Television Tuesday: "The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!"

As everyone argues whether Cartoon Network (and by proxy, Adult Swim) is dead/dying or just fine, Hulu has quietly dropped a Halloween special that seems a bit like a way to backdoor pilot a slate of its own animated show ideas. This occurs within a program/one-shot/pilot itself that dropped yesterday, "The Paloni Show! Halloween Special." 

Created by Justin Roiland (one-half of the, "Rick and Morty," founding team and a creator of Hulu's show, "Solar Opposites," too), the framing device of this hour-long program is the Paloni family as they struggled to host a quality Haloween show between having to babysit a nephew with absurdly long legs, avoiding a serial killer, and other dangers. Between the Paloni family's mayhem, there are 13 shorts that vary in their animation style (one is claymation and another is actually live-action). Many of the shorts incorporate the holiday Halloween or riff on horror movie concepts, but nothing is especially, "Scary," so much as sometimes over-the-top silly in a variety of ways including some cartoony violence. 

When it comes to the shorts, I would say 1/3 are fantastic, 1/3 are okay, and 1/3 are...well, they're bad (some shorts are just dull and lack much of any idea or are simply really ugly in their animation). The good stuff really sticks with you though, like a town where the mayor banned anything scary that increases in absurdity as the bit goes on. I also really liked an animated Megahex segment that was made by the comic's creator, Simon Hanslemann. A weird story about a seemingly ineffective apartment complex manager also becomes inadvertently bittersweet as it features one of the last recorded performances of Gilbert Gottfried--who passed earlier this year.

Overall reviews of, "The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!" are mixed. I've seen some positive takes that admire how bizarre and off-kilter the whole thing is. I have also spotted reviews that have the same opinion I do about how the shorts vary immensely in quality, but overall it is a fun program that sets up possible future Hulu shows in a cleverly subtle manner (please, PLEASE give us a full Megahex series). I would say the entire thing is a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. If you like the kind of weird shows Roiland makes this is mandatory viewing, but if you've found yourself struggling to ever enjoy the kind of stuff on Adult Swim or the like, maybe pass on this. I liked it.

I Love Our New Vacuum

I am aware there is a certain humor to how I recently made a post bemoaning how I'm old and then shortly after that creating a post about my affinity for a vacuum. That said, I really love our new vacuum. We had an old one that was really heavy, struggled to get the job done, and otherwise needed to be replaced. I did some research on what was the best vacuum (at a reasonable price) and thanks to some sales going on we were able to purchase a Tineco Pure One S11 without breaking the bank. This thing is amazing.

Our new vacuum is cordless, can easily have the filters changed, and you can pop various attachments on and off to tackle almost any cleaning task. It literally detects how dirty a carpet is and adjusts its suction based on that. When I use this vacuum I feel like I've jumped a decade into the future. Vacuuming now feels less like a chore and more like a sci-fi experience.

Note: I was not asked by Tineco to write this post, they don't even know I exist. I just felt like making a post about my love of our new vacuum.

The Trunk or Treat at LifeBridge Partnership Today Was Great Fun!

LifeBridge Partnership is a nonprofit found here in Saint Louis which has been around for over 90 years. Their mission is, "Building bridges to a life of social independence for individuals with disabilities," and they do lots of good work. They held a big Trunk or Treat event today and our family went and checked it out. It was a lot of fun! There was a DJ playing music, a free hot dog lunch, face painting, ample cars doing the trunk or treat, and a cool, "Haunted," bus that I got a picture of Clarkson on:

We enjoyed walking around and as you can see from the top photo and this one right below with my wife, Samii, we were waffles and syrup! Have a look:

The Trunk or Treat at LifeBridge Partnership was lovely. I'd encourage you to check them out!

The Death Penalty is Arguably Useless as a Deterrent and Often Used Unfairly

I am against the death penalty. There are some people who do not deserve to walk this Earth because they are such horrendous human beings, but the death penalty itself is often used so unfairly or in a manner that promotes systemic racism that I am opposed to it. The Parkland shooter--I won't even give him the dignity of using his name--is someone who unquestionably has no reason to be alive. He committed a mass shooting with pure malice and hatred. However, it was recommended he simply get life in prison. Meanwhile, the death penalty is often unfairly used much more heavily against people of color in a manner that makes it clear not being white--or especially if you are of color and your victim is white--greatly increases the odds of the death penalty. My own region's prosecutor, Wesley Bell, has discussed this before as well. This is when it should be pointed out the Parkland shooter is a white male. 

Plus, there are still cases where someone is later proven innocent through new evidence and has already been executed. Even one innocent person being killed on death row is too one too many. The death penalty is something that should be useful in theory but ends up being used in a prejudicial manner and not even used when it would make perfect sense. This is all without even going into how cost-ineffective it is to our nation's budget. If we give the death penalty to certain demographics without hesitation but then disagree about giving it to a mass shooter who happens to be white this program that works in hypothetical situations is horribly broken and should simply be eliminated.

Two Things Made Me Feel Really Old This Week

I'm getting older, which is fine! We age and sometimes we feel kind of old for various reasons. Two different things made me feel quite ancient this week even if I'm just 34, however.

1. I was at Half Price Books and browsing the magazine section as I always check there, the comics section, and so forth. I found one from the 1980s with a big feature of Debbie Harry of Blondie. I was excited to get it and pointed it out to the employee barely in his 20s at checkout. He told me, "I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know who that is." I named various songs and he was apologetic, but I could feel myself withering away into primordial dust.

2. A song called, "Sunshine," has been on the radio by Tyga, Jhené Aiko, and Pop Smoke. It doesn't so much sample the classic song also titled, "Sunshine," by Lil' Flip and Lea, as it does function as a cover version with the many elements wholesale ripped off from the original song. The thing that made me feel old was I have seen multiple people acting like it is a brand new song or being confused when they hear it samples a previous song. The original, "Sunshine," came out in 2004, which I guess is now 18 years old and therefore seems like aged classical music to some young folks these days.

I have turned into the stock photo cartoon of the old man you can see above. It's only a matter of time before I tell kids to get off my lawn.

Flashback Friday: "Batman: Arkham City," Has Arguably the Best Video-Game Opening Ever

Before we discuss the masterpiece that is, "Batman: Arkham City," we need to talk about what came first. When the video game, "Batman: Arkham Asylum," was released, it astounded everyone. A video-game company named Rocksteady--who had made one decent first-person shooter and was basically unknown--released an absolutely incredible Batman game. Before this came out it was basically a joke that super-hero video-games usually stunk. How could Rocksteady possibly follow up such an amazing game set within the infamous Arkham Asylum? Why not make a big junk of Gotham one big open-world prison? It was so crazy it worked and, "Arkahm City," is arguably even better than the first game. I feel one reason it manages to be so amazing is it sinks its claws into you from the earliest moments with one of the best openings ever.

Now, one caveat must be said. Before the game proper starts there is a little segment with Catwoman that is all of 5 minutes or less long. When the game originally came out you had to enter a code to even play this moment and the other Catwoman sections (later editions automatically included this). Therefore, technically there is a little Catwoman segment before the opening proper in many versions of the game, but let's not dwell on, "What about-isms." In my opinion, the real opening of the game is that prologue with you as Bruce Wayne getting a feel for the nightmarish city before you even put on the Batman cowl. Here is a clip of the prologue of sorts and then my thoughts on it all:

The game opens with a white screen along with the voice of Hugo Strange taunting Bruce Wayne about a mysterious protocol and how if Wayne tries to stop him he'll reveal he's Batman. Between this strange screen, we see an intro movie of Wayne protesting Arkham City as a horrible idea and getting arrested. Then the screen reveals we are now in control of Wayne as his eyes adjust to the lights. We're chained up and staring at ourselves in a mirror. When I first played the game I didn't realize I actually had control but then I motioned for Wayne to tip the chair over. 

This brings a guard in that you beat up and steal a piece of tech from. Then you're picked up and thrown into the city. Prisoners mock you, and other villains can be seen getting tasered and forced into the city. You can walk a bit, but don't have to do any fighting for a good bit as the scene just drips with atmosphere. Eventually, you fight a little bit and (after smacking around the Penguin) climb up a building to call your suit down. It's an ingenious mixture of introducing the story, setting, and giving you a bit of gameplay. It is fantastic.

That is just the first 10 minutes in what becomes hours of wild fun. A whole bunch of villains appear, puzzles are solved, ample fights occur, and it all results in, "Batman: Arkham City," being simply incredible. Some games take a while to get going and run the risk of losing a gamer's attention (or at least mine) if it takes too long for anything cool or fun to occur. "Batman: Arkham City," manages to hook you right at the start and that is why when I think back over the best openings in games, this one is possibly the top dog...or should say bat? Yeah, that's an awful joke, I'm sorry.

When a Situation Makes Eric Andre be Serious, You Know it is Bad

Eric Andre is a hilarious individual. From acting in various television shows or movies to doing his surreal talk show/variety show/fever dream of a program, "The Eric Andre Show." I rarely have seen him on camera not being silly, so when he's deadly serious you know something is horrifically messed-up. Well, a program done at airports that asks people to allow a, "Consensual," search in the name of finding drugs that clearly engages in racial profiling--and almost never found anything but essentially stole money from travelers, is pretty darn bad. 

Hence, Eric Andre and another comedian, Clayton English (who on a separate occasion found himself harassed with no probable cause) have filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia's police department in an effort to get the, "Jet bridge interdiction program," declared unconstitutional. The program sounds like it fails in every manner besides providing the department with ill-gotten cash, so I wish Andre and English luck in getting it shut down.

What Were you Thinking, TwitchCon?

Twitch is a popular streaming platform where people play games or do some kind of hobby and chat with viewers. I've checked Twitch out on occasion and see the appeal although I'd usually rather play a game myself than view someone else doing it. Twitch had a big convention full of popular streamers called TwitchCon and it was going well until multiple people injured themselves in an incredibly poorly constructed foam pit. People were encouraged to jump into it and streamers twisted ankles or hurt their backs on some foams placed on a concrete floor just a few cubes deep. 

A streamer named Adriana Chechik broke her back in two places and has been tweeting she will require surgery. Apparently, Chechik hasn't just streamed safe-for-work stuff on Twitch, she recently was doing Onlyfans/other pornographic content and in a disturbing trend, some people have made jokes about her being hurt or otherwise indicated that because she's done sex work she deserves injuries. I've stated before that I believe sex work is work and if we destigmatize sex and legalize all sex work that will actually help put more funds towards actual sexual abuse and trafficking instead of wasting resources on prosecuting consenting adults engaging in sex work/porn/etc. I'm on a soapbox thanks to my MPH, however, so I digress.

When you have any sort of attraction at a convention, theme park, renaissance faire, or so forth you need to make sure it is safe. You can't just slap together something that looks fun and think the fun factor overrides the importance of public safety. Again, the public health student in me is immensely disturbed by the apparent lack of standards for avoiding getting people horrifically hurt. I already hesitate to jump into foam pits at trampoline parks, I can't imagine just diving into one built on a floor with zero padding.

My Review of, "Kratt," is Up Over at Forces of Geek

I reviewed the flick, "Kratt," for my chums over at Forces of Geek. Filmed in Estonia, it is very zany and sometimes a little violent.  Did I like it? Read my review over at their site and find out!

Interesting News From NYCC 2022

I said I'd probably have a post on the interesting news from the 2022 New York Comic-Con, and here we are. There were some intriguing tidbits so let's cover them!

NYCC 2022 Tidbits

• DC Comics is going to introduce a new digital subscription tier that allows subscribers to read comics just a month after they've come out. DC is aware this might upset comic shops and is attempting some damage control.
• Marvel laid out a bunch of upcoming events with a number of them involving the X-Men in some capacity. It is quite different from those years when the X-Men were shuffled to the side and an attempt was made to heavily promote the Inhumans. Clearly, having the film rights to mutants back has made Disney/Marvel quite bullish on the franchise. Blade's newly-introduced teenage daughter is getting a mini-series as well. I like Blade so I hope it is a good read.
• The publisher Heavy Metal has been having a lot of trouble lately, and Whatnot is going to partner with them and do all the actual publishing. An embattled company teaming up with the live-selling app's publishing venture sounds quite random. It could work or go down in flames. I'm 50-50 on it. Either way, I still enjoy the Whatnot app itself.
• "The Super Mario Bros." movie had a trailer debut. The internet had thoughts about Chris Pratt voicing Mario.
• The, "Wednesday," show that focuses on the titular character from The Adams Family had a trailer too. This upcoming Netflix show received a seemingly more excited response than Mario got.
• In terms of the news that surprised me the most; Joe Quesada spent decades at Marvel as a bigwig but left at the start of the Summer while indicating he wasn't done with comics. DC announced he'll be doing some variant covers and possibly other projects for DC in the future. It is just wild to see Quesada doing DC work after so long at Marvel.
• Overall, it seems a lot of fun was had and that this year's NYCC delivered plenty of entertainment and cool news.