Silvershock

Do it, filly. Seriously. The city is great, the people are great, the food is great. If you like the big outdoors then the size of this place will keep surprising you. If you like skiing, there's four ski locations within reach. Public transport is better and cheaper than back home (within the Metro area), and there's tons to do. Vancouver Island is a ferry ride away, there's seaplanes landing in the bay, an international airport a $4 Skytrain ride away, it's just great. Plus, if you want to visit the US, you're really close to the border. (Can you tell I like to travel?) The downside is that housing here is very expensive, and rents go up sharply the closer you get to downtown. If you've got a decent job and you live in somewhere like Burnaby then it's reasonable, but I highly recommend finding a roommate to split costs with. Also, the city has no well-maintained well-kitted laser tag arenas, which for an addict like me is painful. But the biggest upside has nothing to do with the location. You don't realise what an insular, paranoid, fearful person Britain can make you until you're not there, or how reactionary, traditionalist, and downright racist the place can be (though those are some of the reasons I left). Oh, and I think I have you beat on "biggest hellhole". I went to school in......Dewsbury. *Shudder*

If I'm being honest, this show changed my life, twice. Incoming ramble! Firstly, when I lived back in the UK, I didn't have the greatest social life (though I do still have a few really close friends from there). Aside from being generally viewed as a bit weird, I'm quite susceptible to paranoia, and living on my own as I did amplified its effects. I ended up quite down and quite ill, not really going out, feeling generally uneasy pretty much all of the time.The insomnia from my childhood returned, and I would stay up late at night just trying to find things to occupy my brain - coding, gaming, cartoons, etc. One night someone from America in an IRC chat sent me a link to the new MLP, and I watched half a diozen episodes straight. It's weird to describe the effect, but the show was like pure joy, all bright colours and devoid of cynical restraint. I'd come down on a morning before work and throw an episode onto my TV from my network share, and it'd fill the room with colour. It...helped. It wasn't the only factor, but it helped me get over myself, helped me realise what I was missing. I started to push myself out of the door more often, force myself to leave and not worry. I went back to hanging out with the local furries, made a ton of friends, had a ton of laughs. I realised that I'd been stagnant in my ambitions, too, so I applied for the move to Canada I always wanted, and I got it! The second time the show made my life better was once I got to Canada. You have to understand, when I walked off that plane, I had nothing. Two suitcases of clothes, my cat in a carrier, and my laptop bag. Nothing else. Not a single thing. I didn't know anyone, I didn't know where anything was, and I wasn't sure what to do next. I met some of the local furs, including my now roommate, and started looking for somewhere permanent to live. And then I figured, "there's got to be bronies in this town, right?" Holy shit...are there ever bronies in Vancouver! I've never met such a welcoming group of people. I made a whole swathe of new friends, almost instantly. We started hanging out every single week, laughing and shouting, finding fun things to do and chaos to cause. I got involved in BronyCAN, I worked for them to help make it a fun event, and it was brilliant. Before I knew what the hell was going on, they'd handed me the reins to the convention! I was blown away. I even met my girlfriend through the brony group, and we're dotty for each other. So yeah, being a brony really changed my life. I went from a fearful, upset recluse living in some hellhole town in England, to a happy and confident (if still kinda rant-y) guy living in a great city, in a better country, with great friends. When you get right down to it, those guys are why I run BronyCAN. I don't deserve to be this fortunate, so I want to throw all my friends one massive pony party, to say thank-you, for everything.

I think season 3 is fine to be honest. The opener was great, and there were some really solid episodes in there. My problem with the finale was always down to it being rushed rather than the events that occur in it. I just wish they hadn't cut it short to spend time making that...other thing. I bloody hate that film. Best Pony just spent her time stealing everyone else's episodes, like teaching Applejack how to act hysterical.

Hola chums. Looks like I'll be over in Toronto in a few weeks. Anyone else attending CANterlot this November that fancies a beer/meetup? Been ten years since I was last in Toronto, so it would be fun to meet up with some new folk out east.