Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

I have just watched Raid on Rommel. I always knew Christopher was in it, but I thought it was a bit part. And I knew he died, so that made me reluctant to try it. But tonight I was fiddling with the antenna to get the GritTV channel to come through so I can record a Darren movie tonight and I caught the last part of Raid on Rommel. I remembered they were going to air it a couple of times; the next airing is Sunday at 6 AM.

I decided to try to find the movie and see it to see whether I'd want to own a copy. And YES, I DEFINITELY DO. Christopher does not have a bit part; he's very prominent all the way through. He's adorable and precious and this lady he's trying to look after knows it too. LOL. She's all over him, cooing, squeeing, trying to hug and fondle him, and it's very awkward because he's driving the truck. He doesn't know how to handle it at all. But I am so psyched to see someone else knowing what a treasure he/his character is! I want to get the DVD and take pictures and caption one of them "This girl knows where it's at."

Also, of course I must find a way to save him. I refuse to let him die. And unlike with Don Knight's poor Little House character, I think I can do it.

It was a very poignant scene, gah. It was the climatic battle and the main character had just been wounded. Christopher's character, a medic, comes to try to help him and he's cruelly and deliberately gunned down with a handgun, despite the shooter apparently knowing he's a medic. The main character is absolutely furious, picks up his gun, and unloads it into the shooter. Then he looks at Christopher while he remembers what Christopher's character told him about being in the Medical Corps because he's a Quaker and a conscientious objector and that he couldn't help in a mission where he would have to kill anyone. GAH.

**hugs him.**

I hope I can get the next showing recorded. But regardless, I really do want the DVD.

So the Pony episode this past day was really good; I think it was another of the best ones this season. But for me, that was just an appetizer before the entree, the Equestria Girls movie!

I was worried that someone might not put it up tonight, so I decided to try to get in on a live stream, even though those have never worked for me. I tried one on The Brony Network after being unable to find a YouTube one, but the connection just didn't hold. I went back to YouTube and figured I'd watch the first ten minutes clip that's been up, and instead I found a live stream that wasn't in my previous search for some reason. By that time the movie was already on, but I was able to get in on a good chunk of it. The stream kept cutting out and I'd have to start over, but I got to see many of the best parts. And then someone did put it up, so I've been able to see it in full now!

Eeeee, I'm so excited for the DVD release on the 13th.... I wish it would be in time for my birthday, but I'm glad the wait isn't too much longer.

Honestly, I seriously adored the movie. ( Mild spoilers )

Also, I always get excited because it's so uncanny how Sunset Shimmer runs these accidental parallels with the way I developed Snakes' character. They're both antagonists who ended up being shown true friendship and wanting to turn their lives around and are trying to figure out what friendship is about. And now one of my RP versions of Snakes is starting to try to pay forward the good he's been taught. It's very interesting how RPs can grow and develop and things like that can happen without it being planned on at all. I have no idea how that will turn out, but it's just kind of neat to explore that side of Snakes no matter what comes of it.

I just wish I had a place to really share my enthusiasm with other movie fans. The LJ comm is so dead. And the Pony forum I'm on is so often critical of both the TV series and the movies. Sometimes not without cause, but they also nitpick a lot instead of being able to enjoy the good. I have certain complaints of my own, especially with the series, but I still love it in spite of its flaws. Its missteps haven't reached Once Upon a Time levels of bad; hopefully that will never happen.

Ah well. Overall, such a really satisfying evening and a perfect early birthday present. I'm ecstatic.

So I've been thinking on some of the currently popular cartoons and my various experiences with them. I don't watch a lot of current cartoons; I'll pretty much only give one a go after it's been recommended to me (and sometimes not then, either, depending on the show, my interest level, and my free time).

That one person who kept wanting me to listen to them talk about their assorted OCs tried to get me into Gravity Falls by showing me the Halloween special. That was one of the strangest things I have ever seen in my life. LOL. Amusing on some level, but not really my cup of tea. She told me the series proper was not like the special, and I've meant to give it another try, but it's hard to steer myself in that direction when I didn't find the Halloween special or the characters in it particularly endearing.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ladyamberjo introduced me to the awesomeness that is Steven Universe. Ohmygosh, that show is adorable! The characters are very likable and personable. The plots are sometimes a little strange, but sometimes that's tongue-in-cheek and the characters observe how strange things are (like Steven wondering why on Earth there's a secret dimension inside his lion's mane, LOL). And the series pretty much runs on familial and friendship squee.

Ladyamberjo has also talked favorably about many things in Adventure Time. I'd like to give that one a try at some point, too, but I think Steven Universe is much more my type of show. Post-apocalyptic settings are not my favorite things, so I think that and some other things on Adventure Time would make me sad (like the Ice King's backstory, oh gosh). But Steven Universe is set on present-day Earth, and even though sad things happen there at times too, it seems like they like to end things on feel-good notes. The show is just so adorable and such a big squeefest! It always makes me happy to watch it.

I think Adventure Time is the more popular of the two; I can't seem to find much merchandise for Steven Universe beyond DVDs. That's a shame. I would totally buy Steven Universe figures, if they made them. I definitely hope that show will increase in popularity and get renewed!

Another recent cartoon I would like to watch is Star Wars Clone Wars. I saw some of the little three-minute ones of the first Clone Wars series years ago, but I've never seen any of the thirty-minute CGI Clone Wars series. That time period fascinates me and I would definitely be interested in seeing some of the adventures the characters have. There's new Jar Jar and Boba Fett adventures and that would certainly be fun.

Then there's Star Wars Rebels. I skimmed through a kid's book of the plot, and it sounds fun and very Star Wars-ish, but I think I'd be a lot more interested in it if some characters were around that I already know and like. It seems like it's entirely about new characters instead. One of the fun things about Episode I was how it dealt with characters we already knew, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, and the droids, in addition to bringing new characters into the fold. It really helped to ease viewers into things. I just don't know what to make of Rebels seeming to focus only on new characters.

And of course, Phineas and Ferb. LOL. That show is very cracky and silly. The constant formulaic repetition of the basic plot structure gets a little monotonous sometimes and I wish something would happen that isn't the norm. Some people actually like the repetition, but I usually don't care for that in any show and usually will try to ignore it if it's in a show I really like (such as Perry Mason, which I watch for the characters more than the plots). But perhaps there is a bit of development later on? I hear that the boys finally learn their platypus is a secret agent, for one thing. **snerk.** Perry the Platypus is totally the best thing about the show. And the mad scientist, naturally.

Littlest Pet Shop has also been recced to me. I've tried more than once to watch it and I just can't seem to get past the super-deformed style of the pets. One of these days, I'm going to give it a go and see if I like it. I think it seems a little young for me, but maybe if I actually watched it, I wouldn't think it was any more that way than My Little Pony.

Curiously, as popular as it is, I don't think Monster High has ever been recced to me by anyone. Which is fine; I don't think I'd care for it.

I've also fallen way behind on Winx Club. Is that even still a current series? I know they're finishing (or have finished) season 6. I don't know if there will be a season 7. I stopped watching when KidsWB dropped it and I have never seen anything from season 4 and beyond. It sounds like it has characterization issues sometimes, and I can believe it, as I had characterization issues with what I did watch. That show was always a guilty pleasure more than anything else. I still don't know if I'll ever get around to trying the other seasons.

Then there's The Legend of Korra, which I believe just finished up? I'm curious about it since I heard it takes place in what looks like the 1920s (?) and that's a favorite time period of mine, but I don't think I'd want to watch it unless I ever get around to seeing Avatar, and I don't know if that will ever happen. That's a long show, so a big commitment. And it would need to be watched in order too. I have difficulty gearing myself towards watching things that need to be seen in order, since I don't have much watching time and I usually like to stick with my current interests since I don't even have much time for them.

I also want to try the CGI Hello Kitty series. I've experimented with a couple of the older series and I thought they were adorable, especially Hello Kitty and Friends. The older series were anime, but I'm not sure what to call a Japanese-made CGI show. CGI I usually think of as a cartoon rather than anime.

My favorite current cartoon is My Little Pony, and I love the two Equestria Girls movies, too. I am often exasperated by the directions the show takes, however, especially how they're not consistent in writing for the characters or their supposed development. I kind of wish Equestria Girls would become a series, if they would focus on Sunset Shimmer's journey to learn about friendship. I just love and adore Sunset Shimmer so much and would want her to be the central figure in any Equestria Girls TV series.

I think if I continue to be exasperated by the writing choices once season 5 of My Little Pony starts, Steven Universe will usurp it as the favorite current cartoon.

Slept off and on and sometimes wasn't quite sure I was asleep. I only remembered one particularly lovely dream after I'd been awake a while.

We were attending some live performance show, something like America's Got Talent, I guess. I have no idea why. But we were there, and Richard Anderson happened to be there watching, and I went over and sat with him and he remembered me from me writing to him and we stayed and enjoyed the program together and it was very squeeable. I enjoyed being with him much more than I enjoyed whatever it was we were seeing.

It makes me wish he'd come to the semi-local Comic Con. It's fun writing to him, and I'm looking forward to making another birthday post and sharing it with him, but man, I'd love to meet him in person sometime. I've never been that interested in attending the Comic Con, but if Richard came, I would be all over it.

So for a long time I've avoided season 1 of Mannix because it had a different format than other seasons. Mannix worked for a huge private eye company and his secretary Peggy wasn't there. And I'd heard that he had lots of conflict with his boss.

But finally, a couple of months ago or so, I decided that it was time to try it. And I was so surprised and amazed and in love! Mannix really doesn't have a bad relationship with his boss at all. They're close friends who respect and trust each other. Even when they disagree, it doesn't get really bad. I like to say they're like Kolchak and Tony without copious amounts of screaming. The actors are close friends in real-life, too, and it comes through in their characters. There's an interview with them on the first two discs and I adored it. Disc 5 features them giving commentary on an episode, and for just about the only time in my life, I had to listen. Usually I don't care about commentary tracks because I just wanna watch the episode or movie.

Well, so disc 1 instantly made me want more and moooore of season 1. Then I heard about a two-parter where the boss, Lew Wickershem, is acting weird because of taking pills that are causing bad side effects, and Mannix has to rescue him from the bad guys. That was disc 5, and I had to order it out of sequence. Usually I try to get the discs in order, unless there's something I have to see on a different disc.

The episode is Deadfall, and I just saw it early this morning. It's everything I'd hoped for and more! It's seriously like some of the fics I used to write. Lew is acting very neurotic because of the pills and starts treating Joe Mannix very nasty. Joe is hurt but doesn't know what's going on. Then Lew starts hallucinating, seeing a traitorous agent everywhere. Eventually he has a fight with Mannix, a real knock-down, drag-out physical beating for both of them, but he thinks he's fighting the traitorous agent. It's really sad and heartbreaking for both of them.

After the fight, Joe stumbles to the apartment of a girl involved in the case. He's dazed and hurt and says that even after it's happened, he still can't believe Lew attacked him like that. Then the girl calls the company doctor for him and the doctor realizes the pills are causing this. Joe instantly feels horrible and says he should have known Lew was sick. They'd been through so much together, so many wars, and they'd saved each other's life. And even though he's badly hurt, and doped up because the girl drugged his drink to try to keep him from leaving in his condition, he tries to leave to go find Lew because he's so worried about him. He collapses on the floor and can't go for a while.

Finally he wakes up and starts out looking. Meanwhile Lew was tricked into going to see the widow of the traitorous agent, only the agent is alive and he and his wife abduct Lew. There's an intense scene where Lew is trapped and hallucinating the agent laughing at him and saying that Joe would know what to do, but this is the first time Lew's been captured and he's panicking and doesn't know what to do. It's very interesting seeing what is quite possibly some of Lew's insecurities coming out like that. Then he hears a kitty meowing and finds a tunnel leading upward. He's able to make a grappling hook and climb out of there.

Eventually he finds out Joe was trying to save him and now Joe may be in trouble, so he goes looking for Joe and they meet up and attack some of the bad guys. Then Joe runs off in search of the traitorous agent, who's just shot somebody else, and ends up cornered with the guy going to shoot him. Lew shows up just in time and shoots the creep to save Joe.

The episode ends with Lew looking to Joe and saying he's sorry for hurting him earlier. He wonders where he's been, mentally, and Joe says he doesn't want to know. Then he collapses in Joe's arms and Joe is supporting him.

Squeeeee! So much wonderful friendship! I'm totally adoring season 1 and that's probably in my Top 10 of favorite episodes across all the seasons now. And I think since seeing disc 1, I've started to have a little crush on Lew's actor, Joseph Campanella. I want to watch the other series he starred in, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers. Cozi airs it. I need to catch an episode of it anyway because Darren guest-stars.

The only problem is, now I'm heartbroken over the fact that there's no more Lew after season 1. I got my season 6 set and I'm eager to start it, and I love Joe's friendship with secretary Peggy too, but gah, I wish Lew was still there. Even when they brought the actor back for a guest-spot, he didn't play Lew. And I don't think they ever mention the character after season 1, even though Joe does pay a couple of visits to the company to get information after he goes off on his own.

There's no way Joe would just forget about Lew. And I don't think there was some argument between them that led to his quitting the company for good. Even if there had been, they would have patched it up. So I insist on believing that Joe is still friends with Lew and sees him often, even though it isn't shown onscreen. And I think if I write Mannix fics, Lew will always be in them, even if I'm writing in the era when Joe has his own business.

It is such a shame that season 1 isn't more appreciated. It's even been left out of rerun packages of the series! This is a great treasure trove of awesomeness here. It should never be left out.

So I was attempting to re-read my Bonanza-related story with the Armory siblings.

And I need to keep writing my new WWW chapter.

But I discovered that my Oscar Goldman figure was delivered yesterday and was on the porch.

And he really looks like Oscar/Richard.

So I really want to just bounce off the walls and squee and squee and squeeeeeal!

So, in the past week I've seen H.M.'s other two episodes of The Virginian. I am thrilled to report that I love his characters in both of them!

The first season (which isn't as good as the sixth season, in my opinion) has him in the episode 50 Days to Moose Jaw, playing a man married to a rotten woman. She tempts a poor guy and flings herself at him, he tries to get away, and H.M.'s character's brother thinks the guy is flinging himself at her. They end up fighting to the death, with the brother being killed. H.M. is enraged, of course, and demands to know what happened. The crummy wife lies and no one believes the guy about how it started. Some of them form a lynch mob and try to get the poor guy, who killed in self-defense, and H.M. has to stop them, saying they'll take him to town for a trial. But he escapes, and H.M. goes with the sheriff to find him. I'm unsure if H.M. is just deputized for the assignment or if he's a deputy in the first place, but he has a badge in later scenes. And he interacts with Roberta Shore! Epicness achieved.

If it had been an episode in a later season, I think H.M. would have had more screentime and probably would have appeared at the very end for the final resolution. But, being the first season, it's raw, writers are playing with things, and H.M. doesn't get as much screentime. I am ecstatic about what he does get, though!

And I've just come from watching the seventh season episode The Wind of Outrage. H.M. interacts extensively with one of Mom's favorites, Ricardo Montalban (further epicness!), and they're both relative good guys. Ricardo's character was once the leader of a group of revolutionaries, but now is trying to settle down. H.M.'s character comes on behalf of the three biggest fur trappers in the U.S., bringing money to help start the revolution again. Ricardo's character thinks that the fur trappers, as well as H.M.'s character, really just want the usage of the Canadian forests after the war is over. H.M. appears indignant and insulted. I'm inclined to believe that he has no ill intentions or ulterior motives, because of what happens later.

One of Ricardo's character's supposed friends sends H.M.'s character a note, promising to help him achieve his goals. They meet in the woods and the friend reveals that he's going to betray Ricardo's character, despite trying to convince him to join the revolution again. Instead, he'll deliver Ricardo's character to the government for trial and hanging. The twisted plot would end with the friend being the only one to escape, and he would proclaim himself the new leader of the revolutionaries and would allow the U.S. fur trappers use of the woods. H.M. listens to the whole plot, not really giving his opinion on it until the end, whereupon he furiously declares that he won't have any part in the murder and he's going back to St. Louis. The wretched "friend" is stunned that he would refuse, and of course, tries to kill him. It's very hard to see in the nighttime light of the scene, but I think H.M. gets stabbed, judging from his reaction. **cuddles him close.**

Trampas finds him later, lying beside the empty money box. Of course the murdering **bleep** took all the money. There's no further mention of H.M. beyond letting Ricardo's character know of the murder and the betrayal, all of which The Virginian overheard. He got shot, so he was unable to help H.M. character from being stabbed.

Now, I of course insist that H.M.'s character is not dead. I insist upon believing that he was left for dead and is badly hurt, but is alive. He was unconscious when Trampas found him and Trampas had no reason to doubt he was dead.

All I have to decide now is if The Virginian and Trampas find him alive when they leave at the end, or if Ricardo's character's fiancee finds him a bit later. Either way, I'm toying with the idea of him and the fiancee becoming close, as Ricardo's character decides to go back to the revolution after all and leaves at the end. I want him to come home alive eventually, though; H.M. and the girl wouldn't have to become romantically involved. It could be a deep friendship.

(And Trampas is awesome in the episode. Yes, he is so, so much better when he's more serious. He really grated on my nerves in the season 1 episode.)

So, although I still love season 6's The Fortress the best of H.M.'s episodes, I am totally thrilled and squeeing over the others, especially the season 7 one. And now I have a future plunnie.

http://lucky-ladybugs-lovelies.tumblr.com

In which I will fangirl, squee, post pictures, and occasionally reblog awesome stuff. I already discovered a movie with Richard and Raymond Burr I must see. And I think I need to get some Wesley Lau stuff on the Tumblr, pronto. He is, sadly, ignored on Tumblr. I'd better get cracking on that website for him, too. He's more obscure than Simon. Seriously, Crystal and I thought it was hard finding stuff about Simon. We found a treasure trove compared to what I can find for Wesley!

Also, I have plunnies for The Rifleman. And I find it's connected with Law of the Plainsman, which has one of Wesley's most squeeable characters ever, in the episode Stella. You can bet I'm already plotting a fic where he turns up in The Rifleman verse.

I need to work on the next Perry chapter, too. And it seems like I really meant to write a long LJ post, but I can't think what I was supposed to talk about. I'm squeeing too much to think.

One of the few things I have in common with Rainbow Dash is that we fangirl. I have totally been sitting here going "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh" for the last few minutes. While trying to update my Perry mystery, my hands have been shaking in my excitement and glee.

I got a reply from Richard Anderson! I had just about given up on that. Ohmygosh. Squeee! Yes, contacting via private messaging pays off.

I also drew this, which I shall link to on the blog post tomorrow: http://meromeroyui.deviantart.com/art/Amory-Fallon-and-Lieutenant-Steve-Drumm-316919168

(No, I did not show this to Richard, if anyone's wondering; I think I'd feel a little embarrassed to do so. But I'm sure he'd be gracious.)

Squeeee!

Also, I like Sampson now, I learned I've been spelling Chamberlin's name wrong and have to start fixing that, and I got a really cracky idea for a group of crazy villains from The Wild Wild West to time-travel and for the sadistic cowboy played by H.M. Wynant to lasso Sampson right in his office. I'm not sure what would horrify and shock Sampson more: to be lassoed by an evil-doer from the 1870s, or for this evil-doer to look just like him. Oh the crack! What I have seen in my mind I cannot unsee!

I think I'll need to say that the Wild Wild West is a category readers will be seeing regularly at ladybug_tales, instead of occasionally as it currently reads. I have a plunnie for a story after the one I'm doing! (And of course, I have to finish my Man-Eating House fic too.) I wanna do a follow-up to The Night of the Poisonous Posey episode, the one with those nutty villains. Everyone except Posey and one guy bought the farm by the end, and I wanna write a fic where the others are starting to be mysteriously revived, one by one. Because they're just too nutty and fun to stay dead!

I don't think The Poisonous Posey is one of the most well-liked episodes, but I get a big kick out of it. I think it's because the gang reminds me of an 1870s version of V.I.L.E. Posey is so a Carmen Sandiego counterpart! And H.M.'s character is about the only other serious one. Everyone else is off-the-wall to varying degrees.

(I also think H.M.'s character has a crush on Posey. He's always getting up to politely pull out her chair for her. No one else does. Odd for such a sadist to have manners!)

There are so many wonderful men on Perry Mason. While I was fiddling around looking through Dead Ringer pictures to make a Steve icon, I saw so many adorable shots of Hamilton that I wanted to stop and icon too. Which makes me wish again that we were allowed more than 15 icons for free. Or to wish that Insanejournal, which gives you 100 free, was a more active place.

I've been teetering back and forth between fangirling Steve here, Andy and Amory, and Hamilton for the past couple of weeks. And by extension, their actors. And let's not forget William Boyett. (I just bought the trading card they made of his Star Trek character with the fedora. And we're on season 4 of Highway Patrol again, so it's William B. every night/morning! YES!) It's all rather confusing and overwhelming. I'm a bundle of squeeing, adoring nerves.

Wednesday I was talking to Dad about Richard Anderson and he told me he thinks Richard is the guy who leads the crowd in singing the drinking song in the movie The Student Prince. That amuses me to no end. I didn't even remember Richard sang. I already knew he was in the movie, so now I wanna see it again all the more. I keep picturing Steve singing that song and then cracking up at the thought.

And I've started my Wild Wild West story that's a follow-up to Richard's episode. It's based around my theory that his character had an evil double, because otherwise some things just don't add up. I'm a lot better with writing for Jim and Arte than I was before. I was delving more into their thoughts and personalities and I felt very comfortable with it. It's a very satisfying feeling.

Wednesday I also saw a new Superman movie at Wal-Mart. And they brought George Newbern back! I was so excited I exclaimed right in the store. Seriously, I thought they'd moved on to other actors. It seems like they never keep one for long. And I thought Tim Daly was the fan-favorite Superman voice. But on these recent direct-to-video movies they've been making, it seems like they alternate between using Tim's voice, George's, and one or two various other actors. I wish they had used George for the Doomsday one.

I've gotta get me all the George ones.

So many men, so little time.