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Rawhide Vindaloo

   Coming up for you, my second hand at drawing a 24 hour comic. We weren't nearly as motivated this time, and didn't get far, though. I managed to crank out 24 pages, as nonsensical as those pages may be, if you count the marker-bled-through backs of the pages, which I'm doing here because I'm not being a Gaiman. 24 pages, completed, all right. Who cares about anything else?

   The concept for this one is, Bollywood '70s Western, in a world of humans and animals and plants and I guess the ability to reproduce with anything else. High concept, right? Yeah, it's all weird. I was trying to avoid Scourge stuff, tackling the 24 hour comic in a different way. A more realistic style, larger pages, an entirely unique setting. So, yeah. It comes out... trippy. Enjoy that.

   Another reason for the bizarrity is, I was thinking a lot about causality at that time, so I tried to make something that wasn't inevitable to make. I think I did a fairly good job on the first one, of doing a thing that felt right regardless of whether it felt inevitable, but I went in the opposite direction this time. Determinism isn't really a thing you can prove on way or the other, though, so I don't think the randomness mattered.

Post THE FOUR HUNDRED NINETY-SIXTH, In Which I Use the Term "Sheeple" Ironically While Raging Against Irony (See, That's What Makes it Ironic)

   I've noticed I still haven't answered my question why. Why put up with the haters? The furries and the bronies and the Juggalos. Twihards? Yeah, I guess that too, but I don't think it's the in thing to do to mack on Twihards as much anymore, so disregard that.

   Still, we continue our love of these things in spite opposition. The stuff we like is just too awesome to ignore. Some say that we take on these hobbies and identities as a means to sap pity from other people because we're too poor to earn sympathy or respect any other way. Or there's the claims levied against those on the internet who claim autism, but in reality are just acting like jerks or doing some other socially unacceptable behaviors and getting away with it by hiding behind claims of persecution.

   While both of these are admittedly some evil genius ideas, I don't think that's it at all. To me, it's more earnest, more eager. These are the true fans, divorced from ideas of fanboyishness or even fanaticism.

   There's a bunch of counterculture hipsters who attend Burning Man, and-- I don't want to use the term irony, but this fits the very definition of irony, so here we go-- it's ironic. They're traveling there, but they're doing it in droves, man. They're like hippie sheeple. You can't be a slave to your own free spirit. I mean, you can, but you shouldn't, so you can't. Don't be a slave to your own free spirit, is what I'm getting at. Yeah. You can't be a slave to your own free spirit. That's just a waste of your own life, only made worse through the illusion that it's not.

   There's the jaded post-modern view on the world, where things can only be enjoyed ironically. Still, I don't think even the hipsteriest of all of the hipsters is going to enjoy Insane Clown Posse in anything but a sincere manner. Obviously, there could be a sincere joy of mocking it, but the enjoyment would be sincere nonetheless. Maybe I'm just raging at strawmen, who knows.

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Scourge

   And now, finally, my first 24 hour comic, for your enjoyment. It's been a long buildup, but here it is now... tomorrow. It's gonna be comin' atsha one page at a time, if you feel you can handle it. I feel saying any more would be giving too much away, so, we'll start with the cover page and work our way from there. One page at a time. This

1. allows you to soak it all in, and 
2. it allows me to stall for posts. 

   But, seriously, I think it might take a while to digest, so this'll let you take it leisurely. Allow you to catch the little details so that the plot is less confusing? Remember, this is a comic whose pages I took one hour each on, plus the cover page and plot that ties these together, so each of these pages deserves its own special post, darn it.

We imagine space as being black. But it’s not. It’s blindingly brilliant.

   The keyboard is smudged and dirty from where people have struck the keys. The ones that are hardly used are the cleanest. Pale white, and lonely. Poor Q. Poor X. The home row, ASDF, is the dirtiest, with S being the most smudged and each letter from that gradually getting cleaner. Poor J. E and R are very used, an island of stain in a glittery white top row. The letters surrounding E and R, W and T, are also slightly smudged, but other than that, the top row is pretty pristine. If you stare at the keyboard and squint, you can begin to see the original intention of the guy who designed the keyboard in the first place, back when the letters needed to be spaced out to prevent typewriters from jamming.

Man of Steel

You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

   Do we want our superheroes realistic? Do we want them as ideals? Our heroes used to exist in fantasy universes, then when we found that we could not pull ourselves up to their level, we dragged them down and brought them down to ours. Do we go to superheroes because they represent realism? Or is it now about how any one of us could be a hero?

   Superman has always been an ideal, which dis-intuitively inspires us more than if our heroes were more "realistic." The recent Dark Knight trilogy brings this to the head, where arguably it's the everyday citizens, and even everyday criminals, who are more capable of heroism than our protagonist.

   Superman is both. He's always been Superman. And he's always been Clark Kent. Jor-El's speech in the trailer is the perfect metaphor here, coming out at the perfect time: we as an audience may not be ready for a Big Blue Boy Scout, and we may not even deserve it, but that's what we're getting, because that's what we need.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, May 31, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT: 
Collin: You wanna know what's an awesome car?
The MINI COOPER!
It's like a cross between a Jeep and a Voltswagon, and it's manufactured by BMW!
Narrator: (Oh, Yeah? Well, how about the Jeep Liberty? It's sort of Voltswagon-and-BMW-ish.)
Marvin: Yeah, and the Toaureg? It's totally a cross between a Jeep and a luxury car, manufactured by Voltswagon!
It's just begging to be on the list.
Collin: Oh, yeah, the Touareg. I forgot about that one.
Editor: (Editor's Note: This is probably because Voltswagon is now manufacturing the Touareg 2, which features some crazy new features such as rollover sensors, re-designed comfort seats, and a sweet new sound system.)
(Oh, and by the way, am I the only one that thinks that "Touareg" sounds like "Tourette's"?

NOTES:
   Cars! I misspell Volkswagen so hard it's not funny (Volts-wagon), which I replicate faithfully n the transcript, but I actually did the research on how to spell Touareg. I did a lot of research on the Touareg, actually, and that's the entire punchline. That one ad of people trying to get the pronunciation right (such a thing exists, yes?) I don't think that that punchline was used it the commercial, but that's certainly what it called to mind. Tourette's. But, really, it's named after the noble African warrior race, the Tuareg (they were the dudes in Sahara, I think.)

24 Hour Comic One part 3

   Joe was already sleep deprived quite heavily at that time, and he says he remembers almost none of it. Nonetheless, he did produce a comic. And the comic he produced was very... Well, I don't want to say bad, but, it opens with a billboard, advertising a billboard. Let's put it like that. A masterpiece of surrealism, sure. So, basically it's a robot head but inside that head is an owl head and inside that is Al Gore's head. Inspired by the nude scene in my comic (it's coming up on page 21, but all his pertinent bits are covered by panel borders, so don't worry) he had a... a dream sequence, I guess?... where his... main character, if you can call it that, I guess... (no, not the owl robot head, that's Adrian's... Adrian, the bad guy, if you can call it that, I guess... Adrian's minions, if you can call it that, I guess...) floating naked in a vast white soup, reciting Fidencia Solomon's "Looking for Change." WHY, ADRIAN, WHY!? That's... that's all the bits that are actually legible in his comic, so that's all I can say about that.

   Cailin's comic AURORA was on a colony of Apocalypse survivors, the last of the human race aside from that which had been desperately bred into butterflies, living on the North Pole. The main character, Bytheway John (they're Aborigine Apocalypse survivors living at the north pole) transverses across the beautiful and desolate wastes of the north pole, looking for a way to keep his people from freezing and failing. The humans live on in the genetically enhanced butterflies, which are released into the frozen skies in masses as John looks up as he freezes to death. The Elders were right. The world is very beautiful. 

And my own comic is coming up.

24 Hour Comic One part 2

   After that, and after we felt that we were ready, we began. Cailin, Joe, and I sat down, and got to work. We had encyclopedias out, and snacks, and drawing references. And lots of art material. See here:

Via Treading Water.

   What can I say, it was a 24-hour process. A lot of time to do things. We came up with many an inside joke at that time, for instance. True story. (In case you couldn't guess, that was one of them. True story. It was mah catchphrase at that time.)

   A lot of the really good phrases we came up with were written down, transcribed by yours truly for posterity. That paper, whereupon I had done this most noble of actions, is now in the possession of Cailin, so if you want to get a glimpse of some of our inside jokes, you're going to have to contact her. I can remember a few things, such as really evocative imagery, maybe song titles. (The Moth and the Mole. That's a really good one, that I can remember. Though not very many others. Like I said, Cailin has it.)

24 Hour Comic One part 1

   Cailin and Joe's arrival was unexpectedly early, as you've seen. I was expecting to start at midnight and continue on throughout the day till midnight come again, but we started, instead, at 11:00 or thhereabouts. 11:15? Something like that. But first, we hung out.

   Watching Robin Hood on the Disney Channel with Cailin, arguing over whether anthropomorphized paws or hooves were creepier (Cailin says hooves are just more stylized, making them less creepy, while I found them unnatural.) She managed to talk me into her point of view when Robin put his ring on Marion's paw-finger:

Yeah, just look at it. Look at it.

   Is it better to have more anthropomorphization, or less? Another issue Cailin had was with the tiny creepy eyes of the church mice. They just left them pure black. And soulless. But they represented actual mice. Mice who could, you know, talk and stuff. The entire issue is just plain weird, which is why I'm kind of fascinated by it. But anyway.

Correspondence 12/27/09 14:34 - 20:03

   Running up to our first 24 hour comic. A fantastic build-up and a merry chase. I guess is a thing. But, I think I'll explain to you how that went down. Starting with this, our correspondence about it:

in 33 hours 25 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 2:34 pm
So has it been decided exactly how this is going down?

Re: in 33 hours 25 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 5:56 pm
No I suppose not, I was meaning to ask.

in 29 hours and 32 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 6:28 pm
So, I understand Chris and Stumpy were wanting to do it. Are they at not my house?

Re: in 29 hours and 32 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 6:33 pm
That's up to you I guess? I could most likely get Stumpy over but probably not Chris. I don't mind either way, so.... your call.

in 29 hours and 25 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 6:35 pm
Well, I guess I don't mind.

Re: in 29 hours and 25 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 6:38 pm
Alright, I'll go tell him that, though I'm horribly off balanced. Wish me luck. And oh yeah, merry Christmas, hope you had a good one.

in 29 hours 21 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 6:39 pm
I did.

Re: in 29 hours 21 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 6:45 pm
Alright, he said he's down for it.

in 28 hours 33 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:27 pm
And I understand your transportation is all worked out. Alright, then. When will the arrival be? Sleep? Snacks?

Re: in 28 hours 33 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:31 pm
Um, how about 10 to 11ish? And hm, snacks...

in 28 hours 27 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:33 pm
hmm, my dad want to know if you want to come a bit earlier...

Re: in 28 hours 27 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:34 pm
How much earlier?

in 28 hours 24 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:36 pm
before everyone is asleep. Mom says before 9, Dad asks if 6-7 could work. Dinner?

Re: in 28 hours 24 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:37 pm
Oh, I was talking am time.

in 28 hours 19 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:40 pm
Good and fine.

Re: in 28 hours 19 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:41 pm
Alright then. Aside from art supplies, what's needed?

in 28 hours 15 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:45 pm
Well, we've got dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Re: in 28 hours 15 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:46 pm
And internets, I see. So I suppose we're set reference wise. Will there be any sleeping? I'm not very good at naps...

in 28 hours 10 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:50 pm
nor am I.

Re: in 28 hours 10 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:52 pm
So I guess I'll not bring a pillow or blanket then. Anything else needed?

in 28 hours 5 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:54 pm
Nope.

Re: in 28 hours 5 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:55 pm
Alright then, so it's okay if Snags is over too?

in 28 hours 3 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 7:56 pm
Whatever, yeah.

Re: in 28 hours 3 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 7:59 pm
Still don't really know if he's coming, but okay then. That it?

in 27 hours 58 minutes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 27, 2009 8:01 pm
If you don't play Heroscape, yes.

Re: in 27 hours 58 minutes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 27, 2009 8:03 pm
Alright then.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, May 24, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Marvin: Look at my hands.
They're Just...
Floating there.
I don't have wrists.
How can I be truly Emo without wrists to slit?
Collin: I LIKE COOKIES!
Marvin: That's... great. I'm soo... Happy... for you.
Collin: I LIKE FORTUNE COOKIES!
WHEEE
Marvin: I wish I had wrists. 

NOTES:

   This is one of the very first jokes I wrote for the script, (and, Cailin says, once of the cleverest, how the character is so self-aware of his biologically impossible anatomy,) but I had thought that the subject matter was a little dark for a school publication, so I held off on it. Until the events of the strip a week previously, that is. Getting away with an interspecies guy-on-guy romance joke like that was... emboldening.

Correspondence 12/9/09 20:55 - 21:20

   A continuation of a conversation we had had at lunch at school. I really can't give you much more background than that, as honestly I can't remember what it was, but then again that's kind of the point of this conversation. If may be something unrelated, but whenever we'd be at a press conference for the band or anything and someone asks us why our song sounds exactly like, say, the DuckTails theme, we'd just blow them off or maybe explain that it's just "homage."

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 8:55 pm
Okay, I'm good now. what were we talking about at lunch today?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 8:57 pm
Tunes, mostly.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 8:58 pm
There was something amusing in there, I vaguely recall.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 8:59 pm
There usually is.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:01 pm
Something about anime...

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:02 pm
I have no idea.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:04 pm

think

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:04 pm
Was it on the subject of tunes?

Re: Fathers and Sons

From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:06 pm

maybe, what you got there?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:06 pm
Got there?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:07 pm
Tunes? Did you remember anything?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:08 pm
Nope.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:09 pm
Well, is there anything amusing at all from that time you can remember?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:11 pm
Um... the press conference thing with the "ffffffffffff".

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:12 pm
good, that could be it. Uhh... How did that go?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:13 pm
Whenever someone disagrees with us on anything at a press conference we just go 'pfffffffft" or "ffffffff". That's all I remember.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:14 pm
It's clearly a homage.

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:15 pm
The 90's cartoon thing?

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:17 pm
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
(Or maybe you're referring to DuckTales)

Re: Fathers and Sons
From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 9, 2009 9:18 pm
A woo ooh!

Re: Fathers and Sons
From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 9, 2009 9:20 pm
Maybe something fascinating?

Rad Cetacean Facts

   Dolphins are sometimes used for finding mimes! Tracking those suckers down and-- No, wait. Mines. They're used for finding mines. That... is not nearly as cool.

   Dolphins are also thought to be able to perceive depth using just one eye, which is terrifying, they hear using their jaws, which is weird, and they echolocate with help from their melon, which is hilarious.

   Orcinus orca, roughly translated, means "death whale." So, you're not allowed to call them that. Kind of like how calling Inuit "Eskimos" would be in bad taste because it means "eaters of (raw) flesh" or calling Roma "Gypsies" because it means... well, someone from Egypt. I don't see anything wrong with any of those, since meat is delicious and Egypt is pretty cool. But, uh, I wouldn't know.

   "Killer whales" is hardly better. And they're actually technically just a very large, oddly colored dolphin anyway. So... You know what, screw it. I'm going the Ishmael route. They're all fish. Whales are fish, dolphins are fish, porpoises are fish, killer whales are fish. Another word for orca IS "blackfish," after all (apparently?)

Correspondence 11/22/09 15:43 - 15:51

   We discuss a hypothetical video game and flounder about pointlessly. Most of our correspondence can be summed up like that, actually, which is why I don't show you it all. As agonizingly long as this conversation seems, may I point out it only took less than ten minutes realtime.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to  POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:43 pm
Would you play a video game called Nudist Railroad Rescue?

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:44 pm
I don't think so. Let those nudists get skooshed by the train, or whatever.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:45 pm
Oh, I figured the nudists would be doing the rescuing.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:45 pm
Oh.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:46 pm
Uh.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:47 pm
Yep.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:48 pm
Yeah.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:49 pm
Well, you do that.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:51 pm
Okay.

Visualizing the Mythic Image: My Own Take

   Check this junk out: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2012/08/visualizing-mythic-image.html
(and be sure to read through the comments section, as well.) Quite mind blowing. Like I said, James Gurney, man.

   Plato would do away with representational art, saying it's just an imitation of that which is already an imitation of an ideal. Would more abstract iconic art then be closer to the higher forms, or a further corruption of a representation; i.e. if you're going to represent something anyway, is it better or worse to favor the realistic over the iconic? Scott McCloud points out that it's easier to accept and access a comic book which uses simpler more iconic artwork- artwork that doesn't call attention to itself as art, but rather lets the imagination fill in detail and tell a story in conjunction with words.

   The idea of a thing more powerful than the thing itself. This has always been pretty patently true. Applied to art, and how the iconic becomes seen as being the realistic because we miss the shorthand in real life. Remember how a comic panel isn't literally true? In that single frame, it's more about the idea of an action than the action itself.

Correspondence 11/21/09 22:00 - 11/22/09 15:25

   We discuss the invisible writing used to disguise the wiki page of a hidden track, and that leads to a discussion of how awesome "tricksy" (and other words like it) is. Pointless, but fun.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 21, 2009 10:20 pm
http://comradehelicopter.wikispaces.com/Foxy+Angel
Is it good?

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 10:56 am
The title...?

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 2:30 pm
Ha ha, fooled you! Highlight it.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 2:32 pm
Ahhh, you're a tricksy one.
I like this a lot.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:17 pm
Tricksy is a good word.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:19 pm
Mozilla Firefox's spellchecker would disagree with you, but I would have to agree.

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:20 pm
I looked it up. It's a word.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:21 pm
Ah, neat. I just looked it up too, and had to laugh at the different tenses. "Tricksiest".

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:22 pm
Mischievy!

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:23 pm
Sounds like the name of a beautiful Russian princess.
Mischieffull!

Re: Linear Notes
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 22, 2009 3:23 pm
Yeah, well... Tricksy little hobbitses.

Re: Linear Notes
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 22, 2009 3:25 pm
It's odd to think that Gollum was grammatically correct, if only a little bit.

Okay, Now It's Party Time!

   I found it.

   Yeah, this happened. Although the animation is significantly more impressive than I remember it being. For those of you who have some sort of congenital brain defect that somehow causes you to be unable to appreciate animation quality: it's really really good here. I mean it. As corny as all of this is, the animation is actually really really good.

   Sigh. If only the animators didn't realize this fact and feel compelled to use the exact same animation over and over again throughout the song. Not quite as much repeat animation as with that other party time dog thing, but here it's especially noticeable, and there it's kind of the point.

   The song's actually really good too. It's hampered by the fact that it's in a movie about the STINKING SINKING TITANIC, but it's got a production quality above and beyond what we would have been willing to accept.

It's Party Time!

This is the only video that popped up when I searched "party time dog" in YouTube, but then again it's got those algorithms customized based on prior searches so maybe it's still out there somewhere. I've just search for a lot of Adventure Time, so...

   Anyway, if you've been on the internet, you've probably seen it. The one with Fritz the rapping dog, rapping about how it's party time? On the Titanic? Yeah. I did a little digging on that (short of finding the actual video of it,) and was blown away by what I found.

   The guy who played the cart driver in Ladyhawke, the guy who was both a chief writer for, and the voice of Scott in, Robotech, that's the voice of Fritz the rapping dog, and that's the guy who raps this rap. Let me repeat that. Scott Bernard. is. Fritz the rapping dog. Oh, Gregory Snegoff, how thou art fallen! Or elevated into cheesy meme immortality. Whichever way you decide to look at it.

   He was also in both of the other direct-to-video Titanic cartoons. So, he was in all three of them. Three of the objectively worst movies of all time (each has a 1.4-1.5 out of 10 rating on IMDb, and I'm even afraid to go near Rotten Tomatoes on this one), he was in each of them. But looking further into their IMDb pages, some of the "goofs" are just plain surreal. Did you know? The two halves of the Titanic were never sealed back together. Neither was the entire ship relocated from the bottom of the Atlantic to the shore of a secret island. No, IMDb. I did not know that.

   The rap itself was written by Matt McGuire, who aside from playing baseball or whatever also is probably best known for being the composer for that short-lived Sabrina the Teenage Witch animated series, as well as composing the music for a few episodes of Sonic X. Just, you know, so these guys get their due.

Correspondence 11/20/09 22:23 - 23:14

   In this installment we talk about the possibility of Comrade Helicopter utilizing the services of backup vocalists, specifically sexy female ones. No, seriously.

Things I dig about oldies songs
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:23 pm
Things we gotta bring back:
Sexy Female Backup Singers
Random instrumentals
Sexy Female Backup Singers
Funk
Sexy Female Backup Singers
Sexy Female Backup Singers
Sexy Female Backup Singers

Re: Things I dig about oldies songs
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:25 pm
Also, the guitars that go "wah wah" and the funky violin accompaniment.
And sexy female backup singers, of course.

Re: Things I dig about oldies songs
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:26 pm
Yeah, that's what I said, funk, & random instrumentals.
And whatever happened to SFBS?

Re: Things I dig about oldies songs
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:28 pm
Sacramento Food Bank Services?

Re: Things I dig about oldies songs
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:28 pm
SFBuS?

Re: Things I dig about oldies songs
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:29 pm
I am drawing a blank the size of a small plane.

Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:30 pm
Come on, I thought it was common lingo between us by now.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:31 pm
Ooooh.
That SFBS.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:32 pm
Whatever happened to them?
The eighties?

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:33 pm
I think it ended with the close of the 70's, yeah. Hm... I don't think I know any Sexy Females who can Backup Sing.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:34 pm
Eli is the closest I can think of, and he's a dude.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:35 pm
Might send the wrong message. And also not work as an homage. And I don't really know what sexy is.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:37 pm
Well, the song "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed contains the lyrics,
and all the colored girls say
doo doo doo doo doo
With said 'doos' being done by SFBuS.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:39 pm
I suppose you can only have SFBuS in relatively feel-good songs.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:41 pm
Not really. Have you heard that song? Crazy Jank. I get out of this, that a good SFBuS must be
-Young
-African American
-With a hip/waist ratio of 7/5.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:42 pm
African American isn't always a requirement, but I suppose if they were white or Asian it'd feel kind of weird.
Also, beehive hair.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 10:42 pm
Not really, they just need that accent.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 10:43 pm
Well, in the studio albums yes, but I was talking music videos.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From POMegranate POMegranate to Persomem Persomem   Nov 20, 2009 11:13 pm
oh. night.

Re: Sexy Female Backup Singers!
From Persomem Persomem to POMegranate POMegranate   Nov 20, 2009 11:14 pm
Night.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, May 17, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Collin: In The Fox and the Hound, is it the fox that first realizes he's in love with the hound, or vice versa?
Marvin: You mean at the beginning, when they become friends?
Collin: No, I mean later on, when they actually fall in love with each other.
Marvin: Yeah, I don't think that happens. I mean, sure, Tod eventually falls in love with Vixey, bu
Collin: You mean Tod and Copper don't fall in love with each other?
That's messed up.
Marvin: Even more messed up than cross-species homosexual romance in a Disney film.
Collin: Yes.

Ed Ogni Giorno Crescerai

   Often called the "anime opening," the (first season at least) Italian theme for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is just quite unlike any of the other versions of the show's theme song, which are just translations of the English one. The Italian one, like I said, opts to take a completely different route:

   And those lyrics are just so true, you know? They really speak to something about the human condition. (That's not a ha-ha-I-know-how-to-speak-Italian-out-of-nowhere joke, by the way; I really mean that. You can look up the translation if you want. It's out there.) What else can you expect from the language that gave us Dante, though?

Correspondence 11/14/09 20:55 - 22:00

That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 8:55 pm

Here's that one picture I was talking about that one day, the "Life is happy and life is sad" one.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:26 pm

Interesting...

What... is... it?

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:31 pm

I don't know exactly, I found it on the interweb last year, and I'm not sure from where.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:33 pm

Drat. This looks like a mystery worth pursuing.

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:34 pm

It was some Japanese oekaki site, I believe, though I couldn't tell you which. I may have another picture by the artist though, I'll check.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:35 pm

Well, I noticed the number 1862 in the URL, like the year:

...Avaeccus/1862.png...

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:37 pm

yeah, I just think that it was picture 1862 out of a number of others.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:38 pm

Seriously? Like, the number of pictures that the guy did? Dude...

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:40 pm

No, like of other people too, on an oekaki board, many people post their drawings they do in the oekaki drawing program thing.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:40 pm

Oh.

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:43 pm

And, I found the only other picture by him or her I have.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:47 pm

While not quite as technically detailed as the first piece, this picture leaves a lot to think about. In fact, the longer one stares at this painting, the more questions spring to mind: Who are these people? Where does the window leave off and the painting begin? Why is the drawing so much crappier than it could have been? Is it to emphasize the subject matter?

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:48 pm

Maybe it wasn't meant to be a serious work? Oekaki boards are usually a fun place to just doodle, I know because I used to draw on them a ton, and that casuality can be seen in my old oekakis.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:52 pm

I prefer to think of the artist as being technically brilliant and trying to make a point. If it wasn't intended to be a serious composition, then the artist would have used much more bright, cheerful colors.

Oh man, I've turned into one of those art critics that tell you what the work means!

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:52 pm

Yeah, that can be bad. I know for a fact that most artists aren't too serious.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 9:53 pm

But then again, it does capture the spirit of imagination, judging by the tilt of the artist in the work's head...

Re: That one Picture

From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 14, 2008 9:54 pm

I agree with that.

And I've got to be going as well, sorry about that.

Re: That one Picture

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 14, 2008 10:00 pm

Actually, no. I've always let any work speak for itself. Whenever I'm in class, and the teacher calls on me to interpret a line of poetry, I alway say, "How can you not get that? It means what it says."

And I'm always paying attention, too, thank you very much.

So, no. I never interpret art.

Bye.

Outcasts

   I've done a lot of analysis on the archetype of the social outcast, if only because I should be one but aren't. I still don't think I've quite reached it, what drives people away. Bad taste? Okay, maybe those are bad examples, each. Each of the outcasts I've brought up so far. They represent a fandom of something specific, a specific property, which can be loved or hated on its own merits.

   It's not about the idea of the fandom itself. So, bad examples all around, (excepting furries? (Try as hard as I do to find something similar, there's just nothing quite like them in the entire world, though I wish their were. It's an asceticism, which is one of the reasons I keep on returning to that as an example of pure fandom. It's based around, well, not just an asceticism, but a genre. Another thing that makes them good examples of that. Plus they're generally like really super nice people and I love the whole idea of it?)) I'm not one for fandoms much, but the thing I'm grasping for, it's not like it is a fandom. It's more... an archetype. Of social outcast. Just stuck at the bottom on the totem pole (doesn't being on the bottom of the totem pole traditionally represent more responsibility and more importance, though? The top of the totem pole, then.)

   The very bottom of that, like I said, furry fen. They've learned to be comfortable and even thrive in this environment (note the super nice people comment above.) It revolves around a very specific ideal. A higher level up from this, goths and emos. More nebulously defined. Not quite angst, at least not in the public perception and who knows, they might be right- just darkness mixed with juvenility. Punks a step above that, as there isn't really the stereotype of a loser or a loner. Between them is the thread of the idea of punk-punk: cyberpunk, steampunk. Or maybe that's also an aestheticism. No, they are all. They have to be; that's what we're measuring here. Aren't we?

   Outcasts? No. You're only defined as a loser if you're cut off from mainstream society, because of or in spite of or in concordance with these interests. But lots of emos are cool. Lots are over-angsty snots, of course. So, we're not measuring that, the level of misfit. We're ranking the aestheticisms themselves, in terms of misfit? Thought that really can't be ranked, because it's not like one aestheticism is more of an aestheticism than another or is more attractive to a degree of misfit than another. Aestheticisms, can, however, be clumped-- separated into the aestheticism of the aestheticism. (I guess furries stand alone there too, maybe half-connected to Otaku. I was right that far.) Okay, we were ranking aestheticism by degree of social outcast associated with them, that's what it was. The ranking makes sense again. Alright.

   Hipsters on top, of course. Or, uh, bottom.

   (Having that little pointless debate over what the topic even is wasn't strictly necessary because this is prewritten, but I'm keeping it here, possibly used as a rhetorical device. Socrates would be proud.)

Correspondence 11/11/09 21:24 - 21:55

   And here, we finally figure out the name of the Mad General. We went through just as rigorous a process naming Nycaster, as well, with all the corresponding symbolism and everything. Character names are important. Yes.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:24 pm
Zerfall Nykallm?

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:27 pm
I'm not sure about the last name.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:28 pm
Like Nycaster, but... with 'kallm' instead of 'caster'

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:30 pm
Yeah, i like the "Ny" bit, but the "kallm"s a little too consonant heavy, I guess.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:31 pm
His first name is 'Zerfall' for cripe's sake!

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:33 pm
Yeah, but those are softer consonants? I guess I just want to seem like I have a good reason. It just doesn't feel right, I suppose.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:35 pm
Zerfall NyKyylm.
(yikes!)
Zerfall NyKyllm.
(also yikes!)
Zerfall NyKaalm.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:37 pm
I'm still not feeling it. We can go with it if there's nothing else though.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:38 pm
Caster Zerfall Nylands.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:39 pm
I like it. But now I can't stop reading the last bit as "nylons".

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:42 pm
And the first bit as "Casper."
That stupid friendly ghost is ruining everything.
Zerfall Nykua.
J? I like the J's of the African, the Y's, heavy consonant doubling of the Scandinavian, vowel doubling in the African. Zerfall has two L's, good...

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:43 pm
Well then what have you got?

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:45 pm
Zerfall Ny-gabe. Like Mugabe.
...

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:46 pm
Kinda hard to get the pronunciation across.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:48 pm
Kaster Zerfall Nykallm.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:49 pm
Let's just go with that.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:51 pm
I like it. Kaster with a K to suggest Russian, Zerfall means 'disintegration' as a nod to the painting, Nykallm sounds both Scandanavian and African at the same time, and plus 'Kaster' and 'Ny' suggest a deeper naming scheme.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:53 pm
Haha, I didn't catch that last bit. I like it.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 9:54 pm
The K's and doule L's pull the name together, and Kaster sounds like Custer, a foreshadowing of the General's fate.

Re: Nycaster Quote
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 9:55 pm
Shot in the face by Indians, what a way to go.

Awesome

   I drew this, and scanned it, and converted it into a .PNG format, and I guess I should stop talking because it really works on its own.

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, May 10, 2009

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Collin: Oooh
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover that I overlooked before
one leaf is sunshine, the second is rain
Third is the roses that grow in the lane
No need explainin, the one remainin
Is some-body I adore!
I'm looking over! A four-leaf clover! That I overlooked be-fooore!
Marvin: He always does that when he eats Lucky Charms.
Collin: mmm mmm 

NOTES:
   Originally there was a different song for each marshmallow, but I think this is the only of those songs in the public domain. Anyway, it's fun. Try it. "99 Luftbalons" for the red balloons, "Blue Moon" for the blue moons, or maybe "Bad Moon Rising," and really there's all sorts of things you can do for hearts, stars, and horseshoes...

Correspondence 11/11/09 10:09 - 10:19

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 10:09 am
Come to think of it, I have always wanted to do an album revolving around the song "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by the Deep Blue Somethings.
The first track would be called "And I Said" the second would be called "What About?" the third would be a cover of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the forth would be called "She Said" the fifth would be "I think I Remember" the sixth "The Film" the seventh "And" The eighth "As I Recall I Think" etc. Or something like that.

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 10:11 am
I could definitely get behind this idea. What would the album be called?

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 10:13 am
I don't know.

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 10:14 am
The Breakfast Club.
But seriously, hm....

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 10:15 am
Deep Jew Something.
Jeep Dew Something?
Jeep Do Something.
Bleep Dew Something.

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!
From Persomem to POMegranate   Nov 11, 2009 10:16 am
Deep Jew Jeet Kun Do.

Re: The Japanese have stolen our ideas!

From POMegranate to Persomem   Nov 11, 2009 10:19 am

Something. Maybe just "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Pagin Dr. Brennan

   Mrmgmrgblgrbl what was I going to say. Oh, that's right. I think.

   As intelligentish as the hit crime drama(dy?) series Bones may be, the characters never change and if anything only become parodies of themselves as the series progresses. I'm not sure if this is true of the books, where presumably there's some of that but a lot more time for characterization, but that's exactly the thing: we have to analyze the TV show as itself.

   There's no character arc with Dr. Brennan. She's stuck in a state of perpetual social awkwardness. She actually gets worse. Early on, she doesn't realize she's offensive, but she comes across as an actual sadist later on. She learns things on how to interact with people over individual episodes, but maybe she just doesn't take those lessons to heart? Because she should get a little better, at least. Am... I... like that?

   This lack of character arc is also precisely what makes the continued success of Chuck Lorre sitcoms so baffling.

   But, David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel do have some terrific chemistry going on there. Yay.