Below are the most recent 5 friends' journal entries.

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
fandom_wank [ the_sun_is_up ]	10:28a	Toy company makes grown men rage; film at eleven. Hasbro’s robust My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic franchise is doing something that a lot of girl-aimed television franchises have done: it’s spawning a semi-canonical tie-in movie. The film, entitled “Equestria Girls,” is about Twilight Sparkle getting sucked into the human world, turning into a human, and winding up in what appears to be a technicolor version of Mean Girls. As you can imagine, the Brony fandom is absolutely delighted that the production team is making such a drastic change to their beloved formula and... oh wait, no, they're pitching a fit about it. Knowing Brony fandom's reputation for grade-A unfunny, I have done my best to sift through the wank and bring you only the funny bits! (Though if you click any of the links, be warned — you're going into no-man's land.) First off, there's some minor wanking on this April article on Equestria Daily, where some poor souls are still holding out hope that it’s not real: ( De Nial is a river full of hungry violent hippos... ) However, the wanking really gets going with the release of a trailer. There is capslock o’ rage and harsh language! ( Cut for whinging ) There is vast overestimation of Brony fandom’s importance: ( Bronies make the world go round ) Some people think the anthro-ed ponies look too much like their pony selves. Because changing things is bad, but not changing things enough is also bad: ( Why is it different/not different? Why?!? ) Twilightisbest suggests a protest! ( Walk-outs and demographics and greed, oh my! ) There is talk of CENSORSHIP and the FIRST AMENDMENT! ( Get thee to a Civics class ) Naturally, there are conspiracy theories: ( Hasbro just wants to stick it to us! ) Some people are worried that the movie might be blighted by the heinous scourge known only as... [scare chord] ...the ROMANCE SUBPLOT! ( Anti-shipping wank, right this way ) Some people are getting a tad melodramatic: ( Tell me about your pony angst ) And of course there’s complaining about the complaining: ( Like a mobius strip! ) But at least this guy has his priorities in order: Derpendable The cmc have boobs.. (CMC = Cutie Mark Crusaders = Applejack's kid sister and her two little pals) Dark Qiviut seems to be repeating himself a lot: ( Cut for stampede of bluish quadrupeds ) Okay, enough of that windbag. Back in the May ED posts, Blackstar033 wants the option to expunge all hints of the movie from the Equestria Daily site: ( Stick your fingers in your ears and go la la la ) And to top it all off, the CEO of another toy company makes a cameo: Novem_Vulpes Ooh boy all this hate is giving me the bronchitis. How come it is so easy to rile up the internets with a CHILDREN'S CARD GA-- I MEAN TELEVISION SERIES? inDerpxar SCREW THE RULES I HAVE PONIES Seto Kaiba don't make me send my lawyers David_Ker Mr Kaiba, I have a question: in your world, are court cases resolved through card games? THE END (until the actual film comes out) Edit: I am sososo sorry about the html fuckup. orz Current Mood: Sparkly (46 Comments |Comment on this)
otf_wank [ cygnia ]	11:20a	UPDATE on Amy's Baking Company... ...or "Excuse me, how much is a slice of Schadenfreude Pie?" *** Amy’s Baking Company gets lawsuit threat, nixes conference ( Linked article under cut ) ETA: Loopywafflehead with some further updated links HERE! Return of the ETA: The International Meanies are looking to deport Samy! (59 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
otf_wank [ loopywafflehead ]	11:32p	I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD. Amy and Samy Bouzgala, of Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale, Arizona, appear on Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Aside from the incredibly poor service and food, they lie about baking the cakes they sell, and most of the photos they use on their Facebook belong to other people. Even worse, they verbally abuse customers and staff, and they keep their employees’ tips for themselves. Ramsey gives up on them, saying, “After about 100 Kitchen Nightmares, I met two owners I could not help. It is because they are incapable of listening.” The owners didn’t listen because they didn’t want help. They only wanted Ramsey's compliments and praise in order to show up the ‘haters’ and ‘bloggers’ on Yelp and Reddit who are obviously out to get them. Of course, that didn’t happen and the owners had an epic meltdown on their company’s Facebook page. ( I am keeping note of all names here. We will be pursuing action against you legaly, and against reddit and yelp, for this plot you have come together on. ) The drama made it to Buzzfeed, where you can find plenty of screencaps in case their Facebook is taken down. Amy has also been convicted of fraud for using someone else’s social security number and taking out a loan. People swarm to their Yelp page after watching the episode but most of those reviews are removed. However, it’s easy to see from reviews left before the programme was aired that the owners have always behaved this way. A poster on Reddit submits the theory that the whole place is actually a money laundering operation. [ETA: Post has since been deleted. I'll try to get it from my computer's cache but if anyone finds a screencap in the meantime, let me know. Found a copy of the text on another Reddit thread, copied to the comments here.] The full episode can be found here on YouTube. This post on eater.com contains a summary as well as a couple of clips from the show. And ONTD speculates on the most important issue: what Gordon Ramsey would be like in bed. ( Previous ETA's now under the cut ) ETAx5: This is the latest post on their Facebook: Other Side of Amy’s Baking Company Controversy in Scottsdale To Soon Be Told SCOTTSDALE, AZ. MAY 15, 2013 -- Amy’s Baking Company will host a Grand Re-Opening on Tuesday night, May 21, following unflattering portrayals on national television. Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity chef or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned business for six years. When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized to bring awareness to cyber bullying. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by emailing sjones@rosemoserallynpr.com. Diners will also have the opportunity to meet, and judge for themselves the character of owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, who have devoted their lives to and earn their living from their small restaurant. The Bouzaglos have been married for 10 years, after Sammy emigrated from Israel. The owners will likely be holding a press conference before the Grand Re-Opening and answer falsehoods depicted on a reality television show, including assertions that the restaurant confiscates tips from servers. In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly five times the standard hourly wage for servers. Questions will also be answered about what happened to their Facebook page. Amy’s Baking Company was recently featured on the hit PBS show “Check Please” and has received A+ reports from CBS 5 for kitchen preparedness. “We are very upset by what has taken place, apologize about the acrimony that has ensued but now must fight back to save our business. We hope and believe much good can result from what has transpired. We ask the public to keep an open mind as we begin to tell our side of the story,” Samy Bouzaglo said. For more details, please contact Michael Saucier. I can't decide whether I want Michael Saucier to be a real person or someone who is just leading them on. In more pleasant news, Katy Cipriano, the waitress who was fired on the show, has participated in an AMA on Reddit. She does have other employment and is doing quite well. ETAx6: Press conference is off, grand reopening is still on, and future updates can be found in this post. (201 Comments |Comment on this)
operation_mock [ cygnia ]	2:24p	Florida Business Forced Scientology on Employees, Feds Assert Florida Business Forced Scientology on Employees, Feds Assert The federal government is accusing a Miami business of having forced employees to practice Scientology. Dynamic Medical Services, which provides medical and chiropractic treatment, is accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of having compelled at least four of its employees to participate in Scientology religious practices, and of having fired two for their refusal. The company, in a statement faxed to ABC News, says it prides itself on the diversity of its staff and that it denies that it engaged in any improper or unlawful actions with regard to its employees. It intends, it says, to vigorously defend itself against the government's "baseless allegations" and expects to be vindicated. The Church of Scientology did not respond to requests for comment by ABC News. According to the EEOC's complaint, filed May 8, Dynamic Medical, owned by Dr. Dennis Nobbe, violated federal law by requiring employees named in the suit to spend at least half their work days in courses that involved "Scientology religious practices, such as screaming at ashtrays or staring at someone for eight hours without moving." According to an EEOC statement, the company required one employee "to undergo an 'audit' by connecting herself to an 'E-Meter,' which Scientologists believe is a religious artifact, and required her to undergo 'purification' treatment at the Church of Scientology." When employees protested having to attend the Scientology courses, they were told, according to the suit, that these were a requirement of their job. Two employees who refused to participate "and/or did not conform to Scientology religious beliefs" were terminated. In a statement issued by the EEOC, Robert Weisberg, regional attorney for the commission's Miami district office, called the Dynamic Medical Service's actions a shameful violation of federal law. "Employees' freedom from religious coercion at the workplace must be protected," he said. In the same statement, Malcolm Medley, the EEOC's district director for Miami, said, "When an employer makes an employment decision based on employees' failure to adopt the employer's religious beliefs, it violates federal law. The EEOC will act vigorously to protect the rights of workers who are subjected to religious harassment and coercion in the workplace." (Comment on this)
Monday, May 13th, 2013
fandom_wank [ seca ]	10:19p	The Great Con Conspiracy Desu I would like to thank the mousey over at wank_report for bringing this little nugget up. So lets revel in some actual funny here. In Colorado the main anime convention has been Nan Desu Kan. In recent years another anime convention has been building up some steam, Animeland Wasabi. Right after this year's Animeland Wasabi ended in the beginning of March anime company Funimation announced a lawsuit against Miller Timmons, and ten John Does for selling counterfeit items at Wasabi. (Anime News Network article) Timmons also manages the convention under his Think Art Media and Animeland businesses. There is also a nice breakdown of the lawsuit in this screencap. A few days ago an announcement is made on the front page of Animeland Wasabi that basically decries that Funimation and Nan Desu Kan are trying to get rid of Animeland Wasabi because NDK totally got their people to find some bootleg merchandise at Wasabi to show to Funimation to get them to sue Wasabi.(Be warned of glaring green background.) And who would doubt these claims after such strong opening statements like these: To our anime community, Animeland would like to give details about the lawsuit between Funimation vs. Miller Timmons. The framework of this lawsuit that is pending in the Denver court system is an attempt for Funimation, Nan Desu Kan and Wasabi Anime to drive Animeland, Miller Timmons, and their fans out of the anime community in Denver because we have grown over the past six years. At the end of that tl;dr there is a screencap of a reply from ThatGuyInTheHat who manages to Godwin himself, in German no less, to a poster on the forums. Also in the comments to the ANN article the CEO of the site says that they did try to contact Timmons before they posted the article, which goes against Animeland Wasabi's claim that they have not been contacted for a statement. There also seems to have been some wanky comments that have been since deleted in that thread without being screen capped unfortunately. There is a discussion on the forum (which seems to now no longer be, but there are screen caps) about the announcement where we learn that the screed went through lawyers before being posted. ThatGuyInTheHat believes that anyone who is sticking up for NDK is NDK staff. That he can only give vague hints of NDK's wrongdoings because they could be spying on their forum and use what is said against Wasabi. Nan Desu Kan has released their own press release on the matter, where they avoid saying much of anything outside that they are not making any anime company to anything for them and are too busy with their own con to care about anyone else's. With all this popping up shortly after the hearing to figure out the scheduling for the case one can only assume that this may be the beginning. And in case anything else appears to go poof here are the screen caps collected so far. (44 Comments |Comment on this)