By James Robert Shaw (The Wind Up Geek)
Ken Jennings, author of the Simon & Schuster children’s series, Junior Genius Guides, has recently been condemned over social media for a tweet that mentioned 11-year old Barron Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Continue reading “Children’s Author Jennings, Makes 11-Year-Old Trump Subject of Offensive Tweet”
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
Japanese parents can now take a different approach to motivating their children to learn kanji, by talking about poop. The fascination with excrement comes in a series of books that were designed to make learning kanji more fun for Japanese school children. Six books have been released and according to publishing house Bunkyosha (文響社), it took two years to produce from planning to selling. At the time of this article, the books were in the top six spots on Amazon Japan’s Japanese Language Learning Chart.
The series follows the standard teaching method and covers more than the 1,000 characters studied at the Japanese elementary level. Continue reading “Japanese Children Motivated by Poop to Learn Kanji”
By James Robert Shaw
(The Wind up Geek)
If you’ve been following social media then you may know the back story to the Smug Wendy meme that has been making the rounds. If you don’t, the meme originated after an exchange on Twitter on April 10, 2017. It was the result of two corporate giants, two powerhouses in the world of the North American number one love, burgers. It all started when Twitter users @jstaff15 (Joey Staffileno) and @phelps_ryan (Ryan Phelps) debated which burger chains “4 for 4” deal was better, Wendy’s or Hardee’s. While Hardee’s was praising Phelps, Wendy’s was not without a retort.
Continue reading “Social Media Meme, Smug Wendy, Gets Her Own Anime Opening”
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Warner Bros Interactive and DC Entertainment released a mobile edition of Injustice 2 (for Android and iOS) well ahead of the console edition due out May 16th, and I did not get any other work done over the weekend because of it.
The gameplay is familiar, and the story mode kept me engaged for hours, while watching Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series in the background. While the Mortal Kombat / Street Fighter-like mechanics will always be awkward when played on tablet-like surfaces — tapping and swiping for to activate certain moves — but this game does something to improve the momentum of the character’s moves. I find the controls a lot more intuitive to figure out, especially when I’m the type who does not pay attention to the tutorials much.
Continue reading “There’s No Injustice 2 Mobile’s Improved Gameplay!”
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
* Spoiler Alert
Guy Ritchie is certainly trying to shake up traditions in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (KA:LotS). While I’m not sure which country’s folklore the snake-ladies came from, they certainly are not Celtic. I get the sense he’s offering his take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth (The Three Witches) and is borrowing from Hindu legends (Nagas). When he is in control as writer-director and actor, playing the warlord Vortigern to claim the throne from Uther Pendragon, this filmmaker is certainly going to insure his stamp is all over the tale!
Many liberties on the Arthur’s origins are taken and early promotional material alleges Richie is drawing upon the Welsh interpretation. There’s plenty of nuances within the film which shows he is, and they work when he’s not trying to add his trademark on top.
On June 11th, 2017, Van Isle Con promises to give nerds and Canada 150 partners a fun-filled weekend in Sidney, British Columbia. Located north of Victoria, the capital of this province, this township may well get a new nickname. Instead of book town, it will be all things sequential art related, and that’s not including the written word. It will shape the landscape around this community starting in May and it will lead to this event.
Josh Kully is part of the team who is helping to shape it. As a freelance illustrator making roads into the comic book industry with his recently published work, The Stork, he has come to know the local talents also living on Vancouver Island. In fact, they may appear in this show; Dan Schoening (Ghostbusters) and Ken Steacy (Tempus Fugitive) are well-known. His involvement in the local community and knowledge of the medium will be pivotal to making this show great.
“I honestly don’t remember a time I wasn’t into comics or art. It’s just something I have always been drawn to and it is a huge part of my life,” said Kully.
When considering the past history of events in Victoria, questions will also be asked by those unsure about the success. Over at Otakunoculture, we want all local geeky shows to succeed. I got a chance to talk to Josh, and had to begin with the tough one:
Continue reading “Van Isle Con to Highlight Canada 150 this June!”
