Monday, August 31, 2015

Awards Reviews: MTV Video Music Awards 2015



*sigh*

Well...this is partially my fault.
In my reviews for the last couple years, I asked (or demanded, whichever one is more acceptable) MTV to hire a host for this year's VMAs, and they owned up. But it's their choice for the show that made me regret that.
Miley Cyrus.

Ever since Bangerz came out, she has been the epitome of forcibly trashy behavior, calculated raunchiness and parent-shaming personality. But unfortunately, that was the start. And now, she's hosting the Video Music Awards, where controversial and shocking is first and music videos is sixth.

Here's my review, which (despite the typos and goofs) may be more tame and sane than the entire show. And this blog is barely tame and sane.

Nicki Minaj began the show with her performance of her latest single “Trini Dem Girls” (ugh).
I honestly could care less about Nicki, but the song sounds nice. And the setup looks like a big festival, which was real hot. ...although the dancing was stilted. And yet I got a little bored.
My bordem withered away when she later performed “The Night is Still Young”, a song I like. During that time, Taylor Swift appeared. I don’t know why--oh, yeah, because she sang “Bad Blood”. Okay? In my mind, I didn’t give a crap at first, but then I realized the reason for this.
Remember their short feud on Twitter? In which Nicki bitched about not getting a nom for Video of the Year while Taylor did (predictably). Taylor (foolishly) fought back, but Nic was confused, causing TSwift to backpedal and invite Minaj to her shows--like this one.
So yeah, the two buried the hatchet and have made up on stage. No “Bad Blood”. Genius.
A pretty good start--



until Macklemore came in and made it mad awesome, with his and Ryan Lewis’ new song “Downtown” with their special unknown guest Eric Nally. I’m so glad I watched the video, because had I didn’t, I wouldn’t have caught the sweet recreation of the start of the video. And then they hit downtown (geddit?) Los Angeles to perform the song.
It’s such a fun, bubbly and goofy song that only Macklemore & Ryan Lewis know to create.
Also, mega dope surprise by Kool Mo Dee, Melle Mel and Grandmaster Kaz. (They looked like they let themselves go. For real.)
This was a great start to the show, which I should say was more or less than what I expected.

Miley slided onto the stage to do her monologue. No, Really.

And it was exactly what you thought would happen.
You know what? The VMAs have had shocking and controversial moments since year one. So it should be expected whatever Miley did wouldn’t be going over our heads for too long right?
Sure, what Miley did was in our faces and will never leave our minds for the next few months. But you can’t blame us for not having as much hindsight from that. That is still fresh for the trailer-trash-level grossness.
But now, this is no longer shocking. We knew something like this would happen, and we’re no longer shocked and disgusted by it. Even if the online ads are trying to make us do otherwise.

(Seriously, those would cause us to induce vomiting and seizures more than make us be aware of a yearly-televised awards show.)
It’s like, she’s trying too hard to be trashy and unhibited. So much so it’s not even funny anymore. It’s just so...“Meh”, it bores me. The outfit isn’t even stupid, it’s just there. And the “normal” Instagram post she did just has to be normal; whatever pics she took during her Bangerz tour is so much just a disgrace to digital photography, that this would be cute. Precious even.



The performance after the first award given--Best Male Video to Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars for “Uptown Funk”--came from The Weeknd, performing his latest hit “Can’t Feel My Face”. The dong is perfect alternative R&B, and the critics were right when saying that he sounds closest to Michael Jackson. In fact, thinking of it, if you picture him singing this, it can work.
Weeknd’s vocals are amazing and his bare setup make the focus on him even better.
This was one of the best performances of this year.



Demi Lovato took the Downtown stage to sing her piece of crap song “Cool for the Summer”. I heard the song earlier in the day, and it is garbage. It’s about Demi suddenly trying to create a tryst with another girl. I’ve seen trysts with two chicks being super hot, but what goes on in this song is forced, contrived and un-sexy. One of the lines is “Don’t tell your mother”. Who in the hell would ever tell their mother about a possibly drunken fling with another girl? And then there’s “Die for each other”--One kiss and you’re already stuck at the hip with her?? If I were that chick, I’d get the fuck out of there immediately.
This is a terrible song, and this was a--less terrible performance.



Justin Bieber returned to the VMAs for the first time in five years, performing his collab with Skrillex--“Where Are U Now” and newest single “What Do You Mean?”.
First up, "Where Are U Now". The song has an awesome beat, especially when Justin wasn't singing. And his dancing was great. He's gone back to his Usher roots, and that's real good.

At first, from reading the title of the latter, I assumed the song would be an answer to Selena Gomez’s snoozefest “The Heart Wants What It Wants”, but it’s not. It’s a nice song, and like the previous song, has a real good beat, with the sound effect of a ticking clock being a nice plus.
This has so much to discuss.
There's this message he says at the end.
"Life is a journey.
Sometimes, your battle's full of the unexpected.
Sometimes you focus on your destination, and forget the journey.
But when you fall, it allows you to get up stronger.
It allows not to lean on your own understandings.
Give into faith. Believe in something bigger than yourself.
And find your own purpose. "
I admit, that was lovely.
--And then...he can fly! Yep, he flew over a platform on stage. It looked like that thing that help Sonic and his friends rise to higher grounds in Sonic Adventure...or that he was wrapped on wires. Either way, that was cool.
--And then he cries. That was weird.
Alright, Justin. I forgive you. Just...don't be an asshole douche again.
(translation: That was yet another great performance.)

(Jussie Smollett and Serayah from Empire gave us the yearly socially conscious moment by a black person, mentioning the senseless violence and killing of the year and the higher grounds many gays reached in marriage, which was lovely, but I bet that wouldn’t be talked about in the media.)



Tori Kelly immediately brought us another one of the best performances of the year--just from her name alone--with “Should’ve Been Us”. This performance was great; an unexpected rock-ish version of the song was a nice change-up. She is one of the best singers around with one of the best voices around and one of the best songs of the year. The rock tone was amazing, and brought a different sound to her that makes her so great.


Let’s just say that Kanye West has so much ego in the world, we all might die of loss of oxygen and erotic asphyxiation. So it was a no-brainer that he’s being received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Taylor Swift presented the award, and let’s just say, this came full circle.
Yeezy got a standing ovation when he received the award, and went on spouting nonsense involving his incident back in 2009. When he was trying to be personal, it ended up sounding like he’s talking about himself. He said that when the setup is dismantled, the impact will still be there. Yes, the impact of some egocentric dickhead winning an award he received 10 years too early will still wither when the next artist will perform at the Microsoft Theater. All of it was super hypocritical and disgustingly self-centered. I had to press mute to ignore the bullshit. And it finally ended with him announcing that, in 2020, he’ll be running for President. I wasn’t fond of Kanye receiving the honor, but now I’m just angry and disgusted. At least he's a good father.
Fuck you, Kanye West.

Back at the Downtown stage, Pharrell Williams gave another one of the best performances of the year with his new single, “Freedom”, a socially-conscious track about escaping from political correctness and living life however you want to live it. I really enjoyed the beat; the piano sound was great to listen to. And the concept is And the way he screamed Freedom kept me up awake from all the boredom I suffered from Kanye’s shit-ass Video Vanguard speech. Very good performance here by Skateboard P.

(Okay, a little bit about the Downtown stage: I don't know why this was employed when only three performers sang on it. I mean, as small at this year's stage was, it's still big enough for everyone to perform on it. And all of last year's performers sang or rapped on it, so it makes not much sense. But hey, two of the best performances happened on it--that's a good thing.)

twenty one pilots and A$AP Rocky took the Square stage to perform a bunch of songs in a melody. I couldn’t tell which song was by which artist, because I don’t listen to both of them, nor do I care for Rocky.
I really enjoyed the energy going on, thanks to drummer Josh Dun, and Rocky jumping in actually made this a little better than expected. Although the “Look, mama, we made it/We’re at the VMAs!” line doesn’t have much purpose anymore. Who thinks performing at the VMAs means anything anymore? I surely don’t. I could run naked on the stage and be tasered by security, and it still wouldn’t mean anything these days.

And finally, Miley returned to the stage to perform a new song that’s basically her saying “I don’t give a fuck about what people say about the dumb shit I do”, called “Dooo It!” (as if she named it after a line in an episode of Fairly OddParents--”Mooo it.”). And she’s right; why give a shit about what she does, when the shit she does isn’t worth being talked about? I don’t give a fuck about her and her life, so I don’t give a fuck about this performance. Not even if The Flaming Lips appeared near the end and potentially made it better. Oh, and she tried too hard.

This year’s show wasn’t great--It was really good, but not great. And at times, pretty boring. Miley tried too hard to be edgy and unfiltered but it was a big mess, and I tried way too hard to care a but, but I failed. hard. I wasn’t surprised or too happy for the winners of the awards. And I got tired before the end of the night.

And speaking of the awards, the Moonman got another revamp.
After Katz's strange retouch of 2013, the show's producers asked artist Jeremy Scott to give the VMA his own reworking. And, after looking at it, and to be honest...I like it.

Yeah, great job, Mr. Scott. You done good.

Random Shit:
--Miley slid onto the stage through a weird multi-colored slide.

That’s more like Kids’ Choice Awards-random shit.

--

--During her win for Best Hip-Hop Video, Nicki Minaj took off from one feud (her just-done feud with Taylor Swift) and created another with host Miley Cyrus. She opened up on stage about an interview Miley had with the New York Times. Nicki hit back with this scathing rebuttal:
http://the-mad-march-hare42.tumblr.com/post/128121295579

On one hand I would be saying: Nicki, shut up and sit your fake ass down. You just won a moonman. Just be happy, and don’t let anyone else try to ruin you vibe. Especially someone like Miley.
On the other: Good for her, distancing herself from dumb controversy that some foolish cunt tried to make. This didn’t have to happen but it happened. And good for Nicki to burn that shit after Miley reaped what she sowed.

--Justin Bieber cried during his performance. I don’t know why: either it’s his first performance in 5 years and is overwhelmed by the audience’s reaction, or that many people on social media mocked his new gay-ass haircut (which looks like a reprisal of his original swoop hairdo), or that iconic Horror director Wes Craven died. Either way, it was weird-yet-heartwarming moment.

--During the last commercial break, Miley appeared backstage covering herself with a curtain to advertize a new song.

During this, she accidentally (or didn’t; who knows? who cares?) slipped a tit, causing the producers to hastily cut to the stage. At that point, I wasn’t fazed by what came on screen, that just means nothing to me.
--Rebel Wilson came on stage wearing a police outfit and then stripped out of it, wearing a shirt that said “Fuck tha Police Strippers” or some shit. This was very offensive, and a diss toward the Black Live Matter movement.
--Miley tried to be as black as possible during her hosting duties.
She tried to look like she’s friends with The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky, with neither of them cheering back in agreement.
http://bbs-jam.tumblr.com/post/128059011152/lilbitwhit-bisaxuals-wanderfckinglust

-She tried to diss Nicki Minaj for trying to use recent tweet about issues on black artists not receiving accolades for her own benefit, but Nicki clapped back to her face. Miley tried to calm the storm, but it didn’t sound like what Nicki really said.
-She tried to take Just Bieber’s emotional breakdown and put herself into it by showing off her atrocity to fashion of the moment.
-She called her grandmother “Mammy”. What the fuck, Destiny? What the fuck?
It’s clear that Miley was trying to make the VMAs however she wanted by being as racially ignorant as possible to draw attention to herself. It worked, but it made her look like a complete fucking idiot. Miley tried to take any moment of the show and threw herself into it to take attention from everyone else. It worked out for her, but it also blew up in her face.

Miley was one of the most attention-hogging, lazily-worked and horribly attentive hosts in the history of the VMAs, and there were many. If they get her to watch next year, I won't be watching. Even if some of the best, talented singers on Earth will perform.

Before we get to the winners, here a couple more winners for ya, in the form of the performers of the VMAs Pre-Show.


Walk the Moon kicked it off with their monster hit "Shut Up and Dance".
The song is ultra-fun, catchy, exciting and even addictive (that's thanks to the delicious cheesiness and the kickass 80s beat). So it was great to watch the band perform it live. It included some cut-in by its host Sway, but worry about that. The Pre-show already happened, so skip that. All-in-all, it was an awesome performance.
Just as awesome as this one by Nick Jonas, debuting his newest song "Levels".
The beat is so sick, I would die from it, because it's just as kick-ass as the beat of "Shut Up and Dance". And it has "catchy" written all over it. I love that, just as I love the female astronaut dancers feeling Nick during the performance. I mean "Houston, we have a problem. And Nick Jonas is the solution. Over."

I love both of these songs, and I'm so glad I got a chance to watch them both when I had the chance. "Dance" deserved having a high, successful future on the charts, and I think "Levels" will be having a really good stay there too.

Winners:
during the pre-show:
Taylor Swift-”Black Space”
Rock: Fall Out Boy-”Uma Thurman” (this song rocks)
during the main show:
Male: Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars-“Uptown Funk” (good choice, but Ed Sheeran is better)
Hip-Hop: Nicki Minaj-“Anaconda” (Fuck.)
Female and Pop: Taylor Swift-”Blank Space”
Video with a Social Message: Big Sean f. Kanye West & John Legend-”One Man Can Change the World’
Artist to Watch: Fetty Wap (fucking really?)
Video of the Year; Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar-”Bad Blood”
(her speech was just freakin’ brilliant)


In the end, I think I half-regreted watching. I have other things to watch, and I instead watched that. I was given one huge warning not to watch, and yet I watched anyway. Fortunately, there were some of the performances that I enjoyed. That made me enjoy it in that regard. And the year's winners weren't great.

As for Miley... ugh...
Billy Ray, I hope you're proud. Because if my daughter (should I choose to have one) is just like Miley and she hosted the VMAs, should we be a rich famous family...I'd be proud, too.
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Friday, August 28, 2015

Funday Friday: #48 -- Hugh Maskman and Jim Wolvarrey - Actors Portray Other's Film Character

Twitter has always been a fun place for friends to hang and goof off.

So this is exactly what happened when actors Hugh Jackman and Jim Carrey took to the social media site for silly impersonations of their most famous fictional characters, Stanley Ipkiss aka The Mask and Wolverine.

Jackman started the hilarity with this tweet lip-synching to the Mask's famous line "It's Smokin'!"

with Carrey chiming in later in the day with this pic of him in messy hair and some utensils (including a corkscrew) mimicking the Wolv.


Both were hilariously fun to see, but if the best of them is to be chosen, it has to be Carrey's genius ribbbing of Wolverine.
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Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review: Mewnipendence Day / The Banagic Incident


Hello there, fellow Stargazers!

Time for another review!
And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the time of year to celebrate the foundings of Mewni, so Star decides to celebrate it with her friends by reenacting a major battle. You can tell how short and questionable it will be when I discuss it in 11A--”Mewnipendence Day”.
And if that wasn’t enough for Star to combat the ides of disaster and boredom, 11B--”The Banagic Incident” has her trying to fend it off by searching for a new device that’ll cure the boredom...by making Banana Pudding. I’ll be honest in saying this before you reach it: I got pissed with this one...and a little confused.
Oh, well. Let’s get this over with.

Let’s begin this review with…

The episode begins at the Diaz Family Home, where Star has converged Marco and their friends/acquaintances--Alfonzo, Ferguson, Miss Skulltroll--I mean Skullnick, Janna, StarFan13, the nerd student first shown in “Monster Arm” (his name’s Ed, by the way), the guy from the Awesome Opossums Cheerleading Squad and Marc’s Dojo Sensei--in the living room for a meeting. She has invited them for a celebration of the day her home dimension Mewni was founded by reenacting the battle of its founding. But nobody knows what all this means. So Star grabs a pull-out book briefing the founding of Mewni. When all is said and done everyone begins preparations for the battle reenactment.
--That book Star has looks like something made by Golden Books. If I can picture it, it would’ve came with a CD that would’ve had narration and the sound of a harp playing signaling a page turn. That would’ve be boss. Ahh, nostalgia.

Marco points out the floating eye, which Star reveals is the All-Seeing Eye, in which the Royal Family sees all that the villains are doing. But that’s not happening--It’s the VILLAINS watching.
Ludo and Toffee (Hey, it’s Toffee! Toffee’s back! Hi, Toffee!!) are taking a look at the preparations with a decoy of the All-Seeing Eye, and are planning their upcoming attack. Buff Frog tries to convince him to keep him as the lookout, but is shot down, because of the Eye’s flexibility.

--Buff Frog and Toffee’s reactions to Ludo pointing out that the Eye has a channel showing Star’s bathroom were hilarious.
--“Sometimes, your biggest threat is right under your nose.” -Toffee
“My nose is in my beak.” -Ludo
I don’t know why, but that line is very funny to me.

Later in the day, everyone is in costume and are ready for the reenactment.
Meanwhile, Buff Frog tells Ludo’s other Minions about Toffee and his new fangled flying machine, but is interrupted by the lanky lizard in Louis Vuitton, asking any of them to sneak into the Mewnipendance battle with a device to capture the wand and easily transfer it to to Ludo.
BF stands up to the challenge, and Toffee begrudgingly obliges.
--What the hell happened to his finger?

The battle has begun!! The Evil Repulsive Monsters vs. The Brave Powerful Soldiers of Mewni!!
During the fight, Ferguson gets scared and camos into a tree--During which, at that exact time, Buff Frog appears and begins his chase to reach Star’s Wand. He gets close to the Wand, but the device isn’t responsive, causing him to stall and try to grab it himself. But that doesn’t work either, when Star notices him and a soldier’s horse knocks him off her perch and onto the ground. Star freaks out (thinking that’s actually Ferguson) and rushes to not-Ferguson’s aid. Fergy reveals himself from behind a tree, and Star realizes that’s Buff Frog. BF runs off, and Star is close to blasting him, but relents.
When Marco calls off the reenactment--everyone goes inside, ready for the feast--Star looks straight into where BF ran off.
--If you notice Star’s reactions to the battle, that means she’s very worried of the well-being of everyone involved (especially the monsters). From reading the book, she realizes something about the first Mewnans that That’s sweet and humbling.

Back at Ludo’s castle, Buff Frog tries to explain himself about his failure to capture the wand (along with trying to reveal it was Toffee’s bidding), but Ludo wouldn’t have any--showing his mistake over and over, and chewing him out. He then makes the conscious decision (made by Toffee) to kick him off his team of minions and out of his castle. BF begs to be taken back in, but is shunned away. Toffee commends Ludo on his decision,. but the latter is saddened by it.

Back at the DFH, everyone is enjoying the end-of-the-celebration corn feast. Star is asked by Marco if the book is accurate, but she pushes him off to eat her corn. She then sees Buff Frog on the tree branch moping from his new firing. She gives him a plate of corn. He smiles.

During the climax, where Buff Frog is given the Wand task, I thought and knew that Toffee had something to do about this. He sabotaged the machine to embarrass Buff Frog and get him banished from Ludo’s Army and out of his hair. Toffee really didn’t like BF’s demand to stand up to him and kick him out, so he made the plan to kick him out. That’s devious. That’s cunning.
Toffee has continued to make his mark as the member of Ludo’s army. While I’m not supposed to like his actions, I can’t stop loving them. He’s so perfectly slimy and sly, that it’s hard to not hate him. I can’t find a reason to. In fact, I’m beginning to like Toffee more than Ludo.

As for the battle itself...Meh. It was short and wasn’t as great as I actually expected it to be. But what Star did to stop it so early was really sweet. She cares about her friends so much that she’d stop a celebration of her home dimension to spare their lives. That’s just lovely.
And another thing I just noticed as the real reason she stopped the battle, therefore also humbling, is that when Star was asked by Marco if the battle was unfair. When she read the story of Mewni’s independence, it was shown that the founders and the people succeeding them weren’t nice people and were very harsh in the war against the monsters. In fact the monsters (which, yes, weren’t good creatures either) were terrorized by the people before they even got a chance to attack. That explains why Star didn’t attack Buff Frog, and her even giving him a plate of corn at the end. That was also sweet and humbling.

As a whole, this was a really solid halfer. I actually enjoyed the villains side-plot more that the heroes side more. I laughed more from Ludo’s dialogue, the Minions lines, and even Toffee’s little aside crack to Buff Frog: “...you fat bag of garbage”.
And speaking of crack…

I did not need to see that. But I admit, it was funny the second time around. Anyway...

Let’s see what the next episode will do. It’s…

In it, "Star sees a commercial for a "magical" Earth product and sets off on her own to buy it, but the mission goes south when her lack of earth knowledge gets her into serious trouble."

In her Expansion Pack Bedroom, Star is in a bathtub (please don’t ask me why) reading magazines and trying not to be bored. She fails and is close to conceding, but tries not to. (Maybe she can build a rollercoaster.) She then finds an ad in one of them for the “Banagic Wand”. She then sets off on a quest to find one... But first she doesn’t know where to find one, and sees the “As Featured on TV” logo, but doesn’t understand that, and runs to Marco for help. Marc is brushing up on his karate skills, and is about to break a board. But Star suddenly appears. She asks him to help her in finding the Banagic Wand, but Marco has to practice for an assignment--”channeling your emotions”. Star doesn’t listen and instead drags him to the TV to find out where the Banagic is sold--the Better Store. She drags Marc (more like throws Marc) to his bike
--This scene frustrated me. Like, more than I could admit. I could barely get more from this than Star being bored. And I actually didn’t find much funny either. I know Star still can’t grasp much of Earth culture, and I feel sad to say this, but it feels annoying at this point. Her voice doesn’t help, either.
--Also, if you notice, Marco was barefoot when practicing karate and watching TV with Star, but is then suddenly wearing his sneakers when Star kicks him out the house (literally) and then back to barefoot when reaching the Dojo Karate Studio. It may be because Star made them magically, but she didn’t. Yeah, a goof.

(You know what? I can’d do more story anymore. You know why? Because this episode was frustrating as hell to me. So I’m just going to go on a rage-filled review on this halfer.)

Again, I know Star isn’t doing well grasping Earth culture, but this is ridiculous.
She has been on Earth, and specifically Echo Creek, for as long as 11 episodes can entail. She should know how to find a way to any place there, let alone the Better Store, by now without getting herself into a mess like this. Her actions make her look less than...sigh. And I laughed less than I would expect myself to. Plus the product itself barely makes sense; how can it work? You just jam a banana in, squeeze it, and suddenly it turns into pudding. Where does the peel go? How do you clean it? I’m getting ahead of myself.
Another thing: she had no regard for whatever Marco was doing, and forced him to help her out. I know this happens a lot, but here, it just comes off as a little more than rude.
And when she was at Davy Jones’ Fish Locker, she didn’t realize that she was in a themed restaurant. The pirates didn’t even do anything to her. What she did was rude and uncalled for. That made their chasing her (or at least being angry at her) justified. Even Brittney Wong’s appearance was frustrating to watch. Sure, she’s a jerk, but this was just sad.

And then there’s this...Marco saying he underestimated Star. My God, that was uncomfortable.
The vibe was just dead on arrival and withered away as it continued. I never felt this bad feeling from anything in animation before from what I can remember (even from Family Guy and South Park), but this was...wow.
And her reaction to Marco saying he underestimated her was...weird.
I mean what he said understandably caught her off guard, but can you blame him? And another thing: was she hurt by it? If so, I can understand that. It’s as if someone was saying they couldn’t believe you doing something like this at that time. That hurts. But that came at a weirder time. This was one of the more stranger moments of this series so far, and no magic came from it. I’m wondering what will happen next, should this continue. Will Star actually get angry with Marco over his line? Probably. Will it get painful and awkward? You bet.

On the other hand, despite the crap, Marco’s subplot was really entertaining. I loved seeing him finally channel his emotions and chasing Jeremy for being an annoying pest (which was refreshing and cathartic), and stepping on the Coals successfully (even if that hurts like hell).
-Also, the little subversion on the “Someone Save My Baby” thing, as the little bugger was in a bjorn his mom was carrying.

Star’s journey to the Better Store was pretty entertaining in doses. And it was good to see that, (again) despite the crap, she did get to the Better Store by herself, and that was pretty good. Granted, I was still pissed the first time, but it was still pretty good. Ugh...

Remember my rant at the end of my review of “Monster Arm”? Yeah, uhh...
I’m sorry. Forget everything I said about that. Everything I said about Marco under the Arm were wrong and me over reacting. I was wrong for all of that and I apologize. This here is the pits.
This episode felt like straight-up filler to me. Almost nothing made me enjoy this at all. And I felt ashamed in watching.
But, not everything was real bad. In the middle of it, Marco had a sub-plot that I liked, where he wants to channel his emotions at his karate studio.

No I’m not gonna stop watching this show, but I don’t think I can watch this one again for a long while.
This was frustrating and confusing.

This episode was solid. But to be honest, it wasn’t great. I enjoyed the little things about it, but they didn’t add up to an episode that I don’t think I would remember. I do remember Toffee, and he has really become a memorable character. I’m very curious to see where this development with Buff Frog being kicked off Ludo’s team will lead to, because it’s obviously a part of Toffee’s scheme to get closer to Ludo. Oh and that itself...when that comes, I’ll be giddy and gleeful.
The ending to this episode was also a highlight, showing Star to be on a nicer path with Buff Frog aka the plate of corn. And I don’t think I’ll watch “Banagic Incident” for a while. The fact that the title has “Incident” in the title was really understandable to me.

Well, Stargazers, we have just two episodes left in Season 1. (sigh)
And boy, this is going to be a great end, no doubt. For now, next week’s Episode 12 will have a lot to look forward to. “Interdimensional Field Trip” and “Marco Grows A Beard” should be self-explanatory, but here goes. 12A features Star leading her class on a trip to a museum in another dimension, but knowing this show, things will get weird and wild fast. And 12B has Marco growing facial hair...thanks not to puberty, but by a spell made by Star. You can tell things will get weird and wild fast here too. I’m gonna get that exciting feeling while also feigning a heartbreaking feeling. Huh.

Well, until then, I want to thank the SVTFOE Wikia for everything as usual. Even though there wasn’t much to work with this time. (Seriously, that was hard.) And of course to you all for joining me. I want to apologize for this review being late; I was reaching an impasse in relation to this blog, and I needed to rethink things. Don’t worry, nothing’s too serious.

Well, see ya next week, everyone.
I’m Andrew, saying “Reach for the Star, and Keep looking up!...at your TV screen.”
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Friday, August 21, 2015

America's Got Talent X Weekly Review: Live Show & Results Round 2 -- The Pos-Ira Adventure


Hey, everyone.
Welcome back to my review of America’s Got Talent - The Live Shows. And boy, what a huge start last week. Almost all of the acts did great, and deserved their stays in the competition. And now they get to rest, as another 12 acts take their chances on the Radio City Music Hall stage in the hopes of winning over the nation and securing their places in the next round of Live competition. It’s time for this group of acts to shape up and give their all, before it’s all downhill.
--



That was dope. Truly. The girls brought it. But I did feel it was the same Technique-wise. The dances were different, but I felt there were less to to love about them after the first couple times.
--
Next up was stand-up magician extraordinaire Derek Hughes.
For his act, he asks Melanie to come up on stage to help with this card trick.


At first, I was bored with it. I was expecting the same old thing (emphasis on “Same” and “old”). But then I was blown away when he showed us this part of the trick: he shuffled the deck a few times, and then revealed the card Mel signed wasn’t even in the deck at all. It was in his pocket! Then after showing us how it’s done, he tries it again, but not with the card. But with the deck!
That was crazy good!
--
3 Shades of Blue made their Live Shows debut with their cover of Nick Jonas’ “Chains”.


At first, I wasn’t as liking towards it as I’d want to. But as it progressed, I warmed up to it. It still dragged to me, but it’s not bad. But, the vocals of the frontman were mediocre.
I also found the instrumentation really good.
--
Animation Crew returned to AGT, and sadly, it didn't live up to what they brought.


I wholeheartedly agreed with what the judges (especially Heidi, believe it or not) said about this performance. The set-up was more distracting than helpful to the act’s dancing, and even overpowered it at times. And I wish I could say that their dancing held up very well. And it did...at parts. There were parts where it looked like they stopped suddenly, there’s parts where the dancing was more sub-par; and if the camera wasn’t held on them at the right time, it looks sloppy. I also blame the camera work and direction, because that looked sloppy was well. I’m not saying better work would’ve made the performance better--I’m say that made it worse.
Also, the set-up showed a graphic at the end that said “GAME OVER”. I have a feeling that this will be foreshadowing to them leaving the competition the next night.
Sorry, Animation Crew, but that wasn’t your best play.
--
Up next was young singer Arielle Baril. She blew us all away with her angelic operatic voice during her audition--so much so, that Heidi pressed the.golden Buzzer for her. And now that she’s in the the Live Shows, she has to pick up the tempo to go through. I guess she would…
She’s just fantastic.




Okay, a little more insight. It was more nuanced, controlled, and powerful than in her audition. It’s like she took lessons--which payed off wonderfully. Beautiful job, young lady.
--
Uzeyer Novruzov was an act I didn’t expect to make it past the Judge Cuts--he’s a guy holding onto a ladder and trying to stand. It’s not that impressive. But somehow, he impressed the judges enough to make it here, the Live Shows. What happened this time?
Well, this time I will admit I was wrong and I will eat my words.


This was fun, exciting and...breathtaking.
But first, the start. I was bored and uninterested going in--especially with that fall (which I later realized was fake and enhanced it), but when Uzeyer did those tricks on smaller ladders, I was more and more intrigued, and then enjoying the act more than I wanted or needed to. When he got to the bigger ladder, my boredom turned interest which turned to enjoyment. I was actually enjoying this performance and wanted to root for him now.
And finally, the biggest one, the 18-foot ladder. I was nervous, and even scared for him, hoping this dude wouldn’t break anything on live television. But...he did it!! Uzeyer did!! He balanced the ladder and kept his cool. Plus, his character is very reminiscent to Charlie Chaplin, which was a big plus. He’s changed my entire perception of him in this one performance, and I’m now a bigger fan. A bigger fan to call this my Favorite Act of the Week.
Great job, you--uhh…@FreeLadderMan.
--
Our favorite puppet and his puppet-ty mom have returned!!
Ira and his mom Miriam make their Live Shows debut performing Sir Tom Jones’ classic (and the song everyone really knows as the song Carlton Banks does The Carlton to) “It’s Not Unusual”


I’ll start with this: While his love rollercoaster for Mel has fluctuated since the Auditions stage my love for him started to wane. I got very annoyed for his crush gimmick. But my enjoyment of his singing has never died. This guy (behind him) can using real good, better than a couple of the singers (they are male, calm down). So I was still interested with what he’d bring here.
This ship on the sea setup was really cool, and his little band was a great touch. Ira’s vocals were wonderful and the sax solo by Miriam was real nice. I liked this very much.
Good job, Mr. and Mother Funnelbloom.
--
Damone Rippy is another act I didn’t expect. In his case, AT ALL. I thought his act of flyboarding was (while really cool) an act that would last long after his audition. I never even saw him in the Judge Cuts. But...he’s here. Somehow. (did they lose someone again?)

It’s clear that because the weather was clear and sunny at the time, this portion was taped. But that’s not the straw that broke for me. That was simply because this is not a million-dollar act, plain and clear.
--
Hopefully, the next act, Myq Kaplan would ease my frustration.


The comedian, known for his fast, awkward comedy, hit the Live stage for more, and I gotta tell ya...it was not as strong as last time. The jokes were fine, but they weren’t as great as the ones he shot during the Judge Cuts. He also seemed less confident here, which is understandable (live show, and audience was a little unresponsive); but when your last live competitor was a putter that aced it, you’ve got a problem. And a problem he had. The content wasn’t great, the speed wasn’t perfect and he wasn’t as on-the-ball as last time. I was disappointed in Myq.
Pity, because he’s good and has a really cool, unique name.
--
Things got even better for me when The Craig Lewis Band lit up the stage with their performance of Otis Redding’s classic (and the reason everyone really knew about it--Duckie dancing and lip-synching to it in Pretty in Pink...and Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Otis”) “Try a Little Tenderness”. And, damn it, they knocked it out AGAIN.


I’ll start with this: the instrumental was a turn-off; I didn’t like it. And that’s the gripe.
I don’t have to say what I’ve already did before. These guys are sooo talented, and deserve to reach the finals. These guys are also my Favorite Act of the Week.
--
Dance/video mapping group (and Auditions Golden Buzzer choice) Freckled Sky turned the Live stage into a lovely piece of art with their performance.


I thought it was really nice. But I thought it didn’t bring as much surprise or excitement as their performance in the Auditions.
--
Finally this week, singer (and Melanie’s Golden Buzzer choice) Sharon Irving just ended the show on another high note with her cover of “Glory” from the Selma soundtrack.


This was an interesting choice, as this was a collaboration between a rapper and a singer. But she pulled it off in a powerful, yet delicate way. She sang...and rapped. That’s enough for me to help move her through. But her voice is so beautiful, yet bombastic, that you can help but get emotional from listening. It has almost it all.
She said her grandfather one walked with Dr. Martin Luther King, and dedicated this performance to him and his walk for our people’s freedom. And I deeply commend her for it.
I know that she’ll never get this personally, but I just want to thank Mel for sending Sharon to the Live Shows so quickly. This is well-deserved and she proved why she deserves to be there.
I send gratitude to Sharon for her rapid rise to success, and Mel for her bright-eyed choice.
I also commend the producers for adding the Golden Buzzer this season; it was a genius add.

Favorite Acts:
Uzeyer Novzurov
Craig Lewis Band
Sharon Irving
(all have improved from last time and made me an even bigger fan)
Honorable: Ira & Arielle Baril

Worst Acts:
Animation Crew
Damone Rippy
Myq Kaplan
(all didn’t live up to expectations, and have fallen lower than before)
Dishonorable: 3 Shades of Blue

I have said previously that singers weren’t my favorite group of acts on this show. But dammit, I’m happy to change my perception of them, because so far this season, they’re come to dominate and lead the competition. (And most of them are female) Samantha Johnson, Arielle Baril, Alondra Santos, Craig Lewis Band and Ira (yes, him too) have brought their all to their performances and made me impressed in a way I never expected. This season’s Live Finals are starting to be a different beast than usual for me, and surprisingly, I’m really cool with that.

Three of the Auditions Golden Buzzer winners (along with JC GB winners Craig Lewis) made their Live Shows debuts, and all of them did amazing. But it varied.
Craig Lewis blew me away with their concept singing,
Arielle Baril was a lovely violet in her vocals,
Ira was more than a lounge singer,
and Sharon Irving was a true star.

And now, the eliminations:




Going Home This Week:
DM Nation
Animation Crew
Damone Rippy
Myq Kaplan
Freckled Sky

Moving on to The Semi-Finals:
Derek Hughes (@StandupMagician)
@3ShadesBlueBand (Judges’ Choice)
@ArielleBaril
Uzeyer Novruzov (@FreeLadderMan)
@IraFBloom (Dunkin’ Save)
@CraigLewisBand
@SharonIrving
(check them out on Twitter)

This was the second week in a row I figured that at least some of the best acts would get the clearance to move to the Semi-Finals. But it’s not a bad thing; I was still ecstatic for them to move forward. It was still expected.

Even though I was happy to know that he went, I was surprised that Ira got to go through, while Freckled Sky didn’t. Oh well, I wasn’t as enjoying this performance here, so I guess I wasn’t too surprised.
I was also surprised that 3 Shades of Blue went through too, because I wasn’t a fan of their performance here. It wasn’t that good to me. But hey, the judges chose them to move on, so I can’t fret hard about that.

Suit Up! with Nick:
On Tuesday, Nick wore a brown 3-piece with a light-blue shirt and dark blue tie, with a nice-ass fedora finishing the set. While fresh as ish, it seems to me like he was less of a competition show host, and more of a train conductor on a date.
I mean look at that gold thing holding the blazer.






And on Wednesday, Nick was super sharp in this pink/purple combination.
But it reminds me of something. But I can't tell what it--Oh yeah, Bing Bong.


All, in all, this was another great week of talent showcased here. I couldn't be anymore happier with the acts we saw here and I can’t wait for the acts to show their stuff next week:
Alicia Michili
Benjamin Yonattan
Chapkis Dance Family
DADitude!
Daniella Mass
Freelusion Dance Company
Gary Vider
Metal Mulisha Fitz Army
Mountain Faith Band
Oz Pearlman
Selected of God Choir
Stevie Starr "Professional Regurgitator" (really?!?)
See you then for the Live Shows Round 3!! My review coming at an earlier time than this.
See you next week!!
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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Op-Ed Uses Cecil the Lion's Death to Spew Hypocritical Vegetarian Bullshit

You know the story of the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the Lion earlier this month (although I caught wind of it a few days ago?) Good, because this story has nothing to do with it. Partially.
When I did some research on Google for stories to read over, I came across this opinion piece on MarketWatch.com, in which the writer somehow made more than the points in his thoughts on the news story. And some of them are less than favorable. In fact, these are a bit hypocritical. And I was so pissed and annoyed by this, that I had to write my own rebuttals to some of these excerpts:

"Sure. I happen to agree with all of the above. But I just wanted to add one little thing.
Spare me. Please. Spare me the overweening, gigantic, appalling, ridiculous, farcical and sanctimonious hypocrisy. Killing animals for no good reason is an outrage? Really?
How’s that steak? Had any good lobster this summer? What about some finger-lickin’-good chicken or some baby back ribs? Have you ever seen the inside of a slaughterhouse?
Meanwhile, a video showing chickens being tortured at a U.S. chicken-processing plant was uploaded several weeks ago. Only a fraction as many have bothered to watch it. But, hey, that’s different, right?"
Yes, there is. There is no hypocrisy between them, despite what the op-ed implies. As sad as it was that the farm animals killed were later turned up in someone's lunch, Cecil's hunt, poaching and death was not on legal grounds. The deaths of those animals were. And another thing, people were outraged at the deplorable treatments and deaths of these animals, just like they were with Cecil's. There were just as much disgust and terror people found at that issue as it was with the death.
What the hell does the deaths of the animals we eat (and have to eat to survive!) have to do with everything this shithead did? Not a damn thing. Those farm animals did not suffer the exact same way Cecil forcibly suffered. He did not get put in a cage and eat feed until his death. He was lured by his assailants, shot with a bow and arrow, and then hunted for nearly two fucking days until= the hunters shot him to death and decapitated! Big difference! Cows, pigs, chickens, and other creatures we have to eat do not have many threats in their lives, but lions do. Most people don't eat lions, but some have killed lions (along with other animals in the wild) to stroke their creepy-ass egos.
And spare you from our hypocrisy? We can do that...when you spare us from yours.
-
"I like Jimmy Kimmel, but advertisers on his network (DIS, +0.16%) include pretty much every national chain restaurant and food company."
Hey, I like Jimmy Kimmel, too! At least, we finally have something to agree with!
Anyway, apparently, you haven't realized that "national chain restaurant and food company" are things we need to help us survive. Emphasis on food.
Also, I found Disney's stock number being thrown in next to Kimmel to be hilarious. I know this is a finance website, but this article said otherwise, with the ticker being a goofy add-on.
-
"I come to this neither with clean hands nor any claim to perfection. Until last year I ate meat. For some time I had become increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of living creatures being killed so I could eat them. Then I paid a visit to a farm and found myself petting a disabled newborn lamb. (I’m sorry if this sounds utterly ridiculous. It is utterly ridiculous. But that’s how it happened.) Afterward I asked myself: How in hell could I ever eat lamb chops again?
Like many “vegetarians,” I still make occasional exceptions for fish, although less and less often. I question how self-aware a fish really is. But feel free to yell at me if you wish."
You're a vegetarian. Good for you; that's fine. You don't have to eat meat in your life, and that's cool--no one's gonna force you back or be shocked. Congrats on the little epiphany you had from petting an imperfect lamb. But you don't have to look down on people who do. They eat meat because they like it and enjoy it, just like you (began to) eat vegetables because you not only like it, but live by it (albeit since last year). We shouldn't throw sad, vulgar words at each other because of this opposition. I have no hate, ill-will or disgust toward veg-heads (I love eating vegetables myself), so why are you taking the time to call us out for enjoying meat in general in an opinion piece having nothing to do with Cecil's death, and everything to do with this stupid click-bait on a finance website, of all things?
Could you give us a reason as to why lamb, pigs, chickens, and the other animals live on Earth, other than to be killed and later served on our plates? (Cows don't count because they also give us milk.)
-
"It’s easy to claim the case of Cecil the lion is “totally different” from the case of all the millions of defenseless animals we kill every year for food. (The phrases “totally different” and “completely different” —as in “Oh, but that’s totally different” — always crop up when hypocrites are trying to defend themselves against the charge of hypocrisy.)"
Of course it was easy to claim that! He was on endangered land that was illegal to hunt and kill on! Saying it was totally different is obviously an understatement. And as for "the millions of defenseless animals we kill every year for food"? I don't have to say this again.
And another thing: you should realize that these animals have another thing to worry about--getting killed by other animals. Yes, that's really fucking terrible, but that's their circle of life called the food chain. The weakest animals will be devoured by bigger animals, and this also keeps them alive as well.
That has happened for hundreds of thousands of years.
-
"Yes, lions are at risk of extinction, while cows, pigs and sheep aren’t. But the death of a single lion is hardly material in this regard. There are more than 20,000 species worldwide at risk of extinction, and where is the outrage about them?"
You're right, one lion's death shouldn't be held in this caliber of awareness, but it did because of how senseless, vile and mindbogglingly horrifying the whole thing was. And another thing, there has been outrage in those species as well. Have you read the social media posts and online articles by PETA and other animal rights firms? Have you watched Nature? If not, go to PETA's Twitter page, and try going further and further down through the page until you've reached the end. They have done this since the month and year the Twitter account was created, and have been doing this by mouth and protest since 1980. And I won't deny that other animals have been killed to be eaten. In fact, I agree with you on that; that is some creepy disgusting shit.
-
"My favorite objection in this instance is that Cecil was a really popular, well-known lion on his game preserve in Zimbabwe. Palmer actually apologized for killing an animal that was a “known, local favorite.”
Um, what? Would it be OK if he was unpopular, or unknown? Do all the cows and lambs being sent to the slaughterhouse deserve their fate?"
--Uhh...YOU TELL ME "WHAT IF HE WAS UNPOPULAR"!! If Cecil was unpopular, Palmer still would've gotten as much hatred, just like he was popular. Palmer took a photo with the dead animal, and that would've gotten as much attention as the horrible Planned Parenthood story, if not for a few days. Granted, this would've gotten less play on social media taking away that factor; but it's still social media, anything is possible.
And speaking of the Planned Parenthood story, why are you comparing aborted fetuses to a lion that didn't . I really don't want to say much

"If all this leads to some good, so much the better. But if it is just a short-lived and pointless festival of sanctimony, we might as well just skip it."
I do agree with this here, in that this story absolutely will boil over in a few weeks, or possibly, maybe even a few days. As sad as I am for the lion's death, I wouldn't be surprised to see myself move on to something else or even get annoyed by more of this story.

"If Palmer is smart, he’ll stay in hiding and say absolutely nothing for the next month or two. Nothing he says or does will help him until this blows over. I hope he never hunts another animal again. But, then, I hope everyone else will stop pointlessly killing animals, as well. Fat chance, alas."
Oh he's very smart to hide, because you can imagine what he'll be getting if he does show his ass soon after. I also hope he'll never hunt animals again. But try telling (or making) us to stop eating what we love to eat--you'll be lucky to get some of us to say "No".

Oh and by the way; were you aware of the plants that lived before people turned them into your favorite salad? I'm sure you would have, but hey, that's different; they don't have four legs, eyes, a mouth and a reason for living a long life so that's fine, right? Right?

Anyway this post is embarrassingly hypocritical and terribly written from my perspective. There was so much from this that made me roll my eyes, and shake my head. This guy believes that being a vegetarian is what will save the world and animals from some type of hell they are enduring, we are evil people for eating meat, that Cecil the Lion is not even worthy to reach the heights of more important matters of news, and that Jimmy Kimmel crying won't get us to contribute to wildlife conservation, among other things.

But this is just a way for him to write his own feelings about his life of being a vegetarian, which, mind you, began last year. This is just some bullshit to live by, and from reading the comments below the piece, a lot of people were also not impressed and rightly called him out for it. They make sense and are smartly written, and also speak the same metaphorical tongue as I do. And I really enjoyed that.
On the other hand, there is one person taking his side (aka kissing his ass), but his defense just as nonsensical as (if not worse than) the guy's views. There are few more, but he is so prominent on the section, that you can tell who he is by the third or fourth comment. Try to avoid him,

I do agree with a few small points, which actually do make sense, and give some interesting questions that could be answered only explicitly long and brutally honest.

So yeah...I clearly hate this article. But you might have an opinion on that. If you want to take a look, here's the link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/spare-me-the-hypocrisy-on-cecil-the-lion-2015-07-29
But please don't go after him. I don't condone brutally blasting the guy (or anyone else) personally, because that is worse than any foolish negative opinion anyone would post on the Internet, and that is just damn cruel. You can leave a comment about the opinion piece, but not on himself.

"Enjoy your hamburger." Oh yeah? Well, you enjoy your Garden salad and occasional salmon.

PENIS
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Sunday, August 16, 2015

Toony Tuesday 2015: We Bare Bears


Hi everyone.
I'm Andrew with more Toony Tuesday.
This time it's on Cartoon Network's latest original series, We Bare Bears.

Created by Daniel Chong, this animated series is based on his webcomic "The Three Bare Bears", and is about three bear brothers who try to adapt to the human society in the San Francisco Bay Area, and learn a lot about themselves and their lives along their adventures.

At face value, this series has a vibe reminiscent of Regular Show, because of the animation. It's really good, but also really simple. It's vibe is also similar to Clarence as well, because of it's light, calm humor and dialogue. Both really gives this a real nice charm.
And the three main characters add on to this; they aren’t unlikable or difficult to swallow. In fact, they’re really cool, upbeat and fun. And they enjoy each other’s company. That’s great enough for a show for me.

The title sequence and theme song has to be some of the best of either in television animation of this decade so far.

While the former shows what is the entire series on a pedestal, it does it so well, and captures what we know about it so far without stretching in too much.
It’s the Bare Bears Bear-Stacked trekking across San Francisco and doing what they’re planning on doing. Recurring characters like Nom-Nom the koala and Chloe Park also appear briefly, along with parts mimicking scenes from some early episodes, like Grizzly throwing a basketball to a hoop (and missing, as shown in the first episode “Our Stuff”). It’s a perfect encapsulation of what the series is in 20 seconds, and that’s awesome.
And the theme song is just as awesome. From the first time I’ve heard it, I couldn’t stop thinking of it and smiling from it. It’s sweet, bouncy and bubbly, not to mention catchy as heck, from start to end. And what also makes it great is that it’s sung by British R&B music star Estelle. Known best for either her breakthrough song “American Boy” or her role as Garnet on Steven Universe, Either way, her being the voice of the theme song makes it fantastic.

Now to the Bare Bears themselves. The characters are likable, cool, and have their own personalities that break them apart from each other.
Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear are three furry anthropomorphic quadruped brothers who live in a nice cozy cave near the San Francisco Bay. They go and do whatever they fancy for the day, and whatever happens, happens. All of them have a different personality that sticks them apart from each other, yet they are very close. (Although I wonder if they are brothers or just friends going by as brothers, because they’re clearly of different species. More on that later)
-Grizzly is loud, excited, and has many interests that involve himself, like getting famous on the internet or winning a burrito-eating contest. In the end when those come back to bite him, he realizes his faults and his bros come through and forgive him.
-Panda is introverted, shy, rational and emotional. He also has an attachment to his cell phone and longs for contact with the rest of the social world (I can relate to that; come on, who can’t?).
-and Ice Bear is calm and extremely prepared for whatever. He can do martial arts, can cook, has a fondness for his axe and spending time in the refrigerator. But he is an expert on a lot of things.
Also, Ice Bear in another way is very memorable. From his first line (“Ice Bear has ninja stars.”) to his actions (playing basketball like he’s Steph Curry) to his voice and mannerisms, Ice Bear has become the breakout character of the series, and has had many fans since its debut (like me).
There is so much to love about these guys:
--They’re so close, it’s creepy-they always stick together in whatever situation and rarely leave the others behind. There are times when this happens, but they are few and far in-between
(the only times this happens so far is in “Viral Video” where Grizzly ditches Panda and Ice for a limo ride with internet sensation Nom-Nom, and in “Panda’s Date” where Panda is jealous of his brothers’ new friendship with his crush Lucy, a woman he met at a farmer’s market while suffering an allergic reaction [long story]).
--They don’t fight-never have I yet seen them in a skirmish for anything. And it’s refreshing to see that. I’d be hurt on the inside if they actually got into a fight sometime down the road, because they’re too cool and sweet to each other to get into scraps like that. Although I will say that if that may happen...Ice Bear will win, no doubt.
--They’re so friendly-these guys are so sweet, that it’s kinda sickening.
--The voice actors for them are just perfect in their roles.
bring layers upon layers of personality and chemistry to their characters and also make this series amazing. Just watch this, and you’ll enjoy the voice acting as much as the Bare Bears themselves.
--The Bear Stack--the Bear Stack is a way the brothers go about. But it’s not just their usual mode of transportation, which is stacking themselves on one another in certain sequence and walk to whatever destination they're going to in San Francisco, it’s also how they show how close they are as a family. Aww. It's both funny and endearing, with a splash of charming as well. In fact, it's one of my favorites things about the series in general.

There are other characters of this series I also like.
There’s Nom-Nom, a koala/internet sensation who turns out to be more than what he lets on when he meets Grizzly; he’s quite a self-centered arrogant jerk (especially for the second he appears in the title sequence). But he voice is quite nice to hear--the fact that he’s voiced by Patton Oswalt is a huge plus.
And then there’s Chloe Park. As I mentioned earlier, she’s a young girl who’s already in college, and is of high intelligence. Despite her actions in the beginning of her first episode, the aptly-title “Chloe”, she is a very adorable, precocious, and humble young girl. There’s no way you can’t like her; from her personality, to her character, to her voice (by Charlyne Yi, best known as the voice of Ruby on Steven Universe) she's way cute. And from the moment I first watched her,I enjoyed her presence and I really wished she would appear more, and from the likeness she’s gotten so far (and the fact that she also appears in the title sequence), it seems everyone else does too, with the implement that she might appear in future episodes. I won’t blame them.
Another character I like is Lucy, a lady the brothers meet when Panda suffers an allergic reaction to nuts after eating a cookie filled with them in “Panda’s Date”, saving him by giving him a shot of epinephrine and become the girl of his dreams. She’s lovely, kind, and is definitely one to be around. She’s also voiced by Ellie Kemper (you know? Erin from The Office and Kimmy Schmidt?). Yeah, this character is just as perfect.
All of these characters I mentioned, along with a some one-shot or recurring characters in some episodes that I didn’t mention, are very likable and appealing to everyone. They bring oodles and oodles of personality and enjoyment to a series that already had personality and enjoyment already in the first place.

In conclusion: There is so much to love about this series--the light, bubbly nature; the likable characters; the snappy wit and sharp writing; the easy-yet-near-complex plots; the fantastically expandable range in music (whether incidental, background or sung), simple-yet-great animation and that it’s not edgy or overly-emotional like many other shows (not that there’s anything wrong with them, either). This series has it all, and that is why it rocks.
(...although there is one moment so far that can make you tear up immediately. That is in "Burrito", where it is revealed after Grizzly gets a large life-size burrito, that it kinda reminds him of a terrible part of his life, where he is stuck on the top of a high tree during a thunderstorm, until he is rescued by a firefighter. The guy's warm embrace is what Grizzly gets from the burrito.

This moment has stood out as one of the series' most memorable and beloved moments. And it can start waterworks.)
(It also makes you wonder how the three Bare Bears got together. In "Our Stuff" alone, Grizz refers to them as bros, assuming they're actual brothers, putting aside the fact that they're of different species. Oh well, I love them anyway, so I'll be cool with whatever relation they are to each other.)

We Bare Bears definitely fits the network's brand of absurd, goofy, edgy and hilarious original programming (although it's definitely not as edgy or absurd), and is a very nice fit for it. The goofy, charming and cutesy feel and the likeness of the characters hit the right spots for me right out of the gate, and the other elements make for a perfect weekly 11 minutes of your life you just might be cool with taking away. And I wasn’t surprised that it’s rated TV-Y7, whether because of the feel or not. In fact, I would’ve been shocked as heck if it was ever rated TV-PG like CN’s other shows, because it’s not the best rating for it, and it would’ve been unnecessary and unneeded. But that doesn’t matter to me, as this series is just fantastic and I couldn’t be any more happy to begin watching as soon as I did (which was five days after it’s premiere).

(In fact, I’m so happy and in love with this show, that I decided to do something I never would’ve thought of doing: I created a Tumblr page. It’s called Ice Bear-isms, where I showcase all the quotes, memes and video featuring the series’ big mute lug himself Ice Bear, along with those from Panda and Grizzly, and other featured characters too, as well as memorable moments from the series itself. Other blogs based on him and the series official page are reblogged regularly.
It’s at icebear-isms.tumblr.com--check it out and follow. And I hope you like it.
Now that the shameless plug-in is over, we now return to our regularly-scheduled review.)

I really didn’t mind the huge push it got from the network--a five night debut with the first six episodes airing during that workweek, and the first two airing in the first night--in fact, I’m happy it got this because I honestly believe it can be a big hit for Cartoon Network (and has been so far) and can be yet another memorable series for everyone to watch and enjoy.
I know this will become a success and last for a long while, because it's a kind of series for anyone (me included) to sit back and relax to, even though my television watching is a broad as the sun and the moon. I can also think that the network can and will treat it just as well as its other shows, and give it the fans and recognition it deserves and then it’ll be another piece in the puzzle of This Great Renaissance of Animation of the 2010s.
Congratulations, Cartoon Network; you have another hit on your hands.
At least I think know so, since on August 12, CN renewed the series for a second season. So it's clear that the execs at the network has given a huge liking to it; I mean that had to--they gave it a panel at Comic-Com.

And that is the another Surprise Review for another animated series I believe will be a hit for not only its network, but also for all animated television. Thank you for joining me, and I’ll see you later.
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Ariana Grande Hates America (and Also Has Something Against Donuts)



(I know this was late, and took place last month, but this stuck like a tumor in the drafts section. So I had to throw it away.)



I don't know if she was drunk when the video was recorded, but I do believe it.
I don't care much for her as a person, but this was absolutely dumb and foolish.
Plus, there are people in this world that are germaphobes. They can't stand the thought of people touching their things, let alone licking them. So you have to imagine their anger, disgust and rage when she licked those donuts. Now, they have to live through it and relive through it this video.

But the thing that takes the cake here, is this: later in the video, Grande spouts this stupid, stupid statement about the country she was born and raised in:
"I HATE AMERICANS. I HATE AMERICA."

If you hate America, just leave. I'm pretty sure we don't need people who hate this country at all here anyway. You'd be perfect somewhere else where your fans will kiss your tiny ass and selectively forget that video like it's an STD.

She later apologized in this video, which I couldn't believe if she said this in a scene on Days of Our Lives.



This was just disrespectful to the donut shop, its owner and employees and America.
Screw you, Ariana Grande.
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Saturday, August 15, 2015

Sesame Street is Moving to HBO -- This is a GOOD THING


If you have heard the news, Sesame Street is actually switching networks--albeit in the first-run.
In 2016, the iconic childrens' series is moving from PBS to, of all networks...HBO. After 45 years of airing on the free public television network, America's most beloved television neighborhood will move to the not-free, very expensive, subscription-based pay-cable network, where new episodes will air first; the episodes will then air on the Peeb 9 months after their Home Box Office debuts. This is a part of a huge five-year programming and development deal that will keep the series alive for at least up to its 50th anniversary, along with HBO getting exclusive rights to previous episodes on its Go and Now digital services and new spin-off series.
This has a lot to do with the viewing habits of its young demographic changing from TV to the Internet.

Of course, people are in a tizzy about it, citing that HBO is not only a pay-TV network, but also a pay-TV network that caters to adults. Many of the programs that air on it are catered to adults, like Game of Thrones, True Detective, The Leftovers, Girls, Silicon Valley and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And also airs movies that are rated R.

Need I remind you that it isn't the first time that HBO has aired programming for children? After Fraggle Rock aired, HBO kept up the mantra with Babar, The Little Lulu Show, George and Martha, The Mr. Men Show, Harold and the Purple Crayon, I Spy, A Little Curious, Postman Pat, and of course, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. No one said a thing about those shows airing at the same time as The Sopranos, Sex and the City or Arli$$. So what difference is there between those examples and Sesame Street?
Because there are puppets? Because it teaches kids? Because families are too poor for cable and are too proud to ask their friends for their HBO Go accounts for this one time?
Oh yeah, I guess the G-, PG-, and PG-13-rated films it showcases don't really exist there either, right?

Might I remind you that this show taught us about death (of course in a decent, dignified manner)?

Or the fact that Katy Perry appeared wearing a skimpy-ass dress that aroused people in a singing skit with Elmo?

Or--oh yeah? this little clip involving Maria BREASTFEEDING?!?


My point is: Sesame Street was no different than any of the childrens' shows that aired on HBO years prior, and was just as bold and mind-challenging as some of the shows that aired on HBO. I'm not saying that these two polarizing-ly different things are a perfect match, but it makes sense in more than one way--
financially and successfully.

Because of the fact that Sesame Workshop is having a bad several years with money--and that Sesame Street is bearing the brunt of it, HBO (an EXTREMELY loaded network and company) stepped in to help out by giving the company a big payout and giving the show better production values and more episodes a year (previously 18, now 35) and more options to watch outside of TV (online, of course).
But no, you don't want that because HBO airs adult shows and R-rated movies? Adults shows and R-rated movies that only air at night? Why do you think they air their shows twice a week? On the same night? And that it will change it?
HBO doesn't own Sesame Street--and as a matter of fact, neither did PBS. It has been owned by Sesame Workshop (and it's previous name The Childrens' Television Workshop) since its beginnings. PBS (along with its predecessor NET) only broadcasts the show, just as HBO will do as well.

And by the way: another point people are trying to make is that they have to wait 9 months before new Sesame will air on PBS. So? Do you actually care about this? Do your children care about that? The kids won't know or care that new Sesame Street will air on PBS in the same time it takes to make a kid. That is unless you wanna stress yourself by telling them that like a fool. It's like this concerns some grown adults more than children. I'm not saying adults can't watch Sesame Street (it's absolutely fine), but it sounds super sad.

So in the end, from here on out: Sesame Street is airing on HBO. Get used to it.
It's not gonna hurt anybody (especially you ADULTS) and it's gonna be all right, especially into the future, now that HBO is putting it and Sesame Workshop under it's wing. Besides it's never going to leave PBS and will do fine there as well. And if you think that PBS will die without Sesame Street, remember this-- It's just. ONE. show. PBS already has other shows it can live off of, like Super WHY!, Dinosaur Train, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Odd Squad and Arthur. And forget the shows that air at night like News Hour, Nova, Nature, Frontline, Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow and American Masters.
So if you're still crying about it, here's a video to cheer you up--It's Kermit the Frog singing "Rainbow Connection". I'm pretty sure his break-up with Miss Piggy doesn't mean much to you anymore.


Wait. It does?? *sigh* This country...
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