Just finished watching The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Dark Places (2015)...

Now listening to The Rite Of Spring by Igor Stravinsky and Persona 4 by Shoji Meguro...

 

On Broadway in Vancouver. Summer of 2018.

Broadway is a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Vancouver's numbered avenue grid system, it runs in place of a 9th Avenue, between 8th and 10th. The street has six lanes for most of its course. Portions of the street carry the British Columbia Highway 7 designation.

The route begins as "West Broadway" at the intersection of Wallace Crescent and 8th Avenue, in the affluent residential neighbourhood of West Point Grey, a few kilometres east of the University of British Columbia (UBC). Past Alma Street, Broadway takes over from 10th Avenue as one of Vancouver's major thoroughfares, as it enters Greek West Broadway (or Greektown) section of Vancouver's Kitsilano district. East of here are several blocks of generally trendy, upscale shops interspersed with low-rise apartment blocks and small supermarkets. The surrounding neighbourhoods generally consist of large, older homes dating from the early twentieth century, many of which have been subdivided into rental suites.

As Broadway approaches Arbutus Street, the commercial establishments become larger before transitioning into a mix of small to mid-size apartment blocks. East of Burrard Street, the apartment blocks get progressively taller, and commercial establishments larger and busier. Between Burrard and Main Street, Broadway can be considerably congested by vehicular traffic. Past Granville Street, Broadway yields completely to medium-to-large commercial structures and high-rise apartments and condominiums. Between Cambie and Main, the commercial establishments become smaller and somewhat more downscale.

At Ontario Street, two blocks west of Main, the route becomes "East Broadway." After bisecting Main and Kingsway, traffic on Broadway eases somewhat, and the character returns to a mix of small-to-medium apartment buildings and commercial establishments, interspersed with older homes - all considerably less affluent than those to the west. At Commercial Drive, Broadway passes by the Commercial–Broadway SkyTrain Station. Past here for several blocks, the neighbourhood consists predominantly of older residential homes.

As Broadway travels east of Renfrew Street, the neighbourhood once again becomes mixed, with older homes to the north and larger industrial, commercial, and warehouse establishments to the south. Broadway finally ends at Cassiar Street, just short of the Vancouver-Burnaby boundary, where it becomes the Lougheed Highway.

Broadway was created at the turn of the 20th century, along with other gridded roads south of False Creek, to meet the needs of an expanding population in Vancouver. The name of the route was changed from 9th Avenue to Broadway in 1909, at the behest of merchants around Main Street (at that time the hub of Vancouver commerce), who felt that it bestowed a more cosmopolitan air. Commercial establishments originally spread out around the intersections of Cambie and Main Streets, while the character of the rest of the route remained predominantly single-family dwellings.

By the 1970s, the length of Broadway had become a major arterial route in Vancouver, conveying commuters from downtown to the neighbourhoods of the west and east sides. With the growth of UBC and the expansion of the Vancouver General Hospital (one block south of Broadway between approximately Oak and Cambie), traffic demands accelerated. In the 1990s, the agency then responsible for public transit in Greater Vancouver — BC Transit — introduced an express bus route, the 99 B-Line, to help reduce congestion. The Vancouver transportation plan for Broadway notes that congestion is such that the bus service is at capacity, and will not be eased until a new rapid transit line is built paralleling the street. It is anticipated that the SkyTrain's Millennium Line will be extended to Central Broadway by 2021; the extension is expected to connect with Canada Line at Broadway-City Hall Station, at the intersection of Broadway and Cambie Street.

 

Assassin's Creed - GT Review

 

Is this assassin worth hiring?

The Last of Us (2013)

 

https://levelskip.com/horror/The-Last-of-Us-2013-Review

The Last of Us, a 2013 survival horror roleplaying video game, is widely considered one of the best video games of this decade. Its developer, Naughty Dog, is known for several other video game franchises, notably Jak and Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, and Uncharted, but they shrivel in comparison to The Last of Us. Reasons for this judgment are plenty; not only is the story line beautifully deep and filled with fascinating verisimilitude, but the characters, gameplay, graphics, soundtrack, and all other features of the game make it an enjoyable, nearly perfect gaming experience.

Summary

The Last of Us is about a man named Joel smuggling a fourteen-year-old girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. The world has been overrun by a virus that has turned people into zombie-like creatures dubbed “the infected”, and Ellie may hold the answer to a cure. At first, the two cannot stand each other but as the game progresses, so does their relationship as Ellie reminds Joel of his deceased daughter.

Story

To get right to it, this story is like a novel. In fact, it is often compared to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. In a review for The Last of Us written for IGN, Colin Moriarty explains:

"The Last of Us is a near-perfect analog for The Road, a literary masterpiece written by Cormac McCarthy. Both present a hopeless, post-apocalyptic situation navigated by two characters – an adult and a child – with nothing but absolute despair surrounding them. Like The Road, The Last of Us is perpetually dangerous and unpredictable, and like The Road, what happened to get society to a point of rapid decay isn’t the focus. It’s the story of the characters at hand, and those characters alone, at the center of both plots. The beauty of The Last of Us when compared to The Road, however, is that it’s fully interactive, complete with all of the vulnerability, uncertainty and perpetual insecurity such a situation inherently provides."

Clever jump scares balance the heart-wrenching emotional scenes and brutal fights in the game and at the end, the player is left feeling as if they were physically present for the entire experience. It helps that the characters are so dynamic; it is almost as if they are real people that the player is helping through this frightening situation, and the player becomes emotionally attached to them.

Characters

Ellie and Joel are very clearly fictional characters, but they are so realistic it is obvious that a large amount of time was put into their development. The same can be said for even the minor characters in the game; Tess, Marlene, and even Sam are given such fleshed-out personalities that are so realistic they can be attributed to a living person. In her review for Gamespot, Carolyn Petit describes the two main characters well:

"Perhaps nobody knows the dangers of loving others in this uncertain world better than Joel, the protagonist of The Last of Us. A hard, bitter man, Joel isn't likable, but he is at least understandable, in large part because the dialogue in The Last of Us is so human and believable. And although that humanity comes through in all of the game's major characters, it's the teenager Ellie who is the game's emotional heart. In contrast to Joel's cynicism, Ellie is still capable of wide-eyed wonder. While Joel seems dead inside, Ellie is very much alive, and over the course of the game, neither Joel, nor you, can avoid growing attached to her."

Having characters so realistic and so human makes the story that much more emotional for the player.

Gameplay

Gameplay is an important factor when reviewing any game, and The Last of Us handles it well. Choice-based gameplay allows for the player to have a more intense, interactive experience and the controls are basic enough for anyone to pick up a controller and learn to play. There are even choices when fighting; one can choose to sneak up on the infected and strangle them or stab them with a shiv, shoot them with a gun, shoot them with arrows, set them on fire, stun them with bricks, or simply sneak past them and avoid the confrontation completely. Minor puzzles that need to be solved and exploration of the numerous buildings in search of materials and weapons add even more variety to the mix, creating an overall fun and exciting experience.

Graphics

Graphics may not seem like a big deal, but imagine playing a game with a great story line and terrible picture quality. Fortunately, that is not a problem players of The Last of Us have to deal with. The graphics for this game are stunning, and it does not just stop with the characters and close environments. Unlike most roleplaying games, high graphics quality extends as far as the eye can see in any environment the player may be in. Not only does this make the game more realistic, but it makes it a more enjoyable experience; the art is beautiful to match the beautiful story line—and soundtrack.

Soundtrack

As if it is the icing on the cake, the music in The Last of Us (particularly the main theme) can make one emotional when they have not even played the game. The simple, acoustic guitar strums will remind any player of certain intense scenes and fill their heart with feelings of nostalgia and bittersweet sadness. The soundtrack alone can make a player want to replay the game, to experience the story one more time.

The Last of Us is a masterpiece in the video game world. Fans of The Road will find it an enjoyably interactive experience just as emotional as the novel it is often compared to, and will not regret spending their money on this game (or borrowing it from a friend). The Last of Us will rank high on lists for years to come and will forever hold a place in the hearts of players.

Best Neo-Noir Films of the 90s

Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.

40. A Kiss Before Dying (1991) - James Dearden
39. Point Of No Return (1993) - John Badham
38. Unlawful Entry (1992) - Jonathan Kaplan
37. White Sands (1992) - Roger Donaldson
36. Narrow Margin (1990) - Peter Hyams
35. China Moon (1994) - John Bailey
34. Devil In A Blue Dress (1995) - Carl Franklin
33. The Game (1997) - David Fincher
32. Bad Influence (1990) - Curtis Hanson
31. Desperate Hours (1990) - Michael Cimino
30. This World, Then The Fireworks (1997) - Michael Oblowitz
29. New Jack City (1991) - Mario Van Peebles
28. Twilight (1998) - Robert Benton
27. Rush (1991) - Lili Fini Zanuck
26. Payback (1999) - Brian Helgeland
25. Best Laid Plans (1999) - Mike Barker
24. Miami Blues (1990) - George Armitage
23. Blink (1994) - Michael Apted
22. The Spanish Prisoner (1997) - David Mamet
21. State Of Grace (1990) - Phil Joanou
20. Deep Cover (1992) - Bill Duke
19. King Of New York (1990) - Abel Ferrara
18. Mulholland Falls (1996) - Lee Tamahori
17. Lost Highway (1997) - David Lynch
16. The Hot Spot (1990) - Dennis Hopper
15. Basic Instinct (1992) - Paul Verhoeven
14. Red Rock West (1993) - John Dahl
13. A Simple Plan (1998) - Sam Raimi
12. Homicide (1991) - David Mamet
11. One False Move (1992) - Carl Franklin
10. Fight Club (1999) - David Fincher
09. The Last Seduction (1994) - John Dahl
08. The Limey (1999) - Steven Soderbergh
07. Bad Lieutenant (1992) - Abel Ferrara
06. After Dark, My Sweet (1990) - James Foley
05. The Usual Suspects (1995) - Bryan Singer
04. Seven (1995) - David Fincher
03. L.A. Confidential (1997) - Curtis Hanson
02. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) - Jonathan Demme
01. The Grifters (1990) - Stephen Frears

Now reading View From A Height by Isaac Asimov...

 

Just finished watching Backfire (1988) and Avatar (2009)...

“Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King” – Review

 

https://www.movieviral.com/2014/02/07/marvel-one-shot-all-hail-the-king-review/

Marvel Studios has so far done a wonderful job with its movie properties, but some may not be aware of the “One Shot” series Marvel puts on DVD releases. Probably the more memorable One Shot was on the Iron Man 3 DVD, Agent Carter. This time around on the Thor: The Dark World DVD, we have the Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King. Hit the jump to find out what I thought of this. A word of warning: here be some slight spoilers.

All Hail The King catches up with Trevor Slattery after the events of Iron Man 3 while he does time in Seagate Prison. Trevor is being interviewed by a documentary filmmaker in the aftermath of his being The Mandarin. The entirety of this short film takes place inside of said prison.

There are some great lines here. Trevor says things like “I’m not your meat puppet”, or his famous Mandarin line “You’ll never see… me… coming”. Or, the funny “Trevor Slattery, it’s a brand”. There are some great moments by the wonderful Sir Ben Kingsley. Sure, he’s hamming it up, but it’s just fantastic to watch. We even see Trevor’s theory on how an actor does research. Through all this, the loveable idiot Kingsley play has no clue what’s really going on.

The small vignette about Trevor’s failed CBS series titled Caged Heat is absolutely brilliant. There are so many gags here; from the note-for-note Magnum P.I. references to the 80’s aesthetic to the Mike Post music. It’s such a great little moment that just fits the overall funny atmosphere. If you look close, you’ll see a poster of Kingsley as King Lear in the background and the rather evenly stacked fan and hate mail boxes.

The thing is, Marvel packs so much into these short videos. All Hail The King is not much more than 11 minutes of actual runtime, but we get a nice beginning and ending. The plot device of Trevor being interviewed is a perfect fit for what takes place as the interview comes to a close. This might be worth the price of Thor: The Dark World alone. I sure do hope we see more of the character Trevor Slattery somewhere down the line. Perhaps in the next Avengers movie.

I won’t give anything away, but you’ll also get to see Sam Rockwell hilariously reprise his role as Justin Hammer. It seems clear he’s ad-libbing all the way, and the stuff is just great. You’ll also see some other inside references that feel like they might be taken up elsewhere in the Marvel Universe.

There are some small gripes I have about how freely a journalist might get a gun into any sort of prison, or how a gun without a silencer sounds like a gun with a silencer. But, those are small beans. This is fun. You’ll also want to know, “Who is Trevor Slattery?”

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King is directed by Drew Pearce and stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Scoot McNairy, and Sam Rockwell. This short film is included as a special feature on the Thor: The Dark World DVD release, due February 25, 2014.

ASMR Face Massage For Sleep | Headache Relief | Sinus Clearing | Tapping, Gloves, Oil (raw & uncut)

 

ASMR doctor relieves your facial congestion, massages your skin and calms you for a deep sleep. If you enjoy this ASMR massage video, please like, comment & subscribe to support me. ASMR medical videos are for sleepy entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as actual medical advice.

Fowler by Vasily Perov, 1870.

 

Dark Souls II isn't the best Souls game, but it's still epic

 

A still from Dark Souls II (2014), directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura

Since I kind of want to provide my opinion about Thor: Love And Thunder (2022), this is what I'll do. It's an interesting film to review. The summer movie season of 2022 was disappointing, in my opinion. Therefore, it's not surprising that Top Gun: Maverick grossed more than $1 billion at the box office in this dry summer season. After Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness went to video, there was pretty much nothing else to see in theaters. Anyway, there were almost no new films that I wanted to see this summer. The only film that I really enjoyed watching is Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. I also got to see Jurassic World Dominion, Lightyear, Top Gun: Maverick, and Minions: The Rise Of Gru. None of these other films impressed me much, though I didn't have a bad time watching any of them. Lightyear turned out to be rather good. I don't like everything about it, but there's enough in it to make me say that I had a pretty good time watching it. The direction, the animation, and the story are just fine. The character of Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) is appealing. His friendship with Sox, a robotic cat, is handled particularly well. Buzz was voiced by Evans and not by Tim Allen. This didn't bother me because I don't care about who voices a character as long as the performance is good. Evans did a good job voicing Buzz, and he sounds just like the Buzz in the Toy Story films. Minions: The Rise Of Gru turned out to be worse than Lightyear. I was expecting for it to be a good film, and this is why I eventually went to see it, but it turned out to be the worst film yet in the Despicable Me franchise. I think that Despicable Me 2 (2013) and Minions (2015) are the best films in the franchise, but I enjoyed watching all of them. The story in Minions: The Rise Of Gru isn't really interesting, the new characters aren't really appealing, the action is almost non-existent, and the comedy is mostly ineffective and silly. Still, the animation is superb and it's the only redeeming quality of this somewhat disappointing film. It's simply beautiful at times. The designs aren't bad either, especially the designs of the Vicious 6. Thor: Love And Thunder was easily the biggest disappointment of the summer for me. I do like the trailers that got made for the film. The people that make trailers for films by Marvel Studios do a good job. The film itself, however, turned out to be easily the worst Marvel film so far. I didn't expect Marvel to release a film this bad, but it happened. This is the first Marvel film that I don't want to see again. I'd rather be apprehended by Elon Musk's private right-wing militia than to see Thor: Love And Thunder again. Well, fine, the film is not that bad. But I definitely don't look forward to seeing it again. What makes it bad is the fact that almost everything in it is played for laughs. Nothing can be taken seriously. There are too many jokes and too much silly stuff. I'd say that about a third, or at most half, of the comedy in the film is effective, but the rest is mostly cringeworthy. Christian Bale, as usual, attempted to deliver a good performance, but his performance got wasted on a film where it doesn't belong. Since this is a Marvel film, the costumes and the special effects that got made for it are good as usual. But, again, they're wasted on a misguided film. I don't know if it was Taika Waititi's intention to make the film this bad. It probably wasn't. He was probably given too much freedom to do whatever he wanted and this has resulted in something farcical. I like every Thor film by Marvel that came before this one. Thor: Love And Thunder has a 64% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It doesn't deserve this rating. The rating should be rotten, quite rotten. I've never trusted Rotten Tomatoes because of one simple reason. Most professional film critics in the West are not reliable. They are bought and paid for, they are politically motivated, or they simply don't know what they're talking about. Hollywood films have been getting worse for several decades already, but the professional film critics either don't realize this or they don't want to talk about this issue. Therefore, they award high scores to films that don't deserve praise, they clobber films that don't deserve to be clobbered, and they go about their jobs as if nothing has changed. This is why I almost never check what they have to say on Rotten Tomatoes. If Thor: Love And Thunder hadn't had some propaganda in it, I think that its rating on Rotten Tomatoes would have been much lower. Unfortunately, many people simply repeat what they read on a website like Rotten Tomatoes. If a film is certified rotten on this website, they think that it's a bad film. This is not how I think. But, anyway, since Thor: Love And Thunder is a film by Marvel Studios, I still went to see it in a theater. Not everything about it is bad. Some of the comedy works, especially at the beginning. The direction is misguided but fine. The performances by the actors are fine. But, overall, the film is a disaster because nothing in it can be taken seriously. In addition, the action is disappointing and almost non-existent. Of course, there is one thing that could have saved Thor: Love And Thunder in its present state, or at least partially redeemed it. This would have been an inclusion of Zeus's planned orgy in the end credits scene. Or we could have at least been shown how Rich Evans defeats Thanos singlehandedly in an alternate universe. But instead what we got was Zeus talking to his son Hercules about killing Thor. How disappointing.

I recently got to finish playing two video games that I've had some trouble finishing. I began playing Suikoden II in the second half of 2020 on my Anbernic RG350m. The PlayStation emulator on the Anbernic RG350m is actually very good. I think that it plays PlayStation games better than ePSXe, which I have installed on my smartphone, on my tablet, and on my laptop. For example, Bushido Blade is unplayable on ePSXe for some reason, but it plays perfectly on the Anbernic RG350m. If you want to quick save on the Anbernic RG350m, you have to press the power button once when you're playing in order to bring up the emulator menu. When I began to play Suikoden II, I wasn't very impressed by the game. The graphics and the designs in the game are appealing, even beautiful at times, but they look like they belong in an RPG for the Sega Saturn or even for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Therefore, since nothing hooked me at the beginning of the game, I lost interest in playing it and moved on to playing something else, like Machinarium, Silent Hill 2, Mega Man Zero, Sonic The Hedgehog, Another Code: Two Memories, Metal Gear Solid, Jeanne d'Arc, Death Jr., Fire Emblem: New Mystery Of The Emblem, and Final Fantasy XIII-2. These are just some of the games that I got to play in 2020, and I enjoyed playing all of them. Final Fantasy XIII-2, in particular, is one of my favorite games, and I got to play it for the second time in 2020. I also like Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. In my opinion, the so-called Lightning trilogy for the PlayStation 3 is very good, though it has its minor flaws. I probably played these games for the first time in 2015. I very much enjoyed playing them and they left a strong impression on me. Anyway, in 2021, I began to play Suikoden II again. This time I noticed that the battle system is interesting and that the enemies, especially the bosses, are designed well. Battles are definitely fun in Suikoden II. There is even an option to let your team fight automatically. Like many other old and famous Japanese RPGs, Suikoden II has a good story, with some truly memorable scenes. These scenes are often aided by Miki Higashino's memorable music score. It's too bad that I didn't realize how great Suikoden II is until I finally decided to finish playing it this year. This game can be long, especially if you decide to recruit all of the 100 playable characters, but it's easily one of the best RPGs for the PlayStation and one of the best video games ever. Another video game that I finally got to finish this year is Dark Souls II. When the motherboard of my Samsung Notebook 7 Spin ceased to function and had to be replaced, I was already playing the three downloadable DLCs for Dark Souls II. This happened several months ago. Before I began playing Dark Souls II, I had already beaten Dark Souls. Several of the bosses in Dark Souls were like brick walls for me for a time because I had to come up with new strategies in order to defeat them. These bosses were the Capra Demon, the Iron Golem, Ornstein and Smough, the Four Kings, Artorias the Abysswalker, and Black Dragon Kalameet. Almost all of the bosses in Dark Souls are challenging, but the ones that I've listed are particularly difficult to overcome. In order to defeat these bosses, I spent time on grinding for souls and on leveling up my character. Since grinding for experience in video games is a dull and time-consuming activity, I usually turn off the sound and instead listen to music or something else while I'm doing this. Still, whatever leveling up I did wasn't enough. In addition, I spent some time looking for effective battle strategies on the internet. In order to defeat the Capra Demon, I had to switch from fighting with a halberd and a shield to fighting with a catalyst. The Capra Demon hits hard and he's aided by two Undead Dogs. Therefore, in the small space where he has to be fought, I had to quickly run up the stairs and stand on the ledge that's beside the stairs. This is where the Capra Demon can't reach you. From the ledge, I could then cast magic and hit the dogs and the Capra Demon from a distance. In order to defeat the Iron Golem and Ornstein and Smough, I had to move a lot on the battlefield and attempt to dodge their attacks. Before that, I almost always relied on my strategy of blocking attacks with a shield, of trying to conserve stamina, and of striking when an opportunity arose. But the Iron Golem was the first boss that forced me to change my strategy. Because I spent time on leveling up my character, I could block the attacks of the Iron Golem with a shield, but the attacks still drained my stamina a lot. Therefore, I had to adapt to moving on the battlefield a lot. I didn't run or roll yet, but I still had to constantly keep moving in order to evade the Iron Golem's attacks. In order to defeat the Four Kings, I again had to come up with a new strategy. This battle has to be won quickly, and, therefore, I had to stop using a shield all the time and to keep attacking the boss with my halberd almost without pause and even without worrying about how much stamina I'm losing. So, what did my character look like? I went through the entire game wearing the Chain Set. Naturally, I upgraded this armor set to the max with titanite. I tried on other armor sets, but only for very brief periods. I simply like the look of the Chain Set. The shield that I used is the Heater Shield, and my weapon was the Halberd. I defeated almost every enemy in Dark Souls with this shield and halberd. I hit another brick wall when I had to fight Artorias the Abysswalker in the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. This time, leveling up my character simply didn't work. I had to come up with a new strategy in order to defeat Artorias because he hits a lot and he hits very hard. I was forced to learn his move set, to dodge his attacks by rolling, and to strike him in the brief moments when an opportunity arose. I simply couldn't rely on my shield during this fight. I had almost as much trouble defeating Black Dragon Kalameet. The dragon's attacks, especially his breath of fire, hit very hard. It was difficult for me to find a way to defeat this dragon. Finally, after trying various things, I realized that I can avoid most of the dragon's attacks by standing right in front of the boss or under it. And I could take him down by swinging my halberd. In this way, I was finally able to take down the dragon quite quickly. Artorias of the Abyss is a satisfactory addition to Dark Souls, but it contains the most difficult boss fights in the game. Some of the areas in the DLC are beautiful. The areas in Dark Souls are mostly grim and gothic but still beautiful. Anyway, when it comes to Dark Souls II, the bosses in the main game didn't give me much trouble. The three DLCs, however, are another matter. After I fixed my laptop, and after I resumed playing Dark Souls II, I quickly hit brick walls in all three DLCs. In Crown of the Old Iron King, I finally reached the Fume Knight, who's considered to be the toughest boss in the game. In Crown of the Ivory King, I reached Aava the King's Pet, who's actually the first boss of the DLC. In Crown of the Sunken King, I reached the area that's guarded by Sanctum Knights. They can't be hit with regular weapons. They even receive little damage from magic spells. Because of these difficulties, and the game developers at FromSoftware clearly wanted to make the DLCs more difficult than the main game, I stopped playing Dark Souls II and moved on to other things. So, after this break, and after returning to the game after a few months had passed, I was able to overcome the challenges. I defeated the Fume Knight the same way I defeated Artorias the Abysswalker, by learning his move set and by dodging his attacks. I took down Aava the King's Pet after realizing that I can't be hit by her attacks if I stay behind her or to the side of her. I got past the Sanctum Knights by hitting them with magic spells and by using a bow to take out the Sanctum Priestesses. This was a slow process, but it had to be done in order to progress. I was particularly satisfied after I defeated the Fume Knight. It took me more than a hundred attempts before I was finally able to take him down. Then I walked down the stairs, to the very bottom of Brume Tower, and entered the small room where the dead Nadalia, Bride of Ash sits, covered in ash. The crown was a glowing item and a loud metallic sound was emanating from it. Before taking the crown, I stood there for some time, listening to the sound, feeling quite satisfied by my victory and by how well the location is designed. Except for Majula, Brume Tower is my favorite location in Dark Souls II. I like the design of the tower and of its surroundings. Because many things in the tower are made out of iron, the place has a somewhat frightening look. The area where the Fume Knight has to be fought is at the bottom of the tower. You can stand there and look up at what's above you. It's an incredible sight. There's falling ash. There are the hanging, gigantic iron soldiers. There's the enormous tower itself. After I finished playing Crown of the Old Iron King, I read the description for every item that's available in the DLC on the internet. I was fascinated by the story of what took place in Brume Tower. The armor set that I used for most of the game is Chreighton's Set. The shield that I equipped is the Mirrah Shield and my weapon was the Dragonslayer's Crescent Axe. Anyway, my feelings about Dark Souls II are mixed. It's obviously slightly inferior to Dark Souls in almost every way, but there are still things in it that I like very much. The DLCs for it make this long game even longer than it already is. They also make it better. There's definitely a big world to explore here. There are some fantastic sights in this game and some excellent music. The story interested me more than the story of Dark Souls. I felt a sense of satisfaction after I finished playing Dark Souls II. It's one of the most memorable video games that I've played. Even with its shortcomings, it's still one of the best video games of its generation, in my opinion. The Souls games dominated my playtime from the middle of 2021 until now. It's not because it took long for me to finish them. It's because I stopped playing them several times because of their difficulty. I reached new challenges after I resumed playing them and stopped playing again. But now I'm done.

Ring by Kōji Suzuki - Book Review - Kristopher Cook

 

https://kristophercook.com/ring-by-koji-suzuki-book-review/

My first taste of Japanese horror came in the late ’90s when films such as The Ring and The Grudge burst onto the mainstream. They were quickly adapted into American remakes and trundled around looking to milk every penny possible.

It’s looking back on this film, and Audition, that made me want to start reading J-Horror in its original format; literature.

What better place to pick-up then with Ring by Kōji Suzuki?

Published in 1991, Ring became known first for its ’95 television film, released in Japan, then worldwide upon the release of the 1998 film adaption by Japanese horror director, Hideo Nakata, who also directed Dark Water; written by Suzuki.

One significant change in the film is how the tape works to build tension, but more on that later.

Ring is the first of a book trilogy that features: Spiral (1995) and Loop (1998).

Taking on a more of a thriller genre, Ring uses the tension of an imposing deadline to add suspense to the drama.

This was not what I was expecting going into it; however, it was a welcoming surprise.

Press Play

The main protagonist Kazuyuki Asakawa is a journalist with a down-trodden reputation, working for a Japanese newspaper.

After he witnesses the mysterious death of a teenager on a motorbike, and the death of his wife’s niece on the same day, he throws his investigative instincts into the ring (see what I did there?) to find a link.

Along with his best friend Ryuji Takayama, they discover a videotape in a sports centre that his niece stayed at just over a week ago. After watching the cursed tape, they must find the meaning behind it, why it involves the ghost of Sadako and how they can break the curse.

Both characters aren’t exactly likeable, Ryuji even going as far as exclaiming he once got drunk and raped a girl; however, this does lead to a good read when they are together, even if it’s mostly built on the tension between them.

The book uses the videotape as a means of transporting the Ring Virus on to those who watch it. Seven days later, they’ll suffer a heart attack if they haven’t broken the curse.

For obvious reasons, the film uses the character of Sadako Yamamura, known for her long black hair and eerie presence. She climbs out of the TV and scares the viewer to death. This approach offers a much more supernatural ghost-story which was more commonplace at the time.

Personally, I think both have their merits and mesh well with their chosen media format.

A character that kills people by climbing out of a TV set would be difficult to pull off in a book because it’s such a visceral representation; whereas the books imposing countdown on the seven-day rule adds additional drama to every aspect of the plot.

How will he survive? Will he pass it on to others? How did it come about in the first place?

These are all questions that seemingly have answers, but with little time to find them.

Lost in Translation

As is the case with a lot of Japanese books, it does suffer from a few direct translation issues. I’m not sure if this is because the Japanese language is straightforward, or whether the turns of phrases don’t really exist in the English language, but either way, it’s not a game-breaker.

Closing Thoughts

Ring is an excellent suspense-horror that offers high tension, but also appropriate character development and effective plot speed. The only downside is the lead characters not being overly likeable. This slightly takes away from caring about their impending dooms.

Otherwise, this is a brilliant book for those looking to get into J-Horror, as well as those who’re already deep into the genre.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

 

https://theanimeacademy.wordpress.com/the-library/the-stacks-m/mobile-suit-zeta-gundam/

Tomino “Kill ‘Em All” Yoshiyuki strikes back at his own creation after five years of dormancy with this first sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam. You can say that he struck back with one heck of a vengeance. Zeta Gundam is a lot darker, a lot grittier and a whole lot more epic than its predecessor.

The staple of any good Gundam series is, of course, the story and the characters. Alliances, relationships, promises… all these are made and broken. As far as characters, almost every cast member gets his or her time in the spotlight and manages not to waste any of it. They show their strengths, weaknesses, nightmares, dreams, everything; you really get to know these characters. This adds more to the already exciting battle scenes (since everyone is already trying to kill one another). And as mobile suits fights and lives are lost, the background music makes it all seem somewhat beautiful.

Again, this series is a sequel, so one might need to know a few names, places and terms, but they mention them enough to get the relevance across. My only main gripe with this series is that it purposefully leaves itself for the sequel, Double Zeta. Though it’s not a bad way to keep the epic going, I still think that this series could have stood alone without one.

I suggest anyone who wants to get into Gundam, needs an action fix or loves hard-boiled science-fiction and drama to watch this series. And don’t worry, it’s “monotonous-bishounen“-free!

Homages & Influences - COWBOY BEBOP

 

https://www.rfblues.com/Omake/Influences/

Session #1 - Asteroid Blues

MUSICIAN: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
Character Name Homage: Senile Old Men
FILM: DESPERADO
Character Design Influence: Asimov & Katerina
Scene Influence: Bar shoot-out
FILM: BONNIE & CLYDE
Scene Influence: Asimov & Katerina's last stand

Session #2 - Stray Dog Strut

SONG: STRAY CAT STRUT
Title Homage
PUPPET SHOW: PUNCH AND JUDY
Character Name Homage & Design Influence: Big Shot Hosts
Way Of The Dragon
FILM: WAY OF THE DRAGON
Referenced In Dialogue
FILM: GAME OF DEATH
Scene Influence: Spike VS Hakim

Session #3 - Honky Tonk Woman

SONG: HONKY TONK WOMAN
Title Homage
FILM: POKER ALICE
Referenced In Dialogue
ALBUM: ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
Location Name Homage: Casino is named Spiders From Mars
MUSICIAN: CHARLIE PARKER
Referenced In Dialogue

Session #5 - Ballad Of Fallen Angels

SONG: FALLEN ANGELS
Title Homage
LANDMARK: NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL
Location Influence
FILM: THE KILLER
Scene Influence: Church shoot-out
FILM: THE CROW
Scene Influence: The fall of Spike

Session #6 - Sympathy For The Devil

SONG: SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
Title Homage

Session #7 - Heavy Metal Queen

MYTHOLOGY: TERPSICHORE THE MUSE
Character Name Homage: VT (Victoria Terpsichore)
ACTOR: WOODY ALLEN
Location Name Homage: Woody's Ice Cream Parlor
Character Design Influence: Decker

Session #8 - Waltz For Venus

COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS: HUEY, DEWY AND LOUIE
Character Name Homage: Shuttle Hijackers
FILM: ENTER THE DRAGON
Scene Influence: Spike's kung-fu lesson

Session #9 - Jamming With Edward

ALBUM: JAMMING WITH EDWARD
Title Homage
FILM CHARACTER: HAL (FROM 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
Character Design Influence: MPU
Celebrity: Uri Gellar
Character Name Homage: Uri Kellerman

Session #10 - Ganymede Elegy

TELEVISION CHARACTERS: BAKER AND PONCH (From CHiPs)
Character Design Influence: Baker Ponchorero

Session #11 - Toys In The Attic

SONG: TOYS IN THE ATTIC
Title Homage
MOVIE: ALIEN
Plot Influence

Session #14 - Bohemian Rhapsody

SONG: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Title Homage

Session #15 - My Funny Valentine

SONG: MY FUNNY VALENTINE
Title Homage
Referenced In Dialogue
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B
FILM: USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-B
Subtle Homage: A cryo-chamber shares the same number
MYTHOLOGY: BACCHUS THE GOD OF WINE
Character Name Homage: Doctor Baccus
Referenced In Dialogue
FAIRY TALE: SLEEPING BEAUTY
Referenced In Dialogue
Closing Sentence Homage
FAIRY TALE: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Closing Line Homage

Session #16 - Black Dog Serenade

FILM: CON AIR
Plot Influence

Session #17 - Mushroom Samba

SONG: WATERMELON MAN
Character Design Influence: Mellon Man
FILM: COFFY
Character Name Homage/Design Influence: Coffee
FILM: SHAFT
Character Name Homage/Design Influence: Shaft
FILM: DJANGO
Character Design Influence: Shaft, coffin dragging
SONG: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Referenced In Dialogue

Session #18 - Speak Like A Child

SONG: SPEAK LIKE A CHILD
Title Homage
FOLKTALE: URASHIMA TARO
Referenced In Dialogue
FAIRY TALE: THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
Subtle Homage: Carrier company mascots
TELEVISION: BEVERLY HILLS 90210
Scene Influence: Video Expert watches a similar show

Session #19 - Wild Horses

SONG: WILD HORSES
Title Homage
LEGEND: BABE RUTH (GEORGE HERMAN RUTH)
Character Name Homage: Starship Pirates
ACTOR: JAMES DOOHAN
Character Name Homage: Doohan
TELEVISION CHARACTER: MILES O'BRIEN (FROM STAR TREK)
Character Name Homage: Miles
TELEVISION CHARACTER: REG BARCLAY (FROM STAR TREK)
Character Name Homage: Reg the parts dealer
FILM: STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
Plot Influence
SPACE SHUTTLE: COLUMBIA
Scene Influence: Used to rescue Spike from Earth's atmosphere

Session #20 - Pierrot Le Fou

FILM: PIERROT LE FOU
Title Homage
Character Name Homage: Tongpu (Mad Pierrot)
COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS: THE JOKER AND THE PENGUIN
Character Design Influence: Tongpu (Mad Pierrot)
SONG: ON THE RUN
Scene Influence: Tongpu's origin

Session #21 - Boogie-Woogie Feng-Shui

FILM: THE BLUES BROTHERS
Character Design Influence: Blue Snake Mobsters

Session #22 - Cowboy Funk

CRIMINAL: THEODORE "TEDDY" KACZYNSKI (UNABOMBER)
Character Design Influence: Ted Bower (Teddy Bomber, TB)
PICTURE BOOK: COWBOY ANDY
Character Design Influence: Andy Von De Oniyate
Referenced In Dialogue
LEGEND: MUSASHI MIYAMOTO
Character Design Influence: Musashi The Bounty Hunter (Andy)
Referenced In Dialogue

Session #23 - Brain Scratch

CRIMINAL: MARSHALL APPLEWHITE
Character Design Influence: Doctor Londes
CULT: HEAVEN'S GATE
Plot Influence
VIDEOGAME CHARACTER: LARA CROFT
Subtle Homage: Similar-looking standee in toy store

Session #24 - Hard Luck Woman

SONG: HARD LUCK WOMAN
Title Homage
FILM: COOL HAND LUKE
Scene Influence: The eating of the eggs

Session #25 - The Real Folk Blues (Part I)

ALBUM: THE REAL FOLK BLUES
Title Homage
SHORT STORY: SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO
Referenced In Dialogue

Session #26 - The Real Folk Blues (Part II)

FOLKTALE: HYAKUMANKAI IKITA NEKO
Referenced In Dialogue
FILM: A BETTER TOMORROW II
Scene Influence: The storming of the Red Dragon Headquarters
SONG: CARRY THAT WEIGHT
Closing Line Homage

Session XX - Mish-Mash Blues

SONG: QUE SERA SERA
Segment Title Homage
SONG: WALK THIS WAY
Segment Title Homage
SONG: YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
Segment Title Homage
MUSICIAN: ARETHA FRANKLIN
Segment Title Homages
SONG: INSTANT KARMA
Segment Title Homage
SONG: SUGAR MOUNTAIN
Segment Title Homage
SONG: IF SIX WAS NINE
Segment Title Homage
SONG: MY FAVORITE THINGS
Segment Title Homage
SONG: UNFINISHED SYMPATHY
Segment Title Homage
SONG: WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
Segment Title Homage
SONG: DAYDREAM BELIEVER
Segment Title Homage
FILM: LOOK BACK IN ANGER
Segment Title Homage
SONG: IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE
Segment Title Homage

The Movie - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

SONG: KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
Title Homage
VIDEOGAME: RALLY X
Subtle Homage: Lee Samson plays a similar game
FILM: DIRTY HARRY
Character Design Homage: Spike
FILM: CAPRICORN ONE
Scene Influence: Biplanes rescue mission

Just finished watching My Bodyguard (1980) and Flashdance (1983)...

Now listening to Desolation Boulevard by Sweet and Sea Of Love by Trevor Jones...

Near Burrard station in Downtown Vancouver. Summer of 2018.

 

Burrard is an underground station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located in Downtown Vancouver on Burrard Street, where Melville and Dunsmuir Streets meet, and is the western terminus of the R5 Hastings St that provides service to Simon Fraser University.

The station serves Vancouver's financial district and is within walking distance of the Coal Harbour and West End neighbourhoods. The station is accessible via the surface from Art Phillips Park or via the underground shopping centres of the Royal Centre and Bentall Centre skyscraper complexes.

Burrard station opened in 1985 and is named for nearby Burrard Street, which in turn is named for Sir Harry Burrard-Neale. Prior to the opening of the Canada Line in 2009, Burrard station was the northern terminus of the 98 B-Line and was served by a number of bus routes that provided service to Vancouver's southern suburbs of Delta, Richmond, Surrey, and White Rock. In 2016, bus service to the eastern suburbs of the Tri-Cities was discontinued when the Millennium Line's Evergreen Extension opened.

In May 2018, preliminary plans were revealed to renovate and expand Burrard station. On July 13, 2021, TransLink announced that it would close the station for two years beginning in early 2022 to allow construction for the rebuild.

The structure housing the surface station entrance was designed to resemble Victorian-era British railway stations, with a peaked glass roof. The station was designed by the Austrian architecture firm Architektengruppe U-Bahn.

When originally opened, the station's only underground passage was to the Bentall Centre skyscraper complex. A connection to the Royal Centre complex was constructed some years later, while an anticipated underground passage to the Park Place skyscraper across the street was never built. The construction of a new east entrance to the station, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Burrard and Dunsmuir, was considered as part of upgrades to the station included in TransLink's 10-Year Vision, but the cost of such an addition was higher than expected and TransLink turned to reviewing options to improve the existing entrance.

Like Granville, the station was built inside the Dunsmuir Tunnel and has a distinctive platform design. The inbound track (to Waterfront) is stacked on top of the outbound track (to King George and Production Way–University), with the inbound platform being one level above the outbound platform.

Burrard station is one of four SkyTrain stations on the Expo Line that serve Downtown Vancouver. It has connections with many TransLink bus routes in Metro Vancouver; these buses serve the city of Vancouver, Burnaby, the city and district of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver.

Kids Have Fallen Into Gorilla Enclosures In The Past But With Different Endings

 

Before the Cincinnati Zoo tragedy involving a little boy and a giant gorilla, there have been other, similar encounters that ended without the primate being shot to death. In 1986, a 5-year-old boy named Levan Merritt fell into a gorilla enclosure and was knocked unconscious. A silverback gorilla named Jambo stroked the boy's back as if to soothe him. In 1996, a 3-year-old boy tumbled more than 20 feet into the gorilla exhibit. She placed him near the cage's door and stepped back as zookeepers picked up the child.

Just finished watching The Sentinel (2006) and Minions: The Rise Of Gru (2022)...

Just finished watching Jaws (1975) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)...

15 Best Books From the Defunct 'Star Wars' Expanded Universe

 

https://www.thewrap.com/the-best-books-from-the-defunct-star-wars-expanded-universe-photos/

Even though we’re in a new era of ”Star Wars,“ it’s always good to look back at where we’ve been in the long history of ”Star Wars“ novels. After Disney bought LucasFilm and got the ball rolling on new "Star Wars" movies, they wiped clean the entire Expanded Universe of narratively connected novels, comics and video games from the official "Star Wars" timeline. Gone, yes, but not forgotten. Among all the novels that were published over three decades, there's still plenty of gems to be found in the defunct Expanded Universe.

15. "Tales From Jabba's Palace" (1996)

The "Star Wars" universe, being massive and full of oddities, was really well served by a series of short story anthologies like this, which also happens to be the best one. It explores a lot of the strange things we saw in Jabba's palace in "Return of the Jedi," and it's never afraid to get real weird -- which in this case, at least, is a great thing.

14. "Outbound Flight" (2006)

Functions as a prequel to Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, finally detailing the Outbound Flight mission we'd heard mentioned so many times for over a decade -- and it turned out to be a lot more involved than we'd thought. "Outbound Flight," which occurred during the events of the prequel trilogy, involved a group of Jedi Masters and a number of colonists taking an expedition beyond the galaxy in search of extra-galactic Force users -- but on their way out they flew through the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, and ran afoul of some of the more unsavory alien civilizations there. And also Thrawn, whose species of blue near-humans hails from that part of space.

13. "Edge of Victory: Conquest" (2001)

Late in the run of the Expanded Universe came single longform stories published as a series -- the longest of these was the "New Jedi Order," about a race of religious fanatic aliens called the Yuuzhan Vong invading the galaxy. "Conquest" was the eighth in that series, and it was the first, ah, humanizing look at the Yuuzhan Vong society. It turned out that, like any other society, the Yuuzhan Vong has its downtrodden folks who don't like the murderous establishment, and teenage Anakin (youngest son of Han and Leia) carries out a dangerous mission with one such downtrodden soul.

12. "Isard's Revenge" (1999)

This "X-Wing" one-shot novel is essentially the payoff to the entire long history of the elite Rogue Squadron that was told over a number of novels and comic books. Every loose end tied off and many stories, including some not part of the Rogue arc, re-contextualized in a really interesting way. "Isard's Revenge" is the kind of story that can only happen within a massive universe with a detailed history -- it's the kind of story that makes a lot of old bad storytelling feel like it was worth it.

11. "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy" (1980)

One of the most fascinating aspects of the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe was how the early authors were kinda making up how everything worked and casually establishing hugely important things. Though, it was obvious nobody knew what they were doing and most of the books were pretty terrible as details were filled in at random. The three "Han Solo Adventures" were released in 1979 and 1980 -- and they work because they tell small stories rather than the sort of galaxy-shaking narratives we would see every couple months throughout the '90s. "Lost Legacy," the third one, sees Han going after the fabled treasure of Xim the Despot at the edge of the galaxy. It's a great story, and an early emblem for the flexibility of "Star Wars" as a setting.

10. "Hand of Thrawn" duology (1997)

Grand Admiral Thrawn has been dead for a decade, and the New Republic is on the verge of an official peace accord with the beaten-down remnants of the Empire. But Thrawn's legacy, and plans he'd set in motion long before threaten that peace. This is why nerds love Thrawn so much. In the Expanded Universe, he casts a shadow that -- though it's a different kind of shadow -- is nearly as long as that of Darth Vader and the Emperor.

9. "Wedge's Gamble" (1996)

The second book in the "X-Wing" series recounts the Liberation of Coruscant by the New Republic a few years after "Return of the Jedi." It's a seemingly impossible task -- the Empire is still extremely well armed, and Corsucant is protected by an impenetrable energy shield. So they clandestinely send in the new Rogue Squadron, which had been rebuilt with squad members had a number of other martial skills beyond being great pilots. The Rogues are tasked with bringing down the planetary shield by whatever means possible, and as they're on a deadline, this thing gets hairy as hell.

8. "Dark Force Rising" (1993)

I don't hold up Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy with the sort of reverence a lot of fans do, but the middle book, "Dark Force Rising," is really great. Grand Admiral Thrawn has reunited much of the remains of the Empire and is ripping the New Republic a new one. Then a wild card enters the fray: the mythical Katana Fleet, 200 massive droid-controlled dreadnoughts that had disappeared from known space due to a computer error during the Clone Wars decades earlier. By chance it's been found, and it's a race to see which side can claim them first -- because the Katana fleet would seriously tilt the balance of the war.

7. "Enemy Lines" duology (2002)

Late in the "New Jedi Order," famed Rebel hero Wedge Antilles is charged with holding the planet Borleias from the Yuuzhan Vong, and it's one hell of a thing. Massively outgunned, Wedge pulls a whole lot of seat-of-your-pants gambits out of his ass -- and this pair of books, authored by the late Aaron Allston, is full of great and witty dialogue of the sort you just never got from other "Star Wars" authors. I treat "Enemy Lines" as a singular entity because the two sort of function as a single book split in half.

6. "Cloak of Deception" (2001)

During the years when the prequel trilogy was released, a lot of novels and comics were commissioned more or less just to clean up the many narrative problems with those films. In "The Phantom Menace," for example, fans complain about all the talk of trade routes and taxes -- but the real problem was just that we didn't understand what any of it meant just from the movie. Enter "Cloak of Deception," which gave the Trade Federation's beef with the Republic exactly the context it needed and by extension improving that bad movie in a real way.

5. "Wraith Squadron" (1998)

The story of the Wraiths is unique among "Star Wars" stories in a lot of ways. It follows famed Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles as he assembles a hybrid starfighter/foot soldier squadron of emotionally unstable washouts -- in hopes that such a group might approach apparently normal war scenarios in really unpredictable ways, and that's exactly what happens. It's the most human of all the "Star Wars" stories, full of truth.

4. "Revenge of the Sith" (2005)

In a stroke of brilliance, LucasFilm had one of its best "Star Wars" authors, Matthew Woodring Stover, write the novelization of "Revenge of the Sith." It's so good it might trick you into remembering fondly the awful movie on which it's based. It's also notable as a film novelization because it leans heavily on the Expanded Universe, with other books being referenced heavily. And that's why it qualifies for this list -- a lot of stuff here isn't part of the canon anymore.

3. "Starfighters of Adumar" (1999)

The late Aaron Allston authored many of the best Expanded Universe stories, and "Starfighters of Adumar" is where really got to cut loose. Wedge Antilles and pals Tycho, Hobbie and Janson, are sent as diplomats to a newly discovered planet full of people who pretty don't give a shit about anyone who isn't a fighter pilot. It's incessantly funny and weird -- a great little side story that's as witty as they get in this universe.

2. "Iron Fist" (1998)

The Wraiths, now a unit with some missions under their belts, go undercover as a mercenary pirate gang in hopes of being hired by the biggest Imperial threat at that time, the Warlord Zsinj. It's harrowing as hell, and an escalation of the themes established in "Wraith Squadron," as the group struggles (and often fails) to keep it together mentally.

1. "Traitor" (2002)

The peak of the "New Jedi Order," and where the purpose of its overall narrative arc was revealed. In the '90s, the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe got really moralistic and stuffy, and "Traitor" was a total refutation of that approach. It's the darkest "Star Wars" story ever written, but it serves a positive agenda in the end: Maybe the Force isn't black and white and the Jedi don't need to stand around wondering about the moral implications of every little thing they do. It was a really great change for storytelling in the "Star Wars" universe.

Ghost in the Shell - trailer

 

2029 -- A female government cyber agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of a "The Puppet Master" -- a computer virus capable of invading cybernetic brains and altering its victim's memory.

Remembering Charlie's Music City on Granville Street

The days of when one could post just about any video on YouTube are long gone. Nowadays, even an inclusion of certain pictures in a video can get one a copyright claim on YouTube. And YouTube itself has pretty much turned into American television, with the mind-numbing shows and propaganda that one can expect from American television. YouTube is now a website where the only people that can get any serious exposure are people that work for Western media companies, influencers, and propagandists. Naturally, these are also the people that can earn plenty of money on YouTube because of advertising. The people that aren't influencers or propagandists, such as myself, don't get to have exposure on YouTube nowadays and they don't get to earn money because of advertising. Anyway, it seems that I'm already going off topic. Why am I mentioning this? Well, firstly, I'm mentioning this because I'm old enough to remember when things were different on YouTube, though they didn't stay different for long. Secondly, I'm mentioning this because, recently, the Bubblegum Crisis soundtracks that I uploaded in 2014 got copyright claimed and taken down on YouTube by Universal Music Japan. Years ago, it was possible to upload anime films and series on YouTube without any problems. But now even obscure anime soundtracks and music get copyright claims. Although the eight Bubblegum Crisis soundtracks that I uploaded aren't widely available, they're still some of the best anime soundtracks out there. At least my channel didn't get terminated because of these copyright claims. It seems that the soundtracks got taken down because UMJ recently made them available for purchase online. They're even available as vinyl records on a website like Amazon now. So, it seems that UMJ has wasted no time in eliminating any of the Bubblegum Crisis music that's available for free online. Good for UMJ. It's actually not a bad thing that these good anime soundtracks are now available for purchase. But this doesn't mean that I have to like that my videos got taken down. Before they got taken down, these videos accumulated many thousands of views and had comments from people that speak English and Japanese. Therefore, I'm not going to buy anything from UMJ anymore. I certainly don't have to buy the Bubblegum Crisis soundtracks, which have cool covers, because I already have them. Fortunately, the Bubblegum Crash soundtracks and the AD Police Files soundtracks that I uploaded are still available on my channel. The other good anime soundtracks that I have in my collection are Ah! My Goddess, Cowboy Bebop, Aura Battler Dunbine, Castle In The Sky, Digimon: The Movie, Dirty Pair: Project Eden, Ghost In The Shell, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Grave Of The Fireflies, Gunnm, Howl's Moving Castle, Akira, Innocence, Saber Marionette J, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Key The Metal Idol, Macross Plus, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind, Paprika, Pokemon: The First Movie, Princess Mononoke, Rurouni Kenshin, Sailor Moon, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Spirited Away, Venus Wars, The Vision Of Escaflowne, When Marnie Was There, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Whisper Of The Heart. These are all of the anime soundtracks that I've collected over the years so far. But, of course, it hasn't been that long since I got into buying anime soundtracks. I began to buy and obtain anime films and series only after I graduated from high school. Before that, I gave almost no thought to having an anime collection, and I still don't have a big anime collection because I buy only the best anime. I am from a poor family, after all. Sure, I've been working, and also volunteering, since I was in the 10th grade, but, for some reason, the idea of buying anime, or simply buying discs and other media, didn't enter my mind before I graduated. I think that one of the reasons for this is because I grew up in a Russian family. In this family, there was always the possibility that almost anything that I bought would be taken away by my parents if they didn't like it or if they thought that it's interfering with my schoolwork. I think that the only things that were safe from their outrage were books, and not even all books. My parents are typical Russian barbarians, and, after having to deal with them and with other Russians, I don't want to to deal with Russians ever again. I later realized that this sadism, this disrespect for individual rights, for private property, and for individual comforts is actually a part of Russian culture. This is also one of the reasons why some Russians don't like Russian culture and don't like their country. Well, I suppose that there's a reason why some Russians call their country a nation of idiots. I'd say that it's not only a nation of idiots. It's also a nation of traitors and of irresponsible people. I speak from experience and from years of observation when I say this. The only thing that Russians can do well is screw up. By the way, in this nation of idiots, the rich are notorious for showing off their wealth and their status to those that are less fortunate than them. This was the case before the October Revolution of 1917 and this is the case now. Russian oligarchs, the people that are hated by many people in Russia, are notorious for showing off the stuff, such as their big yachts, that they purchased abroad. In the West, rich people usually hide their wealth and they don't flaunt it. In Russia, it's the opposite. The rich in Russia love flaunting their wealth and they despise poor people. Well, what else can you expect in a banana republic such as Russia? By the way, I'm surprised that a McDonald's restaurant hasn't yet opened in Saint Basil's Cathedral. I mean, a foreign burger joint has opened in just about every other historical Russian or Soviet building in Moscow since 1991. And huge advertisements for women's underwear featuring semi-naked young women hang on the sides of historical 19th century buildings in Moscow. So, why hasn't a burger joint opened yet in Saint Basil's Cathedral or in the Kremlin? Am I supposed to believe that even the idiotic Russians have a limit to where one can place advertisements and "business" signs? Maybe the idea hasn't yet entered their minds. I mean, Russians are known for not only being idiotic but also for being dumb. Recent research shows that Russians may be as intelligent as some of the big apes. Russians are certainly not as intelligent as homo sapiens. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Bill Clinton to dictate commands to the ape named Boris Yeltsin. In a normal country, someone like Yeltsin is usually kept in a zoo or in the wild. But, in Russia, Yeltsin was the head of the government. Research about the miserable intelligence of Russians goes all the way back to the 19th century, when the British scholar and explorer Sir Aston Martin Bentley the 11th traveled to Russia and then wrote a book, 'Russians in their Natural Environment', after observing them. And don't even get me started on the fiction that the Russians defeated Nazi Germany. It is technically impossible for a nation of idiots and traitors such as Russia to defeat Nazi Germany. Why is this fiction still in the history books? It is a fact that Russians would sell out their country for a banana. Am I supposed to believe that the Germans couldn't afford bananas? Didn't the Germans build rockets? Surely they could have acquired some bananas in order to give to the Russians during Operation Barbarossa. Did they forget? It seems that I'm going off topic again. Let's get back to my anime collection. When I was in my mid-teens and late-teens, I began to go to some of the stores in the center of the city that sold DVDs, CDs, and VHS tapes. These trips to the center of the city were rare for me back then, but they were quite enjoyable and memorable because stores that sold DVDs, CDs and video games still existed back then in decent numbers. Although I didn't buy anything, or couldn't buy anything, I still walked around and looked at the things that were available for sale. The DVD covers and the VHS covers usually had large pictures or stills on the back, and I enjoyed looking at them and also reading whatever was written on them. They weren't like the bland and small Blu-ray covers or video game covers that are available now. One used DVD and CD store that I liked in particular was called Charlie's Music City. The owner was probably an Iranian man in his late-fifties or early-sixties, but I don't know anything about him because I never spoke to him. He had several people, usually young women, working for him at the store. The store was located near the intersection of Granville Street and Robson Street. Granville Street is also the street where my favorite movie theatre, Empire Granville 7 Cinemas, was located. The reason why I liked Charlie's Music City is because it was a big store. Some people claim that it was the biggest used DVD and CD store in Canada. It wasn't huge, but there was still a lot to see there. There were rows and rows of shelves stacked with used DVDs, CDs, and VHS tapes. Video games were sold there too, but they were located at the counters, in glass cases. In addition to the video games, video game consoles were sold there. There were various consoles for sale, and the ones that were most visible were consoles like the GameCube, the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, the Nintendo 64, and the Dreamcast. They were placed on the shelves behind the counters or they hung in transparent plastic bags on the wall there. DVD players, VHS players, and various electronic equipment and parts were also sold there. When I went to this store, I usually spent most of the time looking at DVDs and VHS tapes. The counters of the store were well lit, but some of the DVDs were on the shelves in the dimly lit corners of the store. I could walk around for as long as an hour or more and look at what was available because there was so much to see. Notably, I looked at the anime, straight-to-video films, foreign films, and old films that caught my eye. My favorites were the VHS covers for Key The Metal Idol, Lupin III's Greatest Capers, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gasaraki, and RahXephon. For example, the VHS covers that were made by A.D. Vision for Neon Genesis Evangelion can be viewed here: http://svenge.evamonkey.com/evasite/usvhs/usvhs.htm. I also liked to look at the DVD covers for 1980s and 1990s popular and obscure action films, horror films, and science-fiction films. So, not long after I graduated from high school, I finally decided to buy my first DVDs. Unfortunately, soon after I bought my first DVDs, Charlie's Music City, like many other DVD and CD stores, closed for good, at the very beginning of 2011. The closure of this store and the closure of Empire Granville 7 Cinemas in 2012 was like the end of an era for me. I still feel a little sad when I think about how fast these places closed down. Of course, DVDs weren't the only things that I bought at Charlie's Music City. I bought some CDs because there were many CDs for sale there too. However, I sold or gave away my small collection of CDs not long after that because I decided to keep all of my music in MP3 format. But, last year, I began buying CDs again in order to have all of the albums from Time magazine's All-Time 100 Albums list in CD format. Time magazine's list is my favorite music list. I've been buying about one CD per month so far, and I've acquired 19 albums from the list of the 100 albums already. Used CDs aren't expensive now. They can usually be bought for about ten dollars or less. Another place that I kind of liked on Granville Street was a small pizza restaurant, though I liked it not because it was a restaurant but because it had an arcade cabinet in the back on which one could play Soul Edge. When I first came to this pizza joint, a young man was already playing Soul Edge. He was so impressed by the music of this fighting game and by the game itself that he couldn't contain his excitement. He noticed that I was standing not far from him and that I was looking at him play. Therefore, after he finished playing and after he uttered a few more praises, he walked away in order to let me play it. And, if I remember correctly, playing this game was free of charge. Anyway, the first DVDs that I bought were for Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor, Macross Plus, and RahXephon. Before that, when I was a teenager, I either checked out films at my local library or I rented them at DVD rental stores. Some of the anime was distributed by Manga Entertainment at that time. My DVDs featured not only special features but also trailers. I not only enjoyed looking at the covers but also watching the trailers for Perfect Blue, Ghost In The Shell, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Ninja Scroll, Blood: The Last Vampire, Patlabor: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, and other releases. These old trailers from the early-2000s and the mid-2000s are still etched in my mind and I still enjoy watching them. Nowadays, they can be found on YouTube. Things sure were different when I bought my first DVDs. I still associate that time with the institute that I attended after graduating, with the Vancouver rain that poured in the autumn and the winter of that year, and with Granville Street because I went there the most after graduating from high school. Back then, the anime industry hadn't yet turned into the industry that makes bland, unoriginal, cute, and poorly animated shows and films that it is today. It was already in the process of turning into this institutionalized and artistically bankrupt industry, kind of like Hollywood, but it wasn't quite there yet. Good and edgy films and shows were still being made, though they were already rare. Nothing like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, or even Fruits Basket can be made today. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of my favorite anime shows, but it was made before the 2010s, the story is taken from a manga, and its animation is nothing to speak of. Now that I think about, the anime that I bought or watched right after graduating from high school brought me almost as much gladness and excitement as Pokemon did in my childhood. I've never been obsessed with anime, not even in my teens and early-twenties. Well, I did have something of an obsession with Neon Genesis Evangelion when I found out about it in the 9th grade. Perhaps this is the reason why this show is the first one that I bought on DVD, and I had never seen it before I bought it. So, I had to wait for years before I even got to see Neon Genesis Evangelion. I can't, for example, relate to the otaku in Japan at all. Some of these people have stacks of anime, manga, comics, video games, and action figures in their homes. But I sure do like to watch anime from time to time, though the anime that I watch is the original and quality anime that was made before the 2000s. Heck, even OVAs like Angel Cop or New Cutie Honey now seem great if they're compared to what gets made now. Anyway, I was actually planning to make a post about the soundtracks of the horror films, neo-noir films, and teen films that I enjoy watching and that I recommend. I've already made several videos listing these films, though I haven't posted all of them on my blog yet. What I wanted to point out is that it's not only these films from the 1970s to the 1990s that are worth watching. Their soundtracks are worth getting as well. I also wanted to list my favorite anime because this is what a few followers wanted me to do. But, somehow, I got carried away and made a post about something else. Next time then.