VFTF1

I dunno. I never mutch liked Coco in any of its' myriad forms. Hot chocolate? Rarely...really really rarely is it ever well made. And oh god don't even get me started on those instant crap ones with the fake marshmallows... yuck. Coco puffs - now there was a breakfast cerial! I loved Coco Puffs! I was like the commercial - I'd go kookoo (cucu? how do you spell it?) for Coco puffs. ... at least until they didn't turn all soggy in the milk...then they sucked. Peee yuu! Fee! Bleh!! Coco Chanel? Is that really his name? Did he make any men's cologne? I dunno. I use Armani Code One - I find it fits me well. Used Givenchy for a while - but switched back to Armani later. I also like his ties. But his latest mens (and women's) designs? No thanks. ... But then again... I'm generalizing... I guess..I don't know much about fashion design... Anyways... Coco as such is not very appealing. Anyways... I am curious what the PLOT will be about in this Conan movie. Will it be as metrosexual as the actor looks? Will Conan have snappy come backs and one liners? I kind of liked the "barbaric" over the top nature of Arnold's Conan. And...I might be conflating it with the sequal - but James Earl Jones was in one...wasn't he? He had a snake or something...? But yeah...maybe we should nominate actresses for the Wenches? Pete

Starting a pizza place would be a cool idea. But I'd need huge wads of cash. I'm already in massive debt after starting my anime shop Maybe when I turn 40...? But I would make it like a cross between Pappa John's and Hooters. Only with lap dances. A geek's dream: beer, pizza, and hot girls all over the place serving it up... ah...life's dreams... Well - I can kind of understand that kind of laziness. It just goes to prove how different Robotech and Macross are. See - it's actually not true that a fondness or nice memories of Robotech are enough to get people to watch Macross - it's totally believable that since they like Robotech, which is a stupid half assed crappy show - then they won't like Macross, which is sophisticated and amazing. Just because it's the same animation doesn't matter... Lots of folks don't use the internets or the other tubes you know. Sometimes they mayhaps use the emailings, but the internets in general? Nope. Looks AWESOME! I wonder if we'll see RICK HUNTER in this comic!? He's dreeeeaaaaamy! Pete

Yeah - We wish a million nurly pins and exploding shoulders on the inevitable upcoming Conan action figure! And lead tainted dreadlocks! Pete

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You farting slurm!!! You're demoralizing me and hurting my sensibilities with your insensitive poo! Now stop this farting poo and stop talking like a slurm!! I'm gonna report this poo to the farting mods you slurm! I actually liked the swear filter...it had a wonderful Orwellian quality to it And as for the new Conan - poo on that farting slurm! Pete

Wierd. Although my fond memories of Dominos are from the 80s...but...what did people complain about in their pizzas to induce such a radical add campaign? And yeah - as for Pizza and Memo - I always had the notion that Pizza's biggest problem was just that he was ill informed...but I dunno... whatever...I'm more interested in hearing about what the negative feedback re: Domino's pizza was? Pete

I looked at his Mirya pic and my first thought was "I'd do her." That doesn't make it Picasso - but makes it good art The problem is that the harnesses are, for lack of a better description...flattening her UPPER breasts and pushing out her lower breasts. And thus the disfigurgement. That and she is very clearly sticking her butt out in a non-natural manner. I think the problem here is that he tried to hard to make her look erotic and didn't really think the flight suit through very well. I don't really remember the original flight suit from Macross doing that to Miliya's breasts.... But then again - I freely admit that Milya was never, in my view, attractive to begin with. She was a fun character... but totally not my type. Hmmm... By those criteria - I guess this Robotech art version is bad because whenever I see Milia from Macross, I certainly don't think "I'd do her." Whereas seeing this one I did. So clearly there's something wrong... Ah...now I see it. It's not just the 'sticking her ass out' thing. This Robotech version is - I think - too short. Millya in Macross was tall and slender. This girl is shorter and more curvaceous... Umm... As for Domino's pizza - well.... I never made it to Texas...but if I go - at least I'll know where to drop by to try and hit Dominos Pete

I remember that dude! He was the Terminator in the "flash-forward" dream sequence that Sarah had about Reece's future! That's him? He was pals with Arnold? That's cool!! Man do I miss the 80s for stuff like this!! Dag- the days when Transformers were Transformers, Cobra Commnader was a used car salesman and Arnold was king of action films!! Sadly- this is a very good point. I think what explains it is that you're getting a new audience - people who NEVER saw the old science fiction flicks we grew up with and so their scope of comparisson is smaller. I'm sure that to our grandfather's, our science fiction tastes were also clouded by our total ignorance of whatever was popular in the 50s and 60s... Well... I only watched Conana when I was in college and I remember back then he was great - but that was 10 years ago so...admitedly my opinion is not current Pete

Ok ... watching Attack of the Clones now...and paused it to nominate this lame brained line: "Take these, and be careful: they're very posionous." Really? They're not just poisonous. They're VERY poisonous!! 'Cause..you know...if they were poisonous - then she wouldn't need to be careful... but...what with them being VERY poisonous...well.... Pete

Well technically by Pizza's own admission - he's been here all along. He just goes by a different handle here and apparently either never posts Robotech related stuff or just never posts but lurks instead. I would welcome him to the fold of Macross fandom and MW forum - you bet. Why not. Even though I always prefered Pappa John's. Seriously -I can remember it like it was yesterday...Christmas break in mid-Michigan...one of my profs asked me to stay at his house while he was away on vacation. He had a HUGE sci-fi collection that I watched for a week...and I would order Pappa John's every day...all that great great greesy oil....quadruple cheese...loads of Pepperoni...and the Jalepinio peppers...DAMN WAS THAT GOOD!! In Poland, there's something similar - called Dominium pizza...not as good - but still good enough (and actually their pizzas ARE more like Domino's...who are...bankrupt? Out of business now? Been a while since I was in the US ...so don't remember)... Pizza Hut...on the other hand...well... DISCLOSURE: I used to work for pizza hut - and as an employer, they were fine. Nothing to complain about. Good company. But on a personal level - dag...I frickin' HATE their pizzas man! I mean - seriously - the pizza dough just sucks. So...Pizza the Hut... I don't understand how - beyond the Space Balls reference - you can stand being who you are on Robotech.com I mean - sure - the Space Balls reference was funny. Ha ha. But there's no way to read that name without also thinking about Pizza Hut's pizzas. And that thought would be enough to drive any sane man to Macross. Pete

As totally off topic as that is...I'll also throw my hat in behind Conan. I always thought he was loads funnier than Jay. In fact, I never thought Jay or Letterman were funny. Pete

I heard they used his body as a double for Arnie in Terminator: Salvation - Pudzianowski's body with Arnold's head CG'd to it? ... Or was it another case of "they were going to use Pudzianowski but instead they used...XXX" ?? In any case - I think this Pudzianowski dude just has a really lousy agent in the US. I mean - he seems to be on the short list for every action movie where there's anybody muscle bound...but he never actually gets the part. I can't believe it's due to his bad english or poor acting skills because...you know...umm...Arnie's beginnings were...humble in that regard too. Maybe they just plan on giving Conan...a lot of lines? ... That might be the source for it, but later a "barbarian" was just anybody who wasn't Greek - any foriegner....I think. Yeah - what he said. Who cares what the description was? Arnie made Conan in the public mind. Now I guess they want to remake him. That dude needs to buff up. I dunno. I guess I'm just old. Maybe we are all out of touch? And since everybody's posting their pics and comparing themselves to this dude - here's me. Nowhere near A1 status - but I've only been working out for like...six months now...and I had and have a LOT of fat to burn and a long ways to go But I would still argue I look more rugged than Pretty Boy Conan the BoyToy LoveDoll who looks like he had a gig with the Back Street Boys prior to getting the role as Conan Pete

Because her work in Macross, whether she likes it or not, is probably her most popular work, and association with Robotech risks squandering that popularity IMO. See - there are two issues here and I think you seem to be conflating them. One issue is "the way things are." HG has legal rights to Macross here, Marii Iijima doesn't care very much about either Macross or Robotech and has gone through phases of "I don't want to be remembered for only that" and "I have much more to offer" and "listen to my other music it's cool" while also having to someone cling to both Macross and Robotech for the sake of promotions, money etc. I really do understand all of this. And I also understand that someone like me only sees a very small part of the whole picture - because I'm sure Marii Iijima does a ton of things other than Macross/Robotech - and thinks and works on tons of things having nothing to do with that series - and I totally understand I'm a Macross Fanboy who has never shown much interest in all of the other stuff she does, doesn't know anything about it, and is just spinning opinions based on half assed presumptions. All of this I grant. The second issue is the "how a Macross fanboy would like things to be" - And in that realm, I would love it if she rejected Robotech, even if that meant rejecting the money and publicity that might come with the promo events - because...heck - if she's a musician first then I'm sure she could get her self a promo event that has nothing to do with Macross or Robotech and focused just on her music - she could just be Marii Iijima - and I would hope that she is; that she has a big career outside of Robotech/Macross fandom. But speaking just as a Macross fan - it would be nice if she cut herself from Robotech. Also - as a matter of PURE and BIASED opinion, I conjecture that her further association with HG/Robotech might do her more harm than good. She has a great reputation amongst intelligent Macross fans. Why tarnish that by associating with people who have spent their creative lives besmirching that reputation and ruining the character of Lyn Minmey? Perhaps she does it precisely because - as you say - "Macross vs. Robotech is not even a blip on her radar." Well then - she has herself to blame if she doesn't take care of her image. If I were advising her - I'd say: Marii - fine. Ok. You don't wanna be the anime idol of the geek universe? Fine. You want to be yourself and a musician. Fine. So - stop going to Robotech events and stop going to Macross events too. The geeks will all still love you anyways because your work in Macross will stand the test of time. Meanwhile - concentrate on your music career. But seriously - how is it concentrating on her music career to show up at a Robotech convention? To promote her new works? To meet with people? Wouldn't her time be better spent organizing promotions in music clubs or something? The Robotech convention is easy money - I HOPE. And I mean that seriously. I do hope she's getting decent money for showing up. And I think that by and large this is the main reason she does it - and of course that's fine. Nobody is criticizing her for it. But again - there are also other things to weigh: like your image. Marii Ijima is kind of a Brand - and she needs to take care of the brand because the brand image is what will keep the money coming in. And sometimes, in the short term, it's worth sacrificing some money so that the brand image doesn't get tarnished and so that in the long term, more money can come in. The problem here is that as long as HG has legal control of Macross in the USA, Marii Iijima is tied to them and to Robotech whether she likes it or not. In fact, the only way she can untangle herself from it is to just cease all affiliation under the pretext of mainly busying herself with her current projects. And barring her miraculous conversion to someone who gives a hoot and rebuffs HG (a geek dream, I know), then realistically I would say she should just forget about the "fans" - particularly the Robotech fans - and do what you purport she is doing and I say she isn't: namely concentrate on her music career. Why do I say she isn't? Because contrary to the spin of "Macross vs Robotech isn't even on her radar screen" ...well... she is going to that convention...she did appear in promo material for them...in interviews...I mean...to some extent this is something she's conscious of. And I wouldn't assume that she's just conscious of it on a purely "business" level - like...she's not a parrot who just read some lines and moved on. Let's give her a little bit of credit. From the little I've gleamed - she had and has bigger ambitions than to be the star of a cartoon - Japanese or American - and she sometimes seems to have been frustrated that life dealt her this rather than something else. But I also think, judging from the couple of youtube videos of her singing stuff that I've seen (modern stuff) - that she likes her music and as you say - is a musician first. That's great - that means she doesn't need this mess of HG/Robotech etc. I would prefer it if Marii Ijima just played a good gig at a club or in a concert hall that had nothing to do with Macross or Robotech - because by going to this convention she's just stepping in it. The ONLY hope is that the convention has no real impact on anything, and she just picks up a nice check. That is - it doesn't damage her because nobody cares about HG's Robotech cons anyways - and it benefits her financially because they pay her - fine. That's great. I hope she buys herself something nice for the money. But in general - again - it would be better if she just didn't go and let the past be the past. If you can't fix a bad situation, just let your past work stand on its' own merits and move on. Finally - re: the star trek actress living off of conventions. I understand that this happens and people need to make a living - but in their heart of hearts do you think their ambitions are satisfied? Would they not prefer to be acting in a new great play or television series, let alone movie? I mean - I would really prefer it if Marii Ijima, given how much I love her work in Macross, had a brighter future than showing up at a Robotech convention. I would prefer it for her sake if nothing else. Pete

Nothing per se... but come on - wouldn't you think it was cool if she announced that she doesn't like Robotech and would prefer it if people watched the original Macross? That's all I'm saying. Again - I know it's taboo to criticize her, and it's not like I'm comparing her to Satan or something. I'm just saying that while I understand all of the sensible reasons for participating - aka some money, some publicity, etc etc.... I would personally be very happy if she distanced herself from Robotech. Then again - I guess given the legal status of Macross in the USA - what choice does she have? Would it be legal for Marii Iijima to promote herself as having done Lyn Minmey in MACROSS? Technically that's HG's property here - so she's bound to them. Which is just another reason I think the entire situation sucks - because you have a big time Macross artist living in the USA and she can't celebrate her being part of Macross outside of HG? That's stupid. Of course - she does also go back to Japan a lot to celebrate Macross there, right? She did take part in the Crossover concert, right? I guess she's making the best of a messy situation - which is fine. But it would help, I think, to break the mould and just distance herself from Robotech. I would prefer it. It's not like I'm going to hate her if she doesn't do it, nor does it in any way change my admiration for her work and her singing. But to dance around saying something like this for fear of sounding like I'm criticizing Marii Iijima? It's gentle criticism I would hope - and it's not like I'm blaming her. Pete

Oh yeah - forgot about the phone. I would love to have a phone like that. Pete

It's Friday in Poland! Post away! Pete

I don't think either of those two scenarios would be the problem. Most actors understand that they are playing a character and it's not necessarily a personal affront when the script writer does something to the character you play. Besides, to the extent that she knows what "happens" to Minmey - it's probably limited to the 36 episodes of the original that she voiced - which for me is just fine and dandy. In any event - it's irrelevent. It is kind of sad that she's going though. I know there's a taboo against criticizing her because we all love her - but maybe a little birdy needs to whisper in her ear that participating in an HG event isn't the best idea? Then again - doing an english dub for Minmey was - IMO - not the best idea either. So...have I just criticized Marii Ijima? Yeah. Does that mean I hate her? No. Obviousy not - so hopefully people don't take it out of proportion. I understand business is business - but PR is part of business, and to me - her going to their convention and working with them is just bad PR. Seto presented it as a "they invited her to get the Macross fans" --- but they present it as "she's coming" not "she's invited." I wouldn't be surprised if she's actually bound my contract to do these things. It could have been part of her contract when she signed on the the Dubs - that she would be bound to participate in promotional events like this one. So - Gomene Marii Iijima - I love you so - but I think that getting involved with the dub project was bad move number one, which now has consequences like having to be involved/getting involved in HG Robotech conventions. Xin Loi. EDIT: RE: Have I watched the Macek interview? No - and I'm probably not going to because I'm not that interested. If he gives stats like "Robotech sold better than EVA" - fine. I'm not going to dispute it. Let others dispute it if they want to. It's secondary to the point - which is that Macross is better than Robotech anyways, and Robotech is fun to laugh at. Pete

Yeah - this is true... but on the other hand...one becomes the subject of road rage mainly because somebody is an A-hole, not on account of something he does. Like in this instance - if some dude tailgates me and tries to force me to change lanes - screw him. Why doesn't he just pass me? That's the real reason they tailgate you - to force you to change lanes. On the other hand - I've noticed that most people here have serious problems (as I mentioned) with the concept of accelerating - and this often causes road rage. Like when a traffic light goes green. I'm not a "speed demon" by any stretch of the imaignation - but just purely on account of driving an automatic, all I need to do is tap the gas pedal and I go from 0 to 100 kmph in a few seconds with my old beat up mazda. Meanwhile, the guy in the lane next to me is usuall driving stick shift in their new BMW or Mercades - and it takes them way longer to accelerate because they have to first switch gears to 2...achieve X speed upon which they can switch to 3....hit the gear-pedal a few times...switch to 4.... Inadvertantely - these morons think that I'm a show off...which is totally not true. It's just the benefit of automatic drive vs. stick shift. But in this country - the predominant view is the automatic drive is worse, that cars that drive on automatic "break" all the time, and there's this wild paranoia that automatic drive means that the gear box will fall out of your underbelly or change crazily on its' own. I have no clue where this prejudice came from... Anyways...dealing with tailgaters is usually made easy thanks to this... I usually have two rules of thumb: 1) If you can, step on the gas and go so f-cking fast that nobody is going to be able to catch up with you - put enough distance between you and them and then relax 2) If you can't - just f-it, switch lanes, slow down, and let all the morons move up in front of you. And the plural is true. It's usually like 4 or 5 of these jerk offs who, once you slow down and let them move up front, are all road raging against eachother...passing eachother, tailgating eachother, swerving between lanes... best to just let them go do their thing and keep your distance. In either case - the goal of both 1 and 2 is the same: creating ample distance between you and potentially dangerous situations. The difference is in method: speeding up or slowing down. As for the speed limit... In Poland the problem is that because of no high ways, then even on the "express" roads where you can go faster (between cities), there are stop lights every now and then. This sucks because you accelerate to a nice speed but then you need to slow down for the lights...and then accelerate...and on and on it goes But oh well...such is the nature of the roads. I thankfully manage to drive at non-peak hours usually... Pete

I don't understand the middle picture.... is she killing Ai-kun!? Pete

SWEET!! Gubaba - that picture makes me think you have a treasure chest of special Macross related goodies that you sometimes share with us once in a while...which is the same a sometimes...so I guess that's redundant... But truly an awesome picture! It feels good knowing that May'N and me share the same Artistic style Good point. I also noticed that, given that it's supposed to be NA Sheryl - I forgot to give her the high golden boots. Error rectified in this new touch up. Hopefully Mikimoto will learn a thing or two from me Le Pete L'Artiste de Macross

Hate to break it to ya Ghost Train - but don't knock Detroit's roads until you drive in Poland I lived in Michigan for four years and frequently drove around in Detroit (albeit WITH other people, not as the driver) - and I can assure you that Detroit's roads are excellent compared to Poland. First of all - Poland has about 2 kilometers of highway. In the whole country. They've been "building" highways here for 20 years and can never get it done. I drove on a Polish high way last year when I went to an anime convention - I drove on it for like 30 seconds....a two lane road splits into six lanes ...and I was crusin' like I was back in the USA...for 30 seconds...and then six lanes merge back into two and everybody's screwed Most of the roads here don't even have lines painted on them. Most of them were never built to accomodate traffic from both opposing sides. The vast majority of the roads in Poland were constructed for one purpose: Moving tanks and columns of military trucks with soldiers in them. And like a train track, you know the train always only goes one way before turning around to go the other way - so it was with the roads. The roads are extremely narrow - just enough really to fit ONE big truck. Yet for the past twenty years - people have used them as double lane roads where I wen ---> this way and you went <----- that way. In the winter - it's freeky because the sides of the road - the already narrow road - get covered in snow and mud and crap - and .... well - basically driving conditions are like in Mad Max. It's insane. You have oil tankers and chemical trucks driving on ice, you have crappy Soviet cars which can't do more than 40 km an hour on the same road as BMWs... Oh - and you also have babies, old women, drunks and bycicles. In their grand wisdom - Poland's road planners didn't build ANY sidewalks ANYWHERE. Nor did they build street lights for when it's dark. So you can imagine - you're driving, it's snowing, it's dark, there's a drunk guy walkin in the middle of the road, an oncoming car, somebody tailing you (and they always tail you...like...when they want to pass you - they don't understand the idea of ACCELERATION - you know - actually hitting the gas and going much faste in a short amount of time to overtake the vehicle in front of you...no...what they do is they drive up right to your tail and tailgate you for like 10 minutes - and then, slowly, cumbersomely they attempt to overtake you...usually just at the point where you have to swerve in to their line of driving because you have a baby carriage being pushed by some old woman on the right)... Screw it - gimme Detroit any day. This is why I worry about my car - every day is like driving through a War Zone. All that's missing are people actively shooting at you and land mines. Beyond that - it's pretty much a war zone. Only in the city center is it remotely civilized. And on that 2 kilometer stretch of high way that lasts 30 seconds! Pete

Maybe he's right. Let him be right. It doesn't matter what "model" is more viable in the USA. All that matters is that in Japan, the model for producing anime is viable in Japan. I am a fan of what the Japanese make in terms of anime and hobby goods. I presume all of the conditions for making these things are unique to Japan and will never be perfectly mirrored in foriegn countries. I also presume that all around the world there will be niches of fans who like the stuff from Japan just like Japanese fans do. I don't want - for instance - Macross Frontier to be mangled in the name of some "viable" sales model for the USA or any other region. I didn't even like the Evangelion dub into english that I saw parts of. I don't like dubs. I don't like American packaging on hobby goods. My point is that Macek's argument is totally superfluous. Let him be right. Let the model be viable. Am I going to become a Robotech fan because Harmony Gold shows me a pie chart according to which Doug Bendo and his friends love Robotech more than Evangelion and in a market full of Bendos - the HG route is viable? Nope. Better get comfortable being in the fringe as an anime fan. That is where you're going to stay IMO. Pete

This isn't surprising if true. Evangelion is "wierd" and unorthodox. Macross is not wierd, although it is unorthodox; but Robotech makes it orthodox. The sales figures on a transforming robots show are going to be better in America than the sales figures of a show about a wierd kid and his wierdo dad and their wierdo robots mixed in with psychoanalitical Fruedian "wierdness." I've grown accustomed over the 30 years of my life to the fact that I am wierd. I read books which most people don't read, I watch movies which most people don't watch. I buy things most people don't buy. No surprise that the anime I like doesn't sell well compared to things I don't like. As for the Macross dub tanking - well - I love Macross, but I wouldn't buy a Macross dub because I hate dubs. So - how many true blue Macross "purist" fans would prefer to buy a dub rather than the original Japanese with subtitles? Show of hands? My guess is - based on the big thread we had about sub vs. dub - that lots of folks aren't exactly burning for a dub either... In fact - most lovers of foriegn movies don't want the movies dubbed over. All of that said - and with due disrespect to the notion that majorities make right... if Robotech sold more - then how come Robotech.com is so dead? I mean - seriously. Look at seibertron.com. Look at tformers.com. Look at whatever number of Star Wars websites are out there. Look around - fan websites usually are thriving. This website's doing fairly well too. Robotech.com looks like a bit of a graveyard.... I don't know of any EVA dedicated forums (forums, not sites) - but I wonder how they look by comparisson? Of course - it might just be that if Robotech did better amongst the mainstream, the mainstream don't hang out on the net all day... meanwhile EVA-geeks (in general) do... I dunno... It might also be due to marketing. Robotech has had more marketing in the USA than Evangelion. And even given whatever marketing EVA had - a lot of it was negative marketing - aka - it's wierdo... Beats me... I guess though...I'll be the first to admit that that's bad news IMO. Sure, sure - we can talk about how sales figures = best would mean Macdonalds was the best restaurant in the world etc ... but on the other hand - it's always a bit sad... Though - nothing new... Same reason why Hasbro sold 830 millions USD worth of crap last year while niche products that were higher quality and had better detail ... didn't sell any where near that much. Pete

I guess I'll get it and keep it in Unicorn mode mostly... It'll be my THIRD Unicorn kit... but hey - whatever I love the design. Wish Bandai would make that hangar thingy standard issue though... that's aweseome! Pete

Thanks. Will look under the hood for that kind of stuff...when the weather breaks Thus far I only have a small little smigget of rust above one of the rear wheels. I guess I'll do something about that over the summer The fun part about having an old car is that slowly but surely I'm kind of learning about auto mechanics...just because one has a tendency to be more mindful that with a new car where you just assume all is well Pete

I give up with you guys This is like Nerd central I love it. Pete