RFC Staff Blogs

I have spent too much money in this podcasting hobby of mine...

Sat, 07 May 2011 15:26:46 +0000

North Carolina Rocks

Sat, 07 May 2011 15:25:15 +0000

In which I babble about my fan cannon, specifically about Double Punch

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:54:04 +0000

Who’s got two giant pinchers and always makes me think of Sid Vicous?
This guy.

For some reason I cannot think about Double Punch without mentally comparing him to Sid Vicous.
This guy.

I wish I could make more sense of it. I mean what do we really know about Double Punch? Well, he’s an arrogant prick who likes to destroy stuff and has a foul mouth. But wait, that’s pretty much Sid Vicous. Well, Sid Vicous also was a junkie and murdered his girlfriend, but let’s stop and think what a violent Decepticon like Double Punch might do when his glory days end.

Yeah, he just might become a junkie and murder his girlfriend.

What if he stole Wreck-Gars wife?

Her name was Nancy.

These two are very similar in a lot of ways, if you think about it without breaking it down into to many details. That and if you think about it, Sid Vicous was all image and really just a moron. Double Punch might be a moron, but he gets things done. Sid was hired as a member of the Sex Pistols because he was a spectacle, they didn’t even plug in his bass. Double Punch is actually a threat. But when you put aside facts and go by urban legend, Sid was this uber badass who did what he wanted when he wanted. Which is what Double Punch actually is.

So, in my head, Double Punch is basically a competent version of Sid Vicous, who actually would have beaten up those cowboys instead of getting beat up by cowboys.

But he probably would still puke all over himself.

Crasher Review

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:54:14 +0000

Etsy Spotlight, Decepticon Soap

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 02:42:25 +0000

I have made joke after joke about the BO present amoung dorks. I myself have noticed myself smelling a little rank from time to time during a bout of forgot to shower-itis. Well my fellow robot loving nerds, I have a solution.

Etsy seller SoapLane has created a fine bar of soap featuring the sigil of our famed villians, the Decepticons. Now, what would that smell like? Oil? Metal? Weird cosmic radiation? Well, according to the order page it smells quite nice.

This deceptive surfactant cleansing compound is scented with notes of rain and ocean without forgetting hints of chaos and destruction.

Well that sounds great. So hey Transfans, let’s take off our hoodies and that old BotCon shirt (wash those too) and hop in the shower. I imagine a day where a TF fan gathering smells like rain and the ocean, instead of axe and ramen noodles.

Retro Post: Rebuttal to "Armada" News Post

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:54:38 +0000

So, to explain, well before any images came out for the Armada Transformers series, all we had was a name. Shortly after, a post was made on a couple of different sites at the time, claiming to be an explanation for what would be expected in the show. In short, it was too good to be true. So, over on CHS, we didn’t post it because we thought it would be as such. So, to explain why we didn’t post it, I wrote the following story, orgonally posted on the ColdHardSlag website. Enjoy!

—-

As you may have noticed, CHS has been largely devoid of news about the supposed new series that has been called “Armada”. While I can’t speak for the rest of the site, I will at least give the reasons why I have not reported any of the ‘news’ that is out there.

First, let me say that, in my opinion, CHS has always been about reporting news that is confirmed and reliable. If we speculate, we report it as such. Granted, CHS has no grand connections or inside information from Hasbro. We have, however, built a good repor with some of the people connected to Mainframe. From whom, we have gotten no conformation of any of the information presented about the series. That said, let’s go through some of the information that has been proved about ‘Armada’.

The first report about Armada that I saw was from Transfandom.com, giving a report from ‘The 2005 Message Board’ that outlines the details of a number of characters and events in a new series of the same name. As I read through some of the details, I became quite surprised and disturbed by some of the things that I read. While I won’t completely recreate all of the points made, I will go through some of the more interesting ones and critique them appropriately.

- Optimus Prime, of some sort, is returning, whether it be the RID Prime or the G1 Prime is unknown, since the story does involve taking characters from different “series” and bringing them together. Okay, first point of argument here. Let’s briefly (and realistically) discuss the nature of Hasbro, and what they do. Hasbro is a toy company, a struggling one at that. They are in the business of selling toys. Let me say that one more time “They Sell Toys”. If they fund a series, it is to sell toys, in particular, new toys, or at least toys on the shelf. Now, Hasbro being such that it is, will want to create a series that extenuates the “New” toys that is it sell. I know this may come as a shock to some people, but Transformers isn’t a series that happens to have toys designed around it. “Transformers” is a toy line that usually has some sort of cartoon series as a vehicle for selling more toys. My point in all this? Bring back a bunch of characters for a new line of toys would be quite costly, and honestly not very business savvy.

- The story doesn’t take place before Beast Wars. It doesn’t take place between G1 and Beast Wars. The series itself takes place around this time, in an alternate universe, so to speak (unfortunately, a story can be changed in the stroke of the “delete” key, so this may change as time goes on). If this is the case, why is any of this being stated? Ugh, let’s move on.

- As I stated days before the AllSpark post (shameless self plug, bwahaha), Mainframe is doing the work. Again, who do you think did the CGI for the RID Optimus Prime intro on the toy commercial? Okay, when I read this, I knew this whole mess had a fishy smell to it. Recap of what Mainframe does…Mainframe creates really cool CGI animates series. The upside to this is that the graphics are way, way, way cool. The down side? They take time to build and program and render. Even if this series does include all the characters that are claimed to be involved in the series, there is no way Mainframe could produce the series affordably. Yes, they could do the work, but the time involved would be great and the work, enormous. This translates into expensive; meaning money out of Hasbro’s pocket. This in mind, it doesn’t seem like a smart move for Hasbro. If anything, this series would simply have to be cell animation, just to have the number of characters.

- Guns. Lots of guns. This is just silly, especially considering current events in America

- Key characters. Up in the air at the moment are Cheetor, Rattrap, Prowl (G1/RID), Starscream (the one and only), Shockwave, Hot Rod, Tarantulas, and more. Okay. Let’s make another important point here. Silverbolt was in Beast Wars. Now, it wasn’t the G1 Silverbolt, but low and behold, they had the same name? How can that be? Well, Hasbro reused a name that it already had, and in the process, made a nice reference to the original series, which, you guessed it, helped sell toys. Now, jump ahead to RiD, let’s consider that Hasbro wants to ride this train that is has started with throwing around old names and creating interest (and market share) in its product. Hmm, they might want to keep doing that.

Something else to keep in mind. Even if they do make a new series with the supposed ‘original’ Starscream, what of that character still exists? Well, first, the new series would have new writers and a new story line, so the likely hood that Starscream would be exactly as we remember him, and be loved for the reasons that we did, is unlikely. Also, being an actor, I would like to think that some of that is Characterization, and seeing as Chris Latta is dead, it wouldn’t be “The one and only” since that character is (literally and figuratively) dead.

- New figures galore. Not as many repaints as seen in RID. My problem with this is the term “Galore”. Year to year, there haven’t been Transformers released in the “Galore” range, well, ever. The most may be 20 new figures, that including repaints from Takara, or very basic design changes to create a basically new toy( i.e. combiners).

Now, since all these nuggets of information have been ‘broken’, we have learned that Mainframe has no clue about a new series, and other voice actors (at least our connections) haven’t heard a thing about it. Now, this doesn’t mean that nobody is working on a series, just that it is very, very, very unlikely that Mainframe is creating this series. If that is true, it throws in to doubt this entire, supposedly reliable information about the new ‘series’.

Okay, so what do we know for sure? Well, we know that there are indeed, some form of chase assortments that are currently being listed by Hasbro with some vague name references, including something saying that they are called “Transformers: Armada”… That’s it. That is what we know. That is what is definitely known about Armada. You may have heard this or that, but what proof have you been given? Have you seen pictures of the toys? Have you seen ads from Hasbro? Have you read confirmed letters from reliable and noted sources (ones who confirm their information with connections to Hasbro etc.?). I would doubt that you have.

I don’t know what is going to happen with Armada. I don’t claim to. If you read all this in the hopes that you would learn something new about the series, sorry. I have done little but to burst the bubble of those of you who thought that these bits of information were unquestionable forms of ‘news’. Now, I may be wrong, and all these things may come to pass, but I find it unlikely. If you gain nothing else from this essay, I hope that it is a bit of criticism for the information that you are presented with. Heed the old adage; “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”

The Godbomber paradox. Or why I loved the sweater in the store.

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:22:28 +0000

I love Powermaster Optimus Prime (PMOP). Yes he’s a brick, don’t care. He hails fictionally from the latter part of G1 (which is my favorite part of said era) and truly is where I first really started appreciating Optimus Prime (before he was just a cool toy and generic good guy in my eyes). He is my absolute favorite toy ever. Yes he’s a brick, still don’t care.

Seriously, why do people use the term brick as a reason to dislike a G1 toy? They were all bricks for the most part. It makes as much sense as discounting a Micromaster from 1990 on the basis that it doesn’t have the articulation of Sideburn, using the basis that technically it’s release in 2004 as part of Universe would mean it would be a more recent toy than the 2001 Sideburn.

That’s the kind of stupid you’ll find on the internet.

I digress.

Now why would a blog entry with Godbomber in the subject line be about Powermaster Optimus Prime? Well unless you are extremely new to the game, you would know about the Japanese incarnation of PMOP as Ginrai. If not, then read this, and then continue.

Well, like many other TF fans, first discovering information about the various Transformers animated series and toy lines in other countries was a rite of passage. When I found out about how my beloved PMOP was handled in Japan. I admit I was pretty turned off at first, I mean WTF right? Then shortly after I accepted it and actually learned to love Masterforce for it’s uniqueness in the world of TF fiction. After all, Decepticons making zombies that wear little shorty shorts and t shirts emblazoned with the Decepticon sigil. Comic dudes love the Beyonder and his whitey fro. Me, I like zombies in 80’s jogging gear.

So of course I found out about Godbomber, and to be honest, at first I thought he sounded great. Extra trailer for PMOP that turned into both a robot and armor for PMOP. This sounds great, why wasn’t it included in the American version? For that matter, why was the Japanese version of better quality? (at the time, things like price points and the economics that go into Transformers wasn’t a well versed subject of mine) I gotta get one. At the time, the pictures I would find online made Godbomber were usually kinda small and grainy. For all I could tell, he looked pretty decent. I had reasoned that I would score a Godbomber and combine him with my PMOP. Partially to save on the cost of a complete Ginrai set, and also part of my middle finger attitude towards the whole Ginrai/PMOP situation at the time.

At BotCon, I had my chance. See, local conventions in Atlanta have pretty much ignored Transformers until the 2007 movie. Of course since then they have jumped on the bandwagon, but before then TF stuff was kinda odd to find. Dreamwave comics popularity made for more t shirts, but that was about it. So I usually had to wait until I could attend a BotCon to view some of the more hard to find stuff (you could find a million Sunstreaker fists on ebay, but no Godbomber I tells ya).

So there I was, at BotCon and there it was… Star Saber!

Man that thing was awesome, completely overshadowed this blocky looking dude that turned out to be Godbomber. I mean, wow Godbomber was a mess. I wasn’t too turned off by that, because hey… he’s an accessory. Well, that was the general feeling until every dealer wanted a little over a power bill’s worth of cash for the damn accessory.

Well I decided to pass on Godbomber for a few years based on what reality had presented me with. Not very long afterwards the whole God Ginrai gift set was reissued. Man, timing was perfect and thanks to timing I got it for $14 at Hobby Link Japan’s clearance sale. Man, Ginrai is really nice, man… Godbomber really sucks. Why did I want this so much? A little later Hasbro reissued Powermaster Optimus Prime and I jumped on it. The reissue was in fact just the God Ginrai gift set in American packaging. So now I had two God Ginrai gift sets, just one was Optimus with some blocky dude now named Apex Bomber. Man this PMOP was really nice, Apex Bomber really sucked.

So now I have two Godbombers, something that I once would have been ecstatic to say, now I’m just reluctant to point too. I still think I like my old PMOP better than the Ginrai set though. Not because of Godbomber, he is a kinda cool accessory that wasn’t executed well. Not because of the nice die cast metal and other features Ginrai offers. No, but because my old PMOP will always be the toy I had on my bookshelf next to my stereo. The classic PMOP will always be the robot I doodled on my Mead notebook instead of taking notes. Ginrai is just another dude, and the Apex Armor is just a new addition. PMOP will always be classic, and Godbomber is just a foot note I took a few minutes to blog about while stuck inside during a winter storm.

Have your own damn con within the next few weeks.

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:48:36 +0000

Guys, BotCon isn’t until summer , as is most other TF cons (or fall for Slagacon). I covered the idea of small fan events in my last blog, you know, during these long months between cons hold a small fan get together or two, that whole damn idea. Well, I can’t believe while suggesting ideas, I forgot the most obvious opportunity coming right this damn way.

Guys, the new Transformers Happy Meal starts Nov. 28th and the Transformers Prime miniseries starts on the 29th.

So there is so much damn opportunity RIGHT THERE!

Record some episodes, arrange a meet up at McDonald’s, everybody get Happy Damn Meals. Watch the episodes on a laptop or something. Follow up with some conversation about the new series, maybe some toy trading or buying. Somebody might bring their customs. Or hey, if anybody has WFC for DS, there could be a few multilayer matches.

Or hell, you could have some folks over at your house and everybody brings Happy Meals. But I figure a public place might work better.

Hey, could be a damn fun time.

Have your own damn con

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:11:03 +0000

You know what’s the worst thing about BotCon, Slagacon, Auto Assembly, TFCon, Dairy Con, or any other TF convention?

They only happen once a year.

You wait all year, the anticipation rises, you save your money, you pre register, you work out lodging and travel plans. You prepare your art contest entries, get together your hand printed pamphlets on Cybertronian language, you print up fliers for your site, you gather up stuff to trade and whatever. You might even work on your costume to wear, if you so choose to wear one. The convention finally comes, you go, you have a damn blast, you see friends you might not get to see very often, your swarmed by something you enjoy so very much. It’s EVERYWHERE and then… it’s over.

It’s going to be another long year till you get to relive that fun you love to have. Even longer if for some reason you can’t make the next one. It sucks and it’s a major bummer. You spend the following few days with a post con depression and your normal friends think your insane.

So where am I going with this?

Do I have a solution for our particular brand of crazy?

Kinda.

Hold your own damn con.

No, not one to replace the ones you go to. And no, not some giant undertaking that the organizers of those cons put in an amazing amount of backbreaking work to accomplish (and seriously, make sure to thank them for their efforts). No, I’m saying organize your own fan get together. A way to have fun with fans during that long wait for the next big con. We’re going to do this DIY style.

Now this could work for any other fandom, but I know nothing of them, so I’m talking TF.

Now there are several ways to work something out, but let’s start small. We got TF3 coming out this summer. Meaning come spring, TF is going to be everywhere. Organize a way for fans to get together. Your reading this on a website, so chances are you got this internet thing figured out. Use that figuring out to reach out to folks in your local area. Work out a schedule and places to hook up. If you have a shopping area with an attached movie theater, you’re in the good.

Organize a place for everyone to meet at, if a fast food place is doing a TF promotion, organize a meal there with everyone. Check out the TF stuff in the local stores and finish it off with a viewing of TF3. Or hey, some restaurants rent out party rooms with a tv. Have everybody come there, enjoy a viewing of TF and participate in trading and stuff. Meetup.com used to be great for this kind of thing, but now it wants to charge for use. So, start a local group somewhere else and advertise on forums.

Here’s a real kicker. Find a local small convention, rent a room at the hotel, hold a TF party. Or hell, those small cons are so starved for events, you can usually work out a deal for convention space. At Dragon Con (not small, but hey… whatever), it isn’t to unheard of to throw fandom parties for stuff not on the schedule. You can even find rooms not being used and take them over.

With the local TF fan list I started years back, we had meetings that consisted of meeting at a place and then group roaming stores. It’s just that easy, hell, go to your local library, they usually have space you can use for community events. Small mini fan events are nothing new for any fandom and can be held easily.

I can’t believe I’m about to advocate anime stores or clubs (joking, I swear) but contact a local one. Chances are they have resources you can use. Make up a zine with others to commemorate the event or some neat custom thing. Check out the great Transformers party supplies at any Party City or Walmart. Hell, give everybody a TF Silly Band. Make the most of it. Have it your way, right away.

Have your own damn con.

*If you do have your own damn con, send some damn info to RFC. We love to hear about this damn kind of thing*

Like OMG!

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:11:18 +0000

I’m 32 years old, which by default makes my Transformers hobby a little bit silly for some. Well, I always shrug it off because, well, what do you do for fun? Be a douche? Nuff said. Well, despite all that, there is quite a bit of kids stuff out there that I have no interest in. Silly bandz is normally one of them, however the onslaught of the shaped rubber band fad has hit it’s super high. Just like Pogs, it’s everywhere and anything is getting liscensed and put on the things.

You already know where I’m going with this huh?

So while looking for Hello Kitty silly bands with the girlfriend, we see Skelanimals (another of her favorites) bands and then… Garbage Pail Kids silly bands. So… hey… I kinda want those. Well, I held off for the time being (rest assured, I’ll eventually get some… I mean dude… GPK!). Recently my attention has been drawn to something else in band form.

Yeah…

So it’s no big suprise that Transformers silly bands have been made. With the movies being hotter than fried lava right now, eager mechandisers are slapping that TF logo on anything they can. This delights me to a fault, you see, not only am I being supplied with cheap TF stuff, but it’s cheap TF stuff from a fad. I’ve always been a fan of TF artifacts/merchandise, and I’m a sucker for the more collectible items in TF. Those blind packed pvcs, the trading cards from Armada as well as the card game from a few years back. Now these? This is great!

I’m a 32 year old man who is excited for silly bands. Let that sink in for a second.

Those are some cool rubber bands.

So I see these TF bands, and the dork in me see’s fans at BotCon/Auto Assembly/TFcon/insert a TF convention here happily giving them to their friends. I can see all sorts of stuff on etsy being made from these. I see potential for fans to have fun with these. It’s a very cool thing, for a very nerdy thing.

Oh yeah, some kids would probably like them also.

When Singamajigs Attack

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 02:04:36 +0000

Brian's Find of the Week: Spider-Man Jack-in-the-Box

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:57:06 +0000

Stop the madness

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:34:02 +0000

*sigh* I actually appreciate the heart that is going into this. It really tugs my fandom heart strings to see individual characters from Transformers getting their own convention, and what better a candidate than one of the most popular characters?

It’s awesome.

However, like any transfan whose been around long enough, I can’t help but to sense a dark sinister something lurking in that convention. I’m not going to go into detail, but I know just by saying the name Starscream, some of you smile in a pretty darned creepy way while picturing NSFW in your heads.

Now I’m not going to tell somebody how to enjoy Transformers, but I am going to beg of you (the NSFW thinking smile’s out there) to keep it behind curtains. Contain it to adults only panels or room parties. If not for the fans who don’t like it, think of the children.

Will somebody please think of the children?

Imagine a child, who thinks Transformers are the coolest thing ever. This convention is the coolest thing ever and hey look… there the child is… his/her parents saw this in the newspaper and thought she would have fun at this convention. There he/she is walking around, clutching a Starscream toy. The child’s eyes are open wide, excited and totally happy to see that other people like Transformers just as much if not more than they do.

Do you remember that moment, when you first learned you were not alone?

Now imagine that child, looking in the dealers room, discovering zines and fan made items. Seeing cosplayers and all sorts of stuff we take for granted, and then… they see a pic of Starscream and Megatron doing … stuff (including Kiss, hell the only Kiss thing they would see is a toy with a weird girl toy in the box).

Yeah…

So attendees of the Starscream convention, those of you who are full of NSFW smiles now that I just said Starscream. Please keep that adult stuff out of the potential sight or grasp of that child, and we all know that local kids always find their way to a Transformers convention. Thank you.

Just to clear the air, and enjoy Transformers with you, here is a pleasant picture.

Oh yes.

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:53:19 +0000

Bootleg Ass Stickers

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:25:16 +0000

Autobot Blaster Review

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:29:34 +0000

No, the other guy

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:36:33 +0000

I’ve been playing with my Skyburst toy a lot, probably more than I should. He’s not a terribly popular toy, but I like him. To be honest, I like Power Core Combiners a lot. One thing that makes me really like them, other than all the other reasons I like them, is we get new versions of old teams.

Not replacement teams, but new versions that are also that team. You see, the original Aerialbots are still around. Skyburst leads his own team of Aerialbots as well. In fact, there could be more Aerialbot teams as well as the classic team and Skyburst’s team.

Same with Combaticons, Dinobots, and hell… multiple new teams as well.

See, I’ve been this way since Beast Machines. When the BM Dinobots came out, at first I was confused as to why this was a different set of characters. I read the bios and hey, it was a new team of Dinobots. A team I liked. But wait… Grimlock was in Beast Wars. Swoop was too. Somewhere in the logic that there was two Dinobot teams…

I have no real description of what happened in my mind. Let’s just say it was like a thousand Kool-Aid Men breaking down a thousand walls and saying “OH YEAH!” in unison.

Since then, the idea of multiple teams has always been a great idea to me. Why does Superion have to be the only Aerialbot combiner? What if an army of Aerialbots came to the battle?

The BW Dinobots are my favorite sub team ever, partially because I like the idea of multiple Dinobot teams. Now we have a sub line of toys that features multiple sub teams, and we have an idea I totally am all about.

Multiple Rallybots… whoah.

Holy Crap! An update!

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:04:07 +0000

I’ve done some work in the studio. Check it out.

Brian unveils Diablock RPM Hot Rodimus!

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:48:52 +0000

War for Cybertron Trailer: I approve

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:17:38 +0000

I rarely make such proclamations of approval this early on but War for Cybertron looks like fun. The game doesn’t need (or probably have) hardcore Transformers nerds working on it (though it might) but that doesn’t matter. I’d rather have talented game designers than basement dwelling ubernerds.

Japanese Animated Toys: Turn Up The Ugly

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:48:40 +0000

As many of you have probably seen, we now have pics of the Japanese TF Animated toys. (Available for preorder at the greatness of bigbadtoystore.com!)

Let me just say… YIKES. The chrome-ish paint jobs are just horrific. HORRIFIC. I suppose this is confirmation that the original releases were perfection. I mean, what else could you do with them? Add more paint apps? Alter their colors slightly?

It’s always nice to see when things are done right the first time. And always nice when the “Things Are Always Better on the East Side” argument takes a blow.

Weekly Ad Watch - Jan. 10th, 2010

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:51:00 +0000

The Ad Watch is small this week, but don’t let that fool you. What we have are some awesome deals, so please enjoy. And as always, if you see something that you think should be on the ad watch, let me know. If it’s good, I’ll add it and give you a shout out for it!

BBTS

Winter Clearance Sale! Over 1500 items on sale, some as much as 90% off.

Best Buy

Xbox360 Elite with $50 Gift Card

Target

$1 Game Reservation Cards – Reserve copies of upcoming titles including Bioshock 2 and God of War III and get a $5 target gift card when you redeem your card for the title. In Store Only

Weekly Ad Watch - Jan. 3rd, 2010

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:18:30 +0000

Well, it’s the first ad watch of the new year and the new decade and it’s pretty sad to be honest. Here are some of the select deals I founds. As always, if you don’t see something here that you think should be listed, send me an email at jd@tfradio.net and I’ll check it out and add it to the list.

BBTS

2 pack Bludgeon and Jungle Attack Ironhide $47.99

Best Buy

Blu-rays $10 to $14.99 on sale including Dark Knight and Fight Club

Toys R US

Buy 1 Get 1 Half off on All Blu-Ray Movies including Star Trek and Transformers: RotF (in store only)

Year End Blowout.

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:30:32 +0000

Over at It Figures! I’ve just updated with a review and full gallery of ROTF Bludgeon. Great, great toy. I can’t say a lot here without repeating something I already wrote over there, so go and have a look.

Meanwhile as a preview for tonight’s show here’s a quick audio review of Bludgeon that goes over some of the highlights from the other review. Give a listen here, or wait and catch it with added discussion in tonight’s show.

TRT 3:59

I am a skilled professional at not posting.

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:19:30 +0000

But six weeks between posts is fine, right? Right.

ExVee is brought to you today by the letter X and the number 5, and also by Mountain Dew Throwback, which has been RUINED FOREVER.

See, over the summer when Throwback first came out, it had a clear intent. It was rereleasing the old formula, including being sweetened with real sugar, taking Dew back to its roots as essentially yellow sugar water. At some point along the way, Pepsico decided to add orange juice concentrate, as well as a bunch of other shelf-stabilizer chemicals and junk, leading to the well known flavor of Mountain Dew today, which Kilby describes as “vomit.” I am not inclined to disagree.

Right, so fast forward to December 28th. Mountain Dew (and Pepsi but who the hell cares about that crap?) Throwback is to be released for a second eight week run. Joy! For while being severly under-carbonated, Mountain Dew Throwback tasted wonderful and not vomit-like. Non-Vomitous, if you will. I scoured everywhere I could to try to obtain a sample on the very first day, and finally succeeded at a gas station. Yay convenience stores! Upon first taste of this long awaited return, I immediately knew it was wrong. Oh, so terribly wrong. A quick glance to the ingredients proved my belief. Mountain Dew Throwback, version 2 contained such lovelies as orange juice concentrate, and all manner of chemical additives I fear to investigate. In effect, Throwback Second Version is regular old Mountain Dew, except made with sugar as opposed to corn syrup. We are crushed, and severely disappointed. More maddening was that the new batch was actually as carbonated as I had wanted the first run to be. But what good is that if it does not have that special taste of my youth?

…well, okay. Vomit was also a taste of my youth (I was an unwell child) but that isn’t the particular memory I’d like to relive.

Why, oh why did you have to lead me along for all these months, only to substitute the object of my desire for some homeless guy in a dress? Pepsico, you have ruined my life.

Weekly Ad Watch - Dec. 27th, 2009

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:09:41 +0000

BigBadToyStore

Save 15% on All Older Toys & Graphic Novels Until 2010
‘New’ & ‘PreOrder’ Items Not Included - Everything Else On Sale
Choose Your Favorite Menu & Start Saving - Sale Ends January 1

Best Buy

PS3 – Arkham Asylum $39.99

Xbox 360 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $19.99

Nintendo Wii - New Super Mario Bros. $39.99

Target

50% of select clearance games (in store only)

Toys R Us

Buy 1 Get 1 Half off on all PS3, Xbox360, Wii Games, DS games and DVD’s priced $19.99 or less (in store only)

Sherlock Holmes, a few uncollected thoughts

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:08:19 +0000

I’m certain I’ll talk about Sherlock Holmes on New Soundwave 012 this coming week but I wanted to briefly hit on the movie.

When I heard that Robert Downey Jr. was to play Sherlock Holmes I was immediately excited. The prospect of Downey (who brought a mercurial energy to Iron Man—imagine how dead-eyed Tony Stark would’ve been had Tom Cruise landed the role as long rumored) really brought interest to the new movie. With Guy Ritchie directing, I figured the movie was guaranteed to be great.

I guess I was wrong.

Don’t get me wrong. It was okay but it fell short of the fine interpretation of Holmes that we’ve had on television for the last six years. House M.D.

It wasn’t until 2008 that I realized that the Bryan Singer-Hugh Laurie TV series was based on Sherlock Holmes (thanks, Dusty) but it certainly is. While the cast and basic premise is different the characters of Holmes and Watson are portrayed in a medical setting by House and Wilson. House is gifted with Holmes’s brilliance and cursed with his faults.

Trying to compare a two hour movie to a TV series in its sixth season seems unfair but Laurie’s portrayal of a self-tortured genius is what drives the show each week. Sharp writing doesn’t hurt either but the show is a vehicle for Laurie and we watch it already knowing the outcome of the episode. House will solve the mystery, piss off his co-workers and shuffle ever closer to discovering his own humanity.

It seems that House has co-opted the conversation but that’s because there isn’t a lot to say about the movie itself. Downey and Law are fairly strong in their interpretations of Holmes and the good Doctor Watson but there is lacking a drive in the film. Any well-paced, interesting movie carries the viewer from start to finish as a ferry carries its passenger from shore to shore. I felt that I had to drudge alongside the movie as it made its paces from start to finish. The plot was standard-fare, the cinematography fine and the general backdrop acceptable but given the movie’s pedigree, I expected more.

Hopefully the movie will earn enough money to warrant a sequel as the Moriarty bits added in after the primary filming all but mandate a sequel be made. I’m fairly confident that a second stab at the Conan Doyle-inspired world will be more fully realized than this one.

So, how was your Christmas haul?

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:29:40 +0000

Botcon!

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:43:43 +0000

So the location of the 2010 Botcon is now all over the internets. If I may use meaningless executive jargon… it’s a game changer.

Disney World!

The reaction has been unbelievable. Old fans are revitalized and Botcon is back to being The Event You Can’t Miss. Why Disney was chosen doesn’t really matter. Maybe the economy pushed prices down to a reasonable level for FunPub. Maybe FunPub felt the need for a shake up.

Whatever the case, this is a grand occasion. Especially as our little fandom grows older and somewhat wealthier. Although you can argue that being a young adult/couple with kids is not easiest time to spend big money on a vacation.

But for those who CAN afford to go, this just feels… right.

All that’s left is the rampant speculation on the “lost” toyline/continuity that will grace the convention toys.

P.S. Can I get the Beast Wars voice cast to show up and read a Winnie the Poo book?

Weekly Ad Watch - Dec. 20th, 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:11:31 +0000

New Segment – Weekly Ad Guide

I’m a closet ad shopper. I love nothing more than digging through the weekly ads of various retailers to find the best deals, even if I don’t partake of the deals myself. So I though, why not pass all this research on to our listeners and readers. So here we go, the first edition of the weekly guide.

Bigbadtoystory.com

Last Minute Holiday Savings Sale

Best Buy

$5 Gift Card on Select DVD’s or $10 Gift Card on Select Blu-Ray Discs When you buy two.

2 for $40 on select Blu-Rays including Revenge of the Fallen, GI Joe, Star Trek and more.

Toys R Us

ROTF Deluxes $8.99

Buy 1 get 1 $20 off on select Wii Titles

Buy 1 get 1 50% off on select Video Game titles for all systems

I finally did it.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:03:20 +0000

After months and months of hard work, I finally broke my wife’s spirit.

Brian tries the Ghost Chili Sauce

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:24:26 +0000

Hot but no tears.

So it's official...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:46:21 +0000

I think my new #1 favorite TF toyline is Animated. Officially replacing Transmetals.

What separates these two lines from the rest? Consistent excellence. Virtually every toy is a winner. In fact, the only toy I DON’T like in Animated (besides Bumblebee) is Sentinel Prime. He’s just… off. Too small and he doesn’t nail the characterization like the others. Bumblebee gets a pass because his upcoming toy looks to be a vastly superior replacement.

But other than that? GOLD. My only wish was for a real combiner. Safeguard doesn’t count. I’m talkin’ Menasor, Superion, Computron or Predaking.

At least I can dream.

Fanfic - Transformers: Genesis

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:42:57 +0000

I wrote this fic years ago; no idea when. At the time, I was really into the bible, so I wanted write a story about the origin of the Transformers universe, but in a very ancient sounding way. This is the result…

In the beginning, there was darkness and chaos. Then came the Great Creation, and the entire Universe was formed. In that universe, there was a single spark of energy. The spark traveled around the universe, gathering power and knowledge. And behold the power became conscious and alive, and it called itself Vector Sigma.

But in the entire universe, Vector Sigma was all that was conscious. And so, Vector Sigma took a spark of its being, and placed it in a dead world, and behold the world became alive, and Vector Sigma was please, and he called the world Unicron. But Unicron was different from Vector Sigma and he felt alone. He was only a world, a sphere in shape, he could not move, or see, or touch, or create.

Vector Sigma felt the pain of his son, and so he decided to create another. He took a world and molded a head that it could see and speak. He molded arms that he could build. He molded legs that he could move, and he gave him a spark of his energy that he would live. And so a new son was born, and Vector Sigma was well pleased and he called his son Primus. And with his son Unicron, he gave him a special gift. He gave him a form like that of Primus, and the ability to change from world to being and being to world.

Vector Sigma called to Primus and Unicron saying, “My sons, go forth in the universe, search high and low, until your heart is content. Learn all that you can, and return to me with what you have found. So, Primus and Unicron set out into the universe to learn all that they could. They searched in galaxies and black holes, through stars and nebula. When they learned all that they could, which took a billion years, they returned to Vector Sigma.

Vector Sigma spoke to Unicorn saying, “My son, I fashioned you out of a dead world, I gave you form and gave you life of my life and sent you to learn all that you could of this universe. Tell me that which you have learned. Unicron spoke saying, “Father, who fashioned me out of a dead world, who gave me form and gave me life of your life and sent me to learn all that I could of this universe. I have learned this; we are stronger and more powerful than anything that exists. We should use this power to dominate and control everything in the universe.

Then Vector Sigma spoke to Primus saying, “My son, I fashioned you out of a dead world, I gave you form and gave you life of my life and sent you to learn all that you could of this universe. Tell me that which you have learn. Primus spoke saying, “Father, who fashioned me out of a dead world, who gave me form and gave me life of your life and sent me to learn all that I could of this universe. I have learned this; we are stronger and more powerful than anything that exists. We should use this power to protect the weak and for the greater good.

Vector Sigma spoke to both of his son’s saying, “My children, with whom I am well pleased, you have traveled the universe and learned all that you could. Unicron, you are correct, we are more powerful than anything in the universe. Primus, you have found the truth of existence. We should use our power to protect the weak and for the greater good. Unicorn, you will learn that dominance is not the correct path, for freedom is the right of all sentient beings. My son Primus, with whom I am well please, I appoint you protector of the universe, and all who inhabit it.

Unicron heard all this and was angry. “I am the elder and the stronger of Primus. I should be rewarded.” And hate was born and grew inside Unicron. He altered his form to that of a planet and waited for Primus. When Primus came near, he did not know that the planet was his brother in disguise. Unicron surprised Primus and attacked and killed him. Vector Sigma felt his son’s death, for Primus’s life was of Vector Sigma.

Vector Sigma called out to Unicron saying, “My son, you have killed your brother in hate. For this crime, you will be banished to a dead world, you will have no form, and you will have to eat to survive, for you will no longer exist of my life energy. And so Vector Sigma removed his life energy from Unicron, placed his consciousness in a formless planet, and banished him to the farthest extent of the universe.

Vector Sigma then took his son’s lifeless form, renewed its energy, and hid it in a lifeless world. He called the world Cybertron, then he spoke to Primus saying, “My son, here you will be hidden from you brother’s evil, on this world I will create beings to protect you and care for you. They will not be given my energy, for I am too powerful. They will take the power of Unicron, which is less than mine and will give them the ability to change form. Then Vector Sigma took the energy from Unicron and created the Matrix of Creation, which was used to create all the beings of Cybertron, and to which all Cybertronians return when they die. He then took some of his own wisdom, encased it in a crystal, and locked it in a Matrix saying, “This matrix is the only thing which can fight hate. If Unicron should return, this will be the only thing that could stop him. It will be the task of all Cybertronians to guard it, and keep it safe, for the Matrix also brings wisdom and understanding to its possessor. Let it be known as the Matrix of Leadership. Vector Sigma then took a peace of his being and placed in on Cybertron, that all who wished could share in is wisdom. And so there was peace on Cybertron. This was the Golden Age of Cybertron, which reigned on Cybertron for a billion years, until the time of the Great War.

News From Cybertron Archive

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:11:43 +0000

Visit http://www.knoledge.org/mormegil/ for an archive, text and audio, of all the News From Cybertron segments from 2009.

I'll also be talking about this on the show.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:38:52 +0000

DULL SURPRISE.

Also, new It Figures! update today, featuring the long-awaited upgrade kit for the City Commander upgrade kit. …what? Didn’t JD just talk about upgrading upgrades recently?

The only justification I can come up with though is that the separate release of the extra accessories wasn’t the driving force here, and that FansProject just wanted to make sure anybody who had a first-series City Commander had access to the new stuff like someone buying this year’s rerelease would.

The Many Faces of Fandom

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:57:56 +0000

This was originally to be an audio post, but it got a little long for that and probably wouldn’t fit my preferred three minute limit anymore.

—

There’s a thing in fandoms built around long running properties. They start to get “Old Fans”.

Now, these people might be younger than you or I, age really has little to do with it. The important part seems to be that they’ve been on the bandwagon from an early point.

What will happen is that at some point a change of some magnitude will occur. Toys get redesigned, a TV show or comic takes a different approach, or maybe they add a new marshmallow to Lucky Charms. It doesn’t really matter. Often when this happens, some fans will find the new changes distasteful. And while a majority of the people may respond in a reasonable way, there’s always a select few who totally flip out.

The most frequent behavior I observe from this level of reactionary fandom is the inexplicable phenomenon of continuing to expose themselves to the thing they can’t stand seemingly for no reason other than to have an excuse to sit on a newsgroup, or now more likely a message board and air their grievances at any available opportunity.

Recently a troubling realization struck me. It seemed that I had started down the road to being just one of those Old Fans.

I’ve been a fan of Stargate since the beginning (the shows, not so much the movie). I’ve enjoyed the style, the writing, and the characters for over a decade. But then this year, Stargate Universe came along. And it was a complete shift in tone and style. I decided after the first few episodes I really didn’t like how it was being done. But it’s Stargate! I’ve never given up on Stargate before!

But it didn’t stop there. In the past few weeks, I’ve realized that I have been engaging in certain undesirable behaviors. Like looking as hard as I could at every episode to find as much fault as possible. I discovered that as I would read other people’s thoughts about the show every week, I decided that they must be retarded, or otherwise mentally defective to be enjoying this show.

Each week, the progression of my decline into this frightening state of self-destructive fandom became greater, and the extent of my behaviors would increase to match.

I was becoming the fan I hate.

I have always said when confronted with this kind of person that they need to remove themselves from the thing that obviously makes them so crazy. It doesn’t make any sense to sit and inflict it upon yourself, and even worse to then broadcast your hatred on to others.

I have always believed that a state of fandom should be about the enjoyment of a thing. That, if you have no positive feelings at all, you’re not a fan anymore. Everyone will have complaints, but it’s whether you temper that with genuine love and joy that makes this distinction.

I have neither love for nor joy in Stargate Universe. This does not change the fact that I was and still am a fan of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. But I don’t have to enjoy it, or try to enjoy it, and certainly I do not need to force myself to watch Universe just because it is Stargate. And above all else, I need to stop watching it in the hope that it will fail horribly so everyone involved will understand they were wrong to take this direction.

So, will I quit watching Stargate Universe? Maybe, I don’t know. But if I do continue watching it, I believe I need to watch it from a point of view of trying to find something to enjoy in it instead of scrutinizing every episode for faults I can latch on to that will support my belief in how completely wrong the show is.

This isn’t the first time I’ve gone through a stage like this, but it is the first time that it took me so long to realize what I was doing. Hopefully I can learn from this and not fall into the same trap next time.

And just maybe someone else can learn a little bit from this and avoid going down this road to start with.

Don't Hassle the Wing Guy

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:35:20 +0000

YES!

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:56:46 +0000

According to this quiz I probably have Adult ADHD.

Why SHOULDN'T Videogame Movies Be So Easy?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:34:18 +0000

You know what a movie studio covets most these days? Comic movies. Summer tentpoles that come nicely packaged with pre-written stories, dedicated fans and dramatic flair for the uninitiated.

Funny… that describes videogame properties as well.

And yet videogame movies remain arguably the worst genre of movies ever created. Why? Perhaps it’s because they’re treated exactly the OPPOSITE of comic movies. Take Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Iron Man. All three were created with the highest respect for source material. And all largely stayed within the boundaries of “believability” for fans of these heros.

Not so with videogame movies. Take your pick. Other than Mortal Kombat, virtually all are created with little respect to the original games’ visions. Resident Evil, Double Dragon, Super Mario Bros., etc. All flops on the grandest scale. And yet they had fanatical fanbases, adequate to very good mythos and huge brand equity BEFORE a script was ever written.

All of which should have guaranteed at least modest success and fair storytelling. But no. The movies wildly diverged from everything that made the games popular. Again I ask, why? Why shouldn’t videogames be so easy to make? Why NOT make Resident Evil The Movie the live-action realization of the first game? Why not accept Super Mario has no business BEING live-action?

Some will argue that videogame movies need to be “polished” by Hollywood to be accepted by a mass audience. And that game players don’t want to see a storyline they’ve played retold on screen. I disagree.

Games worthy of a movie have proven that their fiction has massive, lasting appeal. And great stories don’t get old. Especially when told on the big screen. Just like comic movies have proven, stay true to the source and good things happen.

So here’s hoping someday Hollywood will see the light. That dreadful flicks like Resident Evil: Extinction are replaced by the ACTUAL RESIDENT EVIL STORIES. That Super Mario spends 90 minutes of CG glory in the Mushroom Kingdom and that Hollywood gives the world what they ACTUALLY love. Instead of what Hollywood thinks they SHOULD love.

Best of the Worst

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:01:42 +0000

So I finished the last of the three issue runs for the Blackest Night spotlight issues. This includes Superman, Batman and Titans. Overall, I’d say there were duds. As was expected, they were each three issues of watching our heroes run from zombies. While each series had its highlights, for example Black Lantern Psycho Pirate in Superman, they by and large fell flat.

The best of the three though was Titans. This series featured the most separation between the issues, as far as content is concerned. In the case of Superman and Batman, I would challenge the first-time reader to jumble up the issues and figure out what order they go in, since the same stuff happens in each issue. In Titans, on the other hand, the story seems to actually build in a particular direction and some interesting things actually happen to the characters along the way.

WARNING: Beyond this point, Spoilers will be found!!!

Overall, I was intrigued with the story revolving around Dove. While it’s not a huge surprise that white light will cancel out the Black Lantern’s power, it is interesting since it gives a character that isn’t directly related to a corps the ability to fight the Black Lantern hordes.

However, I found the story related to Donna’s dead baby and husband rather gratuitous. I was especially put off by Donna crushing the head of her own dead baby; messed up. I felt that much of this was done to shock the reader. I’m not sure if this story will actually impact future events, but since Donna has been “bitten” there is a possibility.

SPOILERS END

Overall, it’s not great, but “Blackest Night: Titans” is definitely the best of the worst of the series. If you want to read any of the material not directly related to the main story, this would be my recommendation.

Upgrading Your Upgrade

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:53:25 +0000

I’m fascinated by the add-on/upgrade market. And entire niche market has arisen in the Transformers word; all based around making your great Transformers figures even better. The add-on market has its roots in the kitbashing world. Kitbashing involves taking an existing figure and either adding to or taking away from the figure to enhance its overall appearance or functionality. For those brave souls, willing to risk their toys for the ultimate prize, the reward came in not only the finished artful product but also the knowledge that they had a now one-of-a-kind figure. The first company to really find a way to market this hobby was ReproLabels. They gave both kitbashers and refurbishers the ability to enhance their figures, either with custom sets of sticker or complete factory sticker sets.

Later, individuals like the Lukis brothers came up with the concept of the add-on set. Their first sets, made back in the early 2000’s, involved stands and weapons for various Beast Machines figures. It was only recently that this market started to really take off. With the introduction of companies like FansProject and iGear, we are starting to see full on, production upgrade and add-on kits designed to enhance the existing figures.

One such popular item as been the “City Commander” set from FansProject. This is an armor set, originally designed for the Classics Ultra Mangus, in order to give him a more show like appearance. This item was so popular that is has been reissued in several different colors and is even now seeing additional changes from FansProject and released in the original Ultra Magnus colors.

But now, in an interesting marketing move, iGear has come out with an upgrade for the upgrade. That is to say, iGear is offering an alternate head mold designed to replace the existing one on the City Commander set. Personally, I don’t know that I like this actual head mold, but just the brilliance of trying to profit off of a popular product of one of your seeming competitors is sheer genius. So far, this field is unregulated; Hasbro has seemingly turned a blind eye to these products. Does FansProject have enough of an ownership of this product that it might want to try to keep iGear out of its toy line or do neither of these companies really have the right to do what they are doing?

Personally, I’m all for the free market and letting these companies compete openly with each other. Maybe FansProject doesn’t care and hopefully they don’t. The last thing the upgrade market needs is a nasty legal battle that will mostly likely see the end of all of these products. But what do you think? Are these products a waste of money? Are they an infringement on Hasbro’s IP? Or are they just another way for collectors to enjoy their products with no real harm to anybody?

I probably should have recorded something this week.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:02:42 +0000

On the other hand, being involved with the production of our interview with Joe “Metalhawk Guy” Eibe, perhaps I have contributed enough for this week without adding my own personal indulgence here.

I haven’t gone back to McDonald’s since that last posting, either. Thankfully I found no foreign materials in the Burger King I had a few days ago. Surely The King would not allow such things to take place. Gonna have to go back and get some more of those double cheeseburgers before they end the $1 promotion. Good deal right there.

Though right now I’ve got a mad craving for some pizza.

Bad Day at McDonald's

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:11:24 +0000

Sorry for the sound quality. My MP3 player is not great at recording. Due to content, I suggest not listening to this if you are of weak stomach, and/or have just eaten or are soon to be eating, especially out someplace.

TRT 1:51

As if that’s not bad enough, I didn’t even get any good Monopoly pieces.

The War Gets Bloodier...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:59:32 +0000

The battle over which is better, the XBox360 or the PS3, seems to never end. Though many improvements, both in features and price, have come down the line; neither side seems to be able to claim a victory nor the other cede it. One great claim to the height-ground for XBox360 had been its Netflix compatibility. Yes, you have to pay for the gold membership and the Netflix subscription, but it would stream movies and episodes to your entertainment system.

This week, everything changed. As several news sources have pointed out, Netflix compatibility will be coming to the PS3. That’s right; you will be able to use the same feature on the PS3 for $9 a month that XBox360 users are paying $9 + $60 annually to use.

To fully understand the impact of this, one has to understand that the war between the consoles is heated. PS3 users, like me, cling to the systems’ ‘bang for the buck’. It has Blu-Ray, DVD up-convert, wi-fi, and full access to the Playstation Network (PSN) without the need for an annual subscription. This also includes standard wireless controllers and full USB and Bluetooth compatibility. Xbox360 does have many of these features, but most of them require the purchase of additional accessories or subscriptions. And to be fair, the XBox360 online feature, as far as connectivity and the social connections, is still ahead of the PSN.

But when talking to XBox360 owners, many would run for the hills and mention the Netflix capability. In the face of all the other added costs, they would cling to this one feature as the shining example of the XBox360’s now and forever superiority over the PS3. How the mighty do fall.

So I’m waiting for it now. What excuse will the XBox360 owners come up with now to explain why a system that is the same price as the PS3, but has half the features out of the box, deserves our hard earned dollars?

Let’s hear it…

Stargate Universe episode 5

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:52:53 +0000

Inaugural audio post! It’d be really great if SGU actually felt at all like a Stargate series.

TRT 3:01

Um. Just disregard all the things that say “episode 4” since I forgot the pilot is really the first two episodes. Oops. Episode 5 it is!

One for the "Ages"

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:05:03 +0000

So yes, this is the obligatory “Welcome to my Blog” post. I’ll try to be brief and keep to the more interesting parts of the “first blog entry”. So for starters; the name.

I’m a massive consumer of information. When I find a topic that I’m interest in, I become a ravenous beast and start to dig for everything I can find on the topic. So way back in 1998, I became armed with the internet for the first time and I realized there was an entire internet presence for Transformers. So I picked apart everything I could find. I dug through Benson Yee’s site and DVD’s site. I found the comic archive and just started reading issue after issue and I started to get caught up on the then current Beast Wars series.

What I realized was that there were many different eras of Transformers, sometimes with conflicting histories. I decided I wanted to make a web presence based around reconciling this issue. I chose the name for my site and called it “Ages of Cybertron”. While the site didn’t last, the title has always stuck with me. I feel it’s even more fitting now that there are many distinct eras and continuities. So a part of this blog is going to be trying to do what the original site was supposed to do. That is, dig into the different ages and find out what defines them, what makes them similar and what just doesn’t make sense.

While this will make up a good deal of the content, it will not be all that you see. I plan to delve into many different areas of fiction. Another favorite show of mine when I was growing up was Connections with James Burke. In the series, our host would show the linking paths between two seemingly disconnected objects, people or events. That’s another way I see this blog. Digging behind the stories and finding the links between them.

Now, don’t hold me to that; sometimes it’s just going to be reviews. But my hope is to make this blog thoughtful and interesting and hopefully, (though not likely) funny at times.

Initial post and some whoring.

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:55:58 +0000

Finally got myself back in the updating frame of mind and added a review and gallery of the Skids and Mudflap ice cream truck to It Figures! You can check that out right here.

So, here’s my first post to this thing that I didn’t even want. Kilby’s kind of pushy. I only agreed to take this because I figured I’d soon enough make him regret the idea. Ha ha ha. </Computer> My real intent here is to start doing a sound log, which I have decided I will name Slog. Sadly connection to the TF character is purely coincidental. Too bad Brian’s typo got him the “Audio Blot” name. I’d totally have named this after Blot, since I intend to fill it with crap.

Hm, guess I should make a header graphic for this or something.

First Post!

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:53:03 +0000

As with many blogs, this first post is a test. So move on. Nothing to see here.