Cartoon Sunday: Schoolhouse Rock's Fireworks

 

How's it going lurkers? How did you enjoy Ikimono-gakari's "Hanabi" for Song Saturday? In case there are any confusions, I bold the links to these blogs to make them more visible for readers to click on.

If you missed the link in yesterday's Song Saturday blog, click on the link above. As a quick reminder, there have been some changes to Adult Swim's schedule.

Starting next Saturday on July 8th, Naruto Shippuden and Tokyo Ghoul are remaining at their same times. 

Earlier this morning on Toonami, it was confirmed that on July 29th, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders WILL be premiering at 12:30 am/11:30 pm Central!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders [Toonami Promo] (2017)

My Reaction:  

Right now, I am overjoyed and would love for Blue Exorcist's 2nd season to also be shown. Adult Swim SHOULD renew its license for this particular series and re-air Season 1. 

Then, air Blue Exorcist's OVA, following it up with Season 2, which is Kyoto Saga. This is what I would like to see on the Toonami block.

Aside from Adult Swim's schedule, let's return to the topic of national and patriotic holidays. Our country already celebrated 2 of them in late May and last month.

Before our so-called Independence Day Weekend, you may recall the number of times I mentioned Flag Day. In case you are new and did not already know, I celebrated my 35th birthday on Flag Day, last month.

Speaking of Flag Day in our country, the following video explains about the American flag, its history, and etiquette. 

Andre Malok: American Flag Facts, Etiquette, & History (2016)

Some Americans are extremely proud and passionate about OUR American flag and our country. 

Our American flag represents that we FLED from England and THEIR control over us by building our OWN country.

Think about controlling and abusive relationships. Imagine being a man/woman in a controlling relationship. The best solution is to break FREE from that controlling man/woman.

THAT'S what the 13 original colonies did to free themselves from England, which is WHY the United States of America exists today!

Remember the ABC Saturday Morning Cartoon, Schoolhouse Rock?

Younger Gen Y born in 1985 and Gen Z probably know very little if anything about Schoolhouse Rock! This cartoon was an Educational Animated Musical from 1973 to 1985.

Schoolhouse Rock! covered school subjects such as Grammar, Science, Economics, History, Mathematics, and Civics.

Honestly, I always preferred Schoolhouse Rock! over Sesame Street. My family will testify on the witness stand and tell you how much I always HATED Sesame Street.

As a little girl, I felt that PBS's programming was patronizing and still is today; PBS always insulted children's intelligence, including mine. 

Being "educated" by a man dressed in a yellow bird costume pissed me the fuck off.

As I digress, Schoolhouse Rock! supposedly has a total of 7 seasons. These seasons are really short. In fact, all the cartoon's seasons are very short.

In 1975, America Rock was the 3rd season, which featured the segment, "Fireworks."

This exact segment even featured the song named after the episode, "Fireworks." "Fireworks" was written by Lynn Ahrens. 

Originally, the song "Fireworks" was performed by Grady Tate. Literally 2 years later in 1977, Mark Bowen, Kelly Mccubbin, and Laura Bruekner covered it.

This particular Schoolhouse Rock! song can be found on Season 3: Episode 8 of Schoolhouse Rock's! America Rock. 

"Fireworks" teaches viewers about the Declaration of Independence and the reasons behind America's 4th of July celebration. 

With that being said, here is the original segment by Grady Tate singing "Fireworks" for this festive Cartoon Sunday!

Grady Tate "Fireworks" [ORIGINAL] Schoolhouse Rock!: America Rock Season 3: Episode 8 (1975)

Cartoon Sunday: David Firth's A Day In Hell

How's it going lurkers? Several hours after publishing and sharing yesterday's Song Saturday blog, I learned that Adam West died from leukemia at the age of 88. If you would like to learn more about the ORIGINAL Batman and the late voice actor of Family Guy's Mayor West, The Hollywood Reporter published an article at the following:

The Hollywood Reporter: Adam West, Straight-Faced Star of TV's 'Batman,' Dies at 88

RIP ADAM WEST!!! He will truly be missed by many generations of his Batman fans, including yours truly.

Aside from the tragic news about the late Adam West, Japan Pop Culture HQ shared a link on their Google Plus page regarding the Live Action Movie for Tokyo Ghoul on Friday.

Japan Pop Culture HQ is late to sharing this news around social media. However, you can still read about Tokyo Ghoul's Live Action Movie on Anime News Network, in the link below.

Anime News Network: Live-Action Tokyo Ghoul Film Reveals English Poster, Worldwide Streaming of Launch Event

Meanwhile, some of my long-time subscribers should recall, that I published a Cartoon Sunday blog last May featuring 2 highly graphic and disturbing Stop Motion Animated Shorts by David Firth and Adam Rosenberg.

David Firth's "Crooked (Orcus) Rot" and Adam Rosenberg's "Manny" were very similar to each other. In case you missed this particular Cartoon Sunday blog last May, it is HERE for your viewing pleasure.

Today I am sharing another disturbing Stop Motion Animated Short by David Firth. In fact, this short precedes his 2008 short, "Crooked (Orcus) Rot." "A Day In Hell" was created by Firth in 2003.

Watching these shorts by the animator continues to be abstract and graphic filled with WTF? Moments. 

If you have ZERO interest in highly graphic and abstract art, chances are highly great, that David Firth's Stop Motion Animated Shorts will be of no interest to you.

Firth's animation is filled with disturbing and highly graphic images. His work is THAT disturbing. 

Now, some may argue that David Firth's Stop Motion Animated Shorts are more like watching "Gore Porn," since his shorts can be extremely bloody and violent much like a Splatterpunk Horror film.

You may be asking, "Huh? What is Splatterpunk?" If you need a better understanding of the term, Splatterpunk, here is a vlog by The Audiopedia explaining about the Horror sub-genre.

The Audiopedia: What Is SPLATTERPUNK? What Does SPLATTERPUNK Mean? SPLATTERPUNK Meaning, Definition, & Explanation (2017)

After watching the preceding video by The Audiopedia, I am starting to believe that 1 of my 3 more recent Short Horror Stories, "The Horrors Of Womanhood," qualifies as being a Splatterpunk Horror Story.

As you watch "A Day In Hell," you will quickly notice there are some elements of Splatterpunk Horror incorporated into this Stop Motion Animated Short. With that being said, here is David Firth's "Hell" for today's Cartoon Sunday.

David Firth "A Day In Hell" (2003)

Cartoon Sunday: David Romero's Other Lily

How's it going lurkers? Do you want to see more Animated Horror Shorts, that are under, over, or about 5 minutes long in my Cartoon Sunday blogs? Let me know in the comments section below today's blog.

I cannot speak for everyone else as far as today's weather forecast goes, but it has been storming like crazy here in Wisconsin lately. 

In fact, it was just storming earlier this morning, when I was trying to re-watch Naruto Shippuden in English.

Whether you are reading a story or watching something on TV, video, or online, there is something about thunderstorms that stimulate eerie feelings. Thunderstorms can also be eerie in real life. 

There is a lot that can go wrong, during a storm. In David Romero's Animated Horror Short, "Other Lily," the thunderstorm helps set an eerie yet ominous tone.

On a dark and stormy night (The setting sounds cliche, but it works for Horror), Lily receives a text message from her father. He reminds Lily to make sure her younger sister, Beth goes to bed before 10 pm. 

As Lily walks up the stairs to check on Beth, Lily notices a picture that was drawn by her younger sister. Beth drew herself, Lily, and another Lily in the picture. In the picture, Beth refers to her as "Other Lily."

"Other Lily" looks quite sinister in Beth's illustration. It makes me want to call "Other Lily" "Evil Lily" because she looks creepy as well as evil. Eventually, Beth's older sister, Lily goes to bed. 

As a side note, Lily suffers from sleep paralysis, which may have horrific implications in her waking life.  

In case you don't know about sleep paralysis, it can cause frightening hallucinations and nightmares. To learn more about sleep paralysis, you can read about it HERE.

So... while Lily sleeps, she dreams of the "Other Lily" opening her bedroom window and crawling around on her ceiling, waiting to attack her. 

Before the "Other Lily" could attack her, Lily awakes from her nightmare. Suddenly, Lily hears loud crashing noises from downstairs. 

Watching this short by David Romero will shock you. "Other Lily" without a doubt has its share of WTF?! Moments towards the end of it. The ending especially feels like a disturbing cliffhanger.

I did not explain "Other Lily" in its entirety on purpose.

How much fun would it be, if I spoiled EVERYTHING for my lurkers and subscribers?

It would completely defeat the purpose of me sharing this disturbing short. Some things are better left to the imagination. If you would like to know what happens next, you will have to watch "Other Lily" for today's Cartoon Sunday.

David Romero: "Other Lily" (2015)

Song Saturday: Static-X [REVISITED]

How's it going lurkers? Earlier this week, I was on the latest makeshift version of Adult Swim's forum and a so-called Static-X fan "triggered" me. 

Yes, you know that highly abused word, "triggered"? Well, this guy actually triggered me.

This so-called "fan" posted a thread asking if anyone remembered the Industrial Metal band, Static-X. Because I actually WAS a fan, since the band's debut in 1998, I opened the thread.

In this Static-X "fan's" thread, he said "It sucks that he committed suicide." Reading his post made me do a double take. In the back of my mind, I was screaming, "OMG! Are you fucking serious?!"

I waited for other supposed Static-X fans to correct him. Because no one did, I posted in his Static-X thread and let him know, that Wayne Static did NOT  commit suicide. 

If he was a real fan, he would've known that Wayne Static died of a drug overdose about 3 years ago.

Wayne died 3 days before his 49th birthday in his sleep because he mixed strong prescriptions such as Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, Alprazolam, and painkillers with alcohol.

Wayne Static's porn star wife, Tera Wray, on the other hand, DID commit suicide. Tera committed suicide on January 13, 2016 at her friend and roommate's house.

Supposedly, Tera Wray left a suicide note telling her friend, Jay'e Jones to call her mother, attorney, and several other people. When I originally learned about Tera's suicide, sources claimed she was depressed about Wayne Static's death.

The more I think about it, I am suspecting an inside job because Tera was NOT  well liked by Static-X, Wayne's family, OR his friends. She got into more arguments with them after he died.

To clarify the causes of both Wayne Static and Tera Wray's deaths (couple seen above), Wayne died in his sleep from a drug overdose and Tera supposedly committed suicide.

Not to sound like some crazed, elitist, Static-X fangirl or anything, but I am easily annoyed by those, who want to act like they are such "fans" of certain celebrities. All the while, those same "fans" are misinformed about everything.

You probably think I am overreacting, but posers annoy the hell out of me.

This is especially when there are real fans like yours truly, who know the history of certain bands and were there to experience and be a part of the history. 

Like I already said in the past, I was 16 when Static-X debuted and they were featured on the Bride Of Chucky Soundtrack in 1998.

Since today's Song Saturday blog is another blog discussing Static-X, and because I recently updated previous Static-X blogs, I thought I would share those same blogs with viewers, who missed them 3 years ago.

Wayne Static/Static-X Tribute Part 1 (2014)

Song Saturday: Wayne Static/Static-X Tribute Part 2 (2014)

RANT: Toonami's One Piece Fandom & Their Incessant Crying

How's it going lurkers? I have been trying to decide what to share for the next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs.

Would you like it if I shared more Animated Horror Shorts under 5 minutes long, OR would you prefer to watch something 5 minutes or longer?

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Aside from the next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs, those of you, who have been subscribed to yours truly for the last several years on Xanga, Blogster, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, etc. have read my complaints about Toonami, its fanbases, and fandoms. 

Recently, I stumbled upon a blog by The Beacon explaining the differences between a fandom and a fanbase. I never really knew there was a difference. 

I always thought fanbase and fandom were used interchangeably. Apparently, that's not the case. Welp, you learn something new everyday.

According to The Beacon, a fanbase is simply a group of like-minded people, who share the same interests and show their pride as fans. Meanwhile, a fandom is more like a gatekeeping group of zealots for fans. 

In other words, EXTREMISTS that tend to alienate and can sometimes shun fellow fans if they don't share their views about certain characters, movies, shows, music, etc. with their EXTREME dedication, passion, and views.

Judging by the preceding explanation, fandoms might as well be considered loudmouth "activists" because they are extremely vocal about being an obnoxious fan. This can most definitely be said about some Toonami fans in general.

I CANNOT  help reiterating how much of obnoxious brats Toonami fans can be. 

Yes, I know that every Toonami fan is NOT  a crybaby. However, the crybabies overshadow the fans, who genuinely enjoy other types of Action Anime as well as other genres and sub-genres.

Every time a certain Action Anime fandom does not get their way about an Anime, they will act like the BIGGEST  toddlers on forums and social media sites. Otherwise, they will maliciously mock other fanbases because they didn't get their way about a series.

Some One Piece zealots are currently throwing toddler tantrums because Adult Swim's Toonami block is airing the Seinen Horror Action Anime, Tokyo Ghoul as One Piece's replacement. One Piece fans DO have a right to be upset.

Since the time Toonami chose to premiere this Shonen Jump Action Anime at episode 207 in 2013 rather than premiere it at episode 1 like most normal shows, One Piece fans got the shaft.

Premiering an Action Anime at episode 207 rather than the beginning only demonstrated, that those running this revival of Toonami have no respect for One Piece fans. Therefore, I can understand their anger and feel they are justified in feeling angry at both Adult Swim and The Toonami Teams. 

Toonami did a TERRIBLE job of handling their programming, One Piece fans, and de-escalating their toddler tantrums. 

Even though I can sympathize and empathize with One Piece fans, it does NOT give their fandom the right to maliciously mock other fanbases.

Currently, there are some EXTREMELY bitter fans within the One Piece fandom maliciously mocking us Tokyo Ghoul fans, while crying in their Monkey D. Luffy boxer shorts over Toonami replacing One Piece with Tokyo Ghoul.

Some are purposely alleging that Tokyo Ghoul is a terrible Anime, that it "glorifies cannibalism," it's intentionally "edgy" to panders to Emos and Goths, that Toonami dislikes Tokyo Ghoul because they haven't created newer promos for it, etc.

About a month or 2 ago, those within the One Piece fandom on the current makeshift forum for Adult Swim worked my last nerve so badly, I gave some of them a piece of my mind. 

So, what did I tell those bitter incels within Toonami's One Piece fandom on the makeshift forum for Adult Swim?

1) They are NOT  the only viewers watching Adult Swim

2) Those running Toonami are TRYING to attract different types of viewers by adding a Seinen Horror Action Anime like Tokyo Ghoul, for example, to the block

3) They whine TOO MUCH about EVERY little thing

4) If they depend on a show's ratings to simply like a show, they would NEVER enjoy anything 

5) Their constant nitpicking repulses other viewers like yours truly from wanting to watch other Anime premiering on the Toonami block.

Was it NOT  bad enough, that Toonami zealots spent YEARS bawling their eyes out all over the Internet about Cartoon Network canceling Toonami in 2008?

After canceling Toonami ~9 years ago, Cartoon Network's programming went to hell in a hand basket. It started premiering more boy-centric reality shows, low-brow animation, and mostly vapid cartoons from Canada. The ONLY Canadian cartoon I enjoyed watching was 6teen.

Had 6teen premiered in its entirety on Cartoon Network, it could've been aired at an earlier time on Adult Swim. Some of 6teen's episodes had nudity and other mature content, which was meant for supposedly teenagers in Canada.

Here in the good old U.S. of A. helicopter parents would've been outraged by some of 6teen's content because Cartoon Network is meant for children, whereas Adult Swim is meant for adults.

Since Cartoon Network no longer wanted the Toonami block, they dumped it on Adult Swim. 

Originally, Adult Swim was supposed to be airing more mature content because all those children, who grew up watching Toonami, in the late 1990's and early 21st Century, are now ADULTS.

The Toonami  Team claimed they wanted to grow up its veteran viewers. 

If they wanted to supposedly grow up their veteran viewers so badly, why is Toonami premiering the most childish-looking and cartoonishly generic Japanese animation on a network, which was meant for adult viewers, mainly men? How much longer until a Kodomo Anime like Pokemon is premiering on Adult Swim?

Here is something I have recently noticed about the veteran Toonami fans. They hate Anime meant for their own age group. That being Action Anime meant for adults and Anime with more MATURE subject matters. This makes me question how many ADULTS are actually watching this version of Adult Swim's Toonami block.

Judging from what I have observed over these last 5 years, veteran Toonami fans are too fixated on their childhood nostalgia and cartoon ratings. They depend on cartoon ratings (which CAN be rigged like polls and awards for awards shows and voting).

In addition, these zealots DEPEND on a patronizing CGI robot and his talking computer to get excited about watching their favorite cartoons! This is something you would expect from a damn 5-year-old, NOT someone who is in his/her 20's and 30's (Dare I even say 40's and older?)

When I was a toddler watching the Mecha Anime, Robotech in the mid-80's, having a patronizing CGI robot with a talking computer were highly unnecessary to get me excited about watching the series or any other type of animation Japanese or otherwise. 

Listening to the announcement that my favorite cartoons would be starting was satisfying enough!

Even though I enjoyed watching some of the Action Anime, that aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block over these last 5 years, a number of us veteran Adult Swim viewers are still disgusted with the fact, that Adult Swim uprooted us to pander to crybaby man-children.

Adult Swim mostly panders to Toonami sycophants that desperately cling to their childhood nostalgia on Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings. All the while, zealots continuously cry about wanting to watch the most childish programming on a network meant for adult animation.

Then, some of the other Toonami zealots fear that Toonami is getting canceled again because of the crybabies within their own fandoms constantly throwing tantrums over shows. They fail to realize that they contributed to the cancellation of Chiller TV's Anime Wednesday block, 2 summers ago.

It was bad enough that Chiller TV put almost NO effort in promoting their own Anime block this last time. That's not including the fact that only people with Direct TV and Dish Network, at the time were the only viewers with Chiller TV on our packages.

Adult Swim's Toonami fans wasted so much time nitpicking Is This A Zombie? which was only 1 out of 4 Anime premiering on Anime Wednesday, that Chiller TV canceled the block after only 3 weeks.

Most people today don't understand that we have the ability to make or BREAK entertainment, especially over the Internet.

To give a better understanding about this fandom right now, there is a LOT of infighting among Toonami fans. 

In fact, the fandoms within Toonami have just as much infighting, if not more than The Republican Party. It's THAT  bad.

If Toonami zealots including the One Piece zealots do NOT stop acting like bitter, entitled, spoiled brats and get their acts together, they WILL be the cause of Toonami getting canceled once again. 

Then, they will only have themselves to blame for their precious block getting re-canceled. This is if it DOES happen again with relentless cyberbullying, death threats, maliciously mocking other fanbases, toddler tantrums, and their extreme obsession with cartoon ratings.

With that being said, what are your thoughts about the current state of fandoms within Toonami, including the One Piece fandom?

Early Song Saturday: Danzig Block

How's it going lurkers? Because we have to celebrate my mother's birthday on Sunday, I am sharing Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday early. Her birthday was actually on April 26th.

Throughout April, there were so many events simultaneously happening, that my mother's birthday celebration was delayed. Not that she cares too much.

Aside from my mother's birthday celebration, let's return to the Rock. Yes, I know some of you have been waiting for this. 

After browsing around this site, I realized that I only have 1 Song Saturday blog about Danzig. I was quite surprised.

Danzig was another band I used to play on my radio show, All Things Frightening, 14-15 years ago. I don't recall of ever playing "Mother" simply because it was the most OVER played song by Danzig. 

At the time, I regularly played new songs from his I Luciferi album. Normally, I aired "Angel Blake" on WIPZ. Sometimes I played "Wicked Pussycat."

It is ridiculous that so many Rock stations never want to play other songs released by Danzig. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the main reason why Glenn Danzig would always be pissed off, during other interviews.

For years, the media ALWAYS depicted the man so horribly. Marilyn Manson is constantly condemned and demonized in the media too, but at least Rock stations still play more than 1 song by him.

Whether I am watching TV, listening to a radio station, or talking to someone on or offline, people and the media always frame Danzig as being this big, scary, angry Satanist.

Honestly, I feel the media launched a smear campaign against Glenn Danzig because he won't validate much less tolerate their bullshit and it threatens them. 

There is so much we DON'T  know about Danzig, that someone would have to personally sit and interview him. However, I believe the media demonized him to the extent, that he automatically developed a scandalous reputation.

Some of you may recall that last May, I had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing White Zombie's former co-founder and bassist, Sean Yseult. It was quite an honor.

Too bad I never had the chance to interview Metal vocalists such as Type O Negative's Peter Steele and Glenn Danzig on my radio show. Despite what those critics say about Danzig, they will not give him a chance because they fear him.

I have watched this man in past interviews with some interviewers and he didn't try attacking any of them. 

Here is an interview Glenn Danzig did with Loudwire. In this interview, he mentioned that he wanted to quit touring after 2015.

Loudwire: Glenn Danzig Plans To Quit Touring After 2015 With Superjoint (2015)

 

The preceding interview with Loudwire was uploaded on October 22, 2015. Then, on October 30, 2015, Rolling Stone uploaded an interview with Glenn Danzig. In that interview, he explained about movies that still scare him.

Rolling Stone: Glenn Danzig Talks About Movies That Scare Him (2015)

If I would've interviewed Glenn Danzig 15 years ago, I don't believe we would've ever had any problems. Our interview probably would've gone swimmingly well. 

 

The fact that he is a Horror fan and has an appreciation for art as well as Japanese animation (Anime), we probably would've had a fun time together.

Speaking of Glenn Danzig and Anime, he has a GREAT  appreciation for the Mangaka, Kiyoshi Nagai. He is best known under the pen name, Go Nagai. 

Also, Danzig aspired to be a comic book artist, when he was growing up. He was frustrated with American comics years ago and wanted to create "crazy, violent, erotic comics."

Glenn Danzig attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts and The New York Institute of Photography. By 1994, he launched Verotik, which is an adult-oriented comic book publisher.

As far as The Arts go, Glenn Danzig is very well educated and has a lot versatility. (It is amazing what you can learn, when conducting research!) 

This Goth Metal vocalist is HIGHLY underrated for his talents and deserves a lot more praise than being famous for the song, "Mother."

In regards to Glenn Danzig's vocals, I had the hardest time figuring out, who he sounds like for the last 2 decades. Recently, it dawned on me.

Glenn Danzig sounds a LOT like the late Elvis Presley and The Doors frontman, Jim Morrison performing Goth Metal and Horror-Punk.

As a quick side note, music journalist, Simon Reynolds considers Jim Morrison's sound as being Goth Rock. I always considered Morrison's songs to be pretty Goth too, when you REALLY think about some of his lyrics.

Imagine Jim Morrison fronting Goth Rock and Horror-Punk bands. That's Glenn Danzig in a nutshell. In fact, he credits Morrison as being 1 of his early musical influences.

Today fellow Danzig fans are in for a treat. For this early Song Saturday blog, 7 songs by Danzig are featured, which are from 7 of his 11 albums. 

Never have I ever played THAT MANY songs in a block by Danzig, when I was a Radio DJ at WIPZ.

This block of songs is especially beneficial for all those, who have NEVER heard any song(s) by Glenn Danzig except "Mother."

Before I forget, Danzig's new album, Black Laden Crown is set to release on May 26, 2017. Anyway, here is Danzig for today's early Song Saturday.

1) Danzig [Featuring Metallica's James Hetfield] "Possession" Danzig (1988)

2) Danzig "Her Black Wings" Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990)

 

3) Danzig "How The Gods Kill" Danzig III: How The Gods Kill (1992)

4) Danzig "Stalker Song" Danzig 4 (1994)

5) Danzig "Deep" Danzig 5: Blackacidevil (1996); The X-Files Soundtrack (1996)

6) Danzig "Angel Blake" Danzig 777: I Luciferi (2002)

7) Danzig "Devil On Hwy 9" Black Laden Crown (2017)

Cartoon Sunday: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Recap With Stardust Crusaders Music References

{As of 2020, videos with the following music references have recently been updated. This blog was previously published in 2017.}

How's it going lurkers? If you read yesterday's Song Saturday blog, it was mostly about The Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian." 

In that same blog, I mentioned that the Pop-Rock band's song was used as the ending theme song for its 2nd season, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.

Toonami premiered the 1 hour season finale of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, 2 weeks ago. The finale did NOT  disappoint. There were so many twists. 

Watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's season finale felt like I was watching a Supernatural Soap Opera with namesake characters of legendary musicians.

This can especially be said about Lisa Lisa secretly being Joseph Joestar's biological mother. Cue the dramatic music!

Dramatic Music

As campy and uproarious as this Supernatural Action Anime can be, the last scenes of Battle Tendency were violent as well as intense. 

Sometimes there were times, when I was close to falling off my bed from laughter, after watching certain scenes.

For example, there was a scene of Kars strumming Lisa-Lisa's legs like he was playing a guitar right before stabbing her in front of her long lost son, Joseph!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency "Kars Simulates A Guitar Solo With Lisa Lisa's Legs" (2013)

 

That scene was definitely a WTF?! Moment. Because Kars was close to killing Lisa Lisa, Joseph had to rescue mummy. 

 

While continuing his battle with Kars, Joseph theorized how he could possibly destroy Kars with the planet.

Eventually, Joseph defeated Kars by using Super Aja, which caused an eruption. That same eruption knocked Kars off the planet Earth, sending him into space.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency "Kars Is Launched Into Space" (2013)

 

After Kars was sent into space, everyone automatically assumed Joseph was dead and held a funeral for him. I believe the funeral was the BEST scene of Battle Tendency's finale.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency "The Funeral Scene" (2013)

The funeral scene had me in STITCHES! 

 

Without Hirohiko Araki (the Mangaka of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) saying so, we the fans can tell that he favored his replacement protagonist, Joseph Joestar over Jonathan.

Joseph has a lot more personality than the original protagonist, Jonathan Joestar. Jonathan was too obsessed with becoming a "gentleman" and defeating his adopted brother, Dio Brando. Dio is supposed to be in the 2nd season, Stardust Crusaders.

Every time I watch MTV Classic and a classic music video from the late Ronnie James Dio plays on the network, I start snickering; Whenever I hear the late vocalist and his name, I NOW think about the supervillain of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Dio Brando.

Dio Brando's depravity is off the charts. In the next season, there are more villains, who are this supervillain's flunkies. 

In fact, the next season and list of characters for Stardust Crusaders are much longer than both Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency combined, from what I can see.

During the last 2 minutes or so of Battle Tendency, there was a time skip to the 1980's. By that time, Joseph became an old man complaining about how much he hates Japanese people, while listening to a tape on a Sony Walkman.

For all those who didn't already know, Sony Walkmans were portable audiotape players made in Japan.

As I was saying, the end of Battle Tendency showed a 67-year-old Joseph Joestar. 

Then, it segues into a scene with his grandson, Jotaro Kujo, which shortly segues into the beginning of the next season, Stardust Crusaders.

We COULD have a few more months, until Adult Swim's Toonami block premieres Stardust Crusaders. 

Let's all hope that Stardust Crusaders premieres on Toonami with "Walk Like An Egyptian" playing as the ending theme song, after Attack On Titan ends.

Before I forget, here is the following link to the previous blog about characters' names from Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, in case you missed it, 2 months ago.

Cartoon Sunday: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood & Battle Tendency Music References (2017)

Since I already mentioned 3 Stardust Crusaders namesakes, here is the list of the next set of namesake characters of talented musicians and music references for today's Cartoon Sunday.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Music References (2020)

Song Saturday: The Bangles' Walk Like An Egyptian

How's it going lurkers? Aside from a few complainers last Song Saturday, I am really glad that more of you enjoyed all the songs written and co-written by Prince and learned something new.

Here it is 1 year later and I am STILL reeling over the fact, that Prince wrote "Manic Monday," which he eventually gave to The Bangles. 

After re-listening to the lyrics for "Manic Monday," I began to realize that it DOES sound like a Prince song. There is no need to worry. This is NOT another Prince Tribute blog.

Because some felt the need to COMPLAIN about the latest Prince Tribute blog from last Saturday, they will probably complain again today mostly for the sake of complaining and because this song won't necessarily be from their favorite genre of music.

To ease the minds of some, I will try sharing some new Rock Music, next Saturday.

Speaking of The Bangles, they used to be 1 of my favorite Pop-Rock bands growing up in the 1980's. They are famous for songs such as "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like An Egyptian." 

Could you imagine if "Walk Like An Egyptian" released today?

Considering how "politically correct" everybody and everything must be in this era of crybabies, people would probably be outraged around social media and have a heart attack over the song being "racist" and "politically incorrect."

I loved "Walk Like An Egyptian" growing up. During the mid to late '80s, the music video was in heavy rotation on MTV. Over 30 years later, the song is still being played on traditional radio stations. 

The song and music video for "Walk Like An Egyptian" were so popular, that many people did the silly so-called, "Egyptian" dance moves. NOBODY COMPLAINED about it either! We simply had fun.

It's such a shame that we can't go back to a time like the '80s. More people learned how to enjoy and appreciate entertainment as oppose to being hypersensitive and wanting to be a political activist, that browbeats everyone with political correctness.

Amazingly, The Bangles' song, "Walk Like An Egyptian" is still very popular today and in Japan. In fact, this song is so popular it was used as the ending theme for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 2nd season, Stardust Crusaders.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Ending Theme Song (2014)

 

After discovering that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure used "Walk Like An Egyptian" as the 2nd season's ending theme song, I was stunned. Then again, it makes sense. Given my hectic schedule on AND offline, I have yet to watch Stardust Crusaders. 

 

Hopefully after Adult Swim's Toonami block finishes premiering Attack On Titan, we the viewers will have a chance to watch Stardust Crusaders. 

 

I am especially curious to know, if Viz Media gained the rights to use "Walk Like An Egyptian" as the ending theme song for the English Dub of Part 3: Stardust Crusaders.

Since the 2nd season of this Seinen Supernatural Action Anime takes place during the late 1980's, contains '80s pop-culture music references, and has 9 Egyptian gods as characters, "Walk Like An Egyptian" seems appropriate for the ending theme song.

Even though I have yet to watch the 2nd season, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, I watched another music reference video about the next set of characters. Tomorrow I will have a preview of the next set of characters for Stardust Crusaders.

Judging by the looks of this next season, it has more characters than both Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency combined. Anyway, here is The Bangles' music video for the song, "Walk Like An Egyptian."

The Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian" Different Light (1986)

Song Saturday: Remembering Prince

How's it going lurkers? Looks like Prince and his friend, Charlie Murphy will have to roll their corpses over to make room for Cuba Gooding Sr. Yesterday Cuba Gooding Sr, who was the lead singer of The Main Ingredient and father of Cuba Gooding Jr, died at the age of 72.

Now, our so-called "Purpleness" and Cuba Gooding Sr. share April 21st as the day they both died. Here it is 1 year and 1 day later, since the death of Prince.

Can you BELIEVE it has been an entire year, already? I can't. This could be because of the media's incessant coverage about Prince's death, since last April 21st. 

Surprisingly, MTV Classic actually did a Prince Video Tribute Block yesterday. Also, fans from all over the world came to America, in order to visit Prince's Paisley Park in tribute to him. 

Even though 2016 had an outrageous death toll, Prince still remains in the media because he is ANOTHER dead music icon.

Because YouTube stripped and muted ALL his music videos, I more recently had to update my last Prince tribute blog. 

What was the point of muting Prince's music videos?

If YouTube did NOT  want anyone watching his music videos because of sudden copyright issues with Warner Bros, it would've been more logical to remove them.

Since the music videos I shared in my last Prince Tribute blog were muted, I went to another media player site and linked them in that same Song Saturday Tribute blog.

Speaking of last year, I watched ABC's 20/20 Special about Prince and discovered that he wrote a plethora of songs specifically for himself, which other singers eventually covered.

Meanwhile, some songs were written for other singers. That was unless those singers wanted Prince to co-write their lyrics with them. However, some of the songs he wrote were under pseudonyms.

To give some examples, Prince went under the pseudonyms "Jamie Starr" and "The Starr Company," when he wrote for other singers during 1981-1984. 

When writing songs for Sheena Easton and Kenny Rogers, he used "Joey Coco." Not only "Joey Coco," but also "Alexander Nevermind" for Sheena Easton's song "Sugar Walls."

In addition, Prince wrote "Manic Monday" under the pseudonym, "Christopher." 

I recently learned that "Christopher" originally wrote "Manic Monday" for Vanity's replacement, Apollonia and her trio Apollonia 6 in 1984. Thank God Apollonia 6 never used "Manic Monday." 

I heard their demo of the song and it SUCKS. Listening to Apollonia 6's demo of "Manic Monday" felt like I was listening to 3 abused kittens being punished to sing. That's probably why Prince held onto the song for 2 years.

Luckily, "Manic Monday" became The Bangles' song, 2 years later. Rumor has it that SOMEBODY from the Pop-Rock band had to sleep with Prince most specifically, The Bangles' rhythm guitarist, Susanna Hoffs, in order to acquire the song.

Tevin Campbell debuted with "Round and Round," which was another song written by Prince. I don't believe "The  Purple One" used a pseudonym for that song, since he was featured in the music video and already did the background vocals.

There have been so many songs "The Purple One" wrote, throughout the decades, that I could be here forever listing them. Rather than doing so, here are a few sources you can read about Prince and his many pseudonyms for songs he wrote and co-wrote.

Prince Rogers Nelson

The Definitive Ranking Of Prince’s Many Aliases

LA Times: The many names of Prince

The Grio: Prince’s many names (even more than you thought)

Everybody should keep in mind, this is another Prince Tribute blog. This is NOT an excuse for some (typically narrow-minded, Baby Boomer men) to be rude and nitpicky about something not being "THEIR genre(s) of music" much like the obnoxious Baby Boomers from Blogster. They are the main reason why some of my subscribers and I actually left. Anyway, here are some of the songs Prince wrote and co-wrote for today's Song Saturday.

1) Chaka Khan [Prince Cover] "I Feel For You" (1979); Chaka Khan (1984)

2) Alicia Keys "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" (1982) [Prince Cover] "How Come You Don’t Call Me" Songs In A Minor (2002)

 

3) Stevie Nicks [Prince] "Stand Back" The Wild Heart (1983)

4) Prince {"Jamie Starr and The Starr Company"} Morris Day And The Time "Jungle Love" Ice Cream Castle (1983)

5) Prince {"Christopher"} The Bangles "Manic Monday" Different Light (1984); (1986)

6) Prince And The Family [Prince & The Revolution] "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1984) 

7) Sinead O’Connor [Prince Cover] "Nothing Compares 2 U" I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1989)

8) Madonna [Featuring Prince] "Love Song" Like A Prayer (1989)

Are There Really Social Media Sites For Anime Fans?

 

 

How's it going lurkers? Since last month, I have been meaning to share this news with everyone. 

 

As you already know, Adult Swim's forum was abruptly shut down literally 2 days before Christmas and without warning posters and their own volunteers about it. Shortly after its shut down, I joined Anime League. Like I already said earlier this year, Anime League is a breath of fresh air compared to Adult Swim's hateful community.

To expand on the topic of Anime fans and online communities, are you a fellow Anime fan on social media sites like Facebook, who does NOT  want your news feed clogged with selfies, spam ads, SHIT posts, divisive news, memes, and topics about politics and religion, sharents, NEEDY and ATTENTION-seeking status updates, etc?

Imagine if there was a social media site like Facebook except for Anime fans. Well, it turns out you are in luck! 

In fact, last month I joined the social media site, World of Anime. Anime fans should definitely check it out.

This Anime-centric social media site could possibly be the social media site you have been dreaming about for years. World of Anime is a pleasant social media site for Anime fans BUILT  by an Anime fan.

Much like the forum, Anime League, World of Anime is a very welcoming community. Sometimes I feel badly about not having enough time to socialize with more people on this Anime-centric social media site.

Whenever I have the time, I do talk to some friends on World of Anime, including its site owner, Meeko.

In addition to creating his very own social media site for Anime fans, Meeko created his own video gaming site, Raccoon's Cave for gamers.

I recently informed the social media website owner on World of Anime, that I would be publishing this blog about his site. 

It somewhat feels as if Meeko and I are similar to each other. 

He understands the struggle of building his own website, generating traffic to it, and having pride in what he built for social interaction and for public exposure.

Even though there will always be trolls on the Internet roaming around and terrorizing people within communities, Meeko places an emphasis on kindness. 

This is something I wish forums like Adult Swim would've emphasized before shutting down rather than promoting, condoning, and enabling misogyny, misanthropy, cyberstalking, revenge porn, social division, etc. 

This is yours truly speaking from personal experience after ENDURING the preceding from Adult Swim's hateful community.

World of Anime seriously feels like an inviting online community with real fans. 

Sure, there are probably some Anime gatekeepers and zealots around the social media site, but I have yet to encounter any of them. 

Much like Facebook, World of Anime also has an IM chat feature, a forum page, blog, private messaging, and many other features.

Speaking of the private messaging, if you send out mass private messages, everyone you send that message to CAN respond back to you in the form of a thread. It is like posting on a public message board. 

Mass PM'ing is a lot like having a forum's thread contained inside of an e-mail inbox message; It is an e-mail party line.

Depending on your preference and what you choose to send to other friends, this can be a double-edged sword. Because it CAN cause he said, she said flame wars and community divsion, you may want to be more cautious about telling something in confidence to somebody and GOSSIPING to certain posters.

So, would you be interested in joining an Anime-centric social media website such as World of Anime? 

You may want to consider liberating yourself from most of today's extremely toxic, divisive, and polarizing content found on a plethora of other social media sites.

Because I am a Supernatural, Horror, and Anime fan, who features Anime in my Cartoon Sunday blogs, it would not hurt to re-share and revisit these previous blogs with fellow fans.

It does NOT  have to be Cartoon Sunday, in order to enjoy a Cartoon Sunday blog with Anime videos and links to them.

Anyway, here are previously published Cartoon Sunday blogs with Supernatural and Horror Anime in the links below!

Cartoon Sunday: Anna H's Horror Anime Reviews (2014) 

Cartoon Sunday: Hell Girl (Anime) Pilot (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Death Note's Pilot (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) "His Butler, Able" (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Ghost Hunt (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Bleach's Pilot (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Hellsing Ultimate OVA 1 (2014)

Cartoon Sunday: Devil May Cry (Anime) (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Shojo Anime That Need Re-Dubs (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Tokyo Majin (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Black Blood Brothers (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Tokyo Ghoul Trailer (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Blue Exorcist Bloopers (2015)

Cartoon Sunday: Parasyte -The Maxim- (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: WatchMojo's Top 10 Horror Based Anime (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: xxxHolic (2016) 

Cartoon Sunday: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood Review (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: Tokyo Ghoul (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: Shigeru Okada's Saka Men (2016)

What Are Shinigami In Japanese Folklores? (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: Goth Chicks In Animation (2017)

Cartoon Sunday: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood & Battle Tendency Music References (2017)

Cartoon Sunday: Tactics (2017)

Cartoon Sunday: Watch Mojo's Anime Villains Countdown (2017)