Catch up time!

Things have kept me from posting regularly, I have been working on my next GI Joe book for Amazon Kindle Worlds, I have picked film editing back up, my work schedule is absurd, and then everything came to a screeching stop with a catastrophic hardware failure. My PC has a 500Gig hard drive. I didn't think that was enough when I got it so I also bought a 1 Terabyte external. I foolishly used the 1 Terabyte external as more storage, not as a backup as it was intended. File upon file of Photoshop projects, folders for my story ideas, years worth of pictures, all my music and more was on the external, and I had no backup. Then, a few weeks ago the external stopped working. I immediately freaked out, feverishly trying to get the most important of data transferred but nothing was working. I jumped online looking for a solution, made a few phone calls but everything suggested that the external hard drive had stopped spinning. The good news was that the data still existed. My only option was to find a data recovery company and hope they didn't charge much. It didn't take long before I found 300dollardatarecovery.com.

If you have anxiety issues like I do, you're most likely familiar with the feeling of hopelessness that weighs on you when something out of your control goes wrong. When I found 300dollardatarecovery.com my mind stopped racing almost instantly. The website is very straightforward and honest plus it has a live 24/7 chat window to expertly answer your questions. The pricing structure is flat and fair and their reviews are overwhelmingly positive. What calmed my nerves the most was the frequent communication. I was sent multiple emails every day, updating me on the status of my hard drive. I received an email when they received it, when they began diagnostics, when they began to repair and transfer, when they were done and when it shipped back to me. I was surprised how fast they were, it only took a few days and I have a dozen emails. Waiting and not knowing what's happening is a minefield that usually sends me into an anxiety attack. With the frequent, informative and friendly emails, I was at peace and confident the techs at 300dollardatarecovery.com were top-notch. I highly recommend them if you're ever in a similar situation. A situation that could have been avoided if I had been properly backing up my data.

On to some quick braining out loud, to catch up. The DC Extended Universe is still in horrible shape. Multiple directors have left The Flash, the script is being re-written entirely and star Ezra Miller has opted to rearrange his schedule in light of the delays. He is currently filming the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them squeal. The Flash is scheduled for a March 2018 release, which is little more than one year away and DC has yet to shoot a single frame. Ben Affleck has stepped down as the director of The Batman solo film. An understandable move since he also wrote and is starring in the film, he had spread himself too thin. What makes matters worse though is the fan petition to replace him with Zack Snyder, and if you haven't read my post on that hack click here. My guess is Warner Brothers is throwing bags of cash at Christopher Nolan begging him to direct the film. To me it's apparent that WB and DC are blatantly copying his Dark Knight trilogy of films, as they were the most profitable and well received DC films to date. I've also read the all-to-commonplace reports that Wonder Woman and The Justice League films have problems.We'll just have to wait and see.

Over on TV, The CW has picked up yet another DC Superhero show. Black Lightning, who has the power to generate lightning and is black, will be most likely connected to "The Arrowverse", a list of shows that includes Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. With Gotham on Fox and the recently debuted Powerless sitcom on NBC, it seems as if DC is actively racing toward the inevitable bursting of the superhero bubble.

Not as much news from Marvel, mainly because there is not as much turmoil. One Marvel-related story that is sparking interest among the nerds is the selling of Sony Pictures. Due in part to a terrible 2016 box office, the studio may shut down. Initial reports suggest that they would sell their film and television assets to CBS, including the film rights to Spider-Man. Marvel fans are hopeful that Sony sells the rights back to Marvel before they reach an agreement with CBS. Spider-Man is already in a complicated web (get it) of film rights and profit sharing, but that's with Sony who Marvel has a friendly relationship with. Marvel has no working relationship with CBS that I know of and including them now would be counterproductive, especially when Marvel/Disney could easily purchase the rights back.

During the 51st Superbowl, several movies debuted new teasers including Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment of the inexplicably successful franchise. A first look at the "Baby Dinobots" was revealed during the big game, which is, without doubt, a very thinly veiled effort to capitalize on the popularity of Baby Groot. Of course, I realize Marvel wasn't the first to introduce baby versions of their characters. There were the Muppet Babies, A Pup named Scooby-Doo, Baby Looney Tunes, and others I'm sure, but these Baby Dinobots just happen to appear after Baby Groot danced his way to fame and glory in the mid-credit scene of Guardians of the Galaxy. Director Michael Bay will have to convince me otherwise.

One last thing. The surprise Netflix hit, Stranger Things released a teaser during the big game and needless to say it looks great with the kids dressed as the Ghostbusters, the return of Eleven, and of course a terrifying Lovecraftian monster.