I was in the city last week for some meetings at head office. While there, I turned to some of my co-workers, and talk soon turned to Popeyes Chicken. Popeyes Chicken -- officially known as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen -- is an American fried chicken chain. They've made the news recently as they were just bought up by Restaurant Brands International -- the consortium that now owns Burger King and Tim Hortons. But before that, back in the fall, they announced that they were finally beginning an aggressive expansion into Western Canada. One of my co-workers from Toronto says they've had them in the Golden Horseshoe region forever, but they've never ventured further west than Ontario. That all changed when, with much hype and ballyhoo, they opened their first Western Canadian location in Edmonton in November.
And being obsessed with fast food, I knew I had to try it.
Now, they're first location in Edmonton was down on the south side...kind of where the east leg of the Whitemud Freeway meets the Anthony Henday. It was a long drive from head office, but doable. But after chatting with some of my Edmonton colleagues, they revealed that the second location had just opened up...just north of the Yellowhead on 97 Street. That was a lot closer. So, when the meetings were done, we were off to Popeyes Chicken!
We made it to the restaurant OK, thanks to every phone having GPS navigation these days. We arrived, and people were lined up out the door. I hadn't seen that since my very first trip to Wendy's when I was a kid. Maybe it was the first Wendy's in Red Deer, and that's why it was so crowded. Huh... I never thought of that. Anyway. Half of our group went and grabbed a table, the other half stood in the line to place the orders. I was in the order group, which gave me lots of time to ponder the menu.
Like most chicken fast food places, they've got your usual assortment of chicken dinners, chicken fingers (they call theirs tenders), chicken nuggets, and chicken burgers. They've also got some seafood options, but chicken is what they're known for, so that's what I was getting. What got me was the variety of side dishes. Let's be honest, fast food, generally your side dish options are fries, poutine (because Canada), and maybe onion rings. But in addition to those, Popeyes also has mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and so many others.
Popeyes has two kinds of combos: the combo and the platter. Essentially, the combo has one side dish and the platter has two. Since it was my first time, I decided to go with the platter to sample more sides. I went with the three tender platter, with corn on the cob and red beans and rice for my sides.
Oh, and I should mention you get the chicken in spicy and mild. I went with spicy, with buttermilk ranch for my dipping sauce.
Alright. Once my meal came, I tied into it. My thoughts:
The chicken - It had just the right amount of spice. I find, sometimes, the fast food places can overdo it. But there's just enough to give it a kick without overwhelming the taste buds. The batter had a nice crunch to it. And I found it to be less greasy than the rest of the fried chicken choices out there.
Red beans and rice - I actually found it kind of bland, but given the spicy chicken, it was a nice way to cool things down.
Corn on the cob - Wow, this was really juicy. Like, dribbling down your chin juicy. But yeah. Nothing really special about it. Just good ol' corn on the cob.
Biscuit - Every combo and platter at Popeyes comes with one of their signature buttermilk biscuits. Nice and fluffy. I don't know if the warmth came from being oven-fresh or under a heat lamp, but it didn't have they drying-out that comes with the heat lamp. So it was good.
All in all, I was quite pleased with my Popeyes Chicken experience. I found the chicken quite good, and was tickled with the variety of side dishes. I'll probably be heading back...once more locations open and it's not such a journey to get to one.
And now, the scene from Little Nicky we were all quoting on the drive down.
When last we left our intrepid hero, he came home from work on Thursday afternoon, ready to enjoy the Easter weekend, when he met tragedy in his living room. The tempered glass top shelf of his entertainment centre had shattered, leaving broken glass all over his floor and one upside down TV. Here's the pics, in our "pics or it didn't happen" world. Once I got the glass cleaned up and verified that the TV was still functional, the question turned to needing a new entertainment centre. So as one does in this day and age, I hopped on line and went to the IKEA website. I found one I liked that was within my budget, asked my parents to meet me there (because things like "size" confuse me so I wanted to borrow my Dad's truck in case it was needed), and plans were made for a road trip!
Rolling into Edmonton, I was pondering the last time I went to IKEA. It had to be when I was a kid...way back when IKEA was still in West Edmonton Mall. Yes, Edmonton's IKEA was originally in West Edmonton Mall, way back when the Mall first opened in the mid-1980s. The Mall has always prided itself on bringing in many retailers to Alberta for the first time, and I'm pretty sure the West Edmonton Mall IKEA was the first one in Alberta, if not Western Canada. In the late-1990s, as the South Edmonton Common became a thing, they moved down there. For those who don't know their West Edmonton Mall geography, IKEA was originally where the Sport Check and Bed, Bath, and Beyond currently are.
But no, they moved to South Edmonton Common, reviled by many in Edmonton for being the very definition of urban sprawl. The massive, sprawling power centre, taking up a good portion of Edmonton's south side. At least it's really easy to get to, now that the Anthony Henday Drive is complete. Take the Henday all the way around to Gateway Boulevard, head north into the city, and BOOM! It's your first exit. I entered the Common and was instantly lost, as rather than the massive parking lot that most power centre have, it has built up its own maze of streets and avenues. Luckily, IKEA is massive, so I just set my sights on the massive blue and yellow building on the horizon and drove towards it.
I arrived about a half-hour before my parents, and decided to browse the showroom while I waited. As it was Saturday, it was understandably crowded. The showroom was as I remembered from my youth, a winding maze taking you through many model rooms, showing you what the furniture looks like all assembled. I spent a lot of time in the living room section. I'm also in dire need of a new sofa, but even IKEA sofas are pretty pricey on a small market radioman's salary. Hell, the only reason why I could afford the new TV stand was, in one of those strange karmic things that runs the universe, my tax refund arrived on the same day as the shattering.
I wandered over to the living room storage section, where I found the TV stand I had my eye on. Looked like it would have fit in my trunk with no problem, so looks like I didn't need to invite my parents along. Speaking of, that's when I got the text message from my mother that they had arrived. Now came the most stressful part of my trip to IKEA...going against the flow of the people going through their showroom so I could get back out to the entrance. Once I got back out to the front, took a moment to calm down, and met with my parents, it was back into the showroom, because they wanted to check out some stuff.
Seriously, though, I don't know if it was the legendarily high stress environment of IKEA on a Saturday, or me, because I was feeling pretty stressed out in IKEA. Sometimes I think I should see a doctor about anxiety issues because I've never done well in big crowds, but it's getting worse as I get older.
Saw more great stuff in the showroom. There was a nice glass display cabinet that would be prefect for my action figure collections, should I ever get a bigger place or more money. They had bookshelves on sale, and I've considered getting a third one as my current DVD shelves are full and spilling out into little piles all over my floor. Mom took down the number for that one in case I changed my mind by the time we got down to the warehouse. And some mattresses as well, as my original IKEA mattress is starting to get pretty worn out.
Even thought I haven't been to IKEA in 30 years or so, a lot of my furniture is IKEA. My armchair, my dining room set, my bed, my dresser, and my computer desk. I have my parents to thank for that. The standard housewarming gift that my parents settled on when me and my siblings all got our first places was $1000 worth of flatpacked furniture. So within a week of being at my first apartment at my first radio gig, my parents and my brother showed up with all these IKEA boxes and we spent the day setting it all up. I still use pretty much all of it because, well, I'm cheap and it works, so why not? But the mattress on my bed is starting to wear out. and IKEA's got some comfy ones.
We finished up in the showroom, the codes for my TV stand in hand, and it was time for lunch. So we dined in the famous IKEA restaurant. It really was a cafeteria, though, as you grabbed your tray and got in line. I grabbed a glass to hit up the soda fountain, but while looking through the cooler full of bottled juices, I saw a juice box of an IKEA exclusive called "Elder Flower Juice." Intrigued, and no doubt thinking of the classic insult from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I decided to grab it. For lunch, I dined upon the IKEA specialty of Swedish meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes. It suffered from the standard cafeteria problem: it had been sitting in the steam trays a little too long and had dried out. But still, pretty good. The Elder Flower Juice had a sweet, slightly tart flavour. It tasted vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
With out bellies full, we went downstairs. Here, IKEA turned into a more conventional store, as the shelves were lined with all kinds of housewares and other knick-nacks for your home. As Mom remarked afterwards, she wound up spending more money there than I did, as she got some new lamps for the guest rooms, some new towels, and various other sundry items for the home. It a situation where I'm definitely going to have to go back someday, and check out all the other neat stuff. Especially the lamps. Lots of neat lamps.
Now that Mom's shopping cart was full, it was into the warehouse to pick up my entertainment centre. With their cutesy mock-Swedish names, my TV stand was the Besta. But it turns out, the Besta is a modular system, with dozens of different variants. Took us a while to go up and down the aisles, getting all the parts for the particular Besta I had seen in the showroom. But we found them. With those precariously placed atop our shopping cart, my mother said, "So...is there anything else we're getting?" as she pulled her notepad from her purse, with the numbers for the bookshelf I was eyeing. I frightened my mother by responding with a Rick and Morty quote: "Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everyone's going to die. Let's get the bookshelves."
As my parents left, my mother did have a few surprises. Some of the new towels she bought were for me, and she also found a bottle of Elder Flower Juice concentrate so I could brew some at home. As I was getting ready to mix up a pitcher, I had an inspiration. I fired up my SodaStream, ran the Elder Flower Juice concentrate through it, and made my own Elder Flower Soda.
Guess what?
With bubbles, it tasted just like ginger ale. That was the vaguely familiar flavour. It was flat ginger ale.
This whole adventure happened to me about a week ago. I've been enjoying my TV on my nice new Besta stand, and drinking up the last of the Elder Flower Juice. Needless to say, IKEA was quite the journey. And like many other stores, I think I'll be going back someday when I have more money.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I sit and blog about one of the movies I own and have just recently watched. This time out, we get to the most recent Oscar winner for Best Animated Film, Zootopia. This is in my notes at August 13, 2016.
Well, it’s that time. I’ve got an itch. I’ve got an inspiration. And it can only be satiated by sitting behind the mic and pumping out a podcast! You probably know what the inspiration was:
And since we’re at it, may as well talk about the other trailer: Thor Ragnarok,
which broke records for being the biggest trailer launch in Disney’s
history. And that naturally leads into a bunch of Marvel news.
And, a tale of buried treasure from the UK, which I find just fascinating.
And I’m going to try something. Real Life has gotten a little too
busy to pump one out weekly, so at the very least, I’m going to try and
pump one out monthly. Hopefully, this’ll be the start.
So enjoy April Special: April Snowstorms.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, rambling and blogging about one of the many movies I own. This time out, we go with Mel Brooks' classic Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs. This is in my notes at July 17, 2016.
Good Friday. The start of the long weekend. Also, the start of a massive snowfall that would not let up until Easter Sunday morning. But, I told my family I'd be coming home for Easter, so I gassed up ol' Bessie Lou (what I call my car) and set out down the road. I knew I had to brave the snowy highways to get to a place with good WiFi, because something special was coming down from Orlando.
This past weekend, Orlando was host to Star Wars Celebration, the official Star Wars con. Good Friday morning was the panel for the latest Star Wars movie, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Rumours abounded that we were going to get our first trailer at that panel. And sure enough, as soon as I left Westlock town limits, the Star Wars app dinged with the notification: the trailer was online.
With steady hands, I made it though the snow and slush until I was back comfortable in Entwistle. I went inside, exchanged pleasantries with my parents, then went into the living room, commandeered the smart TV, brought up the YouTube app and took in...the trailer.
Much like the first Force Awakens trailer, we're not getting much of a sense of the plot yet. We're just getting teases...glimpses of what's next for hour character. Of course, the most anticipated part of this trailer was finally seeing what Luke had to say. His closing line that, "It's time for the Jedi to end," has so many mysteries behind it. Is he like Baron Mordo at the end of Doctor Strange now? Has come to the realization that the only way to bring balance to the Force is by eliminating all Force users? Or, as a friend of mine pointed out, is he just being dramatic because he's in some kind of funk and it takes Rey to pull him out of it?
Of course, in this day and age, and especially with a franchise like Star Wars, each new information must be picked apart with a fine-toothed comb. I picked up on all the hushed dialogue in the sound mix, and used the production studio in some down time at work today to have a closer listen to it. When Rey mentions "the Light," and we see the back of Leia, we hear Leia's iconic, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi...." When she mentions "the Dark," and we see Kylo Ren's crushed helmet, we hear Obi-Wan's, "He was seduced by the Dark Side...." And when she mentions "the Balance," and we see that book, we hear Yoda's, "Surrounds us...binds us...." What does it all mean? Is Rey the child of Obi-Wan? Will we see the spirit of Yoda?
Right now, all we have our images. Until then, it's all speculation.
And speaking of images, holy moly, that teaser poster.
Seriously, I'm more excited for this poster than I am for the teaser. Add my voice to the lamentations that movies posters are no longer works of art, but just crowded Photoshop collages of the film's stars. But this poster, my friends, is a work of art. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie poster and thought, "I want that hanging on my wall." And I want that hanging on my wall.
Sadly, though, we didn't quite get all the announcements we wanted out of Star Wars Celebration. As this is year is the 40th anniversary of the franchise, we were hoping there'd be an announcement about the original theatrical versions coming to Blu-Ray, but there was no announcement. It was hoped that they'd reveal what the third Star Wars story is going to be, or the title of the young Han Solo movie, but no announcements on those fronts. And it's the young Han Solo movie that's led me to another rambling I want to make tonight.
So a few weeks ago, the CEO of Disney was talking about the Han Solo movie, and said one of the things we'll see is "how Han Solo got his name." Of course, the Internet went abuzz. "You mean...Han Solo isn't his name? How can that be? Why does it have to be a name he adopts?" everyone asked. I don't know. But I found it intriguing.
When I was home, I went digging through the boxes of stuff I have yet to remove from my parents' house, and I brought home this:
My very first Star Wars merch. Scholastic's storybook adaptation of Return of the Jedi. I got this at the Grade 1 book fair.
As I was leafing through it, I came upon this passage. It actually describes one of Return of the Jedi's deleted scenes. If you have the big 9-disc Blu-Ray set, it's among the bonus features. After our heroes rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt, they go to their ships in a blinding sandstorm. Before Han gets on the Millennium Falcon, he and Luke have a brief conversation. Han gets all, "Thank you...for saving my life," but he's a little more emotional than the cavalier Han Solo we know and love. This passage is Luke's internal reaction to that.
"Luke felt the change in Han, and he knew the he and everything the others had risked had been worth it. 'Solo' means 'alone,' he thought. He had often wondered if that was Han's real name. Maybe it was an alias Han had chosen -- one that Han felt described him better than his real name. But now Han knew he didn't have to be a loner anymore."
So. Is "Han Solo" not being Han's real name something that George Lucas had been toying with from the very beginning? Is this one of the first seeds we saw planted of that, way back in 1983? Or is it just the author, literalizing the symbolism of Han's name for younger readers?
Sadly, now I know it's probably the last one, because as I was about to hit publish, I spotted this interview with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy in which she says that Han Solo has always been his name, and the Disney CEO misspoke when he said that. But still, I though the coincidence was neat and felt like sharing it.
Ya know, i don't think I ever read that storybook from beginning to end. I just read passages here and there, and leafed through it a lot, taking in all the pictures. I should finally read it.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of my favourite movies. I'm doing Independence Dayfor a second time, but this time out, I'm doing it's 15-minute longer Special Edition. This is in my notes at June 11, 2016.
Woke up Friday morning to see that I'd worn a whole in my favourite pair of jeans. Going though my closet and taking inventory, I discovered that a lot of my favourite pairs of pants had holes worn in them. And in a rather embarrassing place. A man can't have no pants. Last time I had no pants, I was asked politely to never return to that restaurant. So, my Saturday plans were set: go get some pants.
Luckily, pants were easy to find. My size is usually difficult to come by, but this time, I managed to find three pairs in my size, so I snapped them all up. Didn't have much else to do in the city, anyway, as this past Tuesday, I made a whirlwind trip into to the city to pick up Rogue Oneon Blu-Ray. One of the benefits of being back on the morning show. If, on a sunny Tuesday, I'm able to get out of the office by noon like I'm supposed to, I can make the quick drive down into Edmonton to snatch up the hottest new movies.
And, as I went about browsing, I noticed that the release of Rogue One seems to have brought out the newest round of Star Wars merchandise. It looks like the third and final wave of Rogue One action figures is out. Finally, the Death Trooper (those Stormtroopers in funky black armor) are finally available single-packed. When they first came out in the fall, they were only available in a two-pack with some funky alien Rebel commando. And the one Jyn Erso figure I wanted was finally out. That's the one where she's wearing the black armor from that awesome shot in the trailer. You know, the awesome shot that, like 90% of the awesome trailer shots for Rogue One, wasn't in the movie.
Actually, I read an interview with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards about the genesis of that shot. It happened by accident as they were setting up one day. He liked it so much, he made them do it again so he could get it on film. He never intended to put it in the movie...he just liked it so much he had to get it on film. And the marketing department liked it so much, they put it in the trailer.
Anyway, I passed on those figures, as I think I'm pretty much done when it comes to Rogue One figures. Besides, with 2017 marking the 40th anniversary of the franchise, I saw that the 40th anniversary figures are out. I passed on those, because they're currently marked at $30 each, and when I started collecting action figures back in my teen years, I vowed I'd never spend more than $20 on a figure. I'm amazed at how I've been able to stick to that self-imposed budget over the years.
The closest I came to snatching up some Star Wars figures was over at the Disney Store. The Disney Store's exclusive line of Star Wars figures is called the "Elite Series." They're made of die cast metal. Regular price $35. On sale for $12 each! I passed on those because I just couldn't decide which ones to get. The Death Trooper? Kylo Ren? Jyn Erso? Rey? Because of JJ Abrams' obsessive secrecy with The Force Awakens, the Elite Series Rey is pretty much the only Rey that actually comes with a lightsaber. Or how about the Riot Control Stormtrooper? That's the one that stole the show in The Force Awakens by screaming out "Traitor!" and then unleashing the beast on Finn. If they're still on sale next time I'm at the Mall, maybe, just maybe, I'll buy one. Or two.
But then it was time for lunch. And I had resolved to try something I had stumble across the last time I was in the city two weeks ago. Harvey's, the legendary Canadian burger chain, the birthplace of Frings, now does rice bowls. The rice bowl is a staple of Japanese fast food. The name pretty much says it all. It's a bowl of rice, with some tasty toppings. The most common of which is the beef bowl, a bowl of rice topped with some thinly-sliced fried beef, a dash of onions, and a sweet sauce. So I had to try a Harvey's rice bowl.
So the entire Harvey's bowl gimmick is currently known as the Build-a-Bowl. Step one, you decide what you want it to be a bowl of: rice, fries, or salad. I went with rice. Step two: you add your meat: beef or chicken. I went with beef. Then they asked me if I wanted regular or Angus. I went with Angus. All they do is take a burger paddy, chop it up, and add it to the bowl. And for the final step, you add the rest of your toppings. Just like good ol' regular Harvey's, you go over to their toppings station and tell the clerk what you want on it. I went with lettuce, tomato, and the Asian sesame dressing.
All in all, not too bad. Not sure it'll be a regular fast food dining experience for me, but it may have inspired me to try making one at home. I've never attempted to make my own beef bowls at home.
But anyway, with lunch in my belly, it was time to do what I always do when I hit the city: movie time! And I had one last March blockbuster on my wish list: Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
Beauty and the Beast was poised to become the monster hit it now is. Not only are Disney's live-action remakes of their animated hits proving to be a steady franchise in its own right, but we're starting to hit the sweet spot for 1990s nostalgia. Everyone who saw the original when they were a kid is now grown up with kids of their own and ready to share this definitive moment in their developmental years with their families. It was something that was proven when the trailer set a new record for most viewed YouTube trailer. It's been out for almost a month now, so the the theatre was only about half-full when I saw it.
I like some of the new additions they made. They flesh out the backstories a little more. We find out what happened to Belle's mother, we found out what the palace staff did to get cursed alongside the Beast and turned into household objects, and we get to see a little more villainy on the part of Gaston. Some of the new additions seemed excessive, though. I mean, Belle was already enough of an outcast for burying her nose in books instead of engaging in a provincial life...did she really need to be publicly shamed for committing the crime of sharing that love of reading with others?
But the performances are good, the visuals are spectacular, it's a real struggle to not sing along to your favourite songs, and I'll be damned if that Alan Menken score still doesn't give me goosebumps.
Actually, going through the reviews over on the main site, I'm mildly disturbed. Reviewing my reviews for the past few years, usually by this point in the year, I've only seen 2 films, 3 max. But so far this year, I've seen seven. I don't know if I'll be able to sustain this rate financially.
But then, looking ahead, I see a lot of that had to do with how unusually loaded this March has been. Logan, Kong, Power Rangers, Beauty and the Beast.... In fact, looking ahead to this summer, it almost seems like it's going to be a light summer for me. Alien, Planet of the Apes, Pirates of the Caribbean...these are all franchises I'm pretty indifferent towards. Yeah, there's a new Transformers, but I'm thinking I'm done with Transformers. They've just done nothing new since the first one. We've got a new King Arthur. Maybe I'll take Mom to that one, because Mom always liked the Arthurian legends. So, yeah. Outside of the superhero films coming up -- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man: Homecoming -- it looks like it might be a pretty light summer for me.
And also, thanks to all of the gift cards I got for Christmas, I have yet to actually pay for a movie this year with my own money.
And thanks to the money I'm saving due to all these gift cards, I'll be able to do it all in stylish new pants.
Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, blogging about one of the many movies I own. Taking a look at some classic Disney animation this time out with The Jungle Book. This is in my notes at June 4, 2016.
When last I blogged, I was talking about how March this year is shaping up to be a really good month for movies. I mean, it's like a summer blockbuster month. After I was reveling in Power Rangers and recapping Logan, I remembered that I also wanted to watch Kong: Skull Island. . I saw I had enough Scene points for a free movie. Dare I see a second movie in two days? Do I turned around and head back into the city to watch Kong: Skull Island? Why not?
Well, as I've blogged before, I try not to head into the city on Sundays. Nothing really opens until noon, so for an early riser like myself, there's really nothing to see or do. And Sunday tends to bring out more crazies. I'll never forget the time some guy in Best Buy completely lost his mind at DVDs being just $5 in the discount bin. "THESE MOVIES ARE CHEAPER THAN WHORES IN THAILAND!" he screamed loud enough for the whole store to hear. But to just dart in, catch a movie, and dart out? Yeah, I could do that.
As I was just heading in to catch the movie, I was off to the North Edmonton Commons power centre. Now, as I've blogged before, I'm not a big fan of power centres. They're not very pedestrian-friendly, so if you're early for your movie -- like I was -- there's really not much you can do in the way of wandering around and browsing in the other shops. And besides, it was Sunday. About the only thing open was Golf Town. So I went browsing in Golf Town.
I've only been out golfing a handful of times in my adult life, but I occasionally think I could really get into it. It involves a lot walking. I like to walk. As stores like Golf Town prove, golf is a sport where you can collect a lot of stuff. And as my collections of action figures and DVDs prove, I like to collect stuff. All the pieces are in place. But, as a store like Golf Town proves, golf gear is an expensive collection to collect. So when it comes to golf, I think I will stick to the mini variety.
Which reminds me. A couple of weeks ago when I was at West Edmonton Mall, to see Logan I think, I snapped this pictures of Professor Wem's Adventure Golf.
I was kind of stunned at how this quickly became one of the most-liked photos I ever posted to Instagram. I just snapped it because I've long looked out at Professor Wem's Adventure Golf in amazement. I've been going to West Edmonton Mall ever since it was built, but the mini-golf is the one attraction I've never partook.
Well, that's not quite true. I've also never been skating at the Ice Palace, and I've never spent a night in the Fantasyland Hotel. But as I don't skate, and the rooms at the Fantasyland Hotel can get pretty steep, Professor Wem's Adventure Golf is the only attraction within my grasp that I've never done. But yet I've walked by it countless times and never ventured in.
I've been walking past it long enough that I remember its history. When the Mall first opened in the 1980s, the mini-golf course was called Pebble Beach, and it was meant to be a mini-golf re-creation of the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Club in California. But they changed it in the mid-1990s, around the same time Fantasyland became Galaxyland. Did their licensing agreement with Pebble Beach expire? Did their lawsuit with Disney over the name "Fantasyland" make them gun shy, and they changed the name to avoid future lawsuits? Either way, the Professor Wem mascot was invented, and Professor Wem's adventure golf was born.
Maybe this'll be the year. It's the big 4-0 this year, so maybe a mini-golf party at West Edmonton Mall. Or maybe I'll just do what I always do on my birthday and catch a movie. And speaking of movies....
*pats self on back for awesome segue*
Kong: Skull Island!
As I've blogged before, as much as I love giant monster movies, my biggest complaint is they can never find anything interesting for the humans to do. They just kind of stand around, waiting for the giant monster to show up so they can react to it. So I really liked Kong: Skull Island for giving us some cool characters, and I found myself actually intrigued by them.
First we have Samuel L. Jackson as Lt. Col. Preston Packard. He leads the military escort to Skull Island. As most of his troops are taken down by Kong as soon as they land, he decides to take down Kong to avenge his troops. And as they days on the island go on, he grows more and more obsessed with taking down Kong.
Next up there's John C. Reilly as Lt. Hank Marlow. He was a World War II fighter pilot who crashed on the island and has been trapped there for almost 30 years. (The film takes place in the early 1970s, by the way.) Needless to say, his time on the island has made him a little bit loopy, but he's got the most experience with dealing with Kong and the other beasties on the island.
And there are some really good giant monster fights in the film as well. And, for those who haven't heard, this is in the same cinematic universe as 2014's Godzilla reboot, so there's a nice post-credits stinger setting that up.
Yes, for those who haven't heard, next in the cinematic universe is Godzilla 2 in 2019, now officially titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters. After that, Kong vs Godzilla in 2020.
Time to roll again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about a movie I own on DVD or Blu-Ray, or even VHS in a few rare occasions. I'm done with every Batman movie, so I think Deadpoolwould be a good palette-cleanser. This is in my notes at May 29, 2016.
I find I haven't blogged about my last three or four trips to the city. Mainly, because, well, they're getting kind of repetitive. "I went to HMV during it's dying days and it made me sad." "I went to the Apple Store and I still can't afford an iPad and that made me sad." "I went to the Disney Store and I can't afford any of the high end collectables and that made me sad." About the only thing in the city that doesn't make me sad these days is going to the movies, so let's run down the last four I've seen and have neglected to blog about!
First up, this past weekend, Power Rangers.
I can't believe how excited I'd been getting for Power Rangers. I mean, I did love the original show back in the day. It was so cheezy and delightful. Ever since the first trailers, I'd been joking that I haven't seen Power Rangers taken this seriously since the fanfic I wrote in high school.
So imagine my delight that there is a scene that's ripped straight from the fanfic I wrote in high school.
Man o man, it's kind of fun seeing Power Rangers being taken all gritty and serious. Although, I am tiring of that washed-out colour scheme that we've seen in, well, ever DC film. And sometimes it gets a little too serious. I mean, they took that "teenagers with attitude" line from the original show's opening narration and ran with it. These kids have got some pretty serious issues.
And the problem with that is it takes far too long for our heroes to get going and suit up for the first time. My fanfic back in the day dealt with stuff we never saw, like the training montages, explaining what exactly their powers are and how to use them, and all that. But sadly, the first two acts are dedicated to that, and they don't morph until the start of the third act.
But out of all the Easter eggs, I love that the third act follows the same basic formula as a typical episode of the original show.
There's lots of good. Man, Elizabeth Banks is such a delight as Rita Repulsa. I wish we had more of her in the film. With the drive on these days to make villains into sympathetic characters, we don't get a lot of...deliciously evil villains anymore. Banks' Rita is deliciously evil.
Long story short: it's all talk talk talk and franchise set-up until an action-filled third act. Much like the first Transformers film, my nostalgia for the property is making me love this cliche-filled superhero origin story a lot more than I should.
A couple weeks ago, it was that time of year again. Time to take some time off to burn off some unused vacation time from last year. So of course, I went to a weekday matinee of Logan.
Needless to say, going into Logan with a twinge of sadness. Hugh Jackman has long said this is his swan song as Wolverine, and he definitely goes out on a high note. We finally get the R-rated Wolverine we've wanted because, let's be honest, his most famous superpower is knives coming out of his hands and his go-to move is stabbing people. So there's gratuitous head-stabbings and decapitations throughout.
After 17 years, it's like Hugh Jackman has finally gotten grizzled enough to be Wolverine. And we've never seen a Wolverine like this. He's near the end. He knows he doesn't have much time left. He's moving a little slower. His healing factor moves a little slower, leaving him with scars. But he's still the best there is at what he does.
Along for the ride, for one last outing as Professor Charles Xavier, is Patrick Stewart. Wolverine has been caring for him, as the Professor is starting to lose control of his powers in his old age. However, it is he who encourages Wolverine to go on one last ride to get the silent Laura to safety.
Laura, of course, is a young girl with powers just like Wolverine's, and protecting her is just enough to get Wolverine moving once again.
If I have a quibble, it has to be that our villain really doesn't make himself and his motivations known until the literal final minutes of the film. Would have been nice to, you know, actually get to know the villain.
But it was a remarkable send off to everyone's favourite mutant, and I may have gotten a little misty-eyed at the end. 3.5 Nibs. Full review on website.
Going back a little further than that, to the end of February, it was The Lego Batman Movie.
We've been so, so ready for a light-hearted Batman movie, and The Lego Batman Movie delivers in spades. The weird thing is, this is the first-ever Batman movie that really delves into the psychology of why Batman prefers to work alone. It's fun watching as Batman slowly learns to open his heart and work with Robin, Batgirl, and Alfred.
And dear God, when this movie comes out on Blu-Ray, I'm going to have to watch it frame-by-frame to get all the Batman in-jokes and references. The director, Chris McKay, cut his teeth on Robot Chicken, and it shows, as that brand of humour runs throughout the entire film. "British robots. Ask your nerd friends."
And we conclude this trip all the way back on Family Day, with A Dog's Purpose.
Yeah, I know, this isn't the typical kind of movie I go see. Hell, it's the only one on this list that doesn't have a superhero in it. But it was Family Day, and I was hanging out with sister and her family, so my nieces got to pick the movie. And of course they picked the one with the cute puppies.
It's a fairly typical "boy and his dog" kind of movie, but with this one, we get to see the dog get reincarnated and live again. So it's several "boy and his dog" movies all rolled into one. But the dogs are cute and the performances are pretty good, so it was fun for the whole family.
Plus, in the lobby, I managed to win each of nieces a teddy bear in the claw machine! I'm not some kind of claw machine pro...this one just let you keep going and going and going until you won something.
So there ya go. That's how I've been spending my free time over the past month. And I'm still not done yet. Man, March sure is crowded with blockbusters. I still want to get out there and see Kong: Skull Island and Beauty and the Beast. So I'll do my best to keep you updated going forward.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, blogging about one of the many movies I own. Well, I guess I couldn't help myself, and decided to do on more Batman movie. Here's Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. This is in my notes at July 3, 2016.
I feel like I need to apologize. In the five years that I've been doing Fishing in the Discount Bin, I forgot to post one last week! Normally, when I go on vacation, I post it, and use all the "publish later" functions at my disposal to make sure it still goes online every Thursday morning. I was on vacation last week, and I just plum forgot to do that. As I said on Twitter the day it happened, my apologies to the six of you who actually read this.
Anyway, time to close out my run on every Batman movie with The Dark Knight Rises. This is in my notes at July 2, 2016.
Time for another installment on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about a movie I own, just so I can justify my binge-watching. Right now, I'm binge-watching the Batman franchise, and we get to The Dark Knight. This is in my notes at June 26, 2016.
I'm still working my way through every Batman movie on Fishing in the Discount Bin, and today, we finally get to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy with Batman Begins. This is in my notes at June 18, 2016.
Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch a movie I own and blog about it. I'm currently making my way through every Batman movie, so we knew we were going to get here eventually. Time for Batman & Robin. This is originally in my notes at May 7, 2016.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about a movie I own and have recently re-watched. Right now, I'm plowing my way through every Batman movie, trying to find the worst one. Today, we find ourselves on Batman Forever. This is originally in my notes at April 30, 2016.
Well, when I posted my Christmas special podcast, I said, "Gee, I'd better make a podcast pretty early in the new year, or else the first thing people will see when they come by my website is the Christmas podcast, and that'll get out-of-date pretty quickly."
It only took me until Groundhog's Day to do it!
That, and, as I was blogging last week, I figured that there's lots I have to podcast about, so I should get to it.
And here we are with February Special: A Month of Holidays. So what compelled me to sit behind the mic once again?
Sharing my woes that I didn't get a Classic NES for Christmas
Geeking out over my new phone and my first adventures in Pokemon Go.
And mourning the closure of HMV, and reminiscing about all the music stores that used to be in West Edmonton Mall.
Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about a movie I own and recently re-watched. Well, re-watched about six months ago, because that seems to be how far ahead I work on this thing. I'm currently making my way through every theatrically-released Batman film, and that means I get to do Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. This is originally in my notes at April 23, 2016.
