Dreambiscuit

Something from my medical insurance; junk mail. And a pair of hair-thinning scissors from Amazon.

Hey, that’s a cool looking book! I might have to grab a copy of that.

I would have loved to see the planned sequels to the movie; it never got to follow through with the broader scope of the whole story. As for the other stuff, I’m happy to give them a chance because I really like the setting and general theme.

You’re right. Continuation isn’t the right choice of words; it is more of a reboot come to think of it, because it even uses some of the same characters (with very different personalities) and there are other similarities as you mentioned. So on that basis I’ll go ahead and cite MLP G4 as one reboot that really scores.

@Fluttershutter I did try watching a few of the animated episodes and they seemed pretty much the same as the 2010 movie, which everyone hated for some reason. I loved the movie, and hated the 2024 live action series, but the animated series wasn’t hugely different from either in terms of story. I liked the old show better than the 2024 live-action series, but that’s more a matter of casting and direction than story. What surprises me is the fact that Airbender fans LOVE the animated series but are absolutely vitriolic about the M. Night Shyamalan movie, although there are no fundamental differences that I’m seeing. Maybe I need to watch more of the old show, but I think the differences are something for die-hard fans to discern rather than the casual viewer.

My latest batch: Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011) I never had much enthusiasm for trying out this movie, but I was desperate and finally gave it a chance. The results were mixed and largely as expected, but the good outweighed the bad. The story premise is pretty absurd and seems like just an excuse to show a bunch of penguin shenanigans. Not much to work with there, especially since CG penguins graphically pooping and farting isn’t exactly high entertainment. The real selling point is Jim Carrey’s performance; he still has his signature zaniness that is great fun to watch. So based on that and little else, I give it a 6.5/10 Inside Out (2015) Such a beautiful movie, but heartbreaking too. This is from Pixar when it was still Pixar and everything they made was an event. Great characters and some really creative touches. 8.5/10 The Little Mermaid (1989) A perfect Disney animated classic. No wonder it re-wrote the template and was the standard for years to come. Ashman and Menken not only wrote the songs but were more responsible for the shape if this classic than probably anybody. And what they did was perfect. 10/10 Aladdin (1992) More from the new classic era of Disney’s animated films. Though not as solid as Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, it still kept a lot of that true magic. Howard Ashman passed away before the movie could be completed so it lacked some of his guiding influence, but it does have many of his perfect songs and it’s still a great movie. 9/10

Gachiakuta. It’s a simple premise of a guy who’s wrongly accused of a crime and dumped into a garbage heap underworld as punishment, with a goal to return to the utopian upper world for revenge as his primary goal. It has some interesting character design and some funny touches. I’m only a few episodes in, but it’s holding my attention so far.

I can think of countless instances where reboots were an epic fail, but none that were an improvement. I wanted to cite MLP G4 as a good example of improvement but it isn’t really a reboot so much as a continuation. Actually I’m surprised I can’t think of a single good reboot of the top of my head right now. I’m sure there must be something somewhere but nothing comes to mind.

I’d be a fire bender. I like fire; it’s pretty and nothing really beats it. I used to be a firebug when I was little and I guess it never went away 100%. I guess world-destroying habits die hard.

To be honest I have no idea what this is or where it came from, but it looks rather interesting and I’d love to know more. Whatever Twilight did here, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.

Star Trek (original series remastered). I’ve been watching these classic episodes here and there and they hold up very well; far better than the newer Star Trek stuff.

Chicken casserole, with a couple of cookies for dessert (Sugar cookie and peanut butter cookie). Sugar Cookie and Peanut Butter Cookie sound like cute pony names, don’t they? Just thought I’d toss that in.

I heard an amusing ‘supposition’ about myself right here on the forums, which wasn’t widely circulated as a rumor as far as I know, so I'm not sure it applies. And it was pretty far-fetched so I don’t expect it went very far anyway.

I live in Anaheim, CA, so the weather is pretty nice most of the time and we have more or less distinctive seasons without any real extremes. It’s a fun place to live with no end of things to do and explore. But in the past few years its gone way off the rails and now it’s a dysfunctional mess of a state. The people in charge made an untenable disaster of it and I doubt it’ll ever be the same again. The population is leaving the state in droves. As for California in general, there’s a wide variety of natural attractions, with majestic snow-capped mountains, arid deserts, rich forests and of course, beautiful coastline. I love this state, even if much of the population are certifiable loonies.

I have a little face mask that has heat, vibration, rolling massage and plays music. It’s amazing and transports me into realms of deepest relaxation. In 15 minutes it can take me from being a nervous wreck to being so sedate and peaceful I can almost float off the floor.

I already have a couple of my faves; Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana from Your Name, and Llenn from Gun Gale online. But if I were to pick characters I don’t have, I’d love to get Umi Matsusaki (From Up on Poppy Hill), even though she’s not a dynamic style character, Miho Nishizumi (Girls und Panzer) or any of the other characters from Gun Gale Online, like Fukaziroh or Pitohui, both of which have been on my ebay watch list for quite a while. I love the sculpts for these anime characters; they’re so detailed and well done!

If there’s a thread that I’m interested in, or can impose my opinions on, I seldom hesitate. Let the world beware.

I saw my non-sister, who is not related but she’s a permanent houseguest, and might as well be my real sister considering she’s as close as any relative.

Sure, I used to obsess over it. But now, with so many people desperate to be offended by anything, it seems impossible to say anything at all. So I simply don’t worry about it anymore.

I dropped my paintbrush while I was painting. I always hold one brush in my teeth and another in my hand as I paint, and I dropped the one from my hand. Luckily it was a small brush and didn’t get much paint on the floor; oil paint and Berber carpet aren’t a good mix.

I’m still rocking the same profile pic I started with. I occasionally add a different hat or something, or change it briefly for Star Wars day or Halloween, but I always come back to my original.

I love Disneyland because of its history and the ideals it was founded on, and the few remaining aspects of the park that still reflect its glorious golden age. Now, the standards that defined that magical world have been trampled; appearance and grooming guidelines are no longer in effect, corners are cut to the bone and the people who run the park aren’t qualified for the jobs they’re so fortunate to have. On the other hand there are always going to be people working there who treat it as a special universe they love and want to share with guests, rather than a mere paycheck. So your experience is going to be based on the positives you might be lucky enough to stumble upon rather than the guaranteed great time it once was. I love Disneyland despite its atrocious shortcomings that seem to increase every year, because the legacy that Walt built will always be something special. You just have to know where to look for it.

I spent my morning mowing my parents’ lawn; a task I’ve never enjoy. Their lawn is quite large, on a steep grade in many places and I’m exhausted. The task, with a bunch of peripheral aspects, takes hours to complete, and it feels like it takes the whole day. I feel like I’ve been turned inside-out, stomped on like an old carpet, and turned right-side-out again. But on the plus side, I have that pleasant worn out feeling and I’m relaxed. I don’t have to mow that crap for another three weeks. This evening, after a little sleep, I worked on some Imagineering projects and had dinner. That's about it so far. But now that it's nighttime, my day is really just beginning.

I’m waiting for the rest of my favorite anime episodes to drop. One episode per week is tiresome and it takes forever to get a whole season’s worth to binge with.

I’ve had some bad ones like printed instructions for assembling furniture or various kinds of equipment. I can guess at most things, but between broken English, microscopic printing and poor, inaccurate illustrations, it’s impossible to accomplish anything. I have to have at least one of the aforementioned aspects working to achieve success, and too often I get none at all. As far as driving directions, I’m not sure which is worse; trying to make sense of someone’s inarticulate verbal instruction, or relying on GPS, which gives accurate instructions only a millisecond ahead of important turn-offs and exits. I guess you have to think ahead of the curve, or use physical maps for travel, and be ready to crank up Youtube to look up other instructions as you go.