Matt.weiland

Back in February, WWE announced an “Appreciation Night” for the recently-retired Daniel Bryan. The special tribute was one of a handful of appearances at the end of March. This week, just days before the Madison Square Garden event, ticketholders received this email:

Due to a scheduling conflict, the ceremony to honor former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan on March 25, 2016, has been postponed.

While this honoring may occur at a later date, WWE Live – Road to WrestleMania, this Friday at Madison Square Garden, will still take place as scheduled. The event will feature many of your favorite WWE Superstars. After nearly 5 years, Triple H returns to action in the ring in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden!

Also see Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ric Flair, Sheamus, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens and many more!
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to your continued support of the WWE and Madison Square Garden. –– via Reddit

Now Bryan has been pulled from his scheduled dates in New Jersey, and on the upcoming post-WrestleMania tour of the UK. WWE has cited “scheduling conflicts,” but revealed in a statement to WrestlngInc.com that “Daniel Bryan requested time off and it was granted.”

This has sparked rumors that there’s more to what’s happening, and that it could possibly be part of a well-kept secret storyline being run by WWE. Perhaps it’s me projecting my own struggles with severe post-concussion syndrome, but for Bryan’s sake I hope that’s what it is, and not anything happening with his poor injured brain. And if it is, well, the man deserves some peace and quiet to rest and teach his dog how to swim, don’t you think?

Now Watch: Relive All Of Daniel Bryan’s Greatest Moments

By Scott Elizabeth Baird  Published: March 23rd, 2016 

Quick background: Game of Thrones has been doing this “Dance of Dragons” promotional tour as part of its push surrounding the season five DVD release. The promotion involves a 3D animated dragon getting projected onto buildings in select cities, as well as “dug up concrete, skid marks, dragon footprints, rippling smoke, [and] crushed benches” around the locations to add to the dragon-y feel. After making stops in New York and Los Angeles earlier in the week, the promotion stopped by Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

The payoff: Philly booed the dragons.

This, to be very clear, is perfect. Like, of course Philly booed the dragons. Even if the show had been a little more visually impressive (big shout out to the tiny voice at the end of that video who says “It doesn’t look good!,” by the way), Philly still probably would have booed the dragons. It’s just the way things work.

You know what’s really fun? Picture two people in HBO’s PR department planning this all out last week, one of whom grew up in Philly and one who lived a sheltered life in California.

PERSON 1: … so we stop in LA and New York, and then on Wednesday we swing by Philly. Sound good?

PERSON 2: Yup. What are we gonna do when Philly boos the dragons?

PERSON 1: What? No! People won’t boo free dragons!

PERSON 2: Oh, they are definitely going to boo the dragons. Might throw things at them, too.

PERSON 1: I refuse to believe it.

PERSON 2: Google HitchBOT.

PERSON 1: [30 seconds later] Oh, they are definitely going to boo the dragons.

(via Philly.com)

Now Watch: Let’s Break Down The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 6 Trailer

By Rikki Niblett

April 22 is quickly approaching! That’s the day the new nighttime safari debuts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as part of Kilimanjaro Safaris. (Along with a few other things, such as Rivers of Light, the Tree of Life Awakening, Discovery Island Carnivale, and Harambe Wildlife Street Parti.) The nighttime experiences are certainly going to transform this park into a whole new experience.

Of course, one of the more unique aspects of the evening options is what will occur with Kilimanjaro Safaris and how they will transform the attraction into a nighttime experience, as well as what Guests should expect when visiting the attraction in the evening hours.

Kilimanjaro Safaris won’t be billed as a new attraction, but instead it is simply an extension of the hours the attraction will be open. Thanks to some great technology, the attraction will appear as though it is constant sunset.

One thing to keep in mind, for those of you who are planners is that the attraction itself will unfortunately have no set start time for the nighttime option, since it will depend on what time the sun set is nightly. However, the everlasting sunset is expected to last approximately 4-5 hours each evening. 

The ride path will be adjusted and the truck will make longer stops, allowing Guests more time to see the animals on the savanna, however Guests will not be able to use flash photography during the nighttime experience. (Thank goodness, because I don’t want to be blinded by your flash when I’m trying to see a hyena on the savanna!) In addition, Guests may see different animals than they normally would during the nighttime safari.

Keep in mind that attractions that previously closed at sunset at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will continue to do so. Attractions that will continue to close early will include: Wilderness Explorers, Maharajah Jungle Trek, Rafiki’s Planet Watch and the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

Are you as anxious as I am about being able to experience Kilimanjaro Safaris in the evening? (Heck, I’m excited to finally experience Disney’s Animal Kingdom at night! That’s still something I’ve yet to do!) It certainly seems like the nighttime safari will be a unique way to see the animals found in the savanna.

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Updated Details about the Nighttime Safari for Kilimanjaro Safaris is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

With Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio out of the running, Ohio Governor John Kasich is the establishment candidate no one saw coming. And sure, compared to the rest of the GOP’s increasingly terrifying sideshows in suits, Kasich comes across as sane. But don’t be fooled: John Kasich is just as much of a monster as the rest—he just hides it better.

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Former Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari’s debut book Balancing in Heels comes out today. Don’t buy it.

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The comedian Amy Poehler was recently fined for excessive water use in the drought-stricken state of California, where she is reportedly among the worst water waste offenders in Beverly Hills. Why does she need so much water? Her representatives have so far declined to respond to requests for comment, so we’ll have to guess.

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So, you’ve likely heard the news that the official debut for the Rivers of Light Evening Spectacular coming to Animal Kingdom is set for April 22, 2016! Yay!!

The Harambe Wildlife Parti and Discovery Island Carnivale street parties are also in the works, as well as a chance to see the Tree of Life “awaken” in the evenings. And of course, we can’t wait for the arrival of Signature Dining at Animal Kingdom with Tiffins, and the accompanying Nomad Lounge.

So, yeah. LOTS of good and exciting stuff on the way to Animal Kingdom! But have you heard what’s GONE from this transforming park?

JUMBO TURKEY LEGS.

That’s right — this iconic Disney Park snack can no longer be found at this particular Disney Park. Once located at Trilo-Bites, its most recent home at Animal Kingdom has been Flame Tree Barbecue. But alas, no more…

Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’ve gotta recognize that Jumbo Turkey Legs are such a park staple that they’ve been honored on T-shirts, air fresheners, wallets, hats, and a little-too-authentic-looking magnet.

Lots of new dishes are hitting the scene, though, at spots like Pizzafari (a new Shrimp Flatbread, for one) and Flame Tree Barbecue (including a Ribs, Chicken, and Pork Sampler), and a souped-up toppings bar at Restaurantosaurus. So will one of these dishes fill the Jumbo Turkey Leg void?

Only time will tell… in the meantime, if you’re on the hunt for a Turkey Leg, you’ll want to hit up spots like Epcot’s Fife & Drum Tavern, Magic Kingdom’s Prince Eric’s Village Market, and Toluca Legs Turkey Co. in Hollywood Studios.

What do you think of the removal of Turkey Legs from Animal Kingdom? Please let us know with a comment!

Disney Food Blog Fans, be sure to check out our DFB Disney World Dining Guide e-Books! Find great deals at DFBStore.com! Also, come on over and:

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For an all-too-brief stretch of time, adventure games were the top genre in PC gaming, and nobody did it better than the sadly deceased LucasArts. Day of the Tentacle, a followup to Maniac Mansion, was one of them, but sadly it’s been nearly impossible to play of late. Thankfully, that’s changing, and sooner than we thought.

Day of the Tentacle is basically Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure filtered through LucasArts’ wacky lens. A nerd, a metalhead, and a weirdo accidentally travel through time and have to prevent a tentacle from taking over the world. The gameplay centers around changes to the timeline; for example, if you need to send a hamster to somebody in the future, you can stuff it in a freezer for them. You can also jump between timelines at any point, meaning if you get stuck in one timeline, you can just hop to the other and try to figure out why George Washington is so blasé about a fat guy in a Motorhead shirt wandering around and rubbing everything he owns on the scenery.

Double Fine and GOG.com have announced that a remaster of Day of the Tentacle is on the way, although the preorder fun is limited to PC gamers this time, who get 10% off their preorder and some wallpapers. PS4 and Vita users will just have to settle for enjoying one of the best adventure games of the era with improved graphics and controls. Oh, and also there will be developer commentary and the original Maniac Mansion to boot. All we need is that Full Throttle remaster and we’ll have every great adventure game from the era.

(Via GOG.com)

Back in 2014, Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the legendary designers behind Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island and many other classics, successfully Kickstarted Thimbleweed Park, an ode to PC adventure games of the ’80s. Thimbleweed Park pushes the retro thing further than most throwback point-and-click games, featuring authentically blocky VGA-style graphics, and the classic “Push, Pull, Use, Ect.” SCUMM verb parser. Thimbleweed Park is a game for people who still have a hefty box of adventure games on bendy 5-inch floppy disks collecting dust in their parents’ basement. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited for the game.

When Thimbleweed Park was first pitched, we were only given a vague idea of what the story would be, but now Gilbert has revealed a bit more with a new trailer. Turns out the game is basically a pixelated version of The X-Files, combining the quirkiness you’d expect from a Ron Gilbert game (wacky clowns and guys dressed as pigeons) with a bracing dark edge (bloated corpses and shadowy horrors). What’s Thimbleweed Park hiding? What’s the somewhat sketchy Scully stand-in scheming? You’ll have to wait to find out.

Thimbleweed Park is set to arrive on PC, Mac, Linux and mobile platforms later this year.

(via Destructoid)

Ahead of any impending official announcement, Walt Disney Home Entertainment has solidly confirmed an April 5, 2016 release date for the Blu-ray edition of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The news initially came to our attention via Disney Store who has updated their listing to include the new date, although they do not list any bonus features. In our experience, when Disney Store lists an ‘expected by’ date, it’s pretty solid as far as release dates.

In addition, further investigation has shown that Disney has updated the graphic on its official page for the film, adding not only the April 5 date for the Blu-ray release, but also April 1, 2016 for a digital HD release. The rest of the page notes that the film is still in theaters, so it doesn’t yet contain pre-order links, nor any official list of expected bonus features either, nor whether any hint as to whether it will be released in 3D — which is a complete unknown, given it’s the first Lucasfilm release from Disney — or Ultimate HD, which is probably far least likely.

Also in our experience is that when Disney Store releases a date, an official announcement is usually made the same day. Today also happens to be the day of The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholder meeting, which is being held in Chicago and scheduled to start at 11 am ET/8 am PST. If the release date announcement is somehow tied to the meeting, it can probably be expected some time between 11 and 12 ET, or it just could come as early as 9 am.

As previously reported, expected core bonus features include:

• Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey
• The Story Awakens: The Table Read
• Building BB-8
• Crafting Creatures
• Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight
• The Visual Magic Of The Force
• John Williams: The Seventh Symphony
• Deleted Scenes
• Force For Change

 

 

In 2013's beloved animated feature, Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale, Barbie (and her sisters) find themselves going up against malicious riding master Philippe Cheynet in an effort to win the Big Horse Tournament. Philippe, of course, ultimately loses, but even more devastating for the villain: He looks uncannily like presidential candidate and noted lizard person Ted Cruz.

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Asked how he would pick a Supreme Court nominee, Ben Carson started talking about (figurative) fruit salads.

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Public Policy Polling, which had previously asked Republican voters if they support bombing Disney’s fictional kingdom of Agrabah (they do), is currently hitting up Floridians with the biggest question of all: Is Ted Cruz the elusive Zodiac Killer? Maybe!

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By Robert Niles: Disneyland has been promoting the new Disney film Zootopia with a preview in the A Bug's Life theater, and now the park is offering a Zootopia-themed snack at the Award Wieners stand in Disney California Adventure — deep-fried bananas.

The Zootopia Banana Corn Dogs are two bananas on sticks, dipped in a honey corn batter, fried, then dusted with powdered sugar. The fried bananas come with chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces and cost $5.99 plus tax. The bananas will be available until March 18.

I've gotta ask — how have we not had deep-fried bananas on a stick until now? Disney's long been known for is chocolate-covered frozen bananas. ("Caution is advised. Items are hard frozen.") So why not take that in another (temperature) direction? In addition to Disneyland's famous corn dogs, Disney also serves up fried hot links and fried cheddar cheese on a stick. Fried bananas seem a logical next step.

What should Disneyland impale on a stick and fry next, after these bananas? And what's your favorite deep-fried snack from another park?

The single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers apparently wants to give you a heart attack. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers unveiled the horrifying things it put on its menu for the 2016 season, and the piece de resistance is this monstrosity known as the Big Mother Funnel Burger. It was on the team’s menu last year, and apparently it was such a success that it decided to bring it back for 2016.

But that’s not the only wild thing on the team’s menu. Here are a few other options that you’ll be able purchase and consume for the low price of 10,000 calories:

Going clockwise from the funnel cake burger, we next get to another thing that was on the menu last year, the Grilled Cheese Bacon Cheeseburger. This one isn’t too innovative, partly because it was on the menu last year, but mostly because using grilled cheese sandwiches as a bun for a burger is something that you can find in your average college town.

But then we get to the single craziest thing on the menu. It is a new item called a Meatlovers Pizza Burger, which is a burger that has pizza as its buns. According to Fox 11 News, the burger is made up of “four beef patties surrounded by a pepperoni and sausage DiGirono pizza.” I have no idea how no one thought of this before, but this is the definition of a thing that is a good and a bad idea at the same time.

Lastly, there is a spin on the tradition grilled cheese cheeseburger, the Grilled Cheese Venom Cheeseburger. It replaces regular bread with Texas Toast, uses pepper jack cheese, and for a big kick, it has jalapeños and sriracha on it.

All of these are nuts, and if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go buy tickets to their first home game now.

(via Fox 11 News)

From vinyl, to furniture, to clothes, retro is in, and the same applies to video games. Once the domain of only the most dedicated gamers, retro video game collecting is slowly, but surely transforming into a mainstream hobby. Hell, you might have considered starting up a classic video game collection of your own, but where does one start? Which are the best consoles to focus on? What should be avoided?

Here’s a quick list of which classic consoles you should be focusing on, and a few other things to know before getting your retro game hoard started.

Note #1: For the sake of this article, I’m defining retro gaming as anything that came before the advent of polygons and 3-D gaming.

Note # 2: All the prices listed in this article are taken from Price Charting, a truly invaluable resource if you want to get into game collecting.

6) Atari 2600 (1977)

Availability: Fairly common in the wild (used game stores, flea markets, garage sales) although selection tends to be very random. Will have to hit the internet for some stuff.
Cost: $25 – $30 for the system. A buck or two for most games.
Best Games: Yars’ Revenge, Warlords, Frogger, Pitfall, Adventure
Most Valuable Games: Air Raid ($2,800), Eli’s Ladder ($1,500), Video Life ($1,200), Pepsi Invaders ($900), Cakewalk ($400)

The first video-game console, or at least the first one that actually mattered. The Atari 2600 brought video games home, and was host to a lot of classics like Pitfall, Adventure and a handful of okay arcade ports. Be forewarned though, the Atari 2600 is Retro with a capital “R”. This was an era where graphics were mostly symbolic (you’ll be looking at a lot of squares, circles, and other basic shapes), background music was largely unheard of and the d-pad hadn’t been invented yet. Set your expectations accordingly.

If you decide to get into Atari 2600 collecting, systems and games are cheap and plentiful. Of course, the Atari 2600 is nearly 40 years old at this point, so finding a console and controllers that work properly can be mildly challenging – it may be worth paying a minor premium to get a console that’s been well taken care of. As for games, you can often convince game stores to sell you their Atari stock in bulk, and only pay pennies for each game. That said, there was a lot of weird, random stuff released for the 2600 (Atari wasn’t so big on quality control) so if you want to snatch up some of the rarer Atari games, you’ll be paying a pretty penny.

5) TurboGrafx-16 (1989)

Availability: Quite rare in the wild. The basics can be tracked down online without much trouble, but you’ll really have to chase down the less common titles.
Cost: Anywhere from $100 to $500 for the system. $20 to $50 for most games.
Best Games: Bonk’s Adventure, Bomberman ’93, Military Madness, Alien Crush, Ys I & II
Most Valuable Games: Magical Chase ($1,500), The Dynastic Hero ($550), Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure ($350), Godzilla ($300), Legend of Hero Tonma ($300)

It’s unlikely you or any of your friends had one, but there was actually a third player in the 16-bit Wars. The TurboGrafx-16, made by NEC and backed by Hudson Soft, was crushed by the Super NES and Sega Genesis, but it actually had some really solid games, particularly if you like space shooters, pinball or platformers starring big-headed cavemen.

The TurboGrafx-16 came in a baffling array of models. There was the basic TurboGrafx-16, which played game cards, and an add-on that played CDs. Later there was the Turbo Duo which came with the CD drive built in. The basic TurboGrafx-16 costs around 100 bucks, but unfortunately, due to flimsy disc drives, any of the CD-playing options are hard to track down and will cost you $500 or more. The fact that the TurboGrafx was such a resounding flop also means its games are fairly rare, and cost a lot more than your average retro titles. The TurboGrafx-16 is definitely one of the more expensive, frustrating consoles to collect, but the enviable quality-to-crap ratio of its library might make it worth it to you.

4) ColecoVision (1982)

Availability: Somewhat rare in the wild. Most games can be found fairly easily online.
Cost: Approximately $50 for the system. $5 to $20 for most games.
Best Games: Donkey Kong, BurgerTime, Gorf, WarGames, Jumpman Jr.
Most Valuable Games: Wizard of Id’s Wiz Math ($200), Dragonfire ($70), Gyruss ($50)

Of the many pre-NES era video game consoles, the ColecoVision probably holds up the best. The system’s specialty was arcade ports, and it was home to some very respectable versions of Donkey Kong, BurgerTime, Star Wars and more. These ports still didn’t look quite as good as their arcade counterparts, but, at least, they were recognizable (unlike some Atari ports) and more importantly, they actually played properly. You will have to get used to the system’s wonky knob and keypad-having controller, though.

The ColecoVision wasn’t nearly as popular as the Atari 2600, so you’re unlikely to find one at your local junk shop, but the system and its games can be tracked down easily online without breaking the bank. A solid option if you want to go old school, but not too old school.

3) Sega Genesis (1989)

Availability: Widely available, although slightly harder to find than Nintendo stuff.
Cost: $10 to $20 for the system. $5 to $10 for most games.
Best Games: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force II, Gunstar Heroes, Ristar
Most Valuable Games: Outback Joey ($2,000), Crusader of Centry ($160), MUSHA ($160), Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel ($130)

Depending on which side of the 16-bit wars you fell on, the Sega Genesis is either the best damn system ever or an overrated joke, but putting aside a 20-year-old corporate rivalry, there’s no denying the Genesis was home to some damn fine games. Sonic, Phantasy Star, Gunstar Heroes, Mortal Kombat with actual blood – the system had a lot going for it.

For whatever reason, the Genesis just isn’t as popular amongst collectors as Nintendo consoles, which translates to some nice bargains for you. You can get a Genesis for basically nothing, and the vast majority of the system’s catalog can be bought for five bucks or less. If you want to take the cheapest, easiest route, Genesis collecting is definitely the best choice.

2) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991)

Availability: Easily available anywhere that sells used games.
Cost: $40 to $50 for the system. $5 to $20 for most games.
Best Games: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Yoshi’s Island, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound
Most Valuable Games: Aero Fighters ($420), Hagane: The Final Conflict ($380), Final Fight: Guy ($250), Metal Warriors ($220), EVO: The Search for Eden ($200)

I don’t need to tell you about the Super Nintendo, do I? Nintendo basically took all their innovative NES games, made them prettier and polished them into perfect 16-bit masterpieces. Add in companies like Square and Capcom pumping out classics like Chrono Trigger and Street Fighter II, and the result is one of the most beloved consoles of all time.

That nostalgia means you’ll pay a bit more for Super Nintendo games than you’ll pay for Genesis stuff, but SNES collecting won’t exactly break the bank. Really, whether you pursue SNES or Genesis collecting is really down to personal taste. Personally, I suggest you do both.

1) Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)

Availability: Easily available anywhere that sells used games.
Cost: $25 to $50 for the system. $5 to $20 for most games.
Best Games: The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 3, Kirby’s Adventure, Castlevania III, Punch-Out!!
Most Valuable Games: Stadium Events ($7,500), Little Samson ($820), Flintstones: Surprise at Dino Park ($650), Panic Restaurant ($380), Bonk’s Adventure ($320)

And somewhat predictably, we end our list with the Nintendo Entertainment System, the king of retro video-game collecting. Most people who decide to get into classic video games start with the NES, and for good reason – no other system offers the same mix of numerous iconic titles, wide availability, ease of use and reasonable costs.

Of course, the popularity of NES collecting has led to some inflation. While a lot of people are willing to just toss away Atari and Sega games, most folks are aware NES games are worth at least something, and some of the more rare games can be quite expensive and NES consoles are getting harder to find. That said, you can still amass a pretty nice NES collection without destroying your free time or wallet.

What To Avoid

Any Sega System That Isn’t the Genesis

The Sega Master System, Sega CD, and 32X can pretty safely be skipped. Granted, you can get them all dirt cheap (a lot of places with sell you the system and a couple dozen games for 20 bucks) but it’s not really worth it. Aside from the Genesis, most retro Sega consoles didn’t get much support, and what the games they did get weren’t much fun. If you’re collecting stuff you don’t even want to play, what’s the point?

Any Atari System That Isn’t the 2600

Much like Sega, it’s best to avoid any Atari system aside from their one big winner. Don’t mess with the Atari 5200, 7800 and Lynx, and for God’s sake, don’t touch the Jaguar with a 10-foot pole.

Neo Geo

The ultimate snobby game collector’s console. When the Neo Geo came out in 1990, its selling point was its arcade-perfect ports, which came at a very high price. This luxury price tag means few people bought Neo Geos, so they still cost an arm and a leg – a Neo Geo will still set you back hundreds, and pretty much all the games are in the $50 to $200 range. Sometimes much more. That would be fine if the Neo Geo catalog was amazing, but all the system really has is fighting games. If you really, really like ’90s Street Fighter clones, Neo Geo collecting may be for you, but for most gamers, the value just isn’t there.

Game Boy

The original Game Boy may be one of the most influential and successful systems of all time, but honestly, most Game Boy games aren’t that good. Also, playing Game Boy games on an actual green-screened Game Boy is a total pain in the ass. If you really want to play Pokémon, there are better ways to do it.

The Easy Way To Play Your Retro Games

Want to collect classic games, but don’t particularly care about playing them on their fragile original hardware? The Retron 5 is your best bet – it’s a single console that plays original NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance carts. It even supports Japanese NES, SNES and Genesis games if you want to get into importing.

Where To Find Retro Games

Your first instinct may be to go to eBay, although you’ll find a lot of inflated prices there. Surprisingly Amazon actually has a lot of classic games for sale for reasonable prices, or you could head over to used games specialist JJGames. And hey, if you’re brave, you could always check out /r/gamecollecting.

Of course, you’re probably going to find your best deals out in meatspace. Hit mom ‘n’ pop game stores, pawn shops, thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales, and don’t be afraid to haggle or ask if you can plug something in and test it out if the circumstances allow.

There you are, a quick-and-dirty guide to the world of classic video-game collecting. Anybody out there into old games? Have any tips of your own? What’s your most prized game in your collection? Scroll down to the comments and let’s talk carts.

A couple of Fridays ago, I walked my older son to school and then my younger son to daycare. Then I crossed over the ice-and-salt encrusted overpass to the metro station and headed downtown. As I emerged back up onto the street, I checked my phone and enjoyed a little lift of triumph. Getting places a bit early or exactly on time is one of my small pleasures. It means all my systems are humming just right. That morning, I was five minutes early for my appointment to have an abortion.

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WARNING: There might be some spoilerish details about Batman V Superman ahead. Feel free to skip, possibly go read something about Kanye West

For most of the television and film history of Batman, Alfred has always been portrayed as the loyal butler who tends to Wayne Manor and most of Batman’s gadgets. He’s had some background here and there, notably in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films, but usually he is a passive character that acts as the emotional anchor for Bruce Wayne away from his life as Batman.

Not so much according to some newly released / leaked Batman V Superman tie-ins. It would seem that Jeremy Irons’ version of the DC Comics mainstay will be taking on a bit more of a hard edge with an active role in Batman’s war against crime. According to Cinema Blend, Wayne Manor is in disrepair because Alfred is not a butler. He’s a tactical bad-ass with a firm background in the SAS, experience fixing and managing most of Batman’s gadgets, and apparently has a hand in training Bruce Wayne for his time as Batman.

Even his career with the Wayne family is getting a bit of a change, turning him into a bodyguard that transfers to Bruce’s only living guardian following the murder of his parents.

No matter how you look at it, this is definitely one of the more common-sense changes to the Batman story for Dawn of Justice. It makes much more sense to have Alfred be far more active the crime fighting business, at least in the films. He’s done it plenty of times in the books, with many outlets reporting that the recent Earth One storyline featured an Alfred that enjoyed a good fight and used to be in the Royal Marines.

Having a butler who can fix your tools and maintain your vehicles is alright, but having a gritty bad-ass living on your property in a trailer is better. Alfred now seems to be your scumbag uncle, but with a British accent and the ability to tear out your throat with his bare hands.

(Via What Culture / Cinema Blend / Screen Crush)

Now Watch: ‘The Flash’: What Is Earth 2?

Good people of America, the moment has finally arrived. Today, Duncan Hunter, a U.S. Representative from California who first boldly proclaimed his love of vaping not two months ago, blew a sick cloud of e-juice during a Congressional hearing. I love the U.S.A.

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Now that the Netflix revival has been confirmed, Gilmore Girls news has been arriving in a tidal wave, much to the delight of fans. The latest casting confirmation is that Milo Ventimiglia, who made viewers swoon as Rory’s second boyfriend, Jess Mariano, will be returning for the Netflix mini-series. Ventimiglia himself tweeted confirmation of his involvement on Wednesday.

Jess is probably Rory’s most divisive boyfriend. While he was an alluring bad boy before they started dating (honestly, who doesn’t love a brooder in a leather jacket that leaves marginalia in all of your books?), when push came to shove, he was a pretty terrible boyfriend who abandoned her when things got complicated. Still, he eventually cleaned up his act, started his own printing press, and convinced Rory to return to Yale.

While her involvement with Logan (Matt Czuchry, also returning) kept them from reuniting, there was a spark between the two of them up until the end. Maybe these two crazy kids will be able to work things out with a few more years of life experience between them.

While this is excellent news, here’s hoping that this doesn’t mean that Dean (Jared Padalecki) will be returning as well. Let’s leave that door slammed shut.

(Via THR)

“it’s a luxury phone”

we watched the super bowl commercials (and related football game) yesterday, and i couldn’t believe the number of ads ruined by a dumb, overwrought hashtag that was tacked onto the end

15 dogs that look like Peyton Manning. I think I spent the next hour looking at this site.

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The Wing Bowl, Philadelphia’s annual chicken wing eating contest which you should probably avoid at all costs, happened today at Wells Fargo Center. (Molly Schuyler won by eating 429 wings.) There was also a fight in the stands, presumably over something very important.

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In preparation for tonight’s caucuses, Ted Cruz has spent nearly three-quarters of the past month campaigning in Iowa. That means his darling wife, Heidi Cruz, has also had to spend a lot of time in Iowa. And according to a source familiar with the Cruz family, Iowa is Heidi Cruz’s own living hell.

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When a Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix was rumored, and then confirmed, everyone assumed that Melissa McCarthy would be too busy to reprise her character, Sookie St. James, because she’s been pretty busy being a movie star since Bridesmaids came out.

Now TV Line is reporting that McCarthy wasn’t even asked back. McCarthy herself tweeted on Tuesday that nobody has asked her to be a part of the iconic series’ wrap-up season.

This flies in the face of Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s assertion that McCarthy had an open invitation to rejoin. On Monday, Sherman-Palladino told TV Line, “Look, if Melissa is available and has an afternoon free, I’ll write her a scene.” Apparently, this was said to McCarthy’s team, though, so maybe the message never made it back to the actress herself.

And maybe nobody really asked or pushed the subject because they all assumed that the actress had more important things than go back to a TV show that she made before she was famous? The tone of McCarthy’s tweet is a bit curious, too. It doesn’t look like she’s falling all over herself to go back, either. So, whoever did or didn’t ask, and no matter how much McCarthy may or may not miss the show, it does seem like she’s too busy or disinterested to revisit Stars Hollow.

(Via TV Line)

By Robert Niles: Many great theme park attractions tell a story as a way to draw visitors into the attraction. Powerful narratives engage and excite visitors, amplifying the physical sensation of being on a ride, or the camaraderie of witnessing a show with hundreds of others.

But just as there are multiple systems to power rides, many ways of staging a show, a wide variety of approaches to decorating a land, there are countless narratives to drive stories in any medium — from books to movies to theme park attractions. So why are so many storytellers today focusing on the same type of narrative — a fight between fictional characters?

That's the question that I ask in my Orange County Register column this week: Do all theme park rides have to be battles with an evil empire?

We often joke here on Theme Park Insider about the common device on theme park rides that, at some point, something will go terribly wrong. As Universal Creative's Thierry Coup once told us, "It has to. It gives us a chance to be heroes, and to try to save the day."

But we can save the day by many different ways that jumping into the middle of a fight between "good guys" and "bad guys." Challenges abound in science, in history, and in the ongoing discovery of the natural world around and above us. Even in the world of fiction, strategy and guile can provide satisfying resolutions to conflicts, too. The answer doesn't always have to require a physical fight.

In my column, I look at the example of the changes Disney has made in transforming Space Mountain into Hyperspace Mountain for the Star Wars-themed Season of the Force at Disneyland. While I love Hyperspace Mountain, it illustrates the evolving nature of narrative in theme park attractions. What once was driven by a spirit of discovery now simply reflects another firefight between the good team and the bad one.

Sure, fight-drive narratives are fun. But in an industry that chasing record box office receipts and theme park revenue, couldn't there be more room for other types of narrative as well?

Read Robert's Column:

• Do all theme park rides have to be battles with an evil empire?