BUCK site online

The official website for the second BUCK convention is now up. As expected, it will be in Manchester again, though there's still no official word on the exact venue. (It was the Bridgewater Hall in 2012, and many people assume it'll be the same again.) The website itself is nicely designed: not too cluttered, with plenty of white space and text that's quite easy to read. It gives the impression of a professionally run operation, and after the shenanigans at Las Pegasus UniCon the other day, that's good to see!

There are still some things missing from the site, apart from venue location. Most importantly, ticket details have not yet been published. Similarly, although there are basic times for the weekend, a detailed schedule is yet to come and there's no word on what the "something awesome" planned for the Friday will be. That's promised "soon", so let's hope that word is accurate. The FAQ is also a bit light on things like how to register and what you need to bring on the day; presumably those will be added when ticket details are.

As you'll know if you've read some of the other things I've written, I wasn't really in the fandom in time to attend the first BUCK last year, which is a shame. This time around, I'd like to go — though scheduling it on August Bank Holiday weekend does mean I'll be at the mercy of Network Rail to a large extent. For personal reasons I doubt I'll be able to manage a full residential stay, so I'm looking at a (very) long single-day attendance on the Saturday. I'd miss the late evening events, but partying, dancing and boozing isn't for me anyway. :P

Ponypic: Big Macintosh by Dahtamnay

Big Macintosh by Dahtamnay, May 2012. CC by-nc-nd 3.0

It's about time we had a Ponypic post again, don't you think? I knew you'd agree with me! This is a really rather awesome picture of everyone's favourite bright red stallion. Big Mac looks almost as though he's been immortalised in a stained glass window here. Well, if even Spike can get one of those, why not him, eh?

Society frowns at blowing one's own trumpet

(And if you get the reference in the title, you're 20% more awesome than pretty much anyone else!) But anyway... this is a small and pointless post to announce to the world (well, the two people who actually read this blog) that my review of the Bronies documentary has reached the 100-view mark, the first of my articles to do that. It only just won the race, though, as my review of issue #3 of the IDW comic is on 99 views!

Actually, nine of the top ten most-viewed posts on Louder Yay are reviews (the other being the preview of Bronies), which I suppose isn't surprising. Little old me can't hope to compete with the big sites, especially the mighty Equestria Daily, when it comes to news, con details, etc. But when it comes to reviews, whether of episodes or comics, you just need one person who can string together a nicely readable article, and that's something I can do quite well.

I don't want to make this blog exclusively review-focused, but you can certainly expect more reviews in the near future. Just don't expect a review of SWAG.MOV; I have watched it, as I have all the others in the series, but that's just so I can pick up references. I don't like the .MOV series at all, and don't even find its tastelessness amusing. Yes, it's well put together for what it is. I just strongly dislike what it is!

Review: "Foaly Matripony" (Friendship is Witchcraft E08)

BBBFF, the most exciting colt-band in all Equestria

It's been a long wait, made even lengthier by YouTube problems, but "Foaly Matripony", the latest instalment of SherclopPones' famous abridged series, Friendship is Witchcraft, has finally arrived. I make no bones about saying that this is, and has been for a long time, my favourite abridged Pony series. This episode is based on the S2 finale, though it's much more about the wedding bits than the Chrysalis-fighting stuff. I was disappointed by that lack when I first started watching it, but in the end I think it turned out okay. Review after the jump!

Still searchin'

(As Ray Davies once sang.) It's interesting to look through the records for this site and see how people find it. Unsurprisingly, the most common referring site is Google, while next up is UK of Equestria -- as Louder Yay is linked from my signature there, that's not surprising either! There are few notable other entries, though I did get a mention for one of my comic reviews on, and therefore a small number of visitors from, The Round Stable.

Looking at specific search terms, the most common is "my little pony friendship is magic comic", which makes sense as I've reviewed every issue in some detail. Of the episode reviews, it's "Keep Calm and Flutter On" which takes the laurels. Interestingly, one person found me by searching for "Kidderminster brony". I don't actually live in Kidderminster, but I'm not all that far away. So I know there's at least one other local fan out there. Hello to you!

Finally, some mixed bits and pieces. The top five countries are the UK, the US, Germany, Sweden and (surprisingly) Russia. Windows and *nix dominate the OS category. Firefox sweeps all before it in the browser stakes, with Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera completing a relatively unstartling top five. To be honest, this isn't turning out to be that thrilling, so I'll stop now. :P

Review: MLP:FiM Micro Series issue #1: Twilight Sparkle

Cover A, by some distance the best of the regular covers

I've been in two minds about the Micro Series of IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic for some while. Given the stellar quality of the main comic so far, could the spin-offs be anything other than a disappointment? For whatever reason (weather-related shipping delays have been suggested) Thom Zahler's debut, concentrating on Twilight, hasn't yet arrived on the shores of Blighty, so I bit the bullet and ordered this one from Comixology. I don't much like reading on a screen, but it only cost me £2.66. Was the comic worth it, though? Come with me past the jump to find out...

My Local Brony

If the thought of the 90-minute Bronies documentary is a bit too much for you, or even if you've already seen that and just want something else to watch, here's an idea. My Local Brony is a short film made by Matthew Barnes with Emily Jarvis for the Norwich region of the BBC Voices initiative. As its name implies, it focuses on a group of MLP fans from the area as they discuss their feelings about the show and what it — and its wider fandom — have brought them.

I don't know any of the people involved in the flesh, though I've interacted with some of them online via UK of Equestria. Regardless of that, I enjoyed this 13-minute film. It's much less ambitious than Bronies; I suspect it may not have had a six-figure budget, otherwise its interviews might have been held somewhere that was above freezing! Nevertheless, it's nicely put together, and (always important) the little gimmicks don't get in the way of the film itself.

My Local Brony can be watched free at the SeaMe.tv website. This isn't a review as such, but I'm still going to recommend it. Well worth 13 minutes of your time.