W♥M

A Giant Dog at Icehouse, Minneapolis (25 Oct 2023)

A Giant Dog Setlist Welcome to Avalonia I Believe Watch It Burn I'll Come Crashing Photograph Different Than A Daydream In Rainbows Get With You and Get High Sleep When Dead In Destiny Watch Me Sleeping Trouble in the Streets Setlist Best of Your Worst Can I Breathe Satisfy Saturn Wildfire Mad Science Bulls on Parade Dreaming of Forever Chasing Whatever Mother's Tongue Read More A Giant Dog Since then, we’ve been following his music career and his latest project is Heart Bones, a collaboration with Sabrina Ellis from A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit. …

Texas’ A Giant Dog stopped by the Icehouse, in Minneapolis, on October 25th, as part of their Fall tour.

Austin’s Trouble in The Streets (or “T.I.T.S.”) opened the show. The self-described “Electro Tribe” band blend hip-hop with rock and a dash of electronica. The band previously shared stages with George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, Rebirth Brass Band, and Beto Martinez (Grupo Fantasma), so you can get an idea of their vibe.

It was the band’s first time in Minneapolis, and lead singer Nnedi Agbaroji had a lot of trouble pronouncing “Minneapolis”… much like how you might have trouble pronouncing her name.

One of their songs paid tribute to Star Trek by changing the “Space, the final frontier” intro.

My favorite song on their set was “Bulls on Parade”, which was a powerful, aggressive song. So much energy that the band asked for “sandbags” to help old the drum kit together. Agbaroji added, “We have a beast of a drummer.”

Fellow Austin band A Giant Dog closed out the night. As we previously mentioned, we are big fans of the band, thanks to their dynamic singer Sabrina Ellis. We’ve followed Ellis on a number of her side projects, including Sweet Spirit and Heart Bones (with Har Mar Superstar).

Sweet Spirit (09 Apr 2017)

A few years ago, we caught Sweet Spirit in April 2017, and noted, “The local hero (Har Mar Superstar) sang, with the help of Ellis, a cover of Pulp’s ‘Common People’. The live rendition is possibly one of the best covers of this song I’ve ever heard, definitely a lot more faithful than William Shatner/Joe Jackson’s version. The only thing they changed is fag (a British slang for cigarettes) to weed. I hope the next time they cover ‘Disco 2000’.”

Spotted in the Icehouse, in the audience was Har Mar Superstar and Mark Mallman.

A Giant Dog (Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Andy Bauer, Graham Low, and Daniel Blanchard) came on stage a little after Trouble in the Streets. And as usual, Sabrina Ellis, was the center of attention. Unlike her previous side projects, with A Giant Dog, she’s much more energetic, jumping around and with a lot of movement. And that’s just the first song, “Welcome to Avalonia”!

It’s been over two years since their last release. The band’s latest album is a concept album called Bite, which lands on Merge Records.

Why are we calling it a concept album you ask? Well, Ellis explained that the record features characters, and not themselves: “We developed them (the characters), got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs.”

Remaining tour dates:

10/26 - Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
10/27 - Smoke and Barrel - Fayetteville, AR
10/28 - Mercury Lounge - Tulsa, OK
10/29 - Three Links Deep Ellum - Dallas, TX
11/6 - Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
11/7 - HQ - Denver, CO
11/8 - Beehive - Salt Lake City, UT
11/9 - The Olympic - Boise, ID
11/10 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
11/11 - Dante’s Hifi - Portland, OR
11/13 - Bottom Of The Hill - San Francisco, CA
11/14 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA
11/15 - Zebulon - Los Angeles, CA
11/16 - 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ

Trouble in the Streets

A Giant Dog Trouble in the Streets A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog at Icehouse, Minneapolis (25 Oct 2023)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Coffee Day (2023)

National Coffee Day is Friday, September 29, while International Coffee Day is October 1, 2023.

Black Coffee
music by Sonny Burke
lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

I'm feelin' mighty lonesome
Haven't slept a wink
I walk the floor from nine to four
In between I drink

Black coffee
Love's a hand-me-down brew
I'll never know a Sunday
In this weekday room
I'm talkin to the shadow
One o'clock till four
And Lord, how slow the moments go
And all I do is pour

Black coffee
Since the blues caught my eye
I'm hangin' out on Monday
My Sunday dreams to dry

flowerovlove
twitter.com/flowerovlove

London’s 18-year-old musician flowerovlove returns with “Coffee Shop”, a cheery dream-pop single.

You can watch the music video on YouTube.

Coffee Shop

Take me down the coffee shop
The one you said that you like so much
And my hair glistened in the light
So bright could’ve lost your mind

I know you’ve been saying that
I glow ‘cause I love it when
You grow and more and more and more

WILL KNOX
will-knox.com

British singer-songwriter (but currently based in the Netherlands), Will Knox just shared his new single “Instant Coffee” today (September 28th).

The single is produced by Ian Grimble (Daughter, Bear's Den, Matt Corby) and was a double A-side release featuring bonus track, “Leave The Light On”. The new music is the first to be released from Will's forthcoming debut album set for release in autumn 2024.

Talking about the song, Will said, “I started writing new music during lockdown, having learned I was going to become a father for the first time. The time allowed me to confront a lot of issues from my past, and I was determined not to pass them on to my son. ‘Instant Coffee’ is a song about that process of healing, and in my case learning that there are no quick fixes. It’s OK if it takes time.”

EMBER MUG
ember.com

I recently saw that Target put some Ember Mug on clearance for as little as $50. I know that doesn’t sound much like a deal, but when you consider that the original price for these Ember Mugs were $170, $50 is a bargain.

The key gimmick of the Ember Mug is that it keeps your coffee hot, from your first sip to your last. I hate stale, cold coffee, so I love this idea.

Unfortunately, the clearance mugs were all sold out at that location. So, I started looking at other Target locations in my area, and, of course, they were all sold out across all the Target near me.

After a week of searching, and not getting any luck, I was going to give up on owning an Ember Mug. There was one last Target that I hadn’t gone to, and it’s for good reasons. It’s in a bad neighborhood… and wouldn’t you know it, they had a clearance Ember Mug at that location!

As soon as I brought it home and unpacked it, I gave it a wash and downloaded the Ember app. After charging the cup with the saucer bottom, and then syncing it through Bluetooth, the mug immediately asks to download and update. This was a lot of work just to drink coffee!

What is nice about the mug is that you can see how hot the coffee is. You can set it to alert you when the right temperature cools down, so no more hot McDonald’s Coffee issues. The mug can also tell if it’s empty, although I’ve had some false alerts.

You can also tie it to your health app and log how many drinks you’re drinking and it keeps all the relevant data in the app. I don’t know how useful this is, but it’s cool to keep tabs.

Overall, I think it’s a very stylish white mug. It’s a very well-made mug, and well-insulated (it’s cool to the touch on the exterior), and it’ll keep your coffee hot for an hour and a half. It’s a great mug… but there’s no way it’s worth the $50 price tag, let alone the original asking price of $170. Still, I’m happy to own this and I use it every day to drink coffee now.

Star Trek Coffee Roast
herowithinstore.com

Love coffee? Love Star Trek? Go where no one has gone before: Star Trek Coffee, created by Jedidiah Coffee and Hero Icon.

There are three blends: Janeway Jumpstart Breakfast Blend, "Not Earl Grey Tea" Medium Roasts, and the Warp Core Breach Dark Roasts.

They’re $20 each, or buy all three for $50. Free Energize Lounge sticker included.

Details:

Time to boldly go in the morning with a cup of Energize Lounge coffee! First offered at our San Diego Comic-Con Offsite Activation, the Energize Lounge Coffee Roasts sold out to Trek fans. Since that time many of your have emailed us about making some available for fans that were not at San Diego. We had our roaster, Jedidiah Coffee, create a small batch for our Newsletter Subscribers! For a limited time, you can now order a 12oz bag of our Janeway Jumpstart Breakfast Blend, “Not Earl Grey Tea” Medium Roasts or the Warp Core Breach Dark Roasts. They make great gifts and won't be offered again online so make it so!

2023's Best Coffee Cities in America
wallethub.com

Based on spending, WalletHub released their data for 2023’s Best Coffee Cities in America, with San Francisco ranked as #1. I’m not sure I agree with this finding. I’ve always thought Seattle or Portland should be #1, as they are the hipster capitol of the world… but apparently not in the world of coffee consumption.

Top 10 Cities for Coffee Lovers

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Portland, OR
3. Seattle, WA
4. Orlando, FL
5. Honolulu, HI
6. Tampa, FL
7. Austin, TX
8. Oakland, CA
9. New Orleans, LA
10. Pittsburgh, PA

Read More Keurig My sister told me that the K-Cup are a dream, and I'll love coffee because it makes the best cup. I'm a coffee drinker, but I've told her that I'm not buying a Keurig because of their stupid ....

KEURIG
keurig.com

I talked about Keurig in Feb 2015, because the coffee maker wanted to put DRM (Digital Rights Management) on their cups to combat fake K-Cups. I hated that idea and was promoting Rogers Family Company’s “Freedom Clip” to bypass the DRM.

The backlash was so bad that Keurig reverse their DRM plans about three months later.

Now, fast-forward to today, and I’m now an owner of the Keurig K-Slim + ICED Single Serve Coffee Maker, which I bought on sale. And you know what? It’s very good. It makes a good cup of coffee.

If you’re not into destroying the environment with all these disposable K-Cups, you can brew your own coffee by using Keurig’s official cup adapter or a third-party adapter. I have both and I can tell you that the third party does not exactly work in my Keurig. For the official adapter, it works pretty well, but it does come with a variety of add-ons to make sure it works with Version 1 or Version 2. It’s also a little inconvenient because you have to remove a whole section to put in the adapter… and it’s a pain in the butt to clean. I would recommend buying these cup filters, which is a little easier to remove and dispose.

Yours,

Weekend Coffee Drinker

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥Comics!- Planet Comicon Kansas City PANELS 2023

Read More Planet Comicon Kansas City Planet ComiCon Kansas City (August 20, 21, 22), Bartle Hall, $35-210 The region’s largest comic book and pop culture event returns to downtown Kansas City with a three-day extravaganza that will please fans …

We return again to our weekend at Planet Comicon Kansas City, the region’s largest and longest-running comic and pop culture event held at downtown’s Bartle Hall, for a closer look at some of the most interesting Panels held during the three-day event.

Panels are among the best chances to hear what your favorite celebrity has on their mind, listen to behind-the-scenes humorous stories, potentially have a chance to ask your own question, and occasionally get to see or hear something completely unexpected. 

WILLIAM SHATNER

WILLIAM SHATNER

The legendary actor is known from everything from the original Star Trek to TJ Hooker, to Boston Legal, and so many more roles. Now in his early 90s, Shatner was still engaged in telling his Hollywood stories (most questions were Trek-based) and there was no short answer to what he thought of going into (near) space aboard Blue Origin last year, which left him even more introspective and with a profound feeling of brief following the ten-minute flight.

JONATHAN FRAKES

JONATHAN FRAKES

Frakes was among the most entertaining of panel guests (both with and without Brent Spiner) pitching show ideas, and answering questions (what he could reveal) on the latest season of Picard, a fascination with history, and his voice work on the animated Gargoyles.

FINAL FANTASY VOICE CAST

FINAL FANTASY CAST

Rachael Leigh Cook (Tifa Lockhart), George Newbern (Sephiroth), and Steve Burton (Cloud Strife) reunited on stage as the primary voices of the original Western version of the highly influential Final Fantasy VII game. They remarked how isolating most voice work can be, and often with long lead times, diplomatically compared the remake and later volumes to theirs, and spoke of the fun it is in being immortalized in this format.

ASTRONAUT NICOLE STOTT– Space for Art: Putting the human in Human Spaceflight

NICOLE STOTT

A veteran astronaut after two spaceflights and 104 crew member days logged, Stott is also an author with a first book out, and an accomplished artist, painting a watercolor in zero gravity and is co-founder of the Space for Art Foundation – whose mission is uniting a planetary community of children through the awe and wonder of space exploration and the healing power of art.

CASSANDRA PETERSON

CASSANDRA PETERSON

Everyone’s favorite horror hostess Elvira was a general delight for her hour, almost always smiling, exuding an energy like someone half her age, and happy to answer any and all questions (most being horror-related, of course), in support of her latest book, 2021’s “Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark” which dives into her personal life and stories for the first time. Peterson admitted liking psychological horror much more than the slasher-style films (House on Haunted Hill remains a favorite for her), told empowering stories of trying to break into the business first in comedy, and warding off unworthy casting directors, and dividing her on-screen persona, from the actress and person she is.

CHAINSAW MAN VOICE CAST

CHAINSAW MAN CAST

Lindsay Seidel, Sarah Wiedenheft, and Ryan Colt Levy of the English dub cast of the popular Anime came together on the ballroom couch as a bit of a reunion to themselves, as most voice work is done over months, by oneself in a sound booth, so the actors don’t often see each other. Most similar actors do other dub voice work and Levy and Seidel also voice the popular My Hero Academia, so questions came from fans asking about all the different shows.

HENRY THOMAS

HENRY THOMAS

In a panel dubbed “Hollywood’s That Guy”, Thomas of course, hearkened back to filming as a ten-year-old Elliott in 1982’s E.T., but he’s been in numerous other films, including Legends of the Fall, Suicide Kings, All the Pretty Horses, and Gangs of New York, though he did mention some struggles along the way about typecasting and finding work as he aged into adulthood. Thomas’ persona seemed reserved but friendly, still somewhat showing some of the scars associated with surviving being a child superstar and still successfully acting, today.

GIANCARLO ESPOSITO

GIANCARLO ESPOSITO

The ever-expressive actor is a fan favorite from a handful of memorable roles – from Gus in the Breaking Bad universe to The Mandolarian, he also announced he’s more than ready to join the Marvel Universe whenever they want to call, and though he wasn’t sure which character might be the most ideal for him. His stories and compelling nature made fans hang on his every word.

COMIC CREATOR PANELS- Gotham City and Beyond and Where Comic Characters Come From

COMIC CREATOR PANEL

Being a comic convention, of course, there were several comic-centric panels, and the ones we enjoyed most centered on current and former Batman creators discussing their particular take on the caped crusader and how the setting of Gotham City acts as an additional character in story lines.

Another group panel centered on the various inspirations in discovering and developing a character, imagining the general concept at first and then refining the details from their persona to costume specifics, and motivations that drive that character.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG VOICE CAST

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Roger Craig Smith and Colleen O’Shaughnessey aka the iconic English voices of Sonic and Tails, brought their charm and stories to the ballroom couch to reveal some of the stories behind their voice work on Sonic Frontiers, with Smith almost quitting in 2021, and realizing the joy their work brings to fans of all ages.

TERRIFIER 2

TERRIFIER 2

David Howard Thornton and Damien Leone were two of the weekend’s most anticipated guests, also hosting a screening of the game-changing Terrifier 2 film. Both talked about the impact the new film has had, and the “New Horror” movement it is helping define, with Leone raising his game exponentially from the 2016 original film.

Art the Clown remains one of the most terrifying characters in recent memory and some scenes were asked about, including the infamous “bedroom scene” though the talk was tempered, due to an all-ages audience in the ballroom.

RICHARD DREYFUSS with JEFFREY KRAMER

RICHARD DREYFUSS

The legendary Oscar winner was joined onstage by his friend and Jaws co-star Kramer, who play Deputy Hendricks in the 1975 groundbreaking Spielberg film, and the 1978 sequel. It was a little surprising to see Dreyfuss entering on a motorized electric scooter, but once he was on the couch, lit up with joy and glee as he told stories of the filming and answered questions about his career. He did preface things with a warning about the very real potential of losing the democracy that helps define our country, but the mood quickly lightened up with memories of filming on Martha’s Vineyard almost fifty years ago.

===

Get out that 2024 calendar, as Planet Comicon Kansas City has set March 8, 9, 10, 2024 as their return dates, but is also debuting their inaugural Planet Anime Festival this Fall, on October 21 / 22.

(click any image to enlarge and to see in full)

WILLIAM SHATNER

WILLIAM SHATNER

AMANDA CONNER / JIMMY PALMIOTTI

PHIL HESTER / RICK BURCHETT /GARY WHITTA / PAT GLEASON

KEVIN MELLON

CASSANDRA PETERSON

JONATHAN FRAKES

MING CHEN / KEVIN EASTMAN

FRED VAN LENTE

MING CHEN / GARTH ENNIS

RICHARD DREYFUSS at Planet Comicon Kansas City, Bartle Hall (2023)

MEGAN LEVEN / DENNIS HOPELESS / DEXTER VINES

DAVID MACK / AMANDA CONNER /KYLE STRAHM / MATT HAWKINS

BILL MORRISON

RICHARD DREYFUSS

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥Comics! - Planet Comicon Kansas City 2023 (March 17, 18, 19) recap

Read More Planet ComiCon Planet ComiCon Kansas City (August 20, 21, 22), Bartle Hall, $35-210 The region’s largest comic book and pop culture event returns to downtown Kansas City with a three-day extravaganza that will please fans …

On a chilly mid-March weekend, over 60,000 comic book and pop culture fans descended into downtown Kansas City’s Bartle Hall to attend the three-day Planet Comicon Kansas City, the region’s largest and longest-running comic and pop culture event that celebrates comic books, science fiction, superheroes and fantasy, and its creators.

The show celebrated its 24^th anniversary this year, first beginning in the south suburbs, to continue to grow exponentially to become the Midwest’s premier comics and pop culture gathering.

The show itself remains extremely well-run– with easy to find volunteers happy to answer questions and provide directions, generally orderly celebrity signing lines, and good overseeing of in-person panels in both the larger ballrooms and the smaller side rooms.

The dealer exhibit space covered over seven football fields worth of area and featured comic books, pop culture collectibles, anime, nostalgia and memorabilia, along with gaming, entertainment, and other retail options.

Several related outside evening events (dubbed Planet After Dark) attracted large crowds as well, with the fantasy-themed Fae Ball selling out very quickly, and cosplay remains as popular as ever, with a full house on-hand for the Saturday night Cosplay Contest. Pinball and vintage video games were available, and hands-on workshop presentations were held for would-be creators.

Crowds size stayed healthy all weekend, with Saturday especially busy and the ballroom panels were especially filled for William Shatner, Giancarlo Esposito, and several voice casts.

Notable guests for the 2023 show included:

• Ming Chen – Comic Book Men actor / Podcaster

• Chris Claremont – X-Men Writer

• Amanda Conner – Harley Quinn Comic Artist

• William Daniels - Actor

• Kevin Eastman – TMNT co-creator

• Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad and Star Wars Actor

• Jonathan Frakes – Star Trek Actor

• David Mack – Comic Book artist / writer

• Bill Morrison – The Simpsons Artist / Writer

• Jimmy Palmiotti - Comic Book Writer / Inker

• Cassandra Peterson – Elvira actor

• Don Rosa – Donald Duck/Disney artist

• William Shatner – Star Trek / TJ Hooker Actor

• Roger Craig Smith – Sonic the Hedgehog Voice Actor

• Brent Spiner – Star Trek Actor

• Jim Steranko – Marvel Comics Pop Art creator / artist

• Roy Thomas – Marvel / DC writer and editor

Paid celebrity meet-and-greets and photo opportunities were available and one of the best ways to learn about these attendees or ask a particular question, was to attend their public Panel discussion/Q&A. We’ll be showcasing those closer, in an upcoming separate post.

Japanese animation and its associated culture aka Anime has become even more popular in recent years; so much so, that a companion show Planet Anime Kansas City will make its inaugural weekend, this October 21-22, to undoubtedly large crowds as well.

As for Planet Comicon Kansas City, plans are already in the works to top themselves with next year being their 25^th anniversary, and a show already confirmed for March 8-10, 2024.

(click any image to enlarge and see in full)

STAR WARS ROGUE ONE

COSPLAY

POKEMON COSPLAY

GI JOE COSPLAY

COMICS FOR SALE

COSPLAY	COSPLAY HOSTS	COSPLAY
COSPLAY	CHAINSAW MAN COSPLAY	KIDS PLAY AREA

STAR WARS COSPLAY

COSPLAY

COSPLAY

SHOWROOM FLOOR

COSPLAY WINNER

Planet Comicon Kansas City, MO Bartle Hall (2023)

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek)

Read More Nichelle Nichols Finally, did you know that Nichelle Nichols (the actress that plays Lieutenant Uhura) have released not one, but two albums ? I actually didn't know she was a recording artist until I started doing research for this article. …

Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura from the original Star Trek series, has died on Saturday. She was 89 years old.

We did see her at Wizard World Minneapolis in 2017, but were not allowed to take her photo. To be honest, I thought she looked worse for wear, requiring an assistant and wheelchair to get around.

For Star Trek and music fans, Nichelle Nichols releaesd two albums, Down to Earth and Out of This World.

Variety noted Nichols’ landmark moment:

Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in television history on “Star Trek.” That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the part of her, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on “Movin’ With Nancy,” Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned. The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.

Read more Musicians who died in 2022

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Remakes and Reboots

Read More Zatoichi The Zatoichi series ran 26 movies (1962-1982) and a television series ran for five years (1974-1979). Twenty years later, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano reinvented Zatoichi with his version of the character. ....

DEFIANT (2022)
douban.com

Defiant (目中无人), aka Blind Sword, a 2022 Chinese movie, is clearly a rip off of Zatoichi. You know me, I love Zatoichi, I own all of Toho’s films on DVD and Bluray (thanks to the Criterion boxset), and even owning the television series and later stories: Zatoichi (2003), Ichi (Zatoichi’s blind daughter!), and Zatoichi: The Last (the final film in the official Zatoichi series).

Of course, the new Chinese film isn’t the first to copy Zatoichi, in America, we had Blind Fury in 1989, about a blind Vietnam Vet with a cane sword and in Italy, we had Blindman, a Spaghetti Western about a blind gunman.

Defiant is about a blind master swordsman and ex-military general. It has all the traits of Zatoichi, for example you find him in a gambling den at the start of the film. Of course, he has the advantage, despite being blind. Then you have the goons at the establishment trying to rob the blind gambler of his money - big mistake!

The whole thing really felt like a Chinese version of a Zatoichi movie. The only difference is that instead of a pretense of a bumbling blind masseur, the Defiant character is a blind bounty hunter by day. And he seems sure of himself, walking around, with his horse, like a normal person.

I think the writer/director of the film counted on their audience to not know Zatoichi, so when Defiant reveals the swords in the cane, it was no surprise to me… but I bet everyone in China thought that was a really cool reveal.

Defiant has some cool fight scenes, especially the big throw-down finale, but it also has some typical, cheesy moments (any scenes with the young bride).

There’s nothing wrong with Defiant, especially if you know it’s a Chinese version of Zatoichi, but I wish it would do a little more to set it apart from the source material. For example, a few years ago, South Korea released The Swordsman, about the country’s best swordsman, who became blind. No one could accuse the film of copying Zatoichi, as the South Korean film is very different than a typical Zatoichi adventure.

My other complaint about Defiant is that the main character is so sure of himself, so confident in his Kung Fu abilities, that, you, as an audience, never thought he could be in any real danger. Even during the scenes with him being hit with arrows… I never thought he could die. With the original Zatoichi, he let others thinks his blindness is a disadvantage… so he plays the bumbling idiot. It’s only in a real fight does Zatoichi shows his true deadly sword skills… and by that time, it’s too late for the villains.

Maybe it is unfair to compare Defiant to Zatoichi, but given how much material the Chinese film stole from the source, I think it’s fair game to criticize it a little.

Read More Stephen King Anyone captivated by the latest Stephen King adaptation to hit the screen, Lisey’s Story (currently streaming on Apple TV+) will undoubtedly notice the soundtrack music and second single ....

FIRESTARTER (2022)
firestartermovie.com

Like Carrie and Pet Sematary, no one asked for a remake of Firestarter… yet, here we are, with the 2022 horror film, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King.

I actually like and enjoy the original 1984 film starring a young Drew Barrymore, so I was highly skeptical that this new version could be better than the first film. The main problem is that it was produced by one of the worst writer/producer, Akiva Goldsman. Goldsman is responsible for the terrible Batman & Robin, and he’s also responsible for ruining Star Trek. Yes, I used to be a massive Star Trek fan, but the modern Trek stuff is absolutely terrible.

Anyway, due to the pandemic, Blumhouse Productions and Weed Road Pictures put Firestarter on hold until Universal Pictures finally released it in May 2022, simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock.

Naturally, the film received negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes, shows only 10% of critics’ reviews were positive.

I think the worst part of the movie are the villains. The new person in charge of the government tracking down Charlie the Firestarter is now played by a woman. While women can be as evil as men, I didn’t understand why it was necessary to make the original white man into a black woman? The bounty hunter is now played by an American Indian named Michael Greyeyes (the original 1984 film featured an assassin named John Rainbird).

Perhaps you’re not meant to “hate” the villains, but, to me, to make the film effective, you have to make the villains evil, so you don’t feel bad when they are nuked by Charlie.

Read More Liam Neeson Based on Lawrence Block’s bestselling series of mystery novels, A Walk Among the Tombstones stars Liam Neeson as Matt Scudder, an ex-NYPD cop who now works as an unlicensed private investigator operating just outside the law. ....

MEMORY (2022)
memorymov.com

Liam Neeson plays a hitman with a heart of gold in Memory. The hitman, suffering from early stages of Alzheimer, decides to make things right after declining a contract to kill a young girl. The 2022 film is based the Belgian film The Alzheimer Case.

Maybe it is because it is based on the film (turned novel De Zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts), but I did not like any of the characters in the film (except, of course, the incredibly smart hitman). Guy Pearce plays a really dumb detective/policeman, Monica Bellucci plays a wealthy mother, covering up her son’s crimes.

What I do love about Memory is just how amazing Liam Neeson is on screen. Even though the actor is in his 70s, he was still an action star, to me. For example, his brutal, brutal fight scene with the hitman in the parking lot is just so gritty and real. I really did believe Neeson could destroy a man with his bare hands.

As amazing as Neeson is, he really couldn’t save the movie. The story is predictable, and all the other characters, such as the cops, are portrayed as idiots and not well written.

As a big Neeson fan, I really hope this is not his last film, as his career will end on a bad note.

I’ll just say that Memory is a forgettable film.

Read more Movies and Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Clockology

Read More Apple I didn’t intend to get it, but after contemplating about the Black Friday prices for the new Apple Watch SE for about $200, I couldn’t pass it up. As you know, starting last year, Apple ....

One of my biggest complaint about the Apple Watch was that there weren’t many official face options for your watch. While that remains true, I have since discovered Clockology. This changes everything.

With Clockology, you can create any sort of clock face that you want. I have downloaded a few from the internet, and I’ve modified a few of them for my needs.

The app is very powerful and contains a lot of nice perks. The only drawback is that weather and certain features are not available on the non-paid version. Normally, I wouldn’t mind paying once for a feature, but unfortunately, it’s currently subscription-based (about $20 a year).

Since I don’t have access to weather, I’ve removed a lot of those features when I tweaked these clock faces.

The other thing about Clockology is that it is really clunky how to get it to work.I’ll summarize, you need to download a special “enable beta” file. Once you download the file, you need to “Watch Sync” … and voila, the Clockology will now work on your watch.

Since it’s an app on your watch, you need to keep Clockology running… which means you might have to look in your settings to let it run in the background and so on.

So, I take it back, regarding limited clock faces for the Apple Watch. Now with the Clockology app, it’s unlimited what I can do… and now my new problem is deciding which clock face to use! I’m partial to the Star Trek’s LCARS or Fallout’s Pip Boy.

Anyway, I have put together a few of my favorite Clockology clock faces that I’ve downloaded and tweaked to my needs. Download here: drive.google.com.

Enjoy,

- Weekend Gamer

Monty Python

Fallout

Super Mario Bros

Cyberpunk 2077

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Actors Musicians

Read more Television.

Read More David Duchovny Fox Mulder himself, David Duchovny will be releasing his second album Every Third Thought on February 9th via King Baby/GMG. There is no album artwork at the moment, but the record is done with complete track listing below. … The X-Files I was a fan, and watched it even after Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) left the series. I collected the Topps’ X-Files comics for many years, various books & magazines, the original VHS 12 episodes and bought the original DVD boxsets …

DAVID DUCHOVNY
davidduchovnymusic.com

If you’re an X-Files fan, you should check out actor/musician David Duchovny’s third album Gestureland (GMG/Westbound Kyd). This is the follow-up to his 2018 album, Every Third Thought.

Talking about the record, Duchovny said, “The album represents three years of song writing over which time I think we developed into a band so there’s a stronger element of deep collaboration here. The songs are obviously inspired by present day life and problems but we hope to make them universal. We also stretch our sound a little ——getting both heavier and lighter at different times. You want to know which songs are about me. None of them. They’re about you.”

Duchovny is referencing to the fact that it was a challenge to get is his band, featuring Colin Lee on keys, Pat McCusker on guitars and synths, Mitchell Stewart on bass, Keenan O’Meara on guitars, and Davis Rowan on drums, together to finally record the album.

Guitarist McCusker adds, “shortly after our time at Outlier, the pandemic hit. After a month or so of being in full lockdown mode, we started recording overdubs and vocals at our studio in Long Island City. To have our own space to be able to finish Gestureland safely throughout 2020 was a blessing. The more we’ve all worked together, the more we’re all taking risks and tapping into new influences."

Stay tuned, as Duchovny mentioned that there will be a tour to promote the record. If there is an announcement, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Read More William Shatner I will tell you why I love this version - because William Shatner does not sing the song. He acts it. The original song was a huge hit for Pulp, and I believe is the Britpop theme (sorry, it's definitely maybe not Oasis). Oasis, to me, was more ...

WILLIAM SHATNER
williamshatner.com

Award-winning actor, director, producer, writer, and chart-topping recording artist… and recently oldest man in outer space, William Shatner recently released his new album BILL, via Joe Jonas’ new label Let’s Get It! Records/Republic Records.

I’ll confess to owning a few Shatner albums, mostly because I am a big Star Trek fan, and the one thing I can tell you is that he does not actually sing on his albums. I’ve described it as “acting” out the songs. It’s amazing.

From what I’ve read about this new album, it’s more or less spoken word: “Through spoken word and genre-bending music, the songs on BILL chronicle significant autobiographical moments in William Shatner’s life and the ideas, challenges, and questions he’s confronted along the way. The tracks were co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winner Dan Miller [They Might Be Giants], while the lyrics were a collaboration between Shatner and his friend and writer Robert Sharenow. In addition to Joe Jonas and Brad Paisley, BILL features guitarist Joe Walsh [James Gang, Eagles, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band], pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph [Robert Randolph and the Family Band], musician John Lurie, saxophonist Dave Koz, and more.”

Read More Kiefer Sutherland If you were expecting the main character, played by Kiefer Sutherland, to be as aggressive and in your face as 24, you may be in for a disappointment. ...

KIEFER SUTHERLAND
kiefersutherland.net

You love him as the star to 24… well now actor, now musician, Kiefer Sutherland, announced his third album Bloor Street (set for January 21, 2022 on Cooking Vinyl) with a UK tour. Unfortunately, as of this writing, no U.S.A. dates have been announced (but they promised an American tour soon).

So, the coolest thing is that you can get an autographed from Sutherland for the new album, all for regular $13 price, available for pre-order on Amazon. I would recommend the pre-order, as Sutherland will likely only sign a limited number of CD and Amazon will list it as “Sold Out” once they’ve reached their cap.

A few years ago, I bought a Belle & Sebastian signed CD from Amazon. Best purchase I’ve ever made. It’s incredible hard to get all six band members together to sign something… and yes it immediately sold out.

UK tour dates… U.S. tour dates to be announced soon.

01/28/22 - Brighton, Chalk
01/29/22 - Hull, Asylum
01/30/22 - Norwich, UEA
02/01st - London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
02/02nd - Manchester, O2 Ritz
02/03rd - Cardiff, Tramshed
02/05/22 - Bournemouth, O2 Academy
02/06/22 - Sheffield, Leadmill
02/07/22 - Birmingham, O2 Institute
02/09/22 - Newcastle, O2 City Hall
02/10/22 - Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
02/11/22 - Glasgow, Old Fruitmarket
02/13/22 - The Netherlands, Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
02/15/22 - Germany, Stuttgart, Im Wizemann
02/16/22 - Switzerland, Bern, Bierhuebeli
02/17/22 - France, Paris, Café De La Danse
02/19/22 - Germany, Cologne, Carlswerk Victoria
02/20/22 - Germany, Berlin, Metropol
02/21/22 - Germany, Hamburg, Markthalle
02/23/22 - Austria, Vienna, Gasometer
02/24/22 - Austria, Linz, Posthof
02/25/22 - Germany, Munich, Backstage Werk

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com

TV: Devs and Star Trek: Picard

Still under relatively lockdown, and now with the George Floyd riots, I’ve been staying mostly indoors and watching long-form television shows.

With Scott Pilgrim vs the World returning to theaters for its 10 year anniversary in August 2020… Here are two recent Sex Bob-omb’s drummer Alison Pill’s Sci-Fi shows you can watch now… although I don’t recommend one of them.

Read More Movies The British horror film 28 Days Later came out at a time (2002) that there was a dry-spell in the Zombie movie genre. This film may have inspired the term “fast zombies” (all George Romero’s zombie films have always been slow-moving zombies)… …

DEVS
fxnetworks.com

I think the show’s title, Devs, is a bad one. I didn’t know what that title would imply, and it took a lot of recommendations from friends and family, before I begrudgingly decided to check it out. Spoiler alert, I really love Devs.

Going beyond the fantastic science fiction of a computer that can map the past (and therefore apply it to see the future)… the show is really about a love story. You don’t realize it’s a love story, until it hits you, and you noticed that all the clues were there.

All the actors were amazing, particularly Sonoya Mizuno as Lily Chan and Jin Ha as Jamie. Two Asian leads and they really carry the show.

I don’t think there will be a Devs Season 2, nor do I want one, as the ending to Season 1 is so good and wraps up the show nicely. Some shows shouldn’t go on more than one season, like Watchmen.

If you don’t take my word for it, take the writer/director/show runner Alex Garland’s body of work. He wrote: The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine , Never Let Me Go, and Dredd. For the most part, I have enjoyed most of his films (particularly Dredd and 28 Days Later). I also own his directorial debut for Ex Machina.

P.S. Scott Pilgrim Sex Bob-omb’s drummer Alison Pill stars in Dev.

About:

In Devs, an FX limited series, a young software engineer, Lily Chan, investigates the secret development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in Silicon Valley, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend.

Devs stars Sonoya Mizuno as “Lily Chan;” Nick Offerman as “Forest,” the CEO of Amaya; Jin Ha as “Jamie,” Lily’s former boyfriend; Karl Glusman as “Sergei,” Lily’s boyfriend; Zach Grenier as “Kenton,” Amaya’s Head of Security; Stephen McKinley Henderson as “Stewart,” one of the top minds working in Amaya’s secret development division; Cailee Spaeny as the young, brilliant “Lyndon;” and Alison Pill as “Katie,” the gifted quantum physicist and second in command at Amaya.

Alex Garland writes, directs and serves as executive producer of Devs along with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA TV, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Garrett Basch. The series is produced by FX Productions.

Read More Star Trek You know I love Star Trek, so it is a sad day when I saw that original Spock actor Leonard Nimoy is dead. Live long and prosper. ....

STAR TREK: PICARD
cbs.com

As many of you already know, I’m a longtime Trekker, and so, originally, I was excited about Star Trek: Discovery, you quickly realize this new Star Trek by Alex Kurtzman, is definitely not the Star Trek I wanted. It’s like whoever is making new Star Trek don’t understand the franchise creator Gene Roddenberry’s idea of a bright future.

ST:D Season 2 is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. You have characters saying “I like science!” to a bomb that destroys everything except for a “blast door”. It’s just stupid. Red Letter Media did a pretty good job making fun of it on their YouTube. You can tell they’re fans, who thought the new Star Trek so overdramatic and had terrible writing.

I gave Star Trek: Picard a chance, of course. ST:P is simply the worst Star Trek in my ranking… yes, even worst than Star Trek: Enterprise. Even though I didn’t love Enterprise, I still own the Bluray and DVDs, because I love Science Fiction and Star Trek. With new Star Trek, I just refuse to buy the DVDs or Blurays, because I’ve no interest in owning these depressing new Star Trek.

ST:P continues this dark universe, characters like Raffi is living as “white trash” trailer and addicted to drugs. Romulans can just teleport anywhere … why not teleport the characters out to their death prison or something? Plus, the most unforgiving thing about new Star Trek is that they say the F-word. Star Trek has always been all-ages. This new Star Trek is not for children.

Picard is just a bad show, I am not going to recommend it for Sci-Fi fans… and especially if you like Star Trek. If you like Star Trek, there is a show called The Orville, which is a Star Trek knock off… but they have an understanding of classic Star Trek. Or if you just want realistic Sci-Fi, The Expanse is an excellent show.

PS, Sex Ba-bomb’s drummer Alison Pill plays Agnes Jurati, an expert on synthetic life, is part of Picard’s crew.

About:

Star Trek: Picard features Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series will follow this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.

The series is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, James Duff, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers and Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) serves as co-executive producer and Kirsten Beyer as supervising producer. Hanelle Culpepper will direct the first two episodes of the series.

Vuart: Sheer F*** Hubris (2020)

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Sci-Fi and Fantasy Television shows of 2019

Watchmen Read More Watchmen Anyway, I'll be taking it easy today, maybe re-read The Watchmen as I just saw the movie in theater over the weekend and was really impressed. As an old comic book fan (especially when it comes to the genius of Alan Moore), I loved it - …

Read more Television.

WATCHMEN
hbo.com/watchmen

HBO’s Watchmen Television show is possibly my favorite TV show of 2019.

The TV show expands on the influential Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic book… and it totally works. Instead of re-telling the story in a television format (like how the movie retold the graphic novel), what the show producers did was tell a different story – one set 30 years after the original event. And they honor the original work, by keep in the giant squid monster and going with that idea (in the movie, they changed the ending). It’s clear to me, based on all the homages that the writers all knew (and are fans) of the source material. It’s the love of those things that expands into their story.

One of the coolest thing they did in the show was give Hooded Justice an origin story. And you’ll never guess who and why he wears the hood! It’s unbelievable smart how they answered all the questions you may or may not have about the first “super hero”. In the comic book, they reference the original Minutemen, but you never really got much of a back story for any of those characters… so it’s very cool that the TV show explored Hooded Justice.

As a big fan of the graphic novel, I’m going to have to give it a big thumbs up. I love the comic book, and seeing that story taken to the next step, I love it. Unfortunately, I feel sometime that fans unfamiliar with the comic book (or have only seen the movie), might not fully enjoy all the little Easter “Eggs”, or somewhat complicated plot in the show. The show might be too clever for the average viewer.

I don’t think show creator, Damon Lindelof, should do a Season 2, there’s really no good reasons for them to continue this story.

Witcher Read More The Witcher I also picked up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, at Walmart, which came with a lot of bonus items like a DVD and Soundtrack (all at the normal cost of a game product). They are on the right track, I definitely …

WITCHER
netflix.com

Critics absolutely hates Netflix’s The Witcher. The reason is that they don’t generally love the source material (a series of fantasy books) and they don’t play the video games. Since they don’t know the books or games, there’s a disconnect and they’re just lost and confused. One critic was so bored, he or she skipped a few episodes to get the plot moving. One critic just cringed at all the nudity.

Sure, there’s nudity, and actress Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) is very comfortable in her birthday suit, but who cares? I didn’t mind it and I think it’s true to the Witcher universe.

I think the biggest problem I have with the show is that I might know too much about the world of the Witcher (via the CD Projekt Red’s games) and was very disappointed to see that the actress (Anna Shaffer) that played Triss Merigold isn’t a redhead (as seen in the game).

I also have a certain vision of Ciri (from the game) that didn’t entirely matched with actress Freya Allan. I know not everyone is going look like the video game, but c’mon, Henry Cavill, is a straight match for the video game version of Geralt of Rivia, even down his “hmph” and talking to Roach, his horse.

I guess it just comes down to if the actress is good, it shouldn’t matter what they look like.

Anyway, the wide divide of critics vs fans is obvious to me - this genre television is meant for fans and clearly not directed to “professional” critics. If you look at Rotten Tomatoes, this divide is also seen in The Orville (fans love it, critics hated it) and Batwoman (fans hated it, critics loved it). As a fan of the game and television, I would have to think that the critics just don’t understand.

Expanse Season 4 Read More The Expanse Song of the Show: "Heroes" by David Bowie BONUS: The Walking Dead: Season 6 (part one), The Expanse. …

EXPANSE
amazon.com

Possibly the best Science Fiction television show on air right now is The Expanse (no, it’s not Star Trek: Discovery). As I previously mentioned, I love this show.

In the world of the Expanse, there are three major factions: Earth, Mars, and the Belters… and the show is so smart (or rather the books it was based on is so smart), that it looks the long-term effect of living without gravity, etc.

Originally, SyFy produced the show. It was probably too expensive for the network and probably wasn’t worth what they were paying for their audience. The show looks fantastic, and the stories are amazing.

Admittedly, the show does take a little patience. The first three season of the Expanse is actually just the “setup” to what the Expanse is really about! It’s so epic, that it took that long to get to the point. Unfortunately, right when they got to the new worlds - SyFy cancelled the series!

There was a massive campaign, put on by the fans, to get another network to continue the series. Through a random chance meeting with the cast, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, he decided to just finance the fourth season!

The fourth season sees our favorite crew, James Holden and his crew (Naomi Nagata, Alex Kamal, and Amos Burton) investigating this new planet. There’s complications, of course, Belters vs the Earths (Royal Charter Energy), and Holden caught in the middle.

My biggest complaint about Season 4 is that it seemed like a really short story. They’re basically stuck on this planet and eventually in these ancient ruins (built by the original creators).

My other complaint is the storyline with Bobbie Draper on Mars. It just felt like it wasn’t going anywhere… I know eventually her path will lead back to Holden, but it’s not in Season 4.

I love seeing Detective Joe Miller back, and I love the new villain, head security Adolphus Murtry. Although, if you ask him, he doesn’t think he’s the bad guy, he’s only looking to protect his crew.

Anyway, give me more Expanse!

Mr Robot Season 4 Read More Mr Robot After resisting the television show Mr Robot on USA Network, I gave in and watched the first season. It was pretty good, it did remind me of plot from Fight Club... and despite figuring out the “twist” midway into the first season …

MR ROBOT
usanetwork.com

I love Mr Robot. After a long two-year break, I was ready to get back into Mr Robot on its final season.

Unfortunately, I have not been loving Season 4 at all. I feel like maybe they kept digging a hole in the story, especially since they setup one lone hacker, Elliot Alderson against the Dark Army (a cyber-terrorist organization of hardcore killers and assassins). There’s no contest… and the only reason why Elliot is alive is that BD Wong (aka Whiterose) is allowing him to live.

I understand it’s just a television show, but I’ve always thought the story and characters were grounded in reality and I can relate to the interesting hacks that Elliot was pulling off.

With Season 4, the story appears to take place in the course of a day or two days - leading up to Christmas. In those few days, you see that Elliot does sleep or eat all day! There was that getting lost in a park in the middle of nowhere, the big police chase, getting kidnapped, and then the big White Rose hack. I mean, take a break from getting hit by a car and falling down a bridge!!! It’s just hard to believe.

The show also feels very different, starting with the episode with Darlene and Dominique. That ending of will they or won’t they make it on the plane is just awful. It’s like some bad romantic comedy.

Then there’s this alternate dimension episode, which felt really out of place for Mr Robot! I couldn’t believe it, and it just didn’t make any sense.

The final two episodes will air tonight (December 22nd), and, as of this writing, I have not seen it yet… but I’m not exactly looking forward to finding out how it will end.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic