Tomorrow I leave for Columbus OH and Trotcon 2013!  Last year was one of the most fun and definitely the most laid-back and non-stressful conventions of the year.  I'm really looking forward to catching up with friends and having some fun at my first convention of this year!
 Prints!  So many prints!  These are 4x6" poster cards.  I do my best to keep prices low and offer deals so folks can get maximum stuff for their stuff dollar (It used to be "maximum swag for your swag dollar" but I understand that word is a bit passe now!)  In addition to prints, I have a crap ton (which is like a regular ton except...more) of buttons-
If you have time, stop by my table and say hello!  I have stuff to sell and hugs are free!  AND if you say the secret phrase "Prickly Purple Porcupine Procession" you'll get...my congratulations because that is REALLY hard to say!

A metric ton of happy arrived in the mail in the form of three packages from incredibly awesome and sweet people.  
How can I hold all this happy?  Thank you so much everyone!

As a huge Monster High fan and collector, these dolls leave me...underwhelmed to say the least.  While the toys clearly draw inspiration from, and are designed to compete with, Monster High, the MH line has the market cornered because of consistently high quality and commitment to theme aesthetic. Each doll is incredibly well made and unique, with specifically tailored outfits and accessories and a clever nod to gory and gruesome horror tropes.  The EQG dolls look like carbon copies of one another and their outfits don't say much about the character or her personality.  At least AJ has a hat...I guess. 

Folks have been asking for size information on the book boxes, so here's a quick rundown on just how big they are plus some pics with reference items.  

Over the past 24 hours I've had nearly as many chain comments posted to my account.  They're all the same, some vague Ringu-inspired nonsense about dying if you read the message and if you post it to ten accounts you'll go on a really awesome date.  Seriously, it's like the worst urban legend ever.  It's like if you said Candyman in the mirror three times and he showed up to give you a winning lottery ticket and a back rub.  

I returned to the Bronyville Podcast with AC and Sandy this past weekend to join in a roundtable discussion of Equestria Girls.  The question- Are they or are they not kinda magical?   The Answer- Maybe?  No?  Sort of?  Nobody really knows! 

EQG is like Elseworlds. Sure sometimes Batman is a cowboy vampire pirate, but not really.

If you really fall in love with Gay Vampire Pirate Cowboy Batman, its okay.  You can write fanfic, draw fanart, cosplay, and tell yourself (and anyone who will listen) that somewhere out in Universe 683492 Apple, Batman is swinging from a bonaventure mizzen with a stetson and a Winchester rifle, drinking the blood of brooding young men with pouty lips and exceptionally smooth legs.

If you hate Vampire Cowboy Robot Mormon Batman you can pretend it never happen and stick to the regular comics series where he's just a time traveling caveman.

Anyone up for watching one of my favorite guilty pleasure films, Punisher War Zone?  Ray Stevenson is PERFECT as Frank Castle.  Everything else is sort of a disaster.  But who cares?  RAY STEVENSON!

Before War Zone we'll check out Thomas Jane's independent short Punisher Dirty Laundry, co-starring Ron Perlman and a bottle of Jack used for things never before imagined!   

Check it all out right here- 

Showtime is roughly 7:15 PM EST, or roughly half an hour from now!

UPDATE- Stream is over!  Thanks to everyone who joined me!  I love watching bad movies with good friends! <3

Just want to say a couple things about today's explosions at the Boston Marathon.

In the annals (huh hehheh) of Sunday afternoon history hanging out with friends, sitting at the bar of a local Carribean restaurant and watching Las Pegasus Unicon fall into panic and ruin over social network and Skype won't be recorded as being in my top ten. As I watched ominous tweets and skype messages, and and slightly-more-panicked-than-usual tumblr posts roll in,  I felt a roiling mix of concern for all my friends, vendors, musician, VIPs, guests stuck in the midst of the chaos and being effected by financial fallout along with empathy for other friends who were stepping in and stepping up to try and manage the RMS Titanic, bound for a killer iceberg in the middle of Las Vegas.  Oh, and somewhat ashamedly I must admit to a nagging sense of relief.  Here I was sitting in a tiny restaurant, thousands of miles away, missing the convention nightmare and all madness that followed in its wake.  

Controversy is once again brewing among fans of diminutive cartoon horses. It seems like a weekly ritual, this constant ebb and flow of panic and relief, unchecked caps-lock accompanied hyperbole and the arrogant dismissal of the concerns of an understandably protective fanbase. This time, though, the fear, worry, anger, and resentment are ratcheted up to 11 as folks worry for the future of the show as well as its most popular character. It all comes down to one question- is Twilight Sparkle- the adorkably awkward student of Princess Celestia about to ascend to Princesshood…uh, Princessdom? Princessity?

…ahem.

Is Twilight Sparkle going to turn into a princess permanently? And more to the point, what does this signify for the future of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Let me start by saying this- I’m not worried for two reasons. First, read the above sentence again. “Is Twilight Sparkle going to turn into a princess permanently? And more to the point, what does this signify for the future of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” If you can take that sentence in any way seriously, then you’re a far more stoic person than I. Since my (modern) beginnings as a fan of My Little Pony I’ve never approached it with the same gravitas of, say, politics or even as seriously as I take being a fan of other shows and media- Sherlock, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, James Bond, Punisher comics, Silent Hill games, etc. Frankly, My Little Pony is, for me, an escape from the super-serial storylines, fandoms, and entrenched history of other interests I follow- both real and fictional. My Little Pony plays to a different part of my brain; the same part that loves to sit in front of the TV eating cereal on Saturday morning or make crashing sounds when I wreck toy cars together. It’s not that I fail to hold MLP to a high standard, quite the opposite. From the animation to the writing to the jokes, I think each season, each episode has brilliance and merit. But I do hold it to a DIFFERENT standard. While sometimes I wonder what it would like for the show to deal with more concrete, grown up storytelling concepts and structure, I’m not disappointed when it fails to do so either. MLP FIM is just not that kind of creature. I am simply a firm believer that nothing involving cartoon ponies with magic symbols on their butts having adventures should never be the cause of so much stress and consternation.

Again, that is not to say the show isn’t brilliant on its own merits, which brings me to my second point. I think we all realize that My Little Pony is not a property with a long history of quality animation, storytelling, cleverness and well-rounded, thoughtful characters. When we were young, My Little Pony was a cartoon designed to sell toys. From a marketing standpoint not much has changed. But what is different now is that we have a team of smart, talented, and amazing artists, cast, and crew working on the show. Lauren Faust brought intelligence and a sense of self-awareness to what, ostensibly, could have been just as phoned in as Gen 3.5.

At the end of the day, Hasbro doesn’t particularly care about the quality of the show. They don’t care if you or I like it, if we, as people over 9 years old, buy the toys, support the show, or generate terabytes of art, music, videos, fiction, chats, websites or games every single day. Hasbro wanted a show that highlighted and drove demographic-specific sales of their molded plastic. They got that. But what Lauren and Jayson and Wootie and Sibsy and Raven and Meghan and M.A. and Daniel and Steffan have aspired to and delivered is so much more. They’ve worked to make the show greater than the sum of its semi-articulated parts with brushable hair and, for an additional $20 plus batteries, real voice action with six girly catchphrases. They approached the show as artists creating something smart and fun and meaningful that also happens to sell toys for the parent company.

So, yes, every season Hasbro makes demands. They need a new pink princess pony and for Twilight Sparkle to have a brother. The board wants to see crystal ponies because the buzzword “crystal” anything is popular with girls 4-8 years of age. And now, they want Twilight Sparkle to be a princess, because Hasbro is not like us. Hasbro is not like Lauren Faust and her message of empowerment for girls AND boys. Hasbro is not like M.A. Larson who writes amazing episodes filled with silly mayhem and unique approaches to the tropes of children’s programming. Hasbro is not like actual little girls or grown up adults who love the show for all its smart jokes and fun characters. Unlike all of us, Hasbro is convinced that being smart and capable and open to learning and new experiences- the myriad of character traits for which we love a certain purple unicorn, are unimportant. Their priority is rushing the character into being a princess because retailers don’t want books as accessories with girls toys, they want dresses and flowing hair and weddings and yards of pink material.

BUT, and this is the important bit, these demands are being filtered through artists and writers and directors who do understand, who ARE like us. These are the folks who gave us a fashionista pony who is smart and independent and isn’t averse to fisticuffs or weaponized whining. This is the same team that took an out-of-nowhere pink princess and made her into both a creepy insectoid monster queen AND a highly capable and good-hearted heroine who returns from exile to buck tradition and save her prince. These are the crafters of a show we love and appreciate- they know what we want to see, they believe in the work they produce and the world they have been building for three seasons.

As I’ve posted frequently here and on Tumblr and Twitter- I believe in M.A. Larson. But that’s really code for the fact I believe in every member of the My Little Pony production team. I believe they know what they’re doing, and no-matter what demands the parent company may make towards the direction of the show, DHX and the VAs will find a way to polish that rotten apple and make it shine, shine, shine.

So, all that being said- I’m not worried. I don’t fault other fans for their concerns, and I don’t want it to ever seem that I’m mocking or baiting those with concerns. By playing on fears and reactions I hope to lessen their weight and take some of the sting out of the drama. And while I don’t share in the anger or stress or worry, I can empathize and I wouldn’t dare make light of other people’s feelings.

But for my part, as long as DHX is running My Little Pony, I have no worries. I will not buy into the oft-repeated fan meme of "ruined forever" or be driven away from this show that brings me, consistently much joy. At the end of the day, giving a unicorn wings isn’t enough to tarnish my belief in the power of friendship and magic. Nor is it enough to keep me from showing up on Saturday morning with my pajamas and cereal and toys to crash together while making exploding noises.

Hi everyone!  My apologies for the inconvenience, but thanks to Comcast's reliably unreliable cable modem quality my internet at home is inconstant at best.  The technician guy is coming out Wed morning, but for now livestreaming is right out.   With that in mind, I'm moving Die Hard night (and the second round of MA Larson button give-aways) to Wednesday night at 630 pm EST.  As with last week, I'll start streaming a bit early and run trailers for all the Die Hard films.  

Good news, everybody!  The "I Believe in MA Larson" pins are ready!   

I've got 30 pins and 30 stamps for mailing them.  To make things fair I'm going to offer them on a first-come, first-serve basis on Twitter.  This is how it's going to work:  Keep an eye on my Twitter page.  Sometime today (Monday Jan 28) I'm going to post a relatively simple My Little Pony-related Trivia question.  The first 15 people to reply with the correct answer get a pin!

I'll be doing a second round tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan 29) during my Die Hard 2 Livestream from 7pm and 9pm EST. Same deal applies- I'll post a Die Hard-related trivia question and the first 15 correct answers get a pin!

I'll be sending them out this weekend and will contact the winners via direct message on Twitter to get your mailing address.  

Sadly, I must limit the winners to folks living in the United States and Canada as postage adds up quickly and international shipping for a tiny button is prohibitive.

Also, if your name is M.A. Larson or you're cast and crew of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, just let me know and I'll hook you up with however many you need!

And that's it!  

UPDATE- Stream is now over and HOLY CATS FORTY-THREE PEOPLE!  That was a truely fun and overall silly stream, and thanks to everyone who took time out of their schedule to hang out with me and watch the greatest action movie of all time!  Join us next Thursday at 7pm EST as we DIE HARDER with Die Hard 2!

So today when I logged onto Deviant Art and looked through the updated journals, to what did my wandering eyes should appear, but a CERTAIN journal by a CERTAIN Ms. Lauren Faust featuring the logo for the Bronies documentary designed by a CERTAIN goofball hipster weirdo named ME!  

I try to be humble and not as braggy and boastful as my favorite pony.  But this is a case where I'm pretty proud and I have to freak out just a little bit.