VGM Monday: Radical Highway

Den of Geek

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise. So to celebrate, from now and throughout Sonic’s birthday this June, I’m going to be highlighting some of my favorite Sonic music for VGM Monday.

Sonic Adventure 2 is considered by fans to be the best 3D Sonic game. The original game may have helped Sonic the Hedgehog transition to the third dimension, but it’s the second installment that helped complete that transition.

While admittedly many aspects about the game have not aged well (such as the graphics and voice acting), the music remains just as awesome as it was fifteen years ago. Most fans love “Live and Learn” or “Escape from the City”, but my personal favorite will always be “Radical Highway”:

Disney Sunday: Robin Hood Fan Art (Belated) Friday

CC: Robin Hood and Maid Marian by MistyTang

I wasn’t able to post a Fan Art Friday last week (for reasons I’ll mention next week), but since the fan art was all Disney related, I decided to feature it for this week’s Disney Sunday instead.

A few weeks ago was the deadline for us all to pay our taxes. As such, I couldn’t think of a more apropos movie for a fan art feature than Disney’s Robin Hood, one of my childhood favorites!

So let’s all sing “oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day” as we dream of having our taxpayer money inevitably refunded to us as we showcase some Robin Hood fan art.

If You Don't Like Milo

Voltaire once famously said that “I disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for the right to say it.” Well, technically, he didn't say it. College students these days, as most recent surveys show, seem to have the opposite sentiment: “I disagree with what you have to say, and I will hoot and holler like a wild animal and smear my face with blood until you stop saying it.” Voltaire is rolling in his grave at what modern academia has devolved into. Or at least he would if he had said the quote that he didn't say.

TV Trash: Passions

TV Trash

Can’t really think of anything for a proper Throwback Thursday this week. So here’s Rowdy C celebrating his 200th TV Trash episode with a review of the supernatural soap opera Passions:

Are You A True Hunger Games Fan?

We Americans will spend millions of dollars at the box office to watch a movie about a bow-wielding teenage girl fighting against an oppressive, tyrannical government, and yet we’re set to vote this November for one of two presidential candidates, both of whom reflect the same values as the oppressive, tyrannical government that the young girl fought against.

We Americans will cheer for the fight against tyranny in our entertainment, yet simultaneously vote for and support tyranny in our own government. That is the cognitive dissonance of the average American.

VGM Monday: Sonic Boom

Den of Geek

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise. So to celebrate, from now and throughout Sonic’s birthday this June, I’m going to be highlighting some of my favorite Sonic music for VGM Monday.

In the mid-90s, I remember strolling through the mall and walking into a toy store to see one of the game demo systems playing the animated intro to Sonic CD. Back then, games didn’t have such animation, let along songs with actual lyrics. So this completely blew my elementary school mind. It was nothing like I had seen before for a video game.

Disney Sunday: My Neighbor Totoro Ride?

Student Pages

If you’re not familiar with Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli, then you’re either not an anime fan or you're not a human being with a soul. (I’m joking, of course!)

Miyazaki has often been considered to be the Walt Disney of the East; so it only seems fitting that Disney has taken upon itself to import to the West his many animated masterpieces including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.

Of course, other than provide English translations for his films, Disney hasn't done much of anything else with Miyazaki’s work. But what if they utilized his properties more? They’re already utilizing Star Wars and Marvel for all that they're worth, so why not Studio Ghibli? What if, for instance, Disney were to create a theme park attraction based on one of his films?

One Disney theme park designer, John Ramirez, who’s worked on numerous films and attractions, has envisioned such an attraction based on the animated favorite My Neighbor Totoro, and it’s everything that a Miyazaki fan would expect from such a ride:

Daily Stevie: Steven Universe Returns May 12

Tumblr

I’ve seen many trailers for upcoming movies this year. Captain America: Civil War. Star Wars: Rouge One. Suicide Squad. Independence Day: Resurgence. The Ghostbusters Genderbent Reboot.

I'm going to be perfectly honest: none of them have filled me with more anticipation than the recent trailer for the new season of Steven Universe, premiering May 12.

Open-mindedness To BS Isn't A Virtue

"Over the years, as we became less closed-minded and more tolerant of all the right things, like civil rights, somehow, we became indiscriminately tolerant, "You're so judgmental" became a major-league put-down in Anything Goes America - as if being judgmental of crap in the culture is a bad thing." - Bernard Goldberg

I’ll admit that I’m close-minded about many things.

I’m close-minded to the idea that 9/11 was an inside job or that Iraq was hiding WMDs.

That vaccines cause autism or that bleach cures autism.

That GMOs cause cancer or video games cause violent or sexist behavior.

That gun control prevents violent crime or minimum wage hikes create jobs.

That the War on Terror has prevented terror, the War on Drugs has curbed drug abuse, or the War on Poverty has alleviated poverty.

That gun-free zones stop school shootings, drug-free zones stop drug peddling, or border walls stop illegal immigration.

That Scandinavia is a "socialist paradise" or Somalia is a "libertarian dystopia."

That there exists a “War on Christmas” or “War on Women” or “War on Police.”

In short, I’m close-minded to many things for which there is little to no empirical evidence.

I’m close-minded to these things not because I refuse to believe them. I’m more than willing to, but only if there’s sufficient empirical evidence.

Being open-minded doesn’t mean that you’re willing to believe anything. That’s not being open-minded. That’s being gullible.

Open-mindedness is about being willing to consider the evidence and change your beliefs accordingly. But if there’s no evidence, then there's simply no reason to consider anything to the contrary.

Being open-minded to unfounded BS is not a virtue, and being close-minded to BS is not a vice.

Shameless Plug Saturday: Lloyd The Cat

deviantART

I’m sure most of you are already familiar with The Cinema Snob. How can you not be when he’s one of the major reviewers on Channel Awesome next to The Nostalgia Critic and Linkara? His specialty is reviewing obscure films (mostly grindhouse and vintage porno movies) while making even more obscure movie references with a heavy dose of sarcasm. (Seriously, most of the references he makes goes right over my head!)

If you’re a fan of his reviews, you probably know that the Cinema Snob, Brad Jones, owns a cat named Lloyd who sometimes makes brief appearances in his videos. Apparently Brad and his fans love Lloyd so much that he decided to turn him into the star of his own animated series, Lloyd.