A Blog in Three Quarter Time

There is a thing that circulates on Facebook every so often that says, “Every thing I learned about Classical Music, I learned from Looney Tunes.” In a way, that is true for me (and a lot of people). Here is a link to an article from Classic FM:

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/liszt/cartoonist-how-generation-learned-classical-music-bugs-bunny/

I bring this up for a silly reason today. I was playing that crazy racing game Forza Horizon 5 the other day. In the game, there are different radio stations you can listen to. I usually have the classical music station on as I play the game. I think there are like 10 songs that rotate. Every time this one song would come on, I’d laugh because I’d think of cartoon trapeze artists. I bet without even hearing it, you know what song I am talking about!

In my 52 years, I never knew the name of it or who composed it. I know know. Forza Horizon 5 is set in Mexico, so it is only appropriate that the song was written by a Mexican composer by the name of Juventino Rosas. The waltz (in 3/4 time) is called Sobre las Olas or “Over the Waves.” It was first published in 1888!

The song has been recorded by Chet Atkins, The Beach Boys, Pete Fountain and Willie Nelson! It appeared in the 1943 Warner Brothers cartoon “An Itch in Time” and the 1950 Warner Brothers cartoon Canary Row. It appears with English lyrics (entitled “The Loveliest Night of the Year”) in the 1951 film “The Great Caruso.” It remains Rosas’ most popular piece of music.

Give it a listen here (the melody you will recognize begins 41 seconds into the song):

Please understand that this song by itself doesn’t make me laugh. I actually enjoy it. The reason it makes me laugh in the game is that it is usually playing while I am driving and crashing into mailboxes, running over gates, rear ending cars in my way, or watching my car go off a cliff or something.

Imagine that song playing while you are casually ripping up the roads at 307 miles per hour!!! Or even passing someone doing 131 miles per hour….

I’m not sure why this makes me chuckle but it does. Now, take Gustov Holst’s piece from The Planets – Mars, The Bringer of War. This piece fits into those scenarios a bit better. There is a sense of urgency and suspense involved. In some racing events, it is a perfect background piece. Even better, there is one race that you are driving up a mountain to where there is a live volcano – talk about a perfect song!

As much of a stress reliever the game is for me, I love the fact that there is some great classical music in it to accompany the various races and tasks.

So let me change what I said earlier … “Every thing I learned about Classical Music, I learned from band class, Looney Tunes … and a video racing game!”

Stress Relief

I would not consider myself a “gamer.” I know plenty of them. They have special headphones with microphones so they can talk to other people in the game that they are playing. Sam’s brothers are often playing games and we can hear the other players talking to them often. My older sons also play a lot of games, and connect with players on them as well.

When I sit down in front of the Xbox One, I usually grab the golf game that I play. I can play a round of golf in like 20 minutes. I usually play a round after the kids are asleep. Sometimes, I will play two rounds. I have yet to be on a real course this year, and this in a way makes me feel like I am golfing.

I rarely get more than 20-45 minutes before I am ready to head to bed. This week, however, the stress of things mentioned in previous blogs had me to the point where I was not tired enough to go to sleep. The golf game was not going to be something that eased the stress, so I looked through the games the boys have at my house. I found one that would certainly allow me to release some stress.

Forza Horizon 5 is a racing game. My sons have 3, 4 and 5 at my house. In the game, you can challenge other drivers to head to head races, you can participate in racing events, find old cars in barns located throughout the country (FH5 takes place in Mexico), and test your driving skills in various road conditions.

What I love about it is that you can crash up your car in hundreds of ways and it still runs! You can side swipe cars, hit them head on, flip your car, fall of bridges, and more – and the car will always go when you accelerate. Even better, no matter how many accidents you have, your insurance doesn’t go up (rimshot)!

Throughout the game you can win new cars, find old cars and fix them up, people can gift you new cars, and your garage continuously grows. There are plenty of opportunities to win money with the events you race in, and by earning spins on a prize wheel. Since I started fresh, I only have a few cars. My favorite is an old Ford Bronco which is great for driving off road.

The weather can change throughout the game as well. One of the events is driving through this ridiculous huge storm. Lightning can strike trees as you drive by and more. Obviously, the cars handle differently on wet roads, too. Since this game takes place in Mexico, there are also races through sand storms!

As silly as it sounds, this dumb game is a fantastic stress reliever. It is fun to just drive around with the various cars and see how each one handles. Most of the time, I really suck at driving. I swerve and fishtail A LOT! I’ve gotten pretty good at doing 180’s and 360’s, and at times I feel like I’m one of the Duke boys driving the General Lee!

As much as it relieves stress, it also makes me laugh. Recently I watched as I accidently drove off a cliff and the car rolled and flipped downward. That car must have hit every boulder on the side of the cliff on the way down. Yet, when it hit the ground, I just kept on driving. With each flip I found myself chuckling louder and louder. It was so crazy!

Sometimes, there is a rare occasion where your car will get stuck. Ever find yourself saying, “I wish life had a rewind button?” Guess what. This game has one. You can actually rewind the action to avoid an accident or your speed. That is usually how I get out of those “stuck” moments.

There are various “skill” points you can earn throughout the game, too. They have Speed Traps, where the idea is to get to the highest speed you can between two points. My favorite thing is called “Danger Signs.” These are usually where you have a point where you jump off a ramp or a cliff. I think you get points for how high you jump and how long you are in the air. Again, it’s like the Dukes of Hazzard!

Am I a gamer? No. I just use them for stress relief…..

The only thing missing is the “Yeeeeeeeee- hawwww!”

Par For The Course …

Do you have something that you love to do, even though you’re not really that good at it? I have quite a few things that would fall into this category. The things that pop immediately into my mind for me are singing, bowling, writing, and golf (to name a few).

I have been golfing since I was in high school. I’ve never been really good at it, but I love to do it. On Senior Skip Day, my friends and I decided to golf. Most of my golf buddies and I play with the same set of rules, which contain many “mulligans”. (For those who don’t know, a “mulligan” is a do-over shot.) I have played with Joe, Steve, Jeff, Matt, Lee, Chris, Scott, my dad, my uncle, and perfect strangers. In those many rounds, I have probably lost over 400 golf balls in the woods, 600 golf balls in various ponds, lakes, and rivers, and almost tipped the golf cart at least 3 times.

Over the years, I have continued to go out whenever I was able to, which amounts to about 3-7 times a year! In Michigan the golf season just isn’t long enough. To me, there is nothing like being out in nature playing golf. I love being out on the golf course. I recently have found the next best thing.

I am far from being a “gamer”, however, I have found myself playing this game a lot lately. It has almost become a habit to shoot 18 holes before leaving for work. I started by just playing single rounds. These made me laugh because the guy who does the announcing would say things like “Oh, that’s moderately disappointing” or “I’m sure that was not exactly what he had in mind with that shot” when you missed a putt or shanked one out of bounds.

Recently I started playing “My PGA Tour”. I play a major tournament before leaving for work and for whatever it is worth, it’s kind of a stress reliever, much like actually being on the golf course. As you play each round, you have a rival player that you are trying to beat, as well.

The graphics of this game are pretty awesome and I love the little details. You can hear birds chirping, see planes flying overhead, there are “oohs” and “ahhs” from the audience, the crowd offers a “golf clap” when you drop the putt, and the ball leaves marks on the green when it lands. You can upgrade equipment and clothing with your winning and the more experience you get, too.

My best round so far has been -15! I laugh out loud at this, because on an actual golf course I’m lucky if I end at 15 over par!! If I get a par when I am out on an actual course, I am happy. If I get a birdie (a rare occurrence), I am ecstatic!! I have said that if I ever bowl a 300 game or get a hole in one golfing, I’d quit right then and there. You’ve done it! You have aced it. Why go any further!? It’s such a silly though, but I will often psych myself up when I tee off on a Par 3 hole. “Wouldn’t it be awesome to get a hole-in-one here?” “Could this ever really happen to me?” Let me be clear – it has NEVER happened to me for real. However, in the game it happened twice in the same game!

It’s also not happened again since! LOL! However, I did walk away the winner of the FedEx Cup, which apparently is the big event on this game.

Sweet victory!!

We bought the Xbox for the boys, for when they are with us for the weekend. My oldest loves to play Forza Horizon, which is like a racing game. It’s actually pretty cool and the cars are pretty detailed. My youngest likes to play Minecraft, The Lego games (Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Incredibles, etc), and some crazy one called Cup Head. We have Madden football, but I usually have to beg them to play it with me. Whether I am playing games with them, or just watching them play, it’s fun.

When it’s just me, and I have about 20 minutes, I put in my silly little golf game and de-stress. It’s the next best thing to being out on the course for real…..