Edward's February 2022 Mix

 

 

 

These crazy last days. It seems the world has gone mad. Kindness is gone out the window. Jump into any Steam gaming forum, you’ll see. Hate is the new Love on the Interwebz. Vladimir Putin is making the world a scary place right now. (I personally think he’s going to ostracize his own country, making it once again, an insular place.) Netflix is raising their prices (for the third time in three years.) I want to draw the line, but there is just so much stuff to see there. I’ve been a member since the early aughts. I had DVDs mailed to my house. I should draw a line and sever the relationship. But I hate saying goodbye.

 

House of Cards on Netflix: Frank Underwood is one of the most scheming, conniving, dastardly men on the planet. And he’s the President of the United States. Yet, he’s so unctuously charming, you can’t help but to root for him. He’s so nefarious I feel guilty watching the show and feeling about him like I do. Unlike his real-life counterparts in Washington, he admits his lust for power and his reluctance to let it go. If this show really depicts genuine politics of the American democracy system, then Heaven help us.

Quantum Solace on Netflix: This, the second Daniel Craig James Bond vehicle, takes place six hours after the first movie. Talk about a segue!  This one has the usual flair, the world wealthy bad guys, the beautiful women who make you wonder if they’re going to poison Bond as they kiss him, and the over-the-top villainous world domination schemes. The villain in this one doesn’t carry the usual charisma. As a matter of fact, I kept wanting him to get his just due as I watched the movie. And Bond’s boss, M, leaves me with a sort of ambivalence. I know she means well, but I just can’t stand her. She treats James Bond with mistrust and condescension. I think it’s time they put her out to pasture.

The Enemy (Jack Reacher #8) by Lee Child: The movies are decent; I’ll give them that. I even like that they’ve cast Tom Cruise as the titular hero of the books. (Although, Cruise’s stature is way off. Jack Reacher is 6’5” and weighs in the neighborhood of 230 lbs.) This, the eighth book in the series is a prequel. And, oddly, told in the first-person sense. So, we really get into Jack Reacher’s brain. This book is also a sort of turning point for me. It’s the one book making me realize, Lee Child doesn’t just throw words together. The guy is really a talented writer. If you have any interest in men’s action fiction, I suggest delving into the Jack Reacher series. This one being a prequel may be the perfect one to start with.

Pat Benatar Icon on vinyl: I just picked up this Walmart exclusive transparent blue album and boy howdy, is it a winner! It’s a greatest hits compilation and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. There were a few cracks and pops on my first listen which surprised me, but the album sounds superb. It’s a relatively new release. It’s not even listed on dr-loudnesswar.info yet, which is where I go to check out the dynamic range compression of just about every album, CD, HD file ever released. Neil Geraldo’s guitar prowess shines on the album, and given this listen, it never dawned on me just how good Pat Benatar’s voice is. No wonder the woman won multiple Grammy awards. This is an album I’ll listen to again and again.

World of Warships on PC: You’re probably getting tired of me writing about this dangerously addictive game, but I just can’t get enough. If someone banished me to an island and told me I was restricted to one game only, this would be it. It’s an easy enough concept. Join an armada of guys piloting warships and attack a group of guys doing the same thing from the other side. It’s as simple as toy boats in a bathtub. Easily said, but then you look at the clock and realize two and a half hours have passed. There’s been a recent graphical update, so the game looks gorgeous. Heck, there’s even extensive work done on the soundtrack. And submarines are on the horizon. I had a chance to test them. They’re not overpowered like you think they would be. They’re actually fun and challenging! All if this in a game that’s free to play. With that said, however, be warned. You will spend money.

Ultimate General: Civil War on PC: I’ve now restarted this game three times. This time I’m playing on the least difficult level, and abiding by my new rule, if I fail this time, I’m done. Time is limited and I just don’t have enough of it to commit to the masochism of enduring games I can never beat. (Not to mention a Steam library that will last me into my nursing home years) This game is your chance to prove your mettle as a Civil War general heading either the Northern or Southern side. You are awarded prestige points with each victory which enables you to purchase better weapons and veteran soldiers. The maps are beautifully and accurately recreated and the whole game looks reminiscent of a time period painting come to life. The only real con is a lack of multiplayer which seems a glaring omission considering this company’s first game, Ultimate General: Gettysburg had an excellent multiplayer option.

Guild Wars 2 on PC: One of the few games I actually preordered that turned out to be okay. Coming out in 2012, this was the successor to the popular Guild Wars which made its debut in 2005. Continuing the storyline, this game is a much more involved massive multiplayer online game. With its many modes, maps, tasks, and abilities you could stay busy in this game for whole months of non-stop playing. I always stay much longer than I anticipated when I log in. The environments are grandiose and breathtaking, and the game’s music (which can be found for exorbitant prices on Amazon) is nothing short of stellar. This game has been called one of the friendliest MMOs on the planet. It’s still relevant in the world of online gaming and hosts 500, 000 players on any given day.

 

Edward's January 2022 Mix

 

 

 

Ah, the throes of winter. It’s a good time to be inside, isn’t it? And what better way to spend inside time than doing inside things. Books, movies, music anyone? Not to mention the occasional game or three. It’s shaping up to be another weird year. Prices are through the roof. A neighbor of mine had a new roof priced: $25,000. I got an oil change for my Mustang at the dealership: $331. (Of course, I talked them down from that, but the thing is, it’s still a thing.) And the sad part is as you already know, once prices go up, they don’t come down. Whoever said what goes up must come down, but that doesn’t apply to prices. It never has.

 

Alien on Blu Ray: Playing Aliens FireTeam Elite last month got me motivated to revisit this old favorite in the land of cinema. The Blu Ray transfer is excellent, and now I see the original has been released on 4K. That’s something I may have to look into. One thing I noticed on this perhaps 4^th or 5^th viewing was how slow the pacing was for the first 45 minutes of the film. And I truly see Ridley Scott’s ingenuity behind it. That ever long pacing is to get you to care about the characters, to really get to know them. And it just works. If you like good horror movies, this is one of the all time greats.   

Casino Royale on Netflix: My guitar mentor, Michael Stevens got me excited to watch this one. I’d never seen a Daniel Craig James Bond film, and so why not start with the first one of the five movie series? It’s typical Bond fare with over-the-top villains, gadgetry, lovely looking women but this time with a James Bond who, though rough and rugged, has a sensitive side. I’m told the next movie in the series takes place six hours after this movie ends. So, I’m wholly looking forward to seeing it. James Bond has been a steadfast companion through all of my years. It’s nice to see how the series has evolved, and the different iterations of Mr. Bond, himself.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: I remember receiving a Guinness Book of World Records for Christmas as a kid. One record which specifically intrigued me at the time was Agatha Christie's then current record of being the most prolific author on the planet (with over 2 billion copies of her books having been sold). It's a shame over forty years later and I'm just now finishing my first book by her. But wow, what a book! Mysteries were never really my thing, Sherlock Holmes seemed boring (I know now that is not the case) and Murder, She Wrote seemed uninteresting to me. I'd always heard this book was a great introduction to Christie's works. It concerns a cast of characters who receive mysterious (but compelling) invitations to a small ritzy island off the England coast. Over the course of a few days, the arrivals are killed off, and like any good open mystery, we don't find out until the last of the book who the killer is. I never saw it coming. I agree with her fans. Agatha Christie had a flair for this type of thing. I look forward to more of her books.

Beck Sea Change on CD: I remember hearing Beck back in 1996 with his big hit, “The Devil’s Haircut.” It was such a fun frolicky song to listen to. And then I bought the CD and found the whole album highly enjoyable. But there was a certain sameness to his music. And then Sea Change was released in 2002. And it is here we see a much more serious soulful side to Beck. Filled with beautiful acoustics and Beck’s crooning voice, the album caught me off guard when it came out. It is listed in Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500 albums of all time. But does that really matter, I mean, come on, 500 albums are a lot to choose from. Heh. Still, Rolling Stone did say it was Beck’s best album. I couldn’t agree more.

Hunt: Showdown on PC: I’d been following this game on Steam for quite the while, but never pulled the trigger because I am absolutely abysmally bad at battle royale games. I finally took the plunge, however, and boy howdy! This game is the most fun I’ve had in a PC game in ages. It’s a simple concept. You are thrown onto a map in the southern bayou area of Louisiana in the late 1800s, charged with tracking down, killing and harvesting monsters. Simple enough, yeah? Well, when you harvest one of these monsters you have to make it to an exfiltration point to cash in. Other bounty hunters (real players) attempt to rob you of your booty. It’s more fun than any game has a right to be, and with a couple of good team mates, even moreso. The music, the environment, and the murky swampy graphics just add to the experience.

Night Gallery Season Three on DVD: I loved this show as a kid. And it’s great seeing all of these actors like Sally Fields and Burgess Meredith do these old roles from the 1970s. Rod Serling and producer Jack Laird butted heads when it came to the show’s format. Serling insisted upon a certain seriousness, and Laird insisted on inserting these small comical two-to-three-minute comedic episodes that distracted from the show’s horror element. In my opinion, this doomed the show to an early retirement. It’s wonderful to be able to watch the whole series in its entirety via DVD.

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: Kurt Vonnegut is to literature what Bill Murry is to film comedy. Have you ever overheard a stranger telling another stranger about a bad day he's had, a series of unfortunate events that are so sad and pathetic you find yourself looking away to avoid a guffaw? In his beautiful and bleak style, Vonnegut introduces us to such a character, Howard Campbell, Jr., confined to jail, about to go to trial in Israel, seeking redemption after being ousted as a Nazi war propagandist. Abetted by an American, he's actually employed as a double agent. But at the time of his capture and incarceration the American contact can't be located. Campbell had better think fast. Kurt Vonnegut is a master with the pen and metaphor. His writing is beautiful. “We crossed the deserted parade ground together, dust devils spinning here and there. It was my fancy to think of the dust devils as the spooks of former cadets at the school, killed in war, returning now to whirl and dance on the parade ground alone, to dance in as un-military a fashion as they damn well pleased.” A thousand words, indeed, does paint a pretty picture.

Color out of Space on Blu Ray: Thanks to my good friend, Gene Clifford, I was able to procure a copy of this whacked out movie for this mix. When I announced, I was going to watch this movie to my friend, Brian Bartley, his gaze intensified and he told me, “There are certain lines you don’t cross in movies, but this one does. And I’ll know you will have watched it by your face the next time I see you.” How’s that’s for a compelling reason to watch a movie? It was a rather unsettling intro to a movie. I felt like I was going to sit down to a viewing of The Ring in which after you watched the movie you only had a set number of days to live! Starring Nicholas Cage, the movie is an adaption of a story by H.P. Lovecraft, and what a story it is. It’s so sadly pathetic and heart rending. It’s a movie in which you’ll be glad it’s only a movie. H.P. Lovecraft lived a dreary bleak life, he hung out in morgues, and strolled around his house in winter coats, refusing to put the furnace on. He had an air of macabre about him, and this movie captures that perfectly.

Terminator: Dark Fate on Blu Ray: A redux of the storyline, more “woke,” a little more outlandish, and not as dark and sinister as the original. The special effects were worth the cost of admission alone. The terminator, this time around, was a bit more interactive, preferring to talk his way out of things than simply going all in and killing everything around him (certainly not that he was above doing that when the situation required it, mind you.) It’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series. An interesting thing I learned while watching the “behind the scenes,” during most stunt driving, the guy actually driving the car is inside of a small roll cage equipped with a steering wheel, gearshift, clutch, etc. affixed to the front bumper section of the vehicle. So, when you see the protagonist/antagonist inside the cab whipping the steering wheel around, it’s not connected to anything. They’re not even driving!

 

Edward's December 2021 Mix

 

 

 

 It’s been a crazy year. Of course you don’t need me to tell you that. Covid and its variants, the nation’s paradigm shift in politics (and its moral bearing). There’s the complete blowout of any credibility of mass media. And then there’s the “Great Resignation” of the nation’s workforce which has affected me most of all. This year has made me a shut in. My whole wide world has become invocative rather than evocative. But the good part of that is there’s always plenty to find that makes that not such a bad thing.

 

Aliens: Fireteam Elite on PC: Making its debut from a seemingly small developer (message flash: they’re not, these are the guys who made Star Trek Online and had a hand in creating City of Heroes) we have a fast and frantic 3^rd person action shooter set in the universe of the Alien movies, the original trilogy. The character classes gain different weapons and perks as they level up which is the real draw here. There are challenge cards you can play before each mission as well. The game is a 3 player co-op, and it’s fun with other players. You can flesh out blank positions with the working joes (as featured in the much more elaborate Alien: Isolation.) Unfortunately, the game is withering because nobody plays.  

The Italian Job on Blu Ray: I’ve owned this movie on DVD for years. I recently picked it up on Blue Ray, and the transfer is absolutely beautiful. The film looks like it was filmed this year on sets depicting the 1960s. Folks, this is why Blu Ray is such an important medium. Stream until your heart’s content, but support the Blu Ray medium. It can’t die out. This movie features Michael Caine in his young days, masterminding a gold heist in Italy during a huge soccer game involving Italy and the UK. He’s got it all figured out, even employing Benny Hill as a computer hacker (yes, they even had hackers back then!) to tie up the city’s traffic light system thereby causing a massive traffic jam which will enable the robbers to make a clean getaway. But the main star of this movie is the Mini Coopers used to expedite the robbery. Watch it. You’ll laugh out loud.  

The Art of Alien:Isolation by Andy McVittie: This is one of those niche coffee table books that could pass for a bowling ball with its weight. The book is so lavish I’m tempted to wash my hands every time I pick it up. It’s full of color plates, artist interviews and sketches by the people who lovingly crafted the video game, Alien: Isolation. Not only does the book make me want to play through the game again (this would make the third time I’ve played through it) it also makes me want to watch the original movie again. This book is based on a game that is in fact, a love letter to fans of the original movie.   

The Cowsills The Cowsills on vinyl: 1967. I was in kindergarten (the morning class to be precise.) I remember my mother having a small white radio and through it I heard the song “The Rain, The Park and Other Things.” I was just discovering music and how cool it was, but the song became an integral part of my memories back then. And now, seeing the album with the Cowsill family forever frozen in that time on that lemon sunny day, the song and the rest of the album have become really bittersweet. 1967 and my boyhood youth are gone, but this album allows me to hold a piece of it in my hands.

Singularity on PC: Flying in under the radar in 2010, this game was made by the same team that made the equally inconspicuous Wolfenstein (2009). This game borrowed elements from numerous other shooters at the time. It had time travel, and a sort of gravity gun that acutely forwarded or reversed time. Find a broken staircase, torn apart in an explosion, simply use the gun on it and watch it “recreate” itself to its former glory as a functional staircase. And then use it to traverse the next level. Stop those annoying Russian soldiers chasing you by using the gun to forward time on them. Grossly, but oh so efficiently, they age, becoming wizened and then crumble into skeletal piles of dust. This was a cool gimmick, but unfortunately, about six hours into it I reached a level in which I had the wrong weapon against a virtual indestructible enemy. I was done. I uninstalled it out of anger. I love my first-person shooters, but time has become precious. It’s not to be wasted.  

The Meeting Places Find Yourself Along the Way on CD: I first heard this niche band on Pandora way back in 2005 with their catchy and haunting, “Blur the Lines.” I immediately Amazon wishlisted the album and just recently picked it up. If you look up dream pop music in the dictionary, don’t be surprised if you see this band as the accompanying picture. Since my infatuation with The Ocean Blue, I’ve always loved this type of music. Founded in 2001 by four guitarists, members had to switch and learn to play other instruments to get the band going. If you want to hear Fender Stratocasters couple with great reverb and chorus, you’ll want to give this band a listen.

The Witcher The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski: I’d read this book some time ago before it became a thing. And now that it has because of the venerable Netflix series, the books have climbed in price. This introduces us to Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer, mutated with special fighting abilities, in effect a medieval Jedi knight. This is some of the best fantasy I’ve read in years, and reading it again didn’t take any of that away, which is surprising, given I rarely (if ever) read a book more than once. This is basically a collection of short stories, but if you pay close attention, you’ll see the Netflix series episodes in each of these chapters, albeit with much more detail. I plan on revisiting the second book as well, and then continuing the series. If the rest of the books continue like this one, I’m in for some great reading.  

The Drop by Dennis Lehane: It seems that Dennis Lehane was a gray sky, bleak weather mobster or a jaded homicide detective that tossed his Styrofoam cup of bad coffee and decided to go home and write novels. And boy does it show. I’ve read a few of his books. They all concern Boston mobsters and angry cops, guys who did terrible things in their youth and now carry around the grizzled wrinkles and 5 o’clock shadows to show for it. This book, I’ve read was based on a short story Lehane made into a screenplay. I hate movie tie ins. As a matter of fact, I simply don’t read them. This book fooled me. It concerns a single guy stewing in loneliness, working as a bartender at a neighborhood dive, who, while walking home one evening discovers an abused pit bull puppy in a trash can. He nurses it to health, and his life begins taking all kinds of changes for the better, that is, until, a shifty eyed patron at the bar tells him, “You have my dog and I want him back.”