Game of Throne - Keep On Throning

Game of Throne - Keep On Throning

So in another month we get to see the most anticipated HBO return this year. Game of Thrones. And here's a little preview;



Which admittedly doesn't tell us anything about it. But having read the books, shits gonna go down. Expect the typical G.R.R. style of making sure your heroes suffer and then suffer some more.

The State of Public Magic Schools

The State of Public Magic Schools

I'm feeling very low content right now, so let's just show you the state of our public magic schools these days



If you aren't under a laughing spell right now, I don't know what your problem is.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit

Now that I've seen the Hobbit a good dozen times.. Yes, that's right. A dozen times. What can I say, I'm a nerd and this sort of AD&D shit is just stuff I eat up. In any case, I have a few observations to make based on my own political and real world views being applied to this world of Middle-Earth.


Let's face it. Bilbo isn't saving the world or anything. He sort of blunders into a brutal war he can't even begin to grasp with a bunch of military contractors. While there they use superior military technology to kill some indigenous people and then he goes on to exterminate the last member of an ancient species. All before going home with a shit ton of foreign loot.


You want to talk about class warfare, he carries around a magical sword that detects anyone not accepted by society. Oh that Bilbo, boldly adventuring on in his travels with a deposed monarch and his crew seeking to re-found an empire.

And yeah, it was a red shirt archer who killed the dragon. But that local man who shot it down only did so after the dragon was provoked into a rampage by Bilbo's theft of Thorin's ancestral crown jewels. If I recall correctly, he tells smaug that he's one of the lake folk, which sends the mighty beast off to his doom at the hands of Bard - who has a black arrow passed down for generations and generations. Apparently that sort of stuff makes you predestined to be ruler

So see kids, the moral of the Hobbit is simple - Steal Jewelry, Get Friends, Kill those ugly assholes.

Oh yeah, and ruin New Zealand's actors unions....

Music Video MST3k

Music Video MST3k

While MTV stopped showing videos almost 20 years ago now, it's to the point that teenagers who are growing up now never knew of a channel that existed with music videos, it's probably for the best. Especially since we have places like Youtube that we can instantly watch videos on demand with the cost being maybe 30 seconds of commercials. Typically it's a five second wait before you can even skip it.

With that said, how about we take apart a current music video.



First off, I'll make no qualms about liking Katy Perry. She's hot, and while I'm sure a lot of that is layers and layers of caked on make up, as evident by the candid morning shot that Russell Brand took. I still think she cleans up well. Besides, I'm not going to scoff at someone who is willing to get down with the outrageous wig colors. That's sort of a kick of mine, after all.

So clearly this video is a sort of reaction to the fame/limelight that she has gotten in her very public relationship to the before mentioned morning camera action heavy duty British accent fella. The personification of her inner child does come across fairly well. I guess I fail to see why she went full on blatantly ripping off Skrillex's crazy super powered little girl. Down to even the foot stomping.

The video also gives me a very heavy Advance Dungeons and Dragons fill to it with a dash of Labyrinth for good measure. I like it for that maze feel. Katy has this sort of Mage chick that I imagine I would have created a character for when I was young. So hey, there you go. Staying classy while also sexualized. A whole lot better than in her other videos like that California Girls one. Which, I mean, really. Who had a fetish for Candy Land growing up?
  

The Oscars - Who Cares?

The Oscars - Who Cares?


Well, most people do. So much that there's typically Oscar parties going on and what not. I work in the industry and I really don't care. I care even less than I do for the industry I am in.. the Gold Globes. But it's always a nice experience to gamble without feeling like i have some crushing addiction.

I don't watch it to see how the host did. They most likely weren't all that good, besides that, they're the scapegoat more times than not. So who cares. I guess the only reason to watch is to indeed gamble on it in a safe environment. It's not like you'll be watching much else as most shows decide to forfeit the night and not show something new.

But there's a couple of reasons to enjoy it. This being one of them.




Actually, I would watch it far  more often if that happened. We need to blend all the movies together and then everyone can be a winner. Either way, try not to party too hearty for the Oscars.

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim 

So this trailer came about for this summer's bound to be huge film;



At the surface you have this vaguely Steampunk Evangelion done by Guillermo Del Toro with Glados in it. Toss in a dash of Avatr, some Independence Day and Power Rangers into the mix and there you go.

In fact, this seems perfect as an example of a film being created by those whose generation grew up on Giant Robot cartoons instead of on UFO flicks. Because that's really why ID4 came about. Those boomers from the 50's finally getting to the point of sprinkling in their nostalgia into the pot.

All I have to say about this is that it's Guillermo Del Toro and that's enough to sale me on buying a couple of tickets - all in support of a writer, director and friend with a tongue like a sailor. So I'll hold my tongue on saying anything negative at all because it is Del Toro. Even if I want to say "AAAAAAAAHHHH, After ten thousand years I'M FREEEEEE! IT'S TIME TO CONQUER.... EARTH!

From LoveLine to Doctor Death - The Dr. Drew Situation

From LoveLine to Doctor Death - The Dr. Drew Situation


Country Music... well, I can't really say super star, cause really. Who the fuck was she anyway? Well Mindy McCready, one of Dr. Drew's Celebrity rehab folks was found on her front porch dead of an apparent suicide earlier this week. She appeared on VH1's celebrity rehab with Dr. Drew in 2009 for an alcohol and painkiller addiction.

As tragic as this sounds, it is the fifth person that Dr. Drew has helped on the VH1 show to die. Which begs the question - Is Dr. Drew even remotely helpful to these people or is he just exploiting them at a time of need? Dr. Drew himself comes out and says as much in laying out that he doesn't really help these poor schmucks.

Dr. Drew, who says he hadn't seen McCready in years, spoke on CNN last night about the tragedy. He admitted that although she was on Celebrity Rehab, he did not actually treat her. Which really begs the question on what the point of all this is. Dr. Drew spoke out on what's seemingly his poor track record with treating addiction among celebrities:

One of my hopes was, in bringing Celebrity Rehab out, was to teach people how dangerous addiction was. If I was doing a show on cancer there would not be much surprise when my cancer patient died. In fact, we'd celebrate a few years of good quality life. People don't understand that addiction has virtually the same prognosis.

In the case of McCready, after appearing on the show, she was never able to get her singing career back on track. So you can't really say that the good ol' Doctor really helped her. Then about a year ago when her boyfriend killed himself, I guess it was just too much for her.  She was found in an apparent murder suicide where she shot her dog in the process of offing herself.

So I guess that lends to blaming Dr. Drew for not only five deaths, but perhaps we should count the dog as a .5, because really, what the fuck did the dog do? Poor dog.

On the other hand, relapse rates for addiction range between 50% and 90%, and are comparable to the relapse of other chronic illnesses like diabetes. So it's treatable but the steps required is far more than just simply putting a camera in front of them.