The Adam Burdeshaw Blog

Disclaimer: This post, in its entirety, is a digression.

I’ve struggled recently to conjure ideas for a new post that people will find entertaining. Being skilled enough to follow Infinite Mass (which I thought was solid) with something of equal weight seems to be my primary hang-up.

In that struggle, it never crossed my mind that this is my column for posting whatever I want, whenever I want. It’s a lot like MySpace in that way—and just like my extinct MySpace profile, it gets about as much traffic.

So, to hell with it. I’ll write about what’s on my mind and call it a Digressionary Piece (like that’s a thing; if it’s not, I’m coining it).

Disclaimer: I don’t usually write movie reviews. I’m not very good at it. There are people out there who do a much better job. All the same, here’s my attempt.

Disney and the Mangling of Lucasfilm IP

The past eight years have been anything but kind to the nostalgic IP of the 80s and 90s.

Although opinions vary depending on who you ask, the general impression I get from people (and a sentiment I share) is that Disney has all but destroyed Lucasfilm’s intellectual property—to such a brutal extent that I would now entertain a conspiracy theory suggesting that it was all part of Disney’s deep-rooted revenge plot to brutalize the franchise it wished it had thought of, to begin with.

I won’t repeat how I and others feel about the Star Wars sequel trilogy except to say that I’ll likely never watch any of them again, and for me, that’s the litmus for whether I think a movie is any good.

But I admit there is a high probability I’m out of touch with what appeals to most people. For example, I thought Rogue One was a steaming slice of crap—mainly because if you hold up a freeze-frame of the movie’s protagonist, Jyn Erso, alongside a faceless slab of moldy cardboard, I would have difficulty telling the two apart. But I realize that for most Star Wars fans, all that matters is whether Glup Shitto makes his cameo. So, what do I know?

The Setup

The church feels Anglican, appropriate for the circumstances. The pulpit rests beneath an arched dome inlaid with what looks like gilded embroidery. Circling the same space, organ pipes adorn the hollowed-out walls between cylindrical columns. The only instruments on site are an oak-stained grand piano and the organ, which I like to think of as the control station. It looks like one of those old-timey phone operator booths I’ve only ever seen in classic movies.

And as if in strict defiance of stage rules, the organ keys face out toward the congregation so that the organist must sit with his back to us as he plays. I wonder if this aids his focus; I suspect it might.

Beneath the organ pipes and hovering centrally behind the podium, above what I think must be a baptistry (I’ve been out of the formal church setting for too long, it seems), is engraved the affirmation: “One Lord — One Faith — One Baptism.”

For listeners: Listen on Anchor FM.

The classroom is large enough to hold about thirty students, one professor, and two chaperones, which works out swell because that about sums up our group. I’m attracted to the huge industrial-grade windows at the back of the room, more so for the rich Los Angeles cityscape beyond them. If you smash your face against the window and slide your eyes to the left as far as possible, as if to embody Jim Carrey on his best day, you can see almost half the city. Not saying I did this, but if you happen to meet anyone from the building across the street, maybe don’t mention that you know me.

Or do mention it. It’s not as if the suits in the building across the busy street know my name. Just my contorted, idiot face trying to see if the Uruks really are taking the hobbits to Isengard.

The room has a clean, indoor smell, though if it were my forty-story building, I would’ve stripped and replaced the carpet months ago. Correction: I would’ve sold the building and set up shop on an island in the South Pacific. But that’s neither here nor there—strike that, it’s all there and 5,501 miles from here, a classroom in a corporate-collegiate building in downtown LA.

According to One Fan…

Released December 18th, 1997, for the Sony PlayStation (and later ported to the Nintendo 64), Mega Man Legends is the blue bomber’s first foray into the world of 3D adventure gaming.

Although perhaps not as well-known as Ocarina of Time (1998), Capcom’s bold move to reincarnate their flagship 2D hero in a 3D open world created a game that has taken its place among some of the greatest, albeit underrated, adventure RPGs of the past three decades.

The Adam Burdeshaw Blog

Radical Open-Mindedness in a Post, Post-Modern World

Disclaimer: This post, in its entirety, is a digression.

Indiana Jones and the Death of Magic

Disney and the Mangling of Lucasfilm IP

One

The Setup

Infinite Mass

Elevator Pitch

Mega Man Legends

According to One Fan…

Disclaimer: This post, in its entirety, is a digression.

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Disney and the Mangling of Lucasfilm IP

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The Setup

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According to One Fan…

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