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Post by Rusty Red Scrap Iron on Apr 26, 2016 12:19:44 GMT
I may have already said this, but I'll say again anyway.
But you know what really grinds my gears, aside from the captain obvious, that I have such a vast collection of music but can never decide what to put on my iPod for the week. Its utterly bonkers that with so much music at my disposal, that I can't decide what I want to listen too - but yet when I do my arrangements, come when I actually got out with my iPod half the time I never listen to what I've put on.
Also, the whole EU Referendum is really-Really grinding my gears, I'm so sick of hearing about it and wish we could just get it over with instead of constantly hearing: "We should stay because of This That and The Other!" and "We Need to leave because of This That and The Other!"
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2016 16:44:49 GMT
I know I've posted on this thread a few times before but, screw it, I love to rant Do you know what really grinds my gears? TrespassersNow if anyone here has any experience on a railway, or even if you don't, you will know how infuriating trespassers can be on the railway. Not only do they put themselves in danger because "#Rebel" but they risk delaying and cancelling trains for up to 9 hours afterwards. This causes inconvenience and annoyance for passengers, since now, their entire evenings been ruined, and all because of some messed up "Rebel" who decided he didn't want to use the designated walking route. Take a look at this video shot at Dawlish. While it's true we don't really know what was happening before this video was shot, we can safely assume that they were on railway property, when there was a designated footbridge directly above them. What annoys me about this video is that some of the comments were completely brain-dead children saying things like "What's so stupid about that?" or "They weren't in any danger" REALLY? ?? Does it matter where they were? What matters is that they were on railway property and could've potentially been turned into human mush. So for anyone out there who thinks it's somehow 'cool' to trespass on the railway, let me put it this way. It's not funny, it's not clever, it's not bad@$$, it's not being a rebel, it's not going to make people respect you. All it's going to do is either make yourself look like you've fallen to the mental stability of a cartoon character, or kill you. Despite the number of people who get hit by trains every year, you STILL get the teenager who thinks he's a bad@$$ rebel because he's jumping across the tracks. Excuse for asking but do any of these so-called humans actually know what a train is? That's nearly 200 tons of steel travelling at over 100mph... What goes through your mind that makes you think "I can outrun this thing" You can't. So stop....... Just Bl^^dy stop! (Panting) And that is what grinds my gears You know, I was just about to write up on how trespassers really grinded my gears, but then I found this. I agree entirely, but my case is a little different. And it all sparked off with one little thing: Quoting from UK Steam Info (which is a brilliant site that lists all steam-hauled rail-tours running in the UK):
So, there's a good chance that even though Scotsman is coming through my hometown twice in May, I may not even know when until the last minute. All because of those ******* idiots who thought 'Hey, a famous steam train is coming. Let's stand on the tracks to get the best sho... hey! Hey! Yeah, you standing behind the fence! Don't you tell me what to do, I'm perfectly safe. I'll get off the track if a train comes.'
1. Those trains are electric - there's a good chance you won't hear them coming 2. These trains travel at near 100mph - and trains cannot do an Emergency Stop that stops them straight away. It'd take the best part of half-a-mile to stop at that speed.
Or to put it another way:
YOU COULD BE KILLED
And if you were, then that would be it. No more Steam on the Mainline - and even if you managed to survive, you'd deserve to have the guilt weighed down on you. And if you dare to even bring you're children onto the tracks with you, then you don't deserve to be near the railway at all.
I don't care if it's Flying Scotsman or not - trespassing isn't just illegal for no reason. It's illegal because it prevents you from delaying the whole network and more importantly from being killed. But no, thanks to you I may not even know when the most famous steam engine in the world is coming through my hometown until the last minute - something, I should add, I've been waiting nearly 10 god-damn years for!
I... I'm angry. I've said before that we live in a world lacking common sense. I mean, I can live in a world full of the nutters who support UKIP or Donald Trump, lie vigorously to us via the internet that NASA is lying and the Illu-meme-ati is right, try to convince us that the world is ending this month, and support the latest fat shop-assistant or mentally-deranged virgin who's on the X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent. But when you deliberately risk you're life to get a photo of the famous engine you could get just as well from behind the fence, you are really, pun intended, crossing the line.
To quote UK Steam Info again:
Couldn't have put it better myself.
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douglas
Main Line Engine
Posts: 2,256
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Post by douglas on May 8, 2016 2:39:00 GMT
I'm lucky my local railroad is a tourist attraction, so the top speed never goes above 40 mph. That said, I've nearly been hit twice because I was walking on the tracks listening to my iPod. The driver was kind enough to blast his horn about 5 seconds before I would have been plowed by a GP9 both times (my best friend works with him at the RR as a conductor). Hey, there weren't any trails aside the tracks to walk along, and I'm not a fan of wading through tall grass in shorts. Shoot me. [bang]
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Two Red Engines
Goods Engine
Childcare worker, published author, and all round awesome!
Posts: 493
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Post by Two Red Engines on Jul 27, 2016 12:35:35 GMT
What grinds my gears are people who litter, are rude or are annoying/bullies, and unrealistic Thomas replicas. There are some people who take today's luxuries so much for granted that they leave things like cigarettes lying about on the ground (I don't mind people who smoke, but leaving cigarettes lying around is a fire hazard, if they've been used!). Also, I lived in a boy's boarding house at school for five years, and some of the students there either bullied me (as in slapping me in the face when I tried to sleep) or were just plain annoying (teasing me relentlessly and often). Another thing is, some people have used sarcasm on me when things don't go the way they want to, and I just consider that rude and not solving anything, but just sounding unfair, pathetic and completely pointless, when I may have been saying something that has something in it! Finally, most of the Thomas replicas people do these days - they just look too fake. I accept that the Reverend named an industrial tank engine that wasn't an LBSCR E2 tank engine 'Thomas', and I admit that the Jintys and Terriers could pass as Thomases, but for most other makes of engine, people just think that they can slap some paint on an engine, put a face mask on it and call it Thomas. It's just getting to the point where I'm beginning to view these replicas as nothing that the Reverend would have wanted to see. I know and understand that there are problems such as size and money to consider, but if people want a Thomas replica, I wish they could get one that actually looks like an E2!
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Rexeljet
Passenger Engine
Red dude with attitude
Posts: 964
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Post by Rexeljet on Aug 10, 2016 21:24:06 GMT
What grinds my gears are people who litter, are rude or are annoying/bullies, and unrealistic Thomas replicas. There are some people who take today's luxuries so much for granted that they leave things like cigarettes lying about on the ground (I don't mind people who smoke, but leaving cigarettes lying around is a fire hazard, if they've been used!). Also, I lived in a boy's boarding house at school for five years, and some of the students there either bullied me (as in slapping me in the face when I tried to sleep) or were just plain annoying (teasing me relentlessly and often). Another thing is, some people have used sarcasm on me when things don't go the way they want to, and I just consider that rude and not solving anything, but just sounding unfair, pathetic and completely pointless, when I may have been saying something that has something in it! Finally, most of the Thomas replicas people do these days - they just look too fake. I accept that the Reverend named an industrial tank engine that wasn't an LBSCR E2 tank engine 'Thomas', and I admit that the Jintys and Terriers could pass as Thomases, but for most other makes of engine, people just think that they can slap some paint on an engine, put a face mask on it and call it Thomas. It's just getting to the point where I'm beginning to view these replicas as nothing that the Reverend would have wanted to see. I know and understand that there are problems such as size and money to consider, but if people want a Thomas replica, I wish they could get one that actually looks like an E2! Whilst I understand what you're getting at, inaccurate Thomas replicas are often not due to ignorance or a cynical "little kids won't know the difference" mentality, but rather because preserved railways only have so many engines and many of them probably don't have any engines that look an awful lot like Thomas. Nevertheless, Day out with Thomas events are always popular and helps to keep the passion for steam railways alive, so it's not something that the preserved lines want to miss out on. Borrowing an engine that looks similar isn't always an option, and rebuilding an engine to look more like Thomas would be very expensive (and controversial - The Mid Hants railway got a lot of flack from enthusiasts for refurbishing two austerities into Thomas and Douglas, and for repainting several historic SR moguls into James)
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Two Red Engines
Goods Engine
Childcare worker, published author, and all round awesome!
Posts: 493
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Post by Two Red Engines on Aug 11, 2016 1:08:15 GMT
That is fair enough. Sorry if I sounded a bit like James, there.
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Post by Looney Conductor on Sept 20, 2016 0:57:31 GMT
Know what really grinds my gears and then some?
Whenever I have free time, I like to watch videos or read articles about different subjects. What sours my mood is when I’m enjoying an article/video is when –Completely out nowhere- the author starts insulting railways and trains in general for no reason.
One such example
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Post by Metamorphical on Sept 20, 2016 1:25:47 GMT
Hopefully, this isn't too on the political side but I don't think endangered animals are an off limits topic.
You know what really grinds my gears? Big Cat Rescue vs Kevin Richardson. I know what your thinking... What and who? If you don't know Big Cat Rescue is an organization based out of Tampa, FL that rescues wild cats from situations where people in North America have been keeping these dangerous and majestic animals irresponsibly as pets or in abusive conditions like roadside petting zoos for profit. And Kevin Richardson is also known as The Lion Whisper, that crazy guy who runs around playing and hugging lions he has rescued on a ranch in South Africa who, let's face it folks subscribe to his YouTube channel waiting to see him get mauled on his Go Pro.
I like big cats and occasionally I watch videos on both channels and in my mind both are furthering the same goals of public outreach for conservation of big cats, discouraging people from coming into contact themselves with these dangerous animals, owning then, hunting them, using them in canned hunts the later is a more direct threat to Kevin's lions in South Africa.
I don't really agree with what Kevin does but his unique relationships do allow folks to see these animals in a more personal way and it's not sugar-coated these animals can kill him. But, it ground my gears when I came across a Big Cat Rescue video that spent time and resources they could probably use to feed their animals or educate the public some more flaming Kevin. They didn't even have the balls to use a screen cap of Kevin but an unrelated screen cap that is more literally in context. This in my mind under minds the message of both groups and comes off as Big Cat Rescue just doing some attention harleting on the internet. I swear, when Kevin dies and they say I told you so I'm really going to be shaking my head because that will be totally counter-intuitive. The two groups would be better off recognizing the work each other is doing even if they don't agree with one another.
Not to mention I 100% agree with Kevin that people should take responsibility for their own safety and it shouldn't be on anyone else if they do something dumb and Darwinism takes hold. If someone else does hug a lion and gets killed that's on them for lacking that much common sense.
The videos in question?
Big Cat Rescue's video about hugging lions.
Kevin answering the question of is he a hypocrite. I don't think this is a response to Big Cat Rescue in particular since the video was posted a year or more later. Just a general response.
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Post by WhitehouseFilms on Oct 22, 2016 23:05:02 GMT
Do you know what really grinds my gears - UKTVGOLD at weekends. For some time I have noticed that for most of the whole two days this particular channel has continuously played over and over again episodes and specials of Only fools and horses. Now I have nothing against the show at all but do we really need to have a whole weekend marathon week in week out of it? There are so many other comedies you could play instead. When was the last time we ever saw a Last of the Summer Wine weekend or a Dad's Army weekend? Barely! Why can't they bring back other old comedy series? Oh Dr Beeching, Laurel and Hardy films heck even have MR Bean playing while we're at it. Something new please.
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Post by Studio BRUNEL on Oct 24, 2016 7:47:43 GMT
You know what really grinds my gears?
Those stuck-up, self-centered assholes who criticize others and say such horrible things to them for producing content that takes Thomas in a totally new direction. I'm talking of stuff like Shed 17, Sodor: The Dark Times, Tobias & The Half Pariah, etc.
Granted, not all ideas are perfect, and very few are completely flawless, but when you see these 'critics' rant on and on about how AWFUL they perceive these videos to be, you then look on their YouTube channels and they've either made absolutely nothing or just uploaded videos that has absolutely no effort at all put into them!
Honestly, while I appreciate constructive criticism is crucial to pretty much tell the creators of said videos about what was good and what needs to be improved upon, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT APPROVE of these so-called "critics" putting down these absolutely talented individuals to the point where they cannot even be motivated to try another piece that is new and improved, the constructive criticism being a waste of time and energy to think of.
Again, we are not perfect. NONE of us are in the end. But, and this is a massive BUT, like the age old story of a certain little blue tank engine who wanted to see the world beyond the confines of his drab station yard, it takes a really tenacious and, dare I say it, determined person to pluck up the courage to continue to produce content to please his fans. It is that feeling of satisfaction knowing that you've made people's lives all the more joyful for seeing your work, for it too inspires them to push their boundaries to pioneering new levels.
And that's what REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS..
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douglas
Main Line Engine
Posts: 2,256
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Post by douglas on Oct 24, 2016 12:52:59 GMT
Studio BRUNEL do you happen to frequent Reddit, by any chance? Criticism is fine as long as there's sound reasoning behind it. Nitpicking is just annoying, and if the situation is as bad as you describe it to be, that's where the lines get crossed, so to say.
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Post by Studio BRUNEL on Oct 25, 2016 4:39:02 GMT
Exactly! That's pretty much the point I'm trying to go for, there. Like I said, as long as the critique is reasonable and well-justified, then it's fine! However, I do HATE people that treat someone's failings as a war crime upon them! Like with Shed 17, Paul did make an original work that took Thomas in a new, twisted direction, and it's perfectly fine that some like it,'and some don't, it's perfectly understandable!
However, I've also seen Paul get death threats from other YouTubers because of his idea. I feel that it was unfairly shot down by some people. That's just my opinion though. Unlike those certain people who bully content creators for what they do for enjoyment, I DO NOT INTEND to shove it down other's throats. I do hope that my previous post did not ruffle any feelings in any way, shape or form.
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Post by Rusty Red Scrap Iron on Nov 22, 2016 17:27:07 GMT
Do you know what often, and I mean often Grinds my Gears.
That I'm fairly flexible with my days of when I can do a job, and a long period of time all is quiet with those who find work for you. But when come up with something after that long period of time, and its somewhere you can too with absolutely ease, you've already got plans with a ticket to prove it and there's nothing you can really do about it (well maybe there is something you can do, but not when its planned on your special day).
So, that's the latest thing to grind my gears.
EDIT:
Some other things that often Grind my Gears.
First thing, when you're a writer and you have a fantastic idea pop into your head with descent dialogue and etc., when you come to note it down for safe keepings - especially when its something that could go when you're sleeping and what have ya, a mass majority of it all goes out the window and you're left to come up with an alternative to what had been buzzing round in your head. Happens often, and really does grind my gears - always.
Second thing, which happens way too often - especially in the writing department, something we use for those of us who speak it as a first language and that's this - the English Language. What really grinds my gears about this, is that in the UK we pronounce certain words with R's and I's where they're aren't any. Whilst in places like the USA, Australia and etc., they pronounce these words where we add letters into them as they're spelt. Granted there are some pronunciations, mainly of particular countries, where if its said by an American is sounds like its something they've done or are doing. But when they say something like "Chandler", they say it as its spelt whilst we add an R where there is no R and say "Charndler".
Yes I know A is also pronounced as Ar and etc., but often it grinds my gears where we put things in words and names where you don't need it. Yet if I say something like how its spelt, I was often told to add my R's in and often get told to not say it the "American Way" because nine times out ten some Brits often say that Americans and etc. can't speak right when half the time I think they're the ones who are saying it right than us Brits.
P.S. Hope some of the latter of this didn't offend anyone, it hasn't been an intention to do so - but its just something as the title of this thread says "Grinds my Gears".
Something recently has been Grinding my Gears of late, is that when you have a one week where you accomplish something from your bucket list, and then the next week something stupid spoils that current mood of joy - something stupid that is complete out of your control and you feel so fragile from all that had happened from that stupid thing.
But it really does Grind my Gears when you've got people in this world who've nothing better to do torment others and disintegrate their joyous mood from a week before. But I know I'm not the only one to have gone through one week of joy and then the next week of crap, because a friend of mine has often gone through it during particular events that she's embarked on.
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Post by theclaudhamilton on Oct 12, 2017 15:57:08 GMT
Do you know what really grinds my gears? Well, many things, actually, but one little issue that I've been having is that of trolls and hypocrites who call themselves "railway enthusiasts", but seem to dedicate their lives to bullying real railway enthusiasts for loving steam and insisting that all such engines should be hunted to extinction, one example being heelfan1234 on YouTube. He labels himself as a "scrapping enthusiast", and has left several disparaging comments on some of Manu Guinarte's videos about what he thinks should happen to steam engines. I seriously don't understand how he can consider himself part of the railfan community if all he's going to do is chalk "scrap" all over our beloved steam engines, especially if he's going to call us "self-abusing anoraks" who "need to sort out our priorities". He even went as far as advocating a government scrapping regime just to get rid of these machines completely! I mean, I can understand that they and the diesel engines can impact on the environment, but at least steam engines don't cause cancer from what I've heard; and besides, there are plenty of ways round the pollution problems anyway, like hydrogen-powered heating elements instead of coal fires. Heck, that guy doesn't even realise that without steam railways, Britain's tourist trade would go down the toilet, and then we'd be in a far deeper rut than we already are! Railway enthusiast indeed! He's nothing short of an idiotic fraud who doesn't know what he's talking about, and that's what really grinds my gears.
#heelfan1234isatroll
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Post by Metamorphical on Oct 12, 2017 16:56:31 GMT
Makes me think of a Railroad Preservation forum I used to hang out on where there was this one guy who would troll people in threads similar to "What would you have like to have seen preserved?" and some others. Say you posted you would have liked to have seen the New York Central save a Hudson he would reply "It's no big loss none of those were saved. If one were saved where would you keep it? There is not space for one in a museum. It would probably be in some park rusting into the ground or worse."
And this would snowball into him saying "We have more than one example of certain kinds of locomotives that are nothing special. Heck, we only need one example of each general type of locomotive. The rest are all wastes of space. For instance, the Nickelplate S-2 Berkshires, heck one of them is operational and hauls mainline excursions. We only need that one that operates. The rest ought to just be scrapped to get those rusty eyesores out of the parks and out of museums to make room for rarer eyesores like the Great Northern 4-8-4 S-2 2584 in the museum."
That's kind of like if someone came on here and said, "Well it's just as well there aren't any LB&SCR E2s that were saved. There wouldn't be anywhere to keep one and at best it would be rusting into the ground on display in some park. Actually, we've got plenty of tank engines left around anyways and they are all the same. We only need a few of them. The rest should all just be scrapped to save space".
Needless to say this really tended to get people going and it was so ridiculous I couldn't be bothered to be offended. It just became a joke.
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Post by PercyFan1998 on Nov 29, 2017 19:34:06 GMT
So, I just REALLY need to ramble guys, and just vent some frustration. So I'll let loose and gripe.
My gear grind as of late has been with my yoga class. This is my first time taking a fully dedicated yoga class -- in a general sense, school wise and otherwise -- and lemme tell you, it's not for everyone. I've taken maybe a few weeks of yoga back in my sophomore year in high school in my P. E. class, but full on Iyengar yoga is not for me. My teacher has said in the past that weight lifting students are too tight for yoga, and h*** fire she is right! I literally can't sometimes, and as of late when we do triangle poses, I'm just so frustrated with my left side, my ankle just hurts so much lately, I don't know why. The easiest - and most probable solution given it's me - solution is perhaps my pose. But it's just frustrating that I can't handle the pain anymore, I'm frustrated with me over it, I'm frustrated my body just can't bend properly, and it's just irritating how many times yoga requires an upper dog pose. I hate that pose, and today it must've finally took a toll on me, because my back just HURT the whole time throughout class, time after time my pain censor went off (I didn't scream or anything, but I was wincing a lot). It's just so exhausting and frustrating sometimes to attend that class. Don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable most of the time, but often those poses just lay the hurt on me, and I can't take it.
This I know for sure, first, and last time I take yoga for at least a long while. No thanks, it's too ridiculous and taxing. Gear grind over.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2018 17:57:45 GMT
*sips from a cup of tea* (Yeah, it’s gonna be that type of rambling)
You know what really grinds my gears?
Well… it’s complicated. Sometimes, I do wonder if I was meant to be born in this generation. When you think about it, my taste in music is acquired yet somewhat old-fashioned, I’ll always take a book over an i-Phone & I generally prefer older films & TV compared to modern day examples. And that’s kind of what I’m about to talk about – it’s a bit reminiscent of a few posts I did a few years ago on this forum, back when I, on a personal feeling, wasn’t quite as mature as I’d hoped for yet. Then again, to this day I still spout on about nonsense that doesn’t matter.
They say a Politician is someone who can talk for hours without actually saying anything. If that were true, I could be Prime Minister of the UK by tomorrow and boy would I make some changes. At least I wouldn’t harp on about Brexit… no, sometimes I do think to myself “If we ever found a way to travel in time, I would gladly travel back to 1945 & live my life on from there.” I mean, I’d know what’s going to happen and I’d know what not to do to alter the future, but then again I’m sure someone would wise up & bring me in for questioning. But, in all fairness, I would. Particularly for one reason:
Let’s go a bit further back in time shall we? Well… to 1945 no less – The Three Railway Engines is published, Wilbert gives Christopher a little blue wooden train made of a broom handle & bits of doweling, Christopher calls him ‘Thomas’ & the rest as they say is history. Over the years, many more classic characters would arise from many great authors – Postman Pat, Noddy, The Mr. Men, the list goes on. Many of them soon made the leap to television too, joining other characters adapted from books all around the world & even characters who may not have started off life on a page of a book, but that didn’t matter. In fact, they were just as wonderful!
What was a real delight was that there was pretty much something for everyone – for the young un’s, there were things like Pingu and Rosie & Jim - simple stories with mischievous characters. For the family, we had Bob the Builder & Fireman Sam – excitement & action with a simple, subtle morals of teamwork, friendship and, just as important as both, Fire Safety. And for the older children, we had things like Thunderbirds & The Animals of Farthing Wood – made for older children & designed to treat them like the adults they’d grow up to be. Truly, it was a golden age of children’s television. But then, in late 1990’s, things began to go wrong.
I will just say that what I’m about to say is only my humble opinion, but please don’t get worked up if I say something you may not agree with, as this may sound a little controversial. But do you know who I blame for the decline of children’s television in general? The Teletubbies. To think I actually enjoyed that when I was younger… but then again, I was a toddler. And you may be saying “Yeah, but it’s a show made for babies so what’s the problem?” Well, 1. For a ‘baby show’ there were some quite unsettling moments in it that even I can’t quite understand (trust me, if you’re about my age & watched it when you were younger, you probably know what I’m talking about) & 2. I can explain.
The one thing I can’t stand about Teletubbies can be summed up in one word: pandering. As much as it is a show for youngsters, should that really stop the fact that there’s no coherent plot, they have to repeat everything they say & even do twice and… that’s it. It doesn’t go anywhere. Apart from one thing: come Christmas of 1997, plush Teletubbies began appearing in every toy shop & suddenly, there were crowds that could rival Black Friday customers to get one because all their children wanted one. We’ll come back to that note later, because the other thing I reason I can’t stand that show is… well, the impression that it left.
Suddenly, or in my mind at least, the Executives in the TV Industry realised “Huh… that made a lot of money. I wonder if lightning can strike twice?” It did. In the years that followed, some terrible ‘children’s shows’ began surfacing. Ragdoll Productions seemed to be on some sort of drug because they thought ‘Yes, shows with freaky creatures that don’t speak are perfect. And by the way, you made those changes to Brum didn’t you?’ The BBC made the wrong decision again when they brought out The Tweenies, which compared to the rest of their ‘Children’s BBC’ library was just terrible. Even the Australians caught onto the idea of ‘We don’t need charm or simplicity, we need a hip show with generic songs, pandering all round & adults acting like children.’ I’m not even going to say the name of that show… it knows what it did.
One thing you may have noticed is that a few of these shows are more focused on ‘teaching lessons’ than storytelling. I can appreciate a story having a moral, as Thomas pretty much found the prefect balance. But when I was a youngster, I learnt about colours, letters & other things in school. When I got home, I wanted to unwind with say… Thomas. I can appreciate Sesame Street focused on the idea of ‘storytelling blended with morals’ because, despite not watching much of it as a child, it did so in a unique manner. Much like all the shows I mentioned earlier, it really strikes me as someone’s vision. Something that a lot of dedicated people worked very hard on. They brought home the bacon…
…which is exactly what I want them to do with Peppa Pig. What can I say about it that Caddicarus hasn’t said already? The fact that a show that’s got the wrong end of the stick entirely, yet it’s got so much acclaim & so much traction? You also may have noticed that a lot of these shows are more for younger children, but that’s the thing. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. There’s the stuff for the young un’s & then there’s the stuff for the 10 year olds & over, again a lot of which is pretty much awful (bar Horrible Histories & the reboot of Thunderbirds).
That’s another thing worth bringing up – what’s with all the reboots these days? Dangermouse & Clangers are alright, but some others are really quite poor. But what about those shows that didn’t get rebooted? Well, put it this way: what ruined The Simpsons? Trying to keep it going. In other words, it’s gotten to the point where Postman Pat has a helicopter & a quad-bike now, Fireman Sam lost a lot it’s charm & Bob the Builder now looks like a UKIP voter. And here we finally get to the point I’m trying to make. The one thing that really grinds my gears is none-other than ‘Executive Interference’ – i.e. the reason I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here is refusing to die.
I mean, look at Thomas – under Britt & David, it was great, even when the dropped the source material. It had charm, it was fun, it was unique. But when Hit Entertainment took over, the decline began. But we all know what happened, so let’s move on. With the big crew change in 2013 though, things began getting better… they recaptured some of that old charm and did some very interesting new stuff. Heck, even I, albeit many years ago, once said ‘The Thomas we know & love is back! Everyone applaud & dance!’ But while things for the show were alright, things weren’t so alright in the area it really mattered.
You know how this whole rambling got started? It started with the MINIS. I’ll say it: I love the MINIS. They’re inexpensive & pack in a lot more punch than any of Mattel’s other Thomas toys. I say that though, but while I love the ‘Classic’ ones, I’m not particularly fond of the ‘Themed’ ones. If it’s based on a certain episode or special, I can understand. But some of the themes I just can’t help but question: sci-fi, creatures, back-to-school? It gets worse: come 2019, one such theme will apparently be ‘Icky’. And sure enough, alongside Harold & Kevin (two actual good ideas for new MINIS), there will be a ‘Booger Bill’. Yes, you read right. ‘Booger Bill’. It’s all very well saying kids today love poo, but it’s true. Poo putty, Poo emojis (on tablets & i-Phones no less, because I guess those are cool while LEGO & train sets are uncool)… while ‘Booger Bill’ isn’t as bad, if we get one like ‘Poo Percy’… I will be disappointed but not surprised.
What’s worse is that these toys are popping up all over the place. But talking of things beginning with ‘P’, you may have noticed that I didn’t bring up Paw Patrol earlier. Well, if you’re wondering, it goes in the pile of rocks that is ‘Kids TV’ today. Not children’s television. ‘Kids TV’. I know I’ve not seen a single episode of it, but despite the generic pop theme song, the lacklustre animation and OTT action, the reason I don’t like it is because it’s owners actually know how to make good toys. Going back to Thomas, we all remember growing up with ERTL, Wooden Railway & TOMY. Look at things now.
It’s all very well saying ‘Mattel has no idea on how to run Thomas’ over & over again, but… face it. They don’t, do they? Remember those two words? Executive Interference? Mattel wanted to make more money & didn’t care if the show was exceptionally good or actually very poor overall (with some exceptions). So long as there are toys to be made, it doesn’t matter to them. You may also be wondering why I blame the Teletubbies for all this. Well, the Christmas of ’97 is your answer. Kids Shows began relying on toy sales and, while something Thomas needs to survive, it’s something that in my mind he shouldn’t rely on too often.
What made Thomas so great wasn’t the fact that he could make millions. It was simply one mans vision to tell good stories about an interesting topic. And the TV Series? One woman’s vision to bring a beloved character to the screen. But while these days we still have the genius of Brenner, McCue, Renshaw & Jam-filled, the problem lies with the Owner. While the bankruptcy of Arc Productions was unfortunate, Mattel didn’t care if JBS unfinished in many places. And while I can appreciate teaching children about the world around them, I still can’t sit through BWBA without criticising it heavily.
I know I keep banging on about Executive Interference, but in this day & age it reigns supreme. Mattel keeps insisting on changing the toys to the point where they’re no better than the knock-offs we’ve seen Leokimvideo raise awareness of. I’d always planned to get my Nephew his first Thomas train set for his 3rd birthday, which coincidently will be this time next month, but now I’m not bothering. Instead, I’m giving him Railway Series books. At least Mattel can’t ruin them, or indeed the Classic Series or the stuff we had in the ‘Brennaissance’.
I know I sound like I’m mad here, but I’m not really. I still love Thomas & I will until the day I die. But that doesn’t mean I worship him. As I’ve said before I’m also a fan of real railways, model railways, virtual railways (i.e. Train Simulator). But Thomas was the reason I got into this wonderful hobby. He's the basis of so many happy memories in my life & seeing him treated like this just makes me unhappy. Executive Interference has ruined him & it could ruin your childhood favourites too. He used to be so unique, but now he’s just like Pat, Sam & Bob. A shadow of his former self. I'd honestly now think it would be for the best if Mattel wrapped things up if you know what I mean. Preferably sooner rather than later...
Still, at least we'll always have the Originals.
And that is what really grinds my gears. If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’ve tried my hardest to vent my frustration as sensibly & maturely as I can & I’m pretty pleased with myself.
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Stepney Boy55
Shunting Engine
Hmm... I thought I was orange..
Posts: 56
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Post by Stepney Boy55 on May 23, 2020 6:41:40 GMT
Don’t normally do this, but do you wanna know what grinds my gears? Cyber bullying. That’s what. I just woke up this morning and the furst thing I see is this: Hana Kimura passes awayTo give you some backstory, miss Hana Kimura was on a Japanese reality show, and there was a scene in which some of Hana’s wrestling gear was ruined, which lead to an argument. That alone was enough to lead people to send hate message after hate message, resulting in her being druven to suicide. To say stuff like this is unacceptable is like saying the sun is a bit warm or the Atlantic Ocean is a little puddle. Everyone who sent her a hateful message or hurtful comment should face jail, they are literally getting away with the murder of a 22 year old girl, yet they won’t due to the anonymity of the internet. F’ing disgusting. That’s what really grinds my gears. PS: This (hopefully) only goes out to our younger members, but please think before you send out a negative, hateful, or hurtful tweet or comment to someone, even if they are famous or a celebrity. Those tweets DO get read and they CAN cause things like this. Please, keep your tweets and messages on other social media platforms sweet and positive, it makes the world a better place.
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Post by Rusty Red Scrap Iron on May 23, 2020 14:55:34 GMT
Here's something that's really beginning to grind my gears - which of course is happening during this pandemic.
People and Scientists in Authority who are advising us the masses everyday folk to all do this one thing, whilst they (the People and Scientists in Authority) go off and do the absolute opposite to what they've been preaching. To which I've found myself saying: "If you can't practice what you're preaching, then you shouldn't be in government and in a position of authority." Of course, particularly in the UK, its happened too often during the Covid pandemic and I wouldn't be surprised if the media start spouting about another figure having done it.
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tobiasmaguire
Shunting Engine
Do not oppose me mere mortal
Posts: 54
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Post by tobiasmaguire on Jan 25, 2021 1:04:02 GMT
This definitely grinds my gears. When people say TB12 is the GOAT purely because of rings. It's a team sport. It takes a whole great team(offense,defense,coaching,etc.) to go to the SB. Why is an individual considered great for a team's accomplishment? Now stats and records, I understand. But why do you consider him the GOAT? Some people argue everyone has a part to play, but that doesn't matter if your team does terrible. And what about the times he does terrible and his team goes to the SB anyways?
Don't get me started on that whole Spygate thing. If nothing happened, why did Roger burn the tapes?
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