The Avengers: Age of Ultron

I have to give Marvel credit for this.  I have never seen more trailers for a single movie than I have for The Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Their biggest trailer, surprisingly, is their shortest thus far.  Take a peek:





Hot right?  This is the trailer that has everyone all hot for the movie now.  Not that all the previous ones weren't good.  This one just has that snap that got everyone into the first Avengers movie.  I do want to pick out a few points that this trailer has that the others didn't.

*****SPOILER WARNING*****
I'm going to be talking about plot points from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and possibly Marvel's Agent Carter.  If you haven't seen any of these or aren't current on them.  You might want to stop riiiiiiiight HERE.  Last chance.  Really.  Ok, still heree?  Let's go!

1. Maria Hill

This is the first trailer that indicates Agent...*ahem* excuse Ms. Maria Hill will be in the movie under the employ of Tony Stark.  Why is Hill no longer with S.H.I.E.L.D.?  If you remember from Captain America: The Winter Soldier that S.H.I.E.L.D. was actually being manipulated by a shadow organization called HYDRA and was infiltrated to the highest levels.  The film ended with a kind of where-do-we-go-now feel as Cap and Nick Fury parted ways with Fury heading to Eastern Europe to use the cover of his death to get the drop on the remaining HYDRA cells.  I'll get back to Fury.  The Black Wi...*ahem* Natasha Romanov gives testimony to Congress regarding the the S.H.I.E.L.D. disband indicating that most former agents went into civilian jobs.  Enter Maria Hill.  But....

2. Nick Fury

Nick Fury also shows up in this trailer (Was he in the other trailers?  This is the only one I seem to remember him in.).  Technically, the world still thinks he's dead but he's been quite busy after parting company with Cap.  Fans of MoAS know that he reunited with Agent Phil Coulson (saving two stranded members of his team along the way) to help put to bed the HYDRA threat (they got some of it; cut off one head and two more...you know the mantra).  This episode was important because after what happened at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters anyone running around as agents were being hunted down by the US military.  Nick Fury entrusted Phil Coulson to be the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.  He left him with the line "I'll be everywhere".  Wanna guess what new plot has arisen just after the midseason finale?  The fact that Mockingbird and Mack are working for "The REAL S.H.I.E.L.D.".  Did Nick have anything to do with this?  Maybe.  Guess we'll have to keep watching to find out. ;)

3.  The Black Widow

Ok so despite that speech in front of Congress (See the end of Captain America: Winter Soldier), The Black Widow is still active among the ranks of The Avengers.  If you're familiar with the comic book lore of The Avengers, you know that Tony Stark foots the bill for the whole shebang.  In the previous movie, The Avengers was a S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative.  It looks like in this movie Tony will go all in (Avengers Tower!  A Quinjet!).  Will it be before or after the Ultron threat?  Either way, the Avengers are claiming Black Widow among their ranks (as well as former agent Hawkeye).  I only mention her specifically because there was a tie-in with the Marvel's Agent Carter series.  Check out this extended scene.



Did you catch the part where she hesitates a bit when the children's ward was mentioned?  That's directly related to her "origin".  In Agent Carter there was direct conflict with an organization that trained young girls in the art of espionage and assassination.  It seems that Black Widow program lasted well into the current day.  Wait a second.  Didn't we see the captured Leviathan operative getting all chummy with Arnim Zola in S.S.R. prison?  Wonder if that could have affected the Black Widow program?  Hmmm...

I also picked her out because we weren't really sure where she was going after Winter Soldier.  The previous trailers did feature her indication her new home is with The Avengers.  Which saddens me a bit because that means a Black Widow solo movie is off the table.

4.  Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch

*sigh* This is the part that annoyed me the most with this trailer.  For all the previous trailers, their role wasn't quite defined yet.  We were lead to believe that they would fight on the side of Ultron (with the twist for people not at all familiar with the comics that they would eventually end up on the side of The Avengers).  They kinda killed that notion with this trailer.

5.  Captain America

It's about time we gave the mantle of team leader to Cap!  Stark, the biggest personality in the room  ALL THE TIME, sort of involuntarily fell into the role but during the New York Invasion it was Cap who stepped up not only leading his own team but also the law enforcement and recovery efforts on the ground.  Tony in the trailer referred to Cap as "The Boss".  I'm looking forward to Cap stepping into the leadership role since we haven't really seen him in charge since WWII.

6.  S.H.I.E.L.D.

Here's what I'm hoping for in this movie (that I'm almost certain will not happen).  I would like the team to be reintroduced to Coulson aka their inspiration for banding together and kicking the crap out of Loki and the Chitauri.  Cameos from the rest of Team S.H.I.E.L.D. would be awesome but I'd settle for just Coulson.  We're already seeing MAoS paving the way for The Inhumans movie but I don't want the series to forget they're still part of all this action going on with The Avengers.  I do know though there WILL BE A TIE-IN.  We're just not sure what it will be yet.

I admit it.  I'm about as excited as you are about this movie!  However, I think it's a huge mistake not to keep an eye on the Marvel TV projects.  I've stated this before, but it's important to remember that the TV shows take place as a direct part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Elements from the movies appear in the shows and elements from the shows have and will continue to appear in the movies. 

Best of the VI is back for 2015!

And you know what that means.  I'll be needing your votes for Best Karaoke.  Follow the direct link right here to log in and VOTE!  You know my spots: Caribbean Saloon and Fatty's.  You pick the one you like best. ;)

Computers & Music: Isolating The Ground Loop

Hey Internet, it's been a while.  You know me, I don't write anything here unless I get inspiration.  Well I've got some.

In this installment I get to combine by technical knowledge with my other passion: music.  This servers as a simple lesson to anyone looking to use computers as part of their music setup.

I happen to know a lot of folks in the DJ biz and for the most part they're "old school".  I put that in quotes because old school DJing is pretty much vinyl and turntables.  The turntables are still around but they work with CDs now (you can still buy vinyl records and turntables though but they're really expensive these days).  With the rise of digital music in the past decade though most modern DJs uses a computer in mix.

Now before I go any further, I need to make a disclaimer.  This post is meant in no way to question what DJs are doing these days, how they do it and with what equipment.  There are a lot of DJs out there who are fine with their CD turntables.  This post is meant to give some simple advice to the guys using a computer as part of their DJ setup.

Ok, now I want you to listen to something real quick:

This is what a ground loop sounds like.  It's a high pitched whine that emanates over your audio system.  You don't even have to play anything for this to occur.

Why does this happen?  There's a perfectly good scientific explanation why but I'm not getting into that.  Here's a trick I've pulled with a couple people having this issue (fortunately they were using laptops so it was easy to explain).  All I would ask them to do is pull the power cable out of the socket.  That's right, the source of that noise is the power cable.  More specifically it comes from the ground.

There are a few solutions you can employ to get rid of the whine.  The do-it-yourself solution is to cut off the ground or try to yank it from that slot.  I really don't recommend that one but I've seen people do it.  The second solution is to use a power cable that doesn't have the ground.  Most of the replacement universal power cables come with no ground.

Chances are if you're using a desktop computer then none of these options work for you.  Well there's another solution: purchase and install a ground loop isolator.

It's pretty simple to use and it won't break your bank.  You just plug this in between your audio source and your mixer.

If you're been having this issue with your system and this entry helps you out I'd really love to know.  Leave me some responses  in the comment section.

Lessons Part 3: Wile E. Coyote

I bet this one comes a a surprise to you.  Maybe it's because I already got you used to comic book characters in my previous posts.  Believe it or not I learned some very valuable lessons from Wile E. Coyote.  If you're unfamiliar with the character (How IS life under that rock by the way?), he's consumed by one goal: to capture and devour the Road Runner.  It's a task that he hilariously fails at repeatedly.  If he ever DID catch Road Runner it wouldn't make for much entertainment now would it.  Anyway, let me get to the point.

1.  The best laid plans don't always work

Wile E. Coyote is a genius.  Granted a super genius.  His plans are thorough, precise and inexplicably well funded (Thanks ACME!).  He only continues to fail at his goal because the universe is set in favor against him. For me though, Wile E. Coyote as a tiny bit of a role model.  See I too am a pretty good planner and I too have watched many a great plan crumble in failure.  That's sort of the way life just works.  We can plan things to a T but then life happens and stomps on your plans the way Rick James would grind his dirty boots into your couch.  You'd think that Wile E. Coyote would be the poster boy for giving up though but....

2. NEVER give up.

He doesn't.  Ever.  When his plan fails and gets shot to hell, he goes back to the drawing board and makes a new plan.  We all know he's going to fail, but he just picks him self right back up and tries again.  You're gonna hate me for this, but I always rooted for Wile E.  In a fair world he would have caught a Road Runner every episode.  The world though is far from fair, but that doesn't mean we should just pack it in and give up.  In fact there's really only one reason (besides the whole being the bad guy thing) that Wile E. never accomplishes his goal.

3.  Keep cool

This is where Wile E. sets himself up for the final failure.  He goes a little nuts, gets a tad obsessive and then pulls out ALL THE STOPS.  So he had a few setbacks.  By the third try or so though he gets a little desperate and goes into overkill mode.  I mean he pulls out plans designed to turn his potential meal into a grease spot.  Had he continued on a sane track, who knows; he might had hit that one plan that works.  The moral of the story: keep cool.  When you lose your cool, things easily go from bad to worse.

Lessons Part 2: Spider-man

1.  With great power comes great responsibility

This is the overarching message of the Spider-man.  If you aren't familiar with the character's origin story you must have been living under a rock for the last 20 years but here's the short version.  When Spidey first got his powers he tried to cash in on them (hey, he was in high school).  The event though shorted him so he ended up walking away disappointed and with much less what he was promised.  As he was leaving though he had an opportunity to thwart a robbery of the same people who shorted him but he let the robber go out of spite.  Turns out the robber ended up killing his uncle.  Spidey exacts his revenge and vows to live up to the lesson his uncle was always trying teach him. 

"With great power comes great responsibility" though is an oversimplification of Uncle Ben's message.  Explained further it means that if you have it within your power to do good and make changes for the better you have an obligation to your fellow man to do it.  It kind of takes on new meaning when you get superpowers and that's a good message too.  It was Abraham Lincoln who said:

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Trust me, it's difficult not throwing your weight around when you have license to do so.  Fortunately I'll always have this lesson I learned from Spidey.

2.  There's nothing glamorous about doing good

Spider-man has another running theme.  He's actually a hair's breath from poverty.  These days he pulls an Avengers salary but he wasn't always living so high on the hog (and honestly I can't even tell you if he's still an Avenger).  There was a time he supported himself by taking pictures of Spider-man in action and letting the paper he sold his pictures to trash Spider-man as a public menace.  Spider-man endured this though because he was doing good and making a difference despite being misunderstood.  What Spider-man did was kind of a metaphor for most average people.  He had all our problems.  He had trouble making ends meet, paying the bills, even keeping a job because he spent so much time in his dual persona.  Despite being Amazing, Spider-man was a lot like you and me.  You and me...can be Amazing. :)

Lessons Part 1: Batman

I haven't done a series in a long time.  Let's do a series!  Here's how I'm doing this.  The next few blog entries are going to all be about fictional characters that have taught me great lessons in life. 

I'm beginning with Batman.

Because he's Batman!

Batman is pretty over-hyped these days.  He IS hands down the coolest character in the DC Universe and the lessons he taught me are sorta why.

1.  You don't always have to like someone to work with them.  It's all about the mission.

Let me tell you a story from my IT days (and I'm going to keep this vague to protect the innocent).  At one point we had a policy on ordering computers.  They had to come with dual core processors.  Well the guy in charge of signing off on our orders didn't agree with me that the Core 2 Duo was a dual core processor.  He was wrong.  Way wrong.  But he had authority so I kept firing emails at him that proved my point and truth be told, I didn't like this guy.  It wasn't until I actually got to meet and talk with him though that I realized we had the same mission...we just wildly disagreed on how to accomplish it.  But I was able to convince him despite not liking him.  You'd be surprised how many people can't stay on mission because their personal feelings get in the way.  Sometimes, the mission is more important.  If you want an example of this, go check out some old Justice League issues with Batman and Guy Gardner.

2.  It doesn't matter how smart, strong, capable and independent you are.  Sometimes you could use a helping hand.

One of the hardest things for me to do is asking for help.  A lot of people are like that.  So it's incredibly humbling to watch the Batman ask for it.  Not to mention he's mentored a slew of Robins to be as good as he is.

3.  Never underestimate the power of hard work.

Batman stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe even though he himself doesn't have any powers.  That alone makes him an inspiration seeing how much he can accomplish with just hard work.

So who's gonna be next?  Stick around to find out.  Next Bat Time.  Next Bat Blog.

My Karaoke Wishlist

Last night I was poking around Karaoke Version and picked up two tracks.  I actually sung both of them last night: The Transformers by Lion and the Family Guy Theme.  It got me thinking about which songs I really wish were in karaoke but aren't.  Here's a short wishlist (and I'm just gonna link the videos just so I don't flood this entry with embeds):

1.  The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

This song has gotten me pumped up many a morning.

2.  Midnight Show by The Killers

Hot Fuss had a lot of great songs on it and most of them are available on karaoke.  Unfortunately this one isn't and IT'S MY FAVORITE!  Dontcha hate when that happens.

3.  It's A Jungle Out There by Randy Newman

Y'know given how much Hollywood just LOVES Randy Newman you'd think this would be on karaoke.  Also it was the Monk theme song for most of the seasons it was on TV.  Nope, can't find it.  But I found Family Guy.  Go figure.

4. Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat) from Mortal Kombat The Album

You might think you haven't heard this song, but trust me you have.  It was used heavily in the promos for the first Mortal Kombat movie but the song was out way before then.  I actually had the entire album at one point.  It's not a hard song to sing but this would be loads of fun at karaoke.  I'd be a bit wary though of inciting play fighting among the drunken hordes. :)

5.  Monkey Man by Toots and The Maytals

You've heard me say this tons of times.  There's an incredible shortage of reggae, calypso and soca songs in karaoke.  The only staple is Bob Marley and you can't even find all of his songs on karaoke.  Anyway, I don't remember where I first heard this song but I've always liked it and wished it was on karaoke.

6.  No Disturb Sign by Beres Hammond

Same deal as #5.  Great song but not available on karaoke.

7.  Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton

My own personal theme song!  Y'know considering they used a riff from this song as the intro theme to a TV show of the same name it would be more popular.  Unfortunately that show appeared on G4 which isn't a standard Cable channel.

8.  The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Theme

#1 in da hood, G! :)

9.  Fett's Vette by MC Chris

Ok, I admit I heard this one on Aqua Teen too but it's a cool song and it was in the Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

10.  Pretty much any and all local artists

I can't tell you how many times I get a local at my show and they ask me if I have karaoke for local artists.  I'm talking Jam Band, Spectrum, Pressure Busspipe, you name it.  True story though, I actually have a karaoke version of Jam Band's Music From The VI.  It's not something I advertise regularly though because it usually triggers a rush of people looking for calypso and soca songs that simply don't exist in karaoke.

So there's a very good chance I may start to dabble once again in creating my own karaoke tracks.  The software I used to have (and lost access to) costs around $100.  I've looked around but there really is no better suite so I'll most likely be ponying up that money.  If I do though, what does your wishlist look like?  Maybe I'll make it.