Saturday, July 28, 2018

Pony and Stitch Shows

Began a sunny morning with the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic DVD set. This one revolves around Rarity, the group's fashionista, clothes designer, and drama queen. "Suited for Success" from the first season has Rarity offering to make her friends outfits for the Grand Galloping Gala, but they aren't impressed with her designs. She takes their inputs on new outfits, but their ideas are ugly and over-the-top. The fashion show they hold for big designer Hoity Toity is a disaster. Rarity's crushed...until her friends realize that they should have taken what they were given and not only finish her dress, but get Hoity Toity to give them another shot.

Headed out shortly after the episode ended. First up was checking out a few yard sales I saw on Craigslist. I couldn't find the first one on Newton Avenue, but I did notice something more interesting. I heard that the bridge next to the train tracks going into Audubon was supposed to re-open yesterday. It wasn't open, though it was mostly finished. I saw a man walking his dog over the bridge and figured it was all right to push my bike over. The bridge itself was finished, and the safety railings were done, but the railings in back of them weren't quite ready yet. I don't know why they said they'd be ready yesterday.

A yard sale in Audubon had some interesting toys, including another Play Hair Our Generation doll, this one a blond. She wasn't in nearly as good of shape as my Ariel, though. There was brown marker  on her skin, and her hair was even more tangled than Ariel's had been. I finally moved on, heading across Audubon and Haddon Township to Collingswood for their Farm Market.

They were packed when I got in around quarter of 11. The summer produce continues to roll out. Saw plums for the first time today, but there were plenty of other fruit to try. Bought blueberries, peaches, a zucchini, a grey squash, a small cantaloupe, two small tomatoes, and an odd purple and yellow pepper from one of the organic booths.

There was one last yard sale on Park Avenue on the other side of Collingswood. They turned out to be an estate sale. I peeked at a stack of records inside, but a lady said they weren't for sale. They why were they out where people could see them? They should have been packed away. Turns out it was almost entirely furniture. I left in a hurry.

While it was sunny by that point, it was also still hot and humid. I stopped at the 7-11 on Cuthbert Road to see how much a Slurpee cost. To my delight, the smallest was only $1.19 without tax. I was able to treat myself to a large mix of pina colada and Crunchberries. (Yes, you heard that right. 7-11 currently has a Slurpee flavor based on Cap'n Crunch Crunchberries cereal. It's actually pretty good if you like generic berry flavors and don't mind having a blue tongue for a while.)

The Westmont Acme is right next-door to the 7-11. I went there next. I forgot pancake mix yesterday. Grabbed Grainberry Multi-Grain Mix and got out as fast as I could, using the self-checkout line to make things even faster.

Went home through Newton Lake Park, taking the pathway through the woods and up past the Haddon Township Environmental Center and Museum. It was almost noon at that point, and the traffic was getting a little heavy. I went straight down past WaWa and into Oaklyn. I was sweating to death, and while the humidity was lessening, it was still hot.

Put my groceries away and had a Peach-Tea Smoothie for lunch while watching more Rarity. "A Dog and Pony Show" is from later in the first season. Rarity needs a pile of gems for a batch of dresses ordered by a rock star. She heads to the caves to find some, only to be attacked by a group of gem-obsessed dogs who want her to use her powers to find gemstones for them. Spike tells the others and they come to her rescue...only to discover that Rarity already has the situation well in hoof.

"Rarity Investigates!" in the fifth season when Rainbow Dash is accused of trying to take the place of another member of the Wonderbolts in an aerial show in order to fly with her idol, Wind Rider. Rarity dons a dashing fedora and takes the case. Rainbow Dash finds her imagining everything as a film noir (complete with black and white sequences) to be more annoying than useful. As a fashion designer, however, Rarity is used to paying attention to detail...and she's noticed a lot more than her friend thinks.

Spent the next few hours working on writing. Leia reflects on the past week, which was spent either trying to get Laurence to reveal who his contacts are, or exploring Bespin and enjoying the beach and the amenities of the Hotel Ville Du Neuve with Harry. She and Harry are dressing for an evening out, thanks to the tux and red and white gown that Laurence bought them. Harry brings Leia his own gift - a gold necklace with a heart-shaped filigree and crystal pendant, purchased with some of the money given to him by Ben Kenobi.

By 4 PM, I was bored and tired of sitting. Not to mention, today is Dad-Bruce's birthday. I changed into my bathing suit, signed his birthday card, grabbed my beach towel, and rode over to their house. Everyone in the neighborhood was there but them. The front door was locked. I dropped the card on their porch and enjoyed my swim with the local kids, including a nice chat with Chloe and Savannah about their Build-a-Bear collections, their pets, and their favorite animals.

We were all out by around 5:30. Most of the kids had been there for much longer than I had, as early as 1 or 2 in some cases, and were ready to play with dolls or run around. I wanted to make dinner myself. Talked to Jesse, Jodie's son, on the way out. He was carrying a few planters with flowers over to his garden. He told me that Dad and Jodie had gone to a memorial for Dad's late father's brother unexpectedly. We talked about my setting up a blog and the stigma attached to getting government assistance. I'm still not sure I like the idea. I was really hoping I could make it on my own.

Changed as soon as I got in, then made tacos with tomatoes, cheese, and the last of the taco sauce for dinner. Finished out the Rarity set with two seventh season episodes while I ate. Rarity hopes to reconnect with her little sister Sweetie Belle by spending a day with her in "Forever Filly." Sweetie, however, has long outgrown the puppet shows and dress-up games that she and Rarity used to enjoy. She'd rather help her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders learn why another filly's dog no longer wants to play with her. Sweetie finally figures out that the filly is still treating her dog like a puppy and needs to find new games to play...encouraging her sister to do likewise with her.

Rarity learns that "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" when an accident with Pinkie Pie's silly string leaves her mane a mess. She has a big photo shoot revolving around her mane coming up and goes to zebra witch Zecora to get a special mane shampoo to get it out. Turns out she grabbed the wrong thing...and loses most of her hair. She's embarrassed, until the other ponies encourage her to make lemons out of lemonade. She discovers a new, tougher punk style, and even kicks off a new trend.

Tried Lego Clone Wars after dinner. Didn't get far. I just cannot figure out how to get the last minikit on "Defenders of the Peace!" Can't figure out  how to get all the electrical fields working to open that last red brick, either. Did pick up a character, though, one of the senators from "Hostage Crisis."

It was so nice by then, I switched off the air conditioner. The clouds were gone, replaced by sunny skies and no humidity for the first time in over a week. Threw open all the windows I could, including my new ones, to catch the fresh breezes.

Finished the night with one of Disney's most popular and unique movies, Lilo and Stitch. Lilo (Davleigh Chase) is an eccentric young miss living in Hawaii with her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere), who takes care of her after the death of their parents. Lilo loves taking photos of random people on the beach, her hula classes, and all things Elvis, but she's not dealing with the death of their parents well and is disobeying her sister. For her part, Nani's trying to keep a series of low-paying jobs and take over responsibilities she probably isn't suited for. A social worker named Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) threatens to take Lilo away if Nani doesn't shape up soon. Lilo hopes that buying a pet will make her feel better about not getting along with her peers. Her "pet" turns out to be an alien, Experiment 626, or "Stitch" (director Chris Sanders), as his owner calls him. He's a dangerous criminal created for destruction who is being shadowed by Agent Wendell Pleakly (Kevin McDonald) and his creator Dr. Jumbaa Jookiba (David Ogden Stiers) to be brought back to the Galactic Federation for trial. The lonely little girl, the troubled older girl, and the alien created for destruction find themselves discovering the Hawaiian concept of "ohana"...or that families come in all shapes and sizes, and so do friends.

You wouldn't think a movie set in modern Hawaii that features a troubled sister relationship, a little girl who loves Elvis, a Nick Fury-like social worker, and three aliens (two of whom are bent on world conquest) would work...but it does. It can occasionally get too sentimental for its britches, especially towards the end, but that's offset by some unusually biting comedy for a Disney movie, the touching relationship between the title characters, and probably the most realistic depiction of sisterhood seen in a Disney animated film until Frozen. Watching Nani chase Lilo around the house and roughhouse with her before Cobra Bubbles arrived always cracked me up; Rose and Anny and I used to have similar fights when we'd babysit each other. Their quiet time later, when they're remembering their parents, was nicely handled, too.

This is another movie I took Keefe to see at the Bayshore 8 when it debuted in 2002. This time, we both fell in love with it. It was one of Keefe's favorite Disney movies for years. (He called Stitch "Stitchie".) Keefe's not the only kid of his generation who loved this movie. It was so popular, it's had three direct-to-home-media movies, a TV show, an anime, and a still-running Chinese cartoon based after it. While folks who have fond memories of the show may want to see if they can find that on YouTube (what very little I saw of it was actually pretty funny), most everyone else will probably be fine checking out the original.

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