#I don’t think voyager was in the plans when season 6 aired but it’s still so interesting since Janeway is such a specific last name

[queen-of-love-and-beauty]

In “Man of the People” the Computer mentions there’s an ensign Janeway on board the Enterprise and I find that hilarious 🤣

#Star Trek TNG #I don’t think voyager was in the plans when season 6 aired but it’s still so interesting since Janeway is such a specific last name #also you don’t hear it mentioned that often

[salinasqualityinn]

8 Great Tips To Help You Enjoy California

An outing to California is an easy decision as decision for a vacation location. There is such a great amount to do and see for all age gatherings, yet likewise, with most places, there are things to be aware of, do, and recollect that will make your outing more secure and better.

 Be Sure You Can Drive A Winnebago!

We had wanted to require a six-week visit through California in an extraordinary huge 42ft (12.5m) Winnebago which we chose would be less expensive and more flexible than booking our group of 5 into a perpetual series of lodgings and inns.

This ended up being a tremendous error! I'd, first and foremost, never determined on their roadside previously. What's more, besides, I'd never determined one of these tremendous 42ft monsters previously. This was an unfortunate blend of new encounters.

After the primary day, truth be told, I concluded it was more difficult for me than it was worth, and we took it back and recruited an SUV all things considered. This was a prophetic move as it turned out since it is impossible that you'd get one of those RVs all over the roads of San Francisco, with its lofty box and looks in the downtown area. On the off chance that this sounds like the kind of thing you're thinking about, I would truly urge you to consider employing a huge vehicle or SUV and book into lodgings or inns all things considered.

 Street Rules

There are some remarkable street rules in California, one of which is that you can turn right at a red light given that the street is clear. Even though I knew this, it was truly challenging to become accustomed to from the beginning, and I got 'sounded' at additional times than I want to recall in only the principal day. So on the off chance that you will be driving, make certain to find out about the nearby principles first.

 Have a Voucher Book Handy

Having chosen to remain in lodgings and inns en route, which is sensibly estimated, coincidentally, there are as yet extra reserve funds to be had if you get a coupon markdown book accessible from any vacationer office and most inns/inn section halls. This case to present the voyager with a half rebate over the standard cost. We tried this by calling two times a similar spots and were sufficiently sure, that the rooms are deep discounted with the pertinent coupon. Assuming you take a gander at what's presented in the booklet, you could try and pick one that offers breakfast tossed in for nothing as well. These investment funds can mount up more than a 6-week get-away, worth having are as well. Don't hesitate for even a moment to request limits as well on the off chance that you stay a few days. The lodging/inn staff are by and large possibly too quick to even consider helping - particularly assuming that times hush up like in the off-top season.

 Get A Pass For The Big Things

We'd proactively concluded that specific things were a 'should see' while in California. We concluded that Disney Land, San Diego Zoo and Sea World, and Universal Studios were the three most significant expense attractions for us. With a group of 5, it meant a lot to us to watch out for costs. Estimating for these attractions was extremely high when evaluated separately, however, a Pass was accessible that permitted us to section to each of the three, inside a specific period, at an astounding markdown. The Pass was somewhat more than $900, still, a truckload of cash, while the cost to visit every one of the three by paying independently was around $1600 for each of the five of us.

 Purchase A Cheapie Phone Instead of Using Your Own

To keep you in contact while in the USA, I'd suggest purchasing a cell phone around there. Indeed, you can wander with your portable and chance adding to a super bill to welcome you when you get back. For my purposes, it checked out to purchase a $50 telephone from Virgin when you're there, and simply throw it in the canister, short the sim for the sake of security, at the air terminal on the exit plan. This worked a treat for us, and there were no challenges with wrong organizations or wandering or charging. A basic 50-buck prepaid telephone was the response to all our correspondence issues.

 Tipping at Eateries

Something I wish I'd known before yet didn't may help other people on their movements. It concerns eating out and is in regards to the custom of tipping. Any of us from different nations in the created world most likely don't comprehend that in the US, server teams just get compensated an extremely the lowest pay permitted by law. They depend vigorously on tips to make up their compensation to a sum that permits them to adequately live. This implies that when you go into an eatery, you truly ought to try tipping no less than 10%, perhaps more, except if there's a valid justification not to. Tipping isn't ordinarily my usual methodology, and I assume I upset more than one stand-by individual en route.

 Be careful with Unfriendly Locals

While shopping in San Francisco I wound up in an extremely undesirable circumstance not of my making, that I figure guests ought to be aware of. While viewing something as harmless as a news streak for my camera, since I'd recently dropped my old one in the ocean, I was welcomed energetically by a staff part. I asked, and he offered a cost for the thing I was checking out. I thought briefly, and he offered a lower cost. Once more, I thought, and he went lower once more. At this point his tone was discernibly changing and detecting his state of mind, I chose to continue without buying. Right now, the person changed strategies and conveyed a profane flood of put-downs and maltreatment as I'd never heard, which humiliated me with no closure. So be aware of thoroughly irritating businesspeople on the San Fran seafront by doing nothing off-base.

Overall, however, this person was a stand-apart special case. What's more, courteousness and a grinning welcome were the things to address any place we went.

 Be Covered Whilst Driving

My tip for those deciding to drive themselves around the state as we did is to be certain you are covered with adequate mishap protection. Shockingly, this wasn't presented by the vehicle firm we recruited from, and we needed to do some ringing around to take care of business. Be that as it may, it's definitely worth the true serenity of realizing you're shrouded - for good measure.

 Bon Voyage!

These are my tips for a more secure and less expensive excursion around California. There are such countless a bigger number of activities than I've portrayed here, yet that is not inside the extent of this aide. My goal here is to assist you with getting a charge out of, and set aside your cash while making it happen. Merry Christmas!

If thinking about the best hotel to stay, Quality Inn Salinas Is The Place The Fun Begins! How about trying some of the best food, wine and art events you’ll find anywhere. Oh, and we’ve got some of the most spectacular scenery in the whole United States. We provide Top Rated Family Accommodation and Top Rated Hotels in Salinas. Book Now.

[richardhandelcarpfishing]

My Journey Through The Old Skool Days

I started my Carp fishing in the early ’80s, after leaving school.  I discovered there was more to fishing than small local rivers with only Roach & Dace and the odd Perch in the offing.  At this time, I was living in Ipswich and there where only a couple of tackle shops.  These shops had a very basic, limited range of carp gear which the majority of which was match kit and when I say carp gear, it’s not as you think of it today.  The choice of hook was poor (to say the least), I stuck to size 8 hooks.  They were pretty good and served me well for many years.  Rods on the other hand; were a mixture of all sorts, as I could only afford one at a time.  I started with an SS6 and a bodex, this was an early carbon rod if my memory is correct.  I also had a cork handle rod that my dad got for me.  I then got myself a pair of ss7’s, which were the bees knees, as far as I was concerned, they were secondhand and reels were a mish-mash as well.  I can’t actually remember or even recognize them in the photography.  At the time I lived at home and didn’t get paid that much, I gave my mum & dad a little bit of rent and saved the rest for bait.  This has always been a key factor in my view.  If you have the best kit in the world you will not catch fish, however, with the right bait and a good selection of bait, this is the key to catching carp.

Until I could save up money to buy better stuff, I just stuck to what I had and get the odd bits second hand from friends.  At this point in my life, I had not discovered mail order or even fishing magazines!  All of my money went on bait, beer and trying to save up for a pair of rods.  As for buzzers, I had the right mixture of a Heron and a rolon.  This was rubbish, if you got a screamer in the night, you would need to check with a torch first.  You had to check which line was going – if the line was pulled tight, it would set the alarm off.  This was fun until I realized what was going on.  I then managed to get together enough money for a pair of Optonics.  I was planning on doing this first, as sitting up all night listening out for coins to drop off my spool a tin was taking its toll on me.  Trying to do nights in the week and the odd two nigher at the weekend was putting years on me!  I even had my ever faithful fairy bottle top bobbins. I have even done a week trip in the early ’80s like this.

The lake I was fishing was a club water,  at this time consisted of 4 lakes over a massive area.  They were full of bars and gully back bays which were full of pads.  There were only a handful of carp anglers, I think there were about 6 fully kitted out carp anglers.  They had clearly been fishing for some years and had a greater understanding of the lake.  In though’s days, they clearly were never going to help you.  They were still a friendly bunch of lads and we all enjoyed pike fishing over the Winter months.  It was perceived that carp didn’t feed over these months, the social pike trip helped us bond with the lads and finally started getting the odd snippet of information handed down.  I started to catch the odd fish, at that time 1 or 2 fish a season was good going.  My best year was 7 carp, I was amazed and totally hooked on carp fishing.  One year, I had a take on the opening day and lost the fish around the corner of a point.  This was the only carp take for that year, it was very hard going, to say the least.

I could never afford a bivvy, so I started off with bits of plastic sheeting tucked up around the spokes of a brolly, this helped until the wind blew (as there were no pegging points).  I slept in a large sail bag my dad had given me.  This was when I started seeing what other anglers were using as I was being allowed to look inside their bivvy’s.  You had to be invited in and not just peer in – it was just not done.  You can imagine my face when I finally spotted the old Argos sun-loungers, that bit of kit jumped to the top of my list.  They were a death trap though, we had watched people collapse in them and finding it very hard to get out.

The best way around the lack of bivvy problem was to go halves with a friend and then double up on a swim together.  If they couldn’t fish that weekend, you got it to yourself, then you both just needed to save up again to get another one.  This worked well and slowly we started to look a bit more like carp angler’s or as we called ourselves Specimen Hunters.

Those first few years on Barham pits (near Claydon), is where the carp bug really kicked in and is still well and truly with me.  We had some laughs in though’s days.  There was no barrow other than a wheelbarrow, which I hadn’t seen anyone use yet.  We used an old pram base was perfect until we got bored and started to race them up and down, you can guess the rest!  Let’s just say the wheels all buckled up and that was the end of that!  We did muck about somewhat back then, I will come to that later on.

This was the time also when I discovered PVA Bags, at this time they were made by Duncan Kay.  Wow!  How they changed my fishing.  After playing around with them, I realized that if you left the air in them and got the wind in the correct direction you could drift a bag under overhanging trees and pick up fish that way.  Inevitably, it would be a tench or bream.  This was a bit frustrating and costly but occasionally worth it if you spotted a fish in these swims.

By 1984, I had sorted out my kit (well sort of), I had better rods but they were still not a pair.  Other kit had become more important, we then moved on to Weybread pits on the Suffolk Norfolk border.  There was a small pit in the middle of the complex, where we settled on for a few years.  This enabled me to hone the art of carp fishing and was more of a runs water.  This was a very valuable period of time in my carp fishing life.  I had learned so much from other anglers and the group of friends I was with.  This was where a couple of lads could empty the lake most weekends.  We learned the art of floater fishing, we went through a stage of trying to capture a carp floater fish on all the rods we owned one by one.  This sounds crazy and it did at the time, but it gave you a greater understanding of how to play fish.  The minimum and maximum pressure you could put on them without getting a hook pull and margin fishing is the key to a lot of fish captures.

To this day, this is still my favorite style of fishing.  It is the most rewarding and possibly the most intense you can get from carp fishing.  We had discovered that black-eyed peas were an amazing bait.  They were very cheap to buy, easy to prepare and you could easily color/flavor them and they stayed on the hook.  Also at this time, we had started to play around with boilies.  I did have a go around 1980 but without much success.  It was hard to find any information regarding ingredients at first, so I just stuck to stuff out of my mum’s kitchen!  Things then started to kick off in ’84 – I purchased the odd book, which for the life of me I can’t remember the names.  Unfortunately, over the years I moved around a lot and I so wish I hadn’t binned so much stuff.  I used to keep everything there was to do with carp fishing; I read so much, just sat and made up bait recipes.  So many in fact, that I never ever used them all!  Somewhere very successful for me, others not so much but it just was a fantastic time to be in the carp fishing world – a voyage of discovery.  I do miss bait making these days but with work, kids and family stuff I just don’t have the time.  Also the ready-made frozen bait market so advanced today, why bother?  Use your time to go fishing!  I do like to play around with hook baits, stick mixes and ground bait, in the past two years they have got me very excited again, there is just so much choice, back to the ’80s.

Transport in those days was also great fun.  We use to share lifts for a couple of years and I still can’t believe we would get all that tackle for two people in my Mini Clubman estate.  It was bigger than my mates one but he still got two people’s kit in.  They were stuffed to the gunnels but we got it all in and it worked well.  I would like to see you get today’s kits in an original mini, now that would be fun!  I ended up with an Escort estate, much to the dismay of my girlfriend, as everyone else had flash Escort, she just didn’t understand carp fishing!

In the photo you can see my first proper bivvy and a pair of rods, you may have spotted the third.  We hoped the bailiff never did, if he did, he mostly turned a blind eye, which was a help.  I had an old groundsheet as a sleeping bag cover, landing net in though’s day’s where very heavy and hard to move about, unlike the modern slimline ones.  We were good at cooking on the bank, that was one thing that wasn’t too bad.  There were plenty of options for cooking as camping equipment was very common.  Most of the summer months, I would kip out under the stars, this was just an amazing time to be fishing, I did have a brolly pole just in case the weatherman was wrong!  I sorted out the issues with the Argos sun-lounger by cutting a V at each end of a piece of wood, this stopped the bed collapsing but in the end, I found the best way was to dig a groove in the ground for the legs and use pegs to peg it hard into the ground.  This worked well and worth the effort – no more trapped in a bed with a rod trying to play a fish and get out.

Weybread Middle Pit was where I honed my skills and I certainly had plenty of carp in the first year there.  I remember turning up the day before June 16th and we were all set up by 8 am, we just sat feeding the carp bread in the margins most of the day.  They were just everywhere.  The following morning was a different matter, we had carp but not in the numbers we were seeing the day before.  The carp had learned about pressure even then.

It was hard to find a lake with twenty’s in, let alone a 30+ and then you needed people to tell you about them and the location.  This all took time, part of the complex we fished had 1 and I’m not sure to this day, why we started on middle pit but there were 2 or 3 twenty’s.  I think we must have thought it was a better option.  I had over 53 carp that year.  I learned so much, watercraft was a key factor, understanding the topography of the lake and the feeding patterns.  I was up there every weekend from Friday to Sunday, even if I worked Saturday morning, I would go straight after work and set up.  The more you are there, the more you learn and that is certainly true today.

Fish care was in the long grass in though’s days.  We did all had a sack to retain the carp in and tried to do our best.  There has always been an urge for me to look after the fish and return it safely for the next person to catch.

They may not have all been the biggest fish in the world but back then, we certainly thought they were and took photographs of them all.

There was another thing that I remember about the ’80s, that has all but been forgotten –  playing tricks on each other (and scoring points for the idea of the trick and the reaction of the person).  Some of the best ones I can remember was turning the bivvy around, giving them a run and watch them try and find their way out in a sleepy daze or removing the elastic bands from under the bed chair a putting string to just hold the material in place, then watching them lay on the bed and fall onto a nice hard floor.  Other ones I can remember, putting food coloring into beans, blue and green were the best, switching the rod’s over and leaving the line in its original buzzer was a fun one.  Never leave your keys about as someone would put something in your car which would generally be horrible.

There was a group of five of us that fished together back in the early ’80’s; Mike, Carl, Paul, Andy, and I.  It was probably one of the best periods of my carp fishing career.  For the company and laughs, the innervation and discovering so much between us all.  Without a doubt, without this group of people, I think the start of my fishing career, wouldn’t have been that much fun.  Unfortunately. I had to move down South and time changes with family and stuff – we lost contact with each other.

I have fond memories of the ’80s and the old skool kit.  I wished I’d kept more of it but this wasn’t to be.  However, I love the modern day carp kit and the advances which have happened over the years.  As I get ever closer to 55, I am glad of my Aqua bivvy and 5 season sleeping bag.  How well would we be at sleeping on the Argos sun-loungers?  I bet we would all be doubled up with back pain and walking with a stick.  I could go on about all the other inventions and improvements.  The key one for me has to be bait.  As the ’90s began, fishing tackle started to take a leap forwards with proper bivvy, Kjc Rod pods, Wavelock brolly.  Winter fishing became a thing of the future for all carp anglers.

Not sure if you class the early ’90’s as old skool.  However, looking back at the amount of money I could send on carp fishing.  It was certainly a turning point for me.  The tackle I could buy and the lakes I discovered, the industry was starting the beginning of great things to come.

I hope this has been an incite to old skool fishing and my time through the ages.

Until Next Time

Richard

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My Journey Through The Old Skool Days My Journey Through The Old Skool Days I started my Carp fishing in the early '80s, after leaving school. 

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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 8/25/17

  In movie news, there was quite the controversial casting this week, as the color lines blurred for some comic book adaptations. First up, it was announced that English actor Ed Skrein would be portraying Japanese character Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy reboot. Now, according to what I’ve read, Daimio’s Japanese heritage heavily influences the character, so this whitewashing of the character doesn’t seem to be in the best interest of the character. I mean, after the problems with whitewashing in Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, Aloha, The Great Wall, and Ni’ihau, you’d think Hollywood would avoid shit like this. Yes, movies are made to make money, but it’s not like Skrein is a bankable star worth slotting into the role, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Usually this is done for the film’s STARS. Damon, Johansson, Stone. This is a secondary character, so it really wouldn’t have hurt them to seek out an Asian actor. Normally I’m just like “Well, Hollywood’s gonna Hollywood”, but this decision just doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Next up, 24: Legacy’s Anna Diop has been cast as Starfire in Warner Bros’ Titans series, slated to air on DC’s upcoming digital service. Some folks are saying they should’ve cast a Latina, but she’s gonna either be painted or CGied in orange, so it’s not like it’s gonna matter at the end of the day. Personally, if they wanted authenticity, I think they should’ve cast an actual orange alien princess. Right now there are just too many unknowns for me to get excited about this. I mean, DC announced the digital service without a lot of information. What’s gonna be on it? What will it cost? How much of the DC library will be available to be housed on it? As for Titans, this is the show TNT passed on. Ya know, the home of such illustrious shows as The Librarians and The Last Ship. I mean, they’re basically just about a notch up from what we got in the 90s from Universal’s Action Pack lineup. If Titans couldn’t fit anywhere on that schedule, then it probably just isn’t “ready for primetime” yet.

Speaking of aimless Warner Bros decisions, they announced 2 different Joker movies this week. First up is an origin tale, directed by Todd Phillips of Old School fame, and produced by Martin Scorsese. Hmm, one of those things is not like the other. I mean, why would Scorsese touch something helmed by the dude who gave us Road Trip? And who even WANTS a Joker origin story? First of all, it’s reportedly not even going to be part of the DCEU, so why confuse the audience with a story that won’t even really “count” in the grand scheme of things? Nobody needs a standalone origin of a take on a character they’ll likely never see again. This is just as foolish as Sony’s Don’t-Look-For-Spider-Man-To-Appear Venom movie. Next, the guys behind This Is Us (SO hot right now!) and Crazy, Stupid, Love are working on a Bonnie & Clyde-style Joker and Harley film, with Jared Leto and Margot Robbie reprising their roles from Suicide Squad. Since this would sort of negate the empowerment that Harley gained by the end of Squad, it’s believed that this actually means that the planned Gotham City Sirens film, also slated to star Robbie, is now dead. Honestly, I could do without either of these movies. I found Leto’s take on Joker to be…interesting, but Less is More with that character. Plus, I don’t really think the DCEU would be strengthened by this sort of movie. It’s not the world-building they need to be doing right now, as they haven’t even figured out the core of their star characters like Batman and Superman yet.

In TV news, Christopher Sebela’s comic Heartthrob has been optioned as a TV series by Felix Culpa – a production company launched by actress/Elvis’s granddaughter Riley Keough. Now, comics are optioned every day, and the final product never comes to fruition, but I hope this series sees the light of day. I’m actually a big fan of the comic, which is published by Oni Press. Set in the late 70s, it focuses on Callie, who’s received a heart transplant while the process is still in its infancy. Given a new lease on life, but still told she’s basically living on borrowed time, she decides to change her life when she meets Mercer, a charming guy with a shady side. She immediately falls for him, and he teaches her how to be bad, like rob banks and commit other crimes. She gets off on the rush. Pretty soon, however, she realizes that Mercer isn’t real. No, he’s actually the ghost of the guy whose heart is now in Callie. So, it’s a Bonnie & Clyde story where Clyde’s calling the shots from the afterlife. The book is published in “seasons”, so the first 5-issue miniseries wrapped up back in early 2016, while season 2 is hitting stores now. If you’re looking for a new comic not from the Big Two, I highly recommend it.

In music news, Taylor Swift did a whole social blitz to announce that her next album would be called Reputation, and would be released Nov 10th. On top of that, the first single was released last night, with rumors that the video will premiere at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. Ya know, the same awards hosted my Taylor’s enemy Katy Perry. Yeah, that should be pretty interesting to watch. Anyway, the new song is called “Look What You Made Me Do”, and I’m not too impressed. It lacks a real hook, while the chorus itself is basically spoken. I feel like it has all the ingredients for a great song, but it’s not living up to its full potential. If this is an indicator of what to expect on Reputation, though, I’ll admit I’m curious. It can’t be worse than Perry’s Witness.

Speaking of Katy Perry, we got the premiere of her video for “Swish Swish”, which was reportedly her diss track against Taylor Swift. After a lot of backtracking and sucking up, though, it seems Katy wants to put that feud behind her. That’s why this horrible video does everything it can to take the bite out of a song that was never really that biting to begin with. I mean, just look at it – Molly Shannon? Terry Crews? Even Nicki Minaj was clearly CGied in, as I’m sure she didn’t wanna be anywhere near this shitshow. The sad thing about the Perry/Swift feud is that Katy bailed on it the minute she realized the Swifties were a more powerful lobby than she had thought. Nobody was feeling her SNL performances, and Witness didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. She realized that she can’t really survive by making enemies, so suddenly she became conciliatory to save her ass. Plus, it’s kinda lame that this blood feud started just because Taylor stole a few of Katy’s dancers for her tour. Anyway, you’ll never get those 6 minutes back. You’re welcome.

I had the pleasure of joining my buddy Zac for his new podcast, The Zac Shipley Show. He’s treating these first few episodes as pilots for ideas he’s wanted to try, so our ep was called Streaming Pile, where we talked about the worst things we could find on streaming services. I talked about a Star Trek: Voyager episode where formerly perky pixie Kes returns all middle-aged and bitter. You should check it out, and give a listen to his other episodes while you’re there!

Song of the Week

I’ve been a big Maren Morris fan since she released “My Church”, and I was really into her next single, “80s Mercedes”. With this song she continues not to disappoint, as I love the groove on this thing. Listen to the bassline. It’s not a dance song, yet you can do a MEAN two-step to it. Hell, I think you could even do a casual version of The Hustle to it. This will definitely go to #1 given time.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

NBC’s planned reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess – which would’ve featured a full-on lesbian relationship between her and Gabrielle – is officially dead, as they said “it didn’t warrant a reboot”. Man, if only other studios would realize this about some of their projects…

Director James Gunn mentioned in a Q & A session that the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film would set up the next 10-20 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yup, you’re just now realizing your own mortality. I’ll give you a minute to deal with that.

Speaking of Gunn, he’s attached to write the pilot for (and possibly direct) a reboot of 70s series Starsky & Hutch. This adaptation is supposed to be similar in tone to CBS’s upcoming S.W.A.T. and not comedic in tone like the 2004 Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson movie.

Surprising every critic in Hollywood, Netflix has renewed the maligned comedy Friends From College for a second season.

Known for controversial publicity stunts, Alamo Drafthouse is reportedly organizing a Clowns Only screening of the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It.

We got a new poster for Thor: Ragnarok. So many colors!

Michael K. Williams has reportedly been cut from the Star Wars Han Solo film, as Ron Howard’s reshoot schedule conflicted with another role that Williams had accepted.

There are, like, 8 different Knight Rider reboot treatments floating around Hollywood, but the latest rumor is that one of those productions is looking at John Cena as Michael Knight, with Kevin Hart as the voice of K.I.T.T. Of course, it would be a comedic adaptation, a la the popular Jump Street franchise.

Super Troopers 2, the sequel to one of the most overrated films I’ve ever seen, will hit theaters April 20th, 2018.

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson will star in Nasty Women, which is a female-led reboot of the Michael Caine/Steve Martin classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Independence Day: Resurgence‘s Jessie T Usher will star in Son of Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson potentially reprising his role as John Shaft (from the 2000 reboot film), the nephew of the original John Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree, who is also in talks to join the movie. Man, that gave me a headache.

Always on the cutting edge, here’s Sesame Street’s parody of 2017’s song of the summer, “Despacito”

According to the creators, the Netflix series Stranger Things will most likely end after its fourth season

The actress formerly known as “Andrea Zuckerman”, Gabrielle Carteris, has been re-elected to a 2-year term as the President of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

Ryan Gosling will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Jay-Z, on Sept 30th.

Jamie Bell is developing a Jumper TV series, based on the 2008 film about teleporters

Suicide Squad 2 is reportedly being fast tracked, but I hope they fast track it right into the garbage. I mean, I enjoyed the first one, but I don’t need a sequel.

I like Nick Kroll, even though I never saw even a second of Kroll Show. Anyway, he’s got a new animated series about puberty called Big Mouth coming to Netflix and after watching this teaser I am ON BOARD!

We’re a month away from the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, and it was revealed that it will be rated TV-MA, for Mature Audiences. Now, it doesn’t mean there’ll be tits and phasers, but it does mean they can tell more complex stories. That said, I still feel like they don’t truly understand the source material.

After a scathing essay from his ex-wife went public, accusing him of adultery and other generally shitty behavior to women, Joss Whedon went underground and the fan site, Whedonesque, shut down after 15 years.

We got a new teaser for Netflix’s The Punisher. With the rate I’m getting through these Marvel shows, I’ll probably get to it just before Evie goes off to Hogwarts.

There was a national solar eclipse this week, which was the first occurrence since 1918. I’m sure you might’ve heard something about it. It was kind of a big deal. Folks were pimping out special cardboard glasses on Craigslist for insane amounts of money, and the American President made news by looking directly into it. It seems that it had a strange effect on different folks. For example, Netflix viewership went down 10% as people went outside to view the phenomenon. Not everyone understood what was going on, bless their hearts. At work, a frantic parent called in and said “Y’all watching the news? You hear about this eclipse? Is it serious?!” Apparently she thought it posed some sort of danger to her kids and the school. No, ma’am. It’s just a beautiful sky ballet. Anyway, the eclipse was EVERYWHERE. I didn’t get to see totality, but it was still nice to stand outside for a bit on a nice day. What am I saying? I hate the outdoors! Well, it was nice to not have to work for a few minutes. You couldn’t escape the Eclipse Fever at the start of the week, so that’s why the Solar Eclipse of 2017 had the West Week Ever.

#80s #Batman #Comics #Country #DC #Indie #Knight Rider #Marvel #Movies #Music #Politics #Pop #Race #Star Trek #Star Wars #Television #West Week Ever #Wrestling

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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 2/10/17

Last night, my friend Mike and I went to check out The Lego Batman Movie. Seeing as how we were the only two people in the theater, I’m not quite sure what its weekend box office is gonna look like. I bet John Wick: Chapter 2 takes #1, since that’s where everyone seemed to be heading. Anyway, I LOVED the film. First up, it considers EVERYTHING canon. If you saw it onscreen, then it happened in that universe. The whole thing is kind of surreal, as the movie focuses on Batman’s loner status, while also confronting his complicated relationship with The Joker. On the Batman Beyond cartoon, there’s an episode where old Bruce Wayne and his protege, Terry McGinnis, go to a Batman-themed musical. Bruce can’t get over how goofy the whole thing seems, but I feel like this film is the movie version of that musical. It doesn’t have the camp of the ’66 show, but it’s a movie that never really takes itself seriously. I loved the liberties they took, like making Jim and Barbara Gordon people of color (voiced by Hector Elizondo and Rosario Dawson). It doesn’t hurt the story any, while bringing some diversity to the Lego world. I also liked how it tied in concepts from The Lego Movie, such as the fact that Batman is a Master Builder. I’m not going to spoil the movie for you, but I feel like it’s strong until the middle of the second act, at which point it switches from a Lego Batman movie to a Lego Dimensions movie. Trust me, you’ll understand when you see it, and I think you’ll agree that the story gets a bit weaker at that point. In any case, I can’t wait for it to hit Blu Ray, so I can rewatch it a thousand times to catch all the Easter eggs.

This week, we got a trailer for a new season of Arrow. Wait, what? That was actually for Iron Fist? Huh. Yeah, I was really underwhelmed by that trailer. Finn Jones doesn’t seem like a great actor, there’s not a lot of Kung Fu on display, and it seems like it’s more focused on corporate takeover, as Danny Rand tries to reclaim his family’s business. Since it’s a Netflix Marvel show, there’s also Rosario Dawson and another damn hallway fight. I welcome the former, but I’m SO over the latter. I’ll get around to watching it, but the days of me binge-watching a Marvel season the weekend of its release are long gone. Considering I still need to watch Daredevil season 2 and Luke Cage, I’ll be lucky to get around to it in 2017. That said, I know a lot of y’all will binge it that day, and will tell me if it sucks or not.

In other TV news, it’s rumored that NBC wants to spin Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update segment into a weekly 30-minute show. I guess they looked at John Oliver and Samantha Bee, and realized they might be leaving money on the table. Still, Jost and Che as “polarizing”, at best, and I’m not sure if that segment has the legs to air 30 minutes every week, in the same format. Plus, would it also remain a part of SNL, or would it be excised completely? I think this would’ve been a good idea in an election year, as there’s just so much news to cover, but now that all that is behind us, I’m just not sure this is going to work. And then what happens? If it does leave SNL, would it come crawling back next season, with its tail between its legs? The difference between Last Week Tonight/Full Frontal and Weekend Update is that those cable shows are actually smart, with smart hosts. Plus, they can get away with a bit more because cable. Weekend Update has gotten a lot more biting since Trump was elected, but is it too little, too late? Are the SNL writers up to the task of this project? I just feel like it’s a bad idea that will dilute the Weekend Update and SNL brands.

It was also announced that Viacom will be rebranding Spike TV as the Paramount Network. In my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve witnessed a network go through as many format changes as that one. As far back as I can remember, it was The Nashville Network. Then, to appeal to a wider audience, it became The National Network. Then, to appeal to dudebros, it became Spike TV. Now, I don’t even know who they’re targeting. I also don’t know why they chose this particular name. It’s like they have short memories or something. After all, there’s already been a Paramount Network. Sure, most of us referred to it as UPN and not the United Paramount Network, but that’s what those letters stood for. And it was the definition of “failed experiment”. Sure, it hobbled along for about 10 years, but its legacy is basically Star Trek: Voyager, America’s Next Top Model and Girlfriends. Outside of that, it gave us such critical darlings as Shasta McNasty, Homeboys In Outer Space, and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. Hey, let’s see how many shitty (that means all of them) UPN shows I can list without looking them up: DiResta, Legend, Platypus Man, Hitz, Good News, Sparks, Dilbert, Marker, The Watcher, The Sentinel…yeah,that’s enough to make my point, which is you probably don’t remember any of these. UPN did NOTHING for the Paramount brand, and its effects are still being felt 11 years after its demise. So why, WHY would Viacom want to go down this road again? Anyway, the early plans for the rebranding call for the network to be a warehouse for hit Viacom programming from their other networks. It’s basically just gonna be the Now That’s What I Call Viacom Channel, posting the highlights from MTV, Nick, Nick Jr, etc. In fact, there are no concrete plans for the future of other Viacom networks, such as VH1, CMT, and TVLand, but reports say that there’s no immediate push to shut them down.

It was also rumored that there are already talks of an American Idol revival, but this time on NBC. Now, keep in mind the show just ended its run on Fox last year. The idea is that The Voice would be reduced to one cycle a year, and then they would slot Idol in one of its old slots. I feel like NBC sees the value in that show in that it actually creates household names – something The Voice has failed to do after 11 seasons. The focus is too much on the judges, and the winners have gone nowhere. Quick, name a winner of The Voice without looking it up. Hell, I watched the first season, and I can’t even remember that guy (I looked it up: Javier Colon. Who? Right). So, there’s definitely something to be gained from acquiring the franchise. That said, though, I also feel like a network only gets one of those shows. Fox had Idol, NBC had The Voice, ABC had Rising Star, and CBS had some show that got canceled that I forgot. Fox hurt Idol by double-dipping and picking up The X-Factor. That show never caught on in the US, and it hurt the Fox singing competition brand. If NBC picks up Idol, it’s going to do the same to The Voice. I mean, how much longer does America want to see Blake Shelton and Adam Levine bicker at each other? Sure, there’s a new dynamic now that Blake and Gwen Stefani are dating and both judges, but unless the show breaks them up, I don’t know how engaging that’s gonna be. And Miley Cyrus as a coach? Now, let me say that Bangerz was a great album. I’ve written about how awesome it was. But I don’t think Miley is established enough as a singer to be coaching anyone. She’s more known for her antics than her music. Then again, Paula Abdul was a has been, judging the talent of tomorrow, but that was intrinsic to the formula. Ultimately, America chose the Idol, and the show brought in established stars as coaches. The Voice has an unnecessary layer. They have talented judges, but then they also have the coaches, and then America. As Idol showed us, ANYBODY cane a judge, which is going to be an important thing for NBC to remember once it comes to for contracts to be renegotiated. Anyway, I think Idol needs to rest a few more years before they dust it off. It was once a powerhouse, but television AND music changed over time. Let the industry figure out its next steps before trying to reenter it.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with women, which meant I did a tour of duty with soap operas. I started with Days of Our Lives back in the late 80s, then shifted to The Young and the Restless, and then shifted back to Days in the 00s. And besides Victor Newman, there is no soap villain quite as diabolical as Stefano DiMera. Well, the actor who portrayed him, Joseph Mascolo, died back in December, but his final filmed episode aired yesterday.  Although Mascolo had been battling Alzheimers for the past few years, he had portrayed the character for around 30 years. For some reason (I haven’t watched in a while), he was in prison (he’s killed/led to the death of a lot of folks. But they typically come back after contract negotiations), and at the end of the episode, he escapes! What a beautiful ending, knowing that he will be forever “in the wind”, as they can’t really catch him again unless they recast him. Seeing as how the rumor is Days is coming to an end this year, they won’t even have time to do that, with scripts written about 6 months in advance. So, here’s a toast to one of the greatest villains to ever grace the television set. You will be missed, you evil son of a bitch.

Let’s get a little controversial, shall we? This week, comedian George Lopez got in hot water for kicking a woman out of one of his shows when she objected to a racially-charged joke he told. Basically he said, “There are only two rules in the Latino family: Don’t marry somebody black and don’t park in front of our house.” Apparently, a woman gave him the finger after that joke, to which he began to tell her to “sit [her] fucking ass down or get the fuck out.” Now, comedians are on his side because they say he was just shutting down a heckler. Meanwhile, the general public is on her side because they’re offended by the joke, and don’t see why he had to kick her out for objecting. Here’s my take: First of all, he’s told variations of this joke for years. He used to joke about how his grandmother wouldn’t even want President Obama in her house. If you’re familiar with his material, then his joke the other night shouldn’t surprise you. Now, for the folks offended by the joke: was he wrong? All I know is my own life experience. I dated a Cuban, and as polite and Ivy League-educated as I could be, I was still the Black guy who could only illicit grunts from her father. And I don’t know anyone named Esmeralda Jenkins or Manuela Johnson. Growing up where I did, Black guys didn’t get Latinas or Asian girls. Those girls’ families weren’t gonna stand for that! So, this is one of those jokes that’s grounded in truth. It might rub some folks the wrong way, but it’s not necessarily untrue. Where I stand, I don’t think he really did anything wrong. After all, that’s how comedians handle folks who they feel are interrupting their show, and the joke itself was par for the Lopez course. I wouldn’t say it was “haha funny”, but it wasn’t wrong.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

An animated series based on the Castlevania video game is coming to Netflix later this year. Hopefully it will star gay Simon Belmont from Captain N: The Game Master.

Kate McKinnon will voice Ms. Frizzle in Netflix’s reboot of The Magic School Bus

Speaking of Netflix, Love, The OA, and Trollhunters have all been renewed by the streaming service.

Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, announced that she’s retiring after her next album is released.

After 25 years over covering the Olympics, Bob Costas announced he’s handing the reins over to Mike Tirico

Entertainment newsmagazine show The Insider has been canceled after 13 seasons.

Formerly of USA’s Satisfaction, Blair Redford has been cast as the first mutant in Fox’s X-Men TV series

Not to be outdone by Beyoncé, it was announced that George and Amal Clooney are expecting twins. Those Hollywood In Vitro clinics are working overtime these days!

Speaking of babies, Jason Statham proved he’s the Transporter of Sperm, as he announced he’s expecting a baby with girlfriend Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

I don’t like Tom Brady. Don’t like a thing about him. I find it odd that you can be suspended for cheating AND win the Super Bowl in the same damn season. That said, that was a Hell of a comeback during Sunday’s Super Bowl LI. Somehow, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead, allowing the New England Patriots to mount an amazing comeback and win their 5th Super Bowl title. It was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime. There was Edelman’s amazing catch. Some are calling it the most exciting game of football ever. But in the end there can only be one winner, and that was the Patriots. So, with that in mind, the New England Patriots had the West Week Ever.

#80s #Batman #DC #Marvel #Movies #Music #Politics #Race #Star Trek #Television #Toys #Video Games #West Week Ever #X-Men