Chris Meadows aka Robotech_Master will be interviewing Greg Finley on his live talk show podcast Space Station Liberty. Greg Finley is the voice actor for Captain Gloval and Commander Leonard along with his responsibility as a writer and dailogue director for the Robotech TV series! The interview will be recorded live, and will take place on Saturday, June 23rd at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific time. After Meadows completes his interview, Finley will take questions from the call-in audience, and questions can also be submitted via the contact form at http://terrania.us/emailme.htmSpace Station Liberty is the live call-in talk show hosted by Chris Meadows via the TalkShoe podcasting service. The focus of these shows is the Robotech universe and fandom. Guests and audience members may call in by ordinary telephone or Voice-Over-IP and participate in the discussion, as well as share comments by text-based chat. The show can be streamed live or downloaded as an mp3 podcast after recording ends. For more information on Space Station Liberty, see http://terrania.us/liberty/. For more information on TalkShoe, see http://www.talkshoe.com/
We ask all Robotech fans to come join us for these once in a life time chances to speak and listen to the creators of Robotech. You can listen live or download the show later. You really should download the TalkShoe cilent and join us in the chat cilent where you can talk to other Robotech fans, ask questions, and have the choice to call in to ask your very own questions to the guests.
Saturday, June 23rd at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific time
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=5988
Thanks Kevin for the photo!
17 comments:
This is the third MOST important shows of all time. Greg Finley is the major man for all Southern Cross fans. He is the voice of Supreme Commander Leonard and believes in his character. This is time to settle all Leonard debates. Of course, Macross Saga fans aren't left in the dark as he's also the voice of the legendary Henry Gloval.
So, lets make an effort to come to this one and get the discussion rolling.
Ah the endless loop continues... you write about him..he reads your blog..you write about him....
That Chris Meadows is a sucker. He critizes the hardcore fans because the Shadow Chronicles people supports his site for him to support them. What a sucker, an embarrasement for Robotech fans.
shut up. I bet you're a whining hardcore fan.
I bet you are a Yunie......
Bts since you yunies started to actualy show your yunie faces... i can asume we are doing goood in tellin the truth......
BOYCOT CHRIS "YUNIE" MEADOWS.......
BOYCOT YUNETECH.......
BOYCOT SHADOW CHRONICLES.......
It's all fun and stuff, but Greg Finley is an important man whoever's show he is on and deserves our respect. Every fan who cares about Robotech would be interested in this show including you guys. So, lay off on this one. Mr. Finley is the focus this time, not Chris or anyone else.
Give the actor some respect.
Warning: the following rant contains adult language, psychological examination, skilled sentence structure, and piercing sarcasm inappropriate for underage and immature readers (as I can see a great deal of the anti-HG people here are). Viewer discretion is advised...your ego might be bruised.
The more comments and discussion postings I read on this site and others, the more completely disgusted I become with this entire branch of "fandom." I use that term extremely loosely, as this group of people apparently consists of a bunch of whiny fanfic authors bitching non-stop that no one really cares what they think (as if that's really any great surprise, considering their "masterful" command of the English language and their overall condescension towards their fellow fans). You're always going on about how the Robotech fan community needs to unite and support each other, yet that only seems to apply if you agree with what those fans believe. Apparently that spectrum of fandom is extremely thin, consisting only of people who vehemently despise Harmony Gold . Those who who are neutral on the company and its products (or even have the gall to LIKE them) need not apply, it seems, and they're all branded "Yunies" in a fascist fit of stereotyping.
Despite the fact that Chris Meadows' Space Station Liberty program is a fan-run operation that allows us all to voice our opinions with not only ourselves but with Harmony Gold itself, a good deal of you "fans" are willing to condemn the program to the fiery pits of hell. Why? Meadows doesn't subscribe to your hateful idealology. Yet you all continue to preach your gospel of love and cooperation between Robotech fans towards building a new future. You lot are the height of hypocricy.
The funniest thing about your whole sect of fandom is what it seems to be built upon: hatred of Harmony Gold for rendering so many of your fan projects null and void by the mere existence of Shadow Chronicles. It must have been a nice 20 years or so creating all those stories, videos, etc. that "filled in the holes" of story that just didn't exist at the time, and during that time your work had a sort of "unofficial canon" (after all, what contradicted it other than other fan projects). HOW DARE Harmony Gold come along and actually fill in those holes themselves! Don't they know YOU have the rights to that portion of their product?
Then there are the complaints about Shadow Chronicles from these people, which with few exceptions are vague at best and laughably silly at worst. In the rare case you find a SC hater (and I do mean "hater," not just someone who doesn't care for the movie) that can actually articulate an argument with anything approaching intelligence, their complaints range from things that just couldn't be controlled due to budget problems (the animation) to severe nitpickings. It must be nice to laugh at a company's mistakes from the sidelines, when you have never been in their shoes facing the kinds of issues a REAL production company faces (yeah, I'm looking at you, UEG guys...must be nice having a flexible schedule and having no one but yourselves to answer to, along with exactly 0 expectations from the fan community).
Many of you ought to enroll at this prestigious organization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgd5S-X-_dQ
Guys, let's face the facts: the original Robotech was an 85-episode English dubbing hack job that these days would take a professional studio 2-3 times the length of time to do properly. The original Robotech was full of plot holes, bad acting, questionable design choices, and in some cases animation that would make a flip book look grand by comparison. Gee, these problems seem suddenly familiar...I can't imagine why...*looks at Shadow Chronicles*
Stop hating on each and every Robotech fan that doesn't agree with you, Shadow Chronicles haters. If you ever wonder why the Robotech fanbase seems splintered and dwindling, look in the mirror. Your incessant vitrol and hatred are tiresome and patience-draining, and probably lead to more Robotech fans abandoning the forums and sites than ANYTHING Harmony Gold does. We TRY to get along with you, no matter how much we disagree with you. Can YOU just accept our point of view as OUR point of view and TRY to get along with us?
Okay, Mr./Mrs./Ms./M./Mme./Msle. Anonymous. I get the picture. You want Robotech fans to come-together a,d think that The Shadow Chronicles (notice the "The" in the title) haters are generally to blame. I can accept this arguement; generally, it fits the mould of what has been happening in the fandom.
Except there's one problem: The The Shadow Chronicles haters usually use good reasoning when they directly criticise the feature. Sure, there's some idiots who jump on bandwagons and in many discussions, ideas which are considered by the audience-at-hand as de facto notions are simplified for ease of reading, but most of the time, The Shadow Chronicles detractors can point to exact reasons why it isn't what Robotech deserves. (Again, I won't list them here; you can find them on other sites, if you want to gain that sort of insight into how "we" operate.)
Most of the time, The Shadow Chronicles supporters use tired arguements like "small budget," "constraints," "unpopular franchise," and the like. Haters don't see these as valid arguements because "we" view them as excuses rather than reasons. Japanese animation companies, for instance, have long used limited art-producing capabilities to produce animation, but instead of making horrible animated scenes, they developed methods of covering-up the lack of cels and demanded animation directors to develop skills specific to making the animation look 'good' nonetheless.
The Shadow Chronicles is a feature. It should get judged in the same way that any feature gets judged. Just in the same way that, when choosing a film to see at a theatre, one has the decision as a consumer to choose the best film possible, Robotech fans have a decision to ridicule bad Robotech. We've seen tons and tons of stories come and go over the years and thus, have a strong frame of reference in our comparisons. Because The Shadow Chronicles had "problems in development" doesn't give it a right to be bad; anybody knows that skillfully-made small-budget films can often knock the pants off of Hollywood blockbusters costing in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and in the end, if something's better, it's better.
Some people don't care for what are dubbed "arthouse" productions. It's an eccentric-poetry-versus-novella, Honneamise-versus-GundamSEED kind of comparison. That's fine. In the current situation, I tend to believe that the fans who dislike The Shadow Chronicles dislike it because it feels "manufactured" and attempts to do stuff that ultimately distracts from creating a truly thrilling experience. Some people want simple entertainment; others want a deeper form of emotion. Again, I think The Shadow Chronicles haters wanted something which lived-up to the quality set by the same animated series Harmony Gold repeatedly used as reference-- Sentou Yousei Yukikaze, Macross Plus, Macross Zero--and what they got was far from an equal; some would argue 'far from a near-equal.'
All of the above points to judgementalism: Some people want one thing, others want another thing. But one thing which people cannot deny is that Harmony Gold, despite obviously not living-up to the expectations of their fans, consistently works to deny the fact that some people don't like it. They've taken an aggressive stance toward anti-The Shadow Chronicles sentiments, and (in judging from a human-based perspective, rather than an "I'm a corporation therefore that gives me the right to be inhuman toward others" perspective) there's no honour in denying the truth: Whether Harmony Gold likes it or not, they messed-up big-time in the eyes of many. Unfortunately for the arguement that The Shadow Chronicles haters should speak openly with the creator/designers, Harmony Gold's public relations department's track record doesn't leave much hope for the fans. Numerous sites have documented the furor of fans who have been effectively ejected from Robotech.com for disagreeing with official policy and decisions, so while Harmony Gold could certainly be "open" to suggestions about how to make the next The Shadow Chronicles-related property better than the first, they have chosen not to, retreated to the confines of Robotech.com--where they can still openly delete honest questions of The Shadow Chronicles' quality--and use the Internet-based areas of interest operated by their supporters to present a farcical vision of the Robotech fandom as a united group of fans who support The Shadow Chronicles.
All of these truths come-into the vision of The Shadow Chronicles haters. The feature doesn't live-up to the quality of other features and instead chooses compare itself to the fact that no completed Robotech series has been animated for over twenty years, a comparison which is pathetic at best. Harmony Gold's stance on dissenting opinion is not neutral, but cold and opposing to those who are willing to say that The Shadow Chronicles was so bad that, without major adjustments, the sequel will be horrible, as well. While The Shadow Chronicles supporters may believe "us" to be "anarchistic" or "unsupportive," the truth is that "we" love Robotech just as much as anyone else in this world does. The point where we diverge is in where "we" are willing to admit that these shortcomings are very bad and it is dishonourable to make excuses rather than admit mistakes. Stand back, be honest with the fans, stop trying to pretend, and tell the truth: We're a fandom divided on a fine line of deciding whether Harmony Gold's five-year project was as valuable to Robotech as a whole as an Eternity-produced, two-month comic book mini-series, and for "we," the The Shadow Chronicles haters, well, we're still asking ourselves that question.
Yours in the protoculture,
Khyron_Prime
Praise Haydon!
At last...a discussion on this subject based on actual merits. I just wish your collegues could argue with such eloquence.
Look, my main problem with people who "hate" Shadow Chronicles lies in how they present themselves: rather than laying down a line of constructive criticism, they just sit back and incessantly insult HG and the film itself. The latter doesn't do anyone any good...it's just whining, which only gets more obnoxious the more it's repeated. It doesn't help when that whining is compounded with insults, which I often see on those topics at Robotech.com that get closed/deleted.
Honestly, I don't think there's anyone who likes SC or at least thinks it's an OK movie that doesn't have problems with the film or hasn't posted them on the various sites. Likewise, I don't think there's anyone who thinks that HG's marketing and public relations effort has been any better than abysmal, so let's just get that argument out of the way. I just happen to think the movie has more good points than it has bad, and that there's some good material to work off in future sequels. And honestly, the animation isn't that bad...on the Gonzo scale of animation (who was considered a strong contender for SC) I would put it somewhere between Vandread and Full Metal Panic. When you consider that SC was originally animated to be a TV series pilot, the animation quality is roughly where it should be (if not a little less) than the quality of TV animation at the time of the project's inception.
Robotech itself was a flawed creation, and SC is the franchise's first real shot at legitimacy from the general animation community. I'm a least willing to see what we get from SC2 before I pass judgement on the direction the films are taking (there's just too little new story material in SC1 to make a determination yet, as SC1 is a pilot movie).
BTW, who honestly expected SC1 to have animation on-par with true theatrical projects? For a great deal of its production, SC1 was hyped as a TV series pilot. It only became a "movie" late in production (much like what happened with Sentinels), much too late to expect a major budget reallocation. And really, I've learned not to expect much from anyone outside of Gonzo when it comes to CG in anime...they're pretty much one of maybe 3 animation companies who can do it right.
I see you didn't address my main problem (and the main topic of this comments section): Chris Meadows is a Robotech fan trying to produce a Robotech fan Talk Radio program that brings the community together with the creators of Robotech. There's nothing WRONG with that, and I'd like to see people get off his damn back for not being a hate-spewing HG-basher.
I too am pleased to no end to be having such a well-reasoned, well-written discussion. Differences be damned, I say, if we can finally develop a mutual understanding.
A lot of The Shadow Chronicles haters hate the feature some and Harmony Gold worse. For the most part, the two go hand-in-hand, and I've personally never communicated with someone who believed one was good and the other one was on the opposite end of the quality spectrum. Perhaps it would be fair to argue that these fans don't just want Robotech, they want Robotech to be a franchise which is open and honest with itself. Again, I reiterate that likely, if Harmony Gold would do more interviews in the public eye where they openly admit their faults, at least The Shadow Chronicles haters would have (in their view) some hope for the future, understanding that they are not simply wrapped-up in a cocoon of self-congratulation which, unfortunately, is the aura they give-off on their official website.
Regarding Chris Meadows: The truth is that I personally don't like the guy. That's my decision and mine alone, and based largely upon an incident on Darkwater's Farewell Party where I asked of a possibility for The Shadow Chronicles to be released as a MOSPEADA sequel and where he decided to input a faulty logic--that MOSPEADA was never really popular in Japan--which effectively discredited my entire asking of the question. This sense of superiority (despite faulty logic) turned me off. But ultimately, every fan can make their own decision, and in Chris Meadows, I have heard from many fans that they feel the same way about the guy and how he runs his show: He thinks that he's the smartest guy around, repeats week-old news-bites to fill time, and, despite running a broadcast which focuses upon "the seminal American anime mecha experience, the anime, games, and other spinoffs related to it, and the Internet fandom that grew up around it", would rather focus on unrelated Japanese animation news than give credit to fan-made creations. It is generally seen as more conducive and supporting of Harmony Gold (which effectively needs no support except for money they receive from product) than it is of Robotech fans who pour their hearts into debates, discussions, and creations simply because they love it.
These reasons and likely a few others are generally why The Shadow Chronicles haters don't like Chris Meadows' Space Station Liberty show; it has less to do with his stance on The Shadow Chronicles itself and more upon a conglomeration of ill-feelings some people feel toward this kind of programme. Again, in general discussion, The Shadow Chronicles haters will simplify their arguements because, in general, "we" feel no need to repeat what is seen as obvious to "us." If a non-hater shows-up and doesn't ask "why," then usually he or she's not going to get an answer. I'm not making excuses, but that's just how "we" operate.
I think that the key idea we're looking for here is "mutual humility." Harmony Gold stops pretending that, just because we're Robotech fans, we'll buy anything on the shelf. (Some people will; they usually don't show-up at The Shadow Chronicles hating websites.) Haters stop pretending that The Shadow Chronicles is absolute garbage. (Despite all of the 'hatred' I spew, I will admit to enjoying my own personal cut of The Shadow Chronicles which removes excess dialogue and extraneous flashbacks and changes the ending scenes, using an animated work that, yes, Harmony Gold helped create.) Supporters stop pretending that The Shadow Chronicles is above average. (Comparing the feature to ten year old series is not right, nor is using behind-the-scenes excuses to justify faults.) When everyone just learns to be honest with themselves, then we'll be able to come to the centre.
I feel that you and I, Anonymous, have been able to take this step tonight. We may not agree on all accounts, but we're willing to concede what is "true" and what is "unnaturally biased favouritism." I know your side, understand it, and am willing to agree to its merits. Not all of the The Shadow Chronicles haters may be able to form their ideas and emotions into words the same way as I do; neither can all the supporters argue as well as you have done. But in the end, some people are interested in finding the truth whereas others are more wanting to convince themselves that they are correct.
The Shadow Chronicles is what it is. If fans who are willing to do the former are out there, then we need to find them and let them know that the Robotech fandom can be strong if we humble ourselves and seek the best and most realistic solution. Otherwise, we'll be swallowed by hatred and never get to the drawing table.
In that sense, we need a new, conservative home for Robotech fandom online. "Conservative," of course, referring to a consciencious lack of unnecessary influence by the controlling webmaster or other party. Every online place of Robotech which exists right now has a known and decided slant to it's fandom: The RDF-HQ is getting more hater-friendly everyday, Robotech.com promotes supporters every step of the way, and online personalities like Chris Meadows and Justy Ueki have their own, personal slants which, unfortunately, they seem to be unwilling to concede to a joint-partnership designed to bring (pardon the phrase) a "fair and balanced" feel to viewing the Robotech fandom. By creating a new online enviornment whereupon the entire premise is built around an ideal of free expression, balance becomes possible, even inviting to new fans, unintimidated by older fans' banterings and conducive to the fostering of their own growth as Robotech fans who make their own decisions as to what is "good" and what is "bad" Robotech.
We need this balance so badly! Yet it seems that no one wants to work on it. I tried with Robotech Revolution and got not a single reply from the online Robotech fandom's leading faces. As it stands, we're just limited right now to posting on blogs and forums and hopefully meeting someone nice enough to give you the time of day.
...but that doesn't mean we have to give-up.
Yours in the protoculture,
Khyron_Prime
Praise Haydon!
However, the war between fans need to stop. We all love Robotech. We all have our own beliefs about it. We need to stay together and support each other.
There's a major flaw in your reasoning. Shadow Chronicles fans are Shadow Chronicles fans. Robotech fans are Robotech fans. The fact that HG can legally stamp a Robotech label in any shit they want doesnt make that shit any Robotech. Robotech is what's based on Robotech. Shadow Chronicles is not. It's based on cracky Yunes, Mc Kinney and Mospeada ideas, not Robotech ideas.
"We are all Robotech fans" . Not really, here there are Robotech fans and Shadow Chronicles fans. And many of the Shadow Chronicles supporters are sucky fans who supports it because they have some connection with the creators, they receive from them support, contacts and informations to run their sites. Their opinions are based in their beneficits they receive, and they are worth nothing.
You Chris Meadows, are the best example of them. You're embarrased by Hardcore fans, but they are honest unlike you and you embarrase me as someone who calls himself Robotech fan. Keep supporting Shadow Chronicles people so they keep supporting your site, asshole.
*eyes above comment*
Did someone leave a broken record lying around? I could have SWORN I've seen that exact post before...
I know you are but what am I?
And here I thought the conversation was actuallly gonna become productive and interesting... :(
~Khyron_Prime
I have to admit I am saddened that some fans who opt for simply saying that "Shadow Chronicles sucks and everybody who likes it sucks" just ruins it for the rest of the people who don't like Shadow Chronicles. And to express extreme distaste for someone like say, Chris Meadows isn't helping either since Meadows is quite well respected by a fairly large portion of the hardcore fandom. I don't hate him that much since I enjoy his show, but ever since he said that fandom news is simply not worth reading, I realize that he's not that good a guy. I am perfectly aware that hardcore fans like Meadows and Roger Harkavy have no respect for the whiny portion of the fandom, and that they try to project an air of superiority and all that, but that isn't really any reason to despise them. They are as much an elitist fan as me (and my whiny blog) and the guys who regularly post at RDFHQ nowadays and they are really no better. So yeah, we all have our faults. Anyway, just stopped by to say hello.
My only hope is that shinji aramaki decides to do a mospeada sequel, and this time the battle ground will be on planet mars instead of earth and have Lancer, rook and rand and sera and lunk delivering scott home world.
Greg Finley..talked wayyy to much about a Robotech live action...for his own good...
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