Thursday, 27 March 2014

NC: Disney Afternoon Response

Nostalgia Critic: Disney Afternoon

 (Watch this before reading below)

I know this one is somewhat late, but this is one of those things where you watch it and you just have to give your own opinion on each one. As such, I just can't help myself and so throw myself out there on this.

Adventures of the Gummi Bears
I tend to agree here, as I do enjoy the Gummi Bears. Not much extra to add to what he said.

Duck Tales
Simply put, I'm not a fan of the show. Didn't think much of the theme song, nor most of the characters. If anything, I don't get why it wasn't about Scrooge and Donald on adventures as they did do this quite regularly, particularly in their comics (Scrooge's quest for treasure and to prepare Donald to take over once he's gone). While I don't think there is anything wrong with the show, I just feel that it didn't click for me.

Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers
What can I say, I'm a Chip and Dale nut. Loved the show and everything about it.

Tale Spin
I can honestly say that I don't remember much from this show, but I did watch it when it was on. It was alright and I can't really add much more to what was said.

Darkwing Duck
Again, this is another show that was enjoyable to watch, with a hundred and one entrance sayings and a bunch of great characters. The return of Launchpad as a side-kick was a brilliant idea, as the character is so lovable, yet I feel that would be destroyed as a main character. Gosalyn was also one of the most enjoyable of child characters too.

Goof Troop
I sadly have to agree for the most part. See, I loved the idea, but agree that the whole 'kwel' factor didn't gel well with me. In fact, I was more interested in the interactions between Goofy and Pete then the other characters. I understand what they were trying to achieve, but Goofy was already popular so the whole 'embarrassing parent' thing didn't always work. While the show was fine, I think the Goofy Movie did a better job with the character of Max.

Bonkers
Oh boy, where do I start. Let's see......I like it, but I don't. Some episodes were enjoyable, others just dragged out. I can't really comment much on this, since I watched this because mostly there was nothing but crap on the other channels. I must admit, the whole 'Rodger Rabbit' thing never occurred to me, I guess it was mostly because of the style of animation (or perhaps I was just clueless).

Gargoyles
I'm going to cop some crap for this, but I just thought the show was alright. Don't get me wrong, the show was indeed different and brilliant, but it was the continuation of story that caused me problems. See, most cartoons of that time had stories on an episode by episode basis with only a faint trace of continuation to them, where as with Gargoyles, if you missed a few episode it was difficult to fully understand what was going on. Miss too many and you end up having no clue as to what was happening. Very enjoyable, if you watch a bunch of episodes in a row.

Note: Out of all of these shows, I felt this one should have already been made into a live-action movie. It has the style, characters and story to pull this off.

Aladdin
First off, Dan Castellaneta did a great job as the Genie, even if the script was bad (though I must admit, he does sound so much like his Earthworm Jim voice and all I can think of is Genie yelling 'EAT DIRT! Everyone in the vicinity!' and laughing madly). I must also agree with the assessment of the main characters. Even though I don't mind Iago, but do agree with the assessment of Aladdin. Also thought Mirage was the best villain on the show too.

Am a little surprised that The Little Mermaid wasn't in this list.

Timon & Pumbaa
Show was alright, though I must admit that the first few episodes were more funny then the latter.

The Snookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show
Never heard of it.........NEXT.

Actually........I really like Eek! the Cat.

Quack Pack
While the show did try to turn Daisy Duck into a more 'modern women' (can anyone tell me if they succeeded cause I don't remember), but I do agree with NC on this one.

The Mighty Ducks - The Animated Series
While I agreed with NC on the last one, I will disagree with him on this one. I actually liked this show (well, with the exception of Duke, since I felt this guy was so out of place somehow). Yes, the villains were great and I did enjoy the characters of Nosedive and Mallory from the ducks. I do admit it was kinda stupid (but so was most cartoons at that time), but I still enjoyed it.


With that said, I love these kind of episodes as they really get you nostalgic and talking about such things (also, Lewis at the end as the grandma was brilliant). If there is one thing I will say about all this, is that I wish they'd bring these shows back onto television. I mean, Disney owns two pay t.v. channels and the only show from the classics is the one Doug didn't talk about (The Little Mermaid is on Disney Junior last time I checked). We don't even get full releases here in Australia (they only have the first three Chip n Dale RR DVD's here and have never released the final three) so it'd be nice to see some decent cartoons back as opposed to the same rehashed dribble that's on now.

Still, I enjoyed this trip down memory lane.

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Mini Sound Booth

So, not really happy with my voice recordings so far and as such, I've been looking at ways to help with the filtering of sound and noise. A lot of the equipment is very expensive, so finding a cheaper alternative is the better option.
Then I came across this video and so I've decided to give it a shot. Given that it is American, there is a price difference. Still, it was possible to get most of this for around $50 AU, though only the egg crate style was available (though it does look somewhat similar to that of acoustic foam, which is used for sound recording and is $50 AU just for a 50cm x 50cm square).

It has been build and am waiting for it to dry before giving it a test shot later tonight when everything's quiet (as I do live right near a school).
 Of course, there are a few loose ends and the edges are poorly done, but that can easily be fixed via a trip to the local hardware store. Can't wait to test this out.

Update: 26/03/14: This thing actually works fairly well. I have notice the difference in quality thanks to this little project and while it is a shame that it's taken so long to get my recordings done in time, I'm glad that this project worked out at least.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Army Of Darkness

Warning: Spoilers
Going back and looking into various classics brought me to Killer Tomatoes and for the most part it was enjoyable, so it'd be no surprise that I would take up a few suggestions. The Evil Dead classics were said to be very good with only one problem, I'm not good at watching horror movies, particularly with the supernatural involved. Indeed, the first two Evil Dead movies were are little hard for me to watch at times. That said, they are good, though what really got me was the third one, Army of Darkness.

What sets Army of Darkness apart from it's predecessors is the reduction of horror in exchange for comedy. Now for many the thought of this would cause a great deal of upset, but for me this movie is just a continuation of the evolution of the Ash Williams character. In the first he was a simple person thrown into a nightmare, while in the second he tries his best to come to terms with the madness. So by this point he's just going along with the madness in order just to get what he wants, to go home. I feel that in this movie the character of Ash is more badass then most current movie action heroes. Indeed, his sometimes badass/ sometimes idiot just makes this character even more lovable. This is also the movie which contains some of the most memorable quotes.

I'm so glad I watched Army of Darkness and I highly recommend you track it down and watch it. As for the first two movies? If you like horror (or just desperate to see the back story) then you may enjoy it, so check them out too.

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Hurricanum Project On The Move

It's been over a year since I got the Celestial Hurricanum and it has been a big on again, off again project. I've often wondered why this was the case and the answer came to me recently. It's the base structure which is slowing me down, not the little bit's like I thought. On the positive side, the base is nearly done:
Once I finish the two sides interior parts, I will finally be able to glue all base parts on. With that done I can finally focus on all the little parts and perhaps I can feel real progress on this blasted project.

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Wolf Of Sigmar Short Review

Warning: Contains some spoilers.
While the last two books in The Black Plague trilogy went smooth enough, this book is some what confusing. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story an all, but it's the  shifting timelines that has me perplexed. I'll give an example to best explain what I mean.

The battle starts in Dietershafen in the year 1119 with Mandred's forces engaging the Skaven led by Sythar Doom of Clan Skryre, then the next part is in Skavenblight in the year 1121 with Sythar Doom now in a Council of Thirteen meeting before we return once again back to the battle of Dietershafen in the year 1119. It's like this throughout the book and while the years are only so far apart and they a still somewhat connected story-wise, it does tend to start irritating you after a while. I'm not sure if this was the intention of the Author or some editorial decision, but I'm fairly sure the previous two books didn't follow this time crisscross format (I'll check and update this if it's incorrect).

The story itself is the rise of Mandred to eventually becoming the next Emperor and the defeat of the Skaven conquest. The book itself seems to take place a few years after the last one with most of the Empire under Skaven control. The book still switches between the various points of view from Mandred, Kreyssig along with a few other humans and of course, the various Skaven leaders. One of the main reasons I enjoy the Skaven written by C.L.Werner is that he really understands Skaven and can create some really enjoyable characters (which is why he is usually the one to write books featuring them) and he does indeed show them and their weaknesses well. After all, Mandred may be this great legendary hero, but the only thing that can bring the Skaven down are, of course, the Skaven themselves.

While this does finish up the Black Plague trilogy nicely, the timelinissue tends to cost it a little. Some people may think nothing of it, but for me it was the one thing I couldn't ignore. Still, I enjoyed it and found this book had some really interesting parts to it that kept me reading into the night. Now, if they could only get C.L.Werner to write a trilogy on the second Skaven civil war....

Friday, 21 February 2014

This Song Is In My Head!!

....and I can't explain why I like it so much. Perhaps I should give this game a go.