Skip to main content

Supergirl

Three things come to mind when I hear the word Supergirl these days; one TV show, and two variations on the same song. The new iteration on the Supergirl TV show from CBS looks kick ass, as you can tell from the first video. Kara Zor-El looks to be in full control, except for when she isn’t. They certainly don’t need any encouragement from me, but how can I keep quiet when they are setting up for such an amazing start?

When we drop into the music, I have loved the Reamonn song for a few decades now, definitely one of my favorites. If you don’t know them, Reamonn was a German pop rock band headed up by Irishman Rea Garvey. His hit off the first album was Supergirl, which made the top 10 in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. For the most part, people in North America (or much of anywhere else outside of central Europe centered on Germany) only heard the track as an import, and it didn’t receive much air play. But it should have; it was amazing!

Just recently it has been covered and re-released by Anna Naklab featuring Alle Farben & YOUNOTUS. This version is every bit as intense as the original; enjoy them all! Alle Farben, Anna Naklab, and You Not Us are all German artists, singing this world-class song in English. Which is pretty much how it started off, after all.

Something to Watch: Streams: Gate

The summer season has just started, with most shows only having 1 or two episodes streamed so far, but I have already become addicted to one of them: Gate. When I saw the first episode, and a portal between parallel universes opened up, I was certain it had to be based on the Hell’s Gate series by David Weber and Linda Evans. The first book in 2006 saw two Parallel Universe crossing civilizations, one based on magic with dragons, gryphons, spells, and wizards, and one based on advanced steampunk science and technology, stumble across each other. During that first encounter, where neither side understood the others language or customs, a series of mistakes and misunderstandings led to a massacre, with subsequent encounters leading to all out war between the two cultures.

It turns out I was wrong. It was actually based on Takumi Yanai’s Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri, a 2006 Japanese Fantasy Novel series later turned into an assortment of Manga, and finally the Anime. In it, a portal between universes opens up in Ginza, and an invading hoard of dragons, elves, ogres and wizards attack Tokyo. They get beaten back by the JSDF, who go on to secure a foothold on the other side of the gate. Tanks, missals, and other modern weapons give the Self Defense Forces a noticeable edge in the combat theater, although the fighting is anything but one sided. The protagonist is Yōji Itami, a serious Otaku who is promoted because his quick thinking saved a lot of lives during the initial battle. He gets put in charge of a squad sent to do reconnaissance and see if they can find a way to get the other side to the peace talks table. This seems appropriate, since the author is also a serious Otaku (he has to be to write this kind of story) who is a former member of the JSDF.

You can watch the stream on Crunchyroll, the third episode just went live this afternoon for Premium members. If you are a free member (yes, membership is free, but the paid service doesn’t have commercials, comes in HD, and you can watch the shows the same day they air in Japan) you can watch the first two episodes right now, and today’s episode next Friday.

Cocoro (Heart) Auction

From the band Cocoro Auction comes the song Outburst of Crickets Chirping, which is pretty much a coming of age movie compressed into a few moments and given a light, J-Pop soundtrack. The next song is Summer of Phantom, a variation on the same theme, and equally worth watching/listening to. The final track gives us their 2012 release Nazonokusa, back when they were more rock and less pop.

Beyond Category: John Pizzarelli

As a general rule, I am not in favor of having government agencies in control of music. One exception to that (there are others) is the series VOAs Beyond Category. In this presentation, we get to listen to the Jazz of John Pizzarelli, and learn a bit more about him and his musical heritage. The series has some of the most amazing Jazz and Blues artists playing today, and for once I am quite happy to have my tax dollars going to a project. Don’t stop at just one; explore the depth and range of this Voice of America show, they have a lot to offer.

A Darwinian Future

Pay attention; this might be the world we end up with if we are not careful. A Darwinian Future is not exactly a positive way to move forward through time, but it is one of the potential paths the human race might follow soon. I had to include the VFX Breakdown as a stream for this entry, so you could appreciate the construction. This was made by 3 folks: 2 Actors and 1 Camera person. When was the last time you saw a production pipeline that small that created a story you wanted to watch? As if that wasn’t amazing enough, all post production was done by one guy on a home computer. Meaning, you could create a movie this good yourself, at home, in your spare time.