Happy Monday internet! Who’s ready to get Schwifty!? If you get that reference you are amazing, and if you don’t, watch Rick and Morty already. It’s on Youtube for free and is probably the most consistently funny and thought provoking program on television right now. Before I begin today’s post, I wanted to let you readers know that reviews for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are starting to come in and………..it’s a masterpiece. Literally, IGN gave the game a score of 10/10, which earned it a “Masterpiece” rating. This makes it one of 33 titles in the entire history of video games to earn that title. Since the game is released to the public on Sept. 1st, I’m probably not going to be able to post as frequently due to me needing to play that game. Also, I’ll be starting this thing called “College” again, which will probably eat up a decent amount of my time. I’ll probably post a review of the game after I’ve played enough of it to form a reasonable opinion to compensate for the lack of activity. After a week or two into college, I’ll also probably draw up a new posting schedule that will mesh better with my class schedule and other responsibilities. Okay, now that the housekeeping stuff is out of the way, it’s time to get serious and talk about Japanese comic books.

Japanese comics, or manga, are comics created in Japan with various genres marketed to different age groups. These comics tell a wide variety of stories and are quite often the source material for any given anime. Modern manga first began to appear in 1945 as a way for Japan to express its unique culture and also reshape its global image after World War Two. It can be distinguished from western comics quite easily, as Manga is typically in black and white and due to Manga being read from right to left.

While I am probably in the minority opinion, I enjoy manga more than anime. This is for a few reasons, some of which are stupid and some of which are totally valid. When I first started reading manga at around age 13 or 14, the internet connection in my house SUUUUUUUUUCKED. Actually it still kind of does, but anyway; it was easier and less time consuming for me to read a work than it was for me to watch its anime adaptation. Manga is also able to generally be more graphic and suffers from less censorship than anime due to manga not being a televised medium. Lastly, manga usually does not suffer from what is commonly referred to as “filler” in the anime industry. “Filler” is the insertion of story arcs or scenes into an anime that did not appear in the original manga. Filler can be added for various reasons, ranging from produces trying to make more money to the anime catching up to the source material in terms of story, but filler almost always contains a story that is not relevant to the series plot and is usually never referenced again in the show.

Now that you know what Manga is and why I like it, here are some great series for new readers to pick up.

Rave Master

Rave Master, also known as RAVE or The Groove Adventure Rave, tells the story of a sixteen year old boy who is chosen by fate to save the world. Along the way he meets an amnesiac girl and a mysterious dog-like creature and together they attempt to fight evil and restore the girl’s memories. If it sounds like a straightforward somewhat clichéd story, that’s because it kind of is.

This is the first series written by the acclaimed manga author Hiro Mashima, who’s better known for his later work Fairy Tail (which you should probably also read). While at its heart RAVE is a story that has been told a thousand times, there are enough twists and surprises to keep a reader entertained though the story’s entirety. RAVE also does a tremendous amount of world building and has some striking character development. This combined with the fact that nearly every character has a delightful 90s punk tone makes everything feel cool and badass.

Seriously, these guys look like Green Day, but with more swords and angst. I love it.

Tokyo Ghoul

You know how there was a stretch in literature where a ton of authors wrote about vampires and tried to depict the complex situation of living amongst people, but also needing to eat people to survive? Yeah, this author, Sui Ishida, basically said fuck you guys, this is how that story would actually go. The end result of this was the masterful work known as Tokyo Ghoul. This is a story about college student, Ken Kaneki, who one day is attack by and nearly eaten by a ghoul. He avoids death, but has to receive an organ transplant to live. A few days later he discovers that regular food tastes like garbage to him and that the only things he can eat are human flesh and coffee. This story is about him adjusting to living life as a monster, or ghoul.

This is a phenomenal story and probably has some of the best uses of literary devices in all of fiction. Subtle foreshadowing is present all though out the story, some of which does not come to fruition until hundreds of chapters later. Tokyo Ghoul also draws parallels and acknowledges these parallels to other works of horror such as Kafka’s book The Metamorphasis. Most impressively, the entire work is a loose interpretation of the story told in tarot cards. The author will sometimes hide numbers in scenes that show what tarot number a character is associated with or what event in the tarot cards’ story is happening.

This is an exceptional manga that has equal parts psychological thrills as it does action. The author pulls no punches in describing the dark aspects of cannibalization for survival. Tokyo Ghoul also does a great job of showing what life would be like for a person that society thinks of as a monster. This story can be dark and morbid, but that is because it is supposed to be a tragedy.

It’s a beautiful tragedy.

One Punch Man

If you read superhero comics, this series will probably be easy for you to pick up. One Punch Man was created by author One (this is a badass pseudonym) and is equal parts action, satire, comedy, and philosophy. It originally started as a web comic, but became so popular that it has seen a rerelease in publication magazines, with the art now being drawn by Yusuke Murata. This is probably the most beautifully illustrated work on this list.

The story follows a man named Saitama who dreamed of becoming the world’s strongest hero. After three years he achieved his goal. The only problem is that he has become so strong that he can defeat even the strongest of enemies with a single punch. You know how Superman is always mocked because he is supposed to be all powerful, but still winds up getting his ass beat by Batman? Saitama would make both of them look like chumps. The main plot of One Punch Man more or less follows Saitama trying to find meaning in life after achieving his goals.

I would go into more detail describing some of the supporting characters and the overachieving themes of the work, but, honestly, if you aren’t interested in it by now, One Punch Man probably is not for you. I’ll just let the main character sum up who he is and what he’s about.

Mob Psycho 100

This is another work by One (yeah, yeah, I’m a fan), that is also geared toward an adult audience. It should be noted that this work is both written and drawn by One, so expect a vastly different art style than what is in Once Punch Man. However, this series contains just as many psychological musings and examinations of society.

The story of Mob Psycho 100 follows 8th grader Shigeo Kageyama who is nicknamed Mob (which essentially means John Doe in the Japanese context) because he is incredibly bland and unassuming. However, in reality he is an immensely powerful esper, an person capable of an array of paranormal abilities. The reason he is so plain and stoic is because his psychic powers grow more powerful and become harder to control as he gets more emotional. Shigeo has intentionally placed an emotional shackle on himself to protect the people around him, which ironically has caused him to have difficulty forming relationships with others and finding his place in society.

You know how Forrest Gump is more or less a story of an individual being used by those around him? This story is like that, but a LOT cooler. Mob Psycho 100 is filled with compelling characters with interesting world views. While a lot of stuff happens, the story is ultimately about Mob trying to find where he belongs, how to make the most out of his life, and how to handle his extraordinary powers. The story regularly rotates between being funny to thoughtful and insightful, to badass. Meaning that the plot is always moving and is never boring.

That’s it for Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. Thank you very much for reading. There won’t be any posts tomorrow, but you can still be excited for Pop-Culture Wednesday. If you liked this post, go ahead and give it a physical like down below and leave a comment while you’re there. You can also subscribe via email in the right side drop down menu. You can also like and follow the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook page. I’m also on Twitter, where I am hilarious. My handle is @LucasDeRuyter. If any of these series interested you they are readily available online in various places, although I would prefer it if you viewed them through legal channels. Good luck with the work week everybody.

BaddaBing BaddaBye

Happy Sunday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Just like last Sunday, this segment is dedicated to bringing you news and my opinion regarding current political issues. Once again, any and all views expressed here are entirely my own and should in no way be thought of as a representation of any groups that I have been, currently am, or someday in the future am associated with. Now that that’s over with, here we go!

Guns, and issues relating to guns, are arguably the most controversial topics in American politics. I actually know a bunch of people who’s voting habits are solely based on a candidate’s position on gun control. The reason I bring this up is because two individuals were recently arrested on the charges of planning to commit a mass shooting at the Pokemon World Championships. If these men are found guilty of plotting to shoot the many Pokemon fans at the event, in my opinion they will be some of the most deplorable people on the planet. I also want to commend the Boston Police force for handling this incident so quickly and professionally.

The reason guns are so controversial in America is because they have a deep and varied history in the American culture. On the one hand, guns were distributed to civilians on an widely during the country’s genesis so that ordinary people could fight for the country’s independence. Since then, firearms have been seen by many people as symbolizing ideas such as freedom and personal protection. On the other hand, guns have been used by American’s to inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering; both upon enemies to the nation and innocents withing it. Due to this, firearms are seen by many as instruments of senseless violence.

These conflicts of opinion have made it almost impossible to create any kind of reform regarding firearm issues. As someone who agrees with the latter view and as someone who lives in the state with perhaps the loosest firearm regulations, I find this detestable. By not making it any harder for people to commit mass shootings, we are creating an environment that says that Americans are okay with mass shootings, so long as we are still allowed to keep our guns. This is what those terrorists want, and by continuing to leave the situation as it currently stands, they are winning.

Well it is clear that this situation needs be changed and that laws and regulations need to be put into place to fix this problem, the question of how to go about doing that arises. The immediate answer is to elect politicians to create and enact laws, but that is easier said than done. Gun issues have created such a divide that any politician who says they are going to limit gun ownership in any fashion, that it will become tremendously hard for them to get elected. Moreover, if anyone in any position of power does try to place new regulations on guns, they will most likely either be unsuccessful in their venture or not be reelected.

The reason why politicians who try to limit the purchase or use of firearms have difficulty continuing to work in politics is because there is a ground dedicated to making sure that all Americans have easy access to guns and convincing people that guns are not dangerous. This group is called the National Rifle Association, also known as the NRA, and they are kind of evil. This group has continued to propagate the idea that guns are synonymous with freedom and have fought to keep gun laws unchanged after events like school shootings. This group claims that they fight for the rights of gun owners, but in reality they do far more good for gun manufacturers than for firearm owners. It is incredibly sad that this group has so much lobbying power and such a large financial backing.

Personally I believe that things will only get better when people stop making gun ownership such a large part of their identity. There are currently way too many people who are way too into guns for any reasonable amount of change to occur. Which sucks a lot. I could go into way more detail and list off a bunch examples of preventable gun related violence, but you’ve probably heard them all ready and this article already has me far too bummed out. I will end this with one final remark, though. Ancient civilizations used to sacrifice men, women, and children alike to their god so that they could have or maintain power and influence. People like to think that we as a society have outgrown that practice and today label it as barbaric or inhumane. We have not. The only difference today is that instead of a god, it is a gun that we are sacrificing lives to.

On that sombering note, thank you for reading. I promise that tomorrow I will post something much more upbeat and funny, and also related to anime/manga. If you found this post to be thought provoking or interesting, please like it and leave a comment down below. You can subscribe via email in the drop down menu to the right, or you can like/follow the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page. You can also follow me on Twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Have a great week.

Happy weekend readers! Here’s some video game news to give you something think about doing in the future as you try to max out your character’s skill tree in Skyrim for the fourth time. This is Game Grind.

Pokémon Fighting Game Coming to Wii U in 2016

It was announced at the Pokémon World Championship this weekend that the previously Japan arcade exclusive Pokken Tournament, will be heading to Wii U consoles worldwide in Spring 2016. This game will depict the Pokémon universe as it never has before, as it will feature the pocket monsters fighting each other in a manner akin to Street Fighter or Mortal Combat. Appropriately, this game will allow Pikachu, the Pokémon franchise’s mascot, to dress up in a lucha libre costume.

I personally think that bringing Pokken Tournament to the Wii U was a brilliant decision on Nintendo’s part. A Pokémon fighting game has been a dream shared by many Pokémon fans for a LONG time. With the exception of some fan made games, this is that dream come to fruition. Also, LOOK AT PIKACHU LIBRE!!!!  He’s so adorable I want to pinch his cheeks until I’m electrocuted to death! If this game is handled and advertised correctly, Nintendo is about to sell a lot more Wii Us.

More on Pokken Tournament here, and here.

FF7 Out On iOS

Final Fantasy 7, arguably the most beloved and greatest Final Fantasy game (yes it is, shut-up six-ers!), has been released on iOS devices. This version is based off of the PC port of the game and has been adjusted slightly to work on touch screen devices. The game also has two new features which allows players to turn off random enemy encounters and instantly raise the playable characters to their maximum level. If you want to experience this gem of a game again, or for the first time, on Apple devices, it’ll set you back about 16 dollars.

I’m excited that this masterpiece is being rereleased and being made available for more people to play it. This game is, at the very least, the second greatest game to be released on the original PlayStation and is considered revolutionary in the JRPG genre for it’s amazing story and (for the time) beautiful graphics. For those of you who didn’t know, a remake of the game is in the works for the current generation of consoles. When this was announced I, and every other fan, was temporarily reduced to an emotional puddle. I may just buy this rerelease, just to tide me over until the remake is released.

More on FF7 rerelease

Bonus, Final Fantasy 7 remake trailer:

Super Mario Maker

On of the fall games that people are most excited for is Super Mario Maker. This game adds a twist to the traditional Mario formula by allowing players to create their own Mario levels and allow other people all over the world to play it. This, of course, can get pretty crazy; as seen in the game’s trailer.

While Nintendo will be releasing some of their own levels, most people are looking foreword to the ridiculously challenging levels that other players are inevitably going to create. This game is also a “Let’s Player’s” dream (hopefully Nintendo loosens their strict rules regarding this entertainment medium). It’s already obvious that this is going to be a great game and I cannot wait for the 11th.

Super Mario Maker Info.

Nintendo Movies?

On of Nintendo’s heads and legendary game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, recently stated in an interview that the gaming giant may become more open to having some of their works adapted to films. This is surprising considering that Nintendo has always been extremely protective of all of their IPs. Nintendo has only ever turned one of their games into a movie one time and, well……. You know what? You don’t need my opinion on this one, here’s the trailer and you can infer for yourself information about the quality of the movie.

I personally am excited by this information. If done well, Nintendo movies could be awesome! This news also adds some validity to the rumor that Nintendo is looking to make a live action, Legend of Zelda, Netflix series. While it is entirely possible that these ventures could be awful, I feel that so long as Nintendo is involved and directors and actors who are familiar with the source material are hired, these films and series could be pretty good.

More on Nintendo’s interest in film adaptations

Xbox One Hype

Microsoft’s Xbox One has been in the news recently due to changes coming to the console. These changes include: backwards playing capability for certain Xbox 360 games, the rerelease of older titles on the Xbox One, and the ability to cross play and cross buy with PC’s that are running on Windows 10. Microsoft believes that these additions, as well as a variety of Xbox only titles, has made the Xbox One superior to the PlayStation 4. It is clear that Microsoft aims to win the Console Wars with these improvements.

Personally, I don’t think that these announcements are going to dethrone Sony’s PlayStation 4. Granted I own a PlayStation 4 and am biased, but I believe that Microsoft is too far behind to catch up to Sony’s console. The biggest mistake Microsoft made, besides pushing the Kinect so hard, was not having any of these features available to the Xbox One when it was released. Backwards compatibility is a quality that gamers adore about video game consoles and that probably would have swayed gamers to pick up Microsoft’s Xbox. However, this feature is coming far too late. Everybody who is passionate about video games already has a current gen console by now, and backwards compatibility isn’t as big a deal to casual video game players. The second thing that is going to keep Microsoft from doing better than Sony is, pretty much all of Asia. The Xbox One is selling HORRIABLY in Asian markets. While Sony is winning everywhere, it’s at least slightly close in the U.S. and Europe. In Japan and other Asian countries, the PlayStation 4 and Wii U easily dwarf anything with a Microsoft logo. Sorry Microsoft, maybe things will go better with the Xbox 720 (which should have been the name of the Xbox One to begin with).

More on Microsoft’s Xbox One hype

That is it for this week’s installment of Game Grind. If you liked this post, give it a like and leave a comment down below. If you really enjoyed this, or anything else on BaddaBing BaddaBlog, you can subscribe to it via email in the dropdown tab to the right. You can also check out BaddBing BaddaBlog’s Facebook page, right here. Go ahead and give that page a like and a follow, but only if your are sure you are ready for such a long term and committed Facebook relationship. Here’s my Twitter profile if you want to check me out on there too, @LucasDeRuyter. Thanks so much for reading, have an amazing weekend, and may all your hopes and desires become reality. See you tomorrow.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Friday readers! Soon we shall escape the surly bonds of the work week and gaze upon the majesty of the weekend. Aaaaaaand if you happen to be bumming around with your mates anytime during the weekend, here’s some stuff you can talk about to seem knowledgeable and escape crippling awkward silences.

Disney is Making a Star Wars Land

At the Walt Disney company’s D23 expo. (which I think is also the name of a K-pop group and a Rap group), it was announced that a Star Wars theme park is going to be added to both California’s Disney Land and Florida’s Disney World. Construction will begin in 2017 in California, but no date has been given for Florida, yet. These parks will be 14 acres in size, making them the largest single “park” in either collection of parks. It has also been stated that Disney wants to make the new park as “realistic” as possible, by having all employees where universe appropriate costumes at all times.

If I go missing for like a week at any point after this park has been constructed, this is where I’m going to be. I’m going to spend the next 2 – 3 years meticulously crafting the most realistic Chewbacca costume ever created, and I’m going to spend an entire week reveling in this new park’s glory. I don’t even care that I’m probably going to die of heat stroke or dehydration! 8 year old me would totally kick my ass if he found out that there was a Star Wars theme park and I didn’t go there within its first week of opening.

Click here for more info. on the D23 expo.

North Korea Attacks South Korea

North Korea has lunched artillery at South Korean loudspeakers that were broadcasting messages that were critical of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. No South Korean’s were injured in the attack, although several individuals were evacuated from the area, but have since returned. It is also being reported that Kim Jong-un is ordering soldiers to enter into front line attack positions.

It is extremely likely that nothing is going to come out this development.  North Korea has been has been making attacks like this and has making threats of invasion, pretty much sense North Korea became a country. It is the nation state of someone who is WAY too drunk at a party. They mouth off that they are hot shit, but everyone knows that they aren’t every going to do any of the things that they say they are going to. Then they flash a gang sign to a random black guy, and their best friend China is finally fed up with N. Korea, and is like “Alright man, that’s it. You’re on your own.”

Click here for more news on N. Korea

Tinder vs. Vanity Fair

The magazine Vanity Fair has recently taken shots at the dating app, Tinder, by writing an “expose” detailing how Tinder has ruined that dating scene for women. The article claims that the app allows men to take advantage of women more easily by claiming to want relationships, when in reality they only want one night stands. It was also reported by the author of the piece on twitter that (30%) of all Tinder users who claim to be single, are in fact married.

Tinder responded to this article and its author’s tweet with a series of tweets of their own. While Tinder’s tweets are fiery, they essentially state that the survey Vanity Fair conducted in their article is a misrepresentation of Tinder users, that those who lie about their relationship status on Tinder are a much smaller minority than what Vanity Fair claimed, and that Tinder has helped many individuals find meaningful relationships. It culminates with Tinder claiming that the article was written from a biased perspective, which is actually a pretty big insult in the world of journalism.

Total disclosure, I have a Tinder profile. I’ve used it, I’ve messaged people who swiped right on my profile, and I’ve meet with a few of those women in real life. Are there crazy and morally deplorable people on the the app? Yeah, but there are shitty people everywhere. Tinder isn’t inherently bad, but just like any other platform that people can use to present themselves to others, people are going to lie on it and abuse it.

Click here to learn more about the Tinder/Vanity Fair feud

Posh Pumpkin Spice

 Starbucks has recently announced that it is going to change the recipe for its popular Pumpkin Spice Latte drink, to include actual pumpkin. This announcement has been met positively by individuals who feel that food should actually contain what it is named after. However, the news has been negatively received by some people who deeply enjoy the drink in its current incarnation and by some vegans who enjoy the drink as the new recipe introduces condensed skim milk.

I don’t really care about this story. I’m a Dunkin’ Donuts man. Really the only reason I’m including this story is because I find it slightly funny that this qualifies as “news” and because I wanted to give you, the reader, the power to potentially ruin the day of a basic girl or guy that you dislike

More info. on the Starbucks changes

Ashley Madison Leak 

Recently hackers stole user information from the affair website Ashley Madison. This information ranges from users name and address as well as their credit card information. The hackers offered not to release the information if Ashley Madison’s parent company shut down the site, but the company declined and this week the hackers released the information. Currently the website’s owners are claiming that the information that has been released is false, but it is becoming increasingly evident that this information is real.

This event has actually caused quite a bit of controversy. On the one hand, people who secretly cheat on their significant other are terrible people, but, on the other hand, the releasing of private personal information is widely frowned upon in this growing digital age. That’s actually a great topic to bring into the comment section down below. Do you guys think that the hackers did a good thing, or do you think that they are in the wrong?

Ashley Madison Hack

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you enjoyed it, go ahead and give it a like and maybe start a conversation in the comments down below. Go ahead and subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email by clicking the follow button on the right side drop down menu. Also be sure to like/follow the Facebook page, located right here, and follow me on twitter, right here. Have a good weekend y’all.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Thursday readers! Today I’m going to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while that will probably upset quite a few of you:

I think DC Comics is better than Marvel (drops the mic).

(Picks mic back up) And here’s why I believe that. First, historically DC has produced better works and storylines than Marvel. Second, DC has a better, more interesting cast of characters than Marvel. And third, looking foreword it seems like DC is going to be making better content than Marvel.

Now before I begin really making a lot of people mad by using reason and facts to defend my view, I need to give credit where credit is do. Yes, Marvel is on top right now. Yes, Marvel has, for the most part, transitioned their IPs to film better than DC. And yes, Marvel has basically singlehandedly changed the world of film and Hollywood by making superhero movies a viable genre, that can both tell an interesting story and make people money. I want to make it clear that I do actually LIKE Marvel and it’s works. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, I think Deadpool is one of the most refreshing, original, and entertaining superheroes in existence right now, and I am super pumped to see Civil War when it comes out.

(Although, truthfully I think I’m more excited to watch elementary school kids get WAY to intense over the inevitable “Who’s Side Are You On” advertising campaign. Seriously, I totally see them going full West Side Story with this stuff. “No Mom! I can’t go to the North side of town with an Iron Man backpack! That’s Capt. America territory!”)

However, despite all of this, I like DC comics more for some very concrete and understandable reasons.

DC has been making some great content long before Marvel dominated the film industry. If you compare any of the “Best Of” lists between DC and Marvel, you are going to notice something a little strange. DC’s list contains almost entirely whole series of a particular comic’s run or one-shot graphic novels, while Marvel’s list contains a lot of specific issues of a particular series. To me this is demonstrative of DC’s ability to tell a complex and dynamic story, and not just surprise a reader by placing a heavily advertised “shocking development/twist”, which usually involves a character dying. (While I will admit that DC has done this in the past, those did not place very highly on the list and everyone in comics was killing characters in the 90s because………well the 90s kind of sucked for comics.)

Outside of comics, DC was also the first to do things like movies and TV shows well. DC comics proved in 1978 that Superheroes could be great in movies with the release of the first Superman. This was proved again in 1989 when Tim Burton released his first Batman movie. You know what Marvel films consisted of in the 70’s and 80’s? A Howard the Duck movie and a straight to video The Punisher film. Yeah, it’s safe to say that DC was the winner in this one. Also, yes, I do know that the sequels to both of the original DC comics’s movies got steadily worse, my point is that DC established that comic book characters could appear in and do well in film.

On television, DC comics has also established itself as the better of the two. Now I know Marvel fanboys are going to rage that Spiderman and the X-men have dominated superhero cartoons for years and that makes Marvel better, but they are wrong. Batman the Animated Series is far and away the best depiction of a superhero franchise on television. It was unique, beautifully used noir elements, and created an original story and new characters, rather than poorly ripping of the comics and counting on nostalgia and blind fandom to get viewers. Marvel interpreted their works for television, DC used the medium of television to tell new and compelling stories.

And in the video game industry……Batman’s Arkham games (redrops mic).

Now on to my second point, DC has better character’s than Marvel. To make this point I am going to utilize a point made by legendary Author George R. R. Martin. Martin has stated, “I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero”. This is a completely valid criticism of Marvel, and I think it’s fair to say that DC’s villains are much better than Marvel’s. All of Marvel’s villains are just the good guy but evil or a vague personification of something evil. Here’s a quick list of some Marvel heroes and their big nemeses.

Iron Man – Iron Monger

Hulk – Abomination andRed Hulk

Capt. America – The Winter Solider and Red Skull (who’s basically just Hitler)

Spiderman – Dr. Octopus (both are octopods)

Star Lord – Ronan (basically he’s just a terrorist. I don’t think we even really find out why he wanted to blow up Nova. Besides that he’s planet and Nova were at war.)

Fantastic Four – Dr. Doom (Okay, Doom is actually a REALLY good villain in the comics, he’s like a dictator who’s kind of a wizard and want’s to take over the world because he saw that the world gets really messed up and he thinks he’s the only one who can prevent mankind from killing itself by ruling over it. However, Marvel cancelled the comic out of spite and in all the movies he’s basically just the good guy but bad.

Ant Man – Yellow Jacket (Ant Man, but with lasers!)

So yeah, DC easily has better, more interesting villains and DC does a better job and helping the viewer see why the villain thinks that their justified. DC’s villain catalogue includes:

Superman – Lex Luthor and Brainiac

The Flash – Capt. Boomerang, Mirror Master, Capt. Cold, and Weather Wizard.

Green Lantern – Nekron (a personification of death that actually is a really clever retcon for why DC superheroes have been able to die and come back to life so many times.)

Batman – Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Bane, The Court of Owls, Harley Quinn, Ventriloquist, Clayface, Man-Bat, Hugo Strange, The Riddler Ra’s Al Ghul, Catwomen, and The Joker.

………..Actually, you know what, event the most mediocre Batman villain is better than Marvel’s best baddy.

Now for my final point, the future of each company. Marvel may be on top right now, but it’s inevitable that their rigid production schedule is going to cause them problems and their longstanding feuds witch Fox and Sony are already starting to catch up with them. DC is on the set to be on the upswing, however. The Nolan Batman movies had two good to great movies and one outstanding one (you know which are which) and while the new Superman movie did suck, the Batman v. Superman is at the very least going to make DC a crap ton of money. Suicide Squid looks like it is going to be a lot of dark fun (and is also a great use of DC’s superior villains), we’re getting a Shazam (his actual name is Capt. Marvel, long story there for another time, maybe) movie, a Wonder Woman movie, a Flash movie, a Justice League movie, an Aquaman movie, and 3 Batman movies directed by and staring Ben Affleck! If done right, I genuinely think that this lineup could over through Marvel’s cinematic universe. It seems like DC is already making some really good choices too, they successfully have me and a bunch of other people excited for an Aquaman movie. Never would have believed that a few years ago.

I can just imagine that conversation in DC/Warner Bros. executive office:

Exec. : Okay guys, we need to star competing with Marvel in the movie industry. Our best bet is to make some movies that feature some characters that are household names. Any ideas?

Writer 1: Um, let’s see. We have Batman, Superman, Wonder Women, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Aquaman.

Exec.: That sounds great. My only issue is that the public perception of Aquaman is not very good. He’s the butt of a lot of jokes right now because he’s way to aryan and campy. We need to find a way to fix that to make a decent movie starring him.

Writer 2: Well, we could make him more badass.

Exec.: Alright, how do we do that.

(silence)

Writer 1: What if we cast an actor to play him who is known for being a badass and then change Aquaman so he more resembles what that actor is best known for?

Exec.: I like that idea. Now the only question is, who is the most badass character/actor in media right now?

Writer 2: …….Khal Drogo

Exec.: ……Oh my God. Go get me a phone. GO GET ME A PHONE!!!!

And the rest is history.

Alright, thanks for reading my rant. There’s no way this didn’t stir up some feelings so tell me why you agree or disagree with me in the comments down below. Also be sure to like the Facebook page and follow me on twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter. You can also expect a regularly scheduled blog post coming to you tomorrow. See you then, guys.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Humpday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! For those of you who don’t know, today is more than just another Wednesday. One this day, BaddaBing BaddaBlog is officially 1 week old! I would like to thank everyone who helped me get here and inspired me to keep writing. We did it everybody!!! If you’re new to the Blog and have no idea what’s going on, don’t worry about it. Just know that the blog is growing older and that you should keep coming back if you want to watch it grow from infancy to adolescents to it’s awkward teenage phase and finally adulthood. If we’re going by internet time this should take around 5 to 6 months, so stay tuned for that.

Today’s Pop-Culture Wednesday! Sorry I don’t have a punny title for this segment…………yet. In this segment I’m going to be taking about recent events that have occurred in the word of media. Since this is a particularly vast industry, I’m going to be focusing on news and properties that I find particularly interesting or that I feel are extremely relevant or mentionable. Today, I’m going to be writing about the upcoming television series, “Fear The Walking Dead”, the abysmal new Fantastic Four (for some reason advertised as Fant4stic), and Adult Swim’s newest breakout hit “Rick and Morty”.

Fear The Walking Dead

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the people over at AMC, the television network that produces and broadcasts The Walking Dead would want to cash in on this franchise even more. So they decided to create a spin-off. Fear The Walking Dead is going to feature an entirely new cast of characters and will take place just as the zombie outbreak is starting. Which could potentially be a great idea. I would love to see a Steven King-esq drama set in The Walking Dead universe. It could potentially be extremely entertaining to see the blood and violence dialed back, in favor of examining who characters and societies change as the world drastically changes around them.

However, I’m going to go into this skeptically and with low expectations. AMC is pretty notorious for mishandling their programs and mistreating their creative personal. For example, they fired the director of the first season of TWD, who played a large roll in making the show popular, which caused the second season to be, with the exception of a few break-out moments, easily the worst season of the show thus far. Also spin-offs in the television industry are pretty notorious for sucking. *cough* Joey, *cough* Dragon Ball (Giant Turd) GT, *cough* AfterMASH. I very much want this show to do well, but at this point I know better than to go in with high expectations. For those interested, FTWD will premiere this Sunday at 9/8 central.

Fantastic Four (Fant4stic)

This is bar none the worst movie of the summer. It currently has a rating of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and is projected to loose millions of dollars for the studio that produced it, Fox. I have not seen the movie, but that’s because I prefer not to willing subject myself to things that make me feel sad and angry. This movie is so bad that people have been forced to ask the question, “why was this even made?”. Well, the answer is Fox basically had to or else they would no longer own the rights to make Fantastic Four movies.

You see, waaaaaaay back in the 90s, the comic publisher Marvel wasn’t doing so well. Actually the comic industry as a whole was not doing well, but that’s a whole post in and of itself and I may write about that another time if enough interest is expressed by you guys reading this. Anyways, long story short, due to being called out for some long standing business practices, comics not selling as well as what they had been, and competitors like DC comics and the newly founded Image comics doing well, Marvel had to sell some of its properties to avoid bankruptcy. They  went bankrupt anyway (yeah, the guys who are singlehandedly changing the film industry right now nearly went out of business, weird), and the X-men and Fantastic Four IPs wound up being owned by Fox. However, a clause in the contract of these purchases stated that Fox has to make a movie with these characters every few years, otherwise ownership reverts back to Marvel. So basically Fox has to make a Fantast Four movie every few years otherwise they don’t get to make any Fantastic Four movies, ever.

That’s how a movie that is as bad and expensive as this one came to be, despite Hollywood and the film industry going to great lengths to create a climate where this type of movie should not exist. It has also caused a petty and hateful relationship to form between Fox studios and Marvel. If you get a somewhat dark kick out of very public downward spirals and adult businessmen acting lick children, congratulations, because this is going to be the gift that keeps on giving. Fox and Marvel are showing no signs of kissing and making up and I would bet money that we hear about a very low budget Fant4stic sequel.

Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty is, in my humble yet completely accurate opinion, the best show on television right now. It may even be the greatest show to come out in the past decade. The show was created by the fantastic (actually fantastic and in no way fant4stic) duo of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. The show revolves around eccentric, alcoholic genius Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted, but distressed and naive grandson, Morty Smith. Each episode usually feature Rick and Morty going off on some high-concept science fiction misadventure, and as the show progress the rest of Morty’s family is slowly integrated into these debacles.

The show is amazing because it is the perfect combination of comedy, science-fiction, dark humor, satire, and, most importantly, it is firmly grounded in reality. While the show tackles the most outrageous sci-fi concepts, it goes to great lengths to make sure these stories unfold as they would if they happened in real life. There are no consequence free happy endings in this show, all victories are pyrrhic. No character is completely good or evil and each person’s actions are mostly derived from a need to pad their ego. Even when a character goes out of their way to do something nice fore someone else, there are almost always unintended consequences.

The best thing about Rick and Morty is that it follows their ideas and storylines out to their most likely conclusion. The show is not afraid to be dark and weird. For example, in one episode Rick, Morty, and Morty’s sister, Summer stumble onto a planet that has each of it’s inhabitants being controlled by a hive mind entity (that Rick just happened to have dated at one point). Summer finds it despicable that so many people have been robbed of their free will and tries to free them, while Rick is lapsing into a relationship with her old flame, and Morty is just jaded and knowledgeable enough at this point to know how a situation like is this likely to play out. Summer is somewhat, and some of the aliens regain there autonomy…..and the first thing they do is start a race war. While this is awful and hilarious at the same time, it demonstrates the show’s commitment to being realistic, if a bunch of people are allowed to act however they please, of course they are inevitably going to do something shitty.

If I have not convinced you to watch this show yet, here’s a clip and one of my favorite quotes from the show.

Morty: Can I show you something?

Summer: Morty, no offence, but a drawing of me you made when you were eight isn’t gonna make me feel like less of an accident!

Morty: [points outside] THAT, out there? That’s my grave.

Summer: ..Wait, what?

Morty: On one of our adventures, Rick and I basically destroyed the whole world, so we bailed on that reality and we came to this one. Because in this one, the world wasn’t destroyed. And in this one, we were dead. So we came here, a-an-an-and we buried ourselves and we took their place. And every morning, Summer, I eat breakfast 20 yards away from my own rotting corpse!

Summer: So… you’re not my brother?

Morty: I’m better than your brother. I’m a version of your brother you can trust when he says, “Don’t run.” Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. …Come watch TV?

Season two of the show is currently airing on Cartoon Network on Sundays at 11:30/10:30c. Episodes have also been posted to watch for free on Youtube and on Adult Swim’s website.

Alright guys, that’s some of what’s going on in Pop Culture and my opinions about them. If you enjoyed this post, like it and leave a comment down below. If you want to get up to notifications whenever I post something new, subscribe via email in the dropdown area on the upper right side. You could also follow and like BaddaBing BaddaBlog’s Facebook, conveniently linked to right here. Also, follow me on Twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter, I promise I only use it to make jokes and promote this blog. Thanks for reading and good luck getting through the rest of the week.

BaddBing BaddaBye

Happy Monday! Congratulations on getting out of bed, pulling yourself out of a fun or alcohol educed stupor, going to work, and using this blog as a means to slack off at work. This is BaddaBing BaddaBlog and today I’m going to be writhing about anime and manga. For those of you who do not know, anime and manga are, in the most basic terms, Japanese comics and cartoons. Now, because I know that not very many people who read this blog are familiar with anime and manga (let alone heard of it until reading this), this post is mostly going to be dedicated to making recommendations for good jumping on series for the genre. Also I’m going to try to make this post a little more joke heavy, so enjoy that.

Anime and manga are a form of Japanese media that, depending on who you ask, began in either the 12th or 18th century. However, today’s version of the industry would not begin to take shape until after World War Two when Japan tried to reinvent it’s world and cultural identity. In the process, many international art and animation styles were examined and studied. The Walt Disney company in particular was studied during the process of Japanese artists and film makers learning about the process of animation. Ultimately though, animators realized that they could not thrive in the industry by following Disney’s model, and decided to make their productions more story and character focused.  Suck on that Walt.

Since then, manga and anime have grown into a worldwide industries with fan bases that continue to grow. Since these are both vary broad and diverse fields, there are varying levels of weirdness and, let’s say Japaneseness, to each individual series. In the rest of this post, I’m going to be pitching several anime series that I feel a Westerner could pick up and enjoy easily, without much confusion or culture shock. For time and convenience, I’ll only be making anime recommendations today, I’ll probably cover some Japanese comics you ought to read next week, but it depends on how this post is received and whether or not there’s something else going on in the industry that I want to cover. Anyway, here’s some awesome anime.

Dragonball

Or Dragon Ball Z

Chances are, if you were alive in the 90’s and weren’t suck in traffic, hiding in a Y2K shelter, or being stung to death by Africanized Bees, you’ve heard of either of these shows. These are the shows that introduced many western audiences to anime and have arguably transcended the anime moniker to become their own cultural institution. Seriously, I’ve talked to people who love DBZ and have never watched or heard of any other kind of anime. I personally like the original Dragon Ball better, as it focused more on world building and adventuring, but if you like crazy amounts of action and badassery, Z is probably for you. The plot of both is pretty straight foreword and the characters are pretty typical, but these shows are considered by many to be the Grandfather of the anime industry, and they are loved and respected as such. Don’t watch the third version of the series though, it sucks. That show is what happens when a production company wants to keep making money, but the author of the series wants to stop making episodes. It’s called Dragon Ball GT, and while we don’t ever find out what “GT” stands for, I can only assume that it was “Giant Turd”.

Gangsta

This is probably going to be the most recent recommendation I make, as it has just been released this summer. This series is great for people just getting into anime, because it does not have many of the tropes, character archetypes or common storylines, that typically turn a new viewer off from anime. This story focuses on two “handymen”, Nick and Worrwick, who live in a fictional crime riddled city. The characters in the show are extremely compelling and, as such, the plot mostly revolves around how these characters arrived in their unique situation and how the developed their distinct personalities. There are enough events going on otherwise to keep the plot moving and I can safely say that no episode so far has ever felt too slow paced or boring. If you are a fan of mafia movies, character driven stories, or fantastic use of storytelling devices like foreshadowing and flashbacks, I would highly recommend checking this series out. Also, episodes in English have recently started airing, so if you’re not a fan of subtitles, congrats you lucky duck.

Sword Art Online

In terms of tropes and clichés, this show is the complete opposite of Gansta. This show is a hot Japanese mess, and it owns it. This show is filled with harems, main characters who cannot die simply because they are main characters, victories through the power of friendship, and characters that fit WELL within previously established models. This show is the “Friends” of the anime industry. It’s not well known because it takes a genre into new territory, but because it creates an enjoyable story out of standard, time tested character types. The plot of this program is that thousands people get trapped in a virtual reality video game and have to beat  the game to get back to the real world. If that sounds cliché to you, that’s because it’s meant to be. If you want to find out what “anime” anime is all about, this is the show to watch.

Attack on Titan

If you were to ask someone: “Why do you like game of thrones?”, they would probably tell you that it’s because GoT is filled with great characters, a compelling story, awesome action, and tons of unpredictable character death. All of these elements can be found in “Attack on Titan”. The story follows a group of teens who join the military of humanities’ last society so that they can fight the monsters that forced humans to build massive walls around their last city to keep them out. These monsters are called Titans, and they are vaguely human looking creatures that stand anywhere from 5 to 50 meters tall. Yeah, it’s pretty trippy, but once you get a few episodes into it you’ll be totally on board. It’s a great show that goes out of its way to break traditional aspects of shows that are similar to it, which have caused anime fans to praise the show as being fresh and innovative. Also, the humans fight the titans with grappling guns and swords that essentially make them a more badass, steampunk version of spider man. If that’s not awesome, I don’t known what is. My only gripe with this show is that the English version is not very good, so I would suggest watching it in Japanese, with English subtitles.

Durarara!!

This is one of my personal favorite anime and I’m suggesting it to first time viewers simply because it is an fantastic show that masterfully uses storytelling and literary devices. The story is difficult to explain as it is complicated and because the show features an ensemble cast and the majority of the plot is based off of their interactions with each other. Imagine the movie “Dazed and Confused” combined with the high concept and over the topness of “Kill Bill” and you more or less have this show. This show has gang wars, monsters, demons, philosophical musings, and is completely self-aware of it’s strangeness. It’s so beautifully self aware of its weirdness that its title is a nonsense word. “Durarara!!” is not a word or phrase in Japanese, its just a collection of sounds that the author felt fitted the story. I would recommend checking this program in English as the staff that translated and dubbed it did a great job. Seriously, watch this shit.

If you do want to watch any of these anime, there are several places for you to do it. Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu have these shows in with subtitles or in English between the three of them. All of these have been out long enough that you should not have to pay for a subscription or open an account, but you will have to watch some ads. I know that’s a bummer, but this is the internet and someone is always trying to sell you something. If this article has inspired anyone to check out these or any other anime, I have a couple free 30 day subscriptions on Crunchyroll to give away. If you are interested, leave a comment either down below or on the Facebook page and you may be the recipient.

Alrighty, that’s all I’ve got for today. Just as a reminder, there will not be a post tomorrow, but I will be presenting you with some Pop Culture goodness on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can like and leave a comment on this post, witness the majesty of the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook page and like and follow us there for notifications on posts, subscribe via email for notifications in the right side drop down menu of this page, and follow me on twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Also, recommend this blog to your friends, it would be awesome to break 50 views in a single day, before this blog became a month old. Thanks guys, see you on Wednesday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Sunday! Welcome to Politics, Politalks, a weekly segment dedicated to talking about noteworthy events that are occurring in the political field. Before I begin, I need to make a few things blatantly clear. I have worked as an intern for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. I have also worked, and will work in the future, as an intern for Sen. Mark Miller. Any views or opinions I express in this piece are entirely my own and should in no way be thought of as a representation of either of these entities. Alright, with that out of the way, here is what’s going on in the political world and my thoughts on them.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! This is an awful time to write about politics!!! Seriously, go onto CNN.com and click on the politics section. It’s all crap either about the primaries or Donald Trump! Both of which I despise for a medley of reasons. I would have liked for today’s post to be about some of the great things that are happening in politics, how we are growing as a society and how great institutional strides have been made in the last few years, but this is the real world and sometimes shit pisses you off. With that in mind, here’s what sucks about the primary system  and Trump.

Before the primary election system came to exist, presidential candidates were determined by the Republican and Democratic parties. Each party would select a representative and those two individuals would run for president against each other. This system was problematic for several reasons, the most obvious being that voters had a very limited influence regarding who became president.

However, in the process of developing a primary system, several new, arguably more detrimental problems emerged, thanks Oregon (the first state to adopt a primary election). One of the biggest problems of a primary election is that it gives more power and influence to state’s that hold their primary election earlier. You know how during the primaries candidates are notorious for changing their positions on issues, this is because that if it becomes apparent that a candidate will not win in a particular state, they will change their view to match the popular opinion of the next state to hold a primary election, in the hopes of winning that election.

Another issue with the primary election system is that it is far to long. The voting date for the 2016 election is November 18th, 2016. That is still well over a year away. It is impossible to sustain a meaningful conversation about policies or opinions over that long of a period of time, so candidates are reduced to the most basic of buzzwords and personalities. The president should be more than just a collection of buzzwords and something vaguely resembling an identity.

Speaking of buzzwords and crumby personalities, I loath the fact that Donald Trump is running for president. I DESPERATELY hope that this is just some ill advised advertising stunt and in a moth we find out that this was just a big gimmick to get people excited for a new “The Apprentice” season.

However, I’m also a little grateful for Trump’s presidential bid. Thanks to Trump, it is pretty much guaranteed that Hillary Clinton will win the overall election. Trump is going to drag the Republican party further down in public perception than the Tea Party could ever hope to due. As the election goes one, Trumps actions are going to force other candidates to take stands on issues that will help them win the primary election, but will prove to be extremely detrimental to them in the general election, where the “most conservative” person is not guaranteed a victory. So, while it kills a tiny part of me to say this, I am grateful to Donald Trump for running for president, because it will allow Hillary Clinton to win much more easily. I’m also grateful to Bill Clinton for encouraging Trump to run and, therefore, helping his wife get into the oval office.

Alright, I’m tired of being angry, so I think that is where I’m going to end it for today. If you would like to receive notifications for when new posts are added, you can subscribe via email in the right side drop-down menu.  You cold also like and follow BaddaBing BaddaBlog’s Facebook page, which is right here. You can also follow me on twitter, my handle is @LucasDeRuyter. If you really want to be awesome, you could like this post or leave a comment down below. Also, if you wanted your greatness to echo forever through the halls eternity, you share a link with your friends to BaddaBing BaddaBlog or encourage them in real life to check it out. They won’t regret it. See you guys Monday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Saturday awesome people who visit this blog, spam bots, and foreign hackers who are about to realize that they are totally wasting their time by looking at this. It’s the weekend! That means everyone has more time to spend time with their family, go on outings with their friends, maybe go on a nice date with your significant other, and maybe even give back to the community with some kind of charity work that not only benefits the less fortunate, but also gives you some sense of personal fulfillment. OR, you potentially have 48 uninterrupted hours to play your favorite, or the newest video game! Although, I guess if you wanted to strike some kind of healthy balance between these two options, that would probably be the healthiest choice, buy you do you. Anyway, this is Game Grind! The weekly post where I talk about the vast, wonderful, and beautifully rendered world of video games.

Sadly, not a whole lot happened this week in the gaming industry. Well, at least nothing that I’m super invested in. That’s to be expected, though. Gamescom, an event that is similar to E3 but is more focused on the developers, was last week. This means that all of the juicy stuff and glimpses into the future are old news by now. Actually, as I’m looking at 2015’s release schedule (Game Informer has a handy one right here ), the only game that I find myself getting really excited for is Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which comes out September 1st. Some new footage actually just came out and I can already tell that it is going to be one of my favorite games of the year.

However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the game because of conflicts between the games developers and director and Konami, the games publisher. These conflicts have become more and more high profile as they have gone on because Metal Gear Solid’s director, Hideo Kojima, is arguably the most well known video game creator, outside of the bigger name at Nintendo, and because Konami has been noteworthy in the video games industry since the 80s.

This conflict first began back in March when it was reported that Kojima had left Konami and that Konami was reportedly hiring people to work on another MGS game, without Kojima being involved. These were quickly labeled as false rumors by Konami and Kojima’s twitter account went inactive for an extended period of time. Konami then made, what I would personally describe as  petty and spiteful, decisions to remove Kojima’s name from MGS5’s box artwork and cancel another highly anticipated game that Kojima was working on, a new Silent Hills game, and remove it’s beloved “Playable Trailer” from purchase on Playstation’s online store. Konami then announced that the company would focus on the development of mobile games, rather than console titles. No announcements have been made regarding what Kojima is going to do career wise after the release of his latest game.

A side effect of this controversy is that many former and current employs of Konami are secretly coming out of the woodwork to describe the borderline tyrannical working conditions they are subjected to by Konami. Some of these working conditions include heavy monitoring of staff through closed circuit camera, lengthy processes to receive a computer and internet access, detailed records being kept of each employee’s browser history, and employees being required to tell Konami security where they going anytime they leave the building. It is being speculated by many that these practices are the reason why Konami has had difficulty finding employees and why the company is shifting to mobile games, as it is easier for inexperienced developers learn the skills to make these types of games quickly.

So that’s where the situation is currently. I personally think that the conflict and tension between Kojima and Konami is extremely unfortunate and I am more inclined to take Kojima’s side in the dispute. His work has helped validate the video game industry and has proved that video games can be used as a medium to express complex and dynamic stories. I have no idea what Kojima is going to do after MGS5 is released. I would personally like him to leave the company and either start his own video game developing and publishing business or go work for a company that treats their creative staff better.

It should be noted, though, that while Konami’s practices regarding their staff may seem excessive, similar practices are somewhat common throughout the video game industry. Employees are working with highly sensitive information in an extremely competitive market and any leaks of business strategies or information on projects could prove extremely detrimental to a company. In fact, earlier this week the video game giant Nintendo fired an employee for going onto a podcast and talking about his job with the company. What’s unusual in this situation is that the employee seemed to be more upset with himself than Nintendo for his termination, and the fact that he expressed that he knew it was wrong of him to appear on a podcast. This leads me to believe that Konami’s treatment of their employees are exceptionally bad, even for the industry, as numerous former and current Konami employees have gone out of their way, and potentially risked their future in the industry, to inform people about Konami’s unseemly practices.

I for one eagerly await Konami solely making video games for mobile platforms. This is because I play few mobile games and I would no longer have to deal with the company’s monthly scandals. It’s really more sad than anything that a company that used to be a huge player in the arcade scene mismanage itself into a company that cannot even keep their highly talented and renowned employees.

That’s all I have to say about this issue for now, at least until the company does something else stupid or morally despicable. If you happen to have an opinion on this matter, go ahead and leave a comment or head over to BaddBing BaddaBlog’s Facebook page and start a discussion over there. While you’re on Facebook, maybe go ahead and like and follow the page so that you can be notified when new posts come out. If you don’t want to go that route, you can also receive notifications by email, by signing up from the right side, dropdown menu. You could also follow me on Twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter . Thank you so much for reading and have a kick ass weekend.

Baddabing BaddaBye

Sources:

Kojima/Konami Timeline

Konami Business Practices

Nintendo Employee Termination

Alright, here we go with the first scheduled post! This is a regular post titled “News for the Mighty, News of the Week (yes, you can expect every scheduled post to have a punny title, you’re welcome). In this recurring bit I will be describing and giving my opinion on various news stories that occurred throughout the week, that I found interesting or noteworthy. With that in mind, here we go!

News That Should Surprise No One

This is a segment dedicated to discussing events that somebody felt needed reporting, but in actuality is not all that surprising. The news story that took the cake for this category this week is that William Shakespeare may have smoked weed. I know, I cannot believe it either, who would have thought that an ARTIST would do DRUGS!  Maybe hold off on burning those Shakespeare in the Park tickets in protest, though, as Billy S. technically did not break any laws by smoking weed during the 16th and 17th century and because he’s been dead for nearly 400 years and they only person you would be harming is yourself, by missing out on some of history’s greatest plays, and the actors who are just trying to pay the bills by doing the work they love.

The information that he may have puffed the magic dragon from time to time is coming from South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand, who performed chemical testing on some of Bill’s tobacco pipes. Eight of the twenty-four examined tested positive for weed. That’s about it for this news story, this doesn’t really change anything about the world we live in, but it is a little funny, I’m going to include a link to a USA Today article with more information at the bottom of the post if you would like to read more about this “shocking” discovery. Also, if you are legitimately surprised that someone as renowned and successful as William Shakespeare smoked weed, check out this song, it’ll blow your mind. If you’re not surprised, still check it out, it’s a great song by an awesome artist.

SPORTS!!

I should begin this segment by making it clear that I am not a big sports guy. I love me some Packers, Brewers (although it’s been hard lately), and (depending on who I’m talking to) either the Blackhawks or Knucks. I watch games when I can, but I do not really follow sports news too closely. However, upon the suggestion of some people I know and considering that some sports bloggers make stupid amounts of money, I decided to try to cash in on this topic. So here’s the most interest event that I felt occurred in the wide world of sports this week.

Jets quarterback Geno Smith was sucker punched in the jaw by one of his teammates in the Jets’ lockeroom because Geno owed his teammate, IK Enemkpali, $600. Geno’s jaw was broken in this encounter and he will be missing eight to ten weeks of football. IK was then quickly fired by the Jets, but was shortly picked up by the Buffalo Bills to resume his position of linebacker. The head coach of the Bills, Rex Ryan, was formally the coach of the Jets, until he was fired after the 2014 season.

I really only have two things to say abut this story. The first is that it has got to be really hard to be a Jets fan, and, the second, is that I love it when reality temporarily becomes a sitcom.

Huh?

This section of the weekly news post covers news that I personally have a mixed opinion on. This week, that news came in the form of the incredibly popular television series “Sesame Street” being picked up by HBO. The television giant will feature the next five seasons of the popular children’s show on all of it’s viewing platforms. However, new episodes will continue to air on PBS approximately six months after they premier on HBO. However, episodes currently streaming on platforms like Amazon and Netflix will be taken down shortly and the program will be unavailable to be viewed through those mediums. Apparently, the deciding factor in this decision was money, as Sesame Street had been struggling to make ends meet.

I’m honestly not sure how to feel about this shift. A part of me is happy that more quality, educational programing for kids is going to get made, but another part of me thinks that it is sad that a program meant to educate kids,regardless of background, had to shift to what many see as an elitist network to continue production. And, of course, another part of me desperately hopes that some HBO stars and characters start appearing on the show. I would love to see Omar Little teach kids some nursery rhymes, or Kit Harrington appearing as a regular, since he may or may not have a bunch of free time now (hopefully not, though). Also, if you have no idea what I’m talking about in that last sentence, watch better TV!

Depressing News of the Week

This segment is dedicated to talking about the unfortunate events that occurred during the week. This week, that event was a massive explosion in Tianjin, China. It is currently reported that fifty-six people have died due to the explosion and more than 720 people have been injured because of it. It is unclear what caused the explosion, but it is known that it originated from a warehouse that stored hazardous goods and chemicals. Due to this, the Chinese government has sent hundreds of military personal to the area who are qualified to handle toxic substances. I desperately hope that all those that are injured recover fully and quickly, that all missing persons are found speedily, and that the families of those that perished are able to find some form of comfort in this painful time.

Makes Sense News

This last segment is dedicated to talking about news stories that I personally agree with and support. This week, that news came in the form of Amnesty International coming out in favor of decriminalizing prostitution. The non-governmental, human rights group even adopted a new policy that reinforces their claim.

I agree with their decision to advocate for the decriminalization of prostitution, wholeheartedly. I personally would like to see the industry not only decriminalized, but also have laws put into place to regulate the industry. I personally do not believe I would ever hire a prostitute even if it was legalized, mostly because I’m kind of frugal and porn exists. However, it is abundantly clear that there are people all over the world who would pay for these services and, as such, regulations need to be put into place to make the industry safer for everyone involved. There’s a reason crime increased during prohibition, if people want something, they are going to find a way to get it, and if that thing happens to be illegal, then people are going to abuse the lack of supervision and policies that illegality entails. I would also like to make it clear that a person or government coming out in favor of the decriminalization of prostitution, or CONSENSUAL sexual acts performed between adults for money, is very different than said person or group INCURAGING people to engage in these activities.

Alright, that’s it for this week’s New for the Mighty, News of the Week. A lot of events were brought up and a lot of opinions were mentioned. If you would like, leave a comment if you have any input regarding any of the news stories or any of the points I made. The blog also has a newly set up Facebook page, which can be found here, so if you want to be awesome go ahead and like/follow the page or continue any discussions over there. If you want to be alerted to any new posts on BaddaBing BaddaBlog, you can receive notifications via email in the drop down menu to the right. Also, I have a twitter! So if you enjoy the things I think up and then type, follow me over there. I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Thanks so much for checking out this post and if you want your friends to be wicked awesome like you, have them check this out as well.

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Links to stories:

Shakespeare

Jet Punch

Sesame Street

Tianjin Explosion

Prostitution