Edward's July 2015 Mix

I had two weeks off this month. I didn’t really go anywhere or do anything adventurous outside of the house because being I just started this year at a new company I didn’t have any vacation built up. But that’s perfectly fine. The majority of my adventures occurred inside through my movies, Blu-Ray series, music and PC games. It was nice to sleep in and not awaken to obligations of any sort. It’s just sad that after having that time off, a weekend off now just doesn’t seem quite long enough. Conversely, I guess if I’m going to play games and keep a television to watch my Blu-Rays on, and keep electricity surging through my devices I’m going to have to pay for them. And I haven’t won the lottery yet, so work seems like a viable option. It will have to do, for now. This mix is longer than the usual but it’s because I had so much more time this month to indulge myself. Enjoy!

 

1.  The Chernobyl Diaries on Blu-Ray: I picked this up at a local Disc Replay store a while back because it was cheap and I’d heard it was scary. It had that new and all the rage documentary feel to it, kind of like a Paranormal Activity movie. But the real hook for me was the location of the film, Prapyat, Chernobyl in the Ukraine. That place has been the central character in numerous PC games I’ve played such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. In every such game I’ve played, Chernobyl is a haunted broken place. And this movie seems to have captured the feel of it so precisely. It’s not the greatest horror film I’ve ever seen, but it had a few good jump scares in it. And it produced that uncanny sense of dread at all of the right times.

 

2.   The Witcher 2 on PC: Nope. I still haven’t finished it yet. But it’s amazing the things I’m discovering in a second play through that I missed the first time around. Lesson learned: sometimes it’s okay to forego the Steam achievements and just enjoy the freakin’ game. I’m not trying to speed run to write a silly Steam review anyway, what fun is that? I’m having much more fun revisiting this game, and if I’ve learned anything at all (especially in an epic length RPG) it’s that it’s okay to slow down, take in the scenery and smell the roses.

 

3.  Carbon Based Lifeforms: TwentyThree on CD: I’ve always loved Carbon Based Lifeforms and apparently I’m not the only one. You can buy their albums on Amazon for $79.00. Well, okay, you can also buy their mp3 albums there too, for a much more reasonable $8.99. But I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of them. Their music is usually accompanied by drum and bass. But not this album. This album is strictly ambient. It reminds me a lot of Brian Eno’s work. I don’t do this often, but when I heard the song, “Held Together by Gravity” I immediately bought the album. And then I listened to that one song twenty times straight. Life is funny sometimes, just when you think you’ve lived long enough to hear every good song on the planet, and then you discover this. It’s why I’d rather be blind than deaf.

 

4.  The Stanley Parable on PC: This is one game I finally cleared out of my Steam backlog. I played it in one play through and beat it in 19 minutes. Yes, I know, I know, I didn’t really beat it yet. There are multiple endings, and this game is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. But not really. Granted, I can respect its unusual narrative style and the exultations of it by hipsters who say this is the way a PC game should be made, but I wouldn’t really even call this a game. It’s more a game meets art concept kind of thing. (The whole product was born from a mod.) I was interested because of the way PC Gamer Magazine catapulted it into the stratosphere of rated 90+ games. I suppose the game’s gimmick is it’s a story about you (playing a character in the game from a first person perspective) but then it’s not a story about you playing a character in a game. You will follow rules dictated by the game, but then you will not follow those rules. People talk about the humor in it, personally, I didn’t find it all that funny, but then I rarely find comedy in this country funny at all, canned laugh tracks placed into Television sitcoms be damned.

 

5. The Austin Powers Trilogy on DVD: This DVD set is something I always thought I'd get around to seeing eventually, but never made the time for it. I had seen bits of particular movies, but I had never seen any of the movies all the way through. The first movie, Austin Powers, Man of Mystery was a great introduction to Mike Meyer’s titular character. I loved the atmosphere and the art style. It reminded me so much of Monolith’s wonderfully done game, No One Lives Forever (2000). The second movie introduced Scotland’s own, Fat Bastard. He made the movies as far as I’m concerned. I wonder if the people on the set were even able to keep a straight face long enough to shoot anything when he was around. The last movie, Goldmember, was okay, a fitting end to the trilogy.

 

6.  Star Trek The Next Generation: Season One on Blu-Ray: I finally finished this amazing set. It’s a nothing less than brilliant revival of the original Star Trek. And I’m so glad the series returned in this fashion. I know I sound like a glitched record here, but the transfer to Blu-Ray is simply stunning. If you’re a fan of the series at all then this belongs in your library. One episode stands out for me especially, “Conspiracy,” in which Captain Picard becomes involved in what he thinks is a conspiratorial takedown of Starfleet Command. And what ensues transports the show from sci-fi into straight out old school horror territory. The episode alluded to the bloody chest bursting scene in the movie, Alien, and the old 1950’s (and 80’s Tobe Hooper remake for that matter) of the movie, It came from Mars! And even the ghastly “pets” of Khan, the burrowing space slugs in the movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I’ll be attacking Season Two in the not too distant future, and I can hardly wait.

 

7.  Rise of Flight on PC: It’s been a while, but I picked up some Sopwiths during the 777 Christmas sale this year and thought I’d take them for a spin. I’ve only flown the Sopwith Camel so far, but it’s a joy to fly. It can be a little scary making a right turn because the engine torque makes you feel like you’re going to suddenly plummet, but putting the plane into a left turn has it turning faster than about any plane in the game’s arsenal. I have yet to down any enemy aircraft in it, but it’s the middle of January in the game and I just don’t see too many enemies up and about. Oh well, with all of this stick time, come warmer weather I’ll be ready and waiting.

 

8.  Outlaws on PC: Having picked this up from www.gog.com I committed myself to beating it during my two week vacation. And I did. This LucasArts game (2001) was built on the old Star Wars: Dark Forces engine and proved that a comical (with a very serious overtone) cartoon western FPS could be successful. The soundtrack though not composed by Ennio Morricone, is a wonderfully done successor to Morricone’s works. The game spiked up in difficulty in a few areas so much that I had to cheat to get through them, and I never feel good about having to do that, but I wanted to finish the game. As a PC gamer, one of my great weaknesses is to see old games on my shelf that I haven’t played. My intentions are good, I sure want to play through them and I always say I will, but we only have so many tomorrows. I feel quite accomplished for having finally finished this one.

 

9.  A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett: When I was a kid, there was a song released by Jimmy Buffett called “Margaritaville,” and gosh how I hated that song. It would play on the radio constantly, and it was such a long song! It got burned into my brain. I never thought I’d be reading a book written by this same man who brainwashed me as a kid, but thanks to my friend, Amy Lovett, who walked into work one day and said, “Here is this book. I want you to read it.” So I began it this month, and I’m finding it incredibly hard to put down. It concerns a cowboy in Wyoming trying to outrun his turbulent past as a drinker and womanizer, by being a hired hand and riding fences on an expansive ranch. And then he gets into a heated disagreement with his boss, a haughty millionaire. He picks up her dining table and hurls it through the plate glass window of her mansion. And then he hightails it out of the state chased by highly paid bounty hunters. He and his horse end up on a shrimp boat on passage to Mexico. He takes a job there under a 101 year old woman to restore her decrepit lighthouse. The locales, the scenery, the whole attitude of this place that Buffett has created, it’s just magical. Now, if every time I see his name on the side of the book I could stop humming, “Margaritaville.”

 

10.  Prometheus to Alien: The Evolution – 5 Film Collection on Blu-Ray: Me and my buddy, Neil Campbell, watched this great collection over a week time period. This is a great collection, especially on Blu-Ray. And it was my first time to actually watch, Prometheus. It meshed with the series well enough, but I’d hardly call it Ridley Scott’s magnum opus. The original Alien still stands the test of time as does the second film, Aliens where the series went to an action episode, somewhat departing its roots based more on horror. The fifth movie, Alien: Resurrection was probably the most lackluster of the series. It irked me when the US version of this set (which lacked the newest film, Prometheus) went on the Black Friday sale on Amazon, and since Prime members get first dibs it was sold out almost instantly. I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Phoenix of picking up one, but then I found this wonderful all inclusive set for even cheaper!

 

11.  Lost: Season Two on Blu-Ray: Yes, I know I’m slower than a seven year itch when it comes to watching my beloved seasons of episodic series, but Lost definitely has its hooks in me. As of this writing I’m about to watch episode five and so far I’ve been introduced to “the others,” and “them.” As it turns out, there were survivors from the tail section of the plane and they are being led by Michelle Rodriquez (definitely not my favorite character.) We’re still getting some backstory flashbacks from the old gang, e.g. Hurley, Lock and Sung. And it’s all good stuff. Despite their tragic predicament, the scenic vistas look so beautiful I almost wish I could live there with them. And still I can’t help but liken the show to a Gilligan’s Island for grown ups.

 

12.  John Carpenter’s The Thing (commentary) on Blu-Ray:  It wasn’t that many months ago that I watched this movie for the first time in probably ten years, but this time it was on Blu-Ray, which I might add is a most beautiful transfer. I enjoyed the commentary of John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China, I assumed this one would be every bit as good. And boy, was it! It was if these two great showmen were sitting in my living room with me enjoying a couple of beers. Kurt Russell guffawing in every scene in which he’s wearing his obnoxious front crushed cowboy hat was the cherry on top.

Edward's June 2015 Mix

I just underwent a major lifestyle change. It’s something first previewed back when I was twelve years old when my mother stopped serving certain foods because she thought they weren’t processed healthily. Her efforts became a lifelong habit for me. And I did try to be a (halfhearted) vegetarian a few years ago. It didn’t last very long. But now my youngest daughter has become my biggest inspiration to indulge in the whole enchilada (organic and gluten free, that is.) And so far it’s been great. I just feel really good. There are so many good meat substitutes out there now that it’s simply a non-issue. And apparently I’m not alone. Our local grocery store has an expansive organic section and it’s often slim pickings. It’s nice to see the world catching on. Eat right or spend $400,000 on open heart surgery. The coin only has two sides, my friends. It's amazing if you do a little research how many diseases are the direct result of eating crap food, and how turning your diet around can cure so many maladies! On another note, this summer month of June has been nothing but rain. I swear it rains everyday. But that’s okay! More time to stay inside and watch movies and play games.

1.      Train Simulator 2015 on PC: I have been biding my time with the Horseshoe Curve DLC. This neat little expansion pack is set in the very early 1960’s and showcases Altoona, Pennsylvania and its famous curve which is shaped like a proverbial horseshoe. Sitting inside the engine and looking 90 degrees right out of the cab window and seeing  the caboose is an unforgettable experience. Several scenarios are set in the summer which is pretty enough, but the winter scenarios are king. Snow falling and looking outside at the tall stark telephone poles and the naked trees adorning the hills. It’s a beautiful vista, and makes the scenario well worth owning if you’re a fan of Train Simulator 2015.

 

2.      The Witcher 2 on PC: I’m still playing through this massive RPG. I told you last month I started it over, and I’m currently making my way to the first boss. I should fare much better this time around considering I dumbed the difficulty level down a notch. I’m still irked that so much of the game is played out through cut scenes and QTEs, but I do like the fact that given Geralt’s makeup, the more you play the easier the game gets because of the ability to unlock better moves and stronger weapons.

 

3.      Metallica Reload on CD: Okay, you’re going to think me strange because I did not jump on the Metallica bandwagon until the Load album. This was when the band cut their hair and changed their style a tad, well, enough to ostracize some die hard fans. But to this day I still play Load regularly, it has become my favorite Metallica album by far. I then got to listen to their famous Black album and found it almost as good as Load. It made me a forever fan of Jason Newsted (and producer Mutt Lange). Back when Reload came out I heard certain cuts make radio play, but I never listened to the album entirely. I picked it up this month and gave it an honest listen. I can see how it was their great transition into their truly commercial stuff, e.g. Garage, Inc., The Mission Impossible song, etc. I admire how they expanded their range in the studio with operatic type singing and other unorthodox tricks, but this is an album that I certainly don’t consider bad, and will probably grow on me the more I listen to it.  

 

4.      Armani: Code by Georgio Armani Natural Spray cologne: I learned long ago that the masculine art of shaving is important to a man’s personal grooming. The proper application and wearing of cologne is an art as well. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered it’s often erroneously overlooked. I’m not a regular contributor to GQ Magazine, but I can wear cologne with confidence thanks to research and practical experience. I’m a firm believer in musks for autumn and winter and citrusy type colognes for spring and summer. I first caught the scent of Armani: Code several months back and began saving for my very own bottle. It’s quite effectively like releasing a Genii every time I spray it on. Each spray evokes ocean waves spilling across a white sand beach as viewed through the leaves of an Hawaiian rainforest, and looking back at the Roman royalty hall I just left and knowing I can return to the most beautiful women on earth by simply walking back. I can truly see why this stuff is so expensive.

 

5.      A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick: I just purchased a Kindle Paperwhite, and this is the first book I’m reading on it. Dick is a master of fiction ideas, I’ll give him that, but at times his writing is a bit on the dry side. I’m enjoying this book, but having seen the animated film twice is greatly contributing to my understanding. This is probably the most “adult” writing I’ve ever read from Dick, and it is entertaining, but much like his venerable, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which paled dim in comparison to Ridley Scott’s wonderfully made film, BladeRunner, I’m discovering this book suffers the same malady. The film (in spite of its animated art style) outshines the book.

 

6.      Doctor Zhivago on Blu-Ray: I first saw this movie when I was nine years old at the local theater downtown. I was with my mother and my aunt. The first scene depicted the movie’s main character, Zhivago, as a little boy attending his mother’s graveside service. David Lean, the director knew what he was doing. The whole scene either centers on the boy’s face or the boy’s viewpoint of the whole goings on. We see the camera slowly creep up toward the open maw of his mother’s grave. We see the camera focus on his mother’s waxy looking corpse with her beautiful and youthful black hair. As the scene ensues we watch as the caretakers hammer her coffin lid shut and lower her blue velvet coffin into the ground. The last part of the scene shows Zhivago’s expressionless mother lying in her casket, and you realize this will be the way little Zhivago will always remember his mother. This scene was horrifying for me. It was worse than any horror movie I’d ever seen. It made me realize death was a real thing, and someday I would lose my own mother. I couldn’t sleep that night, and in fact, cried so hard my eyes were swollen the next day. So, here it is some forty plus years later and I’m getting the chance to watch this movie again in a beautiful Blu-Ray format. In this regard it makes me know that movies really are a form of magic. Watching a movie of this grandeur truly is like escaping one’s life for two or three hours. And even as the boy who saw this movie so long ago I understood that Zhivago was a haunted man, but I had no idea of the depth. Now that I’ve seen the movie again I can see that not only is this man haunted, but it appears a man can love two women with equal passion.

 

7.      The 2015 Steam Summer Sale: It’s hard to believe how fast it seems to come around, but alas, here it is once again! Oops! It’s already gone. Yep, that fast. Well, no worries, the winter sale will be here before you know it. Honestly, I was not impressed with this sale. Actually, I thought the last winter sale left something to be desired as well. Most of what was offered was games I’d picked up in sales past. There were a few games I wanted, but they just didn’t dip down far enough in price. I picked up a few things, but mostly DLCs to stuff I already had.

Edward's May 2015 Mix

Old man winter has been put out to pasture, at least for a spell, anyway, and summer’s eve looms on the horizon. It’s the time all of us Hoosiers live for, driving by evening people sitting on their porches, the buzzing drone of distant lawn mowers, song birds adorning the power lines. I’ve gotten to go kayaking, and I’ve had the pleasure of sitting out at my neighbor’s firepit already this spring. I’m still coming to terms with working an off shift. I like my job, but I just don’t get anything done through the week. It seems I’ve become a vampire. I do most of my stuff late at night when I get home when the real world is asleep. I suppose I’ve always been a night owl at heart, and my computer has been my window out to the whole wide world.

 

1.      Train Simulator 2015 on PC: I spend too much time in this . . . game? Actually, it really is a simulator. I may not actually comandeer a freight train pulling seventy cars, but the feeling of doing it in a simulation like this has to replicate what it’s like to actually do it. I’ve been rolling a lot of stock on a Northern Ohio scenario pack I picked up a while back. Having lived so much of my life in the Midwest I’m impressed by the attention to detail in this pack. I almost feel if I look hard enough I can see boys pushing their bicycles along while carrying a bottle of pop down the town sidewalks or some old man in bib overalls leaving a barber shop. I pass by warehouses and see forklifts in action and it makes me feel as if I’m in a living breathing world that exists even after I exit the game.  

2.      The Witcher 2 on PC: I got to the first boss, and damn the bad luck (or am I just that bad of a gamer?) I died twenty times in a row. I can’t lie. I was tempted to ragequit/uninstall,but I looked over at my specially packaged extended edition boxset and just didn’t have the heart to do it. So I took the coward’s way out and simply started over again on a lower difficulty setting. There just comes a point where one has to kiss the chance to get 100% completion achievements and just enjoy the game. I really honestly, truly wish I wasn’t such a Steam achievement-holic. For the love of OCD!  Anyway, I’ve not progressed all that far, but at least I’ll have more fun this time around. I’ve talked to guys at work who are in love with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt but they never played the first two games. How is this even possible? How can these guys live with themselves?!!

 

3.      Toto IV on CD: I owned this on cassette when I lived in Yokosuka, Japan. It was a sort of departure from their previously recorded stuff, but it had a few radio hits and I liked it. I recently found this original CD pressing (made in 1982). I didn’t realize CDs were even out in 1982. But being this is original, there is no dynamic audio compression. It’s too bad CDs today aren’t made like this anymore. I’ve always thought Toto was an underrated band in spite of their fantastic musical range. I’m glad I can add this to my collection.

4.      Outlaws on PC: A recent score from the most wonderful, www.gog.com. I first played this back in 2001, but I never finished it. It just got too difficult, but as far as western FPSs go, it’s hailed as one of the best. So I had to go back and revisit this amazing game. The comedic element is “LOL” funny, and the cartoon graphics have definitely aged well. Unfortunately, I forgot how difficult shooters were back in the old days and this game is a real eye opener. I hope I can stay the course before I get ticked and uninstall it.  

5.      The Magnificent Seven on Blu Ray: I had never seen this movie, but as a fan of great westerns my life wouldn’t be complete without having done so. I watched it with my stepfather who introduced me to some of my favorite westerns of all time. This was cliffhanging, exciting and action packed. It had a great cast, and importantly, it helped to put Steve McQueen on the map. Yul Brynner was the star, but McQueen made it a point to draw the viewer’s eye to him in every scene they were in together (by adjusting his hat or his gun or his belt) and it worked. McQueen went on to become the 1960’s “King of Cool.” 

6.      Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu Ray: I’m still working my way through it, and yes, I’m taking my time, but the thing is, I’m just not wanting it to end. These episodes are so beautiful on Blu Ray. Since I have the first few seasons on DVD as well, I played a scene out of one episode on Blu Ray and DVD and I was appalled at how badly the DVD version looked. It made me think of a VHS tape that was recorded in extended play, and then watched a million times. Okay, it wasn’t THAT bad, but if you get a chance to add the Blu Ray version to your library I suggest you do so. Like I’ve said before, it’s like going to the movies to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 

Edward's April 2015 Mix

High spring is in the air, and the weather is lovely. My oldest daughter is here with us for two weeks. And I’m still enjoying the job. Hillary Clinton is announcing her run for US Presidency. Ah, the liberal media is going to love her despite all of the shenanigans she’s been involved in. Personally, I think she’s wasting her time and millions of dollars. But shoot, I didn’t think Obama would win a second term, and he did.

1.      Grand Theft Auto V on PC: I’m not a fan of Rockstar. Despite that GTA debuted on the PC I think Rockstar treats the PC crowd as chickens on a factory farm. I have to admit, however, they went all out on this title for the PC. The graphics, the interface, the storyline. Stupendous! It’s as if someone at Rockstar said, “Okay, just wait until they see this!” I’ve only played it for a week, but I’m in love. I find it hard to play a bad guy, even in a game that makes it a virtue to be wicked. Yet, if feels so good being bad. Truly, entering this game is stepping into another world.

2.      World of Tanks on PC: My friend Dillon Gard, once suggested this game to me. I looked at the YouTube gameplay trailers of it and was not impressed. It just looked like a close combat melee game played with tanks. I eventually downloaded, dabbled in it and found it to be okay. It gathered dust in my gaming library. Recently I’ve revisited it and now I’m hooked. I probably shouldn’t play this with my addictive personality. I swear they must have a team of psychologists on retainer because the pay wall mechanic in this game is so wrong, but it works. Play for free and you get a standard account that proffers minimal XP for battles fought. Upgrade to a premium account and suddenly you’re earning real XP, but at what price? I paid ten bucks for 4 days premium. And I paid twenty dollars for a tank that was a definite game changer, but how long can I keep this up? Not to mention the fact that I’m not playing anything else now, it’s only World of Tanks. I’ll eventually come to my senses like I did with Blizzard’s Hearthstone, and get pissed off and uninstall it.

3.      Tapestry of the Second Born by Matthew A. Dickerson: This was shamelessly stolen from my review on www.shelfari.com, but it pretty much says it like it is. “I was quite captivated by this first novel written by a local author I know personally. It had all of the intrigue of a Dan Brown novel and the pacing of a Michael Crichton book. Dickerson has a gift for capturing human interaction so vividly through dialogue and diction , mannerisms, and body language. I was slightly confused at first because of so much going on, but as the plot pulled me in and the characters' lives became intertwined I held on for dear life. I look forward to Matthew Dickerson's next work.”
 

4.      Killing Floor by Lee Child: I really enjoyed the recent Tom Cruise movie, Jack Reacher. It was interesting to find out Jack Reacher is a concurrent character in a 14 or so book series. I discovered this first novel in which he’s introduced, and started reading it. And I’m finding it damn hard to put down.  

5.      Vespa LX 50: I took my first long road trip on my baby blue Vespa scooter. It was about a 100 mile round trip. The manual claims a top speed of 39 mph. I hit 51 a few times. Not too shabby for a 50cc scooter. As of January, Indiana introduced new legislation pertaining to motor scooters, which I think is total bullcrap. You can’t exceed a speed of 35 mph, and you can’t take a passenger, despite that my Vespa has passenger bars and a footrest for a passenger. When does it stop? When does enough become enough?

Edward's March 2015 Mix

I’m enjoying the new job. I get to read read my Kindle and my ancient issues of PC Gamer Magazine.  I still get to violate my 5^th amendment U.S. Constitutional right and provide evidence that could potentially convict me in a court of law by figuring my own taxes and then signing them, thereby sealing my own affidavit. I brought home well under what is considered poverty level and had to pay the Affordable Healthcare Act fine because I couldn’t afford health insurance. I’m really glad the Dems are out in November.  I’ve had a few wonderful days on the Vespa, but as of this writing it’s still winter.

1.      Oz, The Great and Powerful on Blu Ray: This is my second viewing of probably the best movie I watched in 2013. Helmed by Sam Raimi, of course you know who he is, the movie was panned by critics. What the hell do they know? It was a great movie. It had an all star cast, and the art direction was fielded by Todd Cherniawsky who did War of the Worlds and Beowolf, Armageddon and Oblivion. The movie came with highly recommended credits. I’m actually reading the Oz books on Kindle, and this canon doesn’t necessarily relate to what I’m reading, but it’s still fun to watch and required if you’re a fan of the old MGM Wizard of Oz.  

2.      Cities Skylines on PC: It’s a ripoff of Maxis’ SimCity. Don’t let the haters tell you any different. It is. But it’s certainly not a bad ripoff at all. It seems like these German designers took all that was bad in Maxis’s SimCity and made it good. It’s funny because I was a fan of SimCity and as of today there still hasn’t been a patch made on Maxis’ site since December of last year. Cities Skylines is easier to play because it’s simply easier to accomplish things in-game. But what makes it night/day better than SimCity is its welcoming attitude to player mods. This puts it in a class above and beyond the ancient and once respected SimCity franchise.

3.      Alien Isolation on PC: I beat it on the hardest setting, and can safely say, yeah, it’s pretty much a heart attack simulator. Of course there are the generation millinial out there who are going to say, “I’m still waiting for the scare.” Fine. If you were born in the 1900s this game is going to scare you. The art direction is brilliant, and is prompting me to actually buy The Art of Alien Isolation to set on my coffe table (since when has a game prompted me to do that? Umm . .how about never?) I beat the game, and the next day began it again. I’ve not done that in years. 

4.      Fury on Blu Ray: I love tanks. I put together tank models as a kid. I went through high school knowing I was going to graduate and become a tanker in the US Army. Alas, plans changed and I enlisted in the US Navy instead (just like David Ayer, the director of this movie.) But this movie lacked something. Brad Pitt as “Wardaddy,” was basically a real life representation of the old comic book character, Sgt. Rock. This was an attempt to surpass Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. It was a noble attempt, and well worth watching (and owning) if you’re a fan of tank warfare, but it was a fail. Overacting.

 

5.      World of Tanks For a free to play game, this is a pretty good one. It’s definitely a go to game if you want to play twenty minutes at a time. The only downside I’ve found is the price to pay for the premium content. It's just really expensive. You can grind it, but it's going to take you a really long time.

 

6.   Lost Season  2 on Blu Ray: Watching this. It’s compelling, entertaining and definitely anticipatority. I’ve just been introduced to Desmond (in the second episode.) It shall be interesting to watch. Once again, a great testament to the wonders of Blu Ray over the traditional DVD!  

Edward's February 2015 Mix

 

We’re in the deep throes of winter. Ah, time to stay in, pop open a favorite beverage, don the Mike Brady pajamas and while away the hours gaming until dawn’s early light. Oddly this year, this isn’t happening for me. I’ve started a new job. Of course I mentioned this in last month’s mix, but now it’s really set in. I’m experiencing the rush of really enjoying a single day off per week, and considering myself really lucky if I get two! I’m not complaining though, my checking account has never been fatter, and in truth, the job really is oodles better than my old security job. It’s a bit more physical but every day is truly an adventure.

 

1. You Need a Budget on PC: Despite the recent lackluster Steam Winter Sale I luckily scored this $60 software for a paltry $14.95. It has become my new religion, and no, I’m not kidding. This software has not only changed the way I think about money, but even the way I look at it. It’s under my skin bad. I preach about it to everybody I meet. It’s as if I’ve suddenly started selling Amway or got involved in the pyramidal Primerica firm . The concept is quite simple. You give each and every dollar on your paycheck a job. Instead of paying a $120 car license tag in one angry swoop, you simply budget $10 a month quietly in the background, and then that one time of the year when the tag fee is due you simply write a check for the $120 that’s accrued over the past twelve months. The goal plan is to eventually establish a buffer through wise budgeting in which you are paying this month’s bills with last month’s paycheck. So, you in effect stop living paycheck to paycheck. Imagine having your paycheck in hand waiting for the bills to come in so you can pay them instead of the bills sitting there and you’re waiting for your paycheck to be able to pay them. It’s a concept I never imagined possible, but watching it happen is a thing of beauty.

 

2. The Essential Journey  on CD:  I remember hearing Steve Perry’s remarkable soprano voice in 1981 right before I left for the Navy. My best friend at the time, Clint Vogt, turned me onto Perry’s band, Journey. The first time I heard them I just couldn’t get over the unique powerful sound of Perry’s voice. And then I got my first Sony Walkman, and I remember lying awake lonely in a Navy barracks and hearing, “Don’t Stop Believing,” with Neil Schon’s haunting guitar work emanating through the song and feeling so homesick I could cry. I continued to grow with Journey. Their album, Raised on Radio which came out in the mid 80’s reflected the music of that time. Perhaps that was the band’s last attempt to roll with the punches, because they went quiet in the 90’s. They turned out some wonderful hits, fortunately all inclusive in this double album CD I picked up. To this day, when someone mentions, “power ballad,” I always think of Journey.  

3. Peter Gabriel UP on CD: Peter Gabriel’s album “Us,” is one of my all time favorite works. “Up” is part of a trilogy Gabriel created in the 80’s through the early oughts. To be honest, when I first heard it I listened to it once, and then added it to my list to trade on www.swapaCD.com. But I recently gave it another listen, and it’s growing on me. It’s certainly not like “Us” which will always be on auto repeat in my CD tray or my queue on Google Play, but I’ve definitely become a fan.  The album runs Gabriel’s usual ensemble of synth-keyboard play and chorus singers in the background. The steady bass synthesizer he uses along with his raspy voice that makes him uniquely his own act stays true to form. I can now see this album as being part of a trilogy. Now I need to track down Gabriel’s most successful album, “So,” the beginning of the trilogy.  

4. Revolution by Deborah Wiles: Speaking of trilogies, this book is the second of one. Wiles’ first novel Countdown was about a young girl entering the world of teen angst despite the Cuban Missile Crisis happening around her. The book is a wonderful snapshot of the world at that time and place. And it’s one of the few books I’ve read more than once. This, her second novel, is about a girl witnessing the Civil Rights Act in action in 1964. Her town is about to become “invaded” by the now famous Freedom Schools for the Summer project. I’ve only started the book, but it already exudes Wiles’ wonderfully innocent observations through a school girl’s eyes of important world changing events that made indelible impressions on everybody who lived through them.    

5. Train Simulator 2015 on PC: I have  been binge playing this again. I can’t describe it any better than a calm inducing drug. I’ve been playing Amtrak New York to New Haven scenarios, and I’ve finally scored all of the Steam achievements for completing it. This is a beautiful bit of DLC, I might add. One scenario has you trying to keep to a passenger timetable at dusk. It’s wintry, everything snow covered with rain falling, and it’s simply spectacular looking. I’ve said it before, I’ll never be a train engineer despite my fascination with trains as a kid. But now I don’t have to be, nor would I really want to be I don’t suppose. This simulation gives me a taste for the real thing, and it’s all the immersion I really need. It's where I get to see my life as a grown up in a path taken in a parallel universe. 

6. Card Hunter on PC: Awarded PC Gamer Magazine’s “Most Original Game of the Year 2013” this great little gem which is free to play and played entirely in a browser is something everybody should check out. It’s a streamlined version of the old style D&D games you used to play with friends who used graph paper and multi sided dice. The game is depicted in loving detail including, grease stained pizza boxes, carbonated drinks and worn down pencils. Even the modules are lifelike two tone ink jobs done on paper. The element of newness in this version is the use of collectible cards. It sounds complicated, but it’s not, it’s actually downright addicting. You’ve been warned.

 

Edward's January 2015 Mix

A new year upon us, and so many changes, in this, only the first month. I’ve traded up in employment. No more reading 30 books a year and no more three day weekends. I knew I had to get a real job sooner or later anyway. It was a good run: 6 years with the company. But never getting a raise (or feasible health insurance benefits) turned into stagnation. I had to make a leap. Now I work for the company I was the security site supervisor for. It’s sometimes funny how things work out . I will surely miss those 3 day weekends though; it was a PC gamer’s paradise. I often have to work Saturdays now, but what I’ve discovered is that I really value my time off. I’ve finished 3 games so far this year, and if that’s not proof I don’t know what is. Oh, the three games? Sir, You are Being Hunted (a darkly humorous stealth survivor game. I bought it while it was early access, and the gamble paid off. It was a good game. I probably won’t replay it, but it was fun for a single play through.) Red Faction (an old style FPS (2000) in the same vein as Half Life. Made in Champaign-Urbana, a city after my own heart. The game had all of the irks that used to plague all old first person shooters, surviving levels with less than a quarter inch of life on your health bar, finding the big top dog gun in the game and only having one bullet for it, boss fights ramping the difficulty level to near impossibility. But I want to play the rest of the series. I had to play through it.) Air Conflicts - Secret Wars (I talked about this at length in last month’s mix, but this was a fun arcade flight combat sim set during World War II. The fun factor was torn in half on one mission, however, in which I had to make a bombing run and destroy several vehicles trying to escape Berlin towards the end of the game. The tall buildings they were driving between made it extremely difficult. There weren’t even online walkthroughs for this section. It seemed nobody had an easy answer. I got it. It took me over 50 tries, but I did get it at last and beat the game.) 

 

1. The Witcher 2 on PC: The original which came out in 2007 was the first hugely epic RPG I ever finished. It was a great learning experience for me because Geralt of Rivia, the character you played, didn’t start out as some level 1/1 pansy who had to be leveled to start wreaking havoc. Nope. In this game Geralt starts out as a fully equipped medieval Jedi Knight badass. I enjoyed the story so much I read all of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels of the Witcher universe. And the interesting part is the game is based on the novel series, unbeknownst to me until I had beat the game. This, the sequel is graphically superior, and I’ve only gotten past the prologue. I don’t like saying this, but so far it’s mostly been an interactive movie with several QTEs thrown in. I’m playing on Dark difficulty mode (for the Steam Achievement). The fighting is horrendously hard, but still very much fun. I look forward to advancing in the story and finding out if the game returns to its more exploratory roots that made the first game so good.  

2. Alien: Isolation on PC:  Who would have guessed that Creative Assembly, famous for the games in their Total War series would create arguably, the best Alien game made thus far? I read Twentieth Century Fox was so taken in by the passion and level of commitment CA was bringing to the table in the production of this game that Fox handed over three terabytes of data, sketches, costume drawings, ship plans, etc. they used and didn’t use in Fox’s original 1979 movie directed by Ridley Scott. And my oh my how CA has brought the look and feel of the Scott movie back to life and put it in a game. (The sound, too. Perhaps this game really is best played in the dark with a good set of headphones, but hearing this on my Logitech 5.1 surround sound speakers is an incredible experience all on its own.)  It’s rare that I gasp at the visuals of a game, but sheesh, this is already a hallmark experience. It reminds me of how I was affected in the outdoor environments of Ghost Recon back in 2002, or stepping into Rapture in 2007’s Bioshock for the first time, and that odd feeling akin to homesickness when I would close out of the game. I just didn’t think it could get any better than Bioshock: Infinite which I recently played through, but I believe this game has done it.  ID, you’re going to have to work very hard to raise the bar with Doom 4. I’m only 90 minutes and 4 achievements into the game, but so far this is the ultimate monster in the haunted house experience I’ve had to date. PC Gamer Magazine’s Game of the Year. I am in no way surprised.  

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu Ray: I already own this on DVD. Was the switch to Blu Ray worth it? Hell yes. The amount of man hours that went into this complete overhaul is astonishing and it shows in every frame of every episode I’ve watched so far. The colors are so vibrant they make the DVD versions look like VHS, and the sound upgrade is truly magnificent. Oddly, the transfer is almost too good. I’ve spotted carpentry spackling on a set that was erstwhile unnoticeable. Still, watching each episode now is like going to the movies.  

4. The Birthday Massacre: Hide and Seek on CD:  I fell in love with this band back in 2006 in a dance club in the virtual environment, Second Life. I remember at the time thinking, Wow! Where has this band been all of my life? They’ve produced several albums since, and they’ve managed to maintain the very same wonderful thread that runs through all of their work. Like I’ve said before,  if you were to go to a haunted house on a hillside on the outskirts of town on a Halloween night, full moon shining yellow as vibrant as the sun in the background, and there was a band playing inside, it would probably be The Birthday Massacre. I wish I could say the band has evolved from their grass roots, but in this 2012 release they have not. But you know what? They don’t need to. They can keep this same sound for all eternity and I will always love them.  

5. A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds: Finch Nobles takes care of the local cemetery. A victim of a terrible burn when she was four years old, she is destined to live a lonely existence away from the people she frightens with her appearance. And then she discovers as she works at the cemetery that she can hear the dead talk. And she finds out that until the dead can share their secrets and their stories they can’t really move on. I’m finding this to be a beautiful book about redemption and what makes it soar is Reynolds' wonderful way with words.