The Intro to Troop Beverly HillsI have an older sister so a lot of the movies I saw as a kid was the stuff she was watching. The weird part is that I’m really familiar with this song, but I don’t remember this animated sequence at all. Maybe it was in the end credits too. The music seems to clash with the Spumco style.

Speaking of animations I’m hoping that some day I can post the stuff I’ve been working on. I’m currently doing the animatic for a 5 minute short.  I have done a 1 minute trailer, my biggest accomplishment so far because of the shading and effects and actual backgrounds for once. I also did a 5 second sample for another concept. Besides a few sketches, I haven’t drawn and colored anything for fun all year.

I met the cop yesterday who said there wasn’t any theft around here for awhile and didn’t mention any other similar crimes. That contradicts what my mom told me about other people being robbed, unless that was a ways from where we live and has little to do with us. I got an update today from mom. The contractors could not get into the house because one of the keys was missing, which means that the people probably did lock up like they were supposed to, but

1. either one of the many people working on the house (painters, electricians, etc.)  stole one of the keys or

2. some unrelated thieves cracked the lockbox.

We figure its the first one. The contractors changed the lock code, but that’s not necessarily a fix since one of the contractors probably did the crime. I suggested that mom lock down the main screen in the evenings and unlock in the mornings for the workers. That way there is no access to the door locks or the lockbox and no one can get in to unlock any additional doors from the inside. At least that would deter any late night or early morning theft. As for the crooked contractors or whoever the culprits are, well let’s just hope that hell is real.

We were robbed early yesterday morning. It’s the general consensus that the people painting the house forgot to lock up one of the back doors. The neighbor said she heard noise like people were at her house at 3AM and she saw a white van driving back and forth down the street. According to police there have been a few robberies lately and they think people are pawning the items.

The house was already a mess because of all the post-fire work being done. So far I know they got two TVs, a bass guitar, the Nintendo Wii, and went through my mom’s jewelry. After telling me last night, mom took me home to get my TV and anything else I was concerned about. My room has 2 rooms worth of junk piled in it but it looked like everything was still there. I had screwed the cable into my TV so tight I couldn’t get the cord loose so I had to unhook it from the DVD/VCR which took a while because of its awkward shape. I’m wondering if that’s the reason why my tv didn’t get taken or maybe it wasn’t big enough at 26”. I grabbed a few other things. Then I looked under the bed and noticed that my saxophone case was gone. My keyboard was still there, but it wasn’t a high end keyboard. I played sax in 8th grade and throughout high school in class and the jazz band but not very frequently afterwards. I’m thankful it was just that, if it was just that, but I hate having lost it. The whole incident is pretty upsetting, like I don’t hate the people in this world enough already. Last night I couldn’t stop thinking about that episode of the Simpsons where the cat-burglar stole Lisa’s saxophone. At least at the end of the episode, she got it back.

Whilst in the hotel I’ve been sitting thru a lot more movies that I would not have watched otherwise, such as Mr. Popper’s Penguins and A Thousand Words and Imagine That, simply because there are so few channel options. Granted I’m usually on the computer working or messing around online when I have TV on, but still.

So you’re watching a movie. It stars a man, some big name actor. The man isn’t doing something “right” in his life. Maybe he’s too busy with work, or maybe he’s full of himself, or maybe he doesn’t make enough effort to spend time with his kids, or maybe he just doesn’t get it. He and his wife/girlfriend are either divorced or having a few relationship problems that could be big or minor. She shows no signs of a personality and for some reason we’re supposed to take her side for she can do no wrong and the man’s flaws are the only problem. Enter the wacky situation. The dad or husband might get sent a penguin, or he can’t stop lying, or maybe he can’t speak at all, or he has to play make believe, or he gets to play God, or he has to dress as a woman, or he rents an RV, or he turns into a dog, or the world is falling apart. The weird situation is usually the focus for all the commercials, insisting that the film will be fun and wacky antics and the heart of the story won’t be the same old tale about some guy who made one or more reasonable mistakes and is paying for it in a big, elaborate or stupid way to make up for it.

So the relationships start out could-be-better, then something  weird happens and things get chaotic, then the relationships get better slowly, then they get really bad suddenly, then they are finally made good again and whatever crazy situation caused it all vanishes. He and his bland can-do-no-wrong wife are either reunited or are on good terms, the kids love him a little bit more, the end.

I’m so tired of this type of movie. I’m sure this type of storytelling stems from old written works. The problem is it’s been done to death. No one wants to tell a good story but use a familiar setup and replace one crazy event with another. But these days when I find that a movie is going to play out this way I just get annoyed from the start. I hate how the wife character is so void of a personality. I could care less about her happiness when her only job is to complain and point out the flaws in the main character. Why can’t she be the one who has some growing up to do? Why can’t she be the one doing something crazy to win her husband or kids over? Why is she always the good guy and he’s the bad guy? Why does he have to pay for his mistakes in such a big way? He doesn’t even deserve half of the crap he has to put up with in the process, but for the sake of cheap laughs, this man must suffer.

Sure there are some slight variations of the story. In Bedtime Stories the complaining wife type role is split into both his sister and the woman he likes. In the Santa Clause, the fact that he’s Santa doesn’t disappear at the end of the film but it’s no longer a problem. I don’t know why I expect Hollywood to do something new or interesting these days. I can rest assured than any movie that stars a dad character will be the same frickin movie I’ve seen a million times before. For the movies starring a bachelor character, I’ve just got to hope for the best.

After watching an unboxing vid I decided to look up the brand name Island Doll. This is the only one on the site that grabbed me. I find him intriguing. What’s his story? Look at him! He’s BYOO-TEE-FULL!

The fuse box at mom’s house caught fire (apparently it was old and obselete) so the immediate family and I have been at the Hilton Garden Inn since last Thursday while whatever needs to be done gets done. The downstairs smells like smoke and we have no power since the box was charred and most of that wall is gone. Then they have to mess with the kitchen wall and cabinets too since it was on the opposite side of the wall. I don’t have access to my car either since it has to stay at the house. The first few days didn’t phase me, especially trying to get my work done and finished by yesterday. Now I hear it could be up to two months before the house is back to normal. At least the rooms are paid for. I never would have thought that a fire that small could still cause that much damage, but it’s more about what caught on fire than the size of the flames. I didn’t see it myself, only the smoke. Just as well. I would have freaked out.

I ran across a photo of Pinkie Cooper dolls started by the creator of Bratz. I think it’s a kinda weird, kinda cutesie sort of thing that looks like it would be sold in Japan or Korea or something. Even the website icon is a little Japanese-y.

Back in my day we played with human dolls and the occasional mermaid or fairy if you like that sort of thing (I do not). If you saw an animal/human hybrid it was an action figure of some mutant or alien. Since then they’ve come up with Catwalk Kitties, Monster High werewolves and werecats (I’m guilty of having a couple of those, though I still don’t consider werecats an authentic monster so much as an excuse to make a catgirl *coughDarkstalkers*) and now these cocker spaniel fashionistas. They also have pet dogs that look like them, which is weird on a Goofy/Pluto level. It seems like dolls are getting stranger. I can’t tell if they are cute or bizarre, and then I’m left wondering, “What ever happened to Poochie?”

I think the Catwalk Kitties are a bit more disturbing but they still beat Alfred Hedgehog characters, by far the worst looking anthros I’ve ever seen. They may as well be people.

Oh, I know what it is now. It looks like someone crossed Barbie with the dog girl from the Get-along Gang.

This is the most sexist load of crap I’ve ever seen since I don’t know when. Wonder Woman is a vain ditz with a nagging mother who only cares that she get married and have kids? She can’t even get herself up after falling over. The writers must not have cared about the character or had much respect for women in general to make something like this. I’m glad it didn’t become a series. I know those were different times, but it’s a huge insult. Jeannie and Samantha had powers too, but at least they had some dignity.

They have Lego Ninja Turtles now. Where was that 20 years ago?

Well, I’m POed so I guess I’ll blog. I set myself up for it though. I should’ve just went out alone like I planned. But I think I also got off to the bad start because I woke up smelling that stank food my sister was cooking and the smell is still lingering.

So my mom acts senile sometimes and says that things happen differently than they did and puts it all on me and then I get frustrated because I know it’s not true and then I come across as an over-reacting nutcase. It’s not fair that I’m right about something when the other person’s wrong and then I’m the one who looks bad. I feel like Frank Grimes this morning. I give up. I’m just gonna keep to myself and not get involved with anybody else’s anything because the resulting frustration isn’t even worth it. Being told I’m not right about something when I know for a fact that I am is one of my pet peeves and it really gets under my skin especially when no one believes me. I’m gonna do some work and take a nap and hope I’m over it by tonight. I don’t even like naps. I just want to sleep the day away and start fresh tomorrow.