New Contest for Fall

Working on plans for a new contest (but first, more entries). Because we're entering Halloween season, I'm thinking that a G1 Sugar Sweet Candy Cane Pony would be a perfect choice! What do you think? :)

Visited by Discord

Well, not really...but at least by a decent dose of Best Laid Plansitis. Lots of plans for the blog. Zero actual plans roaring into action. The advent of the brony culture threw a bit of a pony wrench into my plans as I realized that the gulf between new G4 fans and old-schooler G1 fans was growing by the day. Do I continue on with G1s or do I start adding G4s? Do I mix the two together? I've had a project to create an entry dedicated to all the G4-ers that think G1s are bloated spawns of something interplanetary, but once I started on it, I realized I needed to study the brony culture a bit more. Watch a lot of the FiM episodes many, many times and jump into brony communities. Was it worth the effort to explain the differences or is the breach in the love and tolerance policy just too large when it comes to this generation gap?

I've actually become more entrenched in both pony collecting and the community this past summer as I realized that some of us are just called to be the keepers of pop culture, plain and simple, and there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoy the company of like-minded people and the objects we curate, so why not immerse myself in it? While the tornado of brony excitement was gaining strength I was quietly working hard on my G1 collection, finishing a host of pony cabals with laser-like intensity. So Softs? Conquered. TAFs? Vanquished. Twinkle Eyes? Taken down like tin cans at the fair. I'm now in the double digits when it comes to boxes left unmarked on my US pony checklists. Don't even think you can escape me, ponies.

The G4s were not thrown to the wayside, oh no. Many of them trotted their way into my home as the "Collect ALL the ponies!" fever kicked in. Canterlot was more like Collectalot; even the useless cardboard castle followed me back from Target. The full cast, and then some, is ready and waiting to be deployed into blog duty.

With all that intensity being thrown at the pony world, I still wasn't sure how to handle this whole G1 versus G4 thing. "Research" in the name of this dilemma meant FiM on the TV every time I turned around. Hey, we just watched that episode. No matter! Let's just memorize it a bit better. Think I blew one of the lyrics of "Winter Wrap-Up" last time. "When you're a YOUNGER PONY..." has become the standard response to "Had a bad day, need cheering up." If it wasn't me watching it, it was hubby. Caught him carefully listening to the words of the theme song "just in case I'm in a situation that I need to know it." Not watching on the TV? Well, then on the phone! Bathroom breaks at work can become a flight over the clouds into Equestria with just a touch of the Youtube app!

I grew to absolutely adore and cherish some of the priceless moments in the show and truly understand why it has such a huge, devoted fan base. I hate the word brilliant, so I won't say it, but I'm thinking it. And sealing the deal were the stampeding smug long-legged bunnies in the season 2 opener. You can imagine how hard that hit home, what with the bunnies on PTT. Pants were soiled.

But the original ponies were b...bril...that word, too. For the 1980s, they were absolutely iconic, memorable, creative, and like gasoline to the imagination. Sure, the cartoon wasn't hovering at the epic level FiM is, I'll be the first to admit. But the ponies themselves sparked flights of fancy unlike anything I can recall from the time. And heaven help you if you loved real horses, because ponies then traveled into a deeper level of childhood infatuation. Can't own a real horse, so saddle Cotton Candy up and lead her over the jumps at the Show Stable. God, there was even tack. (Horse trappings like bridles, for those not in the know) I was a real-life horse fanatic as a kid, so MLP was a dream come true.

You had the whole SHINY! PRETTY! FANCY! thing going on, with GUMDROPS and CLOVERS and POPSICLES and HEARTS...and you had horse-y stuff to get the kids who would put a horse in the bathtub and promise to scoop their poop with their bare hands as long as they could JUST HAVE A HORSE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY. Once you got tired of the real horsie thing, you could get ponies that terrorized the seas, ponies that demanded you to groom them and compliment them, princesses to look down upon the peons, and helpless baby ponies that would wet all over your little brother ("Don't blame me! She had to go!"). Don't forget, said ponies could also beat newborn ponies into submission at a nursery, clog arteries at an ice cream parlor, visit numerous parlors of sinful vanity, embrace sloth at an extravagant mansion, and even manage to bathe within a cloud capable of holding weight without plummeting to a bone-pulverizing impact.

Now if that ain't what the 80s was all about, I dunno what is.

They're all awesome. It's all worth loving. We won't even worry about the generations between 1 and 4, 'cuz it seems like in the brony battles they rarely play a key part. Were the ponies of the 80s as intense as the FiM crew? No way. In a battle of who's cooler, I'll be the first one to say that the G4 gang is the hippest incarnation of the family so far. But that's awesome. Almost thirty years later and we can actually say that the best was yet to come? Wow. That's incredible. Yeah, the toys ain't quite always what we're looking for :/ but having a lineup of personalities that people love with such fiery passion is just plain awesome.

So the blog's going to mix and mingle everypony. Sometimes I can do just G1s. Sometimes just G4s, playing off some of the FiM storylines. Sometimes have some awkward generational gap clashes between the two. Other generations will be in there too, as usual. FiM is the newest chapter in the Great Big Pony Storybook and needs its own nods, I'm realizing. The personalities involved are just too fantastic not to. Now the question is when I will actually create said entries, but at least I've stated my credo when it comes to this cold war between the generations.

That all said, can I put in a plea to Hasbro to PLEASE make the self-satisfied stilt bunnies?! What a silver bullet they'd be for the ruling class bunnies here on PTT! The havoc! The produce pillaged!

New Links For Yoo

Added some new links to the paltry list on your right. I won't be adding many over time, you see, only the tiptop of my Favorites list. Perhaps there are more of you out there that have my particular problem of harboring far too many obsessions which may or may not have some connection to each other. Hours are spent with ever-drying eyeballs screaming for moisture as you stare, owl-like, at the thirty two different tabs you've opened, slowing your computer down to a painful crawl. You hear a tiny voice inside your laptop (that sounds like a man wearing an elf suit in my laptop) begging for the madness to stop, but you plow on. Each new site you find triggers yet more openings of tabs until your button below switches from the name of the website to "ENOUGH ALREADY." An alphabetically-sorted Rolodex of all these "interests" of mine would fill a wheel the size of the Price Is Right's Big Wheel, but for sanity's sake I post here only-

1) MLP-related sites
2) 80s-related sites
3) "Retro" sites that may span a number of decades
4) Kitsch sites that focus on the weirdness of times past
5) Sites that do not relate to anything above but somehow, in some dark recess of my mind, may still relate to something I post here. I may also be rubbing my hands together diabolically in hopes that you, too, will become obsessed with the topic on the site.

I have a thing about researching the history of the Chernobyl disaster, but, really, I think that's going a bit too far to link to that stuff, isn't it? There's the vague connection of "Chernobyl happened in the 80s" and "MLP was born in the 80s" but that's stretching it so far a giant slingshot would be jealous. Though if reading about cheerful plastic ponies ever makes you consider the implications of a serious Soviet nuclear disaster that happened over twenty years ago, I will be more than happy to provide you with links!

It's 20% Cooler Over Here With Us

Over at the Estate, some ponies were going through their daily ritual of watching the new cartoon. They were having a Ponydipendence Day party that night, filled with hours of nonstop FiM action, and couldn't even get through the preparations before they had to sneak in more cartoon time.  Their blissful adoration of the show was about to be interrupted by the negative neighing of a hater...

"What are you weirdos watching? Why are the front gates moved? I heard you ell-oh-elling from all the way over in the pasture and you sound like a bunch of geese honking!"

"We're having a big party tonight and needed room! And we're watching Friendship is Magic! It's seriously the best show ever. It's so funny, and it's got some really cute lessons, and it...."

"Are you serious?! First, I wouldn't watch that show if it was the last show that could ever enter my retinas before I became completely blind. Second, that show is for fillies. Do I look like a filly? You'll never meet a more chiseled and macho display of fine quality stallion in your life. Unless the ponies die by the hand of Thoof, the Horsz God in a bloody and brutal battle, I'll leave that tripe for the chicks."

"He. Did. Not."

"Look, I just got my hooves painted, but this guy is worth ruining my ponicure for. A nicely placed hoof right in the...."

"Girls, girls, we need to remember to love and tolerate the haters! What would Pinkie do?!"

"It sounds like you really need to tone down your anger, my friend! Maybe some pony goodness would calm your frazzled nerves. Why don't you come watch some with us?"

"Okay, that's just weird. I need to go beat up somepony to get this happy squishy love crap off my hide. You go ahead and enjoy your little girly show without me."

Eh, they were used to this by now. Guess he hadn't heard about the fact that so many stallions and colts were watching the show now that they proudly called themselves Bronies. The girls rolled their eyes...Talk about out of the paddock loop, huh?!...and got back to their preparations...

 "So who's bringing the snacks?"

"Well, I invited a bunch of those ponies with the food marks so we should be all set. They always bring the best snacks. Last time, one brought a whole stinkin' taco truck with her!"

"Oooooh, I hope you invited her again!"

"Of course! And the other one known for bringing, like, forty dozen cookies. And she knows not to bring anything crappy like wafer cookies or those windmill-shape ones that taste like wallpaper paste!"

"You brought....fruit snacks? Like an industrial-sized box of fruit snacks? Where are the cookies? The clover chip ones?"

"Well, I'm kind of on a diet. Trying to cut back a little, you know? When I scraped both sides of my rear-end going into my stall door the other day I sorta realized it was game over."

"Actually, I'm pretty hungry. You guys mind if I just sort of have these to myself?"

"Go ahead! Be my guest! It's not a big deal at all that you brought a thousand bags of fruit boogers and nothing else!"

"Okay, great! I might have some of those windmill cookies around if you guys want those...you want?"

"Thanks, but no! I had my patty of paste glue for the day already, I'm stuffed!"

"Well, I can always count on you to bring something sinful! Got some Bear Tracks or French Silk? I got a brand-new ice cream scoop to use!"

"Uh, having a few issues, challenges sort of, with my, you know, weight."

"Hey, I like froyo too! So what you got? Vanilla?"

"Erm, I brought some cones. They're fat free! Really, if you don't think about it, you don't need the ice cream!"

"Oh, you nailed my sweet tooth head on there, girl. Why have ice cream when you can have imaginary ice cream instead? Where's my nitro glycerine? My heart's just going all a-flutter over the thought."

"Seriously, it's not that bad! You just picture what flavor you want and then you....uh....why are there like ten million bags of fruit snacks all over the ground?"

"Don't ask."

"Yeah! It's my taco truck girlfriend! My mouth's watering already because you always bring chow that's the bomb! What'chu got, chica?!"

"I got beans."

"Beans. Sure, makes sense to me! Why not at this rate?! Pasture always needs more fertilizer! I think I got some dried-up rock-hard Peeps in the kitchen, sound good?"

"Aiiiyup."

Despite the lack of anything junky enough to serve as party food, the fillies settled in for their pony fix and were soon rolling on the ground laughing like always. They were so engrossed with their favorite show that they missed the snobby stallion's return, this time with a colt friend of his.....

  "squeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ha! Look at those morons. I seriously can't believe that anypony sits around watching this girl stuff and has any dignity left. I'm so glad I'm not a filly. Talk about wussy!"

"Actually, the show's really good. You should watch it sometime. It's not just for girls and little foals."

"Do you have a concussion?"

"You know what? You go ahead. I'm going to stay here and watch too."

Now it was getting personal! This stupid show stole his friend away when he had a big night of billiards and gorging on buffalo-style carrots planned! Irritated by their constant laughing on top of it, the stallion came by again later ready to humiliate the girls. He had a nice string of one-liners he thought up while he got in his gallop around the track, just waiting to be fired off....

 But when he got there, he found something he didn't expect.....

"There's a bunch of colts here. Colts. Hey, boys! Do you need me to bring you some tea and crumpets to go with your frilly froo-froo TV show?!"

"That's not cool, bro."

"Yeah, you must be really out of touch. Everypony watches this show, even us bronies. It's really rad."

"Totally. Everypony should watch it. Why don't you come watch it with us, bro?"

"You look like you have some rage issues. Do you have rage issues?"

"That's nothing the ponies can't fix. Why don't you come watch with us? Have a dry ice cream cone or some beans?"

One of the colts nods his head to a spot amongst the fruit snacks the stallion could edge himself into..

"Hey, we got space right over here, bro. C'mon. You'll love it."

"Yeah, man. Join the herd. Everypony watches this show now, you're really missing out thinkin' it's only for girls."

"Seriously, it seems like more colts watch it now than fillies. It's hilarious, man."

"I still think he has rage issues."

"Dude, it's gonna happen someday. You're gonna avoid it and avoid it and one day, you'll see the light. So stop bein' a tool and chill with us. Check the ponies out. You'll see what we mean."

"It will be over my cold, hardened, rotted corpse before I watch girl stuff!"

But later that night, much, much later, after the last cone had been crunched and the last fruit snack gummed, the stallion snuck back to the Estate. Nopony was around to witness his infraction against stallionkind. I'll just watch a couple minutes. Then, once I confirm how much it sucks, I'll have tons more material to rip them a new one with! Under the cover of darkness, he pulled up an episode...

"I can't wait to see how bad this is! This is gonna be like shootin' fish in a barrel, just too easy. I am gonna never let these idiot ponies live down the fact that they're dudes watching a chick show!"

"Heh. That was kinda funny."

"Ha! Okay, that was really funny. Probably just a fluke. I mean, what could be so great about this show that everypony loves it so much? It was probably just this episode, the next one will be lame."

Two hours later....

 "I LOVE THIS SHOW, BRO!"

The girls were shocked to find the stallion glued to the computer when they got up the next day. At first bracing themselves for another round with the big jerk, the realization of what was taking place slowly dawned on them. Smiles started to creep onto their faces....

 "What ya dooooooin' over there, buddy? Watching....some shows?"

"Hi, friends! I'm havin' some Nutella and chillin' with the 'Pie and the gang! Wanna join me?"

They looked at each other with knowing glances...

"Yeah, we got another one, didn't we?"

"Aiiiyup."

Nod to the Bronies

Working on some posts. Granted, I have a clog of stories for the Episodes that is truly fearsome at this point, but the next Episode hinges on the creation of a trailer (as in the kind you hitch to your car) and so far all I have is a pathetic heap of Tinkertoys that is aspiring to be a trailer someday. So, of course, it's a lot easier to crank out some Interludes while I continue to hope that the pile of Tinkertoys will magically become a trailer on its own some night.

So, Bronies. I'm still kind of blown away by the whole Brony thing because just a few short months ago a lot of pony people kind of had to keep it on the DL, Fluttershy-style, when it came to pony adoration. Though the haters usually did me a favor by outing themselves as wastes of my time before I had to waste any of it on them. Really? So being into a fun, innocent collectors' group and loving it is beyond your scope of what adults do? Yay! Do not pass Go! Do not collect $200! Go directly to Not My Kind Of Person Avenue! Kindly turn out the lights as you leave! Noooooooow, we not only have grown-up dudes watching Friendship is Magic but they're being loud and proud about it.

And they say society is spiraling the drain! Unpossible. Boys are watching My Little Pony. Boys of the adult man variety. DH is watching FiM as I write this. How does that hoofprint in your bee-hind feel, haters? Enjoying that hoofburn?! Wishing you hadn't said anyth.....urghhh...I know...I know! Less neener-neener, more love and rainbows, right? 

Bronies, I salute you. I will be honoring you here on PTT with some Interludes of your very own.

Real men know the others just need to be 20% cooler.

Are You Pony and Proud?

Guys and gals, do you like to flaunt the fact that you're a pony collector? Or do you like to keep it on the down-low? Even more importantly, if you had access to things that tell other people about your passion, like tees or bags, would you be all over those or running for the hills? What kind of "I'm a Pony Collector!" things have you been hoping and dreaming would someday exist?

Miss Me?

Hi all. :) It's been a crazy couple of months, but my schedule is finally clearing up enough to come join you guys at the site and at Arena again. I had to keep focused on too many random things to throw "OMG I HAVE TO DO A BLOG ENTRY!!!!!111!!!1 RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!" into the flaming heap of things to worry endlessly about, which I would have inevitably done. I've had a tragedy and some triumphs, along with a new member of the family joining us, but I'm otherwise intact and fairly sane still. More on that some other time. I also managed to get not one but two 5K runs out of the way and I think I'm done with them for now. Not because of lack of interest but due to the fact that we've entered the time of year where weather is a crapshoot. Will I get a nice, misty, crisp summer morning or a scorcher that requires a firetruck to follow behind you and blast you with water to avoid heat stroke? I adore summer and blazing heat, but running in 95% humidity on an 85 degree morning isn't pleasant no matter what way you cut it.

I have also had a grand total of 0 G1 ponies added to my herd. I did manage to strike a minor goldmine day at a thrift store of G3 goodies, but we all know the Holy Grail of pony hunting is that .99 cent bag of G1s. I've been holding out hope for new G4s and I must have missed some memo about them being lost in a time warp because I've seen not a single ray of light shining on a reason they'll be coming my way soon. A large amount of my collection had to be put in storage for a while due to work in our home, so I didn't have a way to do entries or a place to welcome newcomers to anyway. Some fortunes have changed, however, that make me predict new ponies will be coming my way this summer. :) Time to go drag the charges out of storage so they can get ready for their close-ups.

I have noticed, however, that FiM has become an Internet phenomenon, even attracting a crowd of "bronies" who watch the show under the cover of darkness while their roommates or girlfriends are asleep. Or who knows, maybe they're openly flaunting their broniness by the light of day at this point. When even the dudes know who Rainbow Dash and Rarity are, you know the show has people's attentions. It's pretty awesome that after all these years the Ponies are still winning hearts. Only goes to show that the 80s had to have been the best decade to be a kid yet!

Had any good pony luck while I've been gone? Or bad pony luck, for that matter? And hey, I appreciate you sticking around with me! I have more ponies to give away, you know. :) Tons, in fact. I even have a nice big stash to sell along the way. Pony people need to hang around other pony people...what other people are going to understand why we're crying wretched tears of blood over the angst of losing that auction with Mimic and Munchy in it?