Miles

On 5/11/2014 at 4:34 PM, plzremoveaccountfdfd said:

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I totally agree... 

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I'm still pretty much sticking to the same stuff I posted about 2 or 3 years ago in this thread when it comes to Spring/Summer clothes.

T-shirts (typically with logos but sometimes plain), and cargo shorts (usually tan) or jeans (typically faded black) in moderate to warm weather... I just got a new shirt that I really love from Le Claire, Iowa after visiting the American Pickers' store a couple weeks ago. It's kind of an earthy pastel green with a picture of a old Land Cruiser (though the front end looks like a Jeep but it's just a "clip art" style picture) with the words "Less People - More Life On Two Lanes - Made In USA" on it.

For Fall/Winter when it's colder, although I love flannels as I've said before, I don't currently have any that fit me so I'll probably need to buy some more (most of my old ones were so worn out they were getting holes and had to be thrown out). Typically anymore I just throw on either a field jacket or a zippered hoodie over my T-shirt, and I'm usually always wearing jeans (faded black) or some of my army green sweatpants from IIRC I think American Eagle or Aeropostale - I don't remember. 

Oh, and as always... I have a ball cap on my head 90% of the time. It's either a CAT or Ford cap. 

Boxer-briefs, the in-between answer. BUT NOT JUST ANY BRAND, specifically Joe Boxer boxer-briefs. Unfortunately, I think K-Mart stopped selling the type that I like (pure or mostly pure cotton, and zero spandex or anything similar). 

It varies greatly depending on whether or not I have to get up early the next day, and how much physical activity I endured during the daytime. 

Anywhere between Midnight and 6:00 AM. Lately it's been between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM.

I'm from central Illinois, in the Spoon River area. My hometown has a population of about 2500 or so people. Our town is surrounded by corn and beans everywhere (and basically every surrounding town in this county as well as the towns in surrounding counties). I quite enjoy the small town life in a city dominated by agriculture. Our community is quaint and rustic, and at least 70% of the people here drive pick-up trucks (or so it seems). It's normal to see tractors and other large agricultural equipment driving on main street. My parents and I live in town but we have somewhere between 6 to 8 acres of land out of town out in the country where my mother has a horse, and a miniature donkey. In fields next to our land we often see someone flying a crop duster (small aeroplane) over crops. We can go out there in the dark of night to view the stars with basically zero ambient light, and that is an incredible thing to see if you've only seen the sky from a city where there are streetlights and such everywhere.

Yesterday, my father and I went to see the Western Illinois Threshers Inc. 50th Annual Show in Hamilton, IL. There were many old tractors, a couple oil pull threshers, some garden tractors, some automobiles, and a few Mack trucks. This website describes it more in depth: http://www.westernillinoisthreshers.org/

Here is an oil pull thresher/tractor (being used to turn the belt for a sawmill that is outside of the picture).



If you want to look at a plethora of pictures of old tractors, download this .zip file I uploaded here: 

Threshers at Hamilton IL 8-4-17.zip

Backup link on Dropbox just in case: 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uywtb77pdpzzwjw/Threshers at Hamilton IL 8-4-17.zip

I've spent far too many hours of daydreaming in my life on subjects like this, and other similar ones. But you see, I just have too much of an emotional attachment to my parents, family, and friends to give a legitimate answer to this question as it stands. That isn't to say I wouldn't enjoy temporary time travel - I mean, who could honestly say no to temporary time travel (on the predetermined basis that it is 100% proven and safe, and with 100% ability to come back to the exact time at which you left)?

Despite all the times I have considered myself to have more in common with people 10 to 20 years older than I am (traditional values, a deep love for simplicity, and an inherent respect for property of any kind regardless of what it is, among other things)... I would never dare to say that I wish I were born as a Gen X instead of a Gen Y, because even considering some of the bad things I've had in my life, the good things outweigh everything else tenfold.

Nonetheless, I will still give a hypothetical answer to OP's question...

I know that this may sound like a ridiculously corny, and possibly materialistic reason, but in all honesty, I do not feel that it should be viewed as such - I would have loved to have been able to see some of my favorite grunge bands [in person] performing concerts while they were still putting albums out, namely Nirvana, but probably also Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and so on (ergo, I would have loved to have been a young adult in the early 90's, which would mean I'd have been born in the late 70's). 

It is unfortunate that there is somewhat of a negative stigma attached to people who listen to grunge music. I don't listen to it because I want to be different; I don't listen to it because I'm depressed; I don't listen to it because I'm trying to be counter-culture... No, none of that. I listen to grunge because I just love it, plain and simply. It strums just the right chord inside me, and pulls me in. I'm not saying the genre itself doesn't have some elements that make it seem depressing, or make it seem like it's trying to be counter-culture, but regardless of that, it comes down to the individual and how they interpret the music. 

Anyway, I wouldn't change my birthdate, but if I were to be able to time travel safely and with the ability to return to my current present time, I would go back to see the beginning of the grunge genre in person. 

Furthermore, to give additional reasons as to why I would have liked to enjoy the 90's as a young adult (and I swear I am trying to say this in the most objective manner as I can), the 90's were undeniably the "Calm Before the Storm" turning point of society and technology. By then, car manufacturers were finally learning how to build cars that satisfied both the government and the people; safety and efficiency standards were becoming achievable without dissatisfying consumers with under-powered engines and notoriously over-utilitarian designs (albeit, Japanese Imports were nearly a decade ahead of American vehicles in the 90's, although we caught back up by the turn of the century). Music was still listened to via Boombox for the most part, but portable cassette tape players would be just coming out and would soon gain popularity quite quickly. MTV still aired music that could quench the majority of peoples' tastes. While still essentially rivals within the government, Democrats and Republicans (and most others) could still speak to each other calmly in person and/or in public without screaming at each other and wanting to rip each others' throats out. The advent of the Internet as we know it now had not yet come to light, and cell phones were larger than bricks so not too many people used them. Terrorism was probably one of the last things on our mind, even bearing in mind the attempted attack in '93. Our society as a whole was mature enough shrug off comedy we thought was distasteful or offensive, rather than being triggered into acting like someone just pissed all over their KIA'd grandfather's grave.

(At least from an American standpoint) The 90's really were a great decade to live through because society wasn't as chaotic and hateful as we are now, and people still lived their lives as themselves in person without relying on an ever evolving alias, and without being hidden with the cloak of anonymity. We as a whole were happy... were content... and were hopeful with what we thought we would see in the near future, because - excluding the silly Y2K scare - we expected the first decade of the 21st century to be a continuation of what we saw in the 90's, but better, as we expected major breakthroughs in technology that would make the 00's a happier and more advanced version of the 90's. While we did indeed get to have almost all those major technological breakthroughs pretty much come to light, we never expected what the 00's actually brought us.

So, that is why I would have liked to have experienced the 90's as a young adult: we were moving forward without taking two steps back, and our outlook on the future was mostly positive as we walked next to our friends... of whom some may have had polar opposite political views, but we didn't care. Vietnam was 15 years in the past and we were finally feeling stable again. We lived life simply, and one of our biggest worries was merely about what SPF of sunscreen to buy. We felt as though we had our lives in control. And well, we did... Until September 11, 2001. That was beginning of an ultimately unpredictable society. A new hell was born, as we finally had our lucky streak of breaking the wishbone in equal halves taken away from us. 

I've seen some pretty fucked up parodies of cartoons by a select few youtubers that would probably instill fear in anyone sane.

There's, andywilson92 (with his most notable video "Snospis Eht: : The Epic Adventure" which I definitely will not embed here or link to because it's probably not appropriate), and there's seinfeldspitstain (with his most notable video "Jimmy Neutron Happy Family Happy Hour" which I could link, but won't, and that one created the meme "the pizza is aggressive"). 

I know this thread was for real cartoons, but I figure parodies could count, as well.

17 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Season 6's "Buckball Season" has the Andrea Libermen-voiced characters playing Buckball for the fun of it!

*Andrea Libman

I read through the OP, mostly nodding in agreement. I think some of the [main character] needs episode with [main character] bullets aren't as important, same with the Spike episodes, but I wouldn't really mind either way.

The one thing I strongly want to reply to is this:
 

9 hours ago, MegaSean45 said:

Applejack

* AJ's parents' fate. (Probably not gonna happen)

(There's not really much of AJ that is needed after her parents, and also she seems to have everything she needs in life!)

No.

I think it's best left where it is, after what AJ said to Applebloom in the episode where the CMC get their Cutie Marks (something like "Mom and Dad would be so proud [of you]"), and after Season 7 Episode 13 "The Perfect Pear."

If you haven't seen that episode yet, since technically it hasn't aired yet except for Australia (and only we who cheat and watch the latest episodes online despite where they aired will have seen it), look forward to it, as it will definitely help with settling the deal about AJ's parents... 

Anyway, if you haven't seen "The Perfect Pear" yet, when you do go to watch it, just make sure to have your tissue box at arms reach, because you'll be needing it.

I don't think there needs to be any furthering around AJ's parents beyond "The Perfect Pear." And I promise, saying this spoils absolutely nothing. You're in for a train ride down Feels Lane when you go to watch it, though. 

From March through May, the last Animes I've watched (in this order) are:

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2 (aka KonoSuba 2)
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
Demi-chan wa Kataritai
Little Witch Academia
Monster Musume
UN-GO
Concrete Revolutio

I'm not sure if I actually finished Concrete Revolutio, as my MAL says I put it on hold halfway through. That'd have been mid-May, around the time I graduated college, and I had to turn in my "Cap-Top" (the laptop my college loaned to students for the 4 years of our major). That may be why it says I put it on hold. I might go back sometime to where it says I left off, and check to see if I actually just forgot to update it to finished, or if I really did leave off half-way through. 

Since MAL erases your recently watched history after like 2 or 3 weeks (or however long), I had to go into one of the Discord servers I'm in with my old college roommate and some of our online friends to look through my recent history in the anime channel to find the above listed animes I recently watched. I didn't want to dig back any deeper (read: I was too lazy to go back farther). I haven't watched any since basically mid-May. I think I'm planning on watching this next sometime soon:

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria (aka DanMachi 2)

I'm definitely leaving out a lot since if I took this post too seriously it would be way too long... 

Non-Traditional "cute" animated characters:

Casper (The Friendly Ghost), Courage (The Cowardly Dog), Miss Frizzle (The Magic School), Moose (Pepper Ann), and Team Rocket (Pokemon).
 

Traditional "cute" animated characters:

Annabelle (Annabelle's Wish), Blue (Blue's Clues), Chuckie (Rugrats), Franklin (The Turtle), Wakko (Animaniacs), and Vanellope (Wreck it Ralph), (and basically any main character from almost any Studio Ghibli film).
 

Non-animated "cute" characters:

Dani (Hocus Pocus), Dennis (The Menace), Lydia (Beetlejuice), Salem (Sabrina The Teenage Witch), and Sophie (Halloweentown).
 

Yeah, I'll just stop there.

On 7/14/2017 at 5:34 PM, Frostgage said:

Simple question - how does your level of interest in the show now compare to when you first joined the forum? If it has changed drastically, is there a particular reason?

I became a fan after watching the pilot episodes back in December of 2013 - it wasn't until June of 2014 when I found these forums. Anyway, I have to say that I was very lucky to find the show when I did. It was my Freshman year of college, basically near the end of the first semester, before the start of the second. I didn't know it beforehand, but I had a void within me that would have definitely caused me a lot more emotional turmoil than mere homesickness did when I was a Fresh/Soph in college. Becoming a fan, and becoming a part of the community here on the forums has made my life tremendously better.

When it comes to my fandom levels, I can definitely say that I hit the ground fucking running, because as soon as I watched the pilots I was hooked on the show like a construction worker snorts blow. I used to watch hours and hours of the show each day. I stopped counting a long ass time ago, but if I were to guess, I'd say I've seen Seasons 1-3 about 9 or 10 times, Season 4 about 7 or 8 times, Season 5 about 6 or 7 times, and Season 6 maybe 4 or 5 times (and Season 7 once - at least in terms of the episodes that are out as of this edit). 

My friend slowly got me into anime in Autumn of 2015, and by Spring of 2016 I was pretty much weebing out full throttle. Which worked out great, as that was around the time I was beginning to need a break from binge watching MLP. 

My love for MLP hasn't dwindled, but the almost spiritual connection I used to have with the show is now but a bittersweet, pseudo-nostalgic memory. And that's to be expected. That isn't to say I don't feel as giddy as a puppy chasing ducks by the pond when I watch new episodes - I do - but, I don't revolve my life around the show like I did in 2014 and 2015... I was obsessed to core back then. 
 

@Jeric @Glacies Frost

Hmmm, okay, I understand your points, and I get what you mean by old hat...

However, the reason I figured it would bring more customers (and more profit) was because there are a lot of anti-corporation/anti-capitalist people who hate Walmart, Amazon, etc... If people who were against buying from big name companies (Amazon in this case) were taught about the ability to have part of their payment go to a charity/organization of their own choice, they may change their mind and start buying from Amazon. Basically, it could teach people that capitalism and humanitarianism can actually go hand-in-hand, and thus bring people who previously would not have used Amazon to come around to using it. 

Plus, Jeric, it's not an auto-contribution (it isn't out-of-sight out-of-mind). People have to choose which charity/organization they want part of their payment to go towards.

Anyway, I now understand why it's not standardized. It totally depends on the amount of new customers they would receive and how many total users that would utilize Amazon Smile. 

What if they made it an opt-out rather than opt-in option? Might still be risky, I don't know.

Just now, Yamet said:

Why exactly? If people would buy more things from Amazon simply because they'd support a charity organisations by doing so, then they'd just use Amazon Smile in the first place.  

Because like I said, there are many people who DON'T know that Amazon Smile even exists!

8 hours ago, The Cerberus said:

Yes, they would make profit, I didn't say that. But they would make Less profit, and no sane corporation would purposely make themselves to make less money.

You asked why they don't force it and I answered, it doesn't matter if they could survive with less or not, because they don't want to do it. No matter how much one believes that they have a good heart, they are here to make as much money as they can, and that's what they will do and have always done.

7 hours ago, Discordian said:

I'm just throwing possible reasons out there. You might have a counterpoint for any of those reasons but ultimately the decision and the reasons lie with Amazon themselves. If you want to know you can always try contacting them directly.

I'm of the opinion that Amazon would make more profit it they forced/standardized Amazon Smile because I feel it would bring more customers to buy from Amazon. There are a lot of users who don't even known Amazon Smile exists, and there are also a lot of non-users who probably don't know it exists either.

I could be wrong. But I just think that it would attract more people to buy from Amazon if Smile was forced/standardized. Thus, more people buying from Amazon - even with that meaning more donations - still means more money that Amazon receives.

Anyway, it's not really a huge deal. Amazon will do as they please, and customers will also do as they please. In the end, it doesn't really matter.

4 minutes ago, Discordian said:

[1] That's still a huge portion less profit though. A lot of money that could be used to keep/hire better customer support, [2] more warehouse workers, [3] and even keeping costs low for sellers who put their stuff on Amazon. [4] Imagine if Amazon had to raise their "take" from sales. It would ultimately raise individual sellers' prices so they can keep their profits coming.

1. Honestly, I really, really don't believe that. Amazon makes bank, regardless of whether or not customers use Smile or not. Their customer support is pretty damn good, and I doubt a small loss of profit would make any difference, as it seems, at least to me, that Amazon has always put the customer first. 

2. Have you seen videos showing how crappy of a job it is to be an Amazon warehouse worker? I don't find that relevant to this subject anyway, though.

3. Again, Amazon makes great profit regardless of whether or not customers use Smile. I don't think it would affect the costs for sellers.

4. Redundancy. Amazon isn't going to be losing much profit from Smile anyway. Even when they do donate, they are still making profit, which is pretty incredible anyway, considering Amazon typically has lower prices than in-stores (even those with their own online markets like Walmart), at least for automotive products and audio equipment products from my experience.

Anyway, I am going to bed now. I have got to get to sleep. I didn't get an ounce last night and I'm at the point where auto-pilot could kick in any time now. Good night.

6 minutes ago, The Cerberus said:

I was answering to this

 

 

You asked why they don't make everyone use it, I said because they would lose money, then you said that why Smile would be a thing if they would care about losing "small portion" of the money and lastly I explained why it wouldn't be "small portion" if everyone used it. 

Bull.

Even if every single Amazon customer used Amazon Smile, Amazon would still make profit. They wouldn't set up a system that would be a detriment to them.

Anywho, I need to get to bed. I didn't sleep last night (or should I say "couldn't" sleep last night). Oyasumi 

Just now, The Cerberus said:

You see what I'm trying to say?

I don't see how what you said differs from what I said... So... Yes and no?

Obviously it's a marketing thing. Just like you said:
 

1 minute ago, The Cerberus said:

Amazon gets more customers who like the idea that they are helping someone by buying there.

So, you're really just proving my point more than yours.

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1 minute ago, Glacies Frost said:

That's simple, really. One, haven't picked a charity yet, two, I've been kinda lazy, and three, I haven't actually BOUGHT anything on Amazon in over a year and a half.

I see. I guess if you don't buy online often, there's less incentive. However if you do shop online often, it seems like Amazon Smile offers a pretty neat incentive. In my opinion, for the things that I buy, usually Amazon has cheaper prices than in-store prices. I don't shop on Amazon *all* the time (maybe a few times a year via Amazon gift cards), but when I know I need something, and that something is cheaper on Amazon, I'm most likely going to buy it through Amazon.

Just now, Glacies Frost said:

This is actually fairly simple, if you think about it. Amazon gets to have its cake and eat it to, to use the old adage. By allowing for the donation choice through Smile, Amazon comes off looking like the good guy, who really cares about giving to those in need. On the other hand, by not standardizing it, it still gets to make full profit off of those too lazy or apathetic to  make the switch. For them it's a win-win. They can say they give you the choice, but that they can't (or won't) force you to. This makes them look good while also providing them the maximum profit off of the lazy/apathetic shoppers. By the way, I'm not saying they don't care, just that this business model actually allows them to have more profit than standardizing would... and I know they care, since they shove that "shop through smile.amazon.com" pop up down my throat every time I sign in.

I agree with you. And from a Libertarian Capitalist viewpoint, this is a great strategy. But like you said, they do care, and they do advertise Amazon Smile to non-Smile customers non-stop. But in my eyes that's a great, humanitarian thing. 

I have to ask - why don't you use it? It doesn't cost you any more at all. 

24 minutes ago, The Cerberus said:

Since you don't pay more to them, it means that Amazon get less when you use AmazonSmile. And what does business like amazon want? That's right, money. So they won't force you to use AmazonSmile because they would get less money that way, than when you don't use it.

I get your point, but why would Amazon even have Amazon Smile in the first place if that's the case. Your argument makes no sense. If they cared about losing a small portion of their money by donating to a charity of the customer's choice, Amazon wouldn't have smile.amazon.com to begin with! 

I'm a Libertarian Capitalist. This is a win-win in my eyes. Amazon still makes bank even through Amazon Smile while also being humanitarian by donating a portion of their profit to charity. 

It looks to me like you're really missing the point, and don't understand how economy works. 

Amazon is a huge industry, so much so that it probably plays a role in the world's economy.

Sooo... WHY doesn't Amazon standardize (ergo force) the use Amazon Smile (AKA smile.amazon.com)?

I'm honestly both amazed and confused at why you can shop at Amazon without going through Amazon Smile. 

Does anyone else use Amazon Smile? If so what charity do you/did you choose (you don't have to say if you don't want to)?

If you are only now hearing about Amazon Smile now and have an Amazon account, you should definitely make the switch to Amazon Smile. 

Sometimes when I'm not even listening to anything, my brain will randomly start "playing" a song I hadn't even listened to recently. This one popped into my head a little bit ago. 

14 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Not a continuity mishap. "Don't use magic to clear the snow" only applies to Ponyville. Yakyakistan's a completely different country.

Oh, I very well know it is. But it implies two different standards. Normally I wouldn't be bothered by something like that, but well, when "tradition" is involved, it's a different story. 

I know the moral is supposed to be "help stubborn folks when they need it" or whatever, but I think the Yaks could've bared to learn something the hard way. 

You take your shoes off to walk on your own carpet, but not your neighbor's? Yeah, that's my point.

Edit:

Overall, this was an average episode. Meh.

BUT DAMMIT, I'm mad. Why? I hate continuity errors and mishaps.

Remember when Twilight was having problems with Winter Wrap Up since you're NOT SUPPOSED TO USE MAGIC?

Oh, right. I guess it need not apply here, because fuck tradition amirite? (Cue internal screaming).

"Good choice! Not that you had one..."



WOOO! Y'all gonna make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here!

Dayumn, Starlight! Honest to goodness, I was *floored* when you said that.

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Years ago I'd have written a novel on how much I loved this episode. But today I'll just say this:

Holy fucking shit that episode was incredible.