VFTF1

Googled Dairugger. That thing looks AWESOME! Definitely would get a SOC of that. Pete

And here I was thinking that by "V remake" you meant Comabttler V/Voltes V was getting a remake. Instead it's just "hot women" - meh.... where are the super robots? Pete

Well - at least I have something to look forward to now Pete

I think that you could concievably have special forces centered on music genres. I mean - does everyone have to sing J-Pop? Can't there be different music-attack groups? Here's some ideas: MOZART'S MONSTER: A VB-6 Koening Monster Kai where the interior has been revamped to fit a classical orchestra that plays classical music to soothe the souls of monsters, giants and wanna be warmongers the universe over. A.S.S ROCK-1: A Macross Class fighter, named ASS-1 after Alien Space Ship 1, filled to the brink with ASS ROCK performers in tight spandex, 80s hair, glossy lip-stick and eye-shadow all singing songs that would do Spinal Tap proud. Elint DecCulture Kai Squadron + Ghosts: A squadron of VF-25G Electronic Intelligence Reconaissance units with adjoining Ghost units tasked with gathering data on the potential music and cultural tastes of enemies in order to better craft a message of peace love and understanding towards them instead of risking that your message won't get through because the aliens prefer Journey to Britney Spears. Macross: Karioki: An entire colony dedicated to Karioke. There are no singer idols here - everyone sings. Telebeams flash words 24/7 and people actually communicate thanks to song. It's like an opera on steroids without the baratome but instead with people singing dorky little pop songs to say things like "I'm hungry" or "man I gotta pee" The colony is often used as a go-to point for re-socialization of alien malcontents who are sent there to live with the people for 5 years and get into the groove and feel their love hearts. Pete

Ok - I dunno where to put this question. It's not a newbie question - it's specifically to do with SDFM: TV- but it's so relatively straight forward that I figured it's not going to give birth to a ten page discussion - and there's no reason to stick it elsewhere... In episode 1 of SDFM: TV, when Hikaru is hit and falling to the ground - just before Misa saves him - he has a blurry "life flashes before my eyes/flashback to a moment of life" scene where he sees himself tailing Roy in propeller planes. Does the back of Roy's yellow propeller plane Say "Kawamori" on it? And why? Pete

I haven't watched Macross II and have absolutely no intention of doing so. I live in a nice bubble where no problems of cognition arise due to it, and it doesn't sound very good anyways - although I know people praise it. Plus - I really don't like the mecha that I've seend. The VF-22 or whatever it's called looks to super robotish. I'm a big super robots fan, but I don't like the Mecha here. And the BIGGER guns are annoying too. I also haven't watched Flashback mainly because I HATE FLASHBACKS. I can't stand the flashback/recap episodes in long series, so why should I watch what is essentially a film length recap episode just to catch a glimpse of Minmey in a completely irrelevent context with no dramatic import whatsoever? Or to see the Megaroad 1, which I can see by checking out Mr. March's page and which -unless I'm mistaken - features in M7 and even Frontier at some point. NOTE: The ONLY recap episode I actually liked and thought was extremely well made was the one in Macross: Frontier - because it moved the story forward and used a real-time situation more elaborate than "Global's Report" or Hikaru's Phantom Drug Induced Nightmare (although that one was clever, I'll admit) to rehash old stuff. Plus, MF gave us a Sheryl/Ranka duet lap dance as pay off for watching through the recap - very good. I think there might be something with Bassara that I haven't seen yet - but I doubt it - I think I got all of that covered... Final note: Has anyone noticed... hmm ... no - wait - I'll look for an SDFM:TV thread for this... Pete

Those are all supposed to be the strong points of the series. More broadly though - this is kind of what turns me off to Tomino's work or Tomino-related media like Gundam OO. The radical equalization of everyone and the abolition of the possibilityo f heroism is pretty bleak and it does kind of sap the juice out of a show. But - Gundam OO is not that bad actually IMO. I've only seen like 5 episodes - so who am I to talk - but it didn't strike me as a stinker like SEED did. As for the characters - well -I watched subs and they didn't all come out monotone or boring. They DID come out somewhat flat and not very colorful - but the Zendradi weren't exactly a colorful bunch either; and with Gundam - people are basically like the Zendradi - it's just war, war war, conflict, conflict, conflict - and there is little to be tantalized about - unless your a strategy buff like that one Tieren commander seemed to be... I guess the fact that I couldn't stomach more than 5 episodes of Gundam 00 is testimony enough of how much I generally agree with your sentiment. But on principle I can't agree with your reasoning because the show did show signs of - going somewhere with the plot... It's just that I'm more interested in watching things with passion in them than things where everything is so bleak... Although - I dunno - I LIKE the original Mobile Suite Gundam, and it's just as bleak, and the characters are equally blaze - except maybe Char - who seems to know a thing or two about life - but I just love the 70s aesthetics, the design of the White Base, the sound-work... One day - when there's nothing better to watch - I'll return to Gundam 00 and give it a better chance. Pete

I never liked Minmei in uniform. She could never look as good in uniform as Misa. Pete

But in SDFM: TV, she was also shown getting mad at her parents... she goes to visit them in Yokohama with Hikaru, and they get all like "you're going to stay here now right?" "what do you mean you're a star?" "hey young Man - can you marry Minmei and live with us and make her have babies?" until Kaifun comes along as is like "Yo! Minmei might be my sister, but I ain't believin' dad traditionz shiznits and I be all for me takin' her back to me room...er..that is back to dee Macrozshizniz and takinz care of her (wink wink)!" and the parents are all like "oh well that's ok." In DYRL, yeah - it's true that Minmei recounts to Hikaru about her parents being all stern and stuff - but she is flirty and likes to be melodramatic and tease Hikaru - so who are we to know how much is fact and how much fiction? Plus - it's quite possible that she was recounting the Yokohoma episode (albeit...it...er..happened "later?") and in DYRl that's where Kaifun came in and that's why Kaifun's on the Macross in DYRL? In the end - Gubaba's right though: thinking is bad for you. Pete

Well - with the Minmei attack, the SDF-1 just broadcast the songs over Zendradi frequency. And I think once Bretai offered his help, the power of the broadcasts increased since I'm sure Bretai had ample equipment and knowledge of Zendradi communications to broadcast the songs to at least his entire fleet, if not the entire Boldoza fleet. You could ask "why didn't they just turn it off?" But that's ridiculous. If Lyn Minmei, wearing that pink dress, started nodding and winking at you while singing a love song... would you turn her off? Pete

You know - I don't mean to disrespect gamers - but I gotta admit that ever since I got into modeling, I've seen improvements in other areas of my life thanks to what modeling has taught me. Patience, an appreciation for detail, for structure, care, attention - in stressful situations that are work or relationship related, the skills I learned in modeling are really becoming useful. It's like - if I could build a VF-25 in 1:72 scale - why can't I patiently work through other situations/challenges in life? I don't think video games give people the same sense of achievement because ultimately - what counts in the game is figuring out the schematics - what specific steps you must take to do x, y and z. The only games that are fun are shoot 'em ups (but that's "mindless" fun) and inter-active games where - because you are playing against another human being - things are not as predictable as just playing with/against a computer program... Modeling on the other hand - it's something new every time. I can't wait to start on my second VF-25S and build it with a view to keeping it in fighter mode with Sheryl Decals and weathering it and stuff. And that's great - you can always customize, experiment - do crazy stuff. Also - I've discovered that technology has really made models more durable, detailed and amazing. before I got into contemporary modeling, I had the stereotype in my mind that models were these brittle things that you spent many hours gluing only to put them on a shelf - under glass maybe - and never touch again. Pete

I am now watching SDFM: TV. Last time I watched it was probably a year ago. I haven't seen Zero and Plus for about half a year. And it's been about 2 years - at least 1 year - since I saw 7. I watched all of Macross Frontier again last month. If I'm not watching Macross, it's because I'm watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann or eventually Gundam. But when I'm playing with my models and toys, it's kind of like watching the series too because I keep thinking up adventures Pete

Yeah. I mean - these pictures are a dead give away for exactly what people are going to see ... Pete

Shin kudo 1:60. Never had an LV - never really wanted one Re: Max TV.... I dunno - the blue looks dorky - but it also looks like...well..Max... And I'll never forget his performance in the episode where he dons Zentran uniforms and kicks men in the toilet - I want the TV 1A so I can dress him up in a green military coat Pete

Master Grade of course (1:100) Pete

Well - in the Anime Topic, there's a thread on translation in anime, and part of the discussion centers on Dub vs. Sub... Or...maybe there's a seperate Dub vs. Sub thread - you might want to check it out - I remember we all had a long debate over this one. I personally prefer the original Japanese with the sub-titles. So far, the only anime I could tolerate in english dubs is Mobile Suite Gundam. Anyways... I'm not re-watching SDFM TV - so the pendulum will likely swing back to the series... it's ultimately hard to say. Pete

I'm not getting it unless they do it in TV collors. Pete

Sounds like Agent GHQ is Zendradi Pete

Me too. Anyways - here's two pictures of my collection of v.2s: Pete

Thanks for the explanation Ginrai. Are there any other Gette Robo flicks people recomend? I might just have to check out UFO Grendizer/Getter Robo... In any event - I liked it. And I can see why some people said that Gurren Lagann reminds them of Getter Robo. It's a nice super robot/monster smash up with flamboyant characters and lines like: "Why are they doing this?" "I don't now - for now let's go destroy them!" Pete

Good one I remember this comic - I even still have one issue of Archie lying around. Silly of me - I never really considered it a love triangle - but maybe that's because in the stories I read, Veronica is always either mad at Archie or condescending or something - and he's not exactly fawning over her. I never liked either of the girls though - mainly because they were cardboard cut outs. Jughead was the only character I liked... Pete

From what I understand - it's not illegal. It's just a convention that those who want to go very fast drive on the left lane on a multi-lane highway, while those who prefer to go a tad slower drive on the right hand - and you generally aren't supposed to pass people coming in from their right - But EVEN if you are right and it is a law - the picture (which, granted, I didn't post) shows only this ONE car on the multi-lane road (and it's not a highway because Poland has ZERO highways... well - ok - Poland has maybe 1 or 2 kilometers of "highway" ) - and no other cars. So... who is he supposed to be "actively passing" ? What if you're alone on the multi-lane road on this picture ? In any event - it's assanine and stupid. I passed my exam today - and honest to God I don't even remember the questions. The exam did nothing to teach me about driving - in fact - it could actually make people worse drivers because they will start doubting their common sense instincts and having second thoughts about everything. Pesonally I think drivers licenses ought not be required and are an infringement on personal freedom. But IF we must have them then I prefer the way the exams were done in the USA from what I'm doing here in Europe - it takes like a year to compete everything...30 hours of practice driving... a couple months of courses (I took a "speed" course in one weekend - 9 hours a day of mind-numbing idiocy. A movie about people who were given whiskey, vodka and other booze and then put into cars on a crash course to "demonstrate" the ill effects of being smashed) - oh - and all of the lessons always refer to a) cars with stick shift - which I don't drive and don't wanna drive and therefore don't care about and don't need to know about and b) ALWAYS refer to old technology. Things like anti-lock breaks, cruise control - these things don't exist in the courses because they are using material from the 70s and 80s when Poland had like no cars at all except for some crappy ones. In any event - I also find it highly dubious that we are expected to learn all these rules and abide by them - but the people who make the rules can give us roads with potholes, idiotic logistical arrangements, crumbling infrastructure in general and - in the case of at least this country - no highways. In short: I'm expected to know 500 traffic rules - but the guys who write the rules get away with doing nothing to improve infrastructure. But then again - I'm not surprised. That's usually the standard MO for states. Still - happy I passed. Uff.. What a relief! One more to go - June 2nd - and then...then... then I get to wait one month while they actually print the stupid license....so I'll have it in hand by...July? Hopefully. Pete

Scraplets Pete

I was refering to the DX. Anyways - viola! Here's my completed VF-25S in 1:72 scale! I know, I know- you veteran super-modelers (who I greatly admire) probably don't see why I'm so excited - but for me - I put a lot of love into this guy and tried my durndest... at least tried a whole heck of a lot more than with my MG Gundams... I love how stable the joints hold together compared to some of Bandai's MG Gundams. Technically, I'm not done- got to build the wheels for fighter mode... But I'm liking him a lot Looks good next to Gundams and Yammies Pete

I don't want to get to much into designer clothes and stuff - but me and my girlfriend are pretty much designer clothes whores We love spending money on nice clothes. We also love going to good reastaurants (kudos to Mr. Chogokin!). Levis makes jeans, but it also makes belts. I personally don't like the levis stuff and prefer Diesel - although for some reason their belts game me skin rashes so I had to get a belt at H&M and it "works" just fine (aka my over-sensitive skin doesn't react badly to it). I totally respect where Knight26 is coming from - but just like you shouldn't make an ideology out of being single and setting up this false world view where being able to get your favorite toys means having no girlfriend/wife - so too you shouldn't (IMO) get trapped in the opposite - that having a family or other costs (food, healthcare) means no toys... Ultimately - it's really a question of how we define these things and also of long-term vs. short-term. Like Knight26 said -he looks at his budget. That's probably true for him not just with regard to Macross purchases - but with regard to the majority of purchases. That's generally how people tend to function. Sometimes we have more money, sometimes less, sometimes there are more expenses and we have to put off satisfaction of all our desires - and sometimes we get to go hog wild. In the end - yeah, you should prioritize - but I think people shouldn't get too fixated on any one path. Life is short. You need to ultimately do what you love and not worry about the consequences. I love being with my girlfriend and I love collecting Macross, and thinking up stories, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I do it all. I sometimes have trouble balancing it, juggling it all - but what am I supposed to do? Change? Give up? This is why I like Gurren Lagann's spirit so much - I really believe it is possible to do what you love - and if you've got the right girl and you chose your friends and associates wisely - then it'll help a lot. Maybe this is my personal experience talking - but up until a couple of years ago, I was too scared to pursue my dreams because I had this idea that there was all this stuff that I "must" do - and I kept failing at doing it. Like graduate college, or get a "real" job and have a "normal" relationship and bla bla bla. Then one day after everything failed (again) I just basically said "screw it! What have I got to loose?" and started living in pursuit of my personal dreams - and holy smokes - I succeeded. I think the main thing is that when you are doing what makes you happy and are with someone you really love and they love you then every thing is managable. Everybody's going to have their own perspective on this and their own view about how to proceed - but I guess I'm just trying to say it all boils down to this: are you doing what makes you happy? Pete