A to Z Poetry: Bridge to Nowhere

Mtirala Bridge, Ajara, Georgia





On a bridge to Nowhere
To see No One,
Who could be Any one,
Who has traveled,
Happy and safe,
Everywhere and somewhere.
Music leads him
From far to near,
across the bridge
to Nowhere.
The sky is full of light
Sparkling and clear.
The air is full of love,
Plenty and dear.
There, they sing and
dance and play,
Making up lines as they
Have plenty to say.
Past the bridge that
Leads to  Nowhere,
They live to the rhythm
Of bass, cymbals, and drums
And maybe
A horn or flute or two.
Feet stamp, hands clap
And hips sway
To the beat
Of the drum.
Who laughs, What sings
And Baby laughs with joy.
How do you do?
Welcome to Nowhere.

A to Z Poetry: Bridge




Bridge

A bridge comes to mind,
But you don't know why.
You stress, you curse
life's little jams.

One minute. Two.
Hearts race to find 
That road, that path
That place out of time

What to do?
Lights flash and shine
off the walls,
off the lines. 

Blocked, hemmed in, 
Can't find the exit.  
Sweat pools, anger fuels
Stuck in the middle lane.

Happy Valentine's Day



Happy Valentine's Day, my lovelies. Do we owe it all to St. Valentine or perhaps to Chaucer?  Who knows.  It's a special day to let the special, and even not so special people in your life, know you love them.  My husband and I have the habit of saying I love you every day and every time one of us walks out the door, when we talk on the phone, and before we go to sleep at night. It isn't a secret that we love one another or love our son or our family members and friends.  I think it's a good habit and not to be saved for one special day out of the year.  Sometimes we get each other cards for Valentines, cook an extra special meal, maybe a gift.  But that's not so important as showing and telling each other every day how we feel.  Yes, we are mushy sometimes.  When events happen out in the world that makes us realize that life is short, it also reminds us to live each day to the fullest and appreciate each and every single person around us.   

Celebrate the one you're with today, because who know what tomorrow will bring. Sending out virtual hugs and love and kisses to all my peeps.  

Guest Post -James M's review of IDW Sonic Issue 25



Hey there, fans. After months of waiting, the time has come to look into IDW Sonic's first milestone issue and the beginning of Year 3 for the book which marks the craziest turning point in Sonic history as its almost the beginning of the end for the darkest Sonic story known as the Metal Virus history. Let us begin our summary and review of... IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 25.

Recap:

So here's the story so far, Doctor Eggman regained his memories following his "traumatizing" defeat in Sonic Forces and attacked the world with his ultimate weapon known as the Metal Virus, which basically roboticizes people and turns them into zombie robots. As our heroes struggled to combat the threat, they suffered many losses as the world fell to the robot zombie plague. Sonic fell victim to the Metal Virus, but thanks to his speed, he didn't turn and has not yet become a Zombot. However, many of his best friends were not lucky.
Charmy Bee of the Chaotix became a casualty of the Metal Virus when he tried to help an infected bystander, then Cream's pet Chao Cheese and Chocola became Zombots, Shadow the Hedgehog was roboticized thanks to his arrogance and refusal to run, the list grew and grew as more became Zombots: Vector, Cream's mother Vanilla and, then, Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf's best friend. Just when it looked as though things couldn't get worse, Eggman learned that the Zombots apparently could not be controlled. As the mad doctor struggled to find a way to control them, his associate Doctor Starline took matters into his own hands and brought in the Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World, hoping to turn things around for the Zeti have the ability to control robots.
This brings us to today's issue...

Summary:

The issue begins with Knuckles on the Floating Island watching as a Restoration Shuttle arrives, soon coming face to face with Sonic, who almost resembles Metal Sonic thanks to the Metal Virus almost fully infecting him again. The hedgehog lands near the Master Emerald avoiding the grass so he can't mess up anything, even telling Knuckles that he doesn't want to touch his grass, prompting the Master Emerald's guardian to ask whats wrong with the grass before Sonic runs off, leaving Knuckles to ponder the answers.

Meanwhile, aboard the Faceship, Doctor Eggman is angry with Starline for bringing Zavok and his band of Zeti aboard, despite Starline attempting to explain everything, regardless, Eggman deploys Metal Sonic on the Zeti only for Zavok to use his powers to turn Sonic's robot doppelganger against his own creator. Dr Starline attempts to use the power of the Cacophonic Conch against the Zeti, which backfires. As the Zeti try to destroy Eggman and Starline, the villains escape (along with the mind-controlled Metal Sonic) through a portal created by Starline's Warp Topaz and they end up on the Floating Island, right in the same area where Sonic and friends are located.

The Deadly Six take control of the Faceship and steal the Chaos Emeralds before setting out to take control of the Zombots as they begin wrecking havok upon the world. Things just went south, didn't they? At least, the arc's kinda almost over and things will soon turn around.
Back on the Floating Island, Sonic and his friends put aside their differences with Eggman, who fires Starline, so they can work together to end the Zombot nightmare before the Metal Virus mutates to a point where the Zombots will disintegrate in a few hundred years, leading to the bad future that Silver saw after he went home following the events of the War To Take Back The Planet.



As all of this is going on, we discover where Rouge went after we last saw her during Year Two, she actually sneaked aboard the Faceship and plans on doing some stuff that will benefit the heroes. On the super big bad guys' front, the Deadly Six take control of the Zombots and begin wrecking havoc, even converting those who survived the Metal Virus outbreak into Zombots themselves. The issue ends on an ominous note as Zavok monologues about how soon they will have infected the whole planet and we see a panel showing the faceship in the background and the silhouettes of familiar Metal Virus victims marching through a forest. We can see Tangle, Shadow, Jewel the Beetle, Vanilla, Mayor Scruffy, Cheese and Chocola, Vector, Charmy and Big the Cat, who's just made his long-awaited debut into the comic.

Final Thoughts:
Wow, what a way to kick off Year 3, looks like Sonic and Eggman are calling a truce so they can figure out a way to end the Zombot threat once and for all. Who saw that one coming, the Deadly Six taking over and really wrecking havoc on the world, not to mention Big the Cat's debut? I almost didn't, but Big is a SEGA Sonic character and has to show up eventually, can't be ignored. Speaking of SEGA Sonic characters, I should've mentioned this in my review of issue 24, Espio mentioning that they should've dealt with Eggman back in Windmill Village while he was Mr. Tinker.
Judging by the expression on Espio's face, he was thinking of destroying him.
To quote Megabeatman the YouTuber (partially): Eggman's a game character and killing off SEGA characters is a no no. They're not gonna do what Archie did, get rid of Robotnik only to replace him with a Robotnik from an alternate universe.
The art in this issue is well done, Adam Bryce Thomas is spot on, love how he draws the characters in certain places, he can make the Deadly Six look intimidating and make characters like Amy and Rouge look good. The guy's art style is almost like Steve Butler's work for the most part, but both have their own different art styles that's well respected by Sonic fans and SEGA themselves.

I look forward to seeing where it all goes from here, the set up for the multi-part finale to the Metal Virus saga is in full swing and its time to end the threat for good, even kick the Deadly Six's butts once more. Ian Flynn is a phenomenal writer, who cares if people hate him, the guy knows how to write certain characters. Lets hope things go well for the good guys when they launch their final attack on the Zombots for the fate of the world, its time for everything to go north.
ONWARD TO VICTORY!

See you next time, people.
-JMM

Guest Post -James M's review of Star Wars The Clone Wars animated series

Image result for star wars the clone wars 2008 showImage result for star wars the clone wars 2008 show

Salutations Star Wars fans, today we will be taking a look at the most popular animated TV show of all time, the Star Wars The Clone Wars TV Show. With the seventh and final season finally upon us after 6-7 years of waiting following the last known air-date of the series, I thought it would be stupendous to review The Clone Wars and give my thoughts on the whole thing.

So, whats the set up of The Clone Wars?
Well, it takes place during the prequel trilogy between the events of 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith, and follows characters such as Anakin, Obi-Wan, the Clones and the rest of the Jedi Order as they take part in the Clone War between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance led by Count Dooku all while the Sith Lord Darth Sidious masterminds the whole conflict behind the scenes, preparing for the inevitable Order 66, which will see the end of the Jedi and the beginning of a new era for the galaxy at large.

Image result for star wars clone wars 2003

This however, is NOT the first Star Wars TV show to portray the Clone Wars conflict between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III. Back in 2003, well after Attack of the Clones was released, the world received Star Wars Clone Wars, directed by Genny Tartakosky and produced by Lucasfilm, which also gave us a look at the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists while expanding upon the Star Wars universe and introduced new characters such as fallen Jedi Assaj Ventress, who'd later go on to be an important character in Star Wars canon.
While Clone Wars ended in 2005 with its last episode leading into the events of Episode III, it set the stage for what we would get a few years later with the kinda not-so well-received The Clone Wars movie which was followed up by the mega popular The Clone Wars TV show we are talking about.



Before we go further with talking about the show, lets talk about the movie that served as the pilot for it. Star Wars The Clone Wars the movie is technically the tenth Star Wars movie in the franchise over all, well seventh if you leave out the Holiday Special and the Ewok movies. When I first learned about this movie, I was fascinated. Some time after its release, I asked mum if I could. Admittedly, my mother was... hesitant. But after some persuasion, my mom got me the movie one day while we were at a video store and we watched it the next day, it was actually quite good.
So, whats the story of the film? Its simple, Anakin and new character Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano have to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son Ratta the Hutt from the clutches of Count Dooku. The movie has some stupendous action scenes, incredible animation and good voice acting, the best Star Wars movie the franchise has to offer, right up there with the prequels themselves.

Now, lets talk about the TV show itself. The Clone Wars' first season kicked off in 2008, just weeks after the movie hit theaters, and had its season finale in 2009. The show was well received, earning some positive reviews. Like I said before, TCW revolved around the conflict between the Republic and the Separatists, but there were times where the Jedi dealt with other threats such as Bounty Hunters and other rogues such as Darth Maul's brother Savage Oppress and, major spoilers, Darth Maul himself.

"WHAT?" I hear you say, "I thought Darth Maul was vanquished at the end of The Phantom Menace, how the heck is he in the show, whats going on?" Let me explain, yes Maul was defeated at the end of Episode I but he actually survived getting cut in half thanks to his hatred of Obi Wan and spent ten years in hiding on the junkyard planet of Lotho Minor before being tracked down and recovered by his brother, who took him back to Dathomir where the witch Talzin gave Maul new legs. What did Maul do once he got his new legs? Simple, he sought revenge against Obi-Wan for trying to destroy him, leading to the fallen Sith and his brother to take over Mandalore, attracting the attention of Darth Sidious, who beat Maul in battle and destroyed Savage.

The Clone Wars lasted 5-6 seasons and a good half a decade before it was taken off the air following the 2012 Disney buyout of Lucasfilm and Star Wars in 2013-2014, leaving some story lines unfinished much to the disappointment of many fans... until now.
Yes, after a 6-7 year hiatus, the show is returning for one last season which fans have waited for and demanded for years since the end of the series. We're getting the Siege Of Mandalore, more Ahsoka adventures and Order 66 as well as a bit of the aftermath.

My thoughts on the series?
Its fun and entertaining, has its charm and moments and enjoyable as long as you can handle the gritty and super mega violent parts of it. However, the final season of the series will not be airing on TV like all shows traditionally do, it will be on Disney Plus just like The Mandalorian.

Well, thats it for my review of The Clone Wars, sorry I didn't have a lot to say its just that there's so many episodes and some things I can't cover them all in one review otherwise we would be here all day without any rest or sleep.
So, uh, see you next time folks. Yes, I will review the final episodes of the show when the drop.
Bye!

-James M.