With Benefits / My Little "Brony" / Farewell Stargate
So I'm officially a full employee with benefits at Maxim as of Monday! I went in for a presentation and to turn in some paperwork and get a new badge. It's great that for the first time in seven years, I have real health insurance. I guess that's one of the benefits of being with a gigantic company: They have the ability to do these things for their employees. In the short term, I've resolved to see where this job takes me over the next year or two. I can't deny the opportunity I've slipped into by becoming a helper for the IT department. It could prove to be my ticket to a serious lucrative career albeit not an artistic one as I originally envisioned when I started college a decade ago. Maxim hiring me after only six months as a temp is proof that I'm important. Let's see where this goes.
Also, with this job being a sure thing for the foreseeable future, I really do need to move out. All the sudden it seems like I've got some huge life-changing decisions happening and deep down I feel sad that things will be changing. It's a very odd time for me.
A couple months ago, some friends of mine on the Internet showed me an episode of the new My Little Pony television show. As I watched it, I realized I was enjoying it but I didn't know why. I mean, even though this show has great animation, design, voice acting and writing, it's meant for very young little girls. There's no reason a 20-something guy should be into it. Turns out this show is from the same people who did the Powerpuff Girls and later Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, one of my favorite cartoon shows of the last decade. So it's no wonder I like the show; the quality storytelling is shining through the obviousness that I'm not the target audience.
As time has gone on and I've ravenously devoured all twenty-six episodes of the first season (It's been green-lit for a second season airing as soon as this fall), I've learned that the fan base is huge. And a lot of the fans are men, too. They've even invented a word for guys who like the show: "Brony." Earlier this year, there were My Little Pony McDonald's Happy Meal figurines, and as popularity of the show increases, so does the value of these toys. A full collection of all eight pony toys can go for $80 on eBay. It's insane. All this Internet hype and adoration is not lost on the show's creators and animators, either, who are visible presences on message boards.
It is a cute show. It's not frenetic ballistic mush for ADHD preteens, either. The characters are charming, lovable and memorable while everything about the show is well-paced and beautiful. There are even musical numbers that are catchy and fun. Yes, I'm saying this about My Little Pony. In a world where so much television is disappointing and repetitive and ridiculous, it's refreshing to see something that blows away my preconceptions and transports me to another world. I am recommending it to anyone who has half an hour to kill. Hit YouTube and do a search for the first few episodes. Hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was and we can induct a few new bronies into the fold.
My happiness for discovering that show is tapered with sadness as another show I followed and grew to adore is prematurely coming to an abrupt end. Stargate Universe, a spinoff series from Stargate SG1, had its series finale on Monday. The show lasted only two seasons and was cancelled due to low ratings probably caused by switching the show from Fridays to Mondays between the first and second seasons. SGU was a markedly different from SG1 and that turned off a lot of Stargate fans. SG1 was light, funny and adventurous while SGU was dark and serious. Every episode was the next part of a huge epic story, too, so if you weren't there for the beginning or missed an episode, you got behind. I stuck by the show for every episode and although it was tough to muscle through the first season, the second has shown itself to have true potential.
The show is about a bunch of people stuck on an alien space ship which is somewhat out of their control flying through the farthest reaches of the universe. Unlike other utopian space-fairing sci-fi shows, this one deals with the harsh realities of space flight such as lack of food, irreplaceable ship components, infighting and death. Ohh yea, you best believe people die. It's gritty science fiction. But it was also beautiful. In the final episode, everyone aboard was going into stasis to survive the three years it would take the ship to fly the gap between the galaxies it was traveling through. Epic. The last man left to sleep, a character named Eli, is a fan-favorite and was the easiest to identify with: A goofy lovable super-smart slacker geek who mans-up on this adventure. Eli owns the last few minutes of the final episode which is perhaps the best, most moving and poignant piece of television I've seen in years. The music gets me every time. Saying goodbye to the entire Stargate franchise too soon is almost like being injured. This show should have lasted years. Here's the clip of the final few minutes from the finale as the ship slips silently off into deep space, never to be heard from again. Farewell and safe journey. Perhaps we'll meet again someday.
Also, with this job being a sure thing for the foreseeable future, I really do need to move out. All the sudden it seems like I've got some huge life-changing decisions happening and deep down I feel sad that things will be changing. It's a very odd time for me.
A couple months ago, some friends of mine on the Internet showed me an episode of the new My Little Pony television show. As I watched it, I realized I was enjoying it but I didn't know why. I mean, even though this show has great animation, design, voice acting and writing, it's meant for very young little girls. There's no reason a 20-something guy should be into it. Turns out this show is from the same people who did the Powerpuff Girls and later Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, one of my favorite cartoon shows of the last decade. So it's no wonder I like the show; the quality storytelling is shining through the obviousness that I'm not the target audience.
As time has gone on and I've ravenously devoured all twenty-six episodes of the first season (It's been green-lit for a second season airing as soon as this fall), I've learned that the fan base is huge. And a lot of the fans are men, too. They've even invented a word for guys who like the show: "Brony." Earlier this year, there were My Little Pony McDonald's Happy Meal figurines, and as popularity of the show increases, so does the value of these toys. A full collection of all eight pony toys can go for $80 on eBay. It's insane. All this Internet hype and adoration is not lost on the show's creators and animators, either, who are visible presences on message boards.
It is a cute show. It's not frenetic ballistic mush for ADHD preteens, either. The characters are charming, lovable and memorable while everything about the show is well-paced and beautiful. There are even musical numbers that are catchy and fun. Yes, I'm saying this about My Little Pony. In a world where so much television is disappointing and repetitive and ridiculous, it's refreshing to see something that blows away my preconceptions and transports me to another world. I am recommending it to anyone who has half an hour to kill. Hit YouTube and do a search for the first few episodes. Hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was and we can induct a few new bronies into the fold.
My happiness for discovering that show is tapered with sadness as another show I followed and grew to adore is prematurely coming to an abrupt end. Stargate Universe, a spinoff series from Stargate SG1, had its series finale on Monday. The show lasted only two seasons and was cancelled due to low ratings probably caused by switching the show from Fridays to Mondays between the first and second seasons. SGU was a markedly different from SG1 and that turned off a lot of Stargate fans. SG1 was light, funny and adventurous while SGU was dark and serious. Every episode was the next part of a huge epic story, too, so if you weren't there for the beginning or missed an episode, you got behind. I stuck by the show for every episode and although it was tough to muscle through the first season, the second has shown itself to have true potential.
The show is about a bunch of people stuck on an alien space ship which is somewhat out of their control flying through the farthest reaches of the universe. Unlike other utopian space-fairing sci-fi shows, this one deals with the harsh realities of space flight such as lack of food, irreplaceable ship components, infighting and death. Ohh yea, you best believe people die. It's gritty science fiction. But it was also beautiful. In the final episode, everyone aboard was going into stasis to survive the three years it would take the ship to fly the gap between the galaxies it was traveling through. Epic. The last man left to sleep, a character named Eli, is a fan-favorite and was the easiest to identify with: A goofy lovable super-smart slacker geek who mans-up on this adventure. Eli owns the last few minutes of the final episode which is perhaps the best, most moving and poignant piece of television I've seen in years. The music gets me every time. Saying goodbye to the entire Stargate franchise too soon is almost like being injured. This show should have lasted years. Here's the clip of the final few minutes from the finale as the ship slips silently off into deep space, never to be heard from again. Farewell and safe journey. Perhaps we'll meet again someday.
Click to view