Discontent in the House of Mouse: Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over Black Widow release

With the blockbuster performance of the latest entry in the Marvel cinematic canon, you would think everybody involved would be pleased as punch. Dear reader, you would be wrong for there is one person not happy with the movie's release and that is none other than Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson, who filed suit against Disney today.

Her main complaint isn't that the movie was released, but where it was released. Apparently, her contract for the movie stipulated that Black Widow would be released in theaters first, before showing up on Disney+. Instead, Disney released the movie to both on the same day, earning Johansson's ire. It may seem odd at first that she would be upset at how the movie was released, but the mystery dissipates when you learn the real reason beyond it: money. According to the Polygon article, her contract was set up in such a way that she would bank more money depending on how well the movie did...in theaters. I'm guessing Disney+ isn't covered by that, so Johansson potentially lost quite a bit of dough. Can't say I blame her for being angry there.

Weirdness Wednesday: Was Jack the Ripper a Royal Prince?

Via Wikipedia.

Jack the Ripper is easily one of the most infamous serial killers in history and his true identity is also one of the greatest mysteries. One of my favorite podcasts, Red Web, did an episode about Jack a couple of weeks ago and as they were ticking off all the people suspected of being the Ripper, one stood out: Prince Albert Victor, member of the British Royal Family and second (at the time) in line to the throne of the British Empire. Now, I had heard before that a royal prince was floated as a suspect, but I didn't know much more beyond that because the Ripper killings has never held that much interest to me. But a prince close to becoming to king of the one of the biggest empires in history? Now, you have my attention.

Now to be clear, Albert Victor isn't given any serious consideration as a suspect by Ripperologists, the community dedicated to all things Jack the Ripper. Indeed, he wasn't even proposed as a suspect until 1962, 70 years after his death! In 1976 some guy named Stephen Knight wrote a book called Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution in which he claims that the murders were committed to cover up that the prince had had an illegitimate child with a prostitute. The also claims that the murders were either committed by others on his behalf or by the prince himself. Another theory presented elsewhere is that Albert Victor had contracted syphilis from a prostitute and that it drove him insane, thus the killings.

Via Goodreads.

As I said above, Ripperologists have rejected the prince as a possible suspect because there's more evidence that he wasn't than any that he was. Case in point, he was literally 500 miles away from London, surrounded by family and friends when two of the victims were murdered. There's also no evidence that he had any sexually transmitted diseases.

I actually feel sorry for the poor guy. Imagine dying at the age 28 of pneumonia, then being maligned unfairly seven decades later as one of the worst serial killers in history with no evidence to back up those claims.

Music Monday: Jonathan Coulton - Skullcrusher Mountain

Weirdness Wednesday: Holy crap, look at that thing on his neck!

 I also posted about this on my history blog, but I thought I'd share it here too. Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea, had a giant...thing on the back of his neck and man, was that sucker B I G.

Like I said, B I G. According to Wikipedia, he had a condition called calcinosis which causes calcium deposits to accumulate in the body. So you're probably wondering why he didn't just get it removed? Well, the official reason is that it was considered too dangerous to remove owing to it being so close to his spine and brain. Unofficially, it's rumored that he was too scared - paranoia made him too fearful that he would get bumped off while under the knife. I guess if you're the founder and leader of a brutal regime, you're bound to be worried about bad karma catching up with you.

Weirdness Wednesday: Shoebills sound like an old war movie

Imagine having one of these show up somewhere unobserved and it starts making that noise.

Music Monday: Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract

Maybe I'll do a deep dive about this video and its inspiration one day because it involves Gene Kelly, two cartoon mice, and Disney.

He speaks fluent Japanese

God, I have to watch this movie at some point.