Edward's February 2026 Monthly Mix

  

 

It’s been a strange month. I’ve really enjoyed the retired life, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. It’s been a great year imbibing in books, movies, music and movies, but I’ve retired from retirement. A great opportunity came my way; I couldn’t say no. So, scoot over on the merry go round, there, make room. I’m coming aboard. And hey, the free time I get will become more precious, right? No more squandering, no more awakening (or going to bed) at 3:00 AM, questioning my sense of identity. Friday will become a special day again.

The Master of the World on Blu-Ray: Ever the fan of Jules Verne, I read this book years ago. This movie, an over the top, almost cartoony version of the book was a bit melodramatic. Vincent Price, Charles Bronson and Henry Hull do remarkable jobs at taking their roles seriously, and my fandom for Vincent Price, probably covered a multitude of sins as far as the movie’s aim for seriousness. The Blu Ray treatment is pretty decent. Colors are saturated and the sound has been cleaned up, though some rebalancing could be in order. There are a few times the movie jumped from too soft to hear to window rattling volume. It’s typical Jules Verne fare, a psychopath (with albeit good intentions) uses an ahead of its time airship to decimate any country’s army or navy unless the country bids his demands for eradicating their arms. A munitions manufacturer and his daughter and a government agent are kidnapped and held aboard the craft. The group schemes to sabotage the ship, thereby preventing the psychopath from saving the world by destroying its militaries. It begs the question, who are the good guys? 

 

 The Sound of Music on DVD: I am generally well in the know when it comes to a film that has garnered five Academy Awards, but oddly, I had never seen this movie. Perhaps it was because of its categorization of being a saccharine sweet musical of the Disney ilk. I’ve had friends tell me how wonderful of a movie it was, so I finally took the plunge with my sister and my parents, watching the DVD with them. The traditional Rogers & Hammerstein trope of watching two actors dramatically interact and then suddenly burst into song was a bit off putting, but these are musicals for you. I realized it was an important film, the highest grossing film of 1965. And, though I did love Julie Andrews in Disney’s Mary Poppins, (and even she thought both roles were too similar in the two movies) I thought she carried the film. I got to see this on a pristine DVD “Anniversary” release, and I must admit, it’s one of the most beautiful DVD movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve learned the movie recently released on 4K Blu Ray. It would be one to have in a film lover’s collection for its legacy alone.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas: Continuing a journey I started last month with this book, Joan Ashby is a brilliant and intense literary sensation acclaimed for her explosively dark and singular stories. She plans to continue being a full-fledged novelist, but ends up getting married and then having two sons. Her writing is put on hold. When she finally finishes her first novel and gets it ready for publication, she discovers a family member has horribly betrayed her, making it impossible for her novel to be published. The incident changes Joan Ashby forever, sending her on a voyage of self-discovery to India

Codename Panzers: Phase One on PC: I played through this game way back in 2008. It was sort of a precursor to Soldiers: Heroes of World War II and Relic’s ever famous Company of Heroes. A top down RTS played from the German side starting from the takeover of Poland, the game also includes Russian and British campaigns. The graphics are surprisingly good even now, and I’m sure were state of the art in 2004 when the game debuted. The game’s crafted cutscenes are laughable, but one has to applaud the developers’ intents. The characters look as if the cast of a Monty Python show got together to try to pull off something serious. Unfortunately, I had to cheat to beat the game back in 2008, and I’m already having to resort to insidious methods to get through the game again. 

 

 

 

Sarah McLachlan Surfacing on CD:  The New York Times reviewer, Sia Michel, called this album, “lushly atmospheric" but also ambivalent. I thought it played like a greatest hit album and it compelled me to pick up one of McLachlan’s other albums, her first, Touch, released in 1987 (which is very good in its own right.) It’s no surprise the album won two Grammy Awards out of four nominations. I lived in Austin, TX at the time Surfacing came out, and even now when I play the album it takes me back to that beloved place. McLachlan has a beautiful soprano ring that rings out with reverb at the required times.

ATX Audio Technica ATH M50X Headphones: Launched in 1962 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, Audio Technica started out making phonograph cartridges and quickly expanded into all kinds of electronics. Their ATH M50X Headphones became famous amongst sound engineers because of their neutrality. I would liken them to mid-fi more than hi-fi simply because of the technology that has surpassed them, but I did pick up my first set recently and gave them an honest listen. Spinning Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon on my CD player, I was astounded at the sound quality. In over 48 years of being acquainted with this album, this was the best listen I’d ever experienced with it.

The Disney Nautilus from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Presented as a gift to me by my beloved friend, Vic Berwick, this rendition of what might perhaps be my favorite craft of all time in the realms of fact or fiction, shall be a cherished memento for the rest of my days. Expertly created by Vic on a 3D printer, the model is gilded with superb attention to detail. Even the interior is painted. Ever since seeing the replica of Verne’s seagoing vessel atop Ray Bradbury’s desk when he narrated The Ray Bradbury Theater, I’ve always wanted one of my own. And now I have one equally as special. Thank you, Vic.

Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon on CD: What can I say about this album? There’s no need to paraphrase anything written on album review sites or Wikipedia. It’s one of the best selling albums of all time, and it’s one of the top albums selected by audiophiles to test out new CD players and turntables with. As much credit as is given to the band, mixer/engineer Alan Parsons (yes, THAT Alan Parsons) did a lot of the heavy lifting on the album, but has unintendedly taken a back seat to much of the album’s great history. I have it on CD (the Alan Parsons mixed one, the one to seek out of you’re looking) and the remastered 2016 edition on vinyl. The album famously collages greed, consumption, the control time utterly has over us, and madness, with Syd Barrett’s declining mental state being the impetus. It’s as if each time I listen to this album, I discover something new.

 

 

Edward's January 2026 Monthly Mix

 

 

 

In the throes of winter, I’m finding myself missing the dog days of summer. Not only has it been extremely cold here, this is the windiest winter I recall. It’s miserable even stepping outside. But closing out the year, it marked the ending of a few things near and dear. I was able to hit my reading goal of 21 books (I actually exceeded it by hitting 22 books. Yay!) And I finished watching Lost in Space, the network show that cleared the streets on Wednesday nights when I was a wee lad. And it was a time for new beginnings as well, the return to my novel manuscript that’s been collecting dust for years. But hey, with this nasty weather, there’s not a better time to lose oneself in books, movies, and games! I’ve been falling down the rabbit hole of premium headphones as of late, and it befuddles me how all of the YouTube and online reviews I read are produced/written by users who connect these hi end headsets to . . . wait for it . . . iPhones and laptops! Seriously? Doesn’t anybody listen to a home hi-fi deck anymore? It’s like buying a Lamborghini car kit. Sure, it looks like a Lambo cruising down the road, and only you know it’s sporting a Volkswagen engine, but it certainly can’t feel good when you’re found out, “Oh yeah, it's just a kit.” What are you going to do when a real Lamborghini pulls up next to you at a stoplight and gives you an encouraging rev?

Lost in Space on Blu-Ray: I finally watched the last season of Irwin Allen’s sci-fi series about the wayward Robinson family who are, indeed, lost in outer space while on a mission to colonize Alpha Centari in the late 1990s. The third season strayed far from the seriousness of the first season and went into total camp territory. The series ended with no real closure, and cast member Angela Cartwright stated, “there was no phone calls or post cast parties. We were told we’d be back next season. And then we weren’t. It was very sad.” But even June Lockhart, who played the motherly Maureen Robinson, said after the release of  “The Great Vegetable Rebellion” in which Doctor Smith must be saved from becoming a man-sized celery stalk, “we were just running out of ideas.” She and co-star Guy Williams were punished by being written out of the show’s next episode because they couldn’t stop laughing during filming. Bill Mumy, who played the venerable Will Robinson, contacted producer Irwin Allen in later years about making a true series finale. Allen shut him down, explaining Bill Mumy would sue him if Irwin crafted his own series finale. It caused strange sentiments between the two men, but after Allen’s demise, Mumy wrote an official script which the surviving cast members sit at a table and read. It provides a closure to the show and is a nice added feature only available in the Blu Ray set. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Battle of Britain on Blu Ray: Released in 1969, this British based film heads an all star cast including Michael Cain and Robert Shaw. Despite top Battle of Britain ace, Adolf Galland, being a technical advisor for the film, the movie definitely has a British bias to it. The film had great pacing and special effects. The German pilots were portrayed by German actors, and Adolf Galland himself was played by a German actor. The film is notable for its spectacular flying sequences. It was on a far larger scale than had been seen on film before, or since, making the film's production very expensive. (This does not include the expansive CGI effects we see in today’s films.)  MGM brings Battle for Britain to Blu Ray in a 1080p/MPEG-2 encoding that overall is very pleasing and natural. The print from which the encoding is derived looks free from blemishes and scratches. There are no pumped up colors, no highly polished look, no overly contrasted images, just natural looking images that resemble what we see when we go outdoors. For this to be a fifty plus year old film, there is an amazing amount of detail in this action-packed film. 

 

 The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas: Joan Ashby is a brilliant and intense literary sensation acclaimed for her explosively dark and singular stories. She plans to continue being a full-fledged novelist. When she finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, she is stunned by her husband Martin’s delight, his instant betrayal of their pact. She makes a fateful, selfless decision then, to embrace her unintentional family. Challenged by raising two precocious sons, it is decades before she finally completes her masterpiece novel. Poised to reclaim the spotlight, to resume the intended life she gave up for love, a betrayal of Shakespearean proportion forces her to question every choice she has made. Ms. Wolas’s way with words and her flair for writing fiction have me bedazzled. I’m only in the first quarter of the book, but it’s difficult one to put down.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II on PC: I enjoyed the first iteration of this game immensely. I actually played it twice. This one, which seemed almost identical in art style and gameplay was somewhat lackluster. Much is to be said for an action RPG in which instead of fighting rats and goblins and orks, you get to take on mummies and vampires, and all things Transylvanian. Unfortunately, with faulty mechanics that forced me to dumb down the difficulty or cheat my way through, I didn’t feel very gratified getting to the game’s ending. At least it only took me 33 hours compared to the 50 plus hours I spent in the first game playthroughs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Tank Squad on PC: This game is really rough around the edges. Could there be a diamond in there somewhere? I’m not sure. I knew what I was getting into, however. I saw where the game creator/designer (one man, by the way) was in the forums addressing each and every concern by disgruntled players. So, I thought I’d take a chance and support this one-man army of a developer. If, and that’s a big “if” the guy holds heart and keeps plugging away, this is going to be a great game. This is Panzer Commander for these days. The feel of the tanks and the backdrop of Operation Barbarossa is definitely there, the game just needs to become a finished product. The music score, however, A+. That’s a decent start. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Convert  by Edward C. Burton: When I first played LucasFilm’s darling PC game, Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain back in 1990, a seed was planted. The whole idea that Germany with its massive air force of 2,200 planes attacked England with its scant air force of 600 planes and England defeated them really intrigued me. And this gave birth to six months of research at my local library and the start of a novel I wrote about pilots in this, the world’s first battle fought entirely in the air. I’ve had the manuscript done for decades and it did float the NYC publishing houses, about forty of them to be exact. No takers. So, I did further edits and revisions but the manuscript sat in a drawer. Being that I now have the time, I’ve taken it out and blown the dust off of it. The keystrokes are singing, and I should have this thing ready to go out into the world of agents and publishers very soon. 

 

 

Death Race and Death Race 2 on Blu Ray: I was lucky enough to find a double disk set of both of these movies in a local resale shop. I rewatched the first movie not simply to catch up to where the second movie begins, but rather because it’s such a fun bombastic movie to watch. The plot is over the top, not much more than a Saturday morning kids’ show only made for adults, but both movies’ plots, though predictable are compelling and make for great popcorn movies. The second movie which is actually a prequel to the first movie was done quite well, pulling off the task of using older actors (who were in the first movie) portraying younger versions of themselves. These movies have a certain grit to them which contributes to the edginess of the films and they are both a testament to the fact that B movies can be good enough. 

Sponge Rotting Pinata on CD: Formed in 1992 in Detroit, Michigan, this band has been described as a versatile blend of classic hard rock and punchy alt-pop with a thin metal veneer. Vinnie Dombroski, whose father was a guitarist and taught him to play at age 12 has been the only consistent member, being the frontman and main songwriter. Sponge’s debut album, Rotting Pinata made it to the 58^th position on the Billboard Top 200, thanks to their song “Plowed.” That song was quickly followed up by a second hit, “Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain.)” This is their song that caught my ear, so to speak, and it was inspired by a local story the band members heard about a girl who developed a crush on her teacher and then attempted suicide when he rejected her. Rotting Piñata received mostly positive reviews. However, AllMusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the album was derivative of Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam, with a few good songs but otherwise featuring "half-finished ideas". Trouser Press was more positive about the album, noting "Plowed" and "Molly" as having "catchy hooks and hummable choruses" while also being "colored by murky sonic structures that layer a bit of lead around their listener friendly cores.” I hadn’t listened to this album since probably 2000, and personally, I forgot how good it was. It’s a shame there is an untitled song that plays at the end of the album that takes a good 4-5 minutes of complete silence to get to. This song could very well be the best song on the whole album and I don’t think the album has a bad song. The album has a pop feel to it blended with a dual guitar hard rock sound. If you pick it up in a thrift shop and give it a listen, you won’t be disappointed.

The Dark Knight on Blu Ray: Since its release, the original movie of this Christopher Nolan trilogy, Batman Begins has often been cited as one of the most influential films of the 2000s. The film helped popularize the term “reboot” in Hollywood, inspiring studios and filmmakers to revive franchises with realistic and serious tones. It was followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), with the three films constituting The Dark Knight trilogy. The Dark Knight had its work cut out for it, being the follow up to Batman Begins. Being one of the first films to be filmed with IMAX high resolution cameras, I would infer this was a good way to follow up. Casting Heath Ledger as Joker, was perhaps the ultimate in follow ups, however. His portrayal of the archvillain Joker was perhaps the greatest follow up of all because Ledger received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor which made it the first time in history an actor received the award posthumously. One reviewer stated Ledger would have become a legend even had he lived because of his performance. Ledger’s Joker is a psychopath completely devoid of empathy. He’s almost devil-like in his drive to show that every man can be corrupted. His mode of ops can best be summed up in his own words. “Their morals, their code ... it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. You'll see—I'll show you ... when the chips are down, these civilized people ... they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster ... I'm just ahead of the curve.” The movie’s script penned by brothers, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan was influenced by The Godfather and Heat. There was nothing delightful or fantastical about this film. (Although I was able to pan these beautiful bright shots below.) It was brooding and dark and presented the evils of humanity fully frontal. The subtle dark that permeates the film along with its delve into the 70mm IMAX format made this movie look remarkable on Blu Ray on an OLED television, however. Watching this makes me want to pick up the 4K version. 

 

 

Sennheiser HD599 Headphones: These mid-fi headphones first released in 2016 as part of Sennheiser’s 5 series. For casual listening at home, these cans are hard to beat. They are open back so others in the room are going to hear a little something something emanating from the headphones, but the bass is quite present for open back, and their cloth-like velour pads can sit comfortably on your ears all day long. I listened to Sponge’s Rotting Pinata CD in its entirety and was amazed at how clear the songs were. I was discovering new sounds in songs that I was previously not aware of. These cans are priced low enough that they’re a great dive into higher resolution listening. If you want to dip your toes in, these are a great baby pool to do so.

 

Edward's Monthly Mix December 2025

 

One of the joys of owning a digital audio player is the tendency one gets to devoutly listen to albums. There is none of the skipping past songs or decision paralysis that comes with Spotify. And of course, my CD collection (of hundreds) gets to come along with me in my shirt pocket. Not to mention the audio quality VS streaming. I know, it sounds like a tangent. It’s not. Just my personal feeling. One thing, however, has incensed me this month, and that’s GoodReads newest policy: no more personal messages from member to member. Why? It’s like those stupid smartphone updates that etch up the complication of using your phone. And then I got a subscription renewal notice from PC Gamer Magazine. It’s always been $40 a year, and now suddenly, it’s $99! Been a subscriber for 30 years, and now I have to say goodbye. The only constant is change, yes, I get it. But why does every change have to go the wrong direction? Why can’t change be a good thing?

The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King on 4k Blu-Ray: I finally watched the last of the trilogy, and whoah! What a movie to behold! Supposing the first movie was such the stately introduction to the series, and the second being one of the most battle heavy action-packed movies I’ve ever seen, the third one is the most graceful of the three. And oddly, having read the trilogy years ago, I don’t remember the ending being as sad in the book! The film garnered 1.1 billion dollars worldwide making it the highest grossing film of 2003, despite being released in December of that year. It also won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. I have to admit, it's probably the most stylish trilogy of films I’ve ever watched.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman: One of the best and most eerie children's stories I've read in a long time. Neil Gaiman has the ability to invoke distant memories of my own childhood and grace them over bittersweetness with his knack for extracting magic out of words. There is a picnic scene in this book that took me back to the school library in the first grade when I discovered reading, a love affair that has lasted throughout my lifetime. If you liked Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always, you’ll love this.

Lords of the Fallen on PC:  I can’t help but feel this game took a piece of me and claimed it for its own. Hacked or sawed flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone and kept it there in its deep dark fortress. I have no choice but to log my experience with the game, a cathartic expunge of the dark things swimming in my brain. Lords of the Fallen, which is impossible to not compare to Dark Souls, really does have its own signature flair in its carnival of dark fantasy horrors. Portraying a criminal released from a life sentence in the big house to rescue a kingdom from invading demon forces from another dimension. Deck 13, a German developer, produced this game as a double A title in the same vein as Dark Souls, basically a rip off, it was one of the first and one of the best to do so, with a better storyline and an easily followed plotline. People clamor about how easy the game is compared to Dark Souls, but that certainly was not my experience. It’s a 20 hour game, but it took me 100 hours to beat. There truly is nothing worse than totally sucking at a hobby you’re so passionate about. It’s about as bad as it gets. In typical fashion for ARPGs such as this, defeating bosses is all about patience, learning their attack moves, and timing your parries to stay alive long enough to beat them. Some bosses took me over a hundred attempts before I felled them like California Redwood trees.  But the boss fights are not what accounted for the excessive time spent in this game, it was the horrible mapping involved. I spent over ten hours looking for a simple lever which unlocked the other half of the map I needed to obtain to fight the next boss in succession. Speaking of bosses, the final boss did me in. I discovered I had the wrong build to take him on and oddly, there was no feasible way to respec my character. I ended up having to cheat him to beat him.

Tidings by William Wharton: I read William Wharton's A Midnight Clear years ago and was deeply moved by it. It had passages so wonderfully written, I wrote them down and keep them in a journal. (I wholeheartedly recommend the movie starring Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinese as well.) After that, Wharton became an author I filed away as "to read more of his stuff." And this, Tidings is the second book I've discovered from the author. It involves an American couple living in France, nearing middle age, they host a Christmas for their three adult children. Each child comes bearing an issue with life or love or an aspiration of some sort. Lor and Will, the hosting couple have a few misgivings and dilemmas this year, themselves. But old resentments and recent griefs are put asunder by unexpected miracles that brings the old magic of childhood. This book, as The Pittsburgh Press said, "is a modern Christmas fable."

Vampire The Masquerade – Bloodlines on PC: I’m still making my way through this very famous action RPG. I did make it through the Ocean House Hotel which many claim to be one of the scariest in-game places. It was quite the eerie location, for sure. There aren’t jump scares per se, but there is that ever present sense of dread, like bad things are about to go down. I’m seeing this is a game that should have gotten more credit than it got. I’m glad I finally got around to playing it. I think it will go down in gaming history as an important game.  

Bozz Scaggs Lowdown on CD: Ever since high school, I liked the song “Lido Shuffle.” It was a song that if ever present on the radio, it remained until the song’s end. It has a great synthesizer solo that still puts a smile on my face to this day. The only other song I remembered from this album was “Lowdown,” but other than that, this album is sort of meh, despite being nominated (but not earning) a Grammy. The album not only produced two top hits (the aforementioned), it also is partially responsible for spawning the group Toto. Seems three of the founding members were handpicked to play on this album, and afterwards, Columbia Records, liked the result and offered these three members a contract without auditions, hence the birth of Toto. Also, I was not aware Boz Scaggs was once a part of the Steve Miller Band.