Time to Gripe: MGA quality control rides again

Or rather, the lack of it does.  Konichiwa, it's RagingMoon1987, and for the first time in...well, in quite some time, I have to file a complaint.  As y'all may or may not remember I'm quite fond of the Li'l Outrageous Littles, so much so that I keep going back for more even though I've got quite a nice collection already.  Today I saw a bunch of dolls from the Glam Glitter series, mistook those for the newest line that can double as Christmas ornaments, and bought one of the pods.  I was delighted to discover that my pod contained a glitzy version of my first character Spice...but look closer.

She...she...SHE ONLY HAS ONE SHOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the first time I've had this happen to me personally, but it isn't the first time I've seen it; in one YouTube video the vloggers land an 80's B.B. that doesn't even have a dress.  This irks me though; I know there the Fashion Crush outfits can potentially supply "Cinder," as I've chosen to call my Cinderella-style Spice, with more shoes than she could ever want.  But dang it, what good is a cute little sparkly boot if it doesn't have its mate???  This is definitely NOT a surprise I want to find in an L.O.L. Surprise pod.  And unfortunately, this surprise is...not terribly surprising considering how spotty MGA's quality control can be.  Yet another attempt at a Bratz comeback is being made, and already the Facebook groups I'm a member of have plenty of pictures of dolls with sloppy paint, bad hair, missing accessories, or all of the above.  MGA had best get their act together if they want the Bratz to make a comeback, AND if they want the Li'l Outrageous Littles to continue selling as well as they are.

On the plus side, now I've got both versions of Spice!  See how cute they are together?

Dang, that missing shoe is a doggie downer!  Thank goodness for those Fashion Crush outfits, nasty jelly or no.

Yours always,
RagingMoon1987

Thanksgiving quickie

It's Thanksgiving, y'all!  This one will be different this year; once upon a time we had thirteen people crammed around Grandma's kitchen table.  But this year First Uncle can't make it down, and Sister and her husband can't make it either, and Grandma is deceased so it'll just be me, Mama, and Second Uncle.  Mama made pot roast instead of a huge turkey that the three of us couldn't eat in a million years, and we're going to eat that and watch the football game.  But since I've made it a rather slow November around here I thought I'd post something quick.  Here's my two new babies.

Mama, to my complete shock, has declared them both the creepiest I've ever brought in.  I quite like them myself, but to each their own.  The big one is a bisque doll by a Japanese company that I need to research more, and the little one is Cheerful Tearful by Mattel.  These were both impulse buys prompted by pictures on a Facebook group that I belong to (and I belong to a billion of them).  And I wonder why I'm always short on money, LOL!  Hey, I pay the bills and I keep my animals healthy!  I promise they're not going without!  Anyway, I once again have a backlog of blog posts, so it'll probably be...oh, I'll say FEBRUARY before I get these dolls reviewed!  They WILL be reviewed, though.  I promise y'all that.  My intention is to get back to posting weekly after this...or at least that's my intention!  We all know what the road to hell is paved with!

I wish our dear readers a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.  Be safe while driving, cooking, and eating, and DON'T go out on Black Friday unless absolutely necessary!  Save it for Cyber Saturday...or is it Cyber Monday?  I can't remember.  Just be careful out there!

Happy Thanksgiving,
RagingMoon1987

Sunday at the slough

Today was a pretty day (if a little chilly), so Mama and I decided to pick up some provisions before bad weather moves in tomorrow.  We here in the Bootheel are only supposed to get cold rain and maybe a few errant wet snowflakes, but better to be stocked up on animal food anyway.  We decided to go to Dexter for this animal food, and on the way back we swung by one of my favorite places.

I've NEVER seen any otters here, but that doesn't mean there aren't any!  Otter Slough is buried in rural southern Stoddard County, and one has to know the area fairly well in order to find it.  It's worth the effort though, at least if you like water birds.  Later in winter there are usually plenty of ducks, coots, and geese hanging around, but today was largely a day for great blue herons.  My mother and I are both extremely fond of great blue herons, so we took a lot of pictures.

This next one was a real show-off.  He stood with his neck in a perfect S for us.

There was also this one, who was very close to the road and showed absolutely no fear of the car or our enthusiastic chatter.

The side roads are unfortunately closed until April, so we had to turn around and come back the way we came.  This allowed me a better view of the weeds and the trees.

See how calm it was?  The ponds were like big mirrors.

The most photogenic of our herons was still hanging around when we came back by.  He captured and ate a fish right after I snapped this picture.

More pictures of the pond.

This heron was hiding in some dormant cattails.  He's fairly obvious in the picture, but IRL he was very well hidden.  He flew away after I caught this picture, but he didn't go far.

Another random picture of the skyline.  I love how perfectly the trees are reflected in the water.

This next picture, of a heron that I'd photographed earlier, shows the subtle beauty of the species' plumage.

A large flock of snow geese did make an appearance as we prepared to take our leave.  Once again, they were much prettier in real life...and much noisier!

Despite the chilly weather the water was full of mud sliders.  I can only assume that they were out catching their quota of bugs and whatever else sliders eat before they brumate.  This little guy decided he fancied some sun.

We also saw plenty of red-tailed hawks, a few large ducks that were too far away for pictures, and one large doe who didn't hold still long enough for a picture.  No biggie there, since Crowley's Ridge has plenty of deer.  This was arguably the best time I've had at Otter Slough, though; we must've seen a dozen herons.  Usually we're lucky if we see two or three.  I could seriously LIVE out there in the boonies like that though; it's just so peaceful!  Snakes are bad during summer, though, and what pond wouldn't be complete without WATER MOCCASINS??????  Yeah...I don't mind snakes usually, but I'll make an exception with water moccasins.  Otherwise Otter Slough is a great place to visit.  If one stays in the car one need not worry about snakes.  This little jaunt did make me impatient to visit Mingo again, though; Mingo has everything Otter Slough has and it's just as beautiful, but it's BIGGER!!!  If I get to go again I'll have to take more pictures.

I absolutely PROMISE that I'll get back on the dolly train soon.  I've got several that still need reviewing, and I also have a secondhand ball-jointed doll on the way.  So this blog should be fairly busy between now and Christmas.  Stay tuned...

Much love,
RagingMoon1987

Green army men for Veterans Day

On October eighteenth one of my superiors paid the library a visit.  She brought with her the usual friendly chatter and monthly fliers for Story Hour, but she also brought this box.

The box invites patrons to take a little man home with them as a reminder to pray for those serving the country.  It also provides an opportunity to share photographs of any veteran friends or family members that the patrons might have.

Wait a minute...little man?  Yes, when it first came the box was full of one of my favorite childhood toys, green army men!

Well, green and tan army men.  When Daddy was a pup back in the fifties and sixties these were strictly dark green, hence their nickname.  Now there are tan ones too.  I also remember reading about these army men coming in goofy-looking fluorescent colors at one time, but those apparently went over like a lead balloon.

Oh, I never did tell y'all that I loved little plastic men when I was a little kid, did I?  I didn't really have many green army men, except for a few that Daddy saved from his childhood.  No, I mostly had cowboys, Indians, and pirates.  The cowboys and Indians came in these huge bags of about fifty or so pieces, and were molded from yellow, red, and green plastic.  The molding was a bit crude, with some of the pieces having big flaps of extra plastic hanging off, but that bothered me not.  The pirates were a Christmas gift and were a bit nicer, being molded in opaque red, black, yellow, and white plastic with no extra tabs hanging off.  Oh, what fun I had with my little plastic men!  I kept them in a wicker basket and whiled away many an evening after preschool playing with my little figures.  For old time's sake and because I like the sentiment behind my boss's idea, I picked up an army man of my own, this belly-crawling tan man with a rifle.

I named him "Floyd."  Don't ask why.  Coworker B also picked a belly-crawler in the traditional green, and Yours Truly came up with the idea to make him into a keychain!

I may do this for Floyd eventually too.  I haven't decided yet.  Right now Floyd is on active duty, resting on Ju-hwang's rather ample wig and waiting for some big bad cat to come climbing up onto my shelf.  Please ignore Momoko, who insisted on photobombing.

As I insinuated above military men go back a long way in my family.  My grandfather is the one I tend to remember since he was the only one I knew, though by virtue of some boring genealogy study I can verify that I had family members who fought in the Civil War, some for the North and some for the South.  I don't have a hard copy of Grandpa in his uniform, but I do have a picture that I copied from Mama's FB page...complete with a stupid frame that FB currently has available.

Mama says that he'd just had four shots (two in each arm) and was subsequently running a fever when this picture was taken.  Anywho, Grandpa was an engineer in the army, working for water purification.  I think I also remember Mama saying that he helped blow up enemy bridges so that the trains couldn't travel...I'll have to ask her again if that part's true or not.  EDIT:  yes, it turns out that Grandpa did help blow up bridges, but there was more to it than that.  His division would first BUILD a bridge for his platoon to cross, then they'd purify the water for the platoon to drink.  After the platoon was safely across, it would be the job of Grandpa's team to blow the bridge up so the enemy couldn't follow.  Pretty neat, actually.

Regarding the personal aspect, Grandpa reported that he saw a great many things that were either fascinating or terrible, with one particular memory haunting him to his dying day.  He was driving a large truck through a small German town, and he had strict orders from his superiors not to stop for anything.  Lo and behold, this random old man comes out on his bicycle, directly in front of Grandpa's truck.  He didn't respond to Grandpa's frantic horn-beeping, and he subsequently got hit by the back of the truck as it passed.  Grandpa wasn't certain if he killed the cyclist or just injured him, but he knows for a fact that he hit the cyclist.  In his sideview mirror he saw the unoccupied bicycle go flying, and he also saw a female pedestrian gasping in horror.  Since he was under orders not to stop he never found out what the final outcome of the incident was, but it bothered him the rest of his life.

There were other stories, of course, stories that I may share some other time since they're pretty interesting, but that'll at least give y'all a taste of what it was like in the military during WWII.  Modern-day soldiers have it a little better with their updated equipment and social media to allow them to stay connected with loved ones, but it's still a dirty job that they choose to do voluntarily.  That voluntary aspect is another improvement, come to think of it; as recently as the Vietnam War men were being drafted.  By the way, fun fact:  my grandfather was not drafted.  He chose to enter the military voluntarily so that he could choose the branch he wanted.  Those who got drafted didn't get to choose, if what I've read and been told is correct.  But regardless, being in the military is a tough, dirty, dangerous job, one that I know I'd never be tough enough to do.  In fact, even military folks who aren't in active combat face danger during certain parts of their jobs, as parts of The Hot Zone will reveal.  So if you know anyone who has served or is serving in the military, take some time to day to thank them, and if you're the praying type, to follow my boss's advice and pray for them.  They need that appreciation now more than ever, when the lamestream oops, did I say that out loud?  The MAINstream media seems to delight in vilifying the military...until the country actually NEEDS the military.  So thank a veteran today if you can, and pray for the ones that are still serving.

God bless America,
RagingMoon1987