Podcasting This Week

Here's a quick update, I have three new podcast episodes available this week that I want folks to be aware of.

First up is The GAR! Podcast, co-hosted with friend and partner Ray Cornwall. The GAR! Podcast is the Glenn Walker and Ray Cornwall weekly podcast where they talk unrehearsed about whatever happens to come to mind. It’s an audio-zine for your mind, a nerd exploration of a nerd world, coming to you from the suburbs of New Jersey and the sunny lakes of Florida via Skype.

In the latest episode, Prince Underground, we discuss our favorite performer, the late Prince, Purple Rain Deluxe, The Revolution, Susan Rogers, fandom, bootlegs, the Prince estate, The Black Album, drugs, baseball umbrellas, high price paraphernalia, listener feedback, Keith Pollard and Ron Wilson, and AI Alexa.



Then there's The Make Mine Magic Podcast, which I co-host with The Bride. The Make Mine Magic Podcast features Jenn and Glenn Walker talking about Disney, parks, movies, travel advice, characters, Marvel, Star Wars, Studio Ghibli, etc., if it’s Disney, it’s fair game.

This week’s episode includes discussion of "The Lion Guard," including the show, the characters, the origins, the actors, the music, crocodiles, zuka zama, lion super powers, Return of the Roar, "It’s Unbungalievable," the circle of life, and being a kid again. You can hear it right here.

Finally, there is the Nerdfect Strangers podcast that I co-host with partners Bobby Fisher and Jerry Whitworth Nerdfect Strangers is hosted by Bobby Fisher, who started it in August 2014 with original co-host and all-around nice guy/rock star, Jonathan Rodriguez. Since March 2015 the show has been hosted by Bobby and cool comics blogger, Jerry Whitworth, and, as of September 2015, Glenn Walker, who is also a real class act. We talk about all things nerdy and geeky including but not limited to: comics, wrestling, video games, nerd news, movies and TV.

In the latest episode, Exploding Windup Penguins, we talk about some of the San Diego Comic Con news, Glenn's distaste for blue M&Ms, and that snake, Randy "Macho Man" Savage turning heel and joining the dastardly NOW. We also talk about the disaster that was the main event of WWE Great Balls of Fire, and promote Noah Houlihan's Game the Gamer Kickstarter.

RIP June Foray

After a sad and morbidly misleading fake death by internet rumor, June Foray, voice actress extraordinaire, has passed away for real, last night, at the amazing age of 99. A voice from my childhood is gone.

Having grown up with the Warner Bros cartoons, my early Saturday mornings built around them, the loss of June Foray is a major blow to my childhood. Even back in the day, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, everyone knew that Mel Blanc was the wonder voice behind all those cartoon characters, but then, even I was canny enough to realize that there were some female voices (Granny, Witch Hazel, and others) that couldn't possibly be Blanc. Asking adults, I learned that this was June Foray. The late Chuck Jones has been quoted as saying that June wasn't the female Mel Blanc, but Mel was the male June Foray. She was that good.

More than the Looney Tunes, the cartoon that really brings June Foray to mind for me is the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." In this series, Foray was the voice of not only Rocky the Flying Squirrel, but also Natasha, Dudley Do-Right's romantic interest Nell, and a number of voices in Fractured Fairy Tales. I remember vividly Sunday mornings with my big brother, pancakes, and Bullwinkle and Rocky, and June Foray.

Over the years Foray did voices in a variety of projects, including "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "Horton Hears a Who," to name just a few. She worked in radio, television, film, even videogames, and did voice work for nearly all the animation companies and franchises. We have lost a legend, June Foray will be missed.

Not My President, Again

Not My President, again. You know, I really really wanted to post my Spider-Man: Homecoming review today, or talk about the cool Valerian or Captain Canuck animations I found online, or even the new Coke Zero, but then something happened that simply enraged me. You guessed it, it has to do with the Orange Hobgoblin.

The monster Trump, who cannot be stopped from Tweeting just as a liar cannot stop lying, Tweeted some horrific stuff this morning. And as many in the media fear, his Tweets are soon to become policy. His target this morning was the transgender community, despite his Tweets before the election (which he still whines about winning, eight months later) that indicated he would support the LGBTQ community and fight for them.

His Tweets this morning indicate 'a military decision' despite 15,000 transgender individuals already serving in the US military, and calls them a burden. That doesn't sound like supporting or fighting for them, that sounds like targeting them and discriminating against them. And while this stinks of a diversionary tactic to steal focus from the Russian investigations, and discord within his administration and even his own family, he's still doing it, and it's very real.

Already former allies are turning against Trump, like Caitlyn Jenner, and transgendered soldiers are speaking up as well, like Navy SEAL hero Kristin Beck. Questions at a White House Press Conference earlier today were casually deflected as if unimportant, like will the transgendered currently in the military be pulled from their positions, their jobs, their combat operations. There is no plan, only Trump's discrimination, betrayal, and Tweets.

Later, Trump addressed the American Legion Boys Nation and Auxiliary Girls Nation at the White House. He spoke of loyalty, something he betrayed some Americans earlier, and while he didn't tell any salacious stories as he did yesterday with the Boy Scouts, he did tell the children they should pursue their dreams, and all I could think was as long as they're not transgender and want to serve their country. I imagined transgender children in that audience crying silently.

At the end of his speech a reporter yelled out a question about Trump's policy on transgenders in the military, to which he called her "rude." A chill ran down my spine as he spurred the children to start chanting "USA USA." Surely I'm not the only one who wondered about the youth there and what they would be like as adults. I also wondered what happened to the 'rude' reporter. Was she roughly escorted out like the dissenters verbally threatened at his election rallies? I can only fear that today's 'rude' is tomorrow's criminal. Freedom of speech? What's that?

Back on topic, to a point. My friends in the LGBQT community are among the bravest and strongest people I know, and if they want to serve in the military, they should be able to. Strength is important for that gig. I don't have it. Those targeted today do.

For most of the first two decades of my life I was bullied, from roughly fourth grade right through to senior year, and for most of that time the epithet of choice was 'faggot.' I'm not gay, but it didn't stop the constant verbal abuse, getting beaten up almost every day, and whenever I hear someone say that anything other than heterosexuality is a lifestyle choice, I get angry. No one would choose that. I still have emotional and physical scars to prove it. And it comes back to strength. To be LGBTQ and out is the bravest choice of all, and only the strong can do it, and there is no one else I'd rather have defending me and my country.

Now we have a bully president, just like the monsters I encountered in school, and he has to be stopped. Today he stabbed his transgender supporters in the back, will you be next?

Please join and/or donate to ACLU, vote, or register to vote if you haven't already, support People for the American Way, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal, and Public Television.

Quickies 7-25-2017

Zoolander 2 ~ I hated Zoolander or at least I remember hating Zoolander.  Now I think I might want to give it a serious re-watch.  My mind on the subject has been changed.  Seeing the sequel, Zoolander 2, I understood what was being gone for. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the stupidity. While before I thought I was looking at a bad "Saturday Night Live" sketch that had gone on far too long, this time, I got the camp, and I saw the superhero parallels, at least in the sequel, and kinda loved it. And if nothing else, the opening gave me new respect for Justin Bieber, and that's saying a lot.

The BFG ~ This film adaptation of a Roald Dahl story is fun, but not as interesting as his other stuff, until they get to the giant meeting the Queen of England, and then it's great. Great fantasy that becomes great funny on a Monty Python scale. The kids will like it more than you will, but they won't get half the jokes. Fun for a rental.

The Wedding Planner ~ One of the terrible things about being in the hospital is that you will watch anything, because sometimes you either can't move or can't find the TV remote to change the channel. When this simple rom-com came on one night, I thought I was in for two hours of hell, but it wasn't half-bad. Predictable from start to finish, but I have to say I quite enjoyed this one… or maybe the IV was just full of good drugs.

Frankenhooker ~ I loved this movie when it first came out, thought it was hilarious, and bought the videotape when it came out. When I worked in a video store, I would push the button on the movie box when I walked by, and it would say, "Wanna date?" and "Got any money?" Hilarious. I saw it recently, the story of a deranged young man who brings his girlfriend back to life using body parts from dead chopped up prostitutes, and I'm sad to say – either I've grown up, or it doesn't hold up at all. I still think the talking box is funny though.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets ~ I have been waiting for this flick since my brother-in-law hipped me to it several months back.  We're both, as are millions of others, fans of another Luc Bessom film, The Fifth Element, a movie which thematically and visually Valerian resembles.  Based on that, we were psyched, as well we should have been.  This is a stunning film, with two major problems that spoiled it for me.  Still, by all means, you should see this movie.  It's a popcorn blockbuster and a treat for the eyes, and yes, 3-D is recommended if available, I don't say this often, but it’s worth it.

Based on the French/Belgian comic series Valerian and Laureline, and therein lies one of my problems with this flick.  There are two lead protagonists in this film, and yet only the male one gets title billing.  Laureline is just as much a lead and a hero, in some cases a better hero than Valerian, and yet, where is her name in the title?  Besson, and whoever else might be responsible, should have kept to the source material on this one point. 

What aggravates this seemingly small point is that this is Luc Besson, a man who in previous films like Lucy, The Messenger, La Femme Nikita, The Professional, Kiss of the Dragon, and especially The Fifth Element, has presented strong female protagonists in empowered roles. Laureline is still a strong female protagonist, yet relegated to a back seat and no billing in the movie version of the comic in which she at least gets second. Disappointing.

The other problem I have with Valerian is the actor in the titular lead role of this flick, Dane DeHaan.  He is at best a Reggie in a movie that requires an Archie.  And anyone who has seen him in Chronicle or the painful The Amazing Spider-Man 2, knows that his mischievous eyes and sneering grin are far more applicable to villainous roles than heroic.  Often here he comes off as disingenuous or hiding something.  It's just in his face and his manner - I was never able to fully trust him as the hero.  Couple this with the character's less than stellar romantic streak, and he's definitely not your usual white hat. 

And while DeHaan tries earnestly to be the hero he was cast as, Cara Delevingne pulls it off easily as Laureline, despite her previous roles.  She was in the critically acclaimed Paper Towns, and also recently and more notably played the creepy Enchantress from Suicide Squad - or was she just Junie Moon, I forget, either way, both roles were creepy.  And yet, I believe her more as the hero that DeHaan should have been. Also in the mix are Herbie Hancock, Ethan Hawke, and Rihanna shining as a shapeshifting pole dancer.

Don't get me wrong and bunch me in with the other critics who inexplicably didn't like this flick, because I loved it despite the problems I had with it. Valerian is fast-paced, exciting, fun, and visually stunning. The aliens are a spectacular special effects triumph blending Besson's Fifth Element sensibilities with Avatar caliber realism. The story of two federal agents in the future uncovering the mystery of a lost civilization in the future is as refreshing as it is simplistic, and highly watchable.

I had problems, yes, but they didn't affect the wonder and amazement I felt watching this movie. This is top of the line science fiction adventure, and if I'm being honest, I wish recent Star Wars flicks had a bit more of this and were less powered by nostalgia. Valerian is a great flick, recommended.