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These blogs carry various editorials, articles, and essays.

Entries in this blog

Baseball

Buffalo Man's hypothetical 2022 Hall of Fame ballot

MLB is in a lockout, but the Hall of Fame ballot isn't. To repeat from my past blog, every year, a select group from the BBWAA has the privilege to vote for a select number of players approved by the Screening Committee. In order for a former player to qualify for the ballot, they had to have played for at least ten years and not play for five afterwards. This year, thirty players qualified for the ballot, and residential ballot tracker Ryan Thibodaux re-created its layout for online t
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Dark Qiviut in Baseball

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Happy anniversary, FIM!

Happy 11th Anniversary, FIM!

Time really flies, doesn't it? On July 22, 2011, I began watching Season 1 for the first time, starting with the pilot and plowing through to The Best Night Ever. The show got me hooked. Fluttershy became my instant favorite of the entire series, a spot no one else took. Not only did I stick with FIM for the rest of its run, but also its successor. Seth over at EQD posted a nice question celebrating this occasion, and I have something to say: Hell, no! You wouldn't produce nine seaso
Baseball

Buffalo Man's Hypothetical 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

With MLB knee-deep in the offseason, that means it's not just free agency, but Hall of Fame season! Every year, a select number of writers from the BBWAA have the privilege to vote for a group of players approved by the Screening Committee. In order to potentially qualify to be on the ballot, you must've played at least ten years and not play at least five after that. While there were about 35 players approved in each of the last few years, only twenty-five were on the ballot this year.
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Dark Qiviut in Baseball

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Little rant: why "Black Lives Matter," not "All Lives Matter"

Way too many people don't understand why people say "Black Lives Matter." Since the start of the slave trade, Black people have been treated as worse than second-class citizens. Today, lots of people, especially whites, see Black people as less of a human and more of a commodity. This is especially the case when it comes to policing. Some of the first policing were slave patrols. While slave patrols don't exist anymore, the mentality remains. Police brutality has been an ENORMOUS problem for cen
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Twentieth Anniversary of a Belated Goodbye

Twenty years ago yesterday, famed Peanuts comic illustrator and writer Charles Schulz passed away from cancer at 77 years of age. The following day, his last strip (created well in advance) circulated the papers. Now twenty years since his last comic strip, Schulz’s lasting legacy remains firm, and Peanuts remains iconic for both young and old.
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"So shines a good deed in a weary world."

Note: A chunk of this analysis is credited to a YouTube comment from Plume from the featured video. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most nostalgic and memorable live-action musical films in the Americas. The wonders (and frights) of the chocolate factory, the songs, the large array of characters, and sets are fantastic. But one set that resonates so well is the climax. Early in the film, Grandpa Joe and he snuck a sip of fizzy-lifting drinks, which caus
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Top Moment of Digimon Adventure 02: Wormmon Returns

Digimon Adventure/02's American dubs infamously inserted jokes that aged so poorly that they soured before they aired on Fox Kids. But whenever it got serious, nine out of ten times did they not pull punches. When the partner of the former Digimon Emperor (Ken Ichijouji) disintegrated, it brought back horrifying memories of Ken watching his older brother getting fatally run over. Two episodes later, he got his own introspective, as he finally returned home after running away. Genesis of Evi
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"The Last Problem" Quickieview

Note: Taken from here and edited. A second, fuller review/analysis of how it's the perfect FIM finale is on the way. - A nitpick, but the adults are looking a little older than what they show. They're all at least in their mid-thirties if not closer to 40, but the giant bags under their eyes make them look like they're older than Bow Hothoof or Windy Whistles. Lighter, smaller, subtler lines under their eyes may work more to better match that range. - Twilight apparently had a li
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Ashley H's vlog of how FIM saved her life

FIM has had that magic touch that personally gets to bronies. Very often, you see, hear, or read stories of how this show has helped people become better, if not saved their lives. A few years ago, one user here gave $630 to the Forums as a way to show how much this show saved his life. Some of you might be familiar with Ashley H, a YouTuber who has posted voice-acting and editing work on her channel, particularly her magnificent series called "Remembrance." Last week, she posted a vlog of
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Why is "The Big Mac Question" Season 9's newest best episode?

Because Season 9 was its last, FIM was likely going to go out and try to deliver the best episodes possible. Out of the gate, Dubuc and Haber co-wrote Sparkle's Seven, one of the best comedic, animated, and written episodes of the series. Taking ideas from the lead voice actors, they blended together a tremendous script that never let up, delivered an excellent allegory of how well-made predictability transcends poorly-made unpredictability, and used that allegory to create an excellent plot twi
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"Daring Doubt" Review

Note: Expanded from my forum post. Credits to comments by @BornAgainBrony, @Truffles, and @Ittoni for the review. This whole episode is packed with lots of smaller details, which on rewatch go a long way. One of the first instances is this exchange between AK and her former fans. At first, it looks like a throwaway line that Groom Q.Q. Martingale threw in there. But in the beginning of Act 2, that concerned filly returns to her book signing, where we see more of this exchange:
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"A Horse Shoe-In" Review

Note: Credits go to I_Am_Number_6 on EQD, @Jerica, and @gingerninja666 for this review. Starlight Glimmer had one of the biggest arcs of the whole series. Debuting in The Cutie Map as Season 5’s top villain, Twilight successful convinced her to reform and change her ways. Rather than condemn her to Tartarus or exile, Twi elected to proactively teach her the Magic of Friendship. Even though she learned all the lessons academically in between To Where and Celestial Advice, she realized she wa
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"Dragon Dropped" Quickieview

Note: Review expanded from here, and credits to a comment by @BornAgainBrony. Back in Sonic Rainboom, Rarity showed her vanity, a big flaw to her character that hadn't been shown before. Was her behavior all that positive? Not at all. However, her position was completely believable. For the first time, we watched her gain recognition and attention outside of her comfort zone; it didn't matter if they were staring at her delicate wings or not. So it's easy to see why that vanity-dominant
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"She Talks to Angel" Review (Edited)

Note: This review has been edited to clean up and add more content, and credits go to comments by Sloppy Steve, The Dragon Warlock, and TwilightIsMagic for it. Yes, it's true. Real-life snakes can’t eat vegan; they're obligate carnivorous, so they can't digest vegetables in real life. Wolves are also primarily carnivorous, though do eat vegetation at times. If the animals behaved they do here, then yes, having carnivores eat vegan food here would be animal abuse. However, the episode m
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"God Help the Outcasts"

The Hunchback of Notre Dame's one of Disney's most underrated and best animated musicals. Darker than normal, but wrought with plenty of humor, drama, and emotion. One of the most down-to-earth, emotional songs ever published by Disney comes from this movie: God Help the Outcasts.  
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"A Trivial Pursuit" Quickieview

Note: Credits to @Cwanky and @OptimisticNeighsayer for this quickieview. After Dash had one of the most insufferable appearances of the series, A Trivial Pursuit is somewhat a return to form for Season 9. The best part, bar none, is Twilight's arc. While Lesson Zero slowly progressed Twilight into insanity, Twilight began to feel the pressure before the cold open; Spike's attempts to reassure himself and Twilight's obsessive grin and eyes give that away so quickly. When the episode con
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"2, 4, Suuucks, 8" Review

Since the start of Season 2, Rainbow Dash traditionally has the worst episodes of the season and show at large. After a swarm of some great and excellent outings, Season 9 releases its first clunker. Smolder had one of her best outings of the season. Representing the student body who wanted the cheerleading to work, she put up with all of Dash's crap and gave her the calling-out she so rightfully deserved.   After Dash gives an apology that didn't sound so contrite, she actually
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The Duck Knight Returns's fandom commentary

The Duck Knight Returns is perhaps the best episode of the new DuckTales. Of the many reasons why, the brilliant commentary on fandom's one of the most creative. It's able to comment about fandom without being mean, narcissistic, or retaliatory to criticism. It knows how to shape this commentary into the canon with nuance and care. There are five specific points that really shape up this commentary. Launchpad (representing the older fans) had a valid argument against the Darkwing Duck movi
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"Rainbow Roadtrip" Quickieview

Note: Copied and pasted from here and edited. Rainbow Roadtrip took quite sometime before the plot actually began to move. Until Mayor Skies sung about Hope Hollow's descent into despair, it spent a great deal of time showing what went on inside that "luxury resort," the ponies' behavior, and the mayor's façade when leading the tour. But all of this took about one-third of the 60-minute runtime. That's way too long, and the lack of humor makes this plot develop bland and way too simple.
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"Between Dark and Dawn" Is Great

Between Dark and Dawn marks the next chapter for the goal from the premiere: Celestia and Luna will retire, so the RM7 will take their place when they're ready. Capping the first half with this episode fits with the arc to a T, especially with the sprinkling of continuity throughout the season thus far. The fact that Gail Simone, one of the best comic writers, was invited to write the first Royal Sister episode of the show fits the grand nature of what S9 has felt for the past several episodes.
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No review this week

As fun as reviewing FIM episode’s is, sometimes you just don’t have the interest every now and then and wanna take a little break. I already commented what I wanted to comment regarding The Last Crusade (which ain’t much), and others have already filled in thoughts similar to mine. If others did so already, then I’m parroting. It’s fun to be featured in Loganberry’s Text Review Roundups every week, but getting them done early enough means sometimes wanting to write large chunks deep
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"Student Counsel" Quickieview

Note: Expanded my thoughts from here and here. Being Starlight's first episode of Season 9 and from a prior synopsis, one could guess a low-stakes episode, magic-oriented, or possible repeat of a Every Little Thing She Does. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Magic's involved, but it wasn't central to the story. With her friends off for Spring Break, she's running the school now until they return, and she needs something to organize her time in school while also not being in of
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