Edward's April 2023 Monthly Mix

 

It’s going to be another short one this month. Still no reprieve from working 60 plus hours leaves little time for anything else, but work. Despite the terrible ongoings in the world, daily mass shootings anyone? I still try to be optimistic. Maybe it’s easier to do when you are told you’re living on borrowed time. Still, I’m grateful for what I’ve lived and the memories I’ve made. Looking back, yeah, it was worth it.

 

M83 live at Marathon Motorworks in Nashville, Tennessee:  Feeling much like a schoolgirl falling in love with a boy band, I listened to one song by M83, promptly bought the album it was on and have been playing it on repeat since. And then I bought concert tickets to see the band in person. It was worth the 5-hour drive. I took my Navy buddy, Jeff Lappin with me, and after the show we promenaded down Broadway Avenue, dipping into bars and listening to bands. It seared an experience into my brain that will always be a fond memory. 

 

 

 Battletech on PC: I wasn’t really a fan of the Battletech/Mechwarrior games put out by Funcom and Activision (and later Microsoft) but I’ve always harbored an interest in the genre. I think I even read one of the Michael Stackpole novels. Nonetheless, I bought this game when it came out of Kickstarter, and I’ve enjoyed it since. Despite its Unity origins, the graphics serve the purpose and the developers did a remarkable job of bringing the tabletop miniature game onto the PC. The story has me so captivated the characters feel like family, and it actually reminds me of being on a ship back in the Navy, sailors in arms. The game isn’t easy, but praise be to save scumming I’m making my way through. 

 

 

 

Company of Heroes 2 on PC: My buddy Vic Berwick and I have been wreaking havoc in the multiplayer co-op segment of this wonderfully made sequel to Relic’s great WWII RTS, Company of Heroes made way back in 2006. The AI is wonky at best, and it causes us to struggle, but we definitely have our fun. As I’ve mentioned before, I finished the single player campaign some months ago. Company of Heroes 3 just released to mixed reviews, and I was stoked for it, but sheesh. I’m having so much fun with this game I just might stick around for a while.

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell on Kindle: I’ve bought about every iteration of John Carpenter’s The Thing on released media, DVD, Blu-Ray and most recently, 4K Blu-Ray. Carpenter’s movie is still venerable enough that I watch it at least once a year. Everything about it appeals to me, from the special effects that stand the test of time to Ennio Morricone’s helm at crafting the soundtrack. I recently picked up the novella on Amazon. It’s good. Much more in depth than the movie, it runs a oddly close parallel. My advice is that if you enjoy the movie, you’re not really missing out by skipping the novella. But, if you’re anal retentive like me and the source material first released in 1938 sounds appealing, I wholly recommend it. John W. Campbell’s story is first rate and the man’s power of description is wildly entertaining. Reading the story makes me want to watch Carpenter’s movie all over again.

Blood Canticle by Anne Rice on Kindle: I’ve always held a deeply seeded secret admiration for Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles. I’ve said it before, but I hated her most famous character (that the stories are all based on) Lestat in the first book, Interview with the Vampire and fell in love with who he was in her second novel, Lestat, The Vampire. And now diving into book ten in the series, I feel I’ve lived multiple lives and numerous ages with Lestat. I’m 25% in at this point, but rather than evolve into maturity, I can’t help but feel Lestat has devolved into immaturity! Rumor has it that Rice was fed up with the series at this point and she wrote this to appease the fans. I’m not sure at this point. Of course, it’s entertaining reading, but I have a ways to go in this novel to form an opinion.

Tom Clancy’s The Division on PC: Released to fairly favorable reviews back in 2016, this was the first game to take advantage of Ubisoft’s Snowdrop gaming engine. And boy did it! This game is gorgeous, even on modern day systems. Occurring in a near future pandemic caused by “the dollar flu” brought about by biological warfare spread on dollar bills, this game strikes me as being oddly prophetic. The game’s setting is New York City, and it’s depicted in all of its authentic glory. I read that if you’ve never been to NYC, simply play this game, learn it, memorize it, and then when you visit you won’t need a street map. It’s that detailed. The game plays like the MMOs of yore. (World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2 anyone?) Weapons are bought, looted or crafted and are of varying degrees of prestige/difficulty e.g. green, blue, purple, orange (legendary.) What I find most appealing is I can play solo or join my buddies and have an equally good time.

 

Edward's March 2023 Mix

 

 

 It’s going to be a short one this month. Working 60 plus hours leaves little time for anything else, but work. Still, looking at the bright side, the weather is getting nicer and it looks like we escaped a serious winter this year. (I wanted to try my Subaru in the snow!) I’m three books behind on my GoodReads reading challenge, but I’m not too worried. I’ll make that up, I’m sure. I was able to squeeze in a bit of time for some things, however, so without further ado I’ll get to the good stuff.

 

Max Payne 3 Original Soundtrack on CD: Can you name your favorite game soundtrack? Mine will always be Far Cry 3. I played the game way back in 2014 and throughout my experience I was going through some strange things. But I remember dreading the game’s ending because I knew the beautiful soundtrack that carried me the whole way was going to be over with. That wasn’t the case. I drove around listening to the OST in my car for months afterward. And I still listen to it occasionally. It’s an OST that has come to define a part of who I am. In a close second place, however, is Rockstar’s amazingly good Max Payne 3. The band who comprised the soundtrack, Health, is what you would refer to as a Noise/Industrial rock band. Strange, huh? They are somewhat reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails. But what they did was took this oddly strange compelling Max Payne game, a story of a haunted man on a quest filled with death and betrayal. The soundtrack is particularly filled with hard and edgy percussion, metal being banged against metal, with guitar reverb awash. Look up “Max: Finale” on YouTube and prepare to be caught off-guard. Being chased by every bad guy in the country through backroads and highways, you lose control, but in a cool way, like an “I meant to do that kind of way.” The car flips over end over end. You kick the door open and crawl out, walking away from it slow motion, the car explodes taking all of the bad guys out. And the coolest part of it all, in your slow motion swagger you don’t look back. This song is the sound of that.

Assetto Corsa on PC: From a physics standpoint, this is arguably the best PC racing sim of all time. Or well, could have been. All of the ingredients are there, but unfortunately Kunos Simulazoni, the developer/publisher, put the brakes on supporting the game after going at it full throttle. They instead focused their attentions on Assetto Corsa Competizione which is a grand game unto itself, but that’s a topic for a different discourse. The game doesn’t feature any night races, nor weather effects. The racing career mode is anemic enough to simply consist of a series of races strung together in a series order. Codemasters/EA F1 series has nothing to fear here. But as mentioned, what is here, the authenticity of the tracks, the interiors of the cars, the physical handling of the cars, it’s all just incredible. I’ve been dabbling this month in trying to finish the career mode. I’ve come far, but still have a ways to go.

All Quiet on the Western Front on Netflix: I read the book way back in maybe 1994, and it left an impact like a 3-mile-wide meteorite slamming into the Atlantic Ocean. Considered an anti-war novel, its grim narrative of the Western Front in WW1 through the eyes of an idealistic young German soldier accomplishes just that. And then there were the movies, the 1930 one and the 1979 Richard “Johnboy Walton” Thomas one most of us are familiar with. But this one, by far, has to be the best World War I movie ever made, and quite possibly my new personal favorite. The photography of this one was morbidly beautiful (can there be such a thing?) What I mean is, this movie, the way it was shot, the high resolution film cameras doing the shooting, well, it’s why I’m glad we have 4K TVs. I’ve always been a fan of war movies and watched many of them repeatedly. (Oddly, they seem to be getting better and more graphically realistic—Saving Private Ryan see what you started!) This one will join their ranks. It’s no wonder the movie garnered an Academy Award nomination for the Best Picture of 2022. 

Hunt: Showdown on PC: Been playing this one off and on since its release. I get made fun of for playing old dated games most of the time, but this is the one modern shooter that I’d be remiss if I didn’t play it. I’ve talked about it before, but it’s the one shooter I can usually be good at simply because it doesn’t require a 14 year old’s housefly reflexes to have fun. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I still stink at the game, but when the pistons are firing in-synch and I’m with a good squad of mates, it’s the best PC game out there.  

Moon Cake by Charlie Carillo on Kindle: It's the summer of '69, and the whole world is eagerly awaiting the greatest achievement in human history - men are actually going to walk on the moon! Nobody is more excited about the Apollo 11 mission than Billy Gallagher, a troubled 15-year-old from Queens, New York who lives in the shadow of his big brother, a basketball star who's been felled by a knee injury. But suddenly the spotlight is on Billy when a foolish act of vandalism gets him arrested. He's at the mercy of Mr. J, the mysterious neighborhood ice cream man whose window Billy has smashed. Mr. J chooses not to press charges, and not only that - he gives him a job, pumping soft ice cream! It's the strangest summer of Billy's life as he sweats over the moon mission, learns life lessons from his boss, harbors his brother's dark secret and agonizes over Mr. J's beautiful 18-year-old daughter, a brilliant violinist with a wild streak. She's as unreachable to Billy as the moon itself - or is she? Everything comes to a head when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon, and Billy comes up with a creation to honor the triumph of the astronauts - a creation that rocks everybody's world.

This one is being a quick read. It’s quite entertaining. I’ve found a few anachronisms as far as the dialogue goes. Did anybody say “freakin’” in 1969. I don’t think so. But Carillo’s cast of characters are as memorable as the Cleaver family, though a bit more “mature” in the PG-13 rated manner. 

Fallout on PC: Yes, that Fallout, the original released in 1997. This makes about the third time I’ve attempted the game, but the only one I’ve ever beat was Fallout 3. It’s going to haunt me for life if I don’t go back and play this one through to the end. The graphics look like mud, and the game is hard, even on “easy.” The story (so far) is compelling and I love the soundtrack by Mark Morgan. I’ve just hit level 2 and I have a bevy of quests. I’m playing the GoG version (which you can score on sale much of the time for under $5.00. It is oddly interesting to dabble in this game and see where all of the original lore came from. Maybe this time I can stay the course.

 

 

 

Edward's February 2023 Mix

 

 

 

 

February and not a flake of snow. Interesting, huh? I said goodbye to my beloved muscle car this month and got a car with which I thought I would be able to play in the snow. No such luck! Living at work these days, I suppose it doesn’t matter, I wouldn’t have the time anyway. I found out some interesting medical news as well. Seems my heart condition now has a proper name: Dilated Cardiomyopathy. (I had to practice how to say it. And it flows out smoother the better you get at saying it. “Cardio-myah-pathy.” Now, say it fast. There you go.) Initial theories was my problem was contracted through a virus. But I just had a DNA test done, and the results are in: I was bequeathed this affliction from my parents. Seems we have this bizarre gene, something heinous enough to be concocted on the Imperial Star Destroyer. The genetic counselor explained congestive heart failure will get me. This is a dark gift that instills in me a new urgency to realize how important every minute truly is. As Nate Fisher said in Six Feet Under “We die to make life important, every moment count.” Oddly, I didn’t feel that day with the counselor as if I were sitting across from a gypsy fortuneteller talking about my Talbot curse. I felt the opposite. I don’t know. Relieved? I mean, how often do you learn how you’re going to go? And then there was this odd connection to my father and my grandfather, this mortality that now makes me feel very bonded to them.

 

M83 Fantasy on HI-RES FLAC: It’s amazing the number of “bands” these days that actually consist of one member. M83 is a one such example, taking its name from the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy that resides a mere 15 million light-years from us and discovered in 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope, you can visibly see this spectacular galaxy with a pair of binoculars. Stellar delights, notwithstanding, Anthony Gonzalez formed this band in 1999 with his friend, Nicolas Fromageau. Fromageau departed shortly after their second tour together. I picked this up while perusing new releases on HDTracks.com. After hearing a sampling of the songs it became an insta-buy for me, and I’ve had it on repeat since. When I’m not listening to it, I’m humming the music in my head at work. It’s not often an album grabs me like this. When it does, it becomes a completely immersive world to me. Throw a smidgeon of Arcade Fire in with a pinch of 80s pop and this is what M83 sounds like.

Batman Arkham Asyulum on PC: Still trudging along in this one. I put Harley Quinn behind bars and Poison Ivy is next! I do love games in which the environment becomes the main character, and this one is no exception. Taking place entirely at night at Arkham Asylum, the place, like I’ve said before really is reminiscent of a place where Halloween is eternal. I’m not sure, however, if the environment is the selling point, or Mark Hamill’s depiction of Joker. I’ve seen Batman’s death animations a hundred times yet I never skip them because Joker’s one liners never get old.

Hell Let Loose on PC: Yes, back to this again. Like I said in the past, this game is a time machine. If you want to see what your grandfather went through over in Europe, this is a taste. I’ve got more friends playing it now so that drive to win, and the camaraderie and the blood, sweat and tears are more meaningful. It’s a bit of a grind, but when you finally level up and are able to unlock that next level weapon, the game suddenly feels brand new. I was with my buddies, just spawned and about ready to head out when I glanced through the gossamer fog at a hulking figure in a field across the distance. He was an enemy. I took aim and fired a single shot. He stumbled forward, face first onto the ground. I looked at his prone bulk on the ground, a dark lump that in any other situation could have been a log or a piece of discarded farm machinery abandoned to rust. And I suddenly felt bad. No more summer night laughter, no more ice cream, there would be no griping about going to work or getting sick. There would be nothing more for this young man lying there lifeless. When was the last time a computer game made you feel like that?

Need For Speed: Shift 2 on PC: Been playing this one off and on for almost two years now. I’m finally at 92% completion. The races now are all endurance races which means I’m behind the wheel for 40 minutes. (That’s an eternity for an arcade racer). And I also have to revisit the drift races I had previously passed over, thinking I wouldn’t have to do them at all. Doh! Ah, the prices we pay to finish games.

2023 Subaru Forester: It was time. I was saddened to give up my beautiful Mustang, a pet dragon in every sense of the word, but I’d had her for six years. I needed an old man car. I indirectly build the cars, so why not drive one? Yes, I bought a Subaru! I ordered it and it took me four months to get. (I remember thinking I’m never going to get the car!) But when I pulled into the dealership and was walked out to the lot by the salesman and introduced to the car all it took was one look and I knew I had made the right decision. This car is part zombie apocalypse vehicle and part Lost in Space chariot. I once owned a Jeep Wrangler and I don’t think it was this utilitarian. I wouldn’t be afraid to drive to Mars in this car. 

 

 

Planet Coaster on PC: Management sims always grab me in and pull me under the same way. I start in dipping my toes. It’s enticing enough I eventually leave the wading pull and swim out to the deep end. And then I sink. It actually happened with Planet Coaster. I purchased the game a few years back but didn’t get very far. I gave up hope and stopped playing. This past month I decided to revisit it and boy howdy! Using your funds to build rides you eventually accrue enough money to expand and create a rollercoaster. I struggled to get to this point but when I finally laid the last plank of my coaster, so much money started rolling in that I could inflate my prices and I was still profiting! Noticing my coaster line queue reaching sea serpent-like lengths, I kept raising ticket prices until people started choosing to go ride other rides. End result? I’m rich! There are so many great mechanics in the game. You have the ability to see the park in first person view by simply choosing one of your patrons and seeing the park through their eyes. You are in charge of the salaries of your vendors and park workers as well, not to mention how many condiments and confections you can put on your sandwiches/drinks.