PixlBit

Yes, I'm getting into more of my music game this week with 1987. The rest of the media is just coming along for the ride.

Some of my favorite music back then was: Marillion's Clutching At Straws, Anthony Phillips' Slow Waves, Soft Stars (a collection of accoustic guitar pieces and atmospheric synthesizer work not unlike Mike Oldfield), Prince's Sign o' the Times, R.E.M.'s Document, Rush's Hold Your Fire, and U2's Joshua Tree. I have about 86 titles on my list today I'd like to listen to. I have ten so far. Hopefully I can find more to add to it this week. I'm not going to get too crazy with it like last week though. I've got other things to do that should get done. 

As for other media, the one problem with this year-a-week system is that books are too hard to read in a week. I usually give myself three weeks to finish a book (I usualy read two). So I'm still reading 1984's Hunt for Red October. But, if I had a time machine to squeeze three weeks into one, I would read Salman Rushdie's The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey. A friend of mine just spent a year in Mexico City and then Guatemala. This is not either of those places, but it's close, and I'd like to know more about the area. 

Some movies I saw that year were: Dragnet with Dan Akroid, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Hellraiser (saw it by accident on some sort of student trip. I don't usually like horror movies, but I liked this one), Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with John Candy and Steve Martin, The Princess Bride, RoboCop, The Running Man (with Arnold Schwartzenegger), Spaceballs, Superman IV,  and others but these were my favorites.

What should I watch this week then? I thought I'd rent this silly movie called Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare staring strong man Jon Mikl Thor. It's dawned on me that the exercise craze of the 70s produced some stars in the 80s: Arnold Swartzenegger, Lou Farigno, Dolph Lundgren. Does Jon Mikl Thor belong in this bunch? Not really. He did a lot of strong man performances blowing up hot water bottles, fronted a metal band called Thor, and then stared in this mostly forgotten movie. He's a b-list body builder wantabe hollywood star, but I like underdogs. I liked his song Anger anyway; plus this looks like something laughable like Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren; and, I like movies with music in them. We'll see. 

On the weekend, however, I'll boot up some Netflix streaming at Mark's place and watch some episodes from the very first season of Star Trek Next Generation. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but it's scifi and I'll give it another chance. I may have to turn in my nerd card if I don't. 

Finally the games. Back then, all I had was a Macintosh Plus computer and only played a few games on it like Wizardry, Shadowgate and Dark Castle. So I need to play something I haven't yet like Zelda II, Castlevania, Metal Gear or Maniac Mansion. I think I'll play Phantasy Star again though. I want to get farther in it. I also want to play Dungeon Master which was a PC game but ported to the SNES later, and I think it might be on Wii Virtual Console. Actually, I may already have it. . . No, that's Double Dungeon I'm thinking of. Well, I research it and see. The rest will be my backup if I die quickly in Phantasy Star. 

So that's my 1987 week plans. I already listened, in shuffle mode, to the ten albums I have from this year. R.E.M's Document album is so good. Over and out.