Highway To Heaven and Three Films

The busy four lane road in front of our house is a decommissioned provincial highway, now a county road.  Every once in a while, when the old pavement is cracked beyond repair, they repave it.  Step one is to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction.  Then they rebuild the storm sewers.  Then they wait for the paving company to have some time to do it.  That takes a couple of weeks.  Finally comes stage three, when the old pavement is literally melted where it stands and taken away in dump trucks.  Stage four is the actual repaving, followed by painting the lines, then removing the traffic cones.  The whole thing took about a month.  Today we have new pavement in front of our house, up to about a mile further towards Windsor.

 

This vast and noisy machine heats and strip off the old pavement, which is then hauled away for reuse.

 

In front is the old pavement; left behind is the base of the road.

 

Dump trucks pour hot asphalt into a "Roadtec" conveyor system, which loads up the paving machine.

Two paving machines worked in tandem to cover both northbound lanes today.  A few days ago they did the southbound lanes.

Dump trucks full of hot asphalt are lined up down the road, waiting their turn.

 

The conveyor loads one of the machines with fresh tar.

 

Rolling machines flatten out the new pavement.  The road should fully open later today.
 

As you can see, the excitement never stops around the old Homestead.  Passing ships, birds at the feeder, grass growing--it's all here!

 

We have loaded a new (for us) PC game called 80 Days.  Fogg and Passpartout set out from London and have 80 days to encircle the globe (or maybe 81).  This is a simple 2D adventure game with a steampunk twist, and it is proving to be entertaining and challenging.  The game as designed has virtually limitless replay possibilities, as they are nearly endless ways of traveling, each with their own twist.  The following postcard shows us at our most recent destination.

 

It is currently Day 37 of our 80-day voyage, and we are in Madras.  We have a good supply of funds, but we still have a very long way to go.  Beating the game isn't really the main idea of playing, however.  It's fun to visit the places, talk to different people, and enjoy the hilarious side adventures.  At one point we were clobbered by a nun and taken hostage to their nunnery.  We have promised to assist them in a particular scheme of theirs in exchange for our freedom. 

 

We are playing on Steam, which carries reviews of the game by all of the previous players.  Here is one review (complete) that cinched it for us and got us to play.  "Spent 37 days dying in the North Pole because two gay lovers were sabotaging our vehicle because we weren't communists. 10/10"  With a review like that how can one go wrong?  This is a very promising game so far.

 

Turning to films, we have the usual mix of weird things we watch and enjoy.  Including Deb's films (ha ha).  I got to see the first complete (non-sound) version of her latest film.  It is visually stunning and spellbinding and original and should make quite a splash at selected film festivals.  She is now working on details and will soon be adding sound.  Deb's website is at upper left in my margin.  Here you can keep up with all her latest creations.

 

We watched an oldie directed by Robert Altman.  A Wedding from 1978 is not the usual film title that interests us.  Altman tackles a wedding between a rich American family's daughter and a mafioso's son.  It is lavish and expensive, and the film opens in the church.  Lots of people on the groom's side, and virtually no one on the bride's side.  Altman's comedy is sometimes subtle and sometimes not.  The old bishop is a family friend and has been called out of retirement to perform the ceremony.  There are some very funny scenes here.  The reception is at the mafia homestead, and a host of Altman's favourite actors are given recurring scenes, some funny and some not.  Carol Burnett gets a lead role, getting hustled by a huge man who wants her to be his own.  It is Carol's daughter who is getting married.  There is an eccentric aunt who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her very large gift.  When it finally arrives she gathers everyone together for the unveiling of a portrait of the bride--a nude!  Geraldine Chaplin is the organizer of events.  Also starring Mia Farrow as the bride's nympho younger sister, Desi Arnaz, Jr, Vittorio Gassman and Lillian Gish.  Actually well worth watching.

 

Streaming now on Criterion. 

 

The Pervert's Guide To Ideology is a terrific documentary from 2013, narrated by the funny and zesty Slavoj Zizek.  He uses scenes from films to illustrate the use and misuse of the term ideology, showing what it is and what it isn't.  As he talks about a particular film and shows clips, he will insert himself into the location and continue his lecture as if he is on the actual movie set.  His accent is pretty thick and it can be tricky to understand him at times, but what he says is always worth listening to.  Also mixed in are news clips from demonstrations, riots and political propaganda events.  Directed by Sophie Fiennes, this is a must see film for philosophy students and film students, or people like us who are both.  Highly recommended, and worth more than one viewing.

 

Now streaming on Kino. 

 

Most recently we watched Saturday Fiction, a Chinese film directed by Lou Ye from 2019 that started out quite promising but then degenerated into a massive shoot-em-up, where virtually all the lead characters die.  The story takes place in Shanghai a week before Pearl Harbour is attacked, and continues up to the very day.  What we get is a spy story mixed in with preparing a political play for live performance.  The two mesh well up to a point, until the film just breaks itself apart with mindless violence.  Good acting, and the b & w film is beautifully photographed.  In the end, though, it was disappointing.  There is also an awful lot of cigarette smoking.  How many films have started out great and ended badly?  Too many to count.  Are you listening Wim Wenders?

 

Streaming on Criterion until midnight July 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

Zork Nemesis: A Replay Review

I first played Zork Nemesis, a PC game from 1996, in June and July of 2000.  I finished it, with hints, in just under 26 hours of total game play.  It instantly became one of my favourite games, scoring 86%.  This put it ahead of the original Myst for me, but behind Riven and Obsidian. Thus it became my third favourite game back in the day.  How does it stand up today?  Deb and I played it as a team, and we took just under 17 hours, using my notes from 2000 to help us out.  There are spoilers, so beware.

We played it on Steam, beginning in April and concluding in June of 2026.  The original CDs (three of them) sometimes got stuck during game play, though I also found some problems with the Steam version.  At the very beginning I was unable to use the cursor to guide us through the game.  It would spin or move far too quickly.  Luckily a previous gamer had posted a solution on Steam, and for the most part it worked like a charm.  Each time the game was started (including after any save) players have to hold down the Ctrl key and then strike the F11 key 18 times!  That seemed to slow down the cursor just enough to allow the game to progress normally.  If that is too many and the cursor gets stuck, use the F12 key to back off a bit.

 

The second problem with the Steam version is that it gave me such a large window that the movies were quite pixelated and the backgrounds were not as sharp as I remember.  Screenshots were also a pain, as the Win and PS keys need to be used, meaning that only a single screenshot at a time can be taken.  But I quibble.  Let's get to the game itself.

 

Use headphones.  The music and sounds are just fantastic, and hold up as well today as ever.  The game grabs the player from the very moment of arrival.  The courtyard of a great Cathedral sets the tone for the whole game--dark, gloomy, mysterious and enveloped in faded decadence.  There is very little sunlight, and many gradations of shadow.  This is an enhanced slideshow game, with 360 degree motion, so that looking all around is essential.  Sometimes up and down options are also available, but not always.  Gothic effects intensify once inside the vast interior.  The building turns out to be a kind of Myst Island, in that there is much to see, do and solve before access to four other worlds can be gained.  Most puzzles are based around alchemical procedures, some hard and some easy.

 

A lot of playtime will be spent in the main building, until one solves the mystery of using the orrery, a device which will enable the player to visit four other worlds.  But before that happens there are four main puzzles to solve within the main temple.  Some of these puzzles are quite hard, while others can be solved in time with patience and some careful thinking.  Note-taking is essential.  My favourite initial puzzle was in the room with the paintings, and though far from logical I found it to be quite an ingenious and highly original addition to game puzzles.

 

A map came with the original guide showing the location of all the travel areas.  

 

A fun door puzzle.

 

The cathedral library.

 

The library again.

A map of the entire cathedral/temple can be helpful and will be found in the library. 

 

The room of paintings puzzle, mentioned above.  Great fun!

 

There are four allies to awaken near the beginning.  Solving an early puzzle will awaken one each.  But are they allies? 

 

Sophia's (Venus is her planet) awakening requires solving a water puzzle.  This remains one of my favourite puzzles of all time.  Ice must be melted into water, using the paintings in the room and the chair provided.  Good luck!  Sartorious (Jupiter) requires his upstairs air puzzle to be solved.  Kaine (Mars) involves a terrifying ride in a mine car, which will lead to many deaths before a solution is found.  Save before riding!  Malveaux (Saturn) involves sliding screens in the library, and finding a sun to place in the orrery.  Once these preliminary puzzles are solved, a pretty big task, it's off to other worlds.

 

Solving the orrery puzzles allows travel to four other worlds. 

 

There is an in-game hint system in the game before accessing the other worlds.  Look for the painting of Venus and Cupid for some assistance, which will likely be required from time to time.  Once in the four new worlds, the object is to find a secret lab in each and manufacture a unique symbol, one for each imprisoned mage.  The story is quite good, at its heart a love story thwarted by the mages.  It is up to the player to set things right for the young couple, who have been grossly wronged.  It is highly probable that players will die during the game, so save often.

 

Once the orrery is mastered, the four worlds can be visited in any order.  If players get stuck they may leave the world to visit another, thus working on several levels in shifts, if desired.  However, each world is a closed unit and the puzzles within can all be solved without traveling elsewhere.  I much prefer this kind of game to ones where a player must travel far outside the main puzzle area.  Once a new world is solved, the game brings the player back to the cathedral for a cut scene, and to place the newly acquired metal symbol in its proper place on the the central altar.  Then it's back to the orrery for the next adventure.  Once all four worlds all solved, a final major puzzle must be solved, and the four nitwits outwitted.  Hint: do not drink their offering when it comes.

 

The first world we chose was Saturn, the realm of Malveaux's great monastery. This is a vast place with much exploring to do.  Although the four worlds always begin outside, all of the main events are indoors.  There are maze-like hallways that lead to a library, and from there through to a museum, which holds the key to solving this world.  There are upper and lower levels everywhere, but one of them, the bedroom, is particularly difficult to reach.  Players have to grab a bell rope that moves much too quickly.  It can be done, but patience is required.  Overall this is a fun segment with good puzzles and plenty of areas to explore.  The music is a highlight of the game overall, and we hear it a lot in this world.

 

Saturn is the world of fire.

 

An important book from the library on Saturn.

 

The library on Saturn.  The museum can be reached through here.

 

Part of the fire puzzle.

 

Malveaux's cozy bedroom, if you can reach it. 

 

Opposite side of the bedroom, with an important bookcase.

 

Two items from the museum are needed to defeat a fire monster.  But the museum has an alarm system.

 

The final puzzle on Saturn. 

 

Next we traveled to Mars, the world of Kaine and his on-going war.  Again there is much to explore in Irondune Castle.  We were able to get into all areas without aid, but we needed help towards the end.  To open a gold chest we searched everywhere for a key.  Nope.  You have to blow it open with a stick of TNT. Okay, not so great a puzzle.  If you get far enough you get to drive a tank, though getting it to work is very tricky.  An air freshener and fuzzy dice hand from the windshield, and a girlie calendar decorates one wall.  The tank leads to the final puzzle, again a 2-storey event involving a secret lab.  Overall the puzzles are good, though the radio code is pretty hard to figure out.  There is a very gruesome dungeon in which I don't recommend spending much time.  In fact, despite many light touches and funny moments, the game is pretty intense and dark, culminating in the asylum sequence (see below).

 

Upon first entering Irondune Castle.

 

Stained glass panels related to war and battle.

 

The central hall is decorated with war paintings and weapons.

 

The staircase leads to two bedrooms, father and son, and a game room and weapons museum.

 

The game room has a pool table with an important puzzle solution hidden in its game. 

 

Kaine's bedroom, with that damnable chest. 

 

Venus (Sophia's realm) is the music academy, with a very fun series of puzzles involving Zorkian musical instruments of the orchestra.  Records can be found in the music library room (with a grand piano), and when played on the gramophone will help players solve the auditorium puzzle.  Upstairs is the dormitory, where a poster is to be found, as is Sophia's exquisite bedroom.  A lot of design work went into this game.  While the dormitory and Sophia's bedroom exude nouveau charm, the piano room is distinctly Victorian.  Once in the auditorium, the fanfare must be conducted by the player.  Good luck!  Then the backstage area can be accessed, leading to the basement and the secret lab.  This is probably the least violent among the four worlds, and quite fun to visit.  Puzzles are hard, though.  

The music room and library contain minor but important puzzles.

 

The first music puzzle awaits. Remember to return the instruments afterwards, or you will carry them needlessly for the rest of the game.

  

Girls Dormitory at the music academy.

 

Sophia's bedroom balcony door.

 

Sophia's bedroom with art.

 

Sophia's bedroom, third view.

 

Near the entrance to the academy, at the famous Zork dam.  No explanation is given for the damage.

 

Lastly comes Jupiter, Sartorius' domain, with a final air puzzle to solve at the end of this grim scenario.  The asylum is designed like a 21-storey syringe, and it is not a nice place to visit.  Institutional gray colours dominate, and evidence of horrible experiments on inmates abounds.  The touches of humour seem out of place here.  We must use a guillotine to gain a severed head, which will then give us a puzzle clue and tell some jokes.  To avoid electrocution later we must use a cut off hand to unlock a door.  And players must sit in an electric shock chair and endure a disorienting jolt, which is needed to gain access to the final secret lab.

A small model of the museum building is found in the museum room.

Players will eventually have to get to the penthouse from the basement. 

 

Inside the asylum.

 

The bed of Sartorius, the only "cheerful" place in the asylum.

 

The secret lab is in the penthouse, with a doable but tricky puzzle.  I found it a bit Rivenesque.

 

Once the four worlds are complete the player will be whisked back to the original cathedral again, this time to face the four mages.  A ring will eventually be acquired and the final puzzle will commence soon afterwards.  It isn't a difficult puzzle, but will take some time.  The puzzle won't accept wrong answers, so it's just trial and error, putting the rings (there are two now) in various containers and pushing buttons to see what works.  The good ending sees the two lovers reunited and freed, the cathedral blows up, thus forever sealing the doom of the four worlds it held.  So there is no Myst-like ending, where we can roam around afterwards.  Once we click on the Venus and Cupid painting outside the gate the credits roll.

 

The setting for the final puzzle, which is followed by the end game movie. 

 

Zork Nemesis is a humdinger of a game, and should not be missed by adventure game enthusiasts.  The story, based on love and alchemy, is first rate.  The music is excellent, and the orrery as a means of inter-world transport is original and a brilliant touch.  Puzzles are mostly fair and doable, though impatient players like myself will want hints and a walkthrough at times.  This is a game badly in need of a complete update and freshening up.  The actual game will never be dated as the story is timeless and involving, but in its current state it hampers the immersive experience.  So much work went into this game.  At least it's available in it's current condition on Steam.

 

One quibble (spoiler alert).  Like in Myst, when trying to decide which brother is evil, this game sets up the player for defeat.  There is no hint that the character with the voice of Satan is actually the good guy.  This is done simply to misdirect the player into making wrong choices at the end.  Boo, hiss.  After solving so many hard puzzles and dying so many times, players deserve a break at the end, not more punishment for their "wrong" choices.

 

A great game, and I now raise it's mark to 88%, higher than when I first played it.  Happy gaming!!

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

  

Black Mirror (1) Review: Piano Repertoire 8 Week Update

 A lot happens between posts, most of which does not get reported.  We added one more cold day, bringing our season total to 51.  Hopefully that is all behind us now.  We had some snowdrops blooming on the 28th of February.  Their numbers are increasing daily.  Crocuses and daffs are also on the rise.  Astronomy season has begun once again, after a three month hiatus.  Rain and clouds are in the forecast.  Sigh.  Deb also had her second and final iron transfusion.  It seems to be working and she is hard at work on her most recent short film.

 

We finished watching season one of Mlle. Holmes, a French series in 6 parts.  Four of the programs weren't too bad.  The worst one was the finale, called (of course) The Final Problem.  It was almost unwatchable, as a woman who had competently solved crimes for five weeks suddenly falls apart completely when she realizes that Mlle. Moriarty is framing her for shooting her grandfather.  The frame up is so bad and amateurish that sixth graders I have known could have easily got out of being blamed.  Supposedly part of a crime fighting police team, she goes it all alone, as so many TV character tropes do.  She hides evidence, she loses her ability to think, and she acts completely selfishly.  Of course she has no Sherlock blood in her veins; only Moriarty's and her mother's, after they had a brief affair.  Or something.  Moriarty would be ashamed of her.  Anyway, it was a bad way to finish the season.  Not to mention that she commits murder at the end.  Grandpa wakes up at the conclusion, after being in a coma throughout the entire episode, unable to tell anyone who shot him.  No trope there.

 

In addition to being hard at work watching the final ten episodes of Foundation, we watched a new film by a favourite (up till now) director.  Dracula is a 2025 film by director Radu Jude, who turns his creative block towards AI, chatting with it about the Dracula myth and letting AI come up with its own version of it.  Thus it is a series of short films connected by the director's chats with AI, and loosely connected to the Dracula myth.  The main story that seems to run through this very long film (170 minutes) is quite good.  A sort of Dracula low budget stage event sees Dracula and the girl he seduces performing in front of a group of tourists in Romania.  At the end of the play the audience gets to chase them around the village with long wooden stakes, after giving the villains a one minute start.  Other shorter films are less and less successful, finally becoming too comically raunchy to even sit through unless the viewer has a bad fever and is mildly hallucinating.  Anyone who has used AI for creative purposes has a fair idea of how badly things can turn out.  While the film has some terrific scenes, it also has far too many which are beneath most intelligent people's dignity to view.  I can recommend the first half, though it contains an overlong love story that ends in a bizarre enough way.  Another later story concerns the first Dracula novel published in Romania.  The movie goes downhill the longer one watches.  See it at your own peril.

 

Radu Jude and AI take on the undying legend.  

Showing on Mubi. 

 

Moving on to PC gaming, we replayed Black Mirror, a horror adventure game published by The Adventure Company in October 2003.  I first played it in December of 2005, though it took me four months to get through it (25 hours of playtime).  I remembered almost nothing of the game, other than it rained a lot, so this was like playing it for the first time.  Deb and I played it together.  Even so, we needed to look up some things.  More on that later.

 

Overall Black Mirror remains a pretty decent game.  It spawned two sequels (both played) and a new and updated version of this first game, still awaiting me in my Steam library.  Samuel Gordon returns to his ancestral home (Black Mirror Castle) upon the suicide death of William Gordon, his grandfather.  He soon becomes embroiled in a family curse, and works to solve a great mystery surrounding William's death.  The story is okay, at least until it is revealed who the killer is.  That revelation defies all logic.

 

The game plays out in six chapters.  Locations are gradually added as the game progresses, but it begins inside the castle and on the grounds.  There are several people to speak with, and many rooms to explore.  The first two chapters include the nearby village and a church.  Chapter 3 takes players to another ancestral home in Wales.  This chapter is like a game unto itself.  Chapter 4 adds underground locations including beneath the church and Black Mirror Castle itself, as well as an old mine.  Next come many chilling visits to the morgue, an ancient stone ring and a lighthouse.  Many locations are seen in late autumn daylight and during night and dark thunderstorms. I was correct; it does rain a lot in this game.  And yet Samuel never wears a hat or carries an umbrella--perhaps he is crazy).  Presentation is via an enhanced slideshow format, where Samuel walks across the view.  Sometimes the on-screen scenario can be extended by walking further or to one side.  Let's look at some images now.

 

 

Black Mirror Castle. 

 

The main entrance hall within the castle. 

 

The castle greenhouse.

 

Churchyard cemetery.  There are several cemeteries in this game.

 

Entrance gate to the house in Wales. 

  

The local map showing all locations (except Wales).  Once acquired players can click on the map and transport there. 

 

The very creepy Morgue.

 

To escape from the old mine we must shoot and kill a wolf (boo, hiss) in a timed sequence set up to make players fail. 

 

My favourite screenshot, taken beneath the parish church. 

 

Same cemetery as above, at night.  There are at least four in the game.

 

The final problem, so to speak.  This is close to the end of the game, in Chapter Six. 

 

As the images hopefully demonstrate, I have no quibbles with the graphics.  Again played in 640 x 480, Steam has done a good job of keeping this old game looking good.  Not having to constantly switch CDs is a good thing, too.  Anyway, the body count continues to mount during the game.  In addition to William and the wolf, the castle gardener is murdered, a young boy (boo, hiss), Samuel's uncle and his cousin (?) James.  Besides a few too many murders, what else is there to dislike about the game?

 

Well, there are very few actual puzzles.  Assemble a torn photo, unscramble some riddles, solve a 4 x 4 sliding puzzle, figure out how to open a jewel box with a puzzle along with a few other examples, this game is mostly about pixel hunting.  Hot spots appear red when the cursor is placed on them.  Very often spots that have been checked 101 times and not shown up will turn red later, after a certain conversation or action has taken place.  Inventory can become crowded at times.  Worst of all, some hot spots must be left clicked and right clicked, or else.  Yes, players can "die" in this game.  After Samuel gets killed a few times by a wolf, and his head sliced off, it is a good thing to save often.  This brings me to my main complaint.  If you don't save often you get a much more immersive experience in the game.  But if you don't save often and you die (not if but when) then a lot of replaying must take place.  If you do save often, you totally lose the immersive experience of being in the game.  Developers never really get this.  It seems a necessity to kill the player many times, to prove how stupid players are and how clever the developers are.

 

Things I liked were the fact that Samuel would not leave a place if there was still more to do there.  That was very handy.  And many of the map locations could not be visited if they were no longer needed.  Very helpful.  Sadly, however, the game lacked flow.  As soon as one puzzle was solved, one thought that the way ahead would be clear for a time.  Usually another obstacle was encountered almost immediately.  And now we come to the game's conclusion.  Once we know who the killer is, we also realize that it would be virtually impossible for that person to have committed all the crimes.  For so many reasons (no blood anywhere on him, for one).  Perhaps this will be explained better in the second game, which I've also played but forgotten.

 

I can recommend the game, though it falls beneath most games where players cannot die.  Good graphics and highly atmospheric locations, a decent enough story (until the end).  But beware that right click option. We played for a total of 24 hours, taking solutions where needed and seemingly stuck.

 

In piano news, the first 8 weeks are usually crucial to further development.  Practice is very slow, as the pianist attempts to teach his body what to do when and where.  Being a naturally slow learner, 8 weeks usually doesn't get me very far.  However, I can now play the Invention in D by Bach, and the Haydn sonata (a small one, albeit) is coming along nicely.  I have even began to memorize it.  The Bach Prelude in D from Book 1 is still very slow going.  Though mostly a piece for right hand, it has more tricky places than a typical mine field.  The fugue, though, is progressing well.  It should be ready to play in another four weeks.  I have yet to begin the final piece on the first half, a short work by Beethoven.

 

The second half of the program is dominated by a very difficult Chopin Nocturne, Op. 27 #2.  I nearly gave up during week 5, and I might still pack it in.  Despite getting 40' a day to itself, it still sounds like I am sight reading it.  If after another four weeks it is still going nowhere, I will switch it off for a different piece.  The pieces by Scriabin range in difficulty from fairly easy to quite difficult, are developing as expected.  One of them is fully playable while the other two slowly improve each week.  Lastly comes a difficult piece that I learned several years ago, March Wind by MacDowell.  It is coming back to me quite fast and should be memorized and playable in four weeks time.  I will report again at that time.

 

Mapman Mike