The Anchorpoint Essays Are Closed

Started by Thedus, Jul 29, 2014, 06:06:34 AM

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The Anchorpoint Essays Are Closed (Read 14,241 times)

Thedus

Thedus

Hey, all -

It's been a long while since I've been here.

I just wanted to make a public announcement that my website: The Anchorpoint Essays is now closed.  The domain came up for renewal earlier in the month, and I chose not to renew it. Why?  Well, there were multiple reasons. But the key reason is time - or a lack there of to do what needs to be done to the site. I hadn't updated the site in almost 5 years through a combination of a lack of time and motivation.  Family and work were the primary factors in this - My youngest son was born around the time of the last updates.  I also was in the process of setting up my own business at the time as well.

There is also the fact that the site was in dire need of being revamped to a more modern design... it still used frames for Christ's sake!  It was basically operating under the exact same structure as it was originally designed in back in 1997. No Style Sheets, no Flash, nothing... Hell, the site still utilized little tiny QuickTime movies that didn't stream for video! It needed a MAJOR overhaul! But I wasn't up for that given that the site had close to 200 pages. Between a family and two jobs the time needed to revamp the site was just too much to invest.

I am also not a biologist.  The time needed to research aspects of the material for the site was harder to come by.  New ideas and discoveries crop up regularly that have an impact on the material presented in the site. As it was there were several areas in the site that were no longer considered to be theoretically sound.

There is also the nagging fact that in the past couple of years I had come to seriously question the site's relevance in the over scheme of the ALIEN fan community.  When it was first created it was unique and original.  There was nothing like it.  Now.... not so much.  In part: because of the information and the way that information was offered.  Also in part due to the out-dated aspect of the site's design.  Currently, at any given time you can throw a stick and hit about half a dozen sites that analyze the alien's biology and origins.  Is that a bad thing? No. But due to a lack of work on The Anchorpoint Essays it had fallen into obscurity.  It had officially become a "has been."

I don't regret the decision to close the site and not renew the domain.  It had a great run!  And it may have been one of the longest running ALIEN fan sites on the internet - 17 years (January 1997 - July 2014). ...It started as a GeoCities page - for those of you old enough to understand what that means.  ;)  When I created it I was single and living alone in a studio apartment!  Now I'm married with a family, run a department, as well as run my own company.

The Anchorpoint Essays was shown on the Sci-Fi Channel in 1997; received a write-up in the Sci-Fi Channel's magazine later that year in conjunction with the theatrical release of ALIEN RESURRECTION; I have met numerous people who have worked on the ALIEN franchise (both film, novels, and comics) because of the site; I have been interviewed over the phone, via Skype, and email about the site and the ALIEN franchise; I was flown out to Hollywood and interviewed for the Special Features of the AVP:R DVD (these can be seen on the European and Japanese DVD releases of the film); I was presented with the ALIENS Legacy Gold Award at DragonCon 2008 for my work on the site... Just to name a few things that occurred because of The Anchorpoint Essays.  For everything I have experienced, been a part of, and for those I have met I am very grateful.  None of it would have happened if it weren't for The Anchorpoint Essays.  ...That's not entirely true: if it weren't for the fans of the site I wouldn't have experienced any of that, because if the site had fallen flat upon launching (as I had originally thought that it would) none of of that would have happened.  So, I owe all of that to the fans of the site who kept it going, and kept my drive up for so many years.  If it weren't for the fans of the site then none of these things would have been possible. Hell, the site even closed down for about a year following repeated hacks, and it was brought back because of numerous requests from fans and folks in Hollywood.

I am sorry if I am letting fans down by closing the site, but I feel the site has run it's course, and has well out-lived anyone's expected presence on the internet.

I am maintaining the rights to the written material and original graphics from the site - including the site logo.  With all of the work that went into the site I want to maintain control over it in case I decide to use that material elsewhere down the road.

...and no, that doesn't mean I have any specific plans for it.

Thanks again everyone.

This is Mike Lynch of The Anchorpoint Essays signing off. 

RakaiThwei

All good things must sadly come to an end.. I thoroughly enjoyed your Essays and frequently recommended and referred them to many new Alien fans who wanted to get into the franchise and the fandom. I even remember printing some of the essays back in 97 or 98, and I may still have them but where they are.. I don't know.

Your information and research has not been for naught, and I want to say.. Thank you for insight and hard work.

SM

SM

#2
Hi Mike - Long time no speak.

Sorry to see the site go.  I dispute that it's fallen into obscurity.  It's still deservedly THE premier site for Alien biological discourse, and hopefully it can find another home at some point - one that won't cost anything.

Big thanks for all the effort that went into it.



(Knew I should've downloaded it when I had the chance...)

Kimarhi

Kimarhi

#3
Ah man. 

The franchises lack of relevance is now extending into the web sites that helped nurture the fandom. 


Corporal Hicks

Very sad to hear about the news, Mike. Of course we understand that stuff like this isn't indefinite and family will ultimately come first. Good luck!

Darkness

I thought something was up when I couldn't access it the other weekend.

I was going to say, we would have hosted you and your domain - it's still a great reference guide even if you feel it's a little outdated.. But sounds like that wasn't the problem. You were already hosted at AXP, if I recall which is still online.

We can still access it at the Web Archive so it will live on forever. And I don't think there are any other sites out there that cover the biology of the xenomorph, at least not as detailed as yours.

Thedus

Thedus

#6
Thanks, all.

Quote from: RakaiThwei on Jul 29, 2014, 06:14:51 AM
All good things must sadly come to an end.. I thoroughly enjoyed your Essays and frequently recommended and referred them to many new Alien fans who wanted to get into the franchise and the fandom. I even remember printing some of the essays back in 97 or 98, and I may still have them but where they are.. I don't know.

Your information and research has not been for naught, and I want to say.. Thank you for insight and hard work.

Thank you, sir!  Much appreciated.



Quote from: SM on Jul 29, 2014, 06:15:21 AM
Hi Mike - Long time no speak.

Sorry to see the site go.  I dispute that it's fallen into obscurity.  It's still deservedly THE premier site for Alien biological discourse, and hopefully it can find another home at some point - one that won't cost anything.

Big thanks for all the effort that went into it.

Thanks, SM. Much appreciated.

And you were pivotal in the re-writing of the Hive Essay some years back.  That would not have been possible without you.



Quote from: Darkness on Jul 29, 2014, 12:27:47 PM
I thought something was up when I couldn't access it the other weekend.

I was going to say, we would have hosted you and your domain - it's still a great reference guide even if you feel it's a little outdated.. But sounds like that wasn't the problem. You were already hosted at AXP, if I recall which is still online.

We can still access it at the Web Archive so it will live on forever. And I don't think there are any other sites out there that cover the biology of the xenomorph, at least not as detailed as yours.

I had actually moved the site off of the AXP servers about four years ago. We were having technical issues with the site, and there was a lot of back and forth AXP's provider but no solutions, so I finally decided to move the site back to my original provider: the folks that host my business's website.  So, as much as I appreciate the fact that AXP offered to host the site - it was rather short-lived endeavor. And it was through no fault of the folks that ran AXP, but it just didn't work out.

And I appreciate the offer and sentiment, Darkness.  And a special nod must go to you - if it weren't for your efforts the folks in Hollywood would not have been able to get in touch with me about the AVP:R Special Features, because The Essays were down at that time due to hacking issues.  So, Thank you!

Darkness

Out of curiosity, what was your thoughts on Prometheus? Haven't heard your opinion about it, particularly, as those creatures in there are the precursors to the xenomorph.

Quarax


Xenomorphine

Ah, memories... Can remember avidly reading through it on the computer network at college, while all the pre-release hype for 'Alien Resurrection' was hitting the Internet.

You made a grand contribution to the fandom, Sir. We salute you.


Thedus

Thedus

#11
Quote from: Darkness on Jul 29, 2014, 06:28:27 PM
Out of curiosity, what was your thoughts on Prometheus? Haven't heard your opinion about it, particularly, as those creatures in there are the precursors to the xenomorph.

As it's own movie... it's OK.  As a precursor to ALIEN... it feels forced and contrived.

The Engineers using one of their own to seed a planet with life?  I'm not buying it.  seeding a planet would need to be  a global event - not an isolated even of an Engineer sacrificing himself to spread his genetic material.  It also drastically limits the worlds that could be seeded.  If the world is not compatible with the Engineers' physiology then it's not going to work.  Terra forming a planet first would make more sense. this way you would have a larger number of worlds to seed.  And that could have been happening, but that was never explained.We are left to guess or assume that they seed planets when they are at a specific point in their process of development. Which severely limits the Engineers' ability to seed the galaxy.

Terra forming, by its very nature, destroys an existing planet to allow for the cultivation of another.  The aliens are perfectly suited for this which is why I had mentioned that on my site as one possibility for their existence.  There was also a rumor circulating for a while about Prometheus and the Engineers terra forming that seemed to fit in very closely to my own ideas that I had put on the site years before.  I was pretty excited about to possibility that the aliens may have actually been used as in the process of terra forming.  But that turned out not to be true.

I also felt that the creatures in the film were fueled by wild jumps of logic.  the aliens always were rooted in a viable and easily justifiable biological niche. They made sense.  It's terrifying and gruesome, but it made sense and tied-in to what we see elsewhere in nature.  ...the creatures in Prometheus don't do that.  If the black slime is ingested or makes contact with a person it turns them into violent mutants... unless it is introduced into the system via DNA that has already been altered - in this case: sex.  Then it creates life, but not life that in any way resembles the the host DNA - something completely different.  Yet, when it comes into contact with some form of ground worm it creates really cool giant worms that are not in any way deformed.   True - they are aggressive and much stronger, but they don't look like they just walked out of a fire like humans do.  And Shaw's offspring basically turns out to be a giant facehugger... how does this happen? What is the basis for this - I mean other than it creates a visual connection with the other Alien movies?  And the creature that results and bursts out of the Engineer conveniently looks like an alien... but not.  It's size also doesn't make sense - It's huge compared to the Engineer's chest cavity!

So, in a nutshell: the black slime breaks down an engineer to it's base cellular material to help seed a planet, but it turns humans into exceptionally strong mutated monsters. ...Except when inserted into the human system via black slime infected DNA - then it creates what resembles a starfish mixed with an octopus whose sole purpose is to insert more genetic material into a host to create yet another creature.  The whole thing feels convoluted and heavily contrived just to make a connection to the existing movies.

Quote from: Xenomorphine on Aug 02, 2014, 12:47:32 AM
Ah, memories... Can remember avidly reading through it on the computer network at college, while all the pre-release hype for 'Alien Resurrection' was hitting the Internet.

You made a grand contribution to the fandom, Sir. We salute you.

:D  A fan from back in the day!  Thank, sir.  Much appreciated. :)

Valaquen

Valaquen

#12
Thedus,

We've never spoken, but your site was one of the first Alien websites I came across as a young 'un, possibly back in '98 or '99. I still see people around the internet on various forums quoting from it and its articles. It's safe to say that your place in the Alien fandom is assured.

As Xenomorphine says, a salutation is in order!

jnilz

jnilz

#13
Thedus,

I am so happy that I took the time to download the essays.
They have been an inspiration like few other things in my life.
Above all, the passion and the love that was put into the site is impressive and gave me a clearer understanding of the full width of the human experience.
Sad to see it's down.
Glad that you're up.
So that me waiting for the hardcover edition to show up in the bookshelves isn't in complete vain.
Or the tv series.
About the scientists working at Anchor Point. And the terrible mistake they made.

The essays boosted my frequent nightmares,; always about the star beast and Sigourney and me. Nightmares I've had for 38 years.

Today I'm going to the movies, Alien Covenant on IMAX.
Just reading through the essays again has raised my pulse to dangerous levels.


Just saying



Rockybear

I came across ur sites several times years ago. It's a pity to hear its closure.

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