Sunday, December 16, 2012

Dear Princess Celestia



Dear Princess Celestia,
          Today I learned that friendship is not about popularity or how many friends I have; it is about caring for my friends. Truly caring about friendship is doing whatever I can to help them when they need it out of the goodness of my heart. It does not matter how cool or rich they are, what matters is how true to them I really am. Friendship is something to be treasured rather than taken advantage of so I have learned to cherish my friends and appreciate their help and guidance. Not only that but to return the favor as well. My friends have aided me in learning so much and I thank them for that.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

Friday, December 7, 2012

Who Inspires Me



            Life is full of inspirational events, people, and places. For me, I am inspired by a ska-style band that goes by the name of The Aquabats. The Aquabats are currently made up of five members: The MC Bat Commander, Crash McLarson, Jimmy the Robot, Ricky Fitness, and Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk. The group’s line-up has fluctuated throughout the years, however. Its founding members started the band in 1994 with the intention of poking fun at the entirety of the punk rock demographic but instead found themselves doing ska. Although, to their surprise, the band was increasingly popular most likely in part to their crime-fighting superhero personas. The band’s gimmick was that they all wore blue jumpsuits and masks and that they fought evil around the world. This eventually led to touring all about and even a live-action television show.

The Aquabats recorded a pilot episode to their show that they’d wanted to do for so long but it was a massive failure. Not even the band liked it, the show had failed. Soon after, the label that signed The Aquabats, Goldenvoice, suffered great financial losses and was forced to drop the group of musical superheroes in the year 2000. The label was unable to keep up with the increasingly expensive performances that the band was putting on. Naturally, their career declined to the point where the band could no longer perform shows. Many of the members resigned permanently to focus on their families and day jobs; today, only two of the original members remain: The MC Bat Commander and Crash McLarson, the rest are replacements for those lost. To avoid complete bankruptcy, a new drummer was recruited and the band began writing music for the pilot of a show aired on Adult Swim that never made it as a series, once again putting The Aquabats out of work. In 2004, a label by the name of Nitro Records signed The Aquabats and they made their comeback with a new album titled “Charge!!” The Aquabats then recruited the remainder of their roster and began performing live shows once again. Costumed villains were often used during live shows for battles and comic skits throughout. The Aquabats had a truly unique style of performing.

In 2010 The Aquabats were back in action. The men in tights were given opportunities of which they could have only dreamed. They toured throughout the United Stated and United Kingdom as well as a festival appearance in Australia. 2010 also brought with it another pilot episode for The Aquabats’ long-desired television series. Instead of failing this time, “The Aquabats! Super Show!” was a hit and was releasined on Hasbro’s “The Hub” television station in close succession with the band’s fifth album. The show consisted of live-action crime-fighting battles similar to the style displayed in the popular television series “The Power Rangers” as well as animated adventures that seem to poke fun at early Japanese anime styles. The comedy-oriented series is very popular and airs regularly. The crime-fighting Aquabats have forever placed themselves in the history of superheroes, television, and ska music alike. I, for one, very much enjoy their music as well as “The Aquabats! Super Show!

            The Aquabats inspire me to do one thing: persevere. A ragtag group of college kids just decided one day to form a punk rock band and became a huge success. Despite all of the hurdles and hardships that The Aquabats experienced they still pulled through in the end because they did not give in. The Aquabats will always be in the back of my mind, pushing me to do what I really desire to do and never give up on it. Persistence is the key to success and they helped me understand that.