Ev'rybody Gettin' Sick

My girlfriend is sick. Her mom is sick. My cousin is sick. My aunt is sick. My grandma is sick. My grandpa is sick.

And yes, I am sick.

Apparently, most of the people on the above list got the flu a little over a week ago and ate only just now getting over it.

I just got it a couple days ago.

I'll keep you all updated.

Recap: Doctor Who "The Gunfighters" Episode 4: The O.K. Corral

Yes, with a title like that, it seems as though the fateful hour is inching closer. It's entirely the wrong hour, since the gunfight happened at a different time in real life, but why should the serial decide to suddenly get something correct?

The real Johnny Ringo would be pretty surprised to hear he was involved, too.

Review: Teen Titans Go! "La Larva de Amor"

Definitivamente uno de los mejores episodios de la serie. No, en realidad no hablo español. Así que espero que Google esté traduciendo correctamente mi plátano.

Recap: Teen Titans Go! "La Larva de Amor"

I have not yet covered a show on this blog that doesn't have at least one episode I like, except perhaps The Super Hero Squad Show. Ultimate Spider-Man, Goosebumps, and even Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. have all managed to impress me once or twice.

And yes, readers, that means what you think it means.

I like this episode.

I wish it didn't take me this long to find an episode I truly like, but the first few episodes were still finding their footing.

The show will still be finding its footing for a bit, but that's neither here nor there.

Review: Goosebumps "The Girl Who Cried Monster"

Honestly, I don't need to analyze the plot to this episode. I probably should, for the sake of thoroughness, but I'll freely admit that doing so in detail would be a waste of time for us both. I've got laundry to do and you only have so much time to read this during your bathroom break.

Plot/Themes

It riffs on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," with the twist ending that the girl crying monster is also a monster.

Boom. Done.

You're smart. You get it. I shouldn't have to go into any more detail there if you actually read the Recap or watched the episode.

So now I can focus my efforts on an aspect of this episode that is worth talking about in detail: The world-building.

Recap: Goosebumps "The Girl Who Cried Monster"

February is Black History Month, that time of year where we honor the brave men and women throughout history who have given their time, effort, and in some cases, lives, to end slavery, stand up for equal rights, and strive to break racism's grip on the world. The idea that all peoples on this Earth can coexist, united in the knowledge that we are all just as human as each other, is an important one.

Unfortunately, there are only 12 months in the year. February honors a lot of other things, too. Most of them being things that people don't really care about as much as Black History Month.

February is also National Cherry Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Heart Month (because Valentine's Day, get it?), National Children's Dental Health Month, and many more, including National Library Lover's Month.

So on this, the spoopiest of all days, Monday the Thirteenth, I'll be looking at the only episode of Goosebumps, a staple of local libraries in the 1990s, to prominently feature a library. As well as one of the best-written female protagonists in the entire show, which is why I originally had this Recap reserved for Women's History Month before a certain library decided it would be a hoot to put anti-theft stickers on their DVDs that might break my DVD player, to say nothing of my computer’s disk drive.

"Not responsible,” my foot!

Yes, I realize that I’m observing Library Lovers Month in response to a library making things difficult for me.
I am well aware of the irony.

Recap: Dcotor Who "The Gunfighters" Episode 3: Johnny Ringo

When last we left off, the situation was grim. Or at the very least, dire. The Doctor was in the jailhouse, the Clantons still thought the time traveling old man was Doc Holliday, and now they've rounded up a mob to hang Steven unless the Doctor gives himself up.

The only way things could be worse is if they needed to hijack a train to power their time machine.

Review: The Batman "The Man Who Would Be Bat"

According to the book that forms the basis for this episode's title, the wheel of the world swings through the same phases again and again. Indeed, each and every Batman cartoon finds itself using the same characters over and over and over.

The creators of Beware the Batman, quite aware of this, opted to focus on lesser-known characters to combat this. Man-Bat, incidentally, was one of them.

But years before Beware the Batman attempted to turn Man-Bat into a sympathetic, tragic character, The Batman stuck to his classic depiction as a mad scientist-turned-monster, for better and for worse. But mostly for "meh."

Recap: The Batman "The Man Who Would Be Bat"

Today, somebody tries to fulfill that oldest of adages in the most literal way.

"Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman."

Always be Batman.

Post Delayed to Tuesday

New internet cables have been going in nearby, which has been slowing down my alread-slow internet considerably.

Sorry for the inconvenience; I guess this is what I get for living in the middle of nowhere.

Doctor Who: "The Gunfighters" Episode 2: Don't Shoot the Pianist

When last we left off, the Doctor and company were in Tombstone, Arizona during the Old West. The Doctor had been mistaken for local troublemaker/dentist Doc Holliday by a man named Seth "Don't Call Me Snake-Eyes" Harper, who invited him to the saloon for a bit of "drinking" with the Clanton brothers, who just so happen to have a bone to pick with Holliday since he shot their other brother.

The Doctor's companions, mistaken for pals of "Holliday," are being forced to entertain the Clantons at gunpoint to ensure that they can't help "Holliday" get the drop on the Clantons.

And all because the Doctor insisted on getting a dentist to yank his tooth.

You think that's bad, though?
Troy ended up burning because the Doctor pretended he was Zeus and had a little idea anout a horse.

Site News: February 2017 Announcements

I know I usually post these on the first, but I had to make a couple last-second alterations to this month's schedule. But, uh, there's really nothing to announce. I'm healing up fine from the removal of my wisdom teeth, I'm back on solid foods, and I've been attempting to finish up my Reviews of Batman Returns as well as Ultimate Spider-Man Season 1. Expect those no later than March, depending on how scheduling works out. Possibly early April for the USM Review. It all depends on how the schedule works out; I'm still tweaking it.

Hey, speaking of Spider-Man, let me explain why I had to do some last-second alterations.  So, I'm at the mercy of my local library for a few of the things I cover on my blog. So when I thought it would be fun to do more Spectacular Spider-Man, I ordered the DVD through the library catalog. And it recently came in. And it had some kind of Jack Kirby-looking design on it. Like a sticker.This is anti-theft protection, which keeps people from snatching a DVD and running off with it.

Okay, I understand that preventing theft is a good thing that keeps libraries in business. But there's a problem with this system. They know what it is. And I know THEY know what the problem is because they put a sticker on the DVD telling me that playing the DVD they're letting me borrow runs the risk of damaging my DVD player.

So how about you don't put this thing on your DVDs that breaks DVD players, and I won't get mad at you for breaking my DVD player? I think that sounds like a fair deal.

If you got a sandwich from Subway and they told you that Subway is not responsible for any injury caused by the razors in the sandwich, I think you'd be pretty angry that they put razors in your sandwich.

To be fair, I understand that libraries need to ensure that people don't steal their stuff. But... seriously, can y'all find a better way to do it than by possibly breaking the DVD player of somebody who's playing by your rules?

Why not keep the DVD cases on display EMPTY and put the DVDs in after a customer takes it to the check-out counter? Like GameStop. As far as I know, there's only ONE LIBRARY in Michigan that uses this destructive method of anti-theft protection. I won't name names, but you know who you are.  I love you to death, library, but we're both going to need to work together to make this relationship strong.

Okay. Love you, library. I'm glad we could talk it out like this.