Fish and Cherries Productions

It’s amazing how easy it is to get jaded and forget how great things can be.

As you guys may have noticed, I’ve had a bit of a bad run with the cimenas lately. Watching both God’s Not Dead movies two weeks back-to-back was an absolutely brutal experience that left me drained and practically dead inside. Granted, I’d seen some good movies in the weeks prior, but coming off the heels of Batman v. Superman, which stripped two icons of every bit of morality and likability just for a slugfest, tainted the memories quite a bit.

But then I saw Captain America: Civil War and suddenly, it was like I’d seen the sun for the first time. Emotions other than disgust and disappointment fired off within me as I was finally able to love something again without having to justify or make excuses. It was a great feeling, to say the least.

Funnily enough, something just like that happened last night. In my downtime, I went to reading the New 52 Batman crossover event named Death of the Family, which my friend had leant me. I made it to the middle of chapter three before I had to put the book down, unable to bear the unpleasantness, choppy writing, and defamation of characters that I loved. But immediately after, I picked up my then unread copy of Grant Morrison’s Wonder Woman: Earth One: Volume One and my disgust melted away as I read a reimagining of a character with some actual effort and imagination behind it. That book reminded me of why I used to love DC and what they originally stood for: larger than life heroes that stand as gods we aspire to be like.

So if you’re ever feeling beaten down or disgusted with the world around you, keep pushing forward. Another shining moment could be just around the corner.

Ugh…

I am not looking forward to this weekend.

As you all are probably aware, due to the numerous trailers, TV spots, and promotions, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice comes out this Friday. There are two reasons this upsets me. First of all, it is a sequel to Man of Steel and if I haven’t made it clear already, I absolutely loathe that movie. It isn’t just a bad Superman adaptation, altering something that didn’t need to be fixed and warping the character’s core concept, but it’s a pretty awful film in general. Man of Steel can’t convey the simple concepts it wants to present, which results in shoddy characterization and plotting, while it revels in a washed out palette and dreary tone that it mistakes for maturity.

The second reason calls back to one of my posts last year. See, I discovered that DC was abusing a loophole to avoid paying royalties to some of their creators, the last in a long list of immoral and toxic business decisions. I publicly swore a boycott on giving press to any of their products, good or bad. Well, here’s the thing: if I’m going to be taken seriously in the critical world, then I have to break that oath. Refusing a gig on the sole basis of having a grudge against the creator is kind of unprofessional in the critical world. So even though I’d rather do anything else, I will see Batman v. Superman and give an honest review of it, good or bad. People will want to know how it is, so I’m going to give it to them.

Doesn’t mean I have to like doing it, though.

I want to say that these constant lapses in my schedule are ending soon and that everything will be back on track before you know it. But that wouldn’t be the truth.

Here’s the real deal: something inside of me is broken — has been for a few months now — and it’s not getting fixed. I haven’t been sleeping well and none of my usual sedatives are helping. The ability to enjoy even the most basic of things seems to have been switched off like a light. I feel like I’m drowning in a torrent of troubles and different demands and none of my usual life rafts, be it games, books, movies, walks, or friends, can keep me afloat.

I know this isn’t what most people want to hear, but it’s the facts. I can’t even keep to my own schedule most of the time, which doesn’t help matters. At the very least, I want to thank the lot of you for being so patient. I’m sure a lot of you are frustrated with the lack of updates, none more so than me. But please hold on. Hopefully, everything will be resolved soon and things will get back to normal. It’s nothing concrete, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

So today’s On My Mind turned out to be, er, a bit longer than I had planned. In fact, it’s probably going to be an article. Stay tuned, folks.

Today’s On My Mind will be delayed for at least a day, partially because I have paid work that needs doing, but also because the thing on my mind will probably take a lot longer than I normally allow for.

Hey, folks. Here’s what I’ve got on my mind today: Kickstarter. But funnily enough, I have two campaigns to talk about. One is exactly what you think it is, but the other is a new topic. Let’s dive in.

Folks, we’ve done it. Flight of Fire’s new album has been successfully funded. These amazing ladies are going to make their next album and they have all of you donors to thank. I also want to thank every single one of my fans who donated to them. Maverick and I have been talking and she’s super grateful to all of us. And so am I. I hope that Flight of Fire goes on to rock the world with all their hearts, ideas, and glorious, glorious shreds.

My second story involves a tabletop roleplaying game. Yes. I’m geeky. Deal with it.

Back in college, I played a game with my friends called 7th Sea, involving a fictitious version of 17th Century Europe involving swords, sorcery, and swashbuckling. It was honestly one of the best systems I’d ever played, if a little underrated in the tabletop scene, and I was bummed out when I learned that the game had kind of died out in the publishing world. But as of recently, the winds of fate have shifted direction.

In the past week, John Wick, the game’s original publisher who had recently reacquired the rights, went to Kickstarter to fund a second edition of 7th Sea. The goal for funding the project was $30,000.

It made that goal in seven minutes.

While I could be bitter that it took so little time for this to reach its goal while Flight of Fire had to break their backs and lament how it’s easier to fund familiar things rather than something new, I’d actually like to marvel at how the Internet has been an incredible force. The 7th Sea games I played did not have actual physical books, just pdfs and scans that other people downloaded. My local game store didn’t even carry copies because the books had been out of print for several years. I am entirely convinced that if it weren’t for the Internet and the ability to spread information so quickly, 7th Sea might have gotten lost in the sands of time or barely made its goal.

Likewise, the Internet has greatly helped spread Flight of Fire around. In fact, I’m pretty sure YouTube significantly helped grow their fanbase. On top of that, the band and I reaching out to people through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and my Fish and Cherries posts helped them make their goal when it got so down to the wire. Our elders may joke about us spending too much time on our devices, but this constant connectivity clearly has its benefits.

We’re in the midst of a new age, folks. Information is now instantly at our fingertips and because of that, word of mouth about practically everything gets spread farther and faster. It’s also allowing people who don’t always have a leg up in the entertainment industry to get themselves out there and be heard, just like Flight of Fire, 7th Sea, and even yours truly. You all better brace yourselves, because change never rolls backwards.

Psst. You. Hey, you. What are you doing right now? Playing Fallout 4? Reading the next great American novel? Going to the bathroom? Well, stop what you’re doing and listen up!

(Except for that last one. That’s… that’s kind of important. Maybe don’t stop that one until you’re good and finished.)

Time is running out on Flight of Fire’s Kickstarter project! You know, that band that I showcased two weeks ago? Well, they’re about 20% away from reaching their goal and they need your help to get there. Imagine four-fifths down a long desert highway and then running out of gas with no gas stations around. That’s pretty much where Flight of Fire is right now, but we can help them get to their destination if we buckle down and give them some gas.

The cutoff is Monday, February 15 at 6:12 PM, Pacific Standard Time. I implore you, if you haven’t already, to donate something to their Kickstarter. Honestly, a sound like theirs has been one I’ve been missing for a while. Don’t get me wrong, my local 80s rock station has plenty of great guitar shredding classics, but there’s only so many times I can hear Freebird or Boys of Summer before I’m ready for something new. Seriously, if all the people who liked the Fish and Cherries Facebook page pitched in $20, they would make their goal. I think it’d be a real shame not to. We’ve got so many Katy Perrys in the world right now, isn’t it time that, after so long, we get one more Aerosmith?

Click here to donate and make rock history.

So yeah, you probably noticed that I’ve been missing a lot of deadlines concerning the Classic Snippets. Part of it is the issues that I’ve been going through, but there’s actually another reason.

Recently, I’ve accrued some employment that focuses on getting my writing picked up on other websites. While this is great for advancing my career as a writer, it comes at a price, mainly that I won’t be able to devote as much time to Fish and Cherries during work time. As such, the stuff that isn’t a current Reel Snippet, a collection of Scribbles, or the On My Minds that you’re reading right now get bumped down the priority list and I have to work on them in my off time.

As such, I’m going to have to say that the posting of Classic Snippets are going to be more sporadic. I may try to get a more consistent schedule like weekly or every other week, but for the moment, it’ll be more random for whenever I get time for it. Keep in mind, I not only have to watch the movie, but write a synopsis, review, and search for a cool fact to end it with. And that’s before I send it in for edits. Not exactly the easiest job on your own time. I’ll do my best to keep it mostly frequent, but if a Thursday is update-free on my website, you’ll know why.

Now as for why I’ve been missing deadlines for Scribbles, that’s all personal issues and I’m trying to rectify that. I’m also trying to find time for the Best of 2015 list, which I might be able to do on my trip to see family in New York. I’m trying my best to hold things together in the new year and I want to thank everyone for being patient with me.

As an old TV show once said, “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and you get the facts of life.” Well, this week is certainly chock full of that. Let’s take a look at the ups and the downs that resonated the most with me.

First, the bad news on everyone’s mind: the death of David Bowie. What can I say that hasn’t already been said before? The man was a one-of-a-kind artist, the likes of whom we may never see again. I’ll admit that for most of my life, the Bowie I knew and loved was the Goblin King from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, but I eventually found my way to Ziggy Stardust and Major Tom. Whether he was young or old, his music was brilliant and pushed the boundaries every time. The fact that his last album was saying goodbye to the world is both heartbreaking and amazing. Simon Pegg (but not the Simon Pegg) said it best: “If you’re sad today, just remember the world is over 4 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.” Rest assured, I always will.

For the good… we did it. The crowdfunding for both Psychonauts 2 and Don Bluth’s Dragon’s Lair movie were wildly successful, exceeding their intended goal and causing geeks everywhere to rejoice. And why shouldn’t they? Tim Schaeffer and Don Bluth are both artistic visionaries that got the short end of the stick and deserve a second chance? Were they perfect? No. Did they stumble from time to time? Certainly. But when someone puts out something truly great and unique, it seems like complete bunk that further projects should fail just because the investors don’t want to take a risk or because the first installment didn’t bring in the biggest of bucks. So yes, I consider this a win. Time will tell if I’m wrong, but for the moment, let the revelry continue.

And that’s what’s on my mind for today.