This weekend Apple TV+ reminded me that Monarch Legacy of Monsters is on its way.

I'm starting to become impressed with Apple TV+. I'm liking Ted Lasso. Even though it's done with its run, Ted Lasso never looked cheap and the writing and characters are/were top-notch. I also liked Silo which was an adaptation of some Hugh Howey novels in the series of the same name. I'm probably going to dip my toes into Invasion, which seems like it is a War of the Worlds kind of show. One of the minor cast members is Tom Holland's baby brother, so I think that might be worth a looksee purely in the vein of satisfying curiosity when it comes to all-star families.

But one thing that did fall off my radar (as far as shows go), and I was reminded of just this weekend was the television series called Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. When I saw the trailer (which I'm embedding below), I thought it was one for a movie. When I realized this is a tv show, I got really excited. Most tv shows that have kaiju in them come out of Japan, and they are really cheesy looking (man in the rubber suit cheese level). But this television series promises a lot more. It reminded me instantly of Game of Thrones level effects when I saw how they did Daenerys's dragons.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has got Kurt Russell in it. I also saw John Goodman, who is obviously making a cameo from his character in Kong: Skull Island. It's a ten episode series that arrives Friday, November 17 with two installments, followed by a weekly rollout every Friday through January 12th. So it's like an amazing Christmas thru New Years gift for nerds like me who love kaiju.

The plot apparently follows the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco. This particular series is told from the point of view of two siblings who are following in their father's footsteps to uncover their family's connection to Monarch, which is the secret organization that has a lot to do with the Titans. It's supposed to bounce back and forth between the 1950's and early 2000's. It's a story that is supposed to span three generations of people, "revealing the secrets of an epic, earth-shattering event."

I also hope that there's lots of weird science, because this was always the backbone of the "Showa-era" stories. There are multiple space aliens, lost civilizations, all kinds of fantastical inventions, moon bases, kung fu robots, etc. The new "monster-verse" that started with Edwards' Godzilla in 2014 needs a big injection of "fringe types" practicing weird science in volcanos (or something similar), wouldn't you agree?

Monarchy haters may want to imprison the royal family but that's because they don't do the math

I guess most of the world now knows that there's a new prince in Britain. For what it's worth, I don't understand the obsession most people have for this ancient organization that operates not as a meritocracy, but through strict nepotism and strategic alliances. That just seems like a relic of a bygone age, but hey, it's not my country.

Britain's royal family is literally the goose that laid the golden egg. Haters
of this institution are simply that and haven't bothered to do any of the math.

However, before I just blatantly condemn this millennia old institution, I decided to do some research and see what good the royal family does for Britain (you know...aside from existing as a family of "British Kardashians" that lives on luxurious estates making their number one responsibility to "look good" and sucking down a lavish lifestyle on the back of the taxpayer). The above video does a great job of explaining it. Hint: you should watch it.

In short (TL;DR):

Americans could compare the royal family to the Kardashians. But that
would be seriously insulting. The royal family makes the Brits a TON of
cash. The Kardashians make the U.S. a ton of embarrassment.

The Brits spend $40 million pounds a year maintaining them. However they make $160 million pounds off of their lands. This is enough to reduce the average taxpayer's burden by $2 pounds and 60 pence than it would otherwise be. I wish the president's family (Republican or Democrat) could say this about the impact of their family on the economy.

The golden goose tourists from America dump buckets of money on the UK every year to see the royals and everything they touch with magical "royal pixie" dust. It's a better attraction than Disneyland. Twelve million tourists spending $7000 million pounds is a good thing, right? Hell yes it is. In Chris Rocks words, that's a lotta money!

Cheap Pete from the 90's show, "In Living Color." He's best known for
saying "Good Lord that's a LOTTA MONEY!"

So how about you? Are you a hater of all things royal? Do you think this fabulously wealthy family sponges off the back of the people? If so, has the video changed your tune?

I (like the rest of the world) am curious as to the name of the new baby. I also kind of think it'd be cool if the prince was born gay. Wouldn't that be interesting? I wonder how the royals would react if their son said, "Um...I've been dating a guy that I met while playing polo..." William would probably look at Kate and say, "Why did you insist on wearing all that pink while you were pregnant? Sigh."

Oh my. The world would never be the same.

***** 

I'll be taking the rest of the week off. I'll see you guys next Monday.

I Hobknob With Famous People. Don't Be Jealous. Okay, be a little jealous but win a book.

Last night I attended an author reading at a swanky local art gallery.  At the reader's table were none other than Michelle Davidson Argyle, Jessica McQuinn, Melissa Menatti, and Dorothy J. Varney. In the audience was Natalie Whipple who has a book coming out from Harper. She wore butterfly wings on her back. Meeting professional authors is really intimidating. Of course, I'm not really much of a people person, and I can't really explain why it is intimidating. It just is. Maybe meeting people is just intimidating for me. That sounds more like it.

Anyway, above is the picture of the bookstore next to the art gallery where I purchased four books that I got signed after the reading. It's right around the corner from where I live so I kinda felt obligated to go to this. I would have felt ashamed of myself if I didn't go to a reading that took place in my backyard, especially when these ladies came from...well I don't know where they came from. But they had to burn fossil fuels to get here so in the least I wanted to go.

This is a picture of Michelle Argyle and Natalie Whipple. Michelle put me on the spot and said, "Do you know Natalie? Of course you do, right?" I stared at Natalie with a blank expression.  Honestly...I really wanted to know who Natalie was, but I actually had no idea who she was. However, that was okay. Natalie let me off the hook because her book isn't out quite yet but will be soon. It's from Harper and is going to be called Transparent if I remember correctly.  I think it has invisible people in it.  I complimented Michelle about her article on Sarah LaPolla's website. I kinda fell in with all of these Curtis Brown Literary Agent luminaries. Here's the rundown:

Nathan Bransford once worked for Curtis Brown.

Michelle Argyle won a contest on Nathan's blog.

Natalie Whipple is a writer represented by Curtis Brown.

Michelle Argyle wrote an article for Sarah LaPolla who works for Curtis Brown.

It reminds me of Malcolm's speech in Jurassic Park.

God creates dinosaurs.

God destroys dinosaurs.

God creates man.

Man destroys God.

Man creates dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs eat man.

Woman inherits the earth.

The reading was really good although the acoustics in the gallery had a few echoes and there were babies crying because I live in Utah and every woman has multiple babies. All of the readings were impressive but I especially liked the poetry from Melissa Menatti. It reminded me of Maya Angelou in its depth and originality. I bought Melissa's unique unbound book (that is part of the art in not having it bound). One cannot support poetry enough. Sometimes I fear that poetry may disappear. No one reads it anymore (except for me). Michelle was very comfortable reading. But she should be because of all the training she got being on America's Next Top Model with Tyra Banks. I think she co-wrote Modelland. #Idonthavethefactstobackthisup.

I really came because I like Michelle's book "Monarch" which I've been reading simultaneously with Charles M. Pulsipher's book "Crystal Bridge" and another book "Lor Mandela" and then a fourth by Alex Cavanaugh and a fifth by Joseph Vasicek.  That is my process...moving from book to book to give my brain a break. I usually finish three at roughly the same time.  Like I finished "Sign In Blood" and "Switched" at roughly the same time.

This is a picture of the art gallery. It was really white. White couches, white walls, and white art pieces in some places.  I have no idea why everything is white but that's Utah. Even the people are all white here so I guess maybe the furniture makes them more comfortable. That's Natalie Whipple's back with the monarch wings on. I think Michelle and Natalie must be friends (they seemed chummy).

Anyway. I already own a copy of Michelle's book Monarch on my Nook. It's good. It's a thriller. It's not filled with the first person present tense girly perspective but instead has a tough as nails CIA dude that any straight guy can man crush on or any girl swoon to (Michelle can write men).  There's blood, there's bullets, and there's outdoors "climbing trees" "running" "jumping" stuff that men and women can get into alike.  It has black and white butterflies on the pages separating scene breaks--how f'ing cool is that?

So why am I telling you about this?  Well, I want one of you lucky peeps to have an autographed pristine copy that has never been read.  So, if you comment on this post, you are in the drawing. At the end of the week, I'll random.org a name and send the book off to you.  This is my first contest and it is international so no worries there. So if you want a book, leave a comment.

That is all.