Category: Musings

The Current Situation

A bit of a quick update and some full disclosure regarding reviews…

June 19th will see one review uploaded. The rest of the reviews between now and August is up in the air… but there’s a technical reason behind this.

So my old Omen that I bought back in 2017 recently decided that it was going to blow the fans really loud. The system still works, I can still play stuff on it, but it’s so loud that I can’t dub and quite frankly, having that thing blow for hours on end is a bit of a headache. I’m looking into getting the thing fixed; if it’s something like replacing the case fan or something minor, it’d be no problem. But if it’s a CPU thing, then I’ll need to take this to a shop and have it checked out by somebody who knows what the fuck they’re doing.

Naturally, this is going to impede my ability to make videos. At the moment, only one video is available for upload this Monday, but the rest are either still in various states of development or non-existent. So the scheduling is going to be slightly out of wack. Fortunately, things isn’t a total lost cause because I recently bought a mini-PC gaming that is supposedly designed with gaming in mind. It runs well enough that I can capture some decent footage with OBS and I have enough portable DVD readers to hook up and rip footage. So I can get some stuff going on.

It’s not the ideal set-up and for all intents and purposes, I do want to get my old tower up and running because it is a nice machine and I’d hate to see it go to waste. But for now, this is where we’re at with technology and stuff.

Will keep you all updated down the road.

Later.

Thoughts On The Lost Sailor Moon Pitch

Someone had told me about the lost pilot for the aborted attempt at an Americanized version of Sailor Moon that used a combination of live-action and animated sequences. I had known about that thing for years and even saw the pilot in question that was uploaded by Youtuber by the moniker of Ray Mona.

So when Sailor Moon was originally going to be brought over, they weren’t going to use the anime, but rather create their own version that used some of the names and concepts, but only in the loosest sense of the term. The idea was that the civilian forms of the Sailors would be depicted in live action, while the hero sequences would play out in traditional western animation that was typical of the 1980s. They put together a pilot, it was rejected, and we eventually ended up with the original English dub of Sailor Moon that most people know and love… I guess.

I’ve seen the pilot and it’s easy to see why this was passed over… but not necessarily for its deviation from the source material. Going any further will dive into spoiler territory for a three-decade old pitch video that very few people outside of the internet know exists, so details after the break.

Continue reading “Thoughts On The Lost Sailor Moon Pitch”

About Roman’s New Belt

So now that my two month wrestling embargo and subsequent one week hiatus has come to a close, I can finally talk about this “new” undisputed WWE title that Roman Reigns was gifted for reaching a thousand days, which I assume was the whole point of this deal. As you could probably tell, it’s just the usual belt buckle design, except now the center plate has a yellowish/gold backdrop and it says Undisputed Champion.

Much ado about nothing, I suppose. But at least Roman has a shiny new belt to carry around.

This also presumably means that the original WWE Championship that has been a thing since the inception of the promotion itself back in 1966 – the one held by Bruno, Hogan, Bret, Shawn, Austin, Rock, Cena, and others – has been put to rest so that focus can be put on both Roman’s one new belt and the fake World title that Seth is carrying around.

History is apparently nothing more than a number to surpass and flaunt on social media these days.

Oh well… at least GUNTHER is still IC champion. That’s the only reign I give two shits about these days.

It’s Okay To Like A Franchise And Not Like Everything In It

You’re a big fan of a franchise. You like the movies they put out. Some of the TV shows were pretty good. You’ve even dabbled in some of the official novels and comic books.

But then something comes along and it isn’t quite as good… and much to your dismay, you discover that you not only don’t like this new thing, but you might actually hate it. You consider this an affront to the franchise you’ve grown to love over the years.

It doesn’t end there. Something else comes along and it’s even worse than the other thing. You come to realize that these new things are lesser products devised to set aside all the things you loved about that franchise in favor of trying to appeal that wider, casual audience… otherwise known as the “lowest common denominator.”

All of a sudden, the thing you loved ever since you were a young kid is slowly but surely becoming a thing that you don’t like. You get to that point where you’re becoming the old timer who shouts at the clouds about how everything was better back in the day when the franchise was in its infancy and now everything is just crap or worse.

Does that make you less of a fan?

Of course it fucking doesn’t.

Kids… it’s okay to be a fan of something and not like everything that comes out of it. I have enjoyed many franchises over the years – some of which have been a substantial part of my life in some form or fashion – and I can freely admit that some of the stuff coming from those franchises lately have been… let’s just say “less than stellar.” Does that make me less of a fan of this thing or worse, a “fake fan?”

Of course it fucking doesn’t.

First of all, someone not enjoying the thing you enjoy should not prevent you from enjoying the thing you enjoy. Some things I enjoy are not enjoyed by other people. That does not hamper my enjoyment of these things that some people don’t enjoy as much as I do, if at all. Your enjoyment of something should not be gauged by how many other people are or are not enjoying that something. If you like something that everybody else hates, then more power to you. On the other hand, if you don’t like something that is beloved by many others, that doesn’t make you less of a fan and if anyone else tries to convince you otherwise in a non-joking manner, that’s their problem, not yours.

Like what you like and be done with it. If you like the old stuff, just watch the old stuff. If you like the new stuff, watch the new stuff. If you like everything, then have at it. And if you’d rather spent your time doing something else, then that’s cool too.

I’d tell you not to be a dick, but it seems like every time I hear someone tell people not to be a dick, they eventually become one themselves.

I don’t know what compelled me to type out this piece of business, but hey, it’s something, I suppose.

Cherish Your Mothers

Well, it’s Mother’s Day.

I wish that I could say it’s a happy one, but as it relates to my mother, that’s not going to be the case this year. She’s bed-ridden, with a leg infection that has gone on for weeks, and a possible clot in one of her lungs that they need to perform surgery on soon. We’re doing our best to keep her in high spirits, but to see her in such pain hurts my soul.

I am not one to share personal experiences online unless it relates to the stuff I normally post about here because my personal matters are no one’s business but my own. In this case, I’m sharing this brief story and with it, offer a wish to you all to cherish your mothers while they’re still around. Maybe you’ve got a good relationship, maybe it’s a bit sour, and maybe you’ve had your rows. But your mother is an important part of your life and it’s important to appreciate them for the profound effect that they’ve had in your upbringings.

That’s all.

Later,
Dave

Reshuffling Due To Family Issues

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of scheduled videos this week. Unfortunately, I’ve had my plate full as of late, dealing with some family issues that I don’t want to get into other than it relates to health concerns regarding a member of the family. As a result, I haven’t been in the right mindset to do dubs or edit any video stuff this week and a lot of the text blurbs that were posted recently were written a while ago with the intent to be published later down the road.

For what it’s worth, I recently sat down and finished the final touches on the Indy review and assuming nothing else pops up, I’m hoping to have the video up tomorrow. Above all else, the goal is to try and put together a bunch of smaller reviews so that I can clear the video plate to work on the last stretch of reviews before the big quadruple digits. This is the plan, though it is subject to change should the situation change.

Again, I’m sorry for the lack of video content, but things on the family front as well as my own sanity needs attention at the moment. Hopefully, things will return to some semblance of normalcy around these parts, but I’m expecting the worse. If anything else comes up, I will let you folks know.

No Amount Of Memberberries Can Make Me Care About This Flash(point) Movie

The Flash movie is a little over a month away from being released… and I am not excited about it.

I’ve already talked a bit about the second trailer that came out a couple weeks ago over at the DTM-Cast – it’s practically the last 5-10 minutes of the program – but I will re-iterate what I said there here. I’m kinda stoked that they somehow managed to convince Michael Keaton to do one last run as Batman and while him being copiously CG’ed doesn’t instill much inspiration, I would be totally down with seeing the dude come back into the fold. Clearly, I’m not the only one; a lot of people are excited over this.

So they brought back Michael Keaton to the Batcave… and this – this – is the fucking movie they decide to put him in.

Forget all the shit that’s going on with Ezra Miller in real life that’s apparently being glossed over because he/she/they/it/shit/whatever scores points on that diversity checklist that protects you from punishment for being an all-around horrible human being. I was never a fan of Miller’s take on the character; I find his/her/their/its/shits/whatevers take on Barry Allen to be annoying as fuck and not in an endearing way. Not even the almighty Snyder Cut did much to fix the issues that I had with this jabron, so to have an entire movie focused on this version of Barry Allen was already raising several red flags.

And then you add in another version being played by the same actor… fuck me, I would’ve been happier if it had been Grant Gustin doing a different version of Barry that isn’t whatever he does on the CW show… or maybe bring back John Wesley Shipp as 90s Flash; fuck that Crisis crossover because I don’t count that shit. Hell, I’ll even take the guy who played the Flash in that shitty Justice League pilot that never made air!

(Fun fact: The Justice League pilot film features a character called Fire, who was played by Michelle Hurd, who is probably better known these days for playing that Raffi person in Star Trek: Picard. The more you know, I guess.)

But on top of all of that, the premise of your one Flash movie that you’ve been trying to turn into a thing for a good long while… is based on the comic book event called Flashpoint, where Barry goes back in time to save his mom from dying and that results in the timeline getting fucked up. And now he has to assemble a team together to go and fix his fuck-ups.

For the record, I’ve never been a fan of Flashpoint; I’ve said as much in the past. So for a whole movie to be based on that is even more a red flag.

But the sad thing is that we’re not even doing the actual Flashpoint story here. Michael Keaton is playing Bruce Wayne, not Thomas Wayne as was the case in the comic. And the big cataclysmic event taking place in this movie seems to be a retread of Man of Steel – except now instead of a Superman, we now have a Supergirl… or a Superwoman… or something? We got a new Super person who probably would’ve been better off wearing Henry Cavill’s old costume instead of the cheap costume they stuck her in. I mean, seriously, this looks something you’d get off AlieExpress for twenty bucks. It’s that bad looking and a surprising oversight from a studio who is usually more careful in how to present these characters.

Also, this thing is dealing with multiverses, isn’t it?

Apparently, James Gunn – the fellow overseeing the DC Universe creative direction going forward – says this is going to change everything. I wonder if this was always the case or something he pulled out of his ass to justify this thing’s existence. And I’m not railing on James Gunn – he produced a couple entertaining films with his Guardians movies and his take on the Suicide Squad. So I want to think he did what he could to make this fit in with the rest of his plans for the DC film stuff.

If only he could have done the same for Shazam 2… hell, Aquaman’s sequel is supposed to be coming up. Does that fit into the grand scheme of things or is it a case where they have to release this in order to recoup the money spent on this thing? Oh wait, Amber Heard’s in that one, too, isn’t she? That’s another one with some issues that are seemingly glossed over, aren’t they?

And people give wrestling fans shit for enjoying people with spotty reputations.

Look, for those who are looking forward to this thing, more power to toy. I hope when this thing comes out, it turns out to your liking and you enjoy the show. But as for me… yeah, unless there’s a get-together and somebody else is footing the bill… I’m gonna pass on this one. Thanks but no thanks.

Meanwhile In Sandusky…

Someone sent me a message the other day wondering if I still keep up with Chris “The Irate Gamer” Bores… as if I know the guy. (I don’t.) I also have no earthly clue as to why anyone would think I keep with anything that The Bores does these days. There’s already a blog that does that.

Oh wait… that guy retired the blog? Last year? And he never came back?

Huh… how ’bout that?

Anyway, out of courtesy, I went over to the Chris Neo or whatever he’s calling it channel and he now does a podcast about entertainment with some other dude. I tried listening to an episode and just lost interest. I’m sure he has his audience that’ll eat up anything he serves, but I am not one of them and I am perfectly fine with that.

He did re-release some of his older videos as remastered compilations; where he would occasionally add some “behind the scenes” commentary on the material. It is only vaguely interesting for fans. That’s about all I got out of it and so afterwards, I just moved on with my day.

Anyway, hope he’s doing well.

P.S. Does he still live in Sandusky?

No Resurgence Outside The Epic Store Equals No Buys For Me

Source: https://www.engadget.com/star-trek-resurgence-launches-may-23rd-on-most-platforms-170248699.html

A bit late to the game, but for those wondering, the new Star Trek: Resurgence game will be hitting stores on May 23rd and will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series Whatever, and PC. Which is all well and good, but the PC version will be offered exclusively through the Epic Games Store.
Which means it’s a no-buy for me.
I hear someone decide not to buy the game based on Epic Store exclusivity and that got a snarky response about “taking a stand.” I can’t speak for that individual, but this is less to do with “taking a stand” and more to do with “I really don’t want another storefront to manage.” People may recall how long it took me to adopt Steam because of all the DRM and even now, I’d rather buy something off GOG if given the option due to the LACK of DRM. I’ve got a bunch of games on GOG that I still haven’t played and I’ve got even more games on Steam that I still haven’t played… and most of the Epic Game stuff that I’m even remotely interested in is shit from 20-30 years ago.
(It also doesn’t help that a lot of what I’ve seen of the game hasn’t wowed me. It’s one of those Telltale type things where a story plays out and you pick choices on how to react. I probably got one of those laying around somewhere and that’s all I needed.)
I don’t know… maybe once it hits Steam and it’s available on sale, I might consider it, but I don’t need a storefront to manage shit on unless it’s on another platform.