No movie review this week, dear readers. While I have quite a few posts scheduled, I was a bit short on time and haven’t watched anything worth reviewing lately, so I figured I’d do something a bit different today.
I was visiting Dr. Girlfriend this weekend, and for some reason, I started to tell her excitedly about the video that got me into history in a major way, Sid Meier’s Colonization.
I decided to download the game to my crummy little laptop and showed her the introduction video, which I have seen in decades:
The video above is played through a Roland MT-32 MIDI sequencer, so it sounds really good. I love how the introductory music starts mysterious, as the plucky, lonely caravel traverses a map still full of mermaids and sea monsters, before triumphantly bumping against the shores of the New World.
The game features an incredible soundtrack of English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Native American, and early British North American colonial music. I am sure some of the pieces are original to the game, but many of them are authentic folk songs.
This game played a seminal role in firing up my passion for colonial American history. It was key in sparking my desire to pursue the study of history in college (and graduate school), and ultimately to my decision to teach history for a living.
I hope you enjoy these classic MIDI jams as much as I do.
Happy Monday!
—TPP
The Portly Politico 
I love this game too. I loaded it up and played a few days about 5 years ago.
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I booted it up last night around 9 PM and remembered why I don’t play Sid Meier’s games after 9 PM, haha! I was up until after 10:30 PM with that “just one more turn” feeling.
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Last night, I decided to watch Stargate, spurred on by all the recent discussions and funding around AI. While I was curious about the plot, I found the film to be passable. However, my husband thoroughly enjoyed it. James Spader, who I found unusually likable in this role, added a pleasant surprise. Kurt Russel was uncommonly stern. My husband loved the series which was born from the movie.
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I remember seeing Stargate as a kid and even then finding it somewhat bland, but I love the concept of space Egyptians. I’ll have to check it out with fresh eyes and write a review.
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I watched Stargate at the cinema. It’s a good switch your brain off movie but there’s more cheese in it than Wisconsin and to paraphrase Bill Bryson (who was actually talking about another film), it cost a fortune but contains about $2 of actual thought.
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That is my recollection of it as well.
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I was just glad that Jay Davison (who played the Ra alien dude) didn’t pull another Crying Game. It was bad enough the first time! 😂😂
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