1. THANOS - MCU

​It’s no secret that Thanos is meant to be the villain in Avengers: Infinity War. But when you think about it, he was really trying to save the universe. As we look at our planet today, we become increasingly aware that the health of Earth and space in general is impacted by humans in a negative way. Thanos’ goal was to thin out life by making half of the population disappear so that resources would be available without conflict that would lead to further war and killing. It is a classic example of sacrificing the good of the few for the good of the many. Yes, half of the world was snapped away, but it would better the universe for the other half and those to come.

2. SQUIDWARD - NICKELODEON

As a kid, we all saw Squidward as the villain. He never liked when SpongeBob and Patrick had fun around him. However, as I personally got older, I understood Squidward more.  He didn’t have to love his job because he just needed it for the income to do what he loved outside of work. He and I also share the sentiment that you don’t always have to be happy, and you shouldn’t be told to “look on the bright side” because that can be unrealistic at times.

3. KILLMONGER - MCU

​I don’t care what anyone says, Killmonger had a right to be upset when he learned about Wakanda. He spent his life watching horrible things happen to people of color in the neighborhood where he grew up. He was also denied the life he should have inherited.  Of course, he was a bit over-the-top with his revenge, but I can totally see why he’d be angry and why he’d want to challenge T’Challa for the role of Wakanda’s ruler, the Black Panther.

​​4. MAGNETO – X-MEN FRANCHISE

He just wants his fellow mutants to be able to live in a world where they aren’t shunned, abused or treated differently due to their abilities. Now, Professor X wants this as well, but tries to go about it in a way that would please normal humans. Magneto is direct, and witness a lot of terrible stuff after being sent to a concentration camp. He saw the true evil of humans, and didn’t have a problem using his gifts to get even. I can understand the rage behind it, but obviously don’t support some of his senseless actions.

5. THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST – WIZARD OF OZ

If you think about it, she was just after Dorothy because her house landed on and killed her sister. Then, the “good witch” just gives her dead sister’s shoes to Dorothy.  I don’t really see how she was really a wicked witch until after all of that happened. If that’s all the reason they have for calling her the wicked witch, that’s pretty bad. Maybe Glinda is really the bad guy here.

6. PATTY AND NED – SCHOOL OF ROCK

​If there’s one thing everyone in my life knows, it’s that School of Rock is my favorite movie of all time. I love Jack Black, so that helps. But, as I moved into adulthood, I learned that, although Patty and Ned were characterized as evil roommates who never let Dewey explore his talent, they were really in the right. They gave him countless opportunities to pay his rent. Patty did the right thing in hounding him about getting a job, and did the right thing in reporting Dewey to the school to tell them he had impersonated her fiancé to take advantage of child musicians.

7. THE SANDERSON SISTERS – HOCUS POCUS 2

​In the first Hocus Pocus, the movie had us hyper-focused on the fact that the Sanderson Sisters sucked the lives out of the children of Salem. But, they kind of had to do that in order to live because they say “otherwise, it’s curtains!” But in the second movie, we learn that the girls were forced to marry at a young age, and Winnie didn’t want to do that because she wanted to stay with her sisters. They lost their parents at a young age, and she was the one looking out for them. We see a lot of Winnie’s humanity and goodness in the second film, when she sacrifices life to be with her sisters in death.

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GRANDPA JOE - WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

You mean to tell me that this family was eating cabbage soup because there was only one person able to work? And this grandpa is just going to hop up and spring into song and dance like he hasn't been holding the family back? Nah.

CAPTAIN AMERICA - MARVEL STUDIOS

Any way you slice it, Captain America is a villain. First of all, he knew all along that Tony Stark's parents were murdered and never told him to protect his friend. He never even tried to reconcile with him after he found out. Not to mention, he was the entire reason that the Avengers split up in Civil War. A man who is usually by the book changes his mind all of a sudden? Nah.

GABRIELLA - HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

Hot take - Sharpay wasn't the bad guy, it was Gabriella. All along the way, Gabriella makes it harder for everyone around her to achieve their goals. First, with Sharpay, she takes away her chance to be in the musical.

PETER - PETER PAN

This whole situation is creepy and just wrong. Peter lures children away from their families to Neverland where they will never grow up. They end up away from their families and surrounded by people who want to kill Peter (Captain Hook, etc.)

FERRIS BUELLER - FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF

Ferris is of course an interesting an well-liked kid, but he uses that to his advantage with not just his parents, but also the kids in his school and his friend, Cameron. He manipulates Cameron into stealing his dad's car, and doing a bunch of stuff that would get them in trouble.

ROSE - TITANIC

Y'all both could have fit on that piece of wood, Rose, and you know it. Stop it! A girl who lets you freeze to death in artic waters because she doesn't want to scoot over to make room for you on a piece of wood? NAH!

DANIEL HILLARD - MRS. DOUBTFIRE

I love Robin Williams and Mrs. Doubtfire as much as the next guy, but you have to admit Daniel is sort of the villain. He always goes against his wife, which makes her look weak to her children. She needs help, but he's stuck being childish. Then, he interferes in her personal life after they divorce, going as far as to poison his ex wife's date with peppers he is allergic to in order to keep them from getting together. Like it or not, it wasn't just about seeing his kids.

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Meanwhile, Jonathan had this shirt covered in pineapples and, with the resurgence of the information about what pineapples can symbolize, we never thought he'd get to wear it again, but he wore it that night! We started the evening with a bit of visiting time with my mother-in-law at her house, and we carpooled over to the arts center. The center had the COOLEST thing: its own bistro! We preordered what we wanted to eat. ​

​What made it even more special is that Jonathan taught the two lead roles when he was in high school and they were in middle school. Now, they're in college and in their early 20s, so it was really cool for him and Tonya to see what they were able to do. As we walked in, the auditorium was filled with all things Spongebob. There were cutouts of Bikini Bottom, the Krusty Krab sign, and even the Chum Bucket. They definitely set the stage for this presentation so well! Before the show started, the cast was walking around selling bubbles to the crowd to be used during a specific part of the show.

​As the show started, I have to admit that I was expecting it to be good, but had no idea how blown away I'd be. The characters were so spot on! I especially thought the casting for Plankton and Squidward were phenomenal. The actors truly embodied their character. But they literally all did so well! Spongebob and Patrick were played by a set of twin brothers, the ones Jonathan taught. I think their connection really played well with this performance. All of the songs were so good, and I couldn't believe some of the things they could do while singing, including hanging upside down. Although the show only ran for one weekend, it was evident that the cast put a ton of hard work and dedication into these roles, which is amazing considering many were in their 20s or younger. ​

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1. FAMILY FIZZ

2. REMLIFE

3. THE INGHAM FAMILY

4. ALISHA MARIE VLOGS

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1: WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH

​Narrated by Edith Finch, this game is all about a family who has the worst luck ever. A family curse leads to the death of all who have the Finch name. In this game, you explore the old Finch family home, playing through the tragic life stories (and deaths) of various members of the Finch family.   I really like watching people play this game. The art style varies depending on the story you’re going through, and the mysterious deaths leave a lot open for the players interpretation. You can purchase the game for $20 on Steam.

2: OUTLAST II

Probably one of the creepiest video games I’ve ever played, Outlast II follows a married couple (Blake and Lynn Langermann) who are flying over a religious civilization to do a video report. The helicopter crashes, and Blake awakens to learn that his wife has been taken by the religious civilization who believes Lynn is carrying a child.

​3: THE EVIL WITHIN 2

​Sebastian Castellanos learns that his daughter, Lily, has been taken by Mobius, a group that previously left a bad mark in his life. He is asked to go into a virtual world to find Lily, where he must fight monsters to locate his daughter, who is the one keeping the world alive.   This game was really challenging, but so good. The bosses are really difficult, but it really allows you to challenge your mind and find the right answers and the best path to reaching Lily.   I also played this on PS4, but you can purchase it for $40 on Steam.

4: UNTIL DAWN

A few years after the mysterious death of a member of their friend group, eight friends meet up for their annual cabin trip. However, they learn that they’re not alone and a creepy creature is killing them off.   One of my favorite parts about this game is that you get to make the decisions and ultimately decide who lives and who dies. This means that the experience is unique to the player, which is awesome. You can purchase it for PS4 for about $20.

​5: BENDY AND THE INK MACHINE

​Henry is revisiting the animation studio where he once worked. When he arrives, he finds it abandoned, but notices that something is just wrong. Bendy and several of the characters he helped animate on screen have come to life in one of the most sinister ways possible.   This has a lot of jump scares, and there are some puzzles and tasks that you have to complete. I really loved playing it, and it was definitely a great way to scratch that horror itch I was looking for. You can purchase this for a number of different platforms for about $20.

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1: CHOOSE YOUR DATE, TIME, LOCATION AND THEME

​The first step is to choose your date and theme. You could host the party on Halloween, but if you have friends with children, that might not be the best option. ​Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, so that Friday or Saturday may be a good option.

2: MAKE AND SEND YOUR INVITES

​In today’s digital age, you can probably get away with sending an invite via email or text. You could also place the event on Facebook and invite who you’d like to invite. Either way, having a graphic or flyer that you can use digitally is a good idea.   My favorite resource to use is Canva. There are already a lot of templates you can use for free. Just type in what you’re looking to create – from an invite to a flyer – and change the information to make it work for your invite. Be sure to include date, time, location and theme! Then, simply send them out to your invitees.

3: DECORATE

​The day of, make sure you take time to throw up some decorations. You can find a lot of affordable decorations at places like Home Goods, Dollar Tree, and Hobby Lobby. You can make it match with your theme, or simply use traditional Halloween colors like black and orange.

4: MAKE OR BUY SNACKS AND FOOD

5: PLAN THE ENTERTAINMENT

​It doesn’t matter if you’re choosing to have live entertainment, movies playing in one room of the location, or if you’ll just make your own party playlist to play in the background, you’ll have to make a plan. Then you'll need to choose a location, which can be a party hall, your home, or some other location that works for what you'd like to do.

​6: HAVE A HOWLIN’ GOOD TIME

​On the day of the party, make sure you’re set up an hour before time, and leave some time to get any refrigerated food out. Make sure you have plenty of seating and some space for dancing or casual conversation.

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1. Watch a scary movie 2. Make Halloween treats 3. Have a costume contest between     family members 4. Prank call a family member 5. Eat candy you purchased yourself ​6. Go to a pumpkin patch

​7. Carve jack o’ lanterns 8. Go apple picking 9. Go to a corn maze 10. Have pizza and watch the       Harry Potter series 11. Play Halloween trivia 12. Do a Halloween craft

13. Do fun “mad” scientist games 14. Have a COVID-safe Halloween party 15. Go to a fall carnival 16. Read a mystery book 17. Play Clue or another spooky board game 18. Listen to true crime YouTubers or                ​      podcasts

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1: WAS MAX THROWN IN THE TRASH?

As we all know, the Grinch lives at the top of Mount Crumpit. This is where the Who's dump their garbage. We know from several Grinchy rants that the Who's are rather wasteful and throw away their "toys" when they get bored of them not long after Christmas ends.

We do know that the Grinch goes into town in the live-action movie and in the newest animated film, so it is possible he could have picked him up in town. However, this theory seems more likely when you realize that the Grinch really doesn't care for anything sweet, including a pet who loves as unconditionally as Max.

2: WHERE IS THE BABY THAT GOT KNOCKED OFF COURSE AT THE BEGINNING?

During the live-action Grinch movie, Cindy Lou Who is interviewing the Grinch's adopted parents. One of the ladies says "a strange wind blew that night." We see the bassinet carrying the Grinch knock into another bassinet which seems to get thrown off course.

3: ARE THE WHO'S CANNIBALS?

For the longest time, I truly thought that the narrator was talking about roast beef, but if you listen closely, the narrator says "roast beast." ​Now, in the old cartoon, the "roast beast" has two legs, but is red when you cut into it, meaning it can't be poultry.

But, this theory was put to rest by Dr. Seuss's team. They posted a Who Roast Beast recipe on the Seussville website which calls for boneless strip loin roast. Then again, that recipe would never yield something that looked like the one in the movies. I guess we'll never truly know!

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Let's talk about Christmas songs. There's a lot of interesting facts that go behind the story of these holly jolly tunes. Today, let's dive in to the stories behind some of the most popular Christmas songs on the charts!

"YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH"

We're all familiar with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and the song, "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch." ​The song is wildly popular, but you probably didn't know the the original singer of the song, Thurl Ravenscroft, is also the voice behind Tony the Tiger, the mascot for Frosted Flakes! He's also voiced a number of un-credited characters in various animated feature films at television shows! So, if the voice seemed familiar, now you know why.

"SIMPLY HAVING A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME"

A popular conspiracy theory has been circulating lately, especially on TikTok. The theory goes that the beginning of this popular Beatles song may be the start of a seance or spell. The lyrics say "the moon is right/the spirits up/we're here tonight/and that's enough," before breaking into the cheerful next line.

"WHITE CHRISTMAS"

The movie of the same name is my husband's favorite, so I was personally surprised to learn that the first recording of "White Christmas" featured Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers, and the John Scott Trotter's Orchestra.

"ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU"

Everyone loves to hear Mariah's whistle-tones in this classic 1994 Christmas song, but did you know that a cover of her song placed higher on the charts in coming years? In 2011, Carey recorded a duet of the song with Justin Bieber, which hit the third slot on the top charts.

"I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS"

When this song debuted, the Roman Catholic Church in Boston was outraged, as they felt the song mixed sexual affairs with Christmas. The 13-year-old boy who sang it, Jimmy Boyd, met with the Archdiocese to explain that the song simply meant that Santa Clause was  really the child's father

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