Monday, July 05, 2010

Self-imposed exile is the right of all toy robots archaeologists



Life is ramping up here in the Kingdom of Macrocrania and as I grapple with new responsibilities hoisted upon me lately, I gotta be straight with you my fellow Macrocranians. There is no longer time to compose 900 word lavishly illustrated explorations of the history of Ro-Gun (the robot that is a gun) as related to me by grocery store newspaper ads from 25 years ago that I found at the library. So I'll be taking a break during which I will attempt to take some college classes and maybe do something with my life that does not involve toy robots, guns or grocery stores (but that still involves going to the library). I may do a post-Botcon podcastalypse later this week but that'll be it for a long time. Thanks for reading and commenting and helping me find the salvation roboplastico I was looking for. And no, this is not a statement used to conceal or confuse my actual plans or intentions.


Hiatus-I am on it

13 comments:

agentmorris said...

Is that a Helloween shirt I see you wearing?

If it is, I salute you!

Evil King Macrocranios said...

Yeah, that's the shirt that came with the limited Japanese version of High Live. I got it back when it came out in '95. I was still heavy into them and even did an elaborate glass etching of their logo on the rear window of my '79 Toronado.

Back in April I was at a record store picking up the new Gamma Ray and Helloween releases. The Gamma Ray was the same Gamm Ray I expected but Helloween's recent 25th anniversary record really tripped me out. They're like the Transformers classics/universe line. They keep changing but the basic premise is still there. Gamma Ray is more like the commemorative series reissues. Their sound never changes. I was going to post about it but I figured nobody else in the universe would know Helloween, Gamma Ray and the Transformers enough to relate to what I was writing about. Who knew?

Jack said...

The apartment I lived in as a baby was on hiatus and flamingo.

Colin said...

How long is this hiatus expected to last? With plasticcrack down, heavyarms MIA, where will I get my robofill? Seibertron? LOL

I will endevour to pick up the slack a bit and post more. I can't wait to have some time after TFCon to think, as oppose to be rushed from project to project.

Looking forward to post-Botcon report.

Heavyarms said...

Nooooooooooo!!!! Hiatii suck.

Evil King Macrocranios said...

Hiatii might suck for the hiat-ees but they're great when you're the hiat-er side. I no longer feel pressure to get the ideas out before they die and there's no more wondering if what I'm writing is getting through to anyone. No more poring over site statistics to see if my silent uncommenting readership is still there. No more feeling like I'm wasting time talking to walls. You guys obviously know how it is from how little you write anymore. You have to have your own reasons for your lack of blog output as well.

I really don't know how long it'll be before I post again, if ever. I make it a point to avoid being meta but I thought it a necessary courtesy to let my couple of readers know to not expect anything. As a reader I feel the worse hiatii are the ones you don't even know are going on!

Anonymous said...

Hey there Crazy Steve, it was cool to meet you at BotCon, and I look forward to your return here.

agentmorris said...

EKM: Writing when you actually feel like it with no pressure is always the better way. You may lose some readers, sure, but those you connect with will always check by, and that's fine, too.

After having been the poster child for pointless, meandering, loser/robot-based, geek bloggering, I still have managed to get to know some awesome people in this thing of ours and been able to write or post whatever the hell I felt like writing that would be shot down in a second on a forum.

In the end I think that you'll either love retirement or only write or present new material whenever you're inspired to do so.

I think it's kind of cool that you're hait-ing it up. You gotta love doing it and if you're moving on to whatever you feel, you are doing the right thing.

Evil King Macrocranios said...

The problem is I always feel like writing! The ideas constantly come in a non-stop onslaught of blog thoughts welling up from my brain. I'm overwhelmed by all this old toy robot driven inspiration and I don't have the time or energy to deal with all the ideas. It's like how schizophrenics have imaginary people they can see, except I have blog post ideas following me around and if each of them were a person it would be like being stalked by a sold-out football stadium's worth of ghosts.

They constantly pull at me to write them and I can't take a break or really relax and do other stuff I want to without feeling guilty that I'm not showing the internet some old GoBot ad that would otherwise remain buried and forgotten in the archives of some library somewhere. I realized it I was crazy when I couldn't sit down and play War for Cybertron because that would be a waste of time compared to blogging about GoBots ads in Variety Magazine or doing an episode guide for Tranzor-Z or correlating specific 1985 Transformers' newspaper ads with their appearances in Hasbro toy catalogs or any of the billion other insane blog post ideas I had.

Everything I have been able to get blogged out is but a tiny fraction of the material dammed up in my brain. Even if I were single and financially secure with no family or job and nothing but free time I'd still be overwhelmed by this blog. It has become an all consuming obsession. I thought that since I wasn't a collector of toy robots and I wasn't out buying the latest new whatever that it meant I had my hobby under control but in the toll it has taken on my life it's more out of control than if I was the most psychotic of toy robots accumulators.

If I could crank it all out faster I'd have a chance at sanity but it takes so long to properly contextualize the information in a way that makes it meaningful or interesting that I was staying up every night until 2 a.m. trying to keep up. And for what? This is like college level homework hassle for no discernible payoff. There's no degree in toy robots archaeology, no fame or fortune as a result of blogging about GoBots. I may have figured out a couple things along the way but it's really not of any tangible value. I guess I'm glad the world can watch the first Transformer commercial or an episode of Robo Force on YouTube now but all I want is to go to bed before 10p.m. like I used to.

Joey Snackpants said...

1.) Helloween Rocks
2.) I NEVER would have thought of going to the library and looking at old magazines and/or newspapers for old toy ads.

Great Blog, look forward to your return.

Shawn Robare said...

As long as you know that the work you've done is appreciated, which it is by the way, then that's all that should matter. I know I've been inspired.

Jamspeed said...

Hey, I know I'm late to the party with you taking a break from your blog, but I heard you on some podcasts and think you are an interesting guy. After you finish doing "real world" stuff don't forget to return to the land of cool Japanese toys!

said...

Bots for Tots

Tots as Bots

 

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Evil King Macrocranios was voted king by the evil peoples of the Kingdom of Macrocrania. They listen to Iron Maiden all day and try to take pictures of ghosts with their webcams.