A Rant, A Thank You - And A Declaration

The following post will not make a whole lot of sense to readers who don't know about the Retro Rides forum, so feel free to peruse the back catalogue if this doesn't interest you. Apologies also to RR-dwellers who disagree with my opinion, but alas I need to vent so that I can get rid of this negativity and get back to important stuff
And if you do happen to the the two protagonists in question; truth hurts. Suck it up.

While you're waiting for this rant toend, here's a picture of a nice car to keep you occupied.

What is Retro Rides (or as it is known in Amazo Towers, Retard Rides or R#tro Rides)? It's a modish car forum that covers most types of cars but in reality appeals mostly for the type of person who into the 'retro' scene (whatever that actually is). Like all forums, its as good as it's contributors; it has some fabulous content but also, quite frankly, a lot of dirge to dredge through, but no better or worse than most forums.
There are numerous moderators but the two main ones (and the subject of this part of the post) are two individuals with the monikers of 'HotWire' and the seemingly ironically named 'Rmad'.
I've no idea who they really are or what they look like; for some weird reason I keep comparing them to these two, but thats unfair on Hinge & Bracket; those two are funny. No doubt the internet H&B are fine upstanding individuals blah blah in real life BUT, once they're tooled up with a mouse and keyboard, they mutate into some kind of Orwellian parodies; afraid that opinions that don't segue with their own will somehow unravel the fabric of the Space-Time Continuum. How odd.

Hotwire & Rmad, yesterday. Or is that the other way around?

I won't bore you with some of the opinions I've given over the years on there (the most memorable being about a certain ferricly-challeged BMW E28 owned by a self-publicist of limited creativity), but suffice to say these two seem to take a dislike to my individualism. How dare I use my brain, huh? Lots of on-off, on-off jibes ensued on both sides, which grew increasingly nasty on their part, especially from 'Mad, until one day I found my account deleted. And just to really twist the knife in the wound, he blocked my IP address! A bit extreme I think, and the hallmark of a childish attitude that can't get his own way. How adult.
So does this make much difference to me? Not particularly; no-one died because of this, my wife didn't walk out on me, I'm still gainfully employed and the Earth hasn't toppled off it's axis. Add to that, I still post on RR (aren't IP changers great?), ironically under an even older username than 'Amazo'; so what has been proved other than some juvenile strutting I really don't know.
It's just a car forum, just one amongst many on The Internet, just like The Amazo Effect is just another car blog. It isn't a cure for cancer or AIDS, and I'm pretty sure next years Olympics will run on time without our intervention. The difference between us is that I know that.

Still here? Here's another pic, this time of The Jade Idol. Not long now.

It's a shame really; RR has some fantastic contributors, like Dbizzle of the fantastic SuckSqueezeBangBlow blog and The Pollitt of Not 2 Grand, to name just a couple (or twenty - don't feel insulted if I've not given props, I know who you are). But, it has to be said, half of the 'inmates' on RR are well... weird. Maybe this is why Hot & Mad feel the need to be control freaks, to keep these forum 'proles' in line, but please, I have a brain and critiquing abilities. Remember you crazy kids, your forum is only as good as the people who contribute to it. I counted myself as one of the good ones, but constant snarkiness from these two control freaks made me less & less interested in actually making contributions  and more & more interested in starting a blog, ironically a medium I used to look down on.

God, he does go on, doesn't he?

Also, calling me childish insults in PMs and nit-picking my posts (is anyone on RR really bothered that my BMW E30 project is called the green BASTARD? Really? Really?) show the classic signs of two bullies who should take more effort into running the forum rather than waging vendettas against us.
Us? Read on. This is where it gets interesting. And, much less ranty. Phew.

Well, this pseudo-banning has had an interesting side-effect. I was planning to shut this blog down after a year, as I felt it had served it's purpose and was going to start re-posting on my favourite forums (RR included). But I've had a change of plan. Ready? Deep breath:

The Amazo Effect is here to stay.

Not only that, but there will be some guest contributors (ironically also fellow RR-ers) next year, so stick around, its gonna be fun.
I must thank everybody who has visited The Amazo Effect; a huge  thank you to you all. Since staring this blog on the 21st of January, I've had over 40,000 hits to date and after a slow start, now averaging about 250 hits per day.

Now this might be small beer for likes of the Speedhunters and Crank & Pistons of this world, but boy it's sure outstripped my expectations. Thank you again to all of my regular followers, I'm flattered you find my output so addictive.

40,000 views. Whoda thunk it?

Someone sure likes my blog, eh Dbizzle? Kudos.

The world is watching, sort of.

So, Hot & Mad (sounds more like Abbott & Costello to me the more I say it), feel free to comment on this article, I will quite happily listen to your comments. But I know you won't, as will require you to venture out of your RR safehouse into the wilds of the internet - and into this blog - my house.
If you do, here some welcome presents I found on the 'net I just know you'll love...

Back next week with car stuff.
MTGGLF


'ZO