. I almost wish now I had been caught up in it when it first aired in the early oughts. But then, wait . .no, I don’t regret it. Damn commercials!

 

3.      The Tin Woodman of Oz by Frank L. Baum: Okay, you can stop laughing now. My secret confession: I’ve been reading the compilation of these books since 2012. I guess it all started in the 8^th grade when me and some buddies decided to start reading them. They were like an early version of Harry Potter to us. Well, I managed to read a few of the books, and I discovered these Oz stories were dark. The Wizard himself carried a pistol and wouldn’t hesitate to use it. And the Wicked Witch of the West actually sent a swarm of bees to attack Dorothy and her companions and instructed the bees, “aim for their eyes with your stingers!” There are 14 books in the series, and I’m on number ten. I never would have guessed the Tin Woodman was actually a man at one time who fell under a witch’s curse. Ah, the beauty of the Kindle. You can sit in a dealership awaiting an oil change, an old man, and nobody suspects you’re engrossed in a Wizard of Oz book!

 

4.      Assetto Corsa on PC: I’m still in the GT BMW Z4 GT3 Series which puts me behind the wheel of a monster BMW road course car. I’ve been experimenting with gear ratio changes, and this seems to be key in getting that slight edge in these cars which are all stockly built the same. The second Porsche Dream Pack just released, and the cars are fun to play with, but I’m all about the career. The game is still frustrating due to its Terminator AI, but I’ll just have to keep plugging away if I want to beat it.

 

5.      The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton. This woman’s writing continues to amaze me. Our main character is enjoying her married life to a man who is full of shortcomings in so many ways, but he’s “her man.” I’m dragging in reading this book thanks to my as of late extended work hours, so it’s certainly not from lack of interest. I will seek out Jane Hamilton’s other works after this. She’s that good.

 

6.      A Faster Horse on Netflix: A suggestion popped up on my Facebook feed one day concerning a documentary airing on Netflix about the history, legacy, and launch of the 6^th generation Ford Mustang called, “A Faster Horse.” Working at a car factory really made this resonate with me. Admittedly, I have wanted a Dodge Challenger since I was 8 years old. I watched this great show and saw what all went into the modern Ford Mustang, and quite frankly, it changed me. I don’t care about the Dodge Challenger anymore. I actually want a Ford Mustang. If you have Netflix, watch this. It just may change your life, too.

 

7.      2014 Ford Mustang GT: Two weeks ago I went into a dealership and told the proprietor about the aforementioned documentary I watched. And then I bought a car from him. He laughed and said he was going to tell his customers my story. I invited him to do so with relish. So, I picked up a GT, loaded out with the Coyote 5L 302 cid engine. It’s decked out with the Track Pack (Brembo brake package, Recardo racing seats, and a cooler for the engine oil.) She’s got a 6 speed transmission and a 4 valve DOHC. 420 HP. I’ve never driven anything so powerful in my life. It’s like driving the Batmobile. No,  . .it’s like owning a pet dragon truth be told. 

 

 

 

8.      World of Tanks on PC: I’m caught up in this silly game again. I have steady friends who play though, so it’s just too easy to have fun. For a Free to Play it’s not bad, but definitely recommended to play with friends. I grumble about its monetization mechanics, yet I always come back to it. Ah, a guilty pleasure!

 

 

 

Edward's October 2016 Monthly Mix

It’s been an unseasonably warm autumn which is never a bad thing. Halloween this year was like summer, and definitely the warmest Halloween I ever remember. Yes, I’m still working a lot of overtime, ah, the complications of launching a new car line. And I’ve become hooked on Company of Heroes multiplayer all over again with my friends, Vic Berwick and Phil Harvey. I’ve got it bad . . . so badly in fact I’ve been playing hookie on the exercise bike just to come home and get on the game. You’ll notice this mix is shorter than others simply because I’ve spent so much time on this game!

1.      The Music Welcome to the North on CD: Of all of their albums, in my opinion this one is the best, and it truly is a magnum opus. Robert Harvey, the vocalist is one of the best singers I’ve ever listened to. Discovering them on Pandora back in 2004, the band hit me somewhat reminiscently like Big Wreck did back in 1997. They sound like a young alternate version of Led Zeppelin. But then there’s the Incubus vibe as well. (They actually toured with that band for a spell, appropriately.) For a taste, I suggest Youtubing “Guide,” or even better, “Into the Night.”

2.      Penny Dreadful on Netflix: After finishing Season 4 of Hell on Wheels I wanted to try something different. I think I hit the jackpot with Penny Dreadful starring Josh Hartnett.  Being a fan of Gothic and classical horror, this series which hosts vampires and Frankenstein’s monster is a perfect conglomeration and a homage to the old monster posters that adorned my wall as a kid. I’m only on the third episode, but wow, what a ride so far. I’ve even got to meet Dorian Gray. The show reminds me of the movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which I didn’t particularly like.)

3.      Strangeville by Kenneth Tingle: A man drives up a mountainside to kill himself, but he had chili for supper. And he’s afraid that once he does the deed his bowels will let go in an awful way and the authorities who discover his body will be so disgusted they’ll simply leave his body there for someone else to pick up. And so the guy changes his mind, turns around for home, gets lost in the fog and runs out of gas. His mobile phone gets no reception, so he starts walking. And he gets lost. He eventually stumbles into a small town named Strangeville, and so begins a zany book complemented with characters named Vonsleestack and Smedley McDoogle. The man tries to leave the next day but the mayor and his two assistants threaten to have him locked up if he tries to leave. Then he meets Delilah and suddenly leaving is the farthest thing from his mind.

4.      Assetto Corsa on PC: I’m still in the GT BMW Z4 GT3 Series which puts me behind the wheel of a monster BMW road course car, and I haven’t touched the game so much this month since I’ve been playing so much Company of Heroes, but I just picked up the Porsche Dream Pack which consists of 3 sets of Porsche automobiles through the years. I can’t wait to dive into these packs.  

 

5.      The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton. This woman’s writing continues to amaze me. Our main character is getting married to a skinny guy with beautiful hair and bad teeth. He’s not working but promises to find a job and take care of her. Carson McCullers once said she loved to return to the south to renew her sense of horror. Come to think of it, this novel reminds me of something Carson McCullers would have written. I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those books I never want to end.

6.      Company of Heroes on PC: I’ve said it here before, but I believe this is the best RTS ever made. And now Relic is releasing a new Dawn of War game, oh joy. I’ve been playing multiplayer with friends including Vic Berwick and Phil Harvey. I kind of feel lucky for introducing Phil to the game and it’s marvelous to see how much he likes it. And I must admit that online we make a pretty good team. But the true joy for me is still the game itself with its muddy graphics and award winning sound design. It’s like being in a war movie in which you are the star. PC gaming with friends doesn’t get any better than this.