Wakanda no longer listed as U.S. free trade partner

People were surprised to see the Kingdom of Wakanda listed as a US free trade partner in a tariff tracker on the US Department of Agriculture's website. But officials soon explained that the nation had only been added as part of a test, and removed it from the system.

100 best TV shows of all time

Six years later, another list based on IMDb ratings.

(Personal) Highlights:

93.  Person of Interest
92.  Brooklyn Nine-Nine
68.  Star Trek: The Next Generation
60.  Parks and Recreation
58.  The X-Files
55.  Daredevil (really?)
41.  Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)
37.  South Park
36.  The Simpsons
35.  House
25.  Seinfeld
22.  The Office
13.  Friends

And now the top 10:

10.  Firefly
9.  Fargo
8.  True Detective
7.  Sherlock
6.  Avatar: The Last Airbender (what?)
5.  The Sopranos
4.  The Wire
3.  Rick and Morty (what again?)
2.  Game of Thrones
1.  Breaking Bad

So much for IMDb ratings.  Far different from this list where I Love Lucy was number 1 beating out Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, All In the Family, and Cheers.

What's the deal with Spider-Man and Sony?

Spider-Man is caught in a tangled web.

After Deadline reported on Tuesday that Sony and Disney were unable to come to an agreement over Spider-Man's movie appearances, Sony released a statement blaming Disney. A Sony spokesperson said that it was the Mouse House's decision for Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to not be involved with future movies.

"We hope this might change in the future, but understand that the many new responsibilities that Disney has given him - including all their newly added Marvel properties - do not allow time for him to work on IP they do not own," Sony said. "Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue."

Spider-Man's big-screen journey has been a roller coaster, and this is just the latest in a series of headaches. To understand the current tug-of-war between Sony and Disney, you need to understand how the arrangement arose in the first place.

Chinese therapy balls

The therapy balls, known as one of the "three treasures" of a province in China, is a traditional product that has been produced since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and has been made by Chinese craftsmen for the past 300 years.

Originally, the Therapy Ball was a solid ball of jade or marble but later was designed hollow with a sounding plate in it when technology permitted.  Sold in pairs, one sounds high and one sounds low.  It is a form of exercise to build strength and increase circulation in the hands and arms.   As a conditioning apparatus for older persons it is one of the simplest ways to tone the joints and muscles in the hands, forearms and shoulders.  It is an especially convenient method of obtaining relief from such afflictions as minor arthritis, tendinitis, carpal tunnel sydrome [sic], thoracic outlet repetitive strain injury (RSI), computer strain and other hand/arm/shoulder neck related discomforts.  Many people simply do their "exercises" while watching TV.  It is also a relatively effortless way to increase hand and forearm strength for people participating in weekend sports activities such as tennis or golf.

According to the traditional Chinese medical theory of "Jingluo" (Jingluo refers to the main and collateral channels, regarded as a network of passages, through which vital energy circulates and along which acupuncture points are distributed), the ten fingers are connected with the cranial nerve and vital organs of the human body, including heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, gall bladder, stomach and intestines, etc.  When moving the iron balls with the fingers, the balls can stimulate the various acupuncture points on the hand, resulting in increased circulation of vital energy and blood in the body.  "It can cause the jingluo (channels) to be cleared, the vital energy and blood to function in harmony, the muscles to become nimble [I'm guessing the word is nimble, but there's a hole in the paper], the bones to strengthen, the mind to clear, the circulation to improve, and can prevent and relieve hypertension and various chronic diseases.  If you keep exercising everyday for months and years, you can get the fine results of keeping your brain in good health with high intelligence and good memory, relieving your fatigue, drowning your worries, and, moreover, prolonging your life."

To exercise, put two iron balls on your palm, and crook and stretch your four fingers and thumb in sequence to cause the balls to rotate and revolve either clockwise or counter-clockwise.  All the joints of the hand will always be in motion; and with the crooking and stretching of the fingers, the forearm muscles are contracted and relaxed rythymically [sic].  At first, you may prefer balls of smaller size for exercise; but as your hand strength and dexterity increase, you can use larger and heavier balls.  You should exercise both hands alternately, and will be amazed at how soon your fingers "learn" to move the balls around your palms.

[transcribed from the "Something Special" instructions, but there were some small holes in the paper, so my transcription might not be 100% accurate]

how's the weather

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Only 200 miles separate Michael Tilden and Miranda Garcia in rain-soaked Iowa. But they are worlds apart when it comes to their opinion of the weather.

Garcia, a 38-year-old former journalist and Democrat from Des Moines, thinks flooding has been getting worse in the state, which just came out of its wettest 12-months on record. Tilden, a 44-year-old math teacher and Republican from Sioux City, thinks otherwise: “I’ve noticed essentially the same weather pattern every single year,” he said.

Their different takes underscore a broader truth about the way Americans perceive extreme weather: Democrats are far more likely to believe droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes and tropical storms have become more frequent or intense where they live in the last decade, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The divergence shows how years of political squabbling over global warming - including disputes over its existence - have grown deep roots, distorting the way Americans view the world around them. The divide will play into the 2020 election as Democratic hopefuls seek to sell aggressive proposals to reduce or even end fossil fuel consumption by drawing links between climate change and recent floods, storms and wildfires.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats believe severe thunderstorms and floods have become more frequent, compared to 42% and 50% of Republicans, respectively, according to the poll.

Today's Thought

The Rev. Paul Sutekichi Osumi wrote a short, inspirational column six days a week in The Honolulu Advertiser from 1957 to 1993 named Today’s Thought.

These 2- to 3-inch missives meant a lot to his thousands of readers. Many taped them on their desks, walls, refrigerators, mirrors, carried them in wallets or mailed them all over the world. Some called Osumi ’’Hawaii’s best-read author,” and others said the minister “had the biggest congregation in Hawaii.”

His short pieces also appeared in the Hawaii Hochi and the Fairbanks Daily News. Thousands wrote him letters of appreciation.

In the beginning, several ministers from different faiths were asked to contribute to Today’s Thought, Osumi recalled. “I outlasted them all because I didn’t write about my own theology. I wrote about real life.”

By 1959, only Osumi was still writing the column, and he continued to 1993. He died in 1996 at age 90. Here are a few of his writings.

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE
1. Remember marriage is a 100-100 proposition. It’s not a 50-50.
2. Neglect the whole world rather than each other.
3. Never meet or part without an affectionate hug or kiss.
4. Each day, say at least one nice thing to each other.
5. Never go to bed angry. Settle all differences before the sun goes down.
6. Do not argue. Always talk things over.
7. Do not nag or engage in fault finding.
8. Never bring up mistakes of the past.
9. When you have made a mistake, say “I am sorry” and ask for forgiveness.
10. Never raise your voice or shout at each other unless the house is on fire.

Learn to Listen
A man in trouble said to his minister, “Thank you very much. You have helped me greatly.” Yet the minister had done nothing except to listen. If we are to do well in this world, we must learn to listen. In times of great stress, words are often futile. Often the only comfort and help we can give our friends in sorrow is to be silent and listen.

Finding Faults
If you seek to find faults in others, you will not be disappointed. You are sure to find them. But if you go out to discover the good in men and women about you, you will find a host of heroes and saints live in your homes and shops and streets. Look for the best instead of the worst.

Resolutions for a Happy Life
No one will get out of this world alive. Therefore …

Thoughts to Live By
Life is what we make of it.
Life is 90 percent attitude: think positively.
You must have something to live for.
Life is a series of ups and downs.
Forget the past and face the future: live each day to the fullest.
Let us always love people, not things.
Your life is measured by what your life meant to others.
Learn to laugh and say kind things.
To be happy, be yourself.
You have only one body; that is irreplaceable.
There is only one race: the human race.

Resolve to maintain a reasonable sense of values
Take care of yourself. Good health is everyone’s major source of wealth. Without it, happiness is harder to attain and sometimes almost impossible.

Resolve to be cheerful and helpful. People will repay you in kind. Avoid angry, abrasive people. They are generally vengeful. Avoid zealots (fanatics, cranks, loners). They are generally humorless.

Resolve to listen more and talk less. No one ever learns anything by talking. Be chary (cautious) of giving advice. Wise men do not need it and fools will not heed it.

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and wrong. Sometimes in life, you will be all of these.

Do not equate money with success. There are many successful moneymakers who are miserable failures as human beings. What counts most about success is how a person achieves it.

New 007

In news that will surely come as a shock to James Bond fans and the film industry at large, it was revealed today that longtime 007 Daniel Craig will pass the Walther PPK to black British actress Lashana Lynch in the iconic role.

For years there has been intense speculation about who would take over the reins of one of the most durable and profitable film franchises in history once Craig stepped aside. Much of that speculation has revolved around whether the series might make a nod toward diversity and cast a person of color or a woman for the first time.

But if the report from UK tabloid the Daily Mail is to be believed, the 007 producers are going for a radical twofer: casting a 31-year-old black female newcomer as Bond’s heir apparent.

According to the report, the upcoming, yet-to-be-titled 25th Bond film will reveal Lynch as the new 007 with Craig’s character coming out of retirement for one last mission.

the end is near

Alfred E. Neuman finally has a reason to worry.

Mad magazine, the class clown of American publishing, is being shuffled off to the periodical equivalent of an old-folks home at the age of 67.

After the next two issues, a publication that specialized in thumbing its nose at authority will no longer include new material, except in year-end specials, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Instead, the “usual gang of idiots,” as the staff has long called itself on the masthead, will fill the magazine’s pages with old material.

A giddy creation of the staid 1950s, Mad hit a circulation peak of 2.8 million in 1973. Since then, it has steadily lost readers and relevance, a victim of its own success, as its skeptical, smart-alecky sensibility became dominant in American popular culture. “Saturday Night Live,” “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and The Onion can be counted among its heirs, and the magazine influenced a generation of comedians and comic artists, from the late-night host Stephen Colbert to the comics writer Art Spiegelman.

Alfred E. Neuman, Mad’s freckle-faced, tooth-deficient mascot, has served as the magazine’s cover boy from the Eisenhower years to the present, appearing in various guises, including Barbra Streisand, Rosemary’s baby and both President Bushes. His motto was “What, me worry?”

blood sugar and Alzheimer's

In recent years, Alzheimer’s disease has occasionally been referred to as “type 3” diabetes, though that moniker doesn’t make much sense. After all, though they share a problem with insulin, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, and type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease caused by diet. Instead of another type of diabetes, it’s increasingly looking like Alzheimer’s is another potential side effect of a sugary, Western-style diet.

A longitudinal study, published in the journal Diabetologia, followed 5,189 people over 10 years and found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar—whether or not their blood-sugar level technically made them diabetic. In other words, the higher the blood sugar, the faster the cognitive decline.

Alice Inoue

Noticed that Alice Inoue (of Go Ask Alice fame) is still writing.  I notice today that her columns have been appearing in the Live Well section of the Star Advertiser.

Here's some of them:

6/11/19 - Humility will help you go far
6/04/19 - Stop 'shoulding' over yourself
5/28/19 - Mindfully move through the day
5/21/19 - Don't stop becoming a better you
5/14/19 - Embrace your form of spirituality
5/07/19 - Enjoy the moment and create positive memories

is fruit bad for you?

In recent months, my dietitian colleagues and I have been encountering more and more people making claims like “fruit is bad for you” or “fruit is toxic.” “What is going ON?” one of them posted on a dietitian Internet mailing list. What’s going on is that the current crop of fad diets, such as paleo, keto, carnivore and pegan — have convinced a lot of people that fruit is a dietary no-no.

There was a time when we didn’t question whether fruit was good for us, when we more or less took “eat your fruits and veggies” to heart. Today, many people are worried that fruit is too high in carbs, sugar and calories. One of my patients wouldn’t eat any fruit other than blueberries because she had bought into the myth — again, promoted by fad diets — that blueberries are the only “safe” fruit to eat because they are “low glycemic” (in other words, they don’t cause your blood sugar to spike). Here’s the kicker: She didn’t even like blueberries.

Berries are the only fruit allowed on the pegan diet, the subtext being that other fruit is a ticket to high blood sugar; but this is a fairly liberal stance compared with other fad diets du jour. For example, many followers of the keto diet and the trending carnivore diet (a.k.a. the “zero carb” diet) call fruit toxic because of its sugar. Now, that’s what I consider disordered eating.

It’s true that whole fruit contains sugar, but it is natural sugar. The sugar we would be wise to limit is added sugar, found in regular soda and many highly processed foods. When you eat an apple, a pear, a peach or some berries, their sugar comes wrapped in a fiber-rich, water-rich, nutrient-rich package. That fiber slows the release of fruit’s natural sugar into your bloodstream, preventing a sugar spike, especially if you eat your fruit as part of a meal or snack that contains protein and healthy fats.

Ditching fruit may mean missing out on some key nutrients. Many fruits are rich not just in vitamins and minerals, but also in phytochemicals, natural plant-based compounds that appear to have a variety of health benefits, including helping to prevent cancer and promote cardiovascular health. Pigment-rich berries and cherries are especially good sources of phytochemicals, but apples, oranges and other fruits contain phytochemicals, too.

no aspirin for you

If you're a healthy older adult looking for ways to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke, don't turn to that age-old standby: daily low-dose aspirin. It's no longer recommended as a preventative for older adults who don't have a high risk or existing heart disease, according to guidelines announced Sunday by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

"For the most part, we are now much better at treating risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and especially high cholesterol," said North Carolina cardiologist Dr. Kevin Campbell, who wasn't involved in the new guidelines. "This makes the biggest difference, probably negating any previously perceived aspirin benefit in primary prevention."

Doctors may consider aspirin for certain older high-risk patients, such as those who have trouble lowering their cholesterol or managing their blood sugars, as long as there is no increased risk for internal bleeding, the guidelines say. European guidelines recommend against the use of anti-clotting therapies such as aspirin at any age.

Medicare-covered preventive services

You may have heard something lately about “preventive health care.” What does that mean?
At its most basic, preventive health care means living a healthful lifestyle. Eat a balanced diet. Exercise regularly. Maintain a healthful weight. And stop smoking.

Like anyone else, people with Medicare can benefit from healthful living habits. But Medicare covers a wide variety of shots to help you stay healthy. It also covers numerous tests to help detect diseases early, when they’re in their most treatable stages.

You pay nothing for most Medicare-covered preventive services if you get them from a doctor or other qualified health care provider who “accepts assignment,” meaning they accept Medicare as payment in full for their services.

For example, you pay nothing out of pocket when you get a “Welcome to Medicare” physical exam. This one-time exam is offered during the first 12 months after you’ve enrolled in Medicare Part B.
This visit includes a review of your medical and social history related to your health, and education and counseling about preventive services, including certain screenings, flu and pneumococcal shots, and referrals for other care if needed.

If you’ve had Part B for longer than 12 months, you can get a yearly wellness exam. You pay nothing for this visit if your doctor accepts assignment. And the Part B deductible doesn’t apply.

The wellness exam is designed to help prevent disease and disability based on your current health and risk factors. Your provider will ask you to fill out a questionnaire, called a Health Risk Assessment, as part of this visit. Answering these questions can help you and your provider develop a personalized prevention plan to help you stay healthy and get the most out of your visit

Hawaii Five-O (or Hawaii Five-0)

The idea for “Hawaii Five-O” came from Gov. John Burns, who wanted to create a statewide police task force that reported directly to the governor to deal with serious crimes.

He shared the idea with CBS producer Leonard Freeman when the Legislature rejected it. Freeman set the show in Hawaii because his mother-in-law, Amelia, lived here and wanted to see him more often.

Islanders were concerned that a crime show might portray Hawaii negatively. Somehow, however, the 300 million people who watched the show in 80 countries did not see Hawaii as crime-ridden. They saw beautiful beaches and mountains. With the opening shot of a perfectly formed wave at Pipeline, they were hooked.

When “Hawaii Five-O” went on the air in 1968, about 800,000 tourists visited the islands each year. Twelve years later when it wrapped for the last time, 4 million visited.

KHON2 News anchor Joe Moore, who guest-starred in 12 episodes, believes that the economic impact of the original “Five-O” was enormous.

“The huge growth in our tourism can be directly attributed to the exposure given the islands every week on ‘Hawaii Five-O.’ It was an hourlong commercial for Hawaii every week for 12 seasons.”

The names of the original show and the current show are slightly different. You have to look closely. The “O” in the original was the letter. The current show, which began airing in 2010, uses the number, “0.” Both names are a nod to our being the 50th state.

Gregory Peck and Richard Boone were considered for the role of Steve McGarrett before Jack Lord.

Lord was seriously considered for the role of Captain Kirk in “Star Trek.” Lord wanted to co-produce that series and own a percentage of it. The show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, wasn’t willing to meet his demands and cast William Shatner instead.

Arrow to end

"Arrow" has only a few episodes left in its quiver.

The popular CW series, which helped launch a CW Arrow-verse of shows featuring DC Comics superheroes, will end its run with a shortened, 10-episode eighth season in the fall.

Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen and his alter ego, Green Arrow, announced the impending conclusion on Twitter Wednesday.

"Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life... but you can’t be a vigilante forever. Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this Fall," he wrote. "There’s so much to say... for now I just want to say thank you."

Arrow reached a milestone, its 150th episode, earlier this year.

aikido: safe falling for seniors

In the summer of 2017, Bill Doi, a fifth-degree black belt in aikido, taught a group of about 10 senior citizens how to fall. The class emphasized balance and awareness to avoid falls, but since falling is an ever-present threat as people age, and since falling can be so devastating to seniors, the idea was to use aikido techniques to mitigate the damage of falling should it happen.

“In aikido, 50 percent of the time is spent falling,” Doi said, and those falls are taught so they’re executed without injury. If the techniques are practiced enough, they become second nature if a fall should occur.

Word got out about the Safe Falling class, and the instructors were overwhelmed when a hundred new students showed up. There was clearly a desire for this training in the community.

mindful eating

We often talk about the power of mindful meditation to ease stress, improve sleep and reduce emotional issues like depression, anxiety and anger — and to help preserve cognitive function as you age. But an amazing, untapped power of mindfulness is its ability to transform your eating habits.

You can use mindfulness to increase your sensory enjoyment of food’s smell, taste, texture and umami (that elusive quality that provides pleasure when eating).

When you do, you will automatically upgrade your nutrition by exploring the flavors of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains while dumping the artificial, toxin-laden ingredients that are shoved into fast and processed foods.

Like mindful meditation and using deep breathing to help you focus and relax, mindful eating calls for a calm, focused, respectful relationship to food. This focus lets the food talk to you and tell you about its qualities and benefits to body and mind.

As Dr. Mike Roizen and Dr. Michael Crupain say in their book, “What to Eat When,” eating has unfortunately become a vacuum-like process. The sensory experience that should accompany eating is generally lost on 99 percent of you in 99 percent of your meals. We can help you change that.

A lot of mindless eating happens because we eat on the run. No time to savor anything. And that doesn’t just mean you miss out on the sensory pleasures of food, but you also cause yourself health problems. One 2017 study found that those who eat quickly (and quickly pretty much equals mindlessness, not mindfulness) were two to five times as likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a precursor to heart disease and diabetes, over a five-year span than folks who eat more slowly.

New Year's resolutions for health

It’s time to consolidate New Year’s resolutions for 2019. What is most important for the year ahead, amid escalating climate change, political turmoil in Washington, D.C., economic uncertainty across the globe and big questions about the future of health care?

Start with a checkup

Find a primary care provider. If you have one, go in for your annual visit. January is a good time to check in and check up for a year of optimal health. Manakai o Malama typically has an influx of new patients in January and expands staffing.

With joints and tendons, we can typically trust our bodies if pain-free and functioning well. In contrast, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, early cancers and heart, liver and kidney disease are detectable only with a good examination and proper screening. Make that appointment now.

Create a lifestyle plan

>> Tips for success: Set goals that are achievable. Does it fit in the schedule? How far away? Goals should be enjoyable, not humbug. Solid support, whether it is a weight-loss challenge among co-workers, a workout partner or a good coach, is key.

>> Watch the mouth: Remember, no amount of exercise will make up for a consistently unhealthy diet, especially without portion control. Green vegetables are key, but if unaccustomed to raw greens, steam them lightly. Consume lean protein regularly and limit the simple carbs. Go for local, organic and non-GMO. Enjoy the farmers market and make eye contact with the person who grew the food you will eat. Pick a vice and cut back. Give up some sodas, smokes or a scoop of rice.

Tune in to what comes out of the mouth as well. Negative chatter is so habitual. It affects mental health and human relationships and has no upside in business. People who practice not talking stink seem to live in a better place. Still, we need courage for straight talk and for sharing what we truly feel. Yup, suppression also breeds illness. And laugh.

Remember, the mouth and nose are also for breathing. When angry or fearful, we don’t exhale fully. When emotionally down, inhalation is shallow. Try to take five minutes daily to sit and reflect on the breath. Just notice the pattern.

>> Move the body: When Americans think exercise we think “cardio” and “resistance” training. For cardio it’s best to get the heart rate up with a good sweat six days per week. Twenty minutes three times per week is the minimum. If overweight or over 40 and out of shape, first get medical clearance to avoid a heart attack or stroke. For resistance training, weights work if the technique is solid. Swimming is terrific, especially if limited to low-impact activity.

Appreciate the value of flexibility training. It deserves equal time. Yoga is hard to beat if taught by a good instructor, and can be enjoyed by almost anyone. Be cautious with the big yoga chains that have commoditized the ancient art. Yoga is especially important for those who do sports that use one arm or that require the body to twist in the same direction each time such as golf, tennis or baseball. Manakai o Malama continuously sees joint injuries and sprains among those who have omitted a routine of flexibility training.

The determined streak to keep breaking our personal fitness records is a rush, but there comes a point in the life when the priority shifts to staying healthy and pain-free for the long term.

Cultivate the mind

Perspective is everything. I like to fish. It struck me once after pulling a big bull mahi on board that for one person catching a fish is just a trophy, while the next person is harvesting a sacred life to feed the ohana. The point is that perspective is everything, but there is a tendency to be so habituated, so close to it that we fail to recognize what really drives our actions. Take a few minutes each day to reflect, observe and reaffirm those New Year’s resolutions.

--- Ira Zunin is medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Serv­ices Inc.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow continue their battle

The holiday season is shaping up to be a real treat for comic book lovers and superhero fans. This month alone we will see "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," "Once Upon a Deadpool" and DC Comics' "Aquaman" hit the big screen. While Spidey and others dominate the cineplexes, relax, catch up with your favorite small screen heroes and enjoy some out-of-this-world action as they continue their battle against the most dangerous criminals in the universe in an episode of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," airing Monday, Dec. 17, on CW.

For years entertainment pundits have predicted that the superhero bubble would burst. It's just a matter of time, they'd say, as with all entertainment trends, before people eventually tire of these types of stories and move on to something else (see the western). It seems, however, that the general public is quite content with the numerous superhero tales found on the big and small screen these days, and is not quite ready to move on.

We are living in a golden age of television, and that extends to the superhero genre as well. Taking full advantage of the medium's potential, CW and DC have created a rich universe to showcase some of their best and most interesting characters and storylines. Since the debut of "Arrow" in 2012, the series has served as a launching pad for numerous new characters who have gone on to star in their own series, and in turn launch other characters such as The Flash. The Arrow verse is made up of the aforementioned "Arrow" and "The Flash," as well as "Supergirl," "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" and two web series.

In "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," we follow a rag-tag team of dysfunctional time-traveling superheroes assembled by Rip Hunter, the Time Master (Arthur Darvill, "Broadchurch") as they battle havoc-wreaking villains.

The ever-growing Legends team is primarily comprised of Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh, "Chuck"); Sara Lance/ White Canary (Caity Lotz, "Mad Men"); Martin Stein (Victor Garber, "Alias") and Jefferson "Jax" Jackson (Franz Drameh, "Edge of Tomorrow," 2014), who make up Firestorm; Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée, "Master of None"); Carter Hall/Hawkman (Falk Hentschel, "The Alienist"); Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller, "Prison Break"); and Mick Rory/Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell, "Prison Break").

Over the course of three seasons, the Legends have fought many battles against Vandal Savage (Casper Crump, "The Legend of Tarzan," 2016), Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough, "Desperate Housewives") and other dastardly foes, but it seems that they have finally met their match.

Last season ended on a triumphant note as the team celebrated the defeat of the demon Mallus, but unfortunately things aren't as easy as they'd hoped. By defeating the season's big bad, the team created more problems. Bigger problems. The barrier between worlds has softened and magical creatures are penetrating our heroes' world like never before.

This season, the team, along with John Constantine (Matt Ryan, "Constantine"), must contend with magical creatures from myths, fairy tales and legends. These "fugitives," as our heroes refer to them, are extremely dangerous and have only death and destruction on their minds. Will our heroes be able to fend off these monsters? And how will the disintegrating barrier between worlds impact the rest of the Arrow verse? Only time will tell, but what is certain is that it will be a wild ride.

Due in large part to the massive success of the Marvel films, we live in a time of shared universes. Nowadays, everything from "JohnWick" (2014) to "The Conjuring" (2013) is trying to get in on the action by creating series destined to spawn spinoffs, sequels, prequels and even the rare sidequel. Most of these cinematic universes have failed to take off (see the Dark Universe) or have been underwhelming both critically and commercially, but the Arrowverse and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" have succeeded where most have failed. This success can be attributed to interesting characters, compelling plots and solid villains, among many other factors.

Over the years, DC has earned a reputation for its dark, grim and ultra-serious films such as the recent blockbusters "Man of Steel" (2013) and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016). Yet the company has taken a completely different approach for its television properties. Unlike Ben Affleck's brooding (and extremely violent) Batman, the heroes seen in the Arrow verse, and especially in "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," are fun, quippy, flashy and absolutely over the top.

Week after week, the time traveling misfits visit new and fascinating places like Victorian London and 17th-century feudal Japan where they take on often ridiculous villains. The way Firestorm and the gang defeat these villains is equally ridiculous. Case in point: last season ended with an epic battle between a stuffed toy (think of a Tickle Me Elmo) and a dragon demon. In short, the series is a unique breath of fresh air that does not take itself too seriously.

On Monday, Dec. 17, recover from the stunning events of the "Elseworlds" crossover and reacquaint yourself with "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" as they take on magical creatures from myths, fairy tales and legends on CW.

-- Francis Babin 12/16/18