Samurai Equine

Hello there, my crowd! Welcome to my Weekly Musings: Orange Edition. 

[I ❤ JAPAN] -- [I ❤ THE COLOR RED] -- [I ❤ CELESTIA]

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How goes it, my crowd?  I got stuff to share~

 So let's talk about the biggest news: Christmas!!  It went so well. It was a little challenging to get there. Last minute gift-buying, last minute prep work, and the overall holiday rush made it hard to enjoy it the way I wanted. Not to mention, there has been so much going on behind the scenes of my life that there were moments I couldn't get any me-time. But it was still great just the same! Here is a list of all the awesome gifts I got this year:

• A popcorn maker.
• A box of masala chai.
• A grater (not the best gift, to be honest).
• A clamp for a work bench.
• Lots of free art of my OC! One of which is by @Rafa Stary, and the others I cannot tag the artist because I don't know if they have accounts here. 
• Sonic X Shadow Generations (I got this for myself as an early Christmas present).
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble.
• Two new shirts (One was from my mother, the other I bought for myself).
• Black cargo pants.
• A He-Man action figure.
• A Neutral Chao action figure.
• The Mobile Cop Jiban bluray boxset.

 However, this year also came with some conflict. I got all the material goods I could have asked for, but my cousin never came to visit for the holidays. I fear this is going to become a tradition; that's twice a year now. Our family feels so incomplete, and I can only imagine how badly my uncle is taking it.  It's the one thing he wants most, yet my cousin couldn't be more distant. But at least I got to see an interesting miniseries. It may have kept me from posting this on time, but~!

 [ 1 / 2 ] CHRISTMAS MINISERIES TIME!  Much to my dismay, I saw FX/BBC's A Christmas Carol (2019). Hoo... Let me tell you about this one, my crowd! This is Ebenezer Scrooge's darkest timeline. I remember seeing the advertising for this; the commercials made it look like Scrooge might not learn anything by the end. It didn't interest me at the time. But despite my hesitation, I've always had a morbid curiosity about it. It took 5 years, but I finally saw it, and... I think I'm gonna be sick. This is the most abysmal, most pessimistic re-imagining of the Dickens tale. Cursing, massive death tolls, creeps with no boundaries, etc. This 3 episode miniseries is NOT for the faint of heart, I can guarantee you. Heck, this show gave us a gun-wielding Lottie (Scrooge's sister)! That was nowhere near my bingo card, yet here we are! But for all the changes, additions, and horrific imagery that pulls no punches; it actually started off inspired. It took material that was all ready present in the original story, and really put a harsh truth to them. It took some of the more questionable aspects of the original story, and put a new light to them. Thankfully, it made Scrooge put more emphasis on the importance of Tim's life than the end of his own. It even gave us better dialogue and character moments. And yet... By the third act, it was completely ruined.

 [ 2 / 2 ] They really ask their audience to do too much thinking with their ambiguous ending, they leave big plot points unresolved, and they give us nothing to be happy about. Argue all you want about some of the ham-fisted elements of the original story, but it was suppose to leave you with a sense of seasonal joy and every reason to celebrate. Instead, it just drops the ball. Maybe there was no way to save it, Scrooge buried himself a bit too deep in this one. Still, when you end on a note different than what the author intended, I just can't knowingly call it good. What a waste. The production values were amazing! Everything up until the end was perfect. To all my friends across the pond, I'm deeply sorry. I truly want to believe that the UK/British Isles can tell the best version of A Christmas Carol. If there is a British adaptation that is watched year after year, I want to know what it is. But for me, this just isn't it. Perhaps if you just want a reason to hate Scrooge, this might be for you. If you've lost all joy for the Christmas holiday or traditional holiday specials, this might be for you. Who knows, maybe someone will argue that this miniseries is actually genius! ...But it's just not for me.

 That miniseries was so bad, I had to brighten the mood by watching "The Nutcracker Scoob Part 1 & 2" from the 1984 TV show The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. Interesting fact, this show is technically Season 2 of the TV show The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show. Also also, this season/show came out in 1984, which was the same year I was born. This episode exists purely in "so bad, it's good" territory. The continuity is all over the place. The logic is mind numbing. The fact they had a not-Ebenezer character that says "Bah Humbug", a not-Tiny Tim female character, and the fact they were doing A Christmas Carol as part of the seasonal pageant is absolutely crazy. Like, how can you be aware of the Dickens tale, yet not realize you've become a living Scrooge caricature?  Point is, turn your brain off for this one and just have some laughs. They didn't bring their A-game for the last episode of the season; they just wanted to show off how their animation budget/abilities have improved. Still far better than the miniseries I mentioned above.

 [ 2 / 2 ] MOVIE TIME!  Somehow, I also had time to see... Sing! Out of pure curiosity, I decided to watch this movie. I hadn't heard enough reviews one way or another, and since I suddenly had a Netflix account, I thought I'd check it out. And it's not bad! It's slightly above mid. However, I admit I'm not the target audience for it, which is good. As just one example, if you were to judge it by my older standards, you might think some of these characters are kind of terrible. But what saves it from being better than expected was two factors. For one, the movie has a twist ending that I was not expecting based on the advertising, which ultimately works better for the story and the audience. Secondly, there is an unexpected and surprisingly genuine story just underneath the surface. And I could disagree with the musical direction, but again, this is for kids. They'll get to learn a lot of classic and modern music all in one go, and kids will probably enjoy it without thinking of the deeper implications of these characters. If you want to watch this, keep your expectations reasonable, and you might just be pleasantly entertained.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and enjoy the holidays while it lasts

Once upon a time, companies like Nintendo and Sega were releasing miniature versions of their vintage consoles. They were loaded up with tons of classic titles you may have missed, but were compatible with modern HD televisions. The only thing that disappointed me at the time was a lack of a cartridge reader, since they didn't have EVERY classic game from the 80's and 90's. However, if you follow mods like this, you really don't need it. In fact, you don't even need to buy multiple consoles. This is "Still have a SNES Classic Edition in 2024?" by Garrett Buffington.