July 2023 News and Links Roundup

Do We Work Today, Do We Take it Off?

It's July 3rd and a Monday. So many people have taken today off with the National Holiday known as July 4th falling on a Tuesday this year. It's made things a bit messy when it comes to figuring out what stores are open or closed. Plus, we didn't have mail yesterday but should get some today, and then none tomorrow, with it back Wednesday. Don't worry about me taking today off, though, I'm here with some assorted news I found interesting and thought I'd link to.

News and Links to Kick Off July

A massive rollercoaster was shut down when a park attendee named Jeremy Wagner noticed a huge crack had appeared upon it. Known as the Fury 325 one wonders how bad things could have been considering it was a support pillar. Upsettingly enough, when Wagner first alerted the park they seemed less than concerned about this massive issue. Once the fire department and media were alerted more action was taken. Scary stuff.

It's a bit baffling when a game that is barely a decade old gets a remake, but rumor has it Ubisoft is planning to give us a next-generation and remastered, "Assassin's Creed IV." That was the AC game that heavily incorporated sailing pirate ships and inspired the still heavily-delayed, "Skull and Bones," game. Apparently, the tech being used for that money sink might go towards this remake, salvaging some funds.

HBO used to be a big deal. Now, owner Warner Brother Discovery insists HBO's streaming service HBO MAX instead go by MAX and farm a lot of its biggest shows out to other streaming networks--that's if they aren't outright taking shows/movies off the internet (making them hard-to-impossible to watch legally). David Zaslav was brought in to save Warner Brothers Discovery but he seems more interested in breaking it down piece by piece for any scraps of change he can scoop up. That, or I'm just still bitter about what happened to "Batgirl."

A big-but-short event is launching from DC for a couple months called, "Knight Terrors." It is a four-issue series focusing on the DC Universe fighting a villain named Insomnia (they use dreams and nightmares to fight everybody, it seems). There are a slew of tie-in comics that are replacing the usual DC output for two months and while it is a clever idea this doesn't sound like anything I'm in a rush to go buy a ton of tie-ins for. That said, the two-issue one for the Joker actually sounds kind of genius. He--basically accidentally--kills Batman and with that done goes and gets a regular office job now that his life lacks purpose. The Joker's worst nightmare is essentially Batman dying and his life being boring. That's pretty fun. I might check out the first issue this week as it just seems quite clever.

I was bummed to hear about the passing of Alan Arkin. He was 89 and known for a ton of roles, but my absolute favorite has to be, "Little Miss Sunshine," where he plays an incredibly ornery but kind-hearted Grandfather. He will be missed. 

To conclude, I'm definitely getting old because I'd never heard of Colleen Ballinger or her, "Miranda Sings," character that younger folks apparently love. That is, until a big scandal broke involving her having toxic relationships with fans. She handled this scandal by singing a half-apology half-denial song on the ukulele. What even is reality, anymore?

Get Ready for the 4th!

Tomorrow will be July 4th so if you live in the United States get ready for a whole lot of fireworks, grilling, and--for some folks--drinking. Make sure to stay safe out there!