Roboculture

This is going to be one of my final posts before I leave the country. Damn. It's really happening. I still wonder if my nearly four month love affair with Robotech was worth it. I feel like I'm nowhere near as influential as "Robonalities" like Darkwater, or that Creative Director Guy, or maybe even... um... the guy who cleans up the Harmony Gold toilets.

Damn you Lady Luck! And I don't mean Melanie McQueen! Why was I not IN to Robotech during the 90's? If I were weaned into Robotech during these dark years, such as Pieter Thomp, or Darkwater, or JLS, Justy, Cyc, or whoever, and contributed to the community back then, my opinion today would have more clout! I could've been best buddies with the Harmony Gold staffers, I would've been... bah!

It doesn't matter now. I would be leaving the community with barely a dent - nobody really cares about fan projects nowadays. Everyone is so hung up with this Shadow Chronicles junk that they have forgotten the simple joys of the show. The pure unadulterated fun of Robotech was barely felt in the Shadows movie, yet people flock to it and don't care at all about anything else. Fan projects are refused, rejected and ignored.

Anyway, I hope to do my part while I'm gone - albeit, without my trusty WACOM tablet graphics pen and scanner. Here's what I will try to push...

Remember the art book thing I was yapping about? This poster sez' it all. I will be scouting art sites for Robotech artists willing to contribute to that Art Book Project. I know, its an incredibly long shot at this point to get people out of their dependence on Harmony Gold for anything Robotech-related, but despite my skepticism, I still.. believe!

NO MORE "FAN SERVICE"?

*Sigh* You may wonder now who would provide you with such classica fan art as the one below... I mean, who else would actually draw the Zand and Dana love story by Jack McKinney? Who else would provide the fandom with those creepy and cool drawings?

Lazo Zand: "You've always been my favorite Sterling, Dana..."
Dana: "That tickles, Uncle Zand..."

Well, if you've been reading this blog long enough, there are still plenty of artists out there! Take Happy Penguins, or even BlueGazer (To find out more about them, find the tag Featured Artists in this blog -ed) Maybe they can fill the void of Robofanservice. Who knows at this point? April or May could be Robotech's golden months. Haydon willing, People would finally get off their asses and do something.

A few words, my dear audience, if you please. I have found a little show deep in the dark corners of the interweb that discusses the state of the Robotech franchise. No, my friends, not the inimitable RDF Underground, I speak of another program. A show that goes by the name "The Roboblog Chronicles" and it stars the mysterious Captain JLS. A man who until now, has not shown himself to the fandom due to unforseen circumstances...

Now... Now he has come out of his hiding to tell us and those creatures that live in Robotech.com the truth. He is the RoboProphet. He is Captain JLS!

http://sdf5x.blogspot.com/search/label/Roboblog%20Chronicles
If you want to be saved from the firey hell of Harmony Gold, go visit this link.

PRE-PRODUCTION BLUES

Since I'll be leaving in less than a week to a land that doesn't allow me to use a tablet, I might as well draw this and that and get my business over with. The time is coming and I thought I'd draw that "AGAC Transport" chopper I've been blabbering about. It's a design not a lot of people would be happy about, but that doesn't really matter. I wonder if I was inspired by the Mi-8 Hip...

TOMORROW

Big announcements and the worldwide release of my 30 second intro video! If you've got nowhere else better to go to, check out Studio MMG. And try to show some support! Thanks to those who do support me! I salute you!

... Even though nobody seemed to care about what I did (again, except for some good folks who go out of their way to comment). I'm really gonna miss drawing and puttin' it up for the ol' blog and showing the world how sick a puppy I am. But then, that's the beauty of fan art right? I mean, you can turn something so angelic... so pure... such as little Lisa Hayes here...

And turn her into a Robotech loving whore that we all know and love.

Yes, loving Robotech can be an almost... er... uh... orgasmic thing (?) as Lisa Hayes proves. It's just a shame that the fandom isn't more active after the release of that ho-hum movie... what was it called? Oh yeah, Shadow Chronicles. Everyone is so concerned with discussing the idea of a "Live Action Robotech Film" that it has blinded them. Blinded them to days spent going round and round about how such a production would be possible. Five years from now, these ideas will be rediscussed, and no live action project in sight. Why? Why waste your time there? Why not do something else like make fan art, fan fics or something?! Anything?! What sort of apathetic fandom is this? Has Harmony Gold, and its Creative Director destroyed any sort of initiative from the fandom? No matter how "nice" that guy is, this small fact is what is making me despise the guy. I know, we can't blame everything on the poor guy, but still, Robotech.com should promote fan projects more. I think this is the key to reviving interest. We don't see that anywhere in the site, and that's just pissing me off.

Repeat after me.

I love Robotech!

I love Robotech!

I LOVE ROBOTECH!

NEWS FROM THE FANDOM: Robotech Live Action Novel

You thought it died, huh? The boys are still at it, working day and night to finish this baby. The dream of seeing that live action Robotech is coming. So, folks there at the Robotech Production forum. Shut up and quit bitching. I'm sick and tired of the umpteenth thread on that boring shit.

In light of some pretty annoying changes in blog.com, such as a very buggy font changing tool and a host of other little irritating quirks, I've decided that now is the time to retire the old Studio MMG design in favor of a new design which would be used for the next two months. The font system is a mess, no matter what size I change it, it always stays the same. Agh! It's such an irrititaing predicament. It makes me wonder why I didn't go to www.blogger.com instead to start my blog. Oh well. Humans are creatures of habit, and I'm already too fond of some of the features here to let it go.

This this would be my old look. I plan to showcase the new look, which will be nothing major, but any change would be good, wouldn't you say? Just a few minor color changes, and icon stuff that wouldn't be that noticable. Anyway, its my final week before I stop blogging altogether probably so it wouldn't really matter.

What Featured Articles did I have again? If I remember correctly, I had:

FEATURED ARTISTS
RANTING CORNER
NEWS FROM THE FANDOM

Perhaps I should add one more, or maybe change News From the Fandom into something more specific? I'm just wondering...

Finally, what purpose do I have aside from the reason I previously stated earlier? To reflect my "changing" art style. I feel that I am a lot better at drawing and painting than I was last year. I don't know, I still can't draw anime characters and shit (not poop) correctly like the Creative Director, but at least I'm branching out in drawing more mecha and stuff. I want the new design to show... maybe... a maturity to what I'm currently doing. Also, the new design would look nice with the small announcements I'll be making by that time. You may not believe a word I am saying, but its no loss since nobody ever comments so I don't know whatever you think.

So! The new design will be made beginning next week. Just in time for April. Speaking of April, I have sad news because I won't make any dumb or stupid April Fool's joke. Maybe because I can't think of any at the moment.

Apparently, some wise guy posted my flash up on Youtube... You can view this disturbing turn of events here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVcy2jNbpdE

It plays out horribly. The guy probably didn't have a dual core processor to smooth out the performance... Oh well! At least he thought of posting it without my permission! :)

IN OTHER NEWS 

I really want to write up something about the wonderful things I've been looking at in Deviantart. But damnit. Why am I so lazy? Or unmotivated? Perhaps it has something to do with getting 50 plus hits on the blog and nobody commenting. But that's just me! 

This weeks has been so slow in the Robotech world that I've taken upon myself to "draw" my feelings. And this goth girls from different anime series pretty much sums it up (This chick being from Ergo Proxy).

By now you must've heard Darkwater's going to 'shutdown' his blog. Oh, great! Well, one less bookmarked site to go to. Damnit. Now where will all the cynical Harmony Gold reporting come from? What are we supposed to do? Rely on the Harmony Gold website?? Unspeakable! (Which incidentally is where my pitifully small audience comes from)

I'm really just hoping this doesn't become a trend and good folks like Cap'n JLS follow suit... This is the blogger generation and here we have folks deciding that real life's more important. What the heck is up with that?! (Med's sanity is in question -ed)

Hey, here's something - I pulled in my two lowest ratings yesterday (following my highest three days ago). I've developed some theories as to why this happened, number one being that people rarely check out the RT: Fandom Forums anymore - but that's okay. Even when that place was brimming with activity (Shadow Chronicles theatrical release last year) no one cared to comment about my work or what I've been doing. Really, if you invest your time in the Robotech, PREPARE TO GET DISAPPOINTED. (Thanks Sgt. Jones for commenting)

Anyway, this new bloghas just come up... Kastle-something... I'll check it out.

LOCAL EBAY NEWS

Ah! A new item? A New Generation 'manga'. And it's being sold about as dirt cheap as the Robotech: Southern Cross special book! How interesting... Anyway, I'm still eyeing that Robotech Bikini Special. What's great about all of this is that nobody's bidding on them! Ah, the joys of a dying fandom...

FUTURE UPDATES

Since I don't have a script yet or anything for my fanfilm, and I'm too lazy to draw Robotech stuff, I'll be branching out to other anime shows - with a possibility of posting my stuff on Tokyopop or DeviantArt. Both markets are tough to penetrate if you post Robotech art because, hell, who the fuck knows Robotech there?

I could post pencil sketches of my drawings here though... At least I won't have to ink them...

I am the anti-Darkwater. Where he is civil, I am crude. Where he is popular, I am not. Thank you. Now read.

BRODIE75

Hey, some impossibly nice person might actually send me Shadow Chronicles from Australia. I have yet to contact the guy but if its true. Wow. I really admire the fandom now. In fact, it's making me kind of guilty, (not because I trash the fandom, because I don't... really.) I feel like borrowing someone's credit card, ordering the frickin' DVD, and just hope that the post office is efficient enough not to get the darn thing lost.

In any case, thanks for the offer Brodie!

THIS I GOTTA HEAR!

Hmm. While I was listening to Robotech_Masters shows (which don't contain any Shadow Chronicles spoilers, thank goodness) he mentioned one of his future guest who goes by the name of Barbara Goodson. Now I could be mistaken, but she appears to be the voice actress to Marie Crystal! WOOOOOOW!! Hey man! That's so cool! I really like Mar- I mean, I really like the voice actress who played her! That's amazing! Way to go Master!!

Just to set the record straight, I am not obsessed with Marie Crystal. Okay, you reading that? I am not. It just so happens I make an inordinate amount of fan art about her... and that my profile's icon in Roboteh.com happens to be Marie. No, no it's simply not like that.

Like all fans I'm... I'm... erm... a Lisa fan! Yeah! Everyone's a Lisa Hayes fan! Who the hell would want to be a Marie fan? It's not like she's the main character in any Saga is she?

SOMEONE HATES STDIO MMG ART?

O rly? I mean, oh really? Well, apparently, if you are to look at my recent collection of fan art, you will notice certain art pieces getting a 1 star rating by at least one of voters. Now, it wouldn't be so bad if the art piece in question is actually ugly, but in my opinion, the ones that do get one star are unjustified. Now, I'm not telling you guys to check it out for yourself. You don't have to. That place is dead anyway.

What I'm saying is, this is a case of someone intentionally downgrading the rating of my art. I mean, c'mon, my stuff can't be as bad as some of the traced stuff I've seen on that place. A two or three stars would've at least shown that you acknowledge the effort I put into making fan art (since there is a serious lack of a comment page in the art gallery)

Now I can only imagine a few things, a vengful Kevin McKeever (AHAHAHAAHA, I seriously doubt he even reads my blog!), an art afacionado who has a degree in Fine Arts and hates fan art in general, or someone who just despises my work (cool!). For now, I will designate you, Hater #1.

TESTING THE WATERS

Darkwater is showing considerable influence and power in the Robotech.com as of late. The man had the muscle to stop the deletion of a thread called "Is Robotech.com suppressing posts that are critical of RT:TSC?"

The thread was originally posted by Rossi, who came to the conclusion that certain trigger-happy moderators have been deleting certain threads which contain the words SHADOW CHRONICLES and SUCK together. Darkwater concluded that Harmony Gold probably doesn't want newbies of the site to be exposed to longtime fans complaining that the movie isn't that good. So far, Darkwater has been able to keep the thread alive for more than 24 hours, and as such would be under watch by the Commanders of the boards for the time being.

For those who want to unload any unsavory comments about Shadow Chronicles, please, don't hesitate to post your rants free of fear at Robotech_Master's site (no not the guy who made Space Station Liberty) in his message boards at:

RDF HQ Message Boards

http://p081.ezboard.com/frdfhqcommunicationscenterrobotech

As an aside, I think this just sucks. What the Captains or Commanders should do is make a sticky thread with a heavily euphemisimed (wow, a new word) title like "What didn't you enjoy about Robotech: Shadow Chronicles" to along with the 200 million "Wow Shadow Chronicles rocked/cool/amazing/masterpiece/perfect/excellent" threads. Don't you agree?

Keep things civil in this proposed CRITICISM THREAD, and at least there would be some great constructive feedback rather than 'overtly fanboy rantings'.

TALKSHOE MARATHON

The Masters Saga is always ignored. At least
we have Dana Sterling to forget our woes.

(Robotech_Master, a.k.a. Chris Meadows must've found the 125x125 icons I made for him too amateurish, but the guy hasn't said that to me so... okay. Whatever, at least that's what I expected)

I've been having some 'Talkshoe Marathons' recently because I seem to have unlocked a lot of free time. I've been listening to two interviews - one with a long-time Robotech fan Dave Dietriech and another with Lisa-Hayes voice actor Melanie McQueen.

I have to say, the geek talk is just weirdly fun. I just find it soooo odd (in a good way) whenever Brooklyn Red Leg would suddenly speak up to defend the Southern Cross Saga. I mean, hehe, is it me or do I 'hear' the frustration (or amusement) of the Masters when Brook goes, "No... no, that's wrong. That's stuff from the novels - Leonard wasn't... blah blah". I think that's great because I myself am a staunch fan of the Southern Cross Saga thingy. I mean, the way I see it, there's just too many Macross and NewGen fans. I like those shows enough (but I kinda dislike a bit NewGen, but I liked Macross a lot too which as you know, prompted me to make a fanfilm about it) but Southern Cross is just a show I learned to love. It's hard to explain, especially for someone with Macross/NewGen biases, but that's it.

Southern Cross is a show which doesn't get the attention it deserves and that's kinda what I want to do in the near future. Something related to that universe anyway - because in Meadow's Talkshoe show, there are always these fantastic and great story ideas being thrown around about Southern Cross- far more interesting than what I've been hearing about Shadow Chronicles.

Stay tuned! I will come out with a 'formal' plan that would discuss certain details about my upcoming Webcomic!