It's the first day of Fall, but I'm not out enjoying it... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Tanev! As a diehard Blackhawks fan, it took a while before I was sold on my local team, The Seattle Kraken. But they're just such a fun team. They're fun to watch play. And the team leader when it comes to Big Fun is Brandon Tenev, whom is an absolute legend because of his annual team photo. And this year he did not disappoint...

Legend. Of course they unleashed a behind-the-scenes...

There's a reason all my Kraken jerseys are lucky #13. And there he is.

   
• Birbs! Toss those pufflings off that cliff!

Nice to see humans helping with a problem they've caused.

   
• Kids Need a Family! Just want to say to the whole "KIDS NEED A MOM AND A DAD!" crowd... where were the moms and dads stepping up to give these kids a home after they've been shuffled around for FOUR YEARS? I'll tell you where... climbing on Facebook to condemn gay parents while doing fuck all about anything. Well, thanks to these two gentlemen, these siblings now have a home. Together. Where they are loved and cared for...

Anything other than your full-throated support of this family doesn't mean shit, and if you're not wishing them the best of luck but instead hoping they fail, well then this isn't about the children is it? Just your shitty bigotry.

   
• SeaTac Busted! I may die of un-shock as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport comes in 5th place in the "Least satisfying North American mega-airports" poll. To me, that's four places too high. I've flown in and out of a ridiculous number of airports, and Seattle is not just my most-hated in the USA, but is way up there world-wide. So many stupid fucking decisions made, and more being made every year. I detest Sea-Tac, and am glad to see that I'm not alone in that. I dearly wish that the Port of Seattle would stop making so many awful decsions and get to making SeaTac something that Washingtonians can be proud of. Because I'm embarrassed when people visiting our State have our main airport as their first impression.

   
• It's Not Cheating! Way back when the Phil Ivey "cheating" scandal came out, I read the stories and didn't get it. HE. DIDN'T. CHEAT. He played the game that casinos presented to him (and Cheung Yin "Kelly" Sun), but found a way to do it better than other people could. Now I see this fascinating video and am mad about it all over again...

Any time casinos lose money, they blame "cheating." Even when it wasn't.

   
• Will & Harper! Thanks to Netflix for continuing to move the needle of acceptance (even if they did just cancel Deadboy Detectives so they could give a bajillion dollars to Zack Snyder to shit out his crappy Rebel Moon travesties)...

I have a friend who means the world to me that shouldn't have to live in fear for being who she is, and every little bit helps dismantle the toxic hellscape she has to endure is a good thing.

   
And thus starts my Fall.

James Earl Jones died a week ago and I'm having a hard time processing it.

As anybody who has read this blog for a while knows, Field of Dreams is my favorite movie of all time. I love everything about it. The sheer weirdness of it appeals to me, of course, but it's the way the ground it in reality which has made me such a huge fan. But there's also the actors. It's so flawlessly cast and performed. You've got Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan who embodied their roles as few actors could, reaching deep to create an atmosphere of normalcy in a situation that's far from normal. Burt Lancaster pulling out all the stops to sell his character in a way that he absolutely had to for the movie to work.

And then there's James Earl Jones...

Spoilers ahead if you're one of those unfortunate people who has never seen Field of Dreams...

In so many ways, his character is the real star of this movie. Until Terry comes along, there's no obstacle to what was happening. Just some esoteric talk about running out of money and losing the farm. But once Ray gets a vision compelling him to seek out famous recluse author Terence Mann, the movie is no longer about "Crazy Ray Kinsella" plowing under his farm... it's being smacked in the face with reality. Terence confirms that Ray actually might be crazy, and the story of the film comes to a halt (in one of the most hilarious ways possible).

Until it doesn't.

Then it's Terence Mann show, as he becomes the avatar for the audience in reacting to what's happening and helping Ray understand what it all means.

And the you get to that scene where Ray and Terence have picked up Archie Graham and then it's nighttime and Ray is explaining his complicated relationship with his father and Terence drops the bomb over what the entire movie is about.

"It's your pennance."
"I know."

The movie is packed with beautiful, perfect moments, and James Earl Jones is the best part of most of them. And of course he has that amazing, flawless monologue about baseball at end end...

Can your mind possibly even fathom anybody else delivering that speech?

Or being the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars?

Or being the coice of Mufasa in The Lion King?

Or being King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America?

Or being Mr. Mertle in The Sandlot?

Or being any character big or small that James Earl Jones touched?

One of my favorite things he did was a guest spot on Big Bang Theory where he played himself. Or rather an exaggerated version of himself...

And there's a wonderful behind-the-scenes moment that makes it even better...

But it was all wonderful when it comes to James Earl Jones.

He will be missed in a way I have a hard time finding the words to express. But it's hard to be sad when so much of him has been left in his work. I'm incredibly grateful for all of it. Especially when you consider that it almost all never happened...

Of course the tributes from all kinds of people came pouring in after his passing. But there's one that hit me like no other. And got me to thinking of how James Earl Jones thought that when Darth Vader says No, I am your father! that he was lying...

Because this is the one that did me in...

Rest In Peace, sir. You touched the world in ways that few people could ever hope to achieve.

I'm buried in work today, but fear you not... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Overrated Olympians! Michael Phelps the greatest Olypian of all time? Eh. Here's something to keep in mind as you're watching the Olympic Games...

He's not wrong.

   
• Whoa! I have wondered for years and years why Hallmark never made a movie from a man's point of view. I understand their audience is mostly women, but you'd think that they would love seeing things from the opposite viewpoint! They kinda got onboard with Three Wise Men and a Baby, which must have been a success. Because Hallmark decided to not recycle the same stuff for the millionth time and give us a trio of films that switch things up...

I don't get Hallmark Channel any more, but I will be finding a wy to buy it to watch these films because this looks really good, by Hallmark standards... maybe by any standards! Nice!

   
• ARTICLE: I have aphantasia: my mind's eye is permanently closed! Every time I read a new article about somebody finding out they have aphantasia, I have a flashback because I went through the exact same thing. It was in my mid-30's. I was hanging out with some fellow graphics people after a job in Seattle. Somebody was describing what they wanted to do for the next project and said "I'm having a tough time picturing it though." Then somebody else piped up and said "I have aphantasia... so I can't picture anything!" And I sat there like "What's aphantasia?" And was then told that most people when they close their eyes can LITERALLY visualize stuff when they concentrate on picturing it. I, on the other hand, only see blackness. When I am "picturing" something in my head, I'm not actually seeing anything... I'm just describing to myself what I know the things look like. And, yes, it is very bizarre to me how it works for others. Because it would be so cool to picture stuff literally instead of figuratively when I close my eyes to see something. I would love to close my eyes and be able to look at Von Gogh's Starry Night... but instead I see nothing but black and I have to describe it to myself based on what I remember.

   
• Olypian! I've already mentioned how I'm not an Olympics guy... I absolutely love stories like this...

If you don't care about coming in last... have money to burn to chase qualifying competitions around the world... and your only goal is to be an Olympian? There you go! This is so great.

   
• Tabasco Hot! I've been re-watching all the James Bond movies for the hundredth and noticed something odd...

I wonder who it is involved with James Bond who loves Tabasco? Nick Nack brings it to Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun and Stromberg has it on the table in The Spy Who Loved Me. It's kinda cool that Bond villains love Tabasco so much, they have it flown in to wherever they are!

   
• Country-fied! I've never been a Country music fan and, when I listen to it, it's usually the classic stuff. But ever since Kacey Musgraves's album Golden Hour was my second-favorite album of 2018, and Sam Hunts album Southside made my list in 2020, I've been listening to the Contemporary Country more and more. So much so that YouTube has started suggesting Country artists thanks to my playlists on YouTube Music. This morning I got recommended the song Laid Back by Chris Housman, an artist I never heard of before. Turns out he a part of the ever-expanding Gay Country genre that has been cranking out some amazing music...

It's such a good song. Nice that we're getting such a diverse pool of artists across all genres of music. Gatekeeping is so last week.

   
• Fuck. This. Shit. Cut out the fucking middle man. Medicare for All. Do you know how much health care could be had for 70 FUCKING BILLION DOLLARS... which doesn't even count the operating costs of these shitty fucking insurance companies, which are not designed to provide good care... but to maximize profits. And look how successful they are at that...

Health care in this country is so fucking broken and will remain broken so long as insurance companies are allowed to own our politicians.

   
And now I gotta get back to work. I have fucking medical bills to pay for.

It's early Sunday morning and I'm watching one of the many videos leaked out of Hall H from Comic Con International that featured the official Marvel Studios announcements. I was going to post this for Bullet Sunday, but wanted to see if more videos would get officially released before posting my thoughts.

The announcements were huge, but also surprisingly reserved. Of course spoilers abound, so if you want to go in blind to the upcoming Marvel films... or want to watch the Hall H video for yourself, might want to turn back now.

• Peter! Wait... where did he go? Rob Delaney, come back!
• Wolverine & Deadpool becoming the biggest opening for an R-rated movie of all time is nice. Hopefully it shows Marvel Studios that they don't have to be 100% family-fare to be successful, because there's a lot of characters which would benefit from an R rating.
• Captain America: Brave New World should be interesting. Sam has the adamantium shield but not Cap's super-serum super-strength, and has to rely on his wings to give him an advantage. Now, whether or not Marvel too advantage of what makes the New Cap special remains to be seen. On February 15th, 2025, alas. But what I'm most excited to see is Joaquin Torres becoming the new Falcon.
• A "return to Winter Soldier" is not the worst thing to happen to the franchise. It's one of the best MCU movies of all time.
• Oh... looks like Marvel does plan on making Sam different without the super-serum! NICE!
• The Leader could be a fantastic villain. But I've seen him used so stupidly in the comics that I am reserving judgement until I see it.
• Danny Ramirez being able to give as good as he gets from Anthony Mackie is something else!
• Giancarlo Esposito is an exceptional actor. And he's playing SIDEWINDER?!? Guess that means Cap is facing off against The Serpent Society. From the trailer, it looks like they have him dressed in black, which is great, because a comic-accurate costume would be hysterical.
• Harrison Ford... AT COMIC CON?!? Well then. I was absolutely not expecting that. Good on him for jumping in despite the fact that he's probably very tired of conventions after his Star Wars fame. His shoutout to William Hurt (who originated his character) was nice.
• Thunderbolts* is a tough concept to bring to a movie, and I can't help but wonder if they've radically changed it. In the comics a new team of heroes debuted at a time when the world needed them, but then the shocking twist happened... these were not new heroes. They were old villains playing heroes. Honestly I don't care so long as they keep it fun. And here's David Harbour to make the presentation fun, so fingers crossed.
• What's the asterisk for on that? Changing the name?
• Oh... here it comes...
• ...or not.
• I keep forgetting that Hannah John-Kamen is returning as Ava in Thunderbolts. Which seems weird given how much I loved her performance in Killjoys.
• Wyatt Russell got a lot of shit for U.S. Agent in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series and it was entirely unjustified. If anything, he was too good in the role to get people to hate him so much. I seriously hope that he has a good role in the film so people will stop pitching shit at him for a job well done.
• Black Widow was kinda a sad film. They waited until the character fucking died before she got a movie (despite her dropping in everybody else's movies)... then really put the spotlight on Florence Pugh since she was taking over the character. Plus the movie was mid. I am still livid that Scarlett Johansson was shitted on so badly by Marvel Studios. Black Widow deserved more.
• The Fantastic Four has gotten some truly shitty movies before coming to the MCU. Which is such a shame because if people would just follow the fucking comic book and pick up on what makes it so frickin' great... THEY ARE A FAMILY OF ADVENTURERS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE SUPER-HEROES... AKA The Imaginauts era, everything would be fine. Dang I hope that Marvel Studios nails this.
• Matt Shakman keeps getting lauded for WandaVision, a show I hated. I was not thrilled when he was brought on to Fantastic Four, but it sounds as though his work on WandaVision along with his studying 1960's New York could be an asset? I dunno. I really, really hope they knock this movie out of the park.
• The free fan looks VERY much like the movie is taking inspiration from The Incredibles which is the best news possible. That is one of the most stylistic retro-futuristic movies ever made.
• Surprise! The cast! Ebon Moss-Bachrach is a very good actor. But in his most famous role for The Bear all he does is fucking scream most of the time. I know he's capable of more, and I really hope we get too see something softer because The Thing is more about being Ben Grimm than the raw power of his super-hero persona.
• As much as I love Pedro Pascal (and boy do I), I really wanted John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to head The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Oh well. I'm sure he will be amazing in this. I'll just try to forget how he was absolute shit (though no fault of his own) in the shitty fucking Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman 1984 disaster, and I'm sure everything will be fine. I will never forgive Jenkins for following her first Wonder Woman masterpiece with one of the greatest super-hero movies of all time with that shitty, SHITTY fucking sequel. And now it looks like she's going to take a dump on Star Wars too. After WW1984 she should never work again. NOBODY who was responsible for that should ever be given money for movies again.
• For the love of God I hope they let Ebon Moss-Bachrach bring this kind of humble aesthetic to The Thing. If they go the HULK SMASH route I'll be very disappointed. Very.
• I don't know much about Jpseph Quinn except his masterful performance as Eddie in Stranger Things. That's a very good start for Johnny Storm. His character is played as a hot-head, but no so over the top that he's beyond reason and a bad caricature of a bratty asshole with super-powers. Even though the first slate of FF movies were shit, Michael B. Jordan and Chris Evans knew the assignment. Even when they were supposed to go too far with Johnny, you got the feeling that wheels were still turning. And that's critical.
• Vanessa Kirby gives off complex vibes when it comes to her roles. I think I most remember her from the Mission Impossible movies, and that's not a bad thing. Sue Storm should be of a similar mindset, which is to say she's complex, capable, and whip-smart instead of just eye candy. Scarlett Johansson was exploited as Black Widow in many respects, but at least they always came back to the fact that she was a valuable and impressive member of the team despite not having super-powers. Hopefully they don't forget that when it comes to The Invisible Woman.
• Bringing back The Russo Brothers to direct the Avengers flicks is like... MENSA-level smart. They know what to do with an ensemble film, and their takes on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame is literally all you could want. I hope that the reason Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer involved is because he's making a Shang-Chi sequel. Which is probably a better use of his talents anyway.
• Avengers: Secret Wars is something to look forward to. The concept is vast in a way that even the comic books strive to match. Absolutely anything is possible in this movie. Anything. How Marvel Sudios chooses to take advantage of that will either make or break the film.
• The primary antagonist in Secret Wars is the all-powerful godlike Beyonder. I have said multiple times that the ideal person for the part is Alan Tudyk. But who will be Marvel's choice?
• Doctor Doom! Yeah, Hall H had no choice but to explode at that news.
• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now Avengers: Doomsday which is pretty much all they could do given how badly Ant-Man: Quantumania was received, how utterly mid Loki: Season 2 turned out, AND then the whole Johnathan Majors mess which made it impossible for him to return as Kang the Conquerer. Kang, one of the best, most powerful villains in the MCU was utterly trashed, so replacing him with Dr. Doom (yet another phenomenal Marvel villain) was a no-brainer.
• Welp.
• Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom is a bold choice. And while it would be very easy for this to just be a Multiverse variant of Tony Stark's Iron Man, I seriously hope they are smarter than that. The possibilities are endless, really. Maybe a villain who was defeated by Iron Man goes back in time to clone a baby Tony Stark, then raises the clone to become the ultimate villain: Doom. Or maybe it’s a shapeshifter using Stark’s face to disorient their foes. Or maybe it’s a robot looking like Tony built by the real Dr. Doom. Literally hundreds of ways This could go.
• There was nobody who could have played arrogant Tony Stark better than Robert Downey Jr, and Doom is at least 10× more arrogant. He's perfect for the part, however it comes to pass.

And now the surprising omissions which were not mentioned. Anything to do with the Disney+ series... Agatha All Along, Daredevil: Born Again, Eyes of Wakanda, and Ironheart. On the movie side, nothing to do with the long-promised Armor Wars and Blade flicks, no announcement of an expected new Spider-Man film, nothing about Shang-Chi, and... weirdly... nothing to do with X-Men either. I guess they want to save something for next year? But that's realy disappointing given the hot news we got from past Comic Cons.

And so... pretty much good news over what we actually got. Maybe the drastically-reduced slate of movies and shows happening will give us better-quality releases?

One would hope.

I'm in the middle of upgrading my closet, but it's time for a break... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• What is that? Let's start with the funniest thing I've seen all week...

This video short may be better than Revenge of the Sith!

   
• Super! Supacell is the Netflix series that Marvel Studios and Disney+ wish they had made. The only super-hero-television-show I've enjoyed more was Hawkeye. This show is exceptional. Where did they find these actors? I don't know that I've seen any of them before, and they're all so amazing. As if that wasn't enough, the show looks beautiful. Truly movie-quality gorgeous. Sure, the budget for the special effects isn't huge, but they make the most of what they had... and you're not looking at a shitty CGI wankfest every scene...

Absolutely worth your valuable time to watch.

   
• Ummmm! So... they're making a television series based on the book Bad Monkey which came out a full decade after the original Bad Monkey from Blogography...

I should sue! Yes! I should totally sue! Except I love Vince Vaughn, so I kinda want to see this show!

   
• Spider-Cat! Well this is awesome...

   
• Section 31! Normalize putting Michelle Yeoh in everything. Everything!

Seeing her in a deliciously evil role is too good to be true.

   
• Fake Ink! I wish to God that movie makeup crews knew how to apply realistic fake tattoos to actors. I am watching a sweet rom-com flick on Netflix called Find Me Falling, and Harry Connick Jr.'s rock star character has the absolute WORST fake ink on him. The lines are all perfectly crisp and the black ink is deepest black... like it was put on him last week. But it's tribal, which means it's at least two decades old...

Every time I saw it I was taken completely out of the film because it looks so fucking ridiculous. Do the people who make these fake tattoos know what an actual tattoo looks like?

   
• It's a Fucking Book! God forbid people be exposed to an alternative point of view. Families come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations...

Books. Like. This. Saves. Lives.

   
• TRON TRON TRON! I've been happy to see a lot of people sharing a meme with brilliant composer Wendy Carlos (debunking the idea that "trans people didn't exist five years ago when she transitioned in the early 70's) . Her TRON soundtrack still gives me chills when I think back to her groundbreaking work in electronic music. What people might not know about her is that after her first album Switched on Bach became a wild success, she was transitioning and terrified that her being credited as "Walter Carlos" on the album would cause problems... so she wore a wig and fake sideburns to appear more masculine at her public appearances...

Since then, all her albums were issued (or re-issued) with her properly credited as "Wendy Carlos." I find it horrific that society is sliding back to a time when trans persons were persecuted and ridiculed so viciously and openly. What has Wendy done to the world to deserve that except spread joy and feeling with her music? What has any trans person done to deserve this? They're just living their lives the best they can with the cards they were dealt. Just like we all are. Seek out Wendy's work. Some incredible stuff out there.

   
Hoping the last Sunday of July finds you well.

I may be melting from working too hard when it's too hot, but don't you fear... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• LIFE-CHANGING NEWS! I WILL NEVER BE BUYING KETCHUP AGAIN! Tonight I wanted a burger for dinner. I had used the last of my ketchup, so I went to grab a fresh bottle... and... I DON'T HAVE ANY! CANCEL MY AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, BECAUSE HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF KETCHUP IN THE USA? But I had tomato paste, so I Googled a recipe. There are many. All of them have vinegar and sugar, then spices. And so I decided to just roll my own and wing it on the spices until it tasted good. I just kept adding them... black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, mustard, celery powder, berbere, and a little cayenne. INCREDIBLE!

I COULD EAT THIS OUT OF THE BOWL! IT WAS SO GOOD ON MY BURGER THAT I AM COOKING FRIES SO I CAN SMOTHER THEM IN IT! I WILL NEVER BUY STORE KETCHUP EVER AGAIN! LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Guess running out of store-bought ketchup was a blessing in disguise.

   
• Exploding Kittens! Netflix has an animated series that takes its name from the Exploding Kittens card games which doesn't really follow the game. Instead it focuses on God and the Devil being banished to earth as... cats? They had Tom Ellis who played Lucifer for six seasons, so the fact that he's God now is clever casting...

It's pretty well done, over all. Some hilarious moments and pretty good stories. If you've got Netflix, it's worth checking out.

   
• Manny! So... The Hollywood Reporter has taken a quote completely out of context to use as a headline, and it's pretty bad. Especially given what Manny Jacinto actually had to say. My comment left on their Facebook follows...

"I understand that you have to create click-bait headlines so people will visit your site... but was it really necessary to pull this quote completely out of context so it makes him seem like a raving prima donna instead of being grateful to have the job and be a part of the movie? — 'There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes. Fortunately, it still was a great experience — you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be a small part of this huge franchise.'"

What a shitty fucking way to misrepresent what Manny was trying to say. He seems like a nice guy. I loved him in The Good Place and he's darn good in The Acolyte. But I guess you can't have an Asian guy making it in Hollywood. Gotta crush him by making him look bad to everybody and turn them against him. Just goes to show that there's an agenda in all "reporting"... even when it coes to entertainment "news."

   
• I CANNOT EVEN! Prague, one of the most beautiful cities on earth, is home to one of my favorite restaurants on the entire planet: Lehká Hlava (Clear Head). So to see the spreading of bullshit lies about Czech restaurants gaining traction out of ignorance is rage-inducing. Fortunately, Honest Guide is on the case...

It's like... come on. Can't people do the bare fucking minimum of looking into "injustices" before spreading idiotic crap like this? The answer is obviously no! because the truth isn't what's important any more. It's getting views and clicks.

   
• M3GAN! Okay... I tuned into this movie because it's got a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, but wasn't expecting much. I thought it was going to be a Chucky rip-off. BUT NOPE! This movie is nuts! In the best way, of course. SO DISTURBING!

If you've got Peacock, it's streaming there for free and is well worth your time.

   
• And Now... a Reminder! "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ― Isaac Asimov

And it's getting worse every fucking day.

   
• The Olds! And so the inevitable happened... President Biden pulled out of the race. As somebody who is not a fan, I shed zero tears. He's too old to be president, and it's ludicrous and cruel that he was ever being considered in the first place. Interesting to note... with Biden gone, that makes Trump the oldest person in the history of the United States to be on the ticket for president. Blergh. He's too fucking old too! He's only three years younger than Biden, for Christ's sake. And his mental abilities are decidedly worse, because he doesn't have Biden's stutter to keep distracting his brain while he's speaking. When are we going to stop with all these politicians who are too fucking old and out-of-touch to hold office?

   
And now I return you to our regular scheduled programming.

Yesterday I blathered on about asshole movie studios depriving customers of what they paid for... access to movies and shows that were sold to them. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Something I cannot fathom is how studios will sit on shows they own and not release them for people to enjoy. This was something that hit me pretty hard after Stephen Dunham died in 2012. He was the star of Oh Grow Up! (from 1999), a series I loved that can't be watched anywhere. It was never released on DVD, was never offered digitally and, from what I can tell, has never been shown on any network after its original run. I have it recorded on 8mm tape somewhere, but don't know that I have a player capable of playing them even if I could find the tapes. You can tapes to be converted to digital, but companies won't do it because they're copyrighted material.

What a waste. Dunham was a good actor and his work deserves to be seen. The pilot episode is on YouTube, but not much else...

Sometimes you can get lucky. There was a show called The Palace Guard (from 1991) which I loved that was eventually released as a part of a Stephen J. Cannell DVD collection set (and I've seen it on some free-view services from time to time... it's currently playing for free on Plex). It was a fun show about a cat burglar that becomes a security expert for an international chain of hotels. But I don't know how much longer those DVDs will even work, if they haven't crapped out already (see yesterday's post)...

Other times you can get... kinda lucky. A Connie Sellecca and Greg Evigan vehicle I liked called P.S.I. Luv U (also from 1991) was never released for home video in any format... but some kind soul uploaded all episodes to YouTube nine years ago, albeit in atrocious quality, and I have watched through them all a couple times...

No idea how legal it is, but if the studio who owns it isn't going to do anything with the show, somebody has to. It's one of six series I would very much be thrilled to purchase (and there's plenty of others)...

• P.S.I. Luv U (1991)
• Strange Luck (1995)
• Cupid (1998)
• Oh Grow Up! (1999)
• Now and Again (1999)
• The American Embassy (2002)

The frustrating thing about all this is that it costs practically nothing to convert a show to digital format. It's all automated. You put the tapes in the machine and push a button. The software which encodes it and cleans it up doesn't require any technical expertise. Just a person to load/unload.

You'd think with streaming networks desperate to have content for their services which are exceedingly cheap, this would be a no-brainer. But it's not like you could accuse studio executives of having a brain.

I own a bajillion DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. I love movies and television. I love owning my favorite shows so I can re-watch whenever I want. When digital streaming came along, I made the switch happily because I simply didn't have the space to store all that physical media. But then we all found out a sad truth... shows and movies you bought and paid for can be taken from you with absolutely no recourse. You pay for the right to stream something, and that right can be stripped from you at any time when a studio removes it from Google Play or iTunes or wherever.

So back to buying physical media, right? The studios can't break into your house and take those back!

Except they don't have to. Because physical media isn't made to last, and some studios know that... but don't give a shit. They got your money, and that's all they care about. Something this video talks about in depth, mostly focusing on the abomination that is Warner Bros., who is a fucking shitty company for many reasons, and this is a big one...

It's absolutely bonkers that those of us who do the right thing and pay for the stuff we want to own get punished for it. And yet here we are.

Buy physical media? It rots and no longer works.

Buy digital copies? Studios can strip them from you at any time.

Subscribe to a studio's streaming service directly? Studios can remove those shows even more easily.

The only option left is to buy physical media, then "back it up" by ripping it to your computer. Legally, you do have a right to have a backup so long as you continue to own the original media. Which is to say that you can't buy a DVD, rip it, then sell the DVD. Except... it's illegal to circumnavigate copy protection to actually make the backup. And of course DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy protection.

It's a total load of shit. Personally I am of the belief that once you buy a DVD or Blu-Ray or digital copy of something, you should maintain the right to view it regardless of what happens. If a DVD rots, you should have the right to purchase replacement media at cost or get a digital copy for free. And once something is sold digitally, studios don't get to take it back from you. They must provide a way for you to get what you paid for. Or else they shouldn't be allowed to sell it in the first place.

But powerful studios own our politicians, so that's expecting too much.

THEY doing illegal shit to strip you of what you bought is forgivable. YOU doing illegal shit to have access to what you paid for is not.

Typical.

The thing I like most about television is that it's usually not very challenging. When television is at its best, I can have it on while working or goofing around the internet and still understand everything that's going on even though I'm not paying full attention. Then, if the show ends up incredible... or demands more attention than I gave it in order to appreciate it... then I'll rewatch it. And pay closer attention in future episodes. Shows like Ted Lasso and Veronica Mars are not exactly challenging, but there's just so much to them than what's on the surface. They demand not only my full attention, but I will rewatch every episode many times.

And then there's shows that actually are challenging.

Shows like the first seasons of Westworld and True Detective And, of course, the first season of Twin Peaks.

It's no secret that I consider Twin Peaks one of the greatest television shows of all time. At least it was before they solved the murder of Laura Palmer and flushed the whole fucking series down the toilet with the absurd stupidity of everything that followed.

The movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me which everybody expected would wrap up the cliffhangers of the final episode ended up being a prequel story. It was roundly panned and reviled, even by fans of the show. I didn't hate it. Mostly because it was so much better than the shitty episodes that the show devolved into in the final season after David Lynch left. No, it wasn't what I wanted, but it was fine.

When it was announced 25 years later that a third season (Twin Peaks: The Return) was in production with David Lynch, I was beyond ecstatic.

Until it arrived. Critics loved it. Fans were mixed. I fucking hated it.

HATED IT!

It was boring and relentlessly stupid, choosing to go full-on art house cinema instead of riding the line between art house and conventional the way the shows' first season did so flawlessly. I was frustrated beyond my ability to express that Lynch and Frost abandoned everything that made Twin Peaks so brilliant to waste my time with a pile of shit.

I have rewatched the first season and the first third of the second season numerous times. I've watched the balance of the second season exactly twice. I watched the third season only once. And that was too much. I wish I had never seen it.

But anyway...

After work I threw on YouTube (which I watch more than any streaming network) and saw a video from four years ago which claimed to explain everything to do with Twin Peaks. This is the kind of video that I never watch when it comes to this one show because I love drawing my own conclusions. At least up until the episodes that followed Laura's killer being revealed, at which point I don't give a crap. But I watched it in the hope that it would at least have an interesting take on the stuff I hated.

Well, I've watched it, and here's what I have to say about it...

That was 4-1/2 hours I'm not getting back. This guy drops the bomb with the crux of the "solution" at the 55 minute mark. And while I don't want to outright state that it's wrong, I will say that I don't agree with it at all. But when it comes to his analysis that goes on around the "solution," I did find it an interesting thought experiment.

But, yeah, unless you're a massively huge fan, this video will undoubtedly be a waste of your time...

In oh so many ways, I'm done with Twin Peaks. This video was the final nail in the coffin.

I ended up working half of the time of my "vacation" this past week, so I'm actually more tired than if I had not taken a vacation at all. But here I am... putting in the work blogging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Sweet Niblets! I've been a fan of Defunctland for years. The other day I ran across an episode that I have never seen. Which is odd, because it's undoubtedly one of the most famous... solving a mystery that nobody knew needed solving. And it's a roller coaster, and it just gets more fascinating as it goes on. And the finale when the dominoes start falling? And that moment at the end where Kevin drops the bomb on you as to how he decided to honor the composer? chef's kiss It's an hour and a half. But it's brilliant. Just watch it. And if you can get to the end without feeling anything, then you're a stronger person than I am...

Now that's some investigative reporting! A very good episode, regardless of your feelings about Disney or Disney Channel. Because that tidbit about the pre-marketing for Finding Nemo? Holy shit. That's undoubtedly how the whole world works now. Corporations buy politicians to make laws and promote ideas that are setting the stage for their future plans. Corporations pay movie stars and influencers to get people indoctrinated into a way of thinking which suits their goals. It's genius and very sinister indeed.

   
• Useful Vandalism! I don't know why this video was recommended to me, but I am really happy it was...

Given the shitty bureaucracy that plagues life in These United States, I applaud this. It wasn't malicious. It wasn't a distraction. It wasn't superfluous. It was a much-needed addition which had been overlooked for far, far too long. I had to drive in L.A. many times during the "Era of Maps," and I know that I certainly would have appreciated this!

   
• May The Chocolate Be With You! Ooh! Look what I found at the grocery store...

They taste like OREOs, so they're delicious, of course. But the cookie stamps are darn good too...

Just the treat for a Star Wars fan!

   
• Poster! And speaking of a treat for Star Wars fans, this is also a treat for hardcore restoration fans like myself...

A stunning poster beautifully restored. I don't know about you, but doesn't it seem shocking how you can just toss soap and bleach on a printed poster... then pressure wash it... and not have it completely turn to pulp?

   
• Cat Distribution System! Would I give up my entire vacation to some exotic location to rescue an animal?

Yes. Yes I would.

   
• Disposability! I have written on this blog many times about how frustrating it is that clothes I own from 15-20 years ago are still in great shape whereas something I bought last year is falling apart. It is maddening and financially grotesque. We are living in an age where everything is disposable and not meant to last. And now I've found a video that jumps into the why of it all...

And there you go. I gotta say... it is beyond gross how US politicians can't get off their fucking asses and actually DO SOMETHING about this idiotic loophole that floods us with shitty clothes that are created out of exploitation. What the fuck is our government good for if they can't hop on a no-brainer action like this?

   
Now for a much-deserved couple hours doing nothing.