Gephyrophillia #226

Originally Posted on 12/11/2010 by Jeff Harris

Jeff Harris, webmaster of The X Bridge in its many forms over the years and whining about every little thing, is dead.

No, he's not physically dead. The person behind these words is still, at the time of this writing, still in the land of the living. What's dead is the persona that has been a part of the site for an uncomfortably long time.

Who was this arrogant jerk?

Someone who lost sight of what's really important, whining about things he can't control, and pretty much abandoning everything.

Why did I do this?

I'm bored and frustrated with my life. I'm frustrated with the place I'm in, and quite frankly, I'm bored with this site.

Why am I bored and frustrated and what am I doing about that?

Because nothing is happening. Nothing has happened. It's been boring. Plus, I'm kind of sick of arguing about the same thing, the same players, the same idiotic decisions over and over again. It's kind of a sisyphean task end expecting something to change. Also, I think other people have more of a drive to do what I spent 12 years of my life doing. I look at guys at The *Real* Scratch Pad and The Thought Corner and smile. Good bunch of kids there. My brethren at Toonzone have embraced their blogging side even more in 2010. These folks have convinced and inspired me to be a better person, a better webmaster, and to get off my pity party and start writing again. I'm just glad I caught that bug before I lost it again.

I haven't had much to talk about since July. I had a death in the family that really hit me hard this year. My cousin's kid. Three months old. Never really had a chance to live. Never enjoying this thing we call life. And here I was wasting my life whining about Cartoon Network not airing cartoons. At age 32. You have to get your priorities straightened out, you know? I spent a lot of this hiatus trying to find out who I really was, what kind of person I wanted to be, what kind of legacy I wanted to leave. And the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want my legacy to be solely tied to a canceled programming block. I started creating. I created Absolution Twilight as, essentially, a real tribute and my farewell to Toonami, acknowledging its greatness, and moving on while looking forward to what's next rather than dwelling on what happened. Too many people still haven't moved on, sad to say. Again, there are more important things to spend your life dwelling on.

Like life.

I say "Keep creating" a lot. I say it on Twitter. I say it on the boards. It's a motto I believe in and something I practice as well as preach. I'm creating. I've probably at the most creative period of my life. Still in it. Been writing, drawing (you guys should see my deviantArt page now), video editing, just creating. And I'm having fun doing it. As a result, The X Bridge fell by the wayside, and to you four people still reading the site after all these years, I'm sorry about that. I promise to rectify all of that after the holidays. I want the site to be a major part of my rebirth of sorts. And I will actively make it so.

Wait, 2010's not over yet, Christmas (at the time of the writing) hasn't passed yet.

I don't want to talk about 2010 anymore because it seems that every time people, places, and things progress, there are circumstances, situations, and events that caused them to regress. For example, Cartoon Network brought out a lot of great animated titles this year, including Generator Rex, Adventure Time, Mystery Inc., Regular Show, MAD, Robotomy, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, and Firebreather (the highest-rated Cartoon Network presentation not based on a preexisting property), teased 2011's Young Justice, debuted great cycles of Batman: The Brave and The Bold (still ticked off the Birds of Prey episode has been banned for a song) and Johnny Test (seriously, Johnny Test is really, really good now), and introduced a fresher continuity package. That's progress. Cartoon Network also constantly pimped and promoted Unnatural History (which failed) and Tower Prep (which is failing [and yes, even though it's made by 1/3 of the creators behind the DCAU, I don't support it's creation nor do I support it being on Cartoon Network]) way more than Robotomy (the fact that the series still lacks , scrapping both Chowder and Flapjack, and still guided by the dream that kids love sports programming even though past experiences have more than proved that's not the case. That's regression.

That said, I look forward to what Cartoon Network is launching in 2011, particularly Young Justice, The Looney Tunes Show, ThunderCats, Green Lantern, How to Train Your Dragon (fingers crossed on that one for 2011), and more of the best cartoons the network had to offer. But I'm not looking towards that unnecessary, redundant expansion of the irrelevant Adult Swim block, which really didn't kick the tires in 2010 at all nor really launched a groundbreaking animated series this year. I see the expansion as unnecessary, especially if they're continuing to be redundant and committed to airing the same old repeats that made the weeknight block so stagnant.

I'm looking forward to what Nickelodeon's going to do with the Avatar property with the new series as well as how the new Power Rangers series is going to be presented in 2011, because in 2010, they've largely been doing the same smeg they've been doing forever. Yeah, there's Planet Sheen, a spinoff to Jimmy Neutron, and T.U.F.F. Puppy, a new series from the guy who made Fairly Oddparents, and they're both pretty good, but it's still more of the same, nothing really different. And that fricken sponge that dominates every orifice of the network has had a lackluster, way overpromoted season of episodes. The less said about the live-action drek, the better.

I'm also interested in Disney making more moves in television animation. Phineas and Ferb, as repetitive as that is, set the tone for a lot of the television direction that continued with Fish Hooks, which is okay in small doses, and will continue with Gravity Falls. Also interested in Disney XD's action output for 2011, including that Tron microseries, that new action title from the good guys at Titmouse, and the possibilities more Marvel titles that go outside the usual suspects besides the Avengers (which is pretty decent despite making HYDRA the analogue for Nazis) and Ultimate Spider-Man (which is a curiosity at best, but, considering the utter lack of respect Spectacular Spider-Man had by Disney, I'm not really looking forward to watching). Just not a fan of the live-action drek on either Disney Channel nor Disney XD, which are just more of the same kind of drek that made kids hypnotized.

I'm looking forward to The Hub becoming the network I want it to be in 2011. They're trying to find their place as the fourth voice, and they've gotten a lot of good stuff in. Now, I hope Dan Vs. works out well for them considering it's not a traditional animated comedy for kids. I REALLY hope they don't punk out and pass on The 99 due to threats by ignorant bigots who only hear "Muslim superheroes" without actually reading and researching the title and learning the truth about the series (the cast isn't all Muslim heroes). I hope people will see The Hub as more than just a rerun zone and anticipate them making more original programming and acquiring shows that wouldn't get a fair shake here.I hope that The Hub finds their place in the world and not seen as just "the Hasbro channel" by media critics. They're halfway there.

I'm done with 2010. I didn't really like this year, and I hope 2011 is a great year for everybody. I'll see you after the holidays. Enjoy it with you and yours. Even if you don't celebrate, spend time with your family. They're the greatest bond you'll ever had. I'm ever grateful for mine.

So, enjoy the holidays, and keep creating.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.