Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

I hope I'm not going to have trouble getting reviews on chapter 2 of the Kolchak/YGO crossover. I was still hoping someone I know who likes both shows would review the first chapter, but I decided to post the second one yesterday instead of continuing to wait for him. Kolchak is really the main fandom; YGO is just a secondary one, with only two characters from the show appearing/planned to appear. But I still felt it needed to be in the crossover section, considering one of them is the main villain and the other is Kolchak's informant.

I also worried wondering if the guy I know who's familiar with both shows would think I was writing for the new Kolchak series in order to cross it with YGO, so when I put up chapter 2 I altered the story summary to try to make it clear that it's the original series.

And I re-watched Jimmy's first appearance on Knight Rider. The whole first season is available for free streaming through Hulu. LOL, he's so awesome, as always. I adore this part where he and a couple of other inmates at the county correctional facility are staging a breakout and, on the idea of one who has been dragged unwillingly into the escape, they start a food fight as a distraction. Jimmy's character Pink (yeah, I don't know either) flings food across the table at a guy and when he demands to know what's going on Pink says innocently, "You looked hungry." LOL, such classic Jimmy. It sounded like something Myron might have said.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/jimmymurphy/images/knightrider/kr_31.jpg

Jimmy is the one with the much-too-innocent smile.

My little ghost plunnie exploded into a full-fledged, multi-chapter fic, and a very strange one at that. Now it's the Monkees discovering the ominous home, there's more than one malevolent spirit, and Baby Face was killed during twisted and unexplained circumstances, not a simple gang war. It will be explained later, but for now neither the readers nor the Monkees know what happened. Tony and the other gang members have come back to the house and are telling the Monkees to leave. They know that if the Monkees stay, the same disaster that befell Baby Face will come to them.

I'm trying to think on whom the disaster should start to befall, if any of them. So far I keep coming back to Davy. I'm not sure why I feel like it shouldn't be Mike. If it were Mike, the others would have to deal with figuring out how to save their leader. And that could be an interesting parallel since the gang was unable to save Baby Face. Maybe the more I write, the more right it will feel for it to be Mike as the victim.

There's far more paranormal things going on now than in the initial first draft, which featured only Baby Face as a vengeful spirit as a paranormal thing. It doesn't weird me out as much as that old RP where Tony was defeated by a Doom Reborn member and unwillingly worked with them under their control until he broke free and pushed Baby Face and the other gang members out of the Doom Reborn circle before it surrounded him and took his soul, but I'm still somewhat weirded out by the fic's concepts. I don't know, when the gangsters are such realistic characters and use guns and brute force and intimidation, I feel like paranormal goings-on ruin the realism. But the fic really wants to be written. It keeps coming. So I guess I'll keep writing until either I finish, stall, or am too weirded out to continue.

I'm thinking I may post the first chapter to the monkeesfic comm. It's much shorter than the chapters and parts I've been trying to post around lately.

... And I was wondering the other day if I could write for George and Lenny from Monkees in a Ghost Town. I just rediscovered that I did, once. They are the villains in an unfinished Bowery Boys fic I was writing. It looks like I didn't do too badly with their personalities.

Right now I don't have the spare money to keep up a Paid account, so I've switched to Sponsered and I had to go icon purging. XD; It was difficult, figuring out which ones to keep. And I had to make room for this one that I just did. I was looking at the Baby Face icon with the Getting Away with Murder lyrics, and I couldn't stop thinking how appropriate that would be for a Gin AMV or icon. So I found this manga picture that was perfect and made this.

And while I do think Gin is clever, as I noticed someone saying on FF.net, I also think it's a little disturbing to call him "cool." XD He's a ruthless assassin! But then, those types always collect fangirls. I think he's good-looking, and I love his hair, but he's definitely not a character I'd fangirl over. He will make a good foil for Baby Face, though.

Today I went to the Scottish festival. X3 I loved it! Local Scottish people set up booths for their clans, there were other booths with crafts and clothes and the like, and of course there was bagpipe music. They had a bagpipe marching band, actually. And there was a local singing group that came and sang Celtic songs. Here's their website: http://www.kindredvoices.net/ I'll definitely try to catch them if they perform in the area again. Which reminds me, I wonder if the Mason-Dixon Bluegrass Band's CD is out yet....

There was also some Scottish food. X3 I tried something that was like beef stew or a pot pie. I think they called it tatty pie. And I had some short bread too. Good stuff.

Going there also made me think more about my own heritage. I don't know if I have any Scottish ancestry (probably do), but I do know that I have a lot of Welsh.

Now I am going to write a little essay on Sach and Whitey's friendship. When it's done, I'll probably post it here. I love their friendship. It's so goofy and silly while being cute and innocent. The slashers would have a heyday with it, and they probably will, once the movies come out on DVD.

I finally drew a picture of my OC Sybil. XD; I hope I didn't give her long hair in an RP I did a while back, but if I did, it'll have to change, because I can only picture her with short hair now.



And here's that thing I've been writing on Duke, at least this is it until I decide what else to put. XD

Name: Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie

Age: Unknown; perhaps in his mid to late twenties

Memorable Quotes: "I'd like to bawl you out, but I haven't got the time!" --- Hot Shots

"You get those carpets cleaned or I'll cut your ears off! And that's no bull!" --- Hold That Hypnotist (Yeah, I was surprised to hear him say that in a movie from the fifties. XD; Another time I'm almost positive he said "Oh my God!" after accidentally punching Sach....)

"The next time I wanna listen to an idiot, I'll listen to myself!" --- Hold That Hypnotist

"Just remember, this man is here for a rest cure. If you don't cut it out, I'll be here for a rest cure!" --- Spook Chasers

"... ROCKHEAD!" --- Looking for Danger

"I know I promised to share everything with you, but I draw the line at the chopping block!" --- Looking for Danger

( Bio )

I showed that scene I wrote to Paul, and he got a kick out of it. ^^ I figured he'd enjoy it. He's been hoping for a while that I could write something more humorous with the Boys. I may use that as part of another fic I have some assorted blurbs for. The other blurbs are a lot darker (involving Sach and Duke found out by the mob and being beaten for information), but I'm becoming known for my dramedies. XD; M*A*S*H proved once and for all that a dramedy is highly possible.

Though some people don't agree. In one of my books about The Andy Griffith Show, the author compares it to other well-known comedies, including M*A*S*H. He addresses the fact that they killed off the Colonel Blake character and said that it was an unfunny way out of a casting problem. But he misses the whole point! It wasn't *supposed* to be funny. It was supposed to be dark and dramatic and tragic, because that's the kind of thing that happens in war, and M*A*S*H was not only funny, it was realistic, and it worked. That's why it was so great.

Tomorrow there's a family renuion type thing. Mom doesn't feel well enough to go, and Dad is hoping that I'll go with him. I don't really like those things much, because it seems like in general it's mass confusion and I don't have much to do or many people to talk to anyway. Plus, it'll be outside, during the peak heat hours. Blurgh. But if I go with him, he might take me to Borders on the way home. ^^ Plus, it's been a long time since the two of us have really gone and done anything together. Mom and I hang out by watching movies and verbal RPing, and Dad and I always used to hang out by going on errands and such together, but that hasn't been happening all that much as of late. XD; It's not just because of the moving, though, I don't think. It's been like this for a year or more, with a little journey back to the good old days at Christmastime. There's trips for groceries, of course, but that's not the same as the traipsing all over the county we used to do. Ah, I miss that. Anyway, I'm warming up to the idea of going more and more. I can take my notebook and a Star Wars book, after all. **is still reading that trilogy from Christmas.**

Now I can't seem to keep my mind on any of the stories I should be writing. XD Instead I'm doing blurbs. These are two from different parts of a considered story where Sach gets amnesia while he and Duke are being held hostage at a mansion in Switzerland. I couldn't resist toying with the idea. ^^; Amnesia in fics is too fun, even if it usually isn't handled in a completely realistic way.

Later I plan to write a blurb about when Harry had to shoot Baby Face, and another that will involve that crossover I've been thinking of, even though I think that would work better as an RP. Before I do anything much with that, I should test out how I write for those characters, after all.

Anyway, I know no one's familiar with these characters, but if anyone would care to review based on content and presentation, I'm much obliged, as always. XD


( What pal?! )


And this angsty piece from near the end. . . .


( Remember Me )


Oh well, I found some dramatic NewsRadio stories earlier, so I know I'm not the only one who like to put comic characters into dramatic/angsty situations. XD; I'm always afraid that people are going to throw rotten tomatoes when I do that. But I can't ever seem to stray too far from my favorite subjects, even though I really am trying to write a couple of Bowery Boys stories that're more lighthearted. **pokes yet two more of her multi-chapter projects.**

For the last while I've had various thoughts about Slip and Duke in my mind, and now came the time when it all came to a head and I had to write it all down. XD I'm rather pleased with this essay, and now that I believe it's done, I really should get back to Prisms.


( Slip & Duke )


Aubrie and I are continuing to have the mobsters around in our role-play. X3 Right now they're in Domino, looking for the Munger mob and hiding out to let the L.A.P.D. think that Baby Face really is dead. First Vince was attacked by the wizards and Harry blamed Baby Face for it, because Baby Face had sent Vince out and also because Baby Face had attacked the wizards in L.A. Then Kennedy attacked and Baby Face got hit with a dart, and even though he doesn't have magic, it affected him badly and he ended up going out of control. He eventually had Tony pinned to the ground and was trying to choke him to death, and Harry became so panicked that he shot Baby Face and apparently killed him. Of course Baby Face didn't really die, but now he's furious thinking that Harry shot him on purpose in light of how angry Harry was earlier. I love it! It's so intense. I'll have to write some kind of fic based on this. And Aubrie plays Vince brilliantly!

XD; The X-Files season 6 has too many "shipper" things. Suddenly everyone seems to be thinking that Mulder and Sully are a couple. When something starts being shoved down my throat repeatedly, that's usually when I really start disliking it. I love the pairing, as long as it's like it is on the show, with the emphasis on their deep and meaningful friendship. I do not like it after things really start going downhill. I don't like the idea that they eventually did end up in bed together, as most fans believe that they did, nor do I especially like the idea of Scully's ensuing pregnancy. (I also do not like the changes to CSM around season 7, nor do I like that he seems to have really died in the show's finale. And I also do not like killing off the Lone Gunmen. Come on, they were great!) I do, however, like the idea of Mulder eventually being abducted by aliens and finally being returned in a death-like state. I remember one person was starting a role-play from around the end of season four. That's about when things started basically jumping the shark. Maybe I'll try to find that RP and observe what's happening in it, if it's still going on.

For the last several days, Prisms has been on hold because I've been working on a Bowery Boys one-shot. The idea would not leave me alone, and it finally came to a head after I watched Spy Chasers. It's kinda dark, involving Sach accidentally shooting Duke, and I'm not sure I'll post it at The Bowery. XD; I have, however, showed it to a couple of the friends I've met there, and they've enjoyed it and made suggestions. I still need to determine if I want an epilogue type scene and if Slip and Duke should converse before Sach talks to Duke near the end. But it never fails. No matter how lighthearted a series may be, I can't go for long without coming up with dark and serious ideas. Of course, the Boys' earlier movies were more in the dramedy style that I love so much, and I don't think I've strayed into something terribly unbelieveable for them.

I've ended up writing with all of the gang there. Slip and Duke both seem to try being the leader at once, because they're both too stubborn to back down. LOL. Writing for Slip is an adventure. I have to learn things about the English language in order for him to "moider" it the way he does. I love his malaprops. XD And I have Whitey and Butch there as well. They were the original background Boys, along with Chuck, and I love them too. Basically, I want to capture the flavor of the older movies while including the later characters Duke and Myron, and Mike Clancy (as played by Percy Helton, not Dick Elliot).

I'm going to post my Bowery review of Fighting Trouble, because it's interesting to me due to characters behaving differently than usual and I don't want to rewrite my thoughts for the entry:


( Fighting Trouble )


I took 136 pictures from Crashing Las Vegas. XD; Oy. But Jimmy was in almost every scene, so there were a lot of pictures to take.

I have my site up and running! http://www.angelfire.com/planet/jimmymurphy I've already been submitting applications to webrings, too. I figure, why wait? It's fun making the galleries and such, and I'd definitely do this even if it wasn't meant as a beacon, but still, I can't deny that I hope I'll catch the attention of anyone who may know how to contact him.

I think part of the reason why I'm so obsessed with this is because I never had the chance to do it for my other favorite character actor, Roy Stuart. I still can't, because I can't cap from my Gomer Pyle videos. But I have the capabilities to take pictures of Jimmy from many of his appearances, so I figure I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

Part of my order from Movies Unlimited came on Friday. This was the movie California, a little-known swashbuckler type film from 1963. It's about the struggle for statehood in California, and well, you guessed it: Jimmy's in it. I went nuts screencapping from it yesterday. It's a great movie in and of itself (I love swashbucklers), but having Jimmy there certainly didn't hurt, either. X3

Movies Unlimited also sent a sample catalog, and while reading it over, I got interested in a couple of the East Side Kids films listed. They're having a spring clearance sale, so I went and bought three of them for $5.99 each, even though I shouldn't have. But I couldn't resist. (The East Side Kids, incidentally, was the name the Bowery Boys used in the early forties. And before that, they were the Dead End Kids. Their most famous roles are probably in the gangster movies Dead End and Angels With Dirty Faces.)

And thank God, the thing I ordered for Mom came just in time for Mother's Day. **relaxes.** I just hope it's a good quality picture. I'm going to test it and see before I give it to her.

I watched an episode of Knight Rider a bit ago. What a fun show. Typical eighties fare, kinda cheesy, but fun and good-natured. It was produced by the same guy who did the original Battlestar Galactica. Knight Rider looks like it was made on a bigger budget, though. XD; I watched episode #7, in which Jimmy plays an inmate at a county correctional facility who wants to bust out with another guy. This other guy is upset because someone who's in there wrongly (one of the main characters, Devon Miles) knows about their plans, and he says Devon either has to escape with them or they kill him, and Jimmy's character doesn't look pleased at either option. XD He was willing to accept Devon's word that he wouldn't tell anyone about the escape, but the other inmate was not. So Devon was forced to go with them. As usual, I recognized Jimmy immediately, even though this was made in '82. He has quite a big part in the episode, and I will be going screencap crazy again very soon.

YGO was great earlier. It was the calm before the storm episode immediately prior to the Ceremonial Battle, and the bikers made their cameo appearances! And of course, we got to see the Ishtars again. XD It's sad that there's only four episodes left, though. Even if by some chance I like GX, it could never begin to take the place of the original.

I started writing the beginning of a random Bowery Boys story that takes place shortly after the last movie, In the Money. So far it's just been Chuck trying to write a letter to Myron (who was absent in the final two films), and wondering why he's been so cross lately. And I decided that Myron is Chuck's cousin. It seems like Chuck never has been close to any of the Boys, but when Myron's there, they kinda pal around. That's enough material to give me a basis for a story. XD

That friendship is another element that wasn't really explored in Spook Chasers. While I still love that film, it really didn't do the background characters much justice at all. Blinky had some good screentime, but Chuck and Myron were pretty much gypped. I've realized that after watching films like Hold That Hypnotist (my favorite Myron film) and Crashing Las Vegas, in which they got a lot more screentime.

I watched the last two films earlier. Up in Smoke was a weak attempt at doing a Faust script, but I didn't think they handled it well. They made too much light of the subject matter and there wasn't enough good drama, like there might have been had it been done in earlier years. However, there was one thing that made it worth seeing: Duke finally showed some emotion! He was appalled during one scene where he accidentally punched Sach thinking he was a crook ("Oh my gosh! I hit my best friend!"), and then later, when it looked like Sach was going to be taken by the Devil, Duke was almost in tears. Usually he has such a big chip on his shoulder and is always yelling at Sach about something, so it was just kinda nice to see him show that he really does care.

In the Money was better, plotwise, and it reminded me of some of the earlier films.

Actually, instead of typing things all over, let me post the mini-reviews I did at The Bowery of the films I've recently seen:


( Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here )


I definitely see the difference in quality between the older films and the more recent ones, and while the older ones are generally better plotwise and character-personality wise, I'll always be fond of the later films too. And I'll always like the characters of Duke and Myron, even though most of the fans couldn't care less.

I need to get back to Prisms. I think maybe my block is finally ending and that I can finish chapter 5 soon, but now I've also got another plotbunny involving Baby Face being approached by some kinda terrorists who want him to help them out and him getting annoyed because he isn't like them. Then later, he and the gang end up involved deeply in the whole mess and are recruited by the government to help them catch the terrorists. Blame the third to last episode of The X-Files, Season 5, in which Mulder is working as a double agent and is trying to bring a group of terrorists to justice. XD;

-__- This is annoying! The box for the LJ entries now stretches off the screen and I have to horizontally scroll to see the rest! I abhor horizontal scrolling!

Anyway, here's a quiz I got from Joleen:

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and than pass out letters to those who want to play along.

My letter is "P." This should be interesting. XD You know, I realized a while back that my favorite words start with B. Burrow, blanch, beam, and something I just forgot. XD; EDIT: blissful.

1. Peter. Not a word, but a name. XD; Joleen used this with "D", so I'll follow suit. Peter most often refers to the blonde Monkee, but occasionally it makes me think of Peter Gunn, the private eye with the awesome soundtrack. XD Seriously, I must buy the CD of that show's music. It just plain rocks. And the why I think of these characters? Because I just plain like them. Peter Tork's sweet and kind and gentle, and Peter Gunn is cool. X3 I can see that the "why" part of this quiz may stymie me a bit.

2. Piano. The instrument I play. To me, it means beautiful and relaxing, because it is. XD;

3. Plushies. Soft and cuddly and furry. I love soft things!

4. Paperback. A softcover book, because I love to read. **has a million books around, most of them in the process of being read.**

5. Pop. A kind of music I don't much care for in general, though there are exceptions.

6. Princess. To me, it means "Princess of Duelists," a friend of mine from Janime's.

7. Prayer. Talking to Someone Who fully understands.

8. Play. It can either mean "play music" or "role-play", both of which are activities that I love.

9. Pencil. What I use to draw with, and to write with, when I'm using my notebook. Drawing and writing are two of my passions.

10. Phone. What makes a ringing noise and which usually annoys me, and yet I couldn't live without it. XD It keeps me connected to the Internet. ^^

Now for a couple of blurbs. First, I was watching The Devil and Peter Tork the other day, and I got this weird idea. Remember the short story in which Baby Face seemed to die? Well, now I had the idea of him being on trial in Hell's Court. Ruby wants him to be given a second chance, and the other mobsters and the Monkees are the witnesses for both sides. And of course, Mr. Zero would be involved, trying to make certain that Baby Face is condemned to Hell because of his crimes. I only have the opening scene written, because I'm not sure I'll actually write this story, but I'll post it here and see what everyone thinks.


( Witness for the Prosecution )


Also, I have been working on this scene here for some time. It's for a later chapter in my story This Just Doesn't Seem to Be Our Day, and so there is a spoiler warning for those who are reading it. I've been adding a little more today and I think I'm done with it now.


( Evil Microchips )


It's amusing, how amusing Myron is. XD One wouldn't know it just from watching Spook Chasers, but he really can be funny in ways other than his silent reactions to situations. It was the (empty) gravy dish that he jokingly put on his head in Hold That Hypnotist, which I hadn't realized before, and he was singing a little bit in that scene too. I couldn't make out what he was singing, but he has a great singing voice. X3 Then later, when Sach is hypnotized into thinking he's Horatio guarding the bridge, and the others are trying to sneak past him by pretending to row a boat, Sach shoots and the imaginary boat springs a leak. XD The others tumble to the floor and Myron yells, "Man overboard!" I love that guy.

Crashing Las Vegas finally came today and I immediately watched it. It was Slip's last film, so I finally got to see what he was like. I love the way he mixes up his words. XD That's one of my favorite verbal comic gags. Personality wise, I can see that they did try to make Duke somewhat like him, as they both have a tendancy to threaten Sach when he gets everyone in trouble or just plain does something foolish, but Slip doesn't have the same kind of chip on his shoulder that Duke has. He's also less polished, more "rough", and does some things that I can't picture Duke doing, as Duke seems more refined. XD I love them both, really, but I'm used to Duke. Slip seems to have more of a tendancy to show when he's worried, which is cute, but I also like characters who worry and care but don't admit to it, which is how I imagine Duke to be.