Five Years, and Still Snowthing: A Retrospective

D'Snowth

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It's a cold winter's days, and the little children head out to play.
The dance about in the cold powder or pink, girls giving their guys subtle winks.
Making Snowth angels, and making Snowthmen, in winter you can do these again and again.
While reading this intro, you may hiss and boo, but all I have to say is "Do-Do Do-do-do!"

Wow. Five years. Hard to believe. A lot can happen in five years. In a five-year period Larry Linville stayed with M*A*S*H until he left feeling they had done all they could with his character of Major Frank Burns. In a five year period, the Ruby-Spears company managed to produce and animated fifty-four episodes of Alvin and The Chipmunks. In a five-year period, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, and a host of others would commute to the U.K. to shoot The Muppet Show. In a five-yeard period, I was doing a comic strip series of a very loose caricature based on myself before I finally blew up from burn-out (that and I was on medication that had some really bad side-effects including high-anxiety and paranoia as I was finishing the "final season" of said comics). In a five-year period, I was a part of not only a community, but also a family. There are two other forums I've belonged to longer than that, but I haven't posted at either of them nearly as much, nor as regularly as I have here, which makes this anniversary even more significantly for me.

This thread is a retrospective of my time here with you guys at Muppet Central Forum; I plan to include stories, anecdotes, links, and other things to help show just how much being a part of Muppet Central, being a part of this community, being a part of this family has really meant to me.

Of course before I start, I have several people I want to thank...

  • Frazzle. Frazzle and I pretty much joined MC around the exact same time, and we happened to be the first to formally introduce each other and welcome each other to the forum.
  • Beauregard. Beau's been here a lot longer than I have, I still remember the time I changed my name here to D'Snowth, and his comment about how he found the name to be "lovely", and also wandered what the "D'" meant, lol. Beau's a great guy, we've had our share of disagreements, but nothing we can't work out between us. As a matter of fact, he helped me to further step out my shell early in 2005, which lead to me posting on a vigorously regular basis around here.
  • That Announcer. *Ducks out of shooting range from Prawnie* TA made me feel important. He really did. At the time he was at his prime here, a thread was underway of who was who's favorite members here at MC, and I was truly surprised to see that he included me on his list. When asked why, he simply told me that I was cool. TA and I managed to collaborate on quite a few things together, from our work on MrsPepper's T*K*O, to being the very first global moderator of the Klub Kathy forum at KGZ.
  • MrsPepper. MrsPepper is truly a wonderful person. She became my first best friend, and I'm happy to say that we still maintain a strong and close friendship, even if it is through a computer screen to this day; I know whenever I feel the need to talk to somebody about something, whether it's something important, or something silly and insignificant that I can share it with her. Thanks to her, I really got involved here at MC with our sitcom, T*K*O, which lasted for a decent four years, fifty-two episodes, and only two major cast changes. I always look back fondly on our project, and we get a kick out of reminiscing about those old days and reminding each other of how much fun we've had.
  • anythingmuppet. AM's another of my best friends here at MC; his maniac hyperness, and wild energy level can really get this place hopping when he hasn't gone into hiding, or isn't busy with other things going on. I can always count on AM for a nice source of support, thanks to him usually being the first to rate and review a new Steve D'Monster video on YouTube, and of course, nothing beats those awkward moments when we're in really crazy PM conversations that I shouldn't even bring up, ****! He knows what I mean, and I'm sure he's laughing at that as he reads it! AM is also a fellow M*A*S*Her (in more ways than obviously, LOL), so thanks to him a few more people understand me. Which is odd because I know somethings I'm hard to understand! Oh yeah, and this guy has given me more nicknames that anyone person I know!
  • Beakerfan. Beakie! Yet another of my best friends here! What can I say? She's also another M*A*S*Her, so we can actually share our problems with each other, and relate to the characters of this show who are going through similar problems. But on top of all that, Beakie's also another one around here who can put up with my craziness, but then again, sometimes I also have to put up with a bit of hers too, but that's okay, I do not mind at all! Another thing that's nice is that we love to share - she shares Jeanette with me, while I share Charles Emerson Winchester (and/or David Ogden Stiers) with her, so it works out cool for both of us, tee-hee-hee!
  • Bill Bubble Guy. Yet ANOTHER of my best friends here! Marty's really a blessing, and I mean that in the most sincerely. In fact, back in the days of T*K*O, I remember asking me if he could be worked onto the show as a character himself; as I thought about possibilities, I thought perhaps he could be brought into replace me altogether when I wrote myself out of the final season of the show, but then I thought, replacing a major character like that so close to the end was rather blunt and pointless. That's when it hit me to bring in Marty that final season on a level of recurrance, but somehow, being a thread killer didn't seem right for him; knowing what a devoted Christian he is, that's what inspired me to make him the first chaplain in the entire Thread Killers Organization, assigned to the 3976th 1/2. I must say, I've created something special with this "Father Marty" persona, as I'm sure he'll admit that I do, indeed, come to him quite often for advice, whether spiritual or not.
  • Oscarfan. ANOTHER of my best friends! My newer best friend at that, and I got to admit, he makes me feel like I have people who look up to me. Not implying that he does or not, but when I see somebody else is posting videos on YouTube that are either based on something I've done, or that are actually parodizing my work, that has to say SOMETHING about me influencing other people and their work, does it not? Lol. But Oscarfan (or MarshalGrover as I first started to get to know him as) is a great guy, and really manages to crack me up, him and Fenwick both, even though Steve feels Fenwick is trying to steal his spotlight; I have to remind him he's not the only monster in the world, even though he likes to think he is... in his own world that is, lol.
  • Fozzie Bear. Yep, good old Kevin L. Williams, just about one of the greatest, multi-talented individuals at this forum, with his creation of Muley the Mule, who has been incarnated into three different forums of entertainment: cartoons, puppets, and full-bodied suits, Kev's really an amazing guy... that and the fact that he's a fellow Tennesseean! He's also a fair moderator around here as well, and I thank him for that!
  • The Count. Gosh, I've known him for the LONGEST time! I still remember the first time he told me that he was "legally" blind, which was shortly after I first came here as well (I think, if my memory serves correctly, we were talking about an AM girl that The Count from Sesame Street was seen with, and I offered to draw a picture to help offer a visualization of this mysterious girl he was with, and you telling me you wouldn't be able to see it because of your vision). I also remember when Count was made a mod around here as well, and he's done an excellent job at keeping MC in order since he's been a part of the staff around here, and I say to him to keep up the great work, even if the constant editing of the titles of my threads gets just a little annoying after a while, lol.
  • Vic Romano. Davo can only be described in three words: one cool dude. And he is, he really is one cool dude! I've always thought of Davo as our "resident coolcat", and I'm sure others will agree with me; he was great to work with on the set of T*K*O, of which he was the kind of "warts and all" character of, he does a kick-@ job on those weekly visuals, that ALWAYS get such raving reviews because they're so froggin' awesome! He's not around as much as he used to be, but when he DOES find time to break from his busy schedule to make a comeback, the forum's got a bit of extra life to it!
  • ThePrawnCracker. Prawnie's another cool dude around here! He too was wonderful to work with on the set of T*K*O, even though sometimes he could be a bit of a prima donna and a drama queen *sticks tongue out in playful manner*! But of course, who could possibly forget mine and Prawnie's race to the number three spot of the 10K club last summer? I SMOKED HIM! HE DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE! *Holds hand up in the shape of an L* LOSER! LOSER! LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOSER! I'm just kidding Prawnmeister, you're awesome, and I thank you that!
  • Katzi428. The OTHER other other other Kathy! She's been around for quite a bit, even longer than me in fact! In fact, at this moment, I have a weird secret to admit, but in the old days of MC, for some reason, I always got the impression that Kathy was trying to avoid me, and I couldn't figure out why; I look back on that now and I say to myself "What in the world was I thinking?" I mean, when somebody sends me really funny PMs and e-mails on a regular basis, and sometimes even go into talkshops about Kathy Greenwood and Wayne Brady, that's hardly one person avoiding another, now is it?
  • BeakerSqueedom. We love da Squeegee! Even if she does constantly plot and scheme to break up my friendship with MrsPepper so she can hog her all to herself, and run off with her and use her for her own personal pleasure! *Death glare* I kid, I kid, I love ya Squeegee, I really do, and I'm so happy to see you're doing much better, and have a much more positive outlook on life these days; already I miss seeing you around MC, so I do hope you'll come back to visit us again sometime!
  • William and Skye (a.k.a "Caroliam", or as they're more commonly known as "Willoline"). I know they don't like it when I make fun of their little romance, but can I help myself? No I really can't. Okay, I can, but it's all in the spirit of jocularity! Well okay, it isn't, but nevermore, okay? Nevermore! Will's another cool dude around here who always managed to keep up with a wide variety of different hot topics around here, and Skye's a wonderful conversationalist... why, she taught me my life's greatest lesson that bra isn't a color! And she also puts up with my weird fantasies of me being in a Ménage à trois with a blonde Canadian chick, and a brunette nerdy Chipette. Okay, please forget I said that!
  • redBoobergurl. Beth is another great friend I've known for quite sometime, I don't seem to get to talk to her much anymore, but I'm happy she still thinks of me as her favorite little Muffin Monster!
  • Ziffel. Man, you really do come and go around here, but I like it when you're around, because that gives me someone to talkshop with about the zany, classic sitcom Green Acres (which features a pig named Arnold, who is in the care of a Fred and Doris... that's right, it's the Ziffel Family), and for creating the concept of the MC Forum Ziffel!
  • There's also a host of other people I have to thank as well, and this includes my friends Colby (Colbynfriends), Jamie (frogboy4), Becky (RedSonga), Anna (Pork) Pooh (wwfpooh), Cullen (Xerus), Kim (Skeeter Muppet), Bunny (WhiteRabbit), Kendra (furryredmonster), Sara (ReneeLouvier), Kyle (Erine81981), anytimepally (anytimepally), Brian (Princeton), Bryon (BEAR), Dan-Dan the Strawberry Man (tutter_the_mouse, lol), unclematt (unclematt), Luke (Luke), Drtooth (Drtooth), Daniel (Teheheman), Kate (Fragglemuppet), Katie (Krazedmuppet), Ryan (ryhoyarbie), Sarge (Sgt Floyd), Barry Lee (Barry Lee), Austin (maniacal muppet), Gonzo14 (Gonzo14), Ernie101 (Ernie101), Kiki-Kramer (Kiki), Muppet dude (Muppet dude), RedDragon (RedDragon), ssetta (ssetta), Emmy (EmmyMik), Jackie (Jackie), SSLFan (SSLFan), Matt (Muppet Matt), Faylo (Faylo), Dr. Bombay (Dr. Bombay), MuppetsRule (MuppetsRule), and last, but not least, Phillip and Cindy Chapman for creating Muppet Central and thus creating a community for us all to get together and become a family!
  • Jim Henson. My hero. My soul inspiration. The reason why I became involved with puppetry, and chose it as a career. If it wasn't for Jim Henson, none of us would be here today, because there would've been no muppets, and can you imagine a world without muppets? No, you really can't, can you?
 

Oscarfan

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Aw, thanks for thinking of me man! Congrats on the 5 years!
 

The Count

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*Sniff... Me miss Squeegee too. Hey Snowths... All I can say is congratulations on five fabu years of fun here at MC. If it makes you feel any better, I missed posting on my 6-year anniversary as well. But what da hey... *Pulls string and fireworks go whizzing off in all directions. What, you expecting confetti? Me hate that stuff. So, where cake? Can me have piece please? And why me speaking like :insatiable:?

Ah, forget it. *Handshake/hugs Fluffy wishing him another five years of greatness.
 

MartyMuppets

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Thank you for recognizing me Snowthers. I'm always delighted to give you advice and as you know I always try my best. :smile:

You've made me think I should put some effort into finishing the third of my Father Marty's Muppet Ministry Fan Fics in the near future so that I'll have the full trilogy to my T*K*O spin off at least. :big_grin:
 

D'Snowth

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Lol! I'm proud to have taught you that lesson, Joe Snowtherino! :big_grin: And don't worry, I think deep down, Jeanette is flattered that you're so fond of her Chipette self. :wink:
Really? Because I heard that she's been hiding under her bed lately, and won't come out, even for her sisters, or Simon for that matter!
Aw, thanks for thinking of me man! Congrats on the 5 years!
No problemo, and thanks!
*Sniff... Me miss Squeegee too. Hey Snowths... All I can say is congratulations on five fabu years of fun here at MC.
Thanks Count!
We know you're just kidding around Snowth.
Yeah, but I DO tend to get carried away and go overboard, don't I? But no more of that, lol.
Thank you for recognizing me Snowthers. I'm always delighted to give you advice and as you know I always try my best. :smile:
Thanks Father!:wink:
Marty said:
You've made me think I should put some effort into finishing the third of my Father Marty's Muppet Ministry Fan Fics in the near future so that I'll have the full trilogy to my T*K*O spin off at least. :big_grin:
Oh indeed, we love the T*K*O spin-offs!
 

The Count

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Thank you. *Handshake/hugs Da'Snowth. *Saves second piece to share with someone special.
 

D'Snowth

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And now, to carry on with what this thread was going to be about: the retrospectiveness!

Part One: The Dark Ages (2003-2004)

:wisdom: At the time, I was thinking that 2003 was just about the best year of my entire life (but then again, that's what I was thinking about 2005 when it rolled around, and September 2007 to April 2008, etc).

2003 was the year I was FINALLY out of middle school, after having spent three years going to school in the ghetto, I was ready for a change (to this day, my mom still wonders how I did it). The first four weeks on my first high school year, I enrolled in my zoned school, and I saw that it was pretty much the same as my middle school, if not worse; then my mom pulled my out and started to homeschool me, which is how I was schooled for the remainder of my school years.

The tail end of 2003 saw another blessing: Tommie. We heard that a friend of a friend was looking to sell her bunny to somebody, and having been without a bunny for almost a year, I felt I was ready to love again. After driving nearly all the way out of the county, we finally managed to arrive at the location of which we were to pick up Tommie, her owner had a menagerie of different animals, so much that she looked like she was running a petstore in her own home. Down in the basement was a large cage with a plump little bunny in it; apparently the basement was the only place they could keep the little bunny, and the daughter no longer had anything to do with it because she once saw a snake in the basement, freaked out, and never went down there again. The only time Tommie saw anybody was that one time during the day when the owner would come downstair to feed her and give her water. Yeah, she pretty lead a sad, depressing, reclusive life her first year of life, and many seem to think that's the root to her hateful disposition; but I care not, Tommie's my baby, and I still wub her!

:stick_out_tongue: Alright, I know what you're thinking... what does this have to do with me being on MC? Well, sorry, I felt like reminiscing a bit about how 2003 was a great year, but there was more to it than that! 2003 was pretty much when my passion for puppetry REALLY began to sore; just a short while before, I was treated to two new muppet movies - one rocked, while the other flopped, I was also introduced to Animal Jam, which I would watch in the morning before school, and of course, there was also the matter of Season 34, which, in my opinion, was just about one of the best seasons of the "new" incarnation of Sesame Street, and lastly, Season Two of Play with Me Sesame, back when you could actually watch Noggin without crying! Well, I take that back, by then, there was no more Sesame Street Unpaved, and eventually no more 123 Sesame either.

Anyway, all this muppety goodness really sparked my love for puppetry even more, and I really got serious about pursuing it as a career!

:smile: Now comes the part you've been waiting to read! I stumbled onto Muppet Central quite by accident... in fact, sadly, I forget exactly how I came about finding the site, but what I DO remember was lurking onto forum, and reading some discussions about certain muppet shows and what not, that really made me want to be a part of it.

Now, I'll admit it, I was skeptical about joining this forum, because it reminded me a lot of The ToonZone Forums, of which I was already a member of, and a regular poster of at the time, and truth me told, people were always mighty unfriendly towards me there... I only had like ONE friend there, but we were only friends because we both liked watching Courage the Cowardly Dog, and writing fanfics as well, but that's it really.

Eventually, I gave in, and joined MCF, under my original, then trademark username Courage-Bagge, what was the first thread I posted in? Your Thoughts: Play With Me Sesame Season 2. I remember that clearly, because of the side-conversation on David Rudman's Cookie Monster, which I had trouble adjusting to at the time, but now think nothing of it, lol!

Afterwards, I finally introduced myself, but since I intended only on posting in the then only one Sesame Street board, that's where I introduced myself, and was first welcomed by Frazzle.

So anyway, that's how I came about Muppet Central, though I will admit, I wasn't much a regular poster back in the day, but MC wasn't quite as laid-back and informal then as it is now; I think the main reason was that back then, I was shy, and was cautious about what I posted, for fear, I'd be mistreated here like I was at Toon Zone, so really, I would only post when I felt the need to say something, which wasn't very often. This carried on all through 2004 when I fell into a deep depression for sound reasons, and SELDOM posted here either. The spring of 2004, however, DID see a change in me, when I finally began to grow tired of my "Courage-Bagge" namesake, and wanted to change my name; being fascinated by the snowths for some reason at the time, I got the idea to change my name to D'Snowth (which I thought sounded zippy), so I asked Phillip if he could change my name, which he did, and that's the me you all know and love.

Lol, notice how my retrospective is done in the format of posts by both Jamie and Pooh!
 

Colbynfriends

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Thanks for thinking of me D'Snowth.:smile: I can't wait to read more about your time here at MC.
 
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