11/11/2022 Music Journal

 

               It’s time for my weekly check-in, so here we go.  Switchfoot and Jimmy Fallon with Dolly Parton had good Christmas songs, Switchfoot releasing an entire album with hymns and originals like “Scrappy Little Christmas Tree,” about getting one of the three-foot trees at the farm for the year (I always felt sad for them because no one was going to pick them amongst the sea of 7-foot Douglas firs) while Dolly and Jimmy sang about it possibly being too early to sing about Christmas.  The Pretty Reckless also teamed with Matt Cameron and had a cover of Soundgarden’s “Loud Love.”  But the highlight of last week’s releases was CJ Grimmark with electric guitar renditions of “Mary, Did You Know” and “Silent Night.”  I strongly urge financially supporting this artist.

 

               I’m writing this early Wednesday morning, so we don’t know the full results (we still don't), but it doesn’t look bad, I’m mostly seeing holds with a Democrat Senate win in Pennsylvania.  Hopefully, this means the Government will be more helpful to the people in the future.  Honestly, I want to get out of politics, it’s miserable and you make a lot of enemies.  Yes, I’m an environmentalist and LGBTQ+ rights supporter and anti-racist, but that doesn’t mean I hate my relatives or old friends who disagree with that perspective.  Right now, I miss them and hanging out and laughing.  One of my conservative cousins is a self-published author and I want to celebrate that with her rather than feel jealous that her views get out there and I’m just a blogger/reviewer.

 

               I didn’t get the job I was auditioning for, but I enjoyed roleplaying in it so much I want to join the DND put on by a fellow congregant at Church and try to set up something with the Power Rangers tabletop RPG with me as DM since I know a lot about Power Rangers and Super Sentai.  I’ve even set up a preliminary campaign that includes events/episodes from Mighty Morphin, Kakuranger, Ninja Storm, Mystic Force and the comics.  Me saying I want to quit Twitter only came from me feeling more passionate about real-life action than typing words on a computer or pressing buttons in a game, but I do hear rumors Trump is coming back there, and I’m not Rachel Held Evans enough to fight the fascism.  I’d go to Instagram since Tara Platt and Abby Trott are on it, but I worry it’ll consume my life and keep me from this and job-hunting.  Also, I want to stay in touch with Colleen Clinkenbeard, especially after yesterday, when she liked and commented on my edit of a picture of her to resemble comic book character Catwoman and I don't know if she's on Instagram.  I don’t want “voice actor therapy” to become a hindrance to rejoining real life post-pandemic, which is an easy trap for my brain to fall into.

 

               The big music releases this week are the Guns N Roses Deluxe Editions of Use Your Illusion, featuring a live performance from my 2^nd birthday, May 16^th, 1991 and them performing “Mama Kin” and “Train Kept A-Rollin’” with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.  I am going to buy some of this.  We also have an EP from Last in Line coming out and an album from Enuff Z’nuff.  Larkin Poe is also going to release an album this week.

2022 in film/my next stage in entertainment

                I only made it to the theaters for two films this year; Jurassic World; Dominion and Thor; Love and Thunder.  My only regret was not seeing the Godzilla Day celebration due to budget problems, but that’s it.  Films aren’t really exciting me the way they used to that often, I feel like there are too many superhero cinematic universe films that require attendance at all of them, plus the streaming shows, just to understand what’s going on too often.  It’s too much, too fast and almost impossible to keep up, I’m just planning on getting Aquaman 2 on DVD then watch whatever Chris Pratt or Gal Gadot are in, they tend to be in Higher-Quality superhero movies. 

 

               Speaking of, he is going to play Mario next year in the animated Super Mario Bros. movie.  However, it is clear to me Jack Black as Bowser will steal the show and be the character to watch, playing him deliciously over the top with an undercurrent of menace.  He had me grinning through his whole scene in the teaser trailer, so I’m willing to bet the film will be even better.  Speaking of fire-breathing monsters, a new Japanese Godzilla film is scheduled for release on November 3^rd, 2023 and a new Monsterverse, with Godzilla and Kong against a new threat, releases in March 2024.  Hopefully, these will feature some good giant monster action as the monsters either destroy major cities or battle each other to the death.  I am cautious with Adam Wingard returning to direct the new Godzilla and Kong movie, but if he picks a good mutual antagonist and focuses on the threat they pose, the film may hold my attention better when the battles aren’t happening.

 

               That’s all that I know is going on with the film industry, which is why I feel it needs revitalizing or I’ve simply reached the “been there, done that” point of seeing movies, which is possible.  Also, if these don’t work for me, I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with future films, I’ve been excited like this before and let down, and I’m honestly tired of budgeting for it when I can buy MP3s that will entertain me more for longer.  Honestly, I feel “been there, done that” with a lot of entertainment.  I don’t really want to buy any more video games unless they’re fighting games with Tara Platt and Abby Trott in the cast or if Fire Emblem Engage has Edelgard and she has dialogue with Marth so we can have more Tara Platt-Yuri Lowenthal dialogue in games.  I don’t even feel like playing Heroes anymore, just Switch fighting games.

 

This is what I want to do with my life; Action, not media.  Real life, not a computer or a Switch.  I want to watch DVDs, talk to people, act, make up scenarios, create a world better than reality with fairness and compassion, whether fictitious or real.  Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, they’ll all get in the way of that.  I don’t need voice actors to create that, I think they’ve helped me as far as they can unless those games I already mentioned will exist.  But why would they?  Why would Nintendo create my dream games?  It would only sell one copy, me.  I should Forget those dreams and wake up to reality, this world doesn’t care how I feel and it rejects me, enjoying that it hurts me.  I will Walk away to this new path.

 

I’ve decided I will probably leave Twitter on December 3^rd.  I don’t think the voice actors can help me anymore, I want to be a DM for the Power Rangers tabletop RPG and play DND with people at Church and rumor has it Satan incarnate is coming back to Twitter, I can’t deal with that again.  It was a fun ride, but it will be more important to have real-world experiences with real-world people.