Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Music Showcase: That Old Black Magic by Spike Jones
Spike Jones murders yet another classic with his rendition of "That Old Black Magic," set to an episode of The Raccoons, which somehow makes the song even more ridiculous! Please enjoy!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
It's Pony Time!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the most recent TV incarnation of the ever-popular My Little Pony franchise, as well as The Hub's most popular show. This series, which was written by Lauren Faust, who, along with her husband Craig McCracken, had previously worked on such acclaimed shows as The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, follows the daily life of the smart, sensible Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn apprenticed by Princess Celestia, the city of Equestria's resident royalty, and her goofy, lovable friends.
Twilight's group of buddies consists of the ditzy, hyper Pinkie Pie who loves to sing and throw parties, hard-working country girl Applejack whose family runs the local apple plantation, feisty tomboy Rainbow Dash who not only loves sports and races but also helps control the weather, sweet, bashful Fluttershy(Love that name!) who loves animals and nature, and haughty diva Rarity who is Equestria's resident fashion designer. The group is occasionally joined by Twilight's little dragon buddy Spike(who fans of MLP G1 will remember) and Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash's cute but accident-prone little sisters Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who have dubbed themselves "The Cutie Mark Crusaders", due to their trying to find their mission in life.
Episodes often revolve around the ponies incurring a dilemma or situation of some ilk, which they always solve with the help of their friends, a little bit of magic, and plenty of humor!Personally, I think this is the best version of My Little Pony(although G1 was certainly no slouch). The art style is beautiful, the characters are interesting, funny, and relatable, and the episode plots are clever, entertaining and amusing. The best thing about this show, at least IMHO, is that unlike previous MLP incarnations, it doesn't take itself seriously at all, with slapstick and silly jokes being a common occurence. A nifty show that MLP afficionados old and new are sure to love, with an excellent opportunity to introduce a whole new generation to that ever-catchy theme song!
"My Lit-tle Po-nee, My Lit-tle Po-nee..." Gotta love it! :-)
Several DVDs of the series were made, which are available on Amazon*:
Several other(very nifty!) items were made, such as books, a trading card game, and some very cool action figures!
Here are some links to some of the cooler action figures:
"Friendship is magic!"
*There's another DVD entitled, "Pinkie Pie Party", which regrettably isn't currently available on Amazon, but occasionally shows up on ebay.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Book Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
How sweet it is.
WOOHOO! YEAH! 250 POSTS!!! WHOOPEE! ALL RIGHT! YAAAAY! Ahh...uhmm...(Ahem), now on to the review...
This book, which is most likely Roald Dahl's most popular, concerns Charlie Bucket, a poor paperboy who's family never has anything decent to eat. In fact, more than anything, they'd really like some nice candy! One day, Charlie finds a Golden Ticket, which will earn him a tour of famous candymaker Willy Wonka's factory, as well as a year's supply of candy! Charlie is joined on the tour by four obnoxious bratty kids: gluttonous Augustus Gloop, greedy little rich girl Veruca Salt, gum-chewing champion Violet Beaureguarde, and television addict Mike Teavee, who are all vying for the prize, too. Can Charlie beat out the(highly unpleasant) competition and claim his sweet reward?
My thoughts: Although it's probably up for debate as to which of Roald Dahl's books is the best, this one's certainly a pretty good candidate! The storyline is well-written, the characters are very interesting(particularly the Oompa Loompas), and the illustrations* are absolutely lovely. This book was so popular, in fact, that it inspired not one, but two movies and a real-life brand of candy. A definite must-read for any Roald Dahl fan.
*The illustrations here are from an older and more rare copy of the book, illustrated by Joseph Schindelman. There's a more common version of this book, illustrated by Quentin Blake, which is also very nifty!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Cartoon Showcase:Lost in the Shuffle:The Fairly Oddparents in Where's the Wand?
This episode, which first premiered on Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons series, was, for unknown reasons, never shown in the Fairly Oddparents TV series itself. In this rarely-seen classic, while Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda are fooling around, they lose Wanda's wand, which ends up in the hands of Timmy's evil babysitter, Vicky!(GLEEP!) Vicky, who's going to a costume party, assumes that the wand is nothing more than a costume prop, but it's only a matter of time until she discovers its real power. Can Timmy and his two magical friends retrieve it before that? Please enjoy!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Joke of the Week #15
Carl is walking along the beach when he discovers a magic lamp partially buried in the sand. He pulls it out, rubs it, and a genie appears.
"I can grant you three wishes." the genie says. "What will you first wish be?"
Carl thinks for about a second, then says, "I wish I was the richest man on Earth."
A puff of smoke rises in the air and suddenly the entire beach is covered in gold coins. "Now," the genie says. "What will your second wish be?"
"I wish to have muscles." Carl says.
Another puff of smoke appears, and suddenly Carl has the finest muscles ever seen. "And what will your final wish be?" the genie asks.
"I wish to be irresistible to girls." Carl says.
A final puff of smoke appears and Carl turns into a Barbie doll.
"I can grant you three wishes." the genie says. "What will you first wish be?"
Carl thinks for about a second, then says, "I wish I was the richest man on Earth."
A puff of smoke rises in the air and suddenly the entire beach is covered in gold coins. "Now," the genie says. "What will your second wish be?"
"I wish to have muscles." Carl says.
Another puff of smoke appears, and suddenly Carl has the finest muscles ever seen. "And what will your final wish be?" the genie asks.
"I wish to be irresistible to girls." Carl says.
A final puff of smoke appears and Carl turns into a Barbie doll.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Book Review:George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
Something's cookin' in the kitchen!
Here's a review of yet another Roald Dahl classic.
George is a little boy who lives on a farm with his parents, and has a kinda'...sorta'...(VERY!) huge problem:his grandma. You see, she isn't your typical kind of grandma, the sweet, kind, loves-her grandkids-like-crazy, gives-plenty-of-hugs-and-kisses, takes-her-grandkids-out-for-ice-cream-and/or-to-the-zoo kind. No, she's the meanest, nastiest, most hygeine-deficient old lady you'd ever care to meet, and constantly bullies poor little George.(George even wonders if she might be a witch...Honestly, she missed a good bet if she wasn't!)
George is in charge of giving Granny her medicine; he notes to himself that it never seems to her any good, because it never improves her demeanor at all. So, George decides then and there that he'll cook up a medicine that hopefully will change her attitude. He then sets about roaming around the house, gathering up various household items(shaving cream, floor wax, birdseed, hairspray, antifreeze et al.) and mixing them up in a large cooking pot.
Granny doesn't believe that George's medicine caused this, so George endeavors to prove it to her by feeding the medicine to a nearby chicken, which also not only grows huge, but lays a massive egg.
My thoughts:Honestly, this is one of Dahl's funnier books, with animals(as well as Granny!) jittering around, flying into the air, and screaming "OWEE!", and many weird, wacky things happening. (Triple LOL with whipped cream and a strawberry on top!)
:-D :-D :-D
My only beef about this book is:
-Like a few other people that have reviewed this book, I didn't much go for what ended up happening to the grandma.(To embellish upon a quote from this Littlest Pet Shop episode, "The old lady was creepy, but even she didn't deserve that!)
All in all, a good, humorous, well-written book that any Roald Dahl aficionado is sure to enjoy.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Book Review:The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
Another review of another classic by the great Roald Dahl.
This story is told from the perspective of a little girl whose neighbors, the Greggs(Mr. and Mrs. Gregg and their sons Philip and William*) are very avid hunters; every Saturday, they go into the woods seeking out various animals(mostly ducks and deer) for the pleasure of shooting them. Naturally, the little girl doesn't appreciate this, and she tries to tell the Greggs to stop, but they rudely give her the brush-off. Well, this turns out to be a very unwise move on their part, because something they don't realize about this particular little girl is that she has...a MAGIC FINGER!
All this little girl has to do is point her magic finger at someone, and fantastic things happen to them. Proof positive comes the next morning when the Greggs wake up to discover that they've shrunken down to duck size and grown wings!!
My thoughts:This is a very cute, clever, well-written book; the illustrations by Tony Ross(who also illustrated, among other things, the Little Wolf book series) are excellent.** The story, interestingly enough, has two morals. The first, more obvious one is, as the ever-quotable Popeye once said, "Be kind to aminals", which is, in fact, a pretty good idea. :-D The second, slightly more vague moral is presented by the little girl herself, in that she tends to zap people, in anger, with her magic finger, and ends up appalled by the end results, the implicit moral being, "It's best if people control their tempers, otherwise they never know what can of worms they might open," which is also a pretty good idea.
My only beefs about this book are:
-It's kind of short, especially compared with Dahl's other books.
-We never do find out what the little girl's name is.
All things said, this is a good, high-quality, and very enjoyable Roald Dahl classic.
*On an interesting note, the sons' names could be abbreviated as, "Phil and Will"(or possibly "Phil and Bill), which sounds similar to the names of another certain famous pair of siblings.
**There's another version of this book with illustrations by Quentin Blake(who's illustrated most of Dahl's other books); the illustrations of which are also very good.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Cartoon Showcase:Before They Were Stars:The Fairly Oddparents
In this pilot episode for the acclaimed Nickelodeon series, first seen on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, 10-year old Timmy Turner's parents go the movies, leaving him with a babysitter named Vicky. Vicky seems nice at first, but as soon as Timmy's parents leave, she shows her true colors as the mean, nasty sort she truly is and tortures poor Timmy endlessly! All seems lost for Timmy until he meets a pair of wacky fairies named Cosmo and Wanda who can grant his every wish, and he turns the tables on Vicky, but fast! Please enjoy!
Cartoon Showcase:Before They Were Stars:Chalkzone
Here, as per my previous post, is the pilot episode of Chalkzone from Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons series(which, coincidentally, was also the first segment of the first episode of Oh Yeah! Cartoons). In this episode, a young Rudy Tabootie gets in trouble with his serious-minded teacher for doodling in class, while also sparring with the class bully. Things look bleak for Rudy until he discovers a box of magical White Lightnin' chalk; said chalk allows him access to Chalkzone, a place where previously erased chalk drawings(including Rudy's own character Snap, who he befriends) come to life. The sound quality, regrettably, goes a little wonky in places, but the quality of this video is very good otherwise. Please enjoy!
In the Lemon-Limelight:Chalkzone
Chalkzone was first introduced in 1998 as a segment of Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons; it was made into a series in 2002.
The show stars 10-year-old artist Rudy Tabootie who one day finds a piece of magical White Lightnin' chalk which allows him access to Chalkzone, a place where everything written or drawn on chalkboards(and the occasional sidewalk) goes after it's erased(Ahh..so that's where it goes! :-D). Said drawings come to life once in Chalkzone, often making for some rather crazy situations! (Much of which also owing to the fact that people draw all sorts of bizzare things on chalkboards and sidewalks.)
Rudy is joined on his adventures by his brainy pal and erstwhile girlfriend Penny Sanchez, and their zany, lovable friend Snap, who was one of Rudy's chalk drawings. Appearances are also made by Rudy and Penny's(mostly) sensible parents, as well as their various chalk-drawing buddies, such as Biclops, the(slightly loopy) guardian of the Magic Chalk Mines (An interesting fact regarding him is that he was previously a rather cranky Cyclops, until Rudy drew him a second eye, thus improving not only his vision but his mood.), Blocky, an odd, ditzy, square creature who was Rudy's first drawing ever(His personality has been likened to that of the star of Cartoon Network's ever-popular series Chowder), Queen Rapsheeba, Chalkzone's resident music sensation(who mostly sings rap music) and love interest of Snap's(and his crush, fortunately, is reciprocated), and Bathtub Granny, an early comedy drawing made by Rudy. Our heroes were often antagonized by the likes of Reggie Bulnerd(gotta love that name!), the school bully, Mr. Horace Wilter, the comedy-hating teacher(Hmm, could he be related to The Man Who Hated Laughter?), and primarily Skrawl, a large, bizarre, bug-like chalk villain, and his henchmen, the Beanie Boys.
Episode plots often revolved around situations occuring in Chalkzone(and occasionally the real world) which Rudy, with the help of his friends(and his magic chalk), would need to remedy. Also, almost every episode would end with a catchy(and appropriately surreal) musical number. There was also a made-for-TV movie in 2004 entitled The Big Blow-Up.
Chalkzone ran for about 3 years before going on hiatus; in 2008 previously unaired episodes were shown on Nickelodeon. Reruns are occasionaly shown on Nickelodeon's sister network Nicktoons(Check local listings for time and channel).
Overall, this is a fun, interesting show; if it isn't Nickelodeon's most surreal series it most certainly ranks! The bizzare situations are always entertaining, Rudy, Penny, and(especially) Snap are good, likeable characters, the supporting characters are also a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is absolutely great. Honestly, it's a shame that this show didn't have quite as big a following as some of Nickelodeon's more notable franchises, such as SpongeBob Squarepants and The Fairly Oddparents, because it's every bit as enjoyable as they are. An underrated show that's definetly worth a peek.
The theme song is pretty sweet, too!
Although the complete series regrettably hasn't been released on DVD as of yet, a few episodes of the show are available on DVD at the links below:
Another episode is available on this VideoNow disc:
Also available is an album of the show's soundtrack(not to be confused with the Britney Spears album of the same name, which has fewer chalk drawings :-D):
"We're in the zone!"
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