Monthly Archives - June 2021

Book Discussion: Six of Crows

Book discussions were a staple of the old Dark Herald blog it’s long past time I did one here. Holland is a very unusual setting for a fantasy setting.   The reason is both simple and complicated.  The simple explanation is that you try to base a fantasy template on the mythology of a real country and Holland doesn’t have any myths. It’s not that they are just too dour and business-minded to consider something as frivolous as a mythology.  It’s that there is no...

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Never Apologize

Why was In the Heights #canceled? Oh, there is the official reason but that has nothing to do with why it got put on blast by all the major media outlets within twenty-four hours.  It wasn’t the real reason the film had its box office burned to the ground and its creator was forced to make a groveling apology. The Dark Herald will fill you on that a little later. First the background.  In the Heights, was a 2008 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The...

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This Week’s Arktoons Roundup Is Now Live

This week's addition focuses on "The Legend" Chuck Dixon. Go Monster Go "The way we name towns has always been a little odd in America. On the East Coast most everything seems to be named for something or someone from the old country, New York, New Jersey, Charleston (King Charles Town when founded),  King George got a whole state named after him. When you get to the Midwest it’s either Native American or French names with some stuff from classical literature thrown in: Chicago, Detroit, Cicero, (Seneca,...

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What is Disney Screwing up Now?

Well, I hardly know where to begin. So, I’ll start with the parks. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is a big tradition at Disney World.  It is a ticketed event, meaning you have to pay extra to attend.  Trick or Treating is going on all over the park. A standup comedian is doing her set dressed as a ghost at the Haunted Mansion.  There is a party exclusive show inside Space Mountain. Other special events are all over the park that night, unique ice...

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Six Flags Over Orlando

That is pretty much what Disney World is going to be. Budget Cut Bob Cheapek is in the process of destroying the parks in the name of being chintzy. Lets take a quick look at the strategic picture so we can better understand how badly Chapek is getting it wrong. First and foremost; the resorts are Disney World’s real money volcano, not the parks.  Sure, there is some money to be made off of a day-tripper that lives in Jackson, FL. But it doesn’t...

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She-Man and Mistresses of the Universe

There is a great little horror film from a few years ago called The Witch.  It’s about a puritan family in Massachusetts that is torn apart and destroyed by Satanic Witchcraft. The family had become convinced that their Billy-goat, Black Phillip is the devil. At the end of the movie only Thomasin, the thirteen-year-old daughter is left alive after having been forced to kill her mother in self-defense.  In despair, she goes to the barn and urges Black Phillip to speak to...

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Queen Dani’s Stupid Comic Book

Starbucks. The coffee of queens Emilia Clarke of Terminator Genisys/Solo fame has proven that she still can’t pick a project. And before any of you mentions Game of Thrones, that was obviously luck.  Wanted: English actress for HBO series.  Must have little girl anime eyes and be five foot nothing.  Acting is optional, nudity is not. All of her side projects have been failures.  She is slated for a Marvel series; Secret Invasion, on Disney+.  But given Marvel’s record on Epic Mickey’s Streaming Service, I see no reason to...

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The Collapse of Gaming Journalism

Last month, IGN decided that the hill to die on this week was Palestine.  They printed some article on giving aid to Palestinian Children* that I didn’t care about and didn’t read because I haven’t read anything from IGN for years and I wasn’t starting now.  However, IGN Israel did read it and screamed at the corporate owners. Ziff-Davis roused itself from its dreamy lassitude and made the accurate but surprising decision that this article had nothing whatsoever to do with gaming...

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Blogs and Ends: The Speed Blogging Edition

Busy day to today so I’m speed blogging.  Please forgive any egregious spelling and grammatical eros.  FIRST First Impressions: Loki This is the first Disney+ Marvel TV series to star one of the A-Listers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  True, Loki is a villain A-Lister but he’s definitely not on the prep-squad, he’s a starter. The series opens with Loki’s escape from Avengers Endgame.  He then gets picked up by the Time Variance Authority.  Loki does a fish-out-water thing for a while, which didn’t feel like Loki at...

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