Quick Thoughts #8! - The Good, the Forgotten, and the Steep Descent into Mediocre

I don’t get a lot of time to watch things on my own these days. What I do watch is usually geared toward little kids. All I know is Pete the Cat is one groovy dude, Marshall from Paw Patrol needs to be fired for insubordination, and that I want to slap the person who created the Minions with one of those foam hands. At least the boys like cool stuff like Mario and Sonic. We just recently gotten them to watch some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and that’s always fun. I am trying to understand how we’ve gotten so many animated TMNT versions over the years. To somewhat quote the Shredder, “Those Turtles just won’t die!”

What TV time I’ve had to myself has been used watching these three picks below. First off is the recent Disney+ show, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. The boys haven’t gotten to Star Wars yet, and I doubt Andy will like seeing a horned nutjob slice people. Next is Phantom 2040, a long-forgotten show I have been slowly watching on Amazon Prime. Finally, there’s Under the Dome, a TV adaptation of a Stephen King book. Me and Liz were binging this, but it took quite a while to do so with all the crying and sleepy kids.

Weird Trek Episodes - Tuvix aka "Janeway Goes Dark!"

I had a problem with figuring out what nickname this episode needed. Here are just a few:

• "Janeway Embraces the Dark Side!"
• "The Worst Game of Twister Ever!"
• "Kes Meets a Guy Who is Creepier than Neelix!"
• "Holy Ethical Dilemma, Batman!"
• "Yeah... It's That Episode!"

Well, this was a long time coming. I think this was one episode that I wanted to write about years ago, but other things got in the way. There are more important things to do than write about a controversial Star Trek episode. Plus, so many people have already given their thoughts on what happens at the end of this episode. It was those opinions that made me want to finally talk about “Tuvix”, the 24th episode from Star Trek: Voyager’s second season.

Weird Music Videos - "Torture" by The Jacksons

Well, the long-awaited Michael Jackson biopic has come out, and I'm still waiting for it to hit streaming. We got kids at home, and I don't think my wife wants to sit through a two-and-a-half hour biopic. Honestly, I kinda don't want to either because that has got to be a dang good movie with how much things cost these days. The critics haven't been gracious, but I've seen some good takes. My sister saw it, and she really liked it. Chances are that I'll enjoy it.

I don't know what's worse, the manniquen or the fact that I can't tell if any of them are real especially with that fashion!

Today's video is one most will probably not view fondly. "Torture" (hilarious name) was a song from the Jacksons' 15th studio album, Victory. This was kind of considered to be a special album because it featured all 6 Jackson brothers. Jermaine had left the group when the family left Motown, and Randy took his place. They all reunited during Motown's 25th anniversary special  This was right off the release of Thriller and the Jacksons' reunion. The Victory tour was even spun out all this, but weirdly enough, NONE of the songs on this album were sung during the big tour. After taking a gander at the album... I can see why. No one wants to hear Marlon singing "Body," but seeing him gyrate on stage is hilarious. I saw the music video years ago on VH-1.

 

So, what can be said about this kinda forgotten single and its video?

• Okay Song - Jackie actually wrote the lyrics for this one. It was meant to be about the hardships of being in a relationship. Apparently, he was supposed to sing lead with Michael (who does the second verse), but Jermaine got lead instead... not sure what happened there. The funny thing is that it's the only song Jermaine takes part in on the album! The song itself is alright though. It's probably one of the better songs on the album. Tito's guitar solo is nice, and Michael's verse is cool.
• Thriller 2.0 - I'm guessing that the director wanted to capitalize on the "Thriller" music video because the spooky vibe is ramped up to 11 here. Basically, the Jacksons are trapped in some hell dimension with spiders, evil-looking dancers, eyes popping out of hands, ghouls, and all sorts of dastardly things! Jackie is walking through this Hell trying to save the band and some lady. It's definitely the weirdest Dungeons and Dragons campaign around. Also, this vid is part-nightmare fuel and part-hilariousity.
• Mixed Message - The song was meant to be about the hardships of a relationship, but the video kinda adds another topic: bondage! I'm guessing someone on the production listened to the song and was like "let's make this even weirder than it needs to be!"  You got this chick running around in a mask with a whip! It also doesn't help that Jackie's wearing something that has that BDSM vibe to it. He's getting whipped here and there and gets trapped quite a bit. I did notice Tito was wearing a Flash shirt at some point. What was up with that?
• Introducing... 4 Jacksons and a Stand-In! - Probably the funniest fact about the video is that you only see 4 brothers in the video. Jermaine didn't even show up to the shoot since he had an album out. Michael, who was really only doing the album and tour for his family, didn't show up either. Since you really can't have a Jacksons vid with no Michael, they got a dummy from one of those wax museums. It's so obvious too! The dummy looks so off when paired with the rest of the brothers.

This is what happens when someone tries to wear Michael's glove without permission!

In the end, it's surprising that this video turned out as "mid" as it did. Apparently, it was "torture" to get it produced. The song was alright at least. I don't think I'd throw this song or any song from this album on a "Best of the Jacksons" playlist though. Maybe that's what I'll work on next. I was meant to do it years ago. Anyway, that's all I got. Peace, God Bless, and don't walk into hell dimensions with your 3 brothers and a mannequin.

Okay... forgive my French, but what the hell was this???

Trek Novels - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Vendetta

It has been years since I’ve talked about any Star Trek novels here. Heck, it’s been years since I really delved deep into a Trek novel. I might’ve tapped myself out on Trek at some point, but I never lost that passion. I’ll do a re-run of old Trek from time to time.I’ve been trying to catch up with the rest of Discovery’s 5th season and have been watching the newest show, Starfleet Academy, on Paramount+. I’ll just say this about SFA… it’s better than I thought it would be. Maybe I’ll say a little something to help out the kids once I’m done watching it.

Anyway, I thought I’d finally read this novel. I think I bought it at this book store in Columbia, but it could’ve been McKay’s as well. It was actually stuck at my parents’ house for years until I decided to dust it off this year. I also wanted to read it because the author, Peter David, passed away last year. I’ve read quite a few of his comics and novels over the years, so I thought I might as well read one of his first tries with the TNG crew. Vendetta was released in 1991 through Pocket Books. Instead of being along with the usual batch of novels, this was a special “Giant” one. I can see why they may have done that with who’s on the cover.

Favorites - Ranked Dragon Age: Inquisition Companions

Well, I did say I’d be done with Dragon Age Inquisition by Christmas, and that was partly true. Still, when you have a wife, toddlers, a job, and other interests, you can usually push these playthroughs indefinitely… and I still ain’t done. I got sucked into doing the DLCs for the game and actually fought those blasted dragons. I actually have just the rest of "Trespasser" to finish up and then I can call it quits on Dragon Age for a while. Still, I’ve played at least 100 hours of this game to get this written.

If you want a nice overview of the game, just check out my old review because it’s pretty much the same. In fact, I think I’ve fallen for this game more the third time around. It’s as good as I remember it. Each DA installment brings something unique, and this is no different. DAI is definitely a return to form after DA2’s adventures in Kirkwall. You’re back and forth between Fereldan and Orlais in trying to stop Coryheus from destroying the world. Oh yeah, “Cory” still sucks as a villain. That was one thing that hasn’t changed with me. Even though I did complain about the vast emptiness of the world, I kinda got used to it this time around.

The gameplay still rocks with you and your companions dishing out loads of destruction to your enemies. This time, I was a Rogue Inquisitor with the twin daggers, and that was so much fun. The graphics are good, but this was one area I kinda struggled with especially with my character. At least Veilgard has added more black hairstyles… but I’ll get to that someday. Weapons and customization are also pretty dang good. The DLCs were also pretty good and added a lot to the game... including a full ending/epilogue... EA, why are you like this?

I tried to do my hair right... they needed a bigger afro and some curly hair options.

Our companions are good as usual. We get 9 companions this time, and they all range from okay to pretty dang good. I will say that some of their personal missions don’t stack up to the ones from Origins and even Dragon Age 2. I’m not sure if it was that there were too many companions or that there wasn’t as much thought put into their personal missions. Either way, I still think the companions help make the game awesome. So, with that out of the way, here’s my ranking of all the companions from DAI. I’m also adding the advisors (Cullen, Leliana, Josephine, and a surprise) in this as well. You don’t fight alongside them as much, but their presence and stories are right alongside the other companions.