From: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org (Monkey Digest) To: monkey-digest@valinor.eldar.org Subject: Monkey Digest V1 #90 Reply-To: monkey@valinor.eldar.org Sender: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org Errors-To: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org Precedence: bulk Monkey Digest Monday, August 18 1997 Volume 01 : Number 090 In this issue: [monkey] Episode Summary 2.07 - Astonishing Coincidences [monkey] Episode summary 2.10 - "Two Little Blessings" [monkey] Episode Summary 2.11 - The Fires Of Jealousy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 11:36:28 +1000 (EST) From: Chris Hadgis Subject: [monkey] Episode Summary 2.07 - Astonishing Coincidences Astonishing Coincidences The pilgrims are caught in a blizzard on the Himalayan foothills. The horse is lost so Tripitaka is forced to walk. Narrator: "A white horse is easily lost in a snowstorm" They have taken shelter in a cave. All of them are suffering from cold and hunger. Pigsy suggests Monkey should extend his staff in the small chance that the tip of it lands in someone's soup, and when the staff is shrunk again, there may be soup or a dumpling on the end of it. Monkey's staff won't work because it is too cold. In fact, magic won't work at all. Monkey suggests they try and walk out of there. Pigsy is so hungry he starts gnawing on his staff. Monkey is worried about Tripitaka. Tripitaka thinks he is going to die and wants his disciples to fetch the scriptures themselves. Sandy goes out to relieve himself. When he returns, Pigsy hallucinates that Sandy is a chicken and tries to eat him. Monkey eventually convinces Pigsy that Sandy is not a chicken. Tripitaka wants the others to eat him so that they can survive. Pigsy thinks this is a good idea, but Monkey and Sandy do not. Sandy: "I always knew he was a swine" Monkey suggests they try and find food. His first thought is to eat Pigsy. Monkey and Sandy try to trick Pigsy into volunteering to be eaten but it doesn't work. Monkey says the person who speaks the most individual nonsense should be eaten, ie Pigsy. When this doesn't work, Monkey tricks Sandy and Pigsy into arguing which of those two should go while he takes a rest. They think Monkey should go. Monkey decides that drawing lots is the only fair solution. He plucks three hairs from his body. Whoever gets the curly hair will go for help. Pigsy picks first and draws the curly hair. In fact, all three are curly, and this is another of Monkey's tricks! They convince Pigsy to go. Monkey: "Pigs are made of pork, aren't they?" They tie a rope around his waist and hang on to the other end so they can reel him in when he dies. Monkey: "As soon as you are dead, tug the rope" Pigsy heads off but returns when he realises he has forgotten his rake. He leaves once more, this time for good. After a while, Monkey starts to feel guilty and pulls in the rope. Alas, Pigsy is not at the end of it. While he is looking for Pigsy, he trips over a frozen pig near the mouth of the cave. They think it is Pigsy, dead in animal form, and are sad. Meanwhile, a snow-blinded Pigsy falls off a cliff. Narrator: "Pigsy is a long way from the enlightenment which transcends humanity. He is a long way too from the bottom of the cliff down which he is about to fall" Tripitaka, Monkey, and Sandy gorge themselves on roast pig, after which Tripitaka notices Pigsy is missing. Tripitaka: "Where is your brother Pigsy?" Monkey : "Not far away" Tripitaka thinks he has eaten Pigsy and goes into shock. Sandy says it was fair because they drew lots. Monkey looks worried. Tripitaka is devastated and tries to run out of the cave but the other two stop him. The blizzard is over. Tripitaka, Monkey, and Sandy continue their journey. Tripitaka is grieving for his lost disciple. He claims he can hear Pigsy's voice and that Pigsy is inside him. Sandy says Tripitaka is suffering from "transmigrational disorder" and that the swine has possessed the master. Tripitaka goes into a trance. Monkey and Sandy see a pretty girl who will take them to a doctor. Tripitaka snaps out of his trance and starts lusting after the girl and acting like Pigsy. When Monkey tries to stop him, Tripitaka elbows him in the stomach and starts to devour the vegetables the girl was carrying. They hold a service for Pigsy to try and snap Tripitaka out of it. They even build a shrine for their dead comrade. Sandy asks Pigsy to forgive them. At the end of it, Tripitaka still thinks he is Pigsy. They make it to a village where they rest. At midnight, Tripitaka becomes Pigsy again. He gorges himself on food and wine. In the morning, there is a disturbance. It seems all the patrons of the inn have been robbed. All of the stolen items are in Tripitaka's bed. Monkey returns them all just in time. Sandy thinks half of Pigsy's ghost is in Heaven and the other half is in Tripitaka, and the two halves are trying to find each other. Tripitaka has a hangover. Narrator: "Far from being a schizophrenic ghost of course Pigsy is very much alive" Pigsy discovers the shrine Monkey and Sandy built for him. Pigsy: "Just a shrine to some idiot" The horse finds Pigsy. Pigsy believes his companions to be dead and feels very guilty about it. Tripitaka is tied up for the night but he soon escapes. Pigsy has discovered that someone dressed as a priest and calling himself Pigsy has been seen with a girl. Meanwhile, Tripitaka is enjoying himself at a modern-looking disco dancing to an upbeat "Monkey Magic" song! Pigsy breaks into the disco looking for the impostor. When he confronts Tripitaka, he thinks it is a spirit and runs away. Tripitaka returns to his senses. Wandering the streets, Pigsy bumps into Monkey and Sandy. He thinks they are spirits, and they think the same of him. A fight begins. Pigsy screams and summons up a cloud. It only sputters along slowly. Monkey gives chase. Pigsy's cloud is rather like a motorbike. Pigsy starts to lose altitude, but thanks to a burst of "jet power" from one of his nostrils, he regains some height. Eventually the "jet power" runs out and he flies into a mountain. He ends up back in the village. Monkey does a sharp U-turm and comes back. Pigsy is unconscious. A wary Monkey pokes him with the staff. Pigsy wants to run away from them, convinved they are spirits. They finally realise the animal they ate was not Pigsy, and admit that they didn't really want to eat him. Pigsy tells them he learned to cloud-fly when he fell of a cliff and yelled. Tripitaka is bathing himself (dousing himself with freezing water) to cool his passions. He is punishing himself for his actions. Monkey tells him that he tricked Pigsy into leaving the cave. Monkey: "What an idiot he is, and we are worse" Narrator: "And if there is Fate, it is fated too that we make our own luck" The pilgrims continue their journey. Notes * Tripitaka is a Buddhist, and therefore a vegetarian. Apparently this doesn't matter when he is starving and there is only roast pork available to eat. * They could make a fire to roast the pig, but not to keep warm? * Tripitaka thinks it is okay for his disciples to eat him, but it is not okay for him to eat a disciple? * When Sandy asks Pigsy for forgiveness, watch Monkey surreptitiously point to Sandy, as if to say it was all Sandy's fault. * Pigsy may have loved his food and drink, but I didn't think he was ever a thief - except one time when he took the pearls ("Pearls Before Swine, episode 1.12) * Although "Monkey" has cheesy effects, this is one of the few times I could see the strings holding up his cloud. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 11:43:20 +1000 (EST) From: Chris Hadgis Subject: [monkey] Episode summary 2.10 - "Two Little Blessings" Two Little Blessings. The time is fourty years before Tripitaka's journey. Two star-crossed lovers, Chun-Ying and Yu-Lee, are running away. The fertility god, Ju-Lee catches them and opposes their union. Chun-Ying is in the country of women folk. Yu-Lee says they are in love, but Ju-Lee says love is forbidden. Chun-Ying begs Ju-Lee to let them go. Ju-Lee accuses Chun-Ying of trying to steal the "water of generations" and blasts him. Yu-Lee says she will do anything to get him back. Ju-Lee ages her and tells her she is to be the keeper of the "well of small blessings" for fourty years until Tripitaka comes. He must be made to drink the water. If she does this, her youth and Chun-Ying will be returned to her. Narrator: "To know the future is to change it" The pilgrims are walking along when they hear some music. They see a procession of women going towards a hut. The women ring the bell and Yu-Lee appears. An older woman's daughter has reached maturity and they beg Yu-Lee for the "woman's cup". They bring Yu-Lee a tribute. Yu-Lee offers the woman some water and says to be careful because the area is in drought. The pilgrims hear this. Monkey thinks the water must be magic because there is no drought - all the streams are full. They think she is cheating the women and decide to stop her. Yu-Lee is unloading the tribute as Monkey and Pigsy confront her. They mention they are going to India with Tripitaka. She gets excited when they mention his name and mutters that the prophecy is true. She wants them to take some holy water to Tripitaka. Her eagerness makes Monkey suspicious and he wants to hear about the prophecy. She says when Tripitaka drinks the water, a great blessing will descend upon him. She fetches some water for them. They think it will be okay. Narrator: "Once they asked a wise man 'Is he who gives you a wild tiger in a jade box being truly generous?' The great sage replied 'How should I know?'" They bring the water back. Pigsy is excited but Monkey is thoughtful. Tripitaka is thirsty, and Sandy is thirsty and hungry. As Tripitaka is about to drink, Monkey stops him. He can't work out what "water of little blessings means". He is suspicious of Yu-Lee, but Pigsy believes her. Sandy thinks he should try the water, but Pigsy takes the bottle and drinks first. He thinks it is great and feels fine, but he gets stomach cramps and thinks he has been poisoned. Monkey tells him to drink some water and Pigsy drinks from the bottle a second time. Tripitaka thinks they should find a doctor while Monkey and Sandy argue about where they should bury him. As Monkey helps Pigsy to his feet, he sneakily makes him drink from the bottle a third time. They enter a village and start looking for a doctor. A woman asks if Pigsy is sick and they tell her what happened. She tells them Pigsy is pregnant! The others don't believe it. She goes on to explain that the women drink the water to become pregnant because there are no men in the village. The god Ju-Lee is wicked and jealous, and forces them to live without men or love. There is a fountain that shows expectant mothers the truth so they take Pigsy there. Monkey: "Motherhood will suit you well" Pigsy: "Another fine mess you've gotten me into" Pigsy looks in the well and realises the truth - he is going to be a father. Back in the village, the others try and console Pigsy. Sandy: "If men could have children, swine could fly" Pigsy worries that Tripitaka could have become pregnant as the water was meant for him. Monkey: "You're not just a pretty face. Not even a pretty face" Monkey realises that Ju-Lee is a demon and is really after Tripitaka. In a dream sequence, Pigsy is carrying his child - a piglet - on his back. He fights off five bandits. The piglet keeps calling him "mummy". After the dream sequence, the other three are laughing out loud. Tripitaka wonder what they can do. Monkey suggest they puncture Pigsy and let the hot air out. Tripitaka giggles at that. Narrator: "Truly it is said that dragon feathers are as rare as sympathy for an expectant father. Never has a father been expectant in quite this way" Yu-Lee is praying to Ju-Lee to honour his promise. Monkey and Sandy walk in on her. Sandy : "I didn't know she was so hideous. You didn't tell me that." Monkey: "She's only ordinarily revolting." She laughs when they tell her Pigsy is pregnant. Monkey tries to make her say why she wanted Tripitaka to drink the water. He tries to get Sandy to talk to her." Sandy: "She's older than Buddha's whiskers" She shoves his head into a bucket of the water and runs off. When Monkey gets the bucket off Sandy's head, Sandy admits that he drank some of the water. He becomes pregnant too! Tripitaka tends to Sandy and Pigsy. Monkey thinks they should find a midwife. Pigsy can feel his baby kicking. He and Sandy have cravings for green gages. Yu-Lee takes tributes - fruit and wine - to Ju-Lee. She wants him to honour his promise but he knows Tripitaka did not drink the water. Yu-Lee is upset. Yu-Lee tries again to get Tripitaka to drink the water. She goes to the village herself and offers him some. Monkey has been out finding green gages for Sandy and Pigsy. When he returns, he sees Yu-Lee's staff outside. He kicks open the door and sees Tripitaka about to drink the water. Using his magic, he smashes the bottle just in time. Monkey throws her out. They work out she is under an enchantment. Monkey offers to help her and she eventually accepts but refuses to tell them her story. Monkey: "Take as long as you want but tell me now" She soon tells them about herself. She tells them that if they find the "fountain of men" and bring some water back, Sandy and Pigsy will be returned to normal. Yu-Lee tells Ju-Lee that she tricked him and told Tripitaka all about his plans. He is furious. Yu-Lee is Monkey in disguise. Monkey: "You're not a god, you're a birthday cake" Ju-Lee: "I don't want to fight" Monkey: "You old spoil-sport" After Monkey calls him a sissy, they fight. Ju-Lee takes to the sky and Monkey follows him. Ju-Lee's cloud is jet-powered. Monkey is blinded by the smoke. Eventually, the two clouds collide. The bottom of Monkey's cloud is stuck to the bottom of Ju-Lee's cloud. Ju-Lee flips over so that Mokey is hanging upside-down and tries to knock him off. They spin around quickly and the clouds soon separate. Ju-Lee disappears. Monkey lands and starts looking for him. He finds an invisible wall and breaks through to find the "fountain of men". It is guarded by and old man. He was set to guard it by Ju-Lee fourty years ago. He is of course Chun-Ying. Monkey offers to help him but Chun-Ying refuses his help. Ju-Lee appears. Chun-Ying refuses to give Monkey the water. Ju-Lee says he lured Monkey here where his power is great. He turns his staff into a spear and they fight again. Monkey knocks Ju-Lee's spear away and Chun-Ying bites Monkey. Ju-Lee recovers his spear and blasts Monkey, sending him flying away somewhere. Tripitaka and Yu-Lee are tending Sandy and Pigsy. The births aren't far away. Pigsy wants to name his baby after Tripitaka. Monkey comes back to earth with a thud, outside the house where Tripitaka and the others are. He says Chun-Ying drove him off before he could get the water. Yu-lee thinks Monkey bashed him. Tripitaka calms her down and asks her is she has anything Chun-Ying gave her that Monkey can give to him to remind him of her. She gives Monkey a comb. Monkey returns to the well. Chun-Ying bites him again. Monkey shows him the comb and he remembers it. Monkey promises to reunite him with Yu-Lee if he gives him some water. Ju-Lee appears again. Monkey disarms him and they continue to fight. Ju-Lee asks Chun-Ying to get his spear for him. Chun-Ying retrieves it and strikes Ju-Lee with it. Ju-Lee dies. His spells are broken - Chun-Ying and Yu-Lee are restored to their former selves. Monkey returns Chun-Ying to the village where he is reunited with Yu-Lee. Monkey gives some of the water to Sandy. Yu-Lee warns that too much water will fill him with energy. Pigsy refuses to drink because he wants the baby instead of going to India. The others hold him down. Monkey takes a mouthful of water and forces it into Pigsy the quickest and safest way - mouth to mouth. Pigsy and Sandy are no longer pregnant. Pigsy must have had too much because he is full of energy and wants to go for a jog. The pilgrims continue their journey. Notes * 'Monkey' has sometimes been accused of cheesy effects. But there are some effects which look quite impressive, like the explosions at the start of this episode. * Blooper? - when Monkey and Pigsy are sitting on a wall, waiting for Yu-Lee to return, Monkey slips and falls off. * Monkey makes Pigsy drink from the bottle twice more after Pigsy's first drink. Does he know that the water is not poisonous? It seems he suspects the water will do something to Pigsy, but it won't kill him. * Alliteration - "wicked old witch with the water" (Monkey). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 11:54:46 +1000 (EST) From: Chris Hadgis Subject: [monkey] Episode Summary 2.11 - The Fires Of Jealousy The Fires Of Jealousy The pilgrims have entered the land of Lo-Chun, Queen of Fire. Here it is so hot that the birds are cooked as they fly. Monkey plucks some hair, throws it up, and spears some of the cooked birds so that when they land he has shishkebabs! They meet some villagers who offer the pilgrims a place to rest. Inside, the chairs, the food, and even the water are very hot. The villagers say it is hot all the year round. Pigsy asks why, and is told that this is the kingdom of the Queen of Fire. Her home is in Fire and Flame Mountain which is in a range of active volcanoes that is blocking the pilgrims' path. Nothing natural can live there. The disciples can use their magic to cross, but Tripitaka is human and cannot cross. No-one has succeeded in passing through the mountains. The pilgrims look like they are stuck there. The fires only stop burning when it rains, and it only rains when the Queen uses her fan. She sees no-one but her servants. She is beautiful and alone. This gets Pigsy's attention. The fan is magic. She lets it rain in sprin in return for offerings. "The ususal racket" Monkey says. He thinks he'll be able to borrow it and flies off to her castle. He demands to see the Queen but the maid says she see no-one. The Queen refuses to see him but can hear him yelling outside. She goes out to tell him to leave. He asks if he can borrow her fan. She says no. The fan was part of the dowry when she was wed and is a treasure. She would be powerless without it. Monkey: "You asked for it, you half-baked little ash raker" He challenges her to a fight and she accepts. After a brief fight, one in which no-one gets hit, she agrees to lend it to him. It's a small fan, but with her magic it grows very large. With two waves, she conjures up a storm which blows Monkey away. It was all a cunning plan of hers to get rid of Monkey! Tripitaka is worried about Monkey but Sandy thinks he will be okay. Pigsy is dreaming about beautiful women. Monkey returns without the fan. He found out that she hates all things male. Her husband, the King of the Water Buffaloes, deserted her and ran off with a human woman who has no magic powers. Her name is Jade Face. Monkey thinks they should try and get them back together. Pigsy is more interested in how beautiful the Queen is. Monkey warns Pigsy to stay away from her. Together, they come up with a plan. The King of Water Buffaloes and Jade Face are in the Grotto of the Magic Carpet playing games. She is bored. She tells him she wants a new jewel. He says the don't seem to have much money since they have been together. She suggest he ask his wife for money but he refuses. A messenger from the Queen (Sandy in disguise) has arrived to take him back to his wife. The messenger tells him that he should return because the Queen is ill. Using his magic, the King realises it is Sandy and he is telling a lie. Sandy tells him the truth, but the King does not think his wife will listen to him. Sandy makes a veiled threat to the King and the two of them fight. Monkey, who has been watching everything from his cloud, flies off. The Queen's maid is collecting strawberries. Monkey turns himself into one and jumps into the basket. The maid returns. As the Queen is about to eat one, "Monkey" jumps into her mouth and she swallows "him". He jumps up and down inside her stomach. She becomes sick and finally gives in. She puts the large fan on the table and coughs up Monkey. He takes the fan and leaves. The maid thinks she should fetch the King to help her, but the Queen thinks all he would be interested in doing is selling her fan for money to spend on his mistress. However, it appears that she has another cunning plan. Outside the castle, Monkey chants and waves the fan. Alas, there is no rain. Monkey has been tricked again. He calls his cloud and flies off. Monkey and Sandy are back with Tripitaka. Sandy says he won't go back to the King. Tripitaka says he is hot, so Sandy waves the fake fan. The wind blows Tripitaka into a wall where he lands on the sleeping Pigsy who is dreaming of women again. Monkey says Jade Face is silly, and orders Pigsy to seduce her. Pigsy is ecstatic. He yells for his "motorcycle cloud" and flies off to her. Narrator: "On a borrowed cloud, Pigsy set off to meet a lady with an air of studied negligence which belied that beating heart beneath that sack-cloth" The King is going to a stag party. Jade Face is upset. She allows him to go, but wants him to steal a jewel for her. He refuses. She says he would if he loved her. He is angry with her and strikes her. She becomes furious with him. Pigsy, flying along slowly, eventually arrives at her house. Adopting a human disguise, Pigsy passes himself off as a friend of her father. He asks her if she is married and she says yes. He asks her if she is faithful and she says sometimes. She is interested in the jewel in the ring Pigsy is wearing. He is about to kiss her when a gong sounds and dinner is served. Pigsy eats with her blessing. The King is flying along, but not to the stag party. He is feeling guilty and flies back to Jade Face. Pigsy is still eating. One of the dishes he likes is pork! He gets upset, and he sprouts his pig ears. The King returns. Using his magic, he sees the real Pigsy. King: "When your comrades fail, they send you. Scraping the bottom of the barrel" Pigsy: "You wouldn't demean yourself hitting a pig" They fight, and eventually the guards drive Pigsy outside. The King and Jade Face argue some more, and she ends up saying she'll leave. Monkey goes to the Queen, disguised as her husband. She is secretly happy but says she doesn't want to see him. The "King" marches in and apologises to her. He asks her about the fan. She says she has it, and she tricked Monkey by giving him a fake one. She shows it to him. Monkey reveals himself and takes her fan. The King is flying to his wife. He sees Monkey. He disguises himself as Sandy and asks Monkey how he managed to get the fan. Monkey tells "Sandy". Monkey: "She's just as stupid as he is" Monkey gives it to "Sandy" to look at. He shrinks it and swallows it before revealing himself as the King. He is upset tha Monkey cheated his wife. They fight. The Queen arrives at Tripitaka's hut. She is taking him prisoner to get her fan back. Sandy tries to stop her, but she fans him with the fake fan, blowing him down. Monkey and the King are jousting. After the first pass, the King flies away. The Queen ties up Tripitaka. He tells her they only want to borrow the fan. The Queen says she has been hurt. Tripitaka tells her to stop the hurt, she must ask the King to forgive her for her jealousy. Monkey returns to the hut. Sandy says the Queen has taken Tripitaka. Monkey tells him the King has the fan. The King has returned to his wife. She thinks he is Monkey but he convinces her otherwise. He notices the bound Tripitaka. She says he is a hostage until her fan is returned. The King releases him and gives his wife the fan. He goes to leave. She forgives him and wants him to stay with her. He says he has already left Jade Face. They are reconciled. Monkey arrives and demands the fan. The Queen loans it to him willingly. He is suspicious, but she says she is generous now. They wave the fan three times and it rains. The fires are out. The three of the dance to the full version of Monkey Magic. The villagers are happy too. The pilgrims continue their journey. Notes: * I don't know if there really were strawberries in ancient China * The inside of the Queen's stomach resembles a "jumping castle", much like those seen at children's carnivals. * When Monkey chants before waving the fake fan, is it the original actor's voice, or does the translating actor speak Japanese? * The explosions when Monkey waves the fake fan look impressive. * When Monkey and the King are jousting, we can quite clearly hear another Godiego song, the one that goes "thunder bolts shooting left and right". It replaces the Monkey Magic song that usually plays during the fight sequences. ------------------------------ End of Monkey Digest V1 #90 *************************** ----------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the Monkey Mailing List digest list, send mail to: majordomo@valinor.eldar.org with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe monkey-digest To send a message to the list, send mail to: monkey-digest@valinor.eldar.org If you have any problems or questions, send mail to: owner-monkey@valinor.eldar.org For lots more information and news about "Monkey", check out the Monkey! web site: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8153/