Daddy Daughter Days: A Year In Review

 2022 was a good year, as was 2021. There were a lot of fun things we did this year, but if I had to pick one to highlight in this post...It would be the day we saw Weird Al and Emo Philips at Artpark. 

A year ago, Emo tweeted that he would be touring with Weird Al in the US until October 2022. And being the Emo Philips\Home Movies superfan, I quickly went to my best friend to tell him the news. Both of us heard the news and I told him I'd see if Al and Emo would be in the area. Luckily, they'd be in two parts of our state. The first venue was a little pricy, and mom knew how much this concert meant to me, so she checked to see if Al was tour and it turned out he was playing at another, slightly less expensive, venue. 

Sadly, a week before the concert, dad and I got COVID. Thankfully, we both tested negative and were still able to make it. We arrived at the venue an hour early and I killed some time with some photography.

We saw Canada off in the distance

Who knew a bathroom stall would give out advice!

Once it was showtime, we made a run for our seats. We managed to reserve a decent view of the stage for only $30 per ticket. I waited eagerly with Shannon until it was showtime. Emo started his set in sort of an unexpected way on my part. Here's how it went from my memory.

E: I asked the staff here whether or not this area was liberal or conservative. And they said conservative-

He was then cut off by a group of people yelling out a three word phrase that I won't repeat here. (No offense to Emo, but he was kiiiiinda asking for it.) 

Nonetheless, finally seeing the voice talent behind Shannon LIVE ON STAGE for half and hour was probably the best 30 minutes of my life. I even managed to finally rope dad into becoming a fan! I also heard Emo got a STANDING OVATION at their last US performance! We're keeping our eyes peeled for when Shan- I mean Mr. Philips returns to the stand up scene. 

We had a brief intermission until Al and his bandmates finally came on stage. Luckily we prepared ourselves by putting in some earplugs. It's not that we don't like Al's music, but one of us (not naming any names) is very sensitive to loud noises and didn't want to deal with having my ears ringing the next day (or a crippling migraine). We made a run for it before the encore at the end, hopefully we can stay for the final song mashup next time he visits the area! 

Here's footage of the mashup on YouTube!

Visiting Paula Poundstone last month obviously is the second biggest highlight of the year, too! 

Below are some videos taken by individuals who also attended the Weird Al concert. 

The finale!

Also a banger!

Pretty bummed nobody uploaded their performance of "Nature Trail To Hell" (in 3D). But when it comes to cherished memories like this, you take what you can get. 

See you in 2023!!!!

Daddy daughter Days: Mini Thrift Haul

Made it out to Savers. I suggested heading to the Salvation Army on the way home (since it was up the street from Savers) but dad and I figured it would be best we go there next week since it was already dark out. 

New pajama top!

Brittany here has seen better days. Her hair is VERY matted and she has a hole in the bottom where most of her beads have fallen out of. I stuffed her back up with some poly-fill and will stitch her up soon. this is my 6th Brittany in my AATC beanie babies collection.

I also got "Glee Volume 5" on CD. Featuring their mashup of MJ's "Thriller" and "Heads Will Roll." There were a couple songs dad knew that he was pretty shocked that they covered. (Left off on track 7 I believe). Whaddya think of the Glee covers so far, dad? 

I thought they were well done.  I sure didn't expect to hear such a faithful cover of "She's Not There<" I tell you what!

Daddy Daughter Days: "It Could Happen"

 Dad is gonna be off tomorrow and Monday for New Years. And usually, mom would do the weekly grocery shopping today. But she decided to hold off until tomorrow to give Wegmans (and other stores in general) time to restock after the snowstorm of 22.

Mom has started doing grocery shopping with my grandma as of late, which is fine. Depending on the situation, I thought it would be a good time to start thrifting again! (I'll be using this week's allowance since I have all of my plush money set aside for next week.) Dad actually mentioned the idea of thrifting on one of his days off. So, maybe we could do that while the ladies are grocery shopping?

Daddy Daughter Days: Back To Normal...For Now.

 We got hit hard with that snowstorm, I'll tell ya hwhat. The driving ban in our area was lifted as of last night and dad got to go back to work today. Let me tell you, my ENTIRE routine was thrown right out the window when this happened. I kept thinking the entire weekend was on repeat! 

Today is...Wednesday, right? 

One thing that HASN'T changed? My never ending scripting sessions! 

Random update: It has come to my attention that Rankin Bass made a SEQUEL to "The Little Drummer Boy." 

We did NOT need a sequel to an already mediocre film.

Time for some Dad Humor!

That's enough.

For now. Bwah ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaah!

Daddy Daughter Days: Saved By The Sims

 Last night, I was casually posing one of my new "Made To Move" Barbie dolls I got for Christmas a few days ago. And for whatever reason, it got me in the mood to play "The Sims 4" again. So I hopped onto Origin and noticed my game was going through an update. The update finished an hour later while I was taking care of some stuff away from the computer. So I open the game up and low and behold, all of my save data prior to the game crashing a while ago was RECOVERED!!! 

Planning on getting a few of the expansion packs soon!

Daddy Daughter Days: Calico Corner

 Been thinking about rebranding what was gonna be a channel for us to talk about various topics. Will update you soon. 

Daddy Daughter Days: Population....Lost Count.

 Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. I'm here to announce our first ever Calico Critters project will be in the works! 

Gonna do some shopping on Rainbow Resource later as well!

Fear not folks, McGuirk will be ordered in a couple of weeks.

Daddy Daughter Days: Reddit Wrottit!

 I took to Reddit lat last night and pitched the idea of a Home Movies Christmas Special (I'm VERY popular on the HM subreddit), and I asked those who would see my post to comment some ideas for plotlines and funny moments in general. Here's what I've received in the first 24 hours! 

My two favorites are the Mcguirk and Lynch getting each other as Secret Santa and the whole detailed one about McGuirk as a mall Santa and Brendon, Jason, and Melissa making an "Anti-Santa" Expose.

Daddy Daughter Days: Gone Before The Storm III

 I spent 11 head slamming hours making an animation to end off the year. 

The story behind this video was: My sona (character on the left) roams her mind, with the company of someone she considered a friend for YEARS! The two were so close you'd consider them siblings almost. But later on, she learns this so called "friend" was a secret agent of a group set to dethrone her as Mayor. 

I'm actually really proud of how this turned out, even if it cost me to lose a few braincells here and there. Can't wait for all of my subs to see it, too!

Daddy Daughter Days: Just One More

 Working on one last animation to wrap up 2022. This is meant to serve as a trailer for Life in Animal Crossing, a show I've been working on since March of 2017. The show is currently in its 3rd season and the 4th episode will be scripted soon. But this trailer is meant for later down the line in the season. 

I won't spoil much other than this single...Teaser....Image..... 

Daddy Daughter Days: Childhood Christmas Specials

 Sure there are classics like almost the ENTIRE Rankin Bass lineup of movies (minus a few that either aren't Christmas themed or are just outright bad) or others like "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Sit down, folks. Allow us to tell you about some of the specials I grew up with! 

A Very Minty Christmas

The third generation of "My Little Pony" came out around the time I was born, and I wouldn't be introduced to the franchise until 3 years later when a family member gave me two figures. Of course, what three year old WOULDN'T become instantly hooked after receiving colorful horses. Shortly after was when I started getting all the animated movies on DVD (one was on VHS, but we lost it, we later found out the episode on that VHS was on a DVD of mine). One of these specials happened to be "A Very Minty Christmas."

This animated special is about all of the ponies coming together to celebrate Christmas. They apparently worship a giant candy cane that's put on the giant Christmas tree each year (that's how dad has always seen it at least). And Minty BREAKS the candy cane on accident later in the episode. So she makes it her mission to try and "fix" Christmas by giving all of her friends socks as Christmas presents. Yay? 

Someone uploaded the full special to YouTube!!!

Wish that'd be the same with Mustard Pancakes... Anyways, moving on! 

The Flight Before Christmas

A pretty underrated special if you ask me! I first saw this special on TV when I was 5 and didn't see it again until I was 8, where my family recorded it on DVD for me. It's a very unique spin on the story of Santa and his reindee- oh I'm sorry, "Flying Forces." The story is about a reindeer named Niko and his dreams of wanting to be one of Santa's Flying Forces. We see him taking flying lessons not too far from his home (with the company of his flying squirrel friend, Julius). Apparently, Niko's father is on the Flying Forces, but we don't know who it is. So Niko runs away from his tribe to look for his father.

There was a sequel released in 2012 (wasn't marketed well in America) called "Niko 2: Little Brother Big Trouble" where Niko's mom introduces her son to his new step father and step brother (Niko is still in contact with his dad after the events of the first film). I actually didn't know about this sequel until last year! I wound up watching it on Kisscartoon one night (and managed to get past the endless ads) and it wasn't too bad! All the actors came back and reprised their roles from the first movie and the story managed to keep my attention. There are also rumors of a "Niko 3" being in production right now...

Next, Hoops and Yoyo Ruin Christmas

If you remember Hoops and Yoyo, you'd remember that they were a Hallmark franchise mostly used for e-cards and physical cards. Took them 8 years to actually get around to making a full Christmas special (and a Halloween special later on). The story in this 30+ minute film is Hoops and Yoyo are waiting for Santa, but when the jolly man arrives at their house, one of the protagonists sneaks into his sleigh and the three protagonists follow. They're then sucked into a wormhole and various antics ensue. 

We also have a recording of this movie on DVD. Just gonna scramble for it. 

Or you can watch it on YouTube

The next special isn't really from my childhood, but my dad and I watched it a few years ago and we really liked it! 

Klaus: A Netflix Original

This was another interesting adaptation on how Santa Claus came to be. The animation\art style was nice! The team behind this special used 3D to try to emulate more 2D, traditional animation. Since we're gonna be snowed in this holiday season, I think it would only be fitting we give this special a rewatch! (We can't forget the Netflix adaptation of Scrooge either).

And THOSE are some of the childhood Christmas specials that resonated with me. Care to share your thoughts, dad? 

It was 1962 when I saw the initial airing of "Mister MaGoo's Christmas Carol." I was four years old and it was the first time I heard the "Bah, humbug!" line.  I watched it on many repeat airings until it just kind of disappeared from yearly broadcasts.  I got a DVD of it a few years ago and... it just wasn't as good as I remembered it being. 😢

Two years later, in 1964, we saw the premiere of the Rankin-Bass "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Great story, great songs, great stop-motion commercials. Truly the first of the "holy trinity" of Christmas specials!

1965 saw the debut of "A Charlie Brown Christmas!" Suddenly, at age seven, I became a Peanuts fan. My sister says that our Dad got a big kick out of watching me watch this the first time it aired. It was magical.

The third jewel in the Christmas crown came in 1966, when "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" blasted onto the scene. 

And then there's...

Daddy Daughter Days: Freshly Energized

 My battery was low ALL DAY yesterday, which led me to crash at around 10:15 last night. Mom and I had plans to make Christmas cookies yesterday, but other things got in the way. So we'll be making up for that later. And after that, the rest of my day will either consist of watching childhood Christmas specials or tuning into another therapy session with Dr. Katz. 

I'll likely save the Dr. Katz part for when dad comes home from work, as we usually draw together while watching Dr. Katz (or other shows like King of the Hill or Smiling Friends). 

An example of our handywork.

Daddy Daughter Days: The Writing Bug Caught Me Again

 Hopefully I'll have some time to write today since I'm helping my mom bake some Christmas cookies. I'll try and cram in as much free time as I can! 

Got some scripts done last night, currently working on a logbook for Home Movies REVAMPED, and even a Wattpad story! I'm booked! 

Maybe watch some childhood Christmas specials too?

Anyways I've got no time to lose, gotta write some random Showbiz Pizza inspired TV show setup.

Daddy Daughter Days: An Accurate Image

 

We had a long and crazy day at food pantry.

Daddy Daughter Days: Christmas Chaos 22'

 Every Christmas, my fursuit group holds their annual "Christmas Chaos" gift exchange. It's basically a fun version of Micheal Scott's "Yankie Swap." I wound up getting a bag of assorted candies and my friend got some DnD dice. I traded one of my candies for the dice, and we overall had a good time! 

I won good tonight if I do say so myself!

The one drawback was I had plans to film tonight, but I forgot to put my SD card into the camera. It's been a long fucking day, folks...

Daddy Daughter Days: It's Just A Couple Extra Hours

 Dad has to do a couple extra hours at work tomorrow morning, but no biggie. It will be very rewarding in the end since we're gonna be going out for lunch afterwards. 

First we need to see if they're OPEN!!!!

Hey, Look! I bought on of those totally-worth-it "digital trading cards!"

(Actually, I used an on-line AI art generator to make this, which is what the "real" ones look like, anyway...)

Funny, I've been busy learning how to say certain things in Swoodish for one of the Calico Critters families in my Christmas Special!!!

Daddy Daughter Days: A Calico Critter Christmas

 Ah, Calico Critters. A toy line that first started in Japan in the 1980s that has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to kids and adults alike. You just can't get enough of these fuzzy creatures and their super detailed and realistic playsets. 

There are also these "webisodes" on YouTube and Prime Video

Back when my mom and I were stuck in the bowels of the South, my dad would visit twice a year. Once during summer, and again at Christmas time. Each time he'd visit, I'd always come up with SOME project to keep us busy. Most of our projects were made using Littlest Pet Shop or My Little Pony, but this time. I want to bring Calico Critters into the spotlight. I have two different Christmas specials in mind.

1) One of those stories where two families come together to celebrate the holidays, the mother of one family laments on past get togethers and how much of a disaster they were. (One of them being based off of a stellar performance when I played Mary in a church Christmas pageant).

2) A new bakery opens up, which annoys the owner of a bakery that's been there for a long time. Antics ensue (I literally just came up with this idea a couple days ago, still trying to flesh things out here.)

Which do you think we should make?

Daddy Daughter Days: Gibsonklok

I don't know what exactly prompted this, but I was reminded of a sort of "Dethklok Fan Episode" we came up with while watching the Metalocalypse VHS tapes I got off Ebay not too long ago.

The basic plot was the bandmates of Dethklok find out their guitars are "missing" and hilarity ensues. It ends off with Charles (the band manager) telling Dethklok their guitars were being refurbished and that they go through this EVERY time.

Right now, I'm focusing on getting "Seizure Salad" in the works as I hired another animator that reached out to me through Discord. Still need lines for Jason and another one of Shannon's brothers, along with lines\scenes for Duane and Jimmy Monet (will be provided by my best friend, who is also animating for the show).

Would you look who showed up on my YouTube feed this evening! 

Still have been meaning to listen to Norm's work!

Daddy Daughter Days: Bogus Information

 The Smiling Friends fandom wiki just leaked a ton of information for season 2. This includes episode names, plots, and release dates. Now Wikipedia said that season two will be releasing on January 7th of next year (so literally in a few weeks roughly speaking). I decided to scope this potentially bogus information out and...If what the fandom wiki says is accurate, here's what we'll be *POSSIBLY* getting...

• A Thanksgiving special 
• An Alan and Glep episode
• TWO Glep centered episodes
• Clients (dead and alive) being brought back for one more episode
• We'll get to see Charlie's family as well as the return of Pim's large colony of a family, as well as an introduction to Alan's mother.

We also got information on the critters' last names and ages (minus Mr. Boss)

If this information is true, it seems like Zack is listening to the fans and giving Alan and Glep some more screen time (Mariel approved). Only one way to find out!

See you on 1/7!!!!

Will Shrimp return? Ah!!

There were talks of Shrimp returning in an episode (along with Mr. Frog, Rex, and possibly Desmond).

Daddy Daughter Days: Desperate

 I had a mutual volunteer to voice Brendon in the HMR episode I'm working on, due to the actor I chose last year constantly flaking out on me. I got the mutual's lines today and I had to mess around with the pitch change on Audacity. The final product sounds more like Charlie Dompler than Brendon Small, but Home Movies REVAMPED is a small homebrew project and we're far from professional. So we usually just have to stick with what we have unless something happens. 

Back to writing!!!

Daddy Daughter Days: Covid Used "Yawn"

 Dad got both his flu vax and 4th Covid booster yesterday before picking me up from class. The Covid booster did a number on his stamina in the last 24 hours. And it sure did us NO favors when we had pantry duty today. We managed to pack up a lotta orders today (this includes an order my mom submitted) and clocked out around 2:15pm. 

And what have I been doing since we got home? Practicing on my sandwich making skills! 

Well...I tried.