McBone Presents: A Friday Robots Third Anniversary Exhibition

11/9/2007

On November 9th, 2007, on what otherwise seemed like a pedestrian fall day, my partner blogger at Welcome to Falling Rock National Park quietly posted his first four Friday Robots.  Since that fateful moment, Kid Shay has been faithfully populating our little world with robots every single week.  What sparked this kind of creative output?  Was it the promise of a young and energetic candidate for president?  Were the stars aligned just right in the firmament?  Did this geyser of inspiration lay dormant for years, gradually building pressure until the whole thing had to blow in a mad orgy of circuits, electrodes and gears?  Hard to say.  All we know for sure is that Friday Robots were here, and Kid Shay promised they were here to stay.

Three years and hundreds of automatons later, it's easy to take Friday Robots for granted, and yet their benefit to humankind is impossible to measure.  That line of thought may seem counterintuitive considering that at any given time robots are likely to turn evil and kill or at least enslave every last living being on the planet. But these are no ordinary robots, gentle McBoners; these are Friday Robots, and they have been plumbed from the remotest recesses of Kid Shay's fertile imagination. That's a strange and wonderful place, dear readers, a mystical domain where Bogeymen drink scotch with pirates and zombies roam vast desertscapes in search of owlflesh.  A strange domain, yes, but also a benevolent one; we all know the toll a five day work week can take on the human spirit.  These Robots, though strictly useless from a utilitarian standpoint, are there to uplift us every single Friday with their soaring originality.  I prefer to behold them of a Friday afternoon, when The Man has me down for the count and I'm wondering, what, what, what exactly is the point of it all.  Facing these weekly crises, I let Friday Robots usher me into the promised land that is the weekend.

To celebrate three years of weekly robots, McBone is proud to host an exhibition of 20, nay 22 (the hell with round numbers) masterworks.  The robots herein were chosen not for the purpose of offering a broad representation of Kid Shay's portfolio.  No, we choose these robots because they are the ones that have touched us most deeply in a moment of need.

But don't take my word for it.  Without further ado from your humble curator, we present our exhibition.

12/6/07 - A solitary robot soars above the stark slopes of Mt. Hood.  Where
it is bound I know not.  I like to think it soars for soaring's sake.  Robots
can be surprisingly zen like that.

4/4/08 - This diverse yet orderly gathering of robots can
only spell trouble for humans.  Just think if our
congress could pool its talents like this.

5/23/08 - The buck-toothed, slouching
adolescent daydreams of robot babes that are way
out of his league.

6/13/08 - Robots may look out of place among cacti, but they are
in fact right at home in the dry environs of the American Southwest,
where rain is scarce and the threat of short circuit practically nil.

6/27/08 - A patient gathering of robots waits for a bus that
will never come.  I enjoy the idea of them wondering when the
blabbermouth on the right is going to shut up.

8/8/08 - Robots emerge from hyperspace.  I imagine a robot invasion
would look something like this.  Breathtaking in beauty just
moments before they end our world.

8/15/08 - Four robots peer up over the mountaintops and down upon a
doomed resort town in Colorado.

9/12/08 - Friday Robots are often mistaken for animals.
By the time you realize the mistake, it's too late.

10/17/08 - These, my favorite Friday Robots of all time, took me
by surprise.  Like none that came before or any that
have come since.  They seem to me reminiscent of characters
from an Asian language.  I highly recommend clicking the link to
view all of that day's remarkable robots.

11/14/08 - Friday robots abide.

1/16/09 - I appreciate these robots for their simple beauty.  In my eyes
they are recently 'spawned' and fleeing then 'nest' for the first time.

3/6/09 - Some robots have adapted to life under the sea.  To learn
the story of these Friday Robots, watch the video by Andy K below.

5/8/09 - I suppose what I like so much about these robots
is the notion that, even in a jungle clearing, one might
chance upon some Friday Robots.

7/17/09 - Here are some Friday Robots beaming trillions of bits of information
per second into the cosmos, where a looming mothership awaits their report.  The
treeless prairie landscape allows for a clear transmission.

8/14/09 - Occasionally robots get their just deserts.  Here an elegant duo
becomes acquainted with the gnashing teeth of a rock monster.

11/13/09 - Friday Robots are familiar with the classics
of 19th century American literature.

11/27/09 - I like to believe that this installment represents fossil
evidence of rather than actual Friday Robots.

1/8/10 - A quartet of robots descends upon a sleepy
metropolis.

2/5/10 - Ordinary clumps of human hair?  Think again.
Friday Robots can assume nearly any shape or size.

3/19/10 - Snow blankets a city where robots rule
the land and the skies above.

10/1/10 - Overpopulation is a problem that plagues robots too, as
illustrated here in a devastating pileup.

10/29/10 - A grouping of four robots brings us full circle.
Robots imposed over a backdrop of canned fish reveals how
Friday robots has evolved over the years.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief stroll through history.  Though you will have certainly been moved to tears by now, understand that this is but the tip of the iceberg.  For the proper Friday Robots experience, make sure to visit the Falling Rock blog every Friday.

And now, let the robot extravaganza continue!  Be sure to visit McBone's two favorite parks: Falling Rock and West Lawn.  Today, robots rule the world of blogs.

nwb