Ready Player One Minute

Since it seems like my Helium business is building on itself, I've started a few other DeFi projects in the background to better understand the financial system of the Metaverse, but decided to tackle a project I've been thinking about for about half a year now, the Ready Player One Minute Podcast.  

I don't want to jump straight into it, so I've decided to put together a Facebook group while I sort through the movie and book, in an attempt to identify all the Easter Eggs and references in the movie.  I actually started the process of pulling the movie apart, minute by minute, in November of 2021, but after a few months, realized the project was way bigger than I realized. 

I'm doing this partly because I want to build another leg for my business, partly because I just love Ready Player One, partly because I love the 70s, 80s and 90s, partly because I grew up partially overseas and missed out on a lot of stuff in pop culture and this is a great excuse to go back and visit it for the first time, and partly because I want to revisit things that made me happy.  

The world seems to be becoming a less happy place.  Everyone is more concerned with telling everyone else what to do, and if they don't kneel to their wishing, using some larger authority like a bludgeon to force everyone to their knees.  It's a depressing time, and I don't want to let the depression trying to be forced on me by others, win.  

So, I found, purchased and have started watching Viper, the 90s TV show.  On 2/7/22 I watched Episode 5 - Firehawk and Episode 6 - Mind Games.  The show is cheezy, but I enjoy it.  I has the same feel as Knight Rider, The Original Series.  Guy declared dead, new identity, amazing car, small team that fights for justice.  Still, I like the simplicity of the show.  They have an over arching story with repeat characters, at least so far, but it was made at a time when everything was basically wrapped up by the end of the show.  

The effects are bad and when you break it down, it was a giant ad campaign for the Dodge Viper.  I've seen some people ridicule it for that online, those who actually talk about it, but I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with any of that stuff.  I mean, people look back on the 80s and 90s with rose colored glasses, sure, but it was a time of massive creativity when it came to developing new Intellectual Properties.  None of them were created because people wanted to make great children's show.  They were all made to sell toys... and somehow, that was viewed as opportunistic.  

Yet, since the party poopers found ways to shut that down, look at how uncreative everything has become.  They focus more on trying to rehash existing properties instead of just trying to create the next new thing.  And then they force these social engineering messages into everything, sucking the life out of what started as a creative endeavor. 

So what if GI Joe, Voltron, Thundercats, Transformers, He-Man, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars was all made to sell toys and make money for corporations.  It motivated people to be creative.  Look at the sad state of shit now.  It's all become a bunch of cynical rehashes of better times.  

Anyway...

I like the Ecto88 from Ready Player One, but I think if there were an Oasis, I'd have the Viper Defender as my default car.  Or Flynn's Lightcycle.  But, probably the Viper.  I could see getting modifications to it to travel through solid matter, time travel and what not in the planets that allowed it in the Oasis/Metaverse, and it would be cool to have an onboard AI like KITT, but I think the car as is, is pretty dope.  

Yesterday, 2/8/22, I watched Bladerunner: The Director's Cut.  Still holds up as far as I can tell.  The last time I watched it was when I had the 5 Disc Ultimate Collector's edition on HD DVD from 2007.  I picked it up at Slacker's used, watched the discs once, probably 2009, was reminded how awesome it was, and then sold the case in 2013 when I was selling everything to downsize before my move to Kansas for Amazon to live in an RV.  Very cool collectible, but living in an RV, I just don't have that kind of space.  

Haven't figured out what I'm going to watch tonight, but thought about making it a cartoon night, and picking up the Real Ghostbusters wherever I left off.  Super fun show.  Supernatural, Super-Science.  Creepy, funny.  80s synthetic heavy music.  So fun.  Yeah, I'm doing that.