Way Cool Wednesday – 6 September 2017

What time is it? It’s Way Cool Wednesday time! That’s right, we’ve hit that part of the month where I reveal the things that have entertained me during my trawl through the tangled web of the internet. What beauties shall today’s posting reveal? Well, let’s find out.

 

WAY COOL ARTICLE: LEVERAGE – PURE ESCAPISM & GINA BELLMAN – THE LEVERAGE FANDOM

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/apr/10/leverage-review-tv-show-con-artists-villains

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/feb/02/gina-bellman-twitter-fans-social-leverage

A double header about one of my favourite TV shows. I was sad to see this one end, much like I was with Sons of Anarchy and Angel, but all things come to an end eventually. These are good pieces because they show two important things; the first explains why the show worked and the second how the cast perceived the fans. Both well worth a read if you enjoyed the show at all.

 

WAY COOL VIDEO: A TRIBUTE TO DOYLE

This is an interesting one as it’s pretty much exactly what the title says: a simply tribute to Doyle, a character in season one of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel. I’ll save my general thoughts for another article, but the reason I like this is that it pretty much covers why he was important. His doomed romance with Cordelia was, in my eyes, the catalyst for her moving away from her Buffy character and becoming something more rounded. Excellent work there. As a bonus, here the awesome Angel theme song, as shown in the final season.

 

 

WAY COOL BLOG POST: THE CURIOUS CASE OF LOVE LIVE! – IDOLS, PERFORMANCES AND SPECTACLE BY LEAP250

https://leap250.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/the-curious-case-of-love-live-idols-performances-and-spectacle/

This is an in depth piece about Love Live! and the concept of spectacle in relation to performances. To date, I’ve not yet gotten around to finishing the first series, though I did enjoy what little I saw in last year’s Crunchyroll of the Dice. This particular posting a very good though, and offers an insightful look into the phenomena.

 

WAY COOL MUSIC: PUMP UP JAPAN BY DEADLIFT LOLITA

Deadlift Lolita are a Japanese act that features Ladybeard and Reika Saiki. But who are these people exactly? Well, Reika Saiki is a model and bodybuilder, and she also acts as cheerleader for Japan’s Wrestle-1 wrestling promotion. Meanwhile, Ladybeard is an Australian crossdresser, model, pro wrestler, stunt man, and metal vocalist. Throw the two together and what do you get? As it happens, some atypical Japanese pop combined with death metal growls. In many ways, the song isn’t anything that particularly stands out, but it is catchy. Plus, I’m a fan of Ladybeard. He’s a jolly gent after all!

WAY COOL ARTICLES – STAR TREK, THE ORIGINAL SERIES – A NECESSARY SOCIAL COMMENTARY

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 – PART 4 – PART 5 – PART 6

This series of posts has been running for a few months over on Evil Geek Cult. The basic premise that the articles broach a number of positive impacts that the original series of Star Trek ahs had on scoiety, ranging from the development of technology to shifts in societal values. It’s well written, and certainyl eye opening if you weren’t aware how influential Kirk and co. were in the real world. Well worth checking out.