Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #136

Originally Posted on 11/23/2005 by Jeff Harris

If there are Christmas ads all over the place, it must mean that, once again, Thanksgiving is here in the USA. It seems like only yesterday, or at least 43 updates ago and two years ago when we last gave thanks. A time to appreciate and be thankful of what we've got, pray for those without, and gorge ourselves on huge feasts while watching oversized, egotistical brutes play a boring sport in the no-fun league and preparing ourselves for the incessant AFTER THANKSGIVING PRE-CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SAVINGS EARLY MORNING SALE ads that will filter through our heads reminding all of us that Christmas will be here.

I want to give thanks to a few things this year in a segment I like to call:

Things I'm Thankful For This Year

- I'm thankful that Nickelodeon are actually airing shows worth watching again. The best cartoon on the air today (since Justice League Unlimited is foolishly under lock and key, which is stupid as hell) is Avatar: The Last Airbender, a series that blends the classic Journey to the West story with elemental characters in a very Miyazakiesque way. Brilliant show that deserves much better treatment by the network (here's a hint, Nick: make more shows like this!).

- I'm thankful that Adult Swim has matured with a pair of unlikely shows, Robot Chicken and The Boondocks. Robot Chicken has done for toys what Best Week Ever has done for popnost, both making pop culture fun and entertaining. The Boondocks is exactly the show Adult Swim needed with topical, in-your-face humor that makes a lot of people uncomfortable, not to mention the perfect counterbalance to South Park.

- I'm thankful that my whole family is safe this year. I know that a lot of people weren't so lucky this year, particularly in the Gulf Coast, and I pray that things get better for them as well.

- I'm thankful for the yams. Daffy Duck taught me that the yams will always do you in! Oh, and my mom's sweet potato pie. Gawd dang!

- I'm thankful that we got the chance to see Toonami take some chances with Naruto, IGPX, and DBZ Uncut, though I wish that Cartoon Network would do likewise. Live-action movies is not "taking a chance." It's called "being lazy and untrue to thyself."

- I'm still thankful that I have friends who have my back, even in my lowest moments. The Inner Circle, the Toon Zone family, close friends, and the countless readers of the site and contributors on the big boards (too many to name, it'll last a while) all these years, and my close inner circle (the folks I talk to via IM on a regular basis) sticking with me through thick and thin.

- I'm thankful that I have family and friends watching my back and supporting everything I do in the real world. The real world is complicated, but hey, that's life.

Well, enough of the gushing. Stick around, and have a happy Thanksgiving.

*end tranmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Creator/Webmaster
November 23, 2005