I've played through most every LEGO video game from start to finish. No, I haven't got them all to 100%, because attempting it is often more frustrating than rewarding.

My favorite of the entire LEGO super-hero franchise is, of course, the Batman games. They've all been over-the-top fun and often feature stories that are better than what you find in the comics, movies, and TV shows. Which is to say that I am forever anticipating a new LEGO Batman game being announced.

And today was the day. We're getting a new one in 2026!

The game I want more than anything is a LEGO Batman game which is based entirely on the Bruce Timm Batman: The Animated Series cartoons. Those episodes were so amazing. And I think that they could be the basis for one of the best LEGO Batman games ever.

Alas, that's not what we are getting.

The official description is this...
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a brand-new open world action-adventure videogame that invites players to embark on Bruce Wayne’s epic journey to become the hero of Gotham City, inspired by decades of Batman films, television, comic books, and games, and jam-packed with Batman nostalgia, DC lore, and TT Games’ signature brand of fun-filled LEGO humor.

And there's a trailer...

There's some interesting things to unpack here... starting with the fact that there will be a more difficult "Dark Knight Mode" so more mature gamers will have more of a challenge. Which is funny, because the thing I love most about the LEGO video games is that they're not too taxing. You can play without stress or having to think terribly hard about things. They're the perfect distraction at the end of the day when you're tired and just want to relax.

Which is to say that I'll probably play through the regular "Caped Crusader Mode" before digging into something that will undoubtedly frustrate me.

Next up... apparently this game will run through all the various Batman movies to build its story. That feels messy to me, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Hopefully they've found an interesting way to chain everything together to make sense.

And then... one of the most fun parts of a LEGO Batman game are all the bat-suits which give him different powers and abilities. From what I can tell, there's none of that going on here. Perhaps there's a deeper game happening (they mention new combo moves), but this is worrying to me. If it's just Batman fighting through levels the same way over and over, it seems kind of one-note. If that's what I wanted, I'd just play Arkham Asylum. They do say that the different playable characters have different abilities and skills, so maybe that's how it will be kept fresh?

And, lastly, there's been news that the game will be released for Switch 2. And yet... when you go to the official website, there's absolutely no mention of it until you go to the FAQ page. Which has me wondering if the Switch 2 version will come out later than the others. Gee I hope not. I really want to be able to play this one on the go.

If you're onboard and sign up for a WB Games account, you get a free Golden Age Bat Suit for free. You can do that at the official site here.

When my mom was in the memory care facility, we made a lot of trips to Fred Meyer. The store has everything she could possibly need, from clothes to toothpaste. On bad days I would either take her to the Freddy's just down the street. Or go alone.

But on good days where I thought she could handle a lunch out? We'd go to the Freddy's 10 minutes to the north where there was a restaurant she liked. On very good days when it seemed she could be out longer, we drove to the Freddy's 20 minutes to the south. There's an Indian Restaurant there I love, and they were happy to make something that mom would like.

I ended up at Fred Meyer every other week when I visited her so I could get whatever my mom needed. But it's the trips we made together for lunch and shopping at Freddy's that I remember whenever I drive by one of their stores. I'm sure we must have done that 30 times. Maybe more.

Now it seems as though the Freddy's to the north is closing, and the one to the south may be closing as well (I know the QFC to the south is closing). I can't help but be a little sad, even though I never shop there now that mom is gone. My nearest Fred Meyer is a half-hour away, so I only get there when I'm already in the area.

Back in the day you may have been able to "find it at Freddy's" (as in the commercial below), but now you're going to have a hard time finding the Freddy's to find what you're needing to find....

What a shame.

But I'm glad they were there when I needed them.

I've made no secret of my utter loathing of the "Snyderverse" series of films based on DC Comics characters. It was a dark, bored, joyless slog. Man of Steel was a horrifically bad take on Superman, which was a bitter pill to swallow given how much I loved Henry Cavill for the role. Then we moved on to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which somehow ended up being even worse. There was a brief reprieve with the exceptional Wonder Woman flick, but then we got Justice League which is one of my most hated movies of all time.

And that was that. Other than a cameo in the atrocious Black Adam and a kinda-cameo in the even more atrocious Shazam!, Superman was done.

Until now.

As I said yesterday, I liked the movie quite a lot. I watched it again yesterday so I could write up a running commentary while my first reactions were fresh in my head.

If you're on the fence about watching the film, here's a look at one of the best comic book fight scenes you'll see on the silver screen...

Needless to say, I'll be spoiling the movie completely...

• The opening exposition was done in a way that sets anticipation for the film, which is a pleasant surprise from how we usually get a full book of information that has you bored before the movie even begins.
• This Krypto is a bit of a troublemaker and scamp, just like the earlier comics. It's a lot more fun and interesting than the later, super-smart canine which was more like a person in a dog suit than an actual dog.
• This Fortress of Solitude is a fantastic take on the crystal structure from the 1979 Superman movie. It's so strange that The Fortress in the comic book source material is so radically different, and yet the movie version is what I always think of.
• The Superman robots! Straight out of the comic book era I love! And of course we're getting Alan Tudyk voicing Number Four.
• Bradley Cooper as Jor-El is pretty fantastic.
• In the comic books, The Engineer is a shiny metal hero. Here she's a human-looking regular person. I think this is probably a good call, because we don't have a CGI-based character walking around all the time. And yet... I can't help but feel she's a downgrade here.
• Krypto being Krypto is going to steal every scene in this movie. I can feel it. Lovable mutt.
• It's been criticized online, but I actually like the flying effect they've given Superman. The perspective makes him feel faster.
• I was highly dubious about casting Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. But dang does he own the role from his first minute on-screen. Such a vast, vast improvement over the inexplicably stupid take that Zach Snyder had with Jesse Eisenberg.
• The fact that super-villains never seem to lack the ability to get a never-ending supply of evil henchmen has always been strange in the comics. And here we are. These psychos working for Luthor are nicely comic book accurate.
• The design of The Daily Planet building is awesome.
• The true test of a good Superman actor is how they play Clark Kent. David Corenswet may be my favorite since Christopher Reeve.
• Amazing. The casting for Ma and Pa Kent is flawless. They feel like they actually could be Kansas farmers.
• In the new DCU, Lex created The Engineer? Odd choice. I'm guessing it's to play up how smart he is, so... okay.
• "Planetwatch?" So we're a stepping stone away from getting Stormwatch then?
• I rather like that James Gunn didn't waste time with your typical Lois Lane subplot where she's trying to figure out Superman's secret identity. Done to death.
• Rachel Brosnahan has a modern interpretation of Lois that completely nails the character.
• This "interview," while probably important to define the complex world in which Superman exists, is dragging on in an uninteresting way.
• That being said. This is a real showcase as to why the actors playing Clark and Lois were cast.
• It seems weird as to why Superman would announce he's an alien to the world. Don't his god-like powers make him far enough removed from humanity? Seems this could have been better handled if Lex discovered he was an alien and used it against him.
• Valerie Perrine as Miss Teschmacher in the 1978 movie was a delight. This one is coming across as grating.
• Well. This is brutal. Poor Superman Robots.
• How does The Engineer know this is his parents?
• You can tell that this is not the Real World because in this reality these meta-human battles are so normalized that people are recording them instead of running away.
• Nice callbacks to the incredible John Williams original score keep popping up, but the music itself is fresh.
• "Justice Gang"... okay. I can only guess that eventually this will morph into the Justice League. Very smart of Gunn to not use "Justice League" right away given what a shit-show the last movie was.
• I like the way that they decided to make Green Lantern's energy constructs a bit more grounded. Not wildly glowing but more like glass or something.
• Awwww. Poor kaiju. That's awful. It's like... why kill him?
• Guy Gardner is perfectly captured by Nathan Fillion. Painfully comic book accurate. Except his hair is more blonde than orange-red, and I'm not sure why.
• Oof. Jor-El and Lara are not such good people in this universe.
• Pretty stupid that people immediately turn against Superman when they were just cheering him a minute ago? For all they know, this is AI fakery.
• Stagg Industries! Metamorpho Easter egg!
• "There's no way this message in unauthentic." Well, there you have it. WTF?
• The President of Boravia is suitably creepy. And... oh boy... working with Lex Luthor to boot.
• If the Fortress is keyed to Superman's DNA, I guess that means UltraMan is a clone?
• Hoult is flawless as Lex. Flawless. He's a bad, bad man.
• Peacemaker! Sweet cross-promotion!
• James Gunn having this scene between Lois and Clark taking place in front of a window where the Justice Gang are battling a "space imp" is genius. Just keeps driving home how weird a world with actual super-heroes would be.
• Okay... Superman's concern for Krypto is darn touching.
• The CGI in this movie is pretty impressive.
• Metamorpho is... bad?!? The Engineer I could forgive, but this?!? And how does he know the molecular structure of Kryptonite? Has it landed on earth? Does Luthor have access? If he does, why does he need Metamorpho. These are some bizarre choices.
• Wow. James Gunn has gone full-on comic book with this pocket universe /slash/ outrage farm monkeys /slash/ Krypto containment idea.
• Yikes. Miss Teschmacher is not just annoying, she's bonkers.
• And I am absolutely not a fan with this whole Jimmy Olson, ladies man, take on the character. It just keeps getting worse.
• So Metamorpho isn't bad, he's being forced to be bad? Except he's still being more bad than he really has to be with torturing Superman like this.
• Hypno-glasses. Perfect.
• God. How cool is Mr. Terrific? Edi Gathegi is getting the redemption of all redemptions from the shitty way his character Darwin was treated in X-Men: First Class. Incredible how flawlessly he's been translated to the screen.
• Good Lord. Killing the falafel vendor was a dark, dark turn of events. Seems so unnecessary.
• Ummm. These prisoners have no privacy to use the toilet?!? Sadistic.
• Alrighty then. Mr. Terrific just completely stole the entire movie with this fight scene. The way he gives zero shits about all these bad guys hanging around... treating them like they're not even there... is beyond cool. And having one of them say "It's just the smart one." right before he completely wrecks everybody is brilliant. Lois's reaction to what's happening is all of us.
• Of course the music choices are on-point. It's all James Gunn.
• Yeah. When Krypto can even manage to upstage Mr. Terrific, you know you've struck gold.
• Krypto looks wonderfully fluid when flying. He should look ridiculous, but he just doesn't.
• "The controls are easy and intuitive." They'd pretty much have to be if Lois is going to have to fly it.
• Oh Krypto. Don't ever change.
• Yep. Yep. Yep. The casting of Clark's human parents is genius.
• An otherwise near-perfect film is really close to getting sabotaged by this whole Jimmy Olson situation. That's a shame.
• GAH! Krypto is so adorable right now!
• AND NOW AGAIN!
• How James Gunn is able to transition from balls-out action and weirdness to scenes so remarkably human like this one between Clark and Pa Kent is what makes him such a great fit for comic book movies. It's a rare talent.
• Yeah, the parallels between what's happening in the Real World and the fictional situation in this movie are not lost at all.
• When you have meta-human battles and comic book weirdness going on in your reality, city-wide evacuation is probably a normal happening.
• Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard is great casting. If not for Jimmy Olson, I'd almost like to see a The Daily Planet limited series. UPDATE: Annnd... I'm told that the rumor is there's a Jimmy Olson limited series in the works?!? WTF?
• Okay, the CGI fight here is not so great.
• Yeah. Few people could have pulled off this look of sheer evil the way Nicholas Hoult managed to do it. Worth the money to cast him, I'm sure.
• Ultraman is a Superman clone. I prefer this to my first assumption... which was that he'd end being Bizarro.
• The little kid clinging to his Superman flag is just oddly manipulative at this point.
• Yeah. This is peak Guy Gardner right here. Love it. How they managed to get this movie rated PG-13 between the head-shot to the falafel cart vendor and these middle-finger Green Lantern constructs is kinda a mystery to me.
• A lot of Snyder fanboys made a huge deal over Hawkgirl's unhinged screaming. I, on the other hand, think it's darn smart. Especially if this is the version of the character that's from Thanagar. Making her a frickin' alien for heaven's sake. Of course she's going to have weird, alien things about her.
• "I'm not like Superman." That's for sure. I can't help but think that if asshole world leaders were regularly dropped from the sky when they do evil shit, we'd have less evil shit going on in the world.
• Yeah. This is totally Krypto's movie, and I'm not the least bit mad about it.
• Goddamn Mr. Terrific is going to save the day.
• And... James Gunn totally has a bead on the character here.
• Krypton beating the ever-loving-shit out Luthor is in my top-five scenes in the entire film. Good boy.
• Aw, James Gunn cast his brother as Maxwell Lord. Classic.
• Welp. If Lex didn't hate Superman enough... he sure does now. And he's off to visit Amanda Waller at Belle Reve. How nice.
• WELL OKAY THEN! Since Krypto is Supergirl's dog, that means he'll be in the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movie. Now I'm doubly looking forward to it.
• Yep. Gunn found the perfect ending to the movie. Yes he did.
• So... if Krypto left with Supergirl, this mid-credit scene of Superman and Krypto on the moon must just be for fun. Cute.
• The post-credits scene isn't much, but it does allow us to see Mr. Terrific one last time. No complaining about that.
• Boy. That two hours just blows by. Even the second time around.

And now we wait for June 26, 2026.

Still recovering from a trip to the coast and back yesterday, but that's no excuse... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Super, Man! I loved pretty much every frame of Superman. Thank you, James Gunn for giving us a fantastic spectacle of a comic book movie that has me excited for new DC films. The one thing I don't get is how he could get everything so right with all the characters and the story... but saddle us with one of the most insanely weird takes on Jimmy Olson I've ever seen. I guess no movie is perfect... but damn. So close. And is it wrong that the reason I'm most looking forward to the Supergirl film is to see more Krypto?

And, oh yeah, I will be *very* upset if we don't get a Mr. Terrific series on HBO or HBO Max or whatever. NOT "The Terrifics"... I'm so done with "Team Arrow" and "Team Flash" and "Team Supergirl" and "Team Whatever" series... just Mr. Terrific. Maybe with an occasional guest star. But anyway... I'll put up a post with my full comments when I've had a chance to watch it again.

   
• Have it Our Way! Remember when Burger King actually let you "have it your way" instead of just saying you can "have it your way" but not really? BECAUSE MY WAY IS WITH EXTRA MAYO... AND YOUR NEW APP DOESN'T ALLOW THAT. You either get "regular" or nothing...

And notice how you can't see the ingredient you're altering. I can only guess that some bean-counting dumbass at corporate thinks that not allowing somebody to put an extra 2¢ worth of mayo on their fucking $8.19 Impossible Whopper is a good financial move. Well, it's making me not want to eat at your restaurant any more, so congratulations. I wonder if this dipshit is the same one in charge at Chipotle who thought raising prices and lowering portions at the same time would make their customers happy? What's so fucking stupid here is that I just asked for two packets of free mayo so I could add it to my burger myself, which most certainly costs more than just adding it from the giant mayo bucket. And speaking of this new app... did anybody at BK beta test it? I am assuming this third option is Coke Zero because the one before it is Diet Coke and there's 0 calories in it... but who the fuck knows?

There's absolutely no way to confirm it. And so I had to order for pick-up instead of drive-thru because I knew they'd hand me a cup and I could fill it with the correct Coke myself. Good Lord. Pathetic. This is the whole Sonos app disaster all over. Do these fucking companies ever learn?

   
• Via Variety: PETA Urges Nintendo to Remove ‘Mario Kart World’ Cow’s Nose Ring: ‘It’s-a Mean!’ To think there was a time I actually supported the dumbasses at PETA. What a fucking joke.With each new idiotic act, they make me want to go out and buy a steak...

And since I'm a vegetarian, that tells you about all you need to know.

   
• Pop Quiz, Hotshot! Take a guess...

And now I want Taco Bell. Which is about the only fast food restaurant left to me after this stupid Burger King fiasco.

   
• Via People: Plus Size Park Hoppers' Say Brutal Backlash Over Their Experiences at Disney Theme Parks Won't Stop Them. What is it with people? Just leave them alone. One of the more difficult things I witnessed at a Disney Parks was a couple who stood in line for over an hour to ride the Seven Dwarves Mine Car Ride. But when they got to the front of the line, the woman couldn't fit in the car. She asked if they could ride-swap so she could ride in a row by herself then her boyfriend could ride the next time, but they wouldn't let her because of the way the seats are built. — First of all, you'd think that Disney would have one row in just one car that is built for a larger person. And second of all, if the woman could have only visited a website which would have told her if she could fit, then she wouldn't have wasted an hour of her life for nothing and have to leave embarrassed and upset. — You'd think that assholes who make fun of these ladies or insult them would instead support them sharing this information, because you just know that they're in line complaining because they have to wait for larger people who are trying to see if they fit into the ride car.

   
• More Lies! As if we needed yet another video to point out how full of crap Ben Shapiro is. But here you go...

What a lying little shit stain. I have to wonder if he has ever been anything except disingenuous with his audience. This take-down is beautifully done. Elegantly pointing out that all Shapiro does... all he ever does... is lie.

   
• Via PBS: South Carolina lawmaker in jail on child sex abuse material charges resigns from office. Damn. These drag quee— WHAT? Yet ANOTHER anti-LGBTQ Republican asshole caught assaulting children? You know what... I'm beginning to think that drag queens aren't quite the threat that anti-LGBTQ Republicans say they are! They're just a convenient scapegoat!

   
And there you have it. I'm all out of bullets this fine Sunday.

I am typing this will Jake on my chest. It's not going well. You'll have to forgive any misspellings.

So there was Jake... sticking his head in a bag. Again. I had my camera ready because I absolutely knew where this was headed...

But don't worry I reached over and pulled it off immediately after snapping the photo. I wanted a photo of Jake with Cheetos dust on his face, but he ran away in shame. And I'm like... I get it.

The guy never, ever learns. If I wasn't as careful as I am to pick the bags up, he'd do this once a week.

But before I go...

I saw this LEGO sculpture on social media and really wish I knew who to credit for it, because it's brilliant...

Apparently somebody needs to learn the importance of spaying or neutering your cat.

OCTOBER 20, 2023: Michigan teen's suicide highlights growing dangers of online sextortion plots.

I cannot fathom what it must be like being a teen today. I'm saying that life was a total picnic back when I was in high school, but there's just so much... more... to growing up now. The internet has changed absolutely everything.

It's increasingly easy to target people with scams and traps that could end up in tragedy, but teens have it especially hard given what they're already going through in life. This story happened back in 2023, but a recent sextortion case involving a teen has the story being shared around again.

Having to talk to your kids about uncomfortable topics like "sextortion" cannot be easy. But since the consequences of not doing so can be so dire, parents really have no choice. The cautionary tale of what can happen when you talk with strangers on the internet... or send nude photos... or, heaven forbid, reveal your address... is almost as essential as reading in today's world.

It's a definite shame, but it's where we're at.

And I hope everybody takes the time to check on the kids in their life so they can be better protected.

I'm a vegetarian. I choose to not eat meat. So imagine for a minute that I am a cook at a vegetarian restaurant. One day, the owner decides that we're going to start serving meat. I refuse to cook it because it goes against my vegetarian beliefs. The owner says "Well, that's the job. You either do the job or you can't work here." I not only refuse to cook meat, I also refuse to quit. Then I refuse to leave the restaurant. So the owner calls the police to have me removed. I go to jail for trespassing for five days. The owner says that this entire ordeal has made them decide to fire me, and they tell me to never come back.

And you should know that the entire time I was working for the vegetarian restaurant I was moonlighting as a cook for Burger King, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. And I was eating at McDonald's while I was cooking at Burger King.

Seven years later I petition the Supreme Court to ban meat completely.

Because if I don't want to eat it, nobody should have the freedom to eat it!

I'm not saying that I rushed home from work to catch Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast. But I totally rushed home from work to catch Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast.

I have never understood the hatred that some people have for this woman. If you hate her music, then fine. I can wrap my head around that. But to hate her for being... talented... popular... successful? When she's done absolutely nothing to them except exist? It boggles the mind.

I guess it comes with the territory of being famous.

But should it? To this extent? There are people who have absolutely relished the fact that her attempts to find love have failed. They take joy every time she goes through a breakup. They lay in wait every time she starts seeing somebody new just for the opportunity to laugh at her when she gets her heart broken.

Which is why I was happy to see her and Travis looking so happy together. And I can't help but hope their relationship lasts.

Regardless of how you feel about either of them, the interview is worth a watch. They're hilarious. And charming. And interesting.

"This podcast has done a lot for me. I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend, ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app two years ago."

"This kind of felt more like I was in an 80s John Hughes movie and he was standing outside my window with a boombox like 'I WANNA DATE YOU! DO YOU WANNA GO ON A DATE WITH ME? I MADE YOU A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET!' And I was like, if this guy's not crazy, this is sort of what I've been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager."

They're also... weirdly normal. A huge chunk of the interview is Taylor Swift being obsessed with baking sourdough bread.

But anyway...

Watch the interview. If, for no other reason, than to have fun watching one of the most famous people on earth in an interview where she seems more herself than you've seen before...

I sure hope that The Life of a Showgirl is more "1989" and "Reputation" and "Lover" than "Folklore" and "Evermore" and "The Tortured Poets Department." It would be fun to love her music again.

I have been trying to fill in some gaps in my collections on eBay whenever I have a dollar to spare. Most of the sellers on the platform are exceptional. They are honest about the item... they want you to be happy with your purchase... they go above and beyond if there's any issue. All the great experiences I have is what keeps me coming back.

And then there's the scams.

I bought two prints. I only received one.

Then I looked back through the comments from other buyers and found out that the seller does this ALL THE TIME. But it gets worse... the print I received was not authentic! The seller denied it, but let me return it.

Then the seller refused to refund the entire purchase price because the item "was not returned in the same condition." Fortunately, after I found out the seller was a scammer piece of crap, I thought to take a ton of photos.

Not only was it returned in the same condition I received it... I used the same packaging... THEN ADDED EXTRA PACKAGING AROUND IT!

But nope... the seller knew they were caught with a fake and claimed "damage" to get money out of me. Naturally I reported it to eBay. And, because other buyers had problems with the seller, I had my full refund within the hour. The fact that eBay stepped up to protect me from an obvious scammer is what will keep me a customer. But it doesn't make it any less stressful knowing that more scammers are out there.

One thing you can bet on... I will be reading the customer reviews very carefully going forward.

I wish I knew how I could be this tired all the time but never be able to sleep.