At four, Jessica was a massive fan of the super fun My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic animated series – with plenty of toy ponies to show for it too!
The animated show tells the tale of the studious Twilight Sparkle, and her pet dragon Spike, that gets sent off to Ponyville to do some research. There she quickly becomes friends with the ponies Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and together they embark on all manner of adventures, with quite often their friendship being the thing that pulls them through!
It’s colourful, the characters cute, the stories a pleasure for both young and old, and quite frankly, I found myself rather enjoying watching the series first time around with Jess. (Less so the 300th time she watched it!)
Anyway, the good news is that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is finally back on our screens, landing in August courtesy of Nicktoons, which can be found at channel 308 on DSTV.
Magical.
Related Link: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
FIFA Corruption, Sepp Blatter finally Resigns, and of course, South Africa looks Dirty Cartoons | Sport & Health 04 JUN 2015
Each and every year before a FIFA World Cup event, we get reminded by media outlets about the various scandals and controversies surrounding world soccer’s overseeing body FIFA.
Last year was certainly no different, with John Oliver and his research team over at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver having a proper go:
Now of course scandal for FIFA is back again, with the surprise move of the USA arresting a dozen of the highest ranking FIFA officials in Switzerland on corruption charges – instantly opening up a massive can of worms and headaches for the football organisation.
(Particularly funny, because as noted, it’s taken the country with seemingly the least amount of interest in soccer to actually do something about this group that holds itself above countries’ laws!)
Needless to say, comedian John Oliver and his team immediately weighed in on the story:
The reality of all of this is of course that it seems long overdue, but at least it has forced the hand of Sepp Blatter and he has stepped down (at last).
Though of course, this could just be an attempt to jump ship before it completely sinks…
Sadly though, South Africa has now been drawn into the thick of it, and no matter how sports minister Fikile Mbalula and his team try to spin it, it is looking pretty much like we paid bribes in order to get the World Cup in 2010.
Sigh, can this beautiful country of ours not get a break or two sometime?
Of course, FIFA and the World Cup has been an inspiration for Zapiro on more than just a few occasions before, but this particular scandal seems to have brought out the best from one of South Africa’s most recognised political cartoonists:
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My favourite editorial cartoon coming out of this debacle however has to be the one drawn up by the Dr. Jack and Curtis team for EWN (Eyewitness News):
Hilarious!
Related Link: Times Live | EWN | Zapiro | YouTube
First Impressions… ThunderCats My Reviews 21 OCT 2011
For generations, the Thunderans have lived and thrived in the kingdom of Thundera, with the cat bloodline being the only race strong enough to ensure the fragile peace between the various species that inhabit the land. However, the legendary Book of Omens warns of the return of the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra, and as such King Claudus together with his powerful Sword of Omens stands always at the ready.
However, an unforeseen treachery is about to change everything, particularly for the young and impulsive prince, Lion-O, who will soon find himself banding together with his adopted brother Tygra and the cleric Cheetara as they are thrust into a now unfamiliar world on a mission where they can’t rely on anyone and have to face off against what is now a fearsome Lizard nation, led by an evil incarnate, and supported by weaponry the likes which have never been seen before!
Now this is how an action-orientated kids show ought to be, no question about it. Having no real nostalgia of the original 80’s ThunderCats series to fall back on other than one or two of the toys I used to own back when I was a kid, and an image in my mind of the main character peering through the sword’s upwards curling hilt decorations, means that I wasn’t too taken up when the big Internet hype machine started up after it was first announced that they were producing an updated remake of what apparently was a pretty popular 80’s Saturday morning cartoon.
However, having now seen the first couple of episodes of the series, I am most definitely a converted fan. The writers have taken what is to be honest a fairly silly setup to work with and scripted a fantastically engaging fantasy world and storyline that does everything it needs to do in order to entertain both kids and adults (when I say adults, I mean adults like me).
Strong, likable characters, well defined villains and a clear series goal, in what seems to be a well thought out storyline which is so far certainly as thrilling and entertaining as what you could possibly hope for from an action adventure tale – and if that wasn’t enough, it even throws in enough throwaway and slapstick humour just to make sure the kids remain interested as well, without detracting from the show as a whole!
And have I mentioned the animation yet? Unlike recent big offerings like Wolverine and the X-Men and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which could have been ten times more enjoyable if they featured better, more polished art, ThunderCats weighs in featuring absolutely gorgeous anime-styled art with very fluid animation, courtesy of the well known Japanese production house, Studio 4°C. The end result looks amazing and combined with the great voice actor selection that brings everything to life, you are left with a fantastically polished kids animated series, that is certainly deserving of some praise.
So as a first impression summary, ThunderCats has certainly impressed with the first couple of episodes and by the looks of it, Cartoon Network has yet another hit on their television network hands! (In other words, they’ve got me hooked, yet again.)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats_(2011_TV_series)
It’s Tough being a Daddy! Cartoons | Jokes & other Funny Stuff | My Life 23 SEP 2011
Chantelle presented me with this Pajama Diaries cartoon from the paper yesterday, with a broad smile on her face. I took one look and enjoyed an instant giggle. This particular conversation has happened more than once in this household already – more often than not, Daddy just has that magic touch…
…much to the chagrin of Mommy of course! :)
Truly, it is tough being a Dad. You never know just how much you need to do right and how much you need to get hopelessly wrong! :P
The House of C 021: No Such Thing as a Happy Developer The House of C 17 APR 2011
The above is pretty much every day in any programmer’s life. Which directly translates into there is no such thing as a happy developer. Unless of course you give them pizza. And hide them in a room where they can’t see their pointy-haired boss.
Or just let them work from home.
Ah, working from home. Now that makes me happy – and more money of course! :)
The House of C 020: Global Warming – Not Cool The House of C 19 APR 2010
Frost Giants. They’re big, they lumber and they seem to be made up completely of ice. A staple of fantasy no matter where one looks, it does however become quite tricky to remove them from the natural, frozen habitat. After all, no one likes a big puddle in the middle of their floor – though I guess in this period of global warming and drought, all that extra water may not be such a bad thing after all!
And on a completely different note, that’s it, the end of my re-run comics. Next Monday we move on to the new stuff baby! (not that the lack of practice has improved my scribbles mind you!)
The House of C 019: Dumping is Illegal The House of C 12 APR 2010
You might laugh at this one, but a lot of cities do have ordnances in place that forces people to pick up after their dogs or face rather stiff penalties – though one is left to wonder just who is responsible for all that illegal dumping left behind by strays then…
Final note, Judge Dredd is awesome. If you haven’t picked it up, do yourself a favour and grab a copy of either Judge Dredd Megazine or 2000AD – the absolute best in British black humour comics. (Though I kind of miss the fully painted strip days. Computer colouring just doesn’t carry the same sort of charm with it).
Oh, and if you are feeling a little lost, here’s the info link creep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dredd
The House of C 018: Deposit The House of C 05 APR 2010
At the height of the global economic meltdown, this was most certainly true. However, in an era of government bank loans and propping up of failing companies, who knows? Still, I kind of liked that short moment in time when I didn’t feel like bankers were screwing me over any more.
Pity that feeling has now gone again.
(And yes, that Ferrari looks rather shitty. But the pigeon doesn’t look half bad if you ask me!)
The House of C 017: 1000 Posts of Pain The House of C 29 MAR 2010
Another dated cartoon finds itself on the House of C, this one pulled from the original CodeUnit blog and marked the 1000th post on that particular site. Needless to say, there isn’t much of a joke to be found here, but at least you get a cartooning of me from behind. You know, from when I was all muscular-like… :P
(And I promise, nearly at the end of these comic re-runs. We’re getting there people, we’re getting there!)
