Godzilla (Zilla 1998) and Doritos

Godzilla (Zilla 1998) and Doritos

I mentioned this years ago on my blog. I can't seem to find the old post and I am too lazy to go look for it. It popped into my mind because I was looking up info on Dean Devlin and his “firing” on Geostorm. He directed original cut of the movie, but the studio replaced him with Jerry Bruckheimer .

He was a producer on that horrible Godzilla movie from the 90s. I looked up a story about the movie. And, that strange Doritos commercial popped into my head. The strange thing is Doritos made and paid for these two ads in 2006...the movie came out in 1998. Given that everyone hated Godzilla 98 and the studio halted work on a sequel, why would Doritos dig up this old and dead remake? Why not “hire” the old/original Godzilla? Why even make it at all? Everyone viewed the movie as a failure. Why connect the brand with a cheap knock-off of Godzilla?

I could see this ad campaign being a tie-in with the movie...if it were 98. In 2006, we were way over the American Godzilla. It makes zero sense. It is like making a Freddy Got Finger ad connected to a new KFC commercial.

What I found out is very little has been discussed about this artifact on the web.  

Random Photos from my car

Here are a few photos of my LED chargers cables.  I will probably show off all the wires I have in my car. 

The Spam is strong

The Spam is strong

Given that it is now 2018, I am surprised that I am still dealing with spam and fake e-mail accounts. I can't believe I am still deleting spam comments from my super old blog. I would think that spammer would move on to Twitter or Facebook. Blogging isn't as popular as it was back in 2005-2010 days. I just deleted a spam comment a minute ago.

BTW, the amount of e-mail spam I receive a day is crazy. I get a lot of boner pills spam and fake phishing scams.

I can't believe comment spam is still a thing. 

BTW, I grew up when Spam was just a strange meat product you ate while camping.  You mainly kept Spam around because most animals didn't want to raid your camp and eat.  To be fair, cooked spam isn't bad.  

So, Spam meant something completely different.  

The actual Spam product turned 80 years last year.  Damn. 

Left-Eye and the Creep Song

I think this was a turning point for TLC creatively. Creep showed that the group was willing to expand out of their funkier 90s songs from their first album into something more adult and sexy. Not every in the grouped like the song though...

Left-Eye hated the meaning behind the track. I mean she REALLY hated it.

From Wiki, ((Despite this, member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was the opposite. She threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on the song's music video due to her disagreement with its message and the choice for it to be CrazySexyCool's lead single,  ))

Here's the kicker; Left-Eye's part is NOT in the single-released version of the track. Generally, all three members had a part in each song, but Creep's single doesn't have Left-Eye in it. It is just an R&B track. I always found that odd, and I didn't know she almost wore tape on her mouth to object. I wonder if LE's objections also meant she wasn't going to do a rap unless it was to her liking.

From The Music.com ((“I wasn’t down with cheating on your man, you know, for me, it’s be faithful. Trust me, I fought against that single coming out. You know, I was like if a girl is gonna catch her man cheating, this was my thing, instead of telling her to cheat back, why don’t we tell her [to] just leave.” ))

Later, LE added a rap verse that is completely counter to the message of cheating. Take a listen to LE's lyrics in the remixes.

I think the Super Smooth Remix is the better remix and actually almost as good as the original one.

Here's the remake 20 years later. It sounds so different. Interestingly enough, the remake doesn't have Left-Eye's lyrics. Why not add her verse as a tribute?

Blog Update: Patreon maybe?

Blog Update: Patreon maybe?

I mentioned before that I was planning on opening up a Patreon page for donations. I honestly don't believe I will get any donations, but I might as well try it. I've been doing this blogging for over ten years and I wanted to see if I could make a few coins from it. I need to shift to doing things I like and shifting away from the things I detest, such as my current job. I need to write more short stories and submitting to publications such as I did last year. It is time for me to slowly take the plunge into writing for myself and making something out of it.

After working a side gig where I work on my own, it took me nearly 20 years to realize that working on my own is where my strengths are. I am an entertaining guy that makes people laugh and smile. I found that telling stories and seeing their reactions does bring me joy. Telling people strange pop cultural things makes me happy.

Plus, having a Patreon will make me get out of my depression. I can look forward to making creative things again. My only thing is I believe I don't have that many steady readers. I get a lot of traffic from Google and side post from Reddit, but not steady readership.

As they say, you won't know unless you try.

In the coming days/weeks, I will have a Patreon linked to this site. I just have to do my homework. If you want to give, feel free. If you don't that fine as well.  

DSP update: Escort Faking

DSP update: Escort Faking

Somehow, DSP has become the new Chris Chan.

I was 60% on board with the escort story, but was a fake.

It appears the escort story was false, but the whole thing doesn’t add up. People dug deep into the escort story and the website and everything seemed legit. Everything down to her rates and her STD screenings was on par with an escort things. And, the fake escort was connected to a real escort network.

When the escort posed a strap-on on her Twitter account, it went viral. That was when a woman recognized the lady's Twitter profile picture.

Here where things get strange and interesting. This was part of a bigger scam involving a couple of people that used fake or stolen accounts from social media to get money and gifts and to blackmail people. Kiwi Farms and other uncovered this recently and it is a very interesting read. Not only were they scamming DSP, but all the trolls and detractors as well. The reason the story seemed so believable was that they had a record of escorts and other information for ten years.

It is freaking nuts. I hate DSP as much as the next guy, but to set him up like this and try to blackmail him for money and to get white knights to give them gifts is really low. Not even DSP deserves this scam. DSP is a horrible person, but not even he needs this shit.

It should be noted that all of this information came out due to the work of detractors and trolls that hate DSP. I find it amusing that it was the people that hate him that uncovered the truth about the escort saga. Of course, the scammers have disappeared and all of their sock accounts disappeared as well.

The Soyboy Selfie

The Soyboy Selfie...

Can we stop this from spreading like a bad case of some warts? 

Given I haven't opened my Facebook in years and I don't have Twitter, I had no idea this was a thing. You pose for a photo by opening your mouth completely and show a shocked expression on your face.  It looks like you just realized you shit yourself but have act like you didn't.

Is this the duckface of 2016-18? It is really annoying and bothersome. Heck, I am a soyboy more or less, but this shit is out of hand for even me.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Part 2 of 2)

So why was the editing so frantic?

Guy Ritchie's editing so strange and disjointed compared to his other movies. It was like he was channeling Tony Scott with some of his choices. Guy's other movies aren't this crazy with the editing. Even the “gangster” bits of the story are edited crazy. Then you have VG shots that even throw more crazy mess to the wall. All of the VG stuff is editing like a Tekken game. It is out of place.

Montages take over for storytelling in almost every way. Everything receives a montage. Can the movie just sit down and tell a story for once?

It is just too much.

Do the criminal elements work?

Actually, I like the more modern gangster elements in the movie. Arthur grows up in a brothel, just like Richard Pryor and Jame Brown, and lives a tough life fighting and training. He also steals for a living while protecting the hookers. It is a modern sensibility in an old setting. Having him be a sort of anti-hero gives the movie a fresh take on the Arthur tale. I liked seeing Arthur connected to the more darker elements of England.

Plus, Guy is loving all this English crime stuff. And, the movie works on that level. However, the gangster stuff doesn't fit in with all fantasy element. The problem is that GOT does this too, but it has time to merge the two worlds in a better manner than a 2-plus hour movie.

Given I have seen three King Arthur movies in the last ten years, this an interesting take for Arthur. It isn't handled that well though.

So is this a video game or a Game of Thrones ripoff?

It is a little bit of both. Actually, it is a lot of both. The video game aspects are where the movie completely fails. Once Arthur taps into the power of the sword, the movie does a 180 and turns into a video game. I actually thought I'd see a life-bar above Arthur's head when he grabbed the sword.

Then, the movie throws out the script and just has a VG fight scene. A giant CGI snake appears and I just shrug. The movie literally becomes a fight scene from Soul Caliber and Dark Souls. Jude Law turns into a demon and fights the dude from SOA in a CGI mess. I wanted there to be a bloody text to appear that says “Finish Him”.

So, there are giant man-eating snakes and CGI boss battles in a King Arthur movie. Plus, you can throw in a flashback during the boss battle scene.

The sad part is that this movie was supposed to be the first movie in a series of King Arthur movies. It didn't make its money back.

Random things worth noting...

-Diverse Cast: Given there are squid naked ladies and giant creatures, I have zero issues with the fact there is a diverse group of people from different lands in Arthur's party. Asians and black people are running around England, and I sort of like it. I like seeing that black and Asian people are members of the Round-Table.

-Two GOT actors: Yep look for two (now killed off) characters from Game of Thrones.

-There are a least three movies crammed into one.

-The CGI is pretty bad: It has more of a 90s look to it. Actually, Blade has better CGI.

Overall

King Arthur is too much of everything. It is that kid that had too many Monster/Rockstar drinks edited a movie. The movie is that 90's kid all grown up, but forgets it is now the 2000s. The acting is good and the criminal aspects really work. The minority-filled cast is refreshing. However, the editing and disjointed storytelling hurt the movie by a mile. It is loud and crude and full of style, but it means nothing in the end. You can't survive on style alone there has to be good storytelling and characters.

I didn't hate the movie as much as say Batman v. Superman, but clearly, this movie isn't for me. I do believe people need to see it just to see how NOT to remake an old classic. There is something there, but it is marred by poor style choices.

Grade: D+

Here we go again...another racist rant from a young person

Here we go again...

I am a black man, so...Is it okay to say she is kind of cute despite the racism? Does racism make you ugly?  You how I am about being attracted to crazy women.

Jennifer Lien: What Happened?

Jennifer Lien

I was just listening to one of the most recent Trek About Podcast. They were discussing the departure of Kes (Jennifer Lien). What is sad about her departure is that she clearly enjoyed playing the character of Kes.

From Memory Alpha, ((In A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, Stephen Edward Poe states that in 1997, when producers were ironing out the details of the introduction of Seven of Nine, they had already lined up Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) to take the bullet and leave in order to free up enough budget for a new main actor. Then that year, Wang was chosen by People Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." Suddenly Wang was in, and Lien was out. ))

Well, you're paying for it in some way...

Please Note: Everything I mention in this post is just theories.  I am not mentioning everything because DSP fans tend to go after anyone that attacks the King of Gout.

The lies keep coming and piling up.

If you remember, I mentioned that DSP allegedly hired an escort and tried to stiff (pun intended) her out of 2K. She got mad and started to post info to get him to pay her due of spending a weekend with him. At the same time, this was supposed to happen, Phil decided to post pictures of his “new” GF near a tree.

In the photo, he didn't post her face. I didn't believe the escort and thought this was a major troll ride and so on.

After getting paid, she posted this photo on her blog. Keep in mind she is claiming she is under an NDA, so this was a clever way she confirmed she was the woman in the photo (allegedly).

The reason I find this offensive is because he is squeezing his loyal fan base out of money in order to allegedly pay for escorts. I am all for people paying for escorts and I actually support it. I am too poor and t cheap to buy one myself, but I can't turn my nose up to it.  However, you can't use the money fans donated to pay for your GF Experience when you claim you are broke.

While I am not 100% on board the escort story, I am more 60% in believing the story. Plus, this still doesn't prove it, but it does match up with the hair color of the woman in the photo that DSP posted.

The man has some balls on him to pull this off...allegedly.   Any woman that has to put up with this face is a hero in my book. 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Part 1 of 2)

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Part 1 of 2)

Think of this as a remix of the King Arthur story mixed with energy drinks and video games. Throw in some modern British gangster elements well given it is made by Guy Ritchie . What happens when you mix Knights of the Round-table with energy drinks and Call of Duty players? You get a loud and silly movie that mostly doesn't work. The movie feels more like a leftover f the extreme days of the 90s than a product from 2017. The movie isn't good and too frantic but I can like certain aspects of the movie.

Just like the other movies based on the legend, this is a new take on the King Arthur story. Let's just mix it up with VG and gangsters and 300 CGI creatures. The senses are constantly overloaded with a shaky camera and zooms that make me shake my head in rage.

Is it a movie or a video game?

The video game aspect is very apparent when Arthur goes hyper-mode and kills all the enemies on screen just like in a video game. While I will give them credit for trying it, but it doesn't work when Arthur turns into a "God-Mode" warrior. The ending has an end boss level with CGI snakes and a devil-like creature vs Arthur.

What about the loud music?

The music is loud and drums heavy in a very early 2000s manner that distracts from the movie. And, I get that he is channeling modern VGs like Prince of Persia and the AC series. Written by Daniel Pemberton , I felt the score was out of place.

I think listening to the score alone is fine, but it doesn't work in the film.

What about the cast?

Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy", is okay as Arthur. He's basically playing Jax from SOA. Plus, we have a few Game of Thrones actors mixed in too. Little Finger and Lord Bolton also show up. The cast is not the problem.  

I think the poor editing and CGI really bring this movie down for me.  

Random Things

Random Things

~Not doing bad, but not great: While I not as depressed as I was earlier this year, I still have a sense of depression every time I go to work. I am trying my best not to walk out of that place because the insurance is so good, but things aren't exactly going well for me there. And, I don't want to use up all of my vacation days.

~Black Mirror: Okay, I watched two episodes of Black Mirror recently. I watched the first episode of season four and the last episode. I want to discuss the first episode in greater detail later. However, I like the season finale a lot. It is nice how the stories tied to each other at the end. Is this a British-made show? It has both Americans and British people staring in the series. It is even commented on in the season finale.  yeah, I will go back and watch the rest of the series.  

~Yet another Pornstar passes away: Generally, Pornstars pass away after leaving the biz. However, there have been some untimely deaths of adult actresses dying while still being at the top of their game. While we can talk about being progressive about sex workers in sex biz, we still have to talk about the unstable nature of many of the people working in it, Besides August, Turi Luv overdosed in the same month. Now, Olivia Nova has ended up dead as well. While I know little of her, given I am a porn pro, I think she was a very attractive girl which came into the industry in 2017. Her Twitter is NSFW! I will have more on her when more news comes out about her death. It should be noted that Olivia Nova looks very similar to August Ames. 

~Here's a video about Star Wars Detours: It was dropped, but an already made animated series. I remember Disney dropped it after they bought the franchise. Lucas was even promoting it before the buyout. The show was nearly completed. Will they ever release it? Probably in a few years on their streaming service.

It looks awful. However, this was when Lucas was still bitter about the response to his prequels.

Oh, hi, Wesley Crusher.

I generally respect Wil because he was one of the early people that made blogging what it is today. I even looked up to him as a person that really put effect into blogging. However, reading about his freak out over a damn Lego set making fun of Wesley Crusher is a bit much for me.

Lately, he has become a bit more whiny for my taste. (Remember the Shut Up Wesley bit). Wil Wheaton to a bit upset over a Lego custom set that had the TNG crew. Wesley's figure had a crybaby's face. This triggered Wil.

From Screen Rant, ((The action figure in question was part of a set depicting the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Released by MiniFigs.me – a web-based business that manufactures made to order LEGO figures as well as unofficial adaptations of popular pop-culture characters – the Wesley Crusher figure is depicted as a crying child, in stark contrast to the more stoic and determined adult figures around him. The MiniFigs.me site also features custom figures based on other popular science fiction franchises such as Rick and Morty, Red Dwarf and The X-Files. ))

Relax, Wesley. It is just a Lego set. The person who designed this set is clearly having a laugh. He or she is just a fan of TNG and hated Wes as much as the rest of us.

From Comic Book, (("In this particular custom set, though, Wesley is depicted as a crying child, and that’s not just disappointing to me, it’s kind of insulting and demeaning to everyone who loved that character when they were kids," Wheaton writes. "The creator of this set is saying that Wesley Crusher is a crybaby, and he doesn’t deserve to stand shoulder to minifig shoulder with the rest of the crew. People who loved Wesley, who were inspired by him to pursue careers in science and engineering, who were thrilled when they were kids to see another kid driving a spaceship? Well, the character they loved was a crybaby so just suck it up I guess." ))

Here's the problem, Wil. Wesley DOESN”T stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the crew because he was a flawed character that Gene created to mirror himself. He did it to inflate his own ego, and Wesley was supposed to be how Gene viewed himself as a child. Gene sort of Mary Sued himself into his Trek world. Instead of fixing the character, he spent time cheating on his wife and getting high and drunk during the production of the first two seasons.

You yourself have made fun of Wesley and made fun of your acting countless times on your blog and in books. Why does this Lego character trigger you? While we might not see eye to eye politically anymore, I liked the fact you were openly addressing the problems with the character you played and the legacy behind it. Now, you seem to be more sensitive to it.

I even understand the argument. He might have inspired people to get into the field of science, but it doesn't take away that the character was poorly written for two years and limped along after that. It wasn't until he left the show did his character grow some balls became an interesting character. (First Duty and The Game)

I'd be more triggered by your Flubber appearance.  

The Lego Batman Movie

The Lego Batman Movie

It is not a shock that the Lego Batman movie is far better than the Batman v Superman. I just didn't think it would be this good. This movie is far more of a tribute to all the versions of Batman. The movie is aimed at Lego fans and DC Comic fans. Just like The Lego Movie, Lego Batman is a nice little treat.

The movie is sharp with its jokes about Batman and the DC universe.  And, I am shocked how many references they included into the movie in an organic manner.  Even the opening credits get roasted by Batman!

Director Chris McKay keeps it based on the Lego Movie level of humor and style. McKay was one of the people behind the Lego Movie, so it makes sense this movie fits so well into the Lego universe (DC Lego-verse). McKay has to deal with a lot of story elements and they all fit rather well together unlike BVS.

While the movie is clearly aimed at children, and it should be, there are some adult moments that feel out of place. Plus, the movie pays tribute to the entire Batman mythology. There are references to the Nolan movie all the way to the goofy 60s Batman.

Will Arnett is the voice of Batman again, reprising his role from the Lego Movie. Other than Kevin Conroy, Arnett is brilliant as the Dark Knight.

The Joker is an interesting version compared to the other Jokers. He is less like the creepy one from the Batman Animated series. He is not Mark Hamill's joker, but a mixture between the 60s Joker and the one from Batman 89. Zach Galifianakis does a pretty good, if slightly muted, job as the clown prince. The Joker plays a huge part in the overall story and connects to the fact that Batman and the Joker are the flip sides of the coin.

Robin is also introduced in this story and I really dig the way they brought him into the story. He is very much a different version from most of the Robins I have seen in the Batman universe. He is literally a wide-eyed little kid that wants to impress Bruce Wayne/Batman at all cost. By the way, he is voiced by Michael Cera . He is the other awkward nerdy guy in the DC universe.

The movie also fully embraces the fact this is in the mind of a little kid with the laser effects sounding like a little kid making laser sounds. even the Lego aspects play an important role in the story. They even make this a commercial for Lego Batman/Justice League toys to boot. And, they do it in a manner that shines a light and joke of it.

-Batgirl does play role in the story: It is a very different version of Barbara Gordon. She is much older than the version in the current DC universe. She is an established police officer from another city that is brought in to take over for her father. I like that they went with the more seasoned Batman Beyond version of Barbara.

-Classic villains from movie history: There are a ton of these classic characters that show up as a team of supervillains. I like this new team of Joker-backed villains from the old school movies.

-The Lord of the Rings: I am surprised how much a certain character plays in the movie.

-John Williams shout out: At a certain point, the movie does play a portion of Williams' Krypton's theme from the first movie in nice Easter egg. I smiled and thought, "That's very clever, movie."

-Doctor Who: I liked the reference. And, they don't even mention the franchise, but they are clearly villains from that franchise.

-Iron Man gets a diss: Okay, DC, you threw some shade on Iron Man. Given they are similar people, I like the diss.

Overall, Lego Batman movie turned out to be a fun kid movie that pays tribute to both the live and animated Batmans from before but has an amusing little story. Both kids and adults will enjoy the movie greatly. Is it a perfect movie, nope. It is far more entertaining than what DC Comics is putting out as movies these days. It is not as good as The Lego Movie but is far more entertaining than anything DC has put in the theaters.

Grade: B+

2017, go f' yourself

2017, go f' yourself

Given that 2016 was a total shit show for me, I knew that 2017 was going to be worse. I just didn't think it would be this bad. I probably slept more in 2017 than any other year. After pretty much disconnecting from everyone and everything, I have been walking around with a plastered frown on my face.

I spent the end of 2017 with a drunk guy and six police officers in a ride-sharing incident I can't get into just yet. I have to say that I would like to thank a certain Police department for helping me deal with a terrible thing. Anyway, this incident is a great way to end a shitty 2017 and pave in the way for 2018.

While I am happy that 2017 is over, I am dreading what horrors are in store for me in 2018. I told a half-filled guy that it is only going to worse for me.

I do have some plans for 2018, but I can't get my hopes up. One of them is to focus even more on my writing. Last year I actually submitted my first short story to a publication. I didn't even get a rejection letter, but it is a start.

The other thing is to start up a Patreon for my blog in order to shift away from my 20-plus job and into a more work-for-myself sort of focus going forward. After working for myself with my other job, I can see the appeal of working for yourself. It is so refreshing. So, I want to put that effect into writing and other creative things.

Anyway, we'll see how things go for 2018.