I know you're all excited about the comic updating again, and from the feedback I've gotten (however little it may be), you all seem to be enjoying the current M.U.L.E. storyline. And, as you're probably already well aware, the end of the year is upon us. Those particularly aware will know that the comic's anniversary is coming up as well. What does this mean? Well, consider this a head's-up: I'm going to do a little celebration. Nothing big...I'm just going to showcase some of the fanart I've been scrounging together from the Keenspace forums. (I wish from my forums...just keep telling yourself, someday, someday...) Unfortunately what that means is the storyline that everyone's been holding their breath over for 3 months is going to be delayed for another week. I'm hoping you won't mind.

So, here's what I'm thinking:
- another week of updates
- one full week of fanart, including my Secret Santa fanart
- one actual anniversary comic...maybe, I haven't decided yet
- back to normal

With any luck, the extra week will give me some time to build up a buffer. I say "with any luck" because I didn't build one up over the hiatus like I thought I was going to. Apparently I didn't achieve any of my goals from the hiatus, except perhaps the one of "goof off". But hey, I've been pretty good so far!

posted by Tim at 1:22 AM

Blog post! =P

So I was watching a bit of TV the other night, and came upon the old Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends animated show that they're replaying on Jetix (block of animation - I think this was on Toon Disney). Kinda funny to be seeing the old show, with the weird voices, bad acting, crude animation, etc. etc. Especially funny to catch the end credits, where they usually show the montage, with the apartment the 3 of them live in - you know, the one where they pulled the statue switch and the apartment converted into their secret crime-fighting lair thingy? =D

Anyway, I happened to tune in when Spider-Man is dealing with Juggernaut. Which is a tad unusual, since we all know Juggy is more associated with the X-Men. (But then again, Spider-Man's hanging out with Iceman, so bleh.) This just caught me off guard, since while I do remember watching the show as a kid, I apparently didn've see very much of it, because I don't remember hearing of Juggernaut until the 90's X-Men cartoon. In fact, I don't remember even hearing of the X-Men themselves back then.

Which brings me to my next point. Juggernaut's making his usual rant about how he's going to his half-brother Charles Xavier's mansion (and it seems like he always addresses him as such, right?) to destroy the X-Men. So Spidey goes off to warn them. Cut to the X-Mansion, and all of our usual gang is there. Well, 60's version, anyway...Angel's present, Cyclops has his skull cap look, and they're introducing Firestar to "new" recruits Storm and Wolverine. Unfortunately now it goes into Firestar explaining her back story...but then Juggy crashes the party (GET IT I'M SO FUNNAY), Spidey shows up, Juggy's stopped with the ol' "remove his helmet and Prof. X will mind-numb him" bit, the day is saved blah blah blah.

So the weird thing for me was seeing the X-Men I'm familiar with, but in a show I had known about but hadn't actually seen this particular episode. It's like, I should've seen this before, but I don't remember hearing of the X-Men until high school (the aforementioned cartoon).

And of course, the funny bits: Juggernaut explaining the origin of his power almost entirely unprovoked...and Wolverine. With 2-foot long claws. And an Australian accent.


Of course, Firestar is not to be confused with Starfire (HEY HEY! Look at me segue!) (segway?)
...

While reading this hilarious "Superman is a dick" thread (http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58040), there was an explination of the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. And in there was a cover of an issue of Teen Titans. There, of course, was Robin, and Starfire (I had seen her before with the gigantic head of hair), and Beast Boy, and Kid Flash...but what also caught my surprise, was Raven and Cyborg. Now, Raven was understandable... I had just never heard of her before, and it made sense that that is where she came from. Cyborg, however, was the weird one. I was under the impression that Cyborg was a normal adult superhero (of what affiliation, I don't know), and that they just selected him and made him a teenager to fill out some missing demographic when compiling heroes for the new show. I hadn't realized he was actually a Teen Titan.

OK, OK, not entirely shocking, but I at least thought it was interesting.

posted by Tim at 3:15 AM

I must reiterate.

When the Red Sox lost Game 3 of the ALCS to the New York Spankees by a score of 19-8, I said the only possible atonement was a miraculous 8 game winning streak.


I didn't believe for a minute that I'd ACTUALLY FUCKING GET IT.



There is just too much excitment, now and over the next week or so, for me to really put how I feel into words here. But I do realize it is just a game - don't worry, I don't take it that seriously. But I am very happy and curious to see how things will be around here.

posted by Tim at 1:04 AM

O_O

When I asked for a miracle comeback, I didn't think I'd actually get one.


Well, I actually asked for a "miraculous 8 game win streak." So, we're halfway there :)

And thanks to the Spankees for the WORST POSTSEASON COLLAPSE IN BASEBALL HISTORY.

HA!

*is happy now*

posted by Tim at 1:28 AM

Thanks a lot, Pedro Martinez.

Your team goes on this wonderful late-season run, and sweep the Angels in the ALDS. Then, for some reason, the Sox just up and roll over for the Spankees. And now, thanks to your cute little soundbite from a couple weeks ago, we the people of Red Sox Nation have to put up with "Who's Your Daddy?" all fucking winter long. Damn, and we thought last winter was tough...

Your only possible atonement: a miraculous 8 game winning streak. C'mon, the Pats have won 19 in a row (closing in on 20)...you guys can make at least four.

The funny thing about all this is the huge amount of hype made over the ALCS last week. All these stories about how the Curse isn't really real, how it was fabricated over the last 20 years as an excuse to ease the pain of last time. And while I'm about 24 hours premature, I swear, if things continue on this trend, I think I really will start to believe in the Curse, that something not-of-this-world is really responsible. How else could the Sox just suck like that? What other explination fits so perfectly?

I don't know who's going to be harder on us: New Yorkers, or ourselves.

And bear in mind, I'm not a real die-hard Red Sox fan. A fan, yes, but I'm not going to do anything drastic. But it's really difficult not to get swept up in it all.

I knew there was going to be a riot this time of the year, one way or the other.

Funny how we've got one team that does nothing but win (and we love you for it, really), but the team we really want to win, just loses at the most inopportune times.

I don't think I'd so upset about this right now if we didn't lose 19-8 in Game 3.

posted by Tim at 1:42 AM

New feature! Check out my new Sketch"book" at the forums!

Why do this, you ask? Well, it's a way to appease more of my fans, but me also. I still want to keep the comic on hiatus, and continue to work to get that up and running on a regular basis. But I also want to update with something. I don't want to fill the comic itself with days or weeks of filler stuff, so I figured I'd move it to the forums.

Then I had an evil thought.

I'll make the sketchbook a members-only area, to encourage participation in the forums! Brilliant!

If it doesn't work out, then hey, I delete the board and no one gets hurt. But then again, there's no real reason why it would fail, since it's just me posting doodles. Nobody has to reply...they just have to sign up to view them. (And signing up is FREE, in case you're worried about that.)

posted by Tim at 1:53 AM

Am I the only one who giggles whenever I hear Avril Lavigne's "My Happy Ending"?


posted by Tim at 2:34 AM

ON HIATUS

I never thought it'd come to this. But here I am, joing so many others in taking some time off away from my webcomic. And I really don't like doing this in the middle of a storyline, but there's just an accumilation of too many things for me to really get into a proper groove. Long hours (which should hopefully be letting up soon), plus lack of motivation/writer's block, plus just discovering now my editing software isn't working and will need to be reinstalled.

Plus the fact that when you bring the family dog to the hospital, you don't really expect it to be a one-way trip. (More info here if you really want.)

But that's not the point. I'm not looking for your pity, and perhaps it's not such a huge issue where it should really interfere with comic updates. But, I think I just need some time off to get my head together and hopefully get some work done behind the scenes to make for some more consistant updates in the future. I've already gone a week without updating, what's a few more? We may as well call the hiatus as starting retroactive to last week. I'll still be around, though...perhaps making tweaks to the website, checking the forums (and what a rousing success that turned out to be), checking email and whatnot. I just won't be updating the comic. I'm hoping this won't be for more that a couple weeks, but who knows at this point. But the comic WILL be back! I am determined to get every one of my ideas out, and I've still got quite a few left to go.

posted by Tim at 1:38 AM

Okay, this is where things are going to get a little personal and LiveJournal-like. So if you don't want to read anything like that, I suggest you move on to the next thing. You have been warned.


Rest In Peace
PumpkinJuly 26, 1991 - September 4, 2004

Pumpkin, aka Pump, Pumpy, Pumpky Dog, Punkin, Punky, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpernickel, Bluppy Puppy, Soggy Doggy, and plenty of other nicknames. She was our family pet. Golden retreiver...purebred, I'm pretty sure...we could've gotten papers for her, if we bothered. Her color was much darker, more orange, than the usual "blonde" golden...plus we had gotten her in late September, when farm stands were putting our pumpkins for sale, so the name was appropriate. Plus she was a big dog...a bit more overweight than she ought to have been (we called it "well-loved")...usually just over 100 lbs. "Bear" was a word that sometimes described her better than "dog".

Something was amiss when I got home from work Wednesday night. The unusual thing wasn't that she was lying in the basement - she used to sleep down there all the time, plus company was over, so that's where she's sent to be out of the way - it was she seems unresponsive when I greeted her. Plus she was breathing heavily...very labored, through her nose. Very unusual for her. So, we brought her to the hospital (luckily Tufts Veterinary School is just down the road here in Grafton). And that was a struggle in itself, as Pumpkin actually collapsed a couple times, and she's a heavy dog to lift into the car. She was given an IV and oxygen, and preliminary tests suggested a possible tumor, or stroke. The next day an MRI ruled those out, and a spinal tap suggested there was some kind of parasite in her nose. Which explained the strained breathing, swollen face, excessive drooling, vertigo, etc. She was going to get treated with a kind of drug to kill the worm (without killing her, of course), but I guess over the course of the night she developed pneumonia, and was given only a 20-30% chance of recovery. So it was then the difficult decision was made.

Somehow, I think overall, I'm actually OK with it. I mean, she was 13 years old - I know she's not going to live forever, plus she'd kinda had arthritis the last year or so. The absolute heart-wrencher, though, was just seeing her lie there on the floor, breathing heavy, not recognizing us. Not quite realizing her surroundings, or even really to lift her head or open her eyes. I mean, there are some mornings where I almost expected to find her not breathing, but still, when something like that happens, it's still a shock to the system.

She will be greatly missed.

posted by Tim at 1:36 AM

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...

Go visit my new forums!

I'll get around to cleaning up my menu bars eventually.

posted by Tim at 2:04 AM

Yeah, the only thing that's been updated less than the comic is my blog here. Ah well, it's not like it's terribly important.

So it's getting to be that time of year again where football season is heating up, and baseball season is getting into the postseason mode. If you asked me a montha ago, I would've been much more excited about the Patriots' upcoming season than the Red Sox. At this point however, I'm going to hang onto the Olde Towne Teame for a little while longer. Not that I really get into the Pats, but it's nice to see them win. Which is my point, they haven't for the last couple weeks. :-P

I will also be excited to see how the UMass football team's gonna do this year. Not only will we be playing our conference rivals/National Champions/good friends Delaware (who beat us last year, something like 55-43, in triple overtime), but also Colgate, who ousted UMass in the first round of the playoffs, and went on to lose to Delaware in the finals. Oh, and we'll be playing some team...uh, Boston College, I think is the name of it. I don't know, are they big? Sounds like a small school...small football program.

Freaky, I'm experiencing deja vu as I'm typing this. I don't know about you, but I get deja vu often enough to freak me out into thinking maybe there is something bigger going on.

Now back to Red Sox, which was my inspiration for the blogging today. Well, not so much the Red Sox winning - although that's always good news - and not so much the Sox are only 3 1/2 games back from the AL East lead, either.

It's the fact that New York lost to the Indians. 22-0.

Twenty two to nothing.

Worst. Loss. EVAR.

*inhales deeply*
Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!11!!!1!one!!!!1!! >:-D


*gasp*


posted by Tim at 1:45 AM

Yup, once again a missing update, and quite possibly more. Doesn't writer's block suck? Plus, work is finally grinding me down. BUT, the new transformer has arrived, which should hopefully get installed tomorrow, and hopefully things will be getting back to normal, and I can finally get my two-day weekends back. It's gonna feel so weird Labor Day weekend when I'll have 3 (three!!!) full days of non-work.

Also, there's been plenty of stuff that's been circling around in my brain that I've wanted to unload into the blog, but by the time I get the time to do it, I'm too tired and need to go to bed. For example, I wanted to say something about Nomar Garciaparra being traded to the Chicago Cubs, but that's old news by now and talked about to death. I'll just mention that I was sad to see him go but wish him the best; he was such a Boston sports icon for so many years. Oh, and Chicago: it's pronounced Nomah.

As far as the Red Sox are doing so far, I'll say, Thank God the Patriots seasons is starting up. =P
Not that I like football any more or less than baseball...but it's nice to have a team around here where the players and management know how to conduct themselves (for the most part), and they know how to win.

Heh, I've gotten this far, may as well keep going, right?

I just heard on the radio for the first time, "Tessie" by the Dropkick Murphys. Apparently this was a song from ye olden days, and according to the story from the DJ, Boston Red Sox fans would get drunk and harrass the opposing teams by singing this song...even so much as to distract the Pirates enough for the Sox to win the first World Series. So the song's been updated, and will now be played often on area radio stations. But I listened to the song, and all I could think about was how old the song was and how it could've been played on the piano. Pianos like the one that Babe Ruth supposedly tossed into a lake, and every year people go and try to dreg it up in hopes of Reversing the Curse^TM. I could imagine this being the "Cowboy Up" of 2004...which is something we could really use at this point.

Now moving completely off-topic...

I was a little surprised to hear the Emergency Broadcast System being used recently. In a non-test situation, no less! It so rarely seems to be used, that I was almost expecting them to announce a nuclear attack as imminent. I was getting ready to Duck and Cover^TM hehe. But it turned out they were issuing an Amber alert.

I got to thinking, I don't think I've ever heard the EBS used before. Then I realized I had, sometimes on TV when there's a severe weather warning. But I'm pretty sure I've never heard it on the radio, though. Then they just went crazy with it the other day with the 15-year-old Hispanic kid getting kidnapped in Boston...I swear, there was an EBS every half-hour.

I'm not trying to make light of Amber alerts, of course. In fact, I'm glad for any excuse not to hear Hoobastank's "The Reason" any more than is positively necessary. My new phrase that pops into my head when it comes on (shortly after screaming, "NOOOO!!!!!") is, "I hate this song with the burning intensity of a thousand suns".

There. Now hopefully that will clear my mind out a bit so I can focus it on story, which I can then turn into comics. Hopefully.


posted by Tim at 1:33 AM

I've been having a bit of fun participating in the recent Keenspace Coliseum event.  I was featured in the first round against Chaos Cricket of Dim Bulb Comics.  Unfortunately, the voting didn't go my way and I ended up losing the match, but it was fun while it lasted.  And I may poke around with some spectator comics, we'll see...  mwahahahaa....

posted by Tim at 2:18 AM

Again, sorry about the lateness.  Work has not been kind as far as free time is concerned.  I will try my best to keep the updates coming as normal, but I can't guarantee that.

Not like anyone really cares.


posted by Tim at 1:00 AM

Wednesday's update is going to be a bit late.  Partly cuz I'm feeling a little lazy/tired tonight, partly because I have an unexpected half day tomorrow at work.  As in they're shutting down all the power to the plant.  So, yay half day! =P


posted by Tim at 11:44 PM

The TV happened to be tuned to Pepsi Smash, and a couple of thoughts occur to me.
One, John Mayer is a creepy looking dude.  He's got those Joaquin Phoenix darkened eyes thing happening.
 
Also, if I ever rule the world or come into an obscene amount of money, I would have Amy Lee sing me to sleep every night.   Actually, I'd probably have her do more than that to me every night, but that would be the primary thing.

posted by Tim at 3:18 AM

Stuff!

I has seen Spider-Man 2 last week, but I'm too lazy right now to bother finding all my thoughts about that I've posted on other forums right now. Suffice to say I enjoyed the kick-ass movie. Also, although it looks (to me) that the villans in Spidey 3 will be Green Goblin Mark II and the Lizard, I'm still hoping that Venom will show up in either 3 or 4. The way I see it, Batman had the Joker (done), Superman has Lex Luthor (done), and Spidey has Doc Ock as the main baddie. Second in line for Spidey is Venom. Now, go do it...trust me, it'll kick ass ;)

Thursday was my sister's 21st birthday, and at her request, we (being myself, her, and the parents) go to Foxwoods for a little gambling. I'm surprised becase we didn't stay long...only a couple hours...but it was early in the afternoon and once you've been in a casino for a little while, there isn't much else to do.

While watching a bit of the World Poker Tour on TV, they had ads for Foxwoods when part of the tour was held there. They mentioned how big it was, with 24 restraunts, 4 casinos, etc etc. Now, I will admit, the place is nice, big and impressive. What struck me, though, was just how small these many casinos were. I guess I'm just used to Las Vegas, where the casino floor takes up the entire first floor of the whole building. "So that's how they fit so many casinos in here", was my thought. Plus, I noticed, they don't have video poker there...just slot machines, which struck me as a little odd. But, I managed to walk out with a profit (albeit only $10 overall), and fortunately the place is close enough not to feel disappointed by the length of our stay. I had fun.

Unfortunately I start work again on Monday. And it sounds like we'll be as busy as ever. Hopefully I can ease myself back into a work schedule without being overwhelmed. First I gotta get on a more reasonable sleep schedule...I've been so awful the last couple weeks :P

posted by Tim at 2:48 AM

<Brak> Hey evewy-bodeh! </Brak>

Nothing big right now, I just felt like I ought to post something. And, as not to make it a complete waste, I'll review the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, which I saw a while ago.

Basically, thumbs up. I think the thing I liked best about the movie, was that it was a comedy that didn't rely on a constant stream of bathroom humor. Once you suspend your disbelief about the fact that these are grown adults playing dodgeball, it's a fairly engrossing story.

Related thoughts:

Ben Stiller, you're great and all, but broaden your acting ability, buddy. You either play the flustered, perpetually-lying romantic lead, or you're the over-the-top jerk character. Kudos on marrying Christine Taylor, though...she's very easy on the eyes.

Also, thanks to the movie, I had seen a few commercials advertising "Extreme Dodgeball" on GSN, the Games Sports Network (or something like that). So they've taken the sport and made it real. With jockeys and fat guys and all sorts of novelty acts. Maybe. I have no idea if this or GSN is real or not (and I'm too lazy to bother to find out right now), but dude, if it's got William Hung as its spokesperson, I am so there. (Please note the heavy sarcasm used there.)

And it doesn't matter how much Michael Moore makes with his movie, Spider-Man 2 opens in a couple days and, well, it'll be interesting to see just how much damn money it makes. I will hopefully contribute to its box-office totals before the end of the week.
posted by Tim at 3:25 AM

I'm in print! Sorta kinda.

I'm quite pleased to have finally received Through These Doors..., a history book about the UMass Marching Band. This is a project that's been in the works the last couple years, and now it's a reality! A while back, the alumni were sharing memories and stories to be contributed in the book, and I am credited with one. There's my name in the book! I'm even in the freaking index! Heh, OK, I'm probably acting a little more giddy that I should be, especially over a couple sentences' worth, but it's still cool nonetheless.
posted by Tim at 1:49 AM

Oh, while I'm thinking about it. In reference to this comic, I found the website for the product. I made the change to the note on the comic.

And while I'm mentioning quick things:
According to my Keenspace page stats, I was linked on this page called Plep, which calls Alternate Delusions a "fine online comic". And that made me smile.

posted by Tim at 1:43 AM

C'mon, admit it...you knew with all the hoopla and talk about Smarty Jones today that he was going to choke. And, aside from the actual race days of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont, I don't think I've heard really much of anything about horse racing, except on sports talk radio.

And does the death of Ronald Reagan really need 24-hour continuing coverage? I mean, sure, it's important to remember the passing of a president...I just don't think it needs THAT much. And I just thought of something now: 80's - Reagan years. 90's - Clinton years. In-between bridge years - sucky Bush years.
It seems a little funny to me to think of Reagan of anything other than president. I know he was an actor and all, but it's still funny. Especially seeing the old clips about "winning one for the Gipper" (so that's where that came from!). And even as president, it's weird for me to think of him as anything but a bit of a feeb, since, being too young to understand, a lot of my perception of him is the "political cartoon" caricatures, like Rich Little's impersonations or the creepy puppets from Genesis' "Land of Confusion" video. (Speaking of which, does anyone else remember the TV show "D.C. Follies"?)
posted by Tim at 1:26 AM

Does anyone else think Jessica Simpson is getting a little too much exposure? (Yeah, I know, some would argue not enough "exposure", wink wink, nudge nudge). Constantly with the "dumb-blonde" schtick, or the equally annoying "not-really-a-dumb-blonde" schtick. Dammit, girl, you're rich enough...stop the commercials and hosting every other music event thing. Go home with your goofy husband and leave me alone.

Oh, and I'm not dead, by the way. Just taking an unexpected extended hiatus. The 300th comic is forthcoming (dammit!). Also in the works: a little break from AD, a crossover event, hopefully an update to my links page, and more - but those are the big things.

And, if you haven't heard already, I'm taking charge of the KeenSpace Fighters game. If ya wanna get involved, check it out and let me know! (This will be announced on the main page...once I get around to updating it)

posted by Tim at 2:11 AM

By now, you've probably seen the Miller beer ads featuring Bob Odenkirk (I think that's his name) toting Miller for "President of Beers". Especially the last ad, having a debate against a Clydesdale horse.

Now, Budweiser has countered the campaign with their chameleons, talking about the "out-of-work comedian" vs. the Clydesdale, saying how they'd vote for the majestic horse, versus the "part of a horse". (Though I think in the TV ads they refer to him as "annoying spokesperson".)

Frickin' hilarious. I can't wait to see if this sort of thing continues. Actually, if real politics worked this way, I might be more interested in it. Not just general mud-slinging, of course - that's always been a part of it - but here at least there's some humor. As long as it doesn't just degenerate into a "yo' mama" match.
posted by Tim at 2:43 AM

I was a bit surprised when I realized how much more of a role popular music has taken on in my life. It's not a huge role, mind you; it's just that between my commute and at work, I end up listening to the radio a lot. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as some other people, but I know enough to be familiar with some of today's music.

Here's a point I want to needlessly clarify. I've noticed two distinct styles of "variety/mix" music stations. One, which I'll flip though while in the car, leans more toward hip-hop, with a heavy Usher/Jay-Z/Britney Spears/Outkast kind of rotation. (Yeah, I know Britney doesn't really fit into "hip-hop", but they play her songs a lot, so I thought I'd include her). The second type, which the radios at work are set to, are a little more easy listening...plenty of Sheryl Crow to go around.

All of this is a round-about way of getting to this:

The List of Songs That Should Go Away Very Quickly

These are songs I've noticed get played at least two to three times within an 8-hour period, which doesn't sound like much, but factor in that I hear these every day, and it gets really annoying really quickly. And, as during my commute I'm able to pick up about 4 or 5 mix stations, these songs have a tendency to pop up way too often on multiple stations. (Then again, I am a spastic channel-changer, but that's not the point.) Some of these songs I don't have as big a problem with. Many of these songs I can comfortably live the rest of my life never hearing again. This is a work in progress, I may come back to it again, but now

The List of Songs That Should Go Away Very Quickly

- "The First Cut is the Deepest" - Sheryl Crow
- "Breathe" - Melissa Etheridge
- "This Love" - Maroon 5
- "The Reason" - Hoobastank
- "Yeah!" - Usher et al
- "It's My Life" - No Doubt
- "Here Without You" - 3 Doors Down
- "100 Years" - Five for Fighting
- anything by Outkast
- "Why Don't You & I?" - Santana f. Alex Band

Like I said, there may be more added to this list later. This is just a way for me to share my pain with you. Thank you.
posted by Tim at 2:30 AM

Hey! As you may or may not have heard, there's been some changes to Blogger, which means there will be some changes here. For the better, hopefully. It'll probably be a little while before I work out all the kinks.

One new things that seems to be supported is comments. So now you can reply back to whatever rambling I may choose to post here! Hooray! Well, you could've done it before by writing me an email, but that barely happened. So now you get to do it under public scrutiny! Isn't that fun?
posted by Tim at 2:50 AM

As you may have heard already, Major League Baseball was considering placing ads for Spider-Man 2 on the bases of a few stadiums for a few days. (This plan has been already scrapped, it seems). A few thoughts:

- Man, I didn't think some people would get this upset over this issue. There's tradition, and there's superstition, and then there's "dammit, get OVER it already, wouldja?"

- Advertising at baseball stadiums is not a new thing. Someone just found a couple square feet of space that wasn't already slathered with ads. Besides, I think it'd be kinda cool to be associated with Spider-Man. I mean, how masculine can you feel if you're playing at PETCO Park?

- Not that I'm a baseball traditionalist or anything that extreme, but I think if I had to weigh in on the issue, I would vote against the ads. I wouldn't have been bothered by them, either. However, if the ads were to go on the bases, I think they could've chosen something a little more appropriate than Spider-Man 2. This movie does not need the extra promotion. Seriously. It will be released, and it will make a huge amount of money.
posted by Tim at 2:42 AM

Something of a special event coming up on Wednesday. Be sure to check it out!

Hmm, other thoughts...
The Simpsons was a fairly good episode tonight. Though I've noticed the writers have a bit of lag when it comes to topical satire. This week, they were spoofing Spider-Man. Last week (I think), it was Star Wars: Episode I. Even last year, when Bart nominates Edna K. for the teacher's award and Skinner meets them at EPCOT, and they poke fun at the Enron scandal...a while after the news had cooled off. Ah well. I still like it though, and I hope things'll will work out with the salary situation. If Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz get $10 million each for Shrek 2, and the cast of Friends get $1 million each per episode, I think FOX can handle tripling their salaries. At least, they'd be stupid not to.

And speaking of Friends, can we all just please stop talking about the series finale already?! It was a popular show, it will be missed, blah blah blah...get over it! People made a big stink when Seinfeld ended, and eventually we got over it. People will get over this too...just not soon enough, I guess.

I'd probably be more angry in my rants right now, but it's late, I'm tired, and gotta get up early tomorrow. Is it me, or do I always seem to say that a lot? That'll show me for always writing in the blog before I go to bed :-P

posted by Tim at 2:39 AM

OK. I know I've been horrible with the updating lately. So for now, I think I'm going to stick with the Monday-Wednesday-Friday format for a little while longer. At least until I can scrounge enough time and energy to build up a decent buffer. As it is now, I kinda like not having to rush every night to get something uploaded. Plus, I was very busy at work today, and tomorrow isn't looking any less hectic. Also of note, I should have something kinda special planned coming up soon, hopefully I'll have it ready to go once I get this Metal Chef storyline done.
posted by Tim at 12:20 AM

Also, while I'm thinking about it...

Has anyone else seen the new ad campaign for Six Flags New England? The one with the "old man" (read: young man in about 30 pounds of makeup), where he gets off the bus, and then busts a move and dances all crazy-like to "We Like to Party"?

That guy just makes me laugh.

I'm also curious if this is just for the New England one, or have the other Six Flags markets adopted this campaign?
posted by Tim at 7:34 PM

I was watching some TV the other night, and I landed on MTV's Made. You know, another entry in the plethora of makeover reality shows. Anyway, this one I caught was about a girl (I think her name was Kitty) who was pretty much as geeky as they come. A little on the tall and thin side, pale, glasses, wardrobe of jeans, sneakers, T-shirts with unicorns and dragons, collections of cows and anime in her room, etc. Anyway, she wanted to be "made" for her high school's beauty pagent. (I'm not entirely sure if it was just her high school...if so, that's a pretty big school). Being coached by a local pagent winner (not like Miss America or something), of course everything came out with a happy ending - she's all self confident and beautiful, and ended up as first runner-up.

I was kinda flipping in and out of the program, since there was also the side story of her building up enough confidence to ask out this guy Matt, who works as a pin-monkey at the bowling alley. Which is surprising in itself...I didn't think there were any non-automated alleys left. That arc went the total teenage drama route - they go to a dance, and while she's off being all pagent-y like chatting up her friends, he's off dancing with another girl and making out with her. I don't know, I must've gone to the most boring high school in America to not have anything like that happen.

Anyway, my point is, I was totally crushing on this girl. In both her uber-geek mode and her dolled-up pagent mode. At least, my inner-high-school-kid was crushing on her.

posted by Tim at 6:33 PM

Been a while, hasn't it? Couple things.

First, some of my thought on the movie Hellboy, which I saw last Friday:


I enjoyed the movie, despite never reading the comics. Actually, I never really heard of Hellboy until recently. But I was intruiged by the visual style and effects and off I went.

Even though I haven't read it, it certainly felt like they captured the look and feel of the comic on the big screen. Did a good job of moving the story along...enough character and backstory to interest some, and enough fight scenes to interest the others.

One of the women in the group I saw it with described the movie as "cute". Which I felt was an interesting way to describe a movie featuring demons and giant tentacle monsters.

All in all: thumb's up.

The only thing I was really disappointed in was the final boss fight. Felt like, with something of that magnitude, it shoulda been a little more drawn out, or at least a little more "epic" - instead of "oh, just one more big thing to blow up".

I did find Rasputin's rebirth interesting: Let's see, here's a guy who was once hooked up to some technology, then disappears, reawakens in another world from a puddle of goo, and now runs around in a slick suit and designer sunglasses doing magic tricks. HMMMmmm...


Also, I should mention something about the appearance of Roman Dude last week. In case you haven't figured it out, (or in case I forgot I mentioned it somewhere before), Roman Dude is my brother. He gets up in Roman Legionaire attire and makes presentations at the Higgins Armory Museum. It's official, too...he really is "Roman Dude" according to some kind of presenters/role-players society he's joined, the name of which escapes me.

So, this marks two events. First, it's the official appearance of my brother in the comic. Whether or not he, or Roman Dude, or him as Roman Dude, make in into an actual storyline remains to be seen. Secondly, it also marks the first of my comics to be actually inked. Brother's volunteered to try his hand at inking my comics. He's even got the proper tools to do it with, with those Micron pens everyone seems to have.

I know it's difficult to see any difference, so perhaps sometime soon I'll set up some kind of comparison thingy and see how the comic looks. It seems to me the only reason to ink is for the lines to stand out better when I scan...and even then, when I tried scanning that image, it's didn't look all that different; it basically needed the same amount of computer tweaking. Even so, maybe we'll give it a shot and see how it looks. And then maybe we'll try a "real comic" test, trying to acheive a professionally inked look like PVP or Angst Technology.


Oh, and my new job is going well, that's for asking...if anyone asked. I'm liking it, anyway.
posted by Tim at 3:17 AM

Ended up on a quick trip to the gorcery store after work today. A couple of headlines from the checkout line magazine rack caught my eye.

First, the Weekly World News reports that Marylin Monroe was apparently bitten by a vampire. Just reading that made me chuckle out loud.

Then, Marge Simpson is on the cover of MAXIM magazine. Which is kind of arousing and creepy at the same time.

The new job training is going well. Definitely seeing a much more improved attitude at work recently. It'll be nice to settle into a routine and then I can just go with it.

And if you're in need of a little karmic balance, be sure to write me fan email, send me fan art, of just post away at the Tagboard. Doing that will make me happy, which in turn means comics and good stuff like that. Remember, happiness is contagious.
posted by Tim at 8:35 PM

Good news, everyone!

Like I mentioned, I got the lab tech job...and now, it seems I begin training Monday. Yay! No more with the heavy lifting and the hot slabs of metal and the moving of the rubber and the first shift not doing the work and glayvin...

But, I'm working a kind of weird training shedule. Monday's weird anyway, since I have a previous appointment, but the first week (next week) I'll be on first shift, getting to know what to do. Then the second week I'll work a shifted second shift (go in and leave earlier than the usual 2nd shift hours) to get to know my specific duties. Third week, I start on my own. So, in a nutshell, I'm not 100% sure if there will be timely comic updates over the next couple weeks. Of course I'll try to get some done ahead of time to update regularly, but I can't guarantee that.

But, once I get settled in the new job, things should go a lot more smoothly. Ooh, looky there, more free time to possibly work on comics! (or more likely waste with Playstation, but we'll see... lol)
posted by Tim at 1:24 AM

Oh yeah. Blog! =P

Sitting in the "rework" pile at work is this stack of preformed sheets. A common occurance. Written on top are some things about why it's sitting there (it blisters, apparently), and there's some kind of tracking number there.
7891-1337.
When I walked by and glanced at this really quickly, the thing to pop into my head was the word "leet". And then I felt like slapping myself.

Other than that, I'm just going through the motions at work. I'm burned out. Still no one hired to take my place (I got the lab tech job, btw), but at least I'll have consecutive 2-day weekends this and next week! Man, that sounds rough when I'm looking forward to "normal" 2-day weekends. =P
posted by Tim at 2:27 AM

Went to Blockbuster to stave off boredom for the weekend. While browsing the selections, I noticed Air Bud Spikes Back. I don't know which sequel this is (gotta be at least third or fourth), and I'm thinking, "Just how many sports can this damn dog play?!"

And it also reminded me of this.
posted by Tim at 1:36 AM

Had my year-end review at work today. It's hard to believe I've been working there for one full year now! Though there may be some changes in store for me soon. I'm trying to get a job as a lab tech. Good news: I will have escaped the humdrumery and labor of my current position. Bad news: it's still second shift, so that still kinda sucks. Plus there's a possibility of a pay cut...even though my supervisor actually advised me to ask to keep it the same lol. Anyhoo, that really shouldn't affect anthing with the comic, just thought I'd share that. Though, I may not have to work any mandatory-overtime Saturdays, which is always a good thing.

Also, use the Tag-board!
posted by Tim at 2:34 AM

Today I noticed in one of the vending machines at work this little delicacy. The label called it a "Low Carb California Cheeseburger". It was just that - a cheeseburger, lettuce, tomato, onion - except there was no bun. It wasn't just wrapped, like you'd expect a burger to be...it was on a little tray...even included a plastic fork and knife to eat it with. Though I think the lettuce was big enough, you could've used it as a kind of wrap...thing.

I think this Atkins thing is getting a little out of control.
posted by Tim at 1:58 AM

This is a little late, but still...

Is anyone else somewhat disturbed by the fact that the memory of two of our nation's greatest presidents have been reduced to cheesy car salesmen?
posted by Tim at 10:31 AM

Hey all! Yeah, I guess it's been a little while since I've posted here.

Well, there was the whole talk recently of one Mr. Alex Rodriguez being traded to the Spankees. Of course, being a Red Sox fan, I am very pissed about this. Not as much as if I were a die-hard fan, but pissed nonetheless. But, spring training starts soon, and like every year, hope springs eternal, especially in Red Sox Nation.

I saw an article recently...not sure if it was the Globe, but it definitely was at least Boston.com...anyway, it was about the "fall" of UMass basketball. If you follow that kind of thing, you may remember the UMass Minutemen men's basketball team during the John Calipari (and Marcus Camby) years, especially their Final Four year of '95-'96, when the team went 35-2 (the 2 losses being the tourney losses). Unfortunately, I started UMass in '96, when Calipari left, so I got stuck with the Bruiser Flint years, which, let's face it, sucked in comparison. Well, the point of the aritcle was about now how the program's in decline, and all that stuff.

That, plus the off-season Red Sox stuff, and the Patriot's Superbowl win, made me think about being a sports fan in New England. In short, I think that a New England sports fan demands nothing short of perfection. Anything less is a disappointment. Sure, there have been recent teams that have done very well, but some...er, most... of those teams haven't "gone all the way", and we just kinda go off on our "coulda, woulda, shoulda" rants.

Sure, we loved it when the Pats won. You may have seen some of the celebrations. And, while there was the obligatory top-news-story coverage for a couple weeks there, the general feeling, to me at least, was, "Yeah, we won. Whoo." I don't know, maybe I'm listening to a little too much sports talk radio.

Anyway, my point is, people love what the Pats have done, and what they have become...the textbook definition of "team". And "champion", too, I guess :) But we aren't super-seriously impressed by it, since that's what we expected from them all along. The thing is now, everyone wants the Bruins, Celtics, and especially the Red Sox to take a look at the Patriots, saying "THAT is how you are supposed to be." 2 years ago, it was "Hey, maybe this'll rub off on the other teams"...now it's "Hey, maybe this'll rub off on the other teams HINT HINT"

Sorry if this rant's getting a little disjointed, I'm up late. Oh, and if you notice a missing comic...it's not missing, just really late. I was busy working on a project for a deadline, and I'll hopefully be able to share that with you soon.
posted by Tim at 2:49 AM

More update: They've got the FTP server up now. So, I've gotten a couple uploaded, except (a) the auto-update still doesn't seem to be up, and (b) I can't access the manual update page. So, sit tight everybody, we're not out of the woods yet.
posted by Tim at 2:43 AM

Sorry, I still can't seem to log on to the server to upload new comics. I'm sure they're working on it.

On the plus side, I've been voted in as a Keenspace All-Star For February! Check it out from some more quality comics, and maybe even perhaps vote for me for March!
posted by Tim at 12:46 AM

Yay Patriots! =D
posted by Tim at 12:34 AM

UPDATE: OK, it looks like the actual website is back up and running. But as of this time, the server to which I connect to upload comics is still down. So, no actual comic updates for a little while longer.
posted by Tim at 12:13 AM

Funny how Keenspace decides to crap out whenever I've taken a "break" and then need to upload a new comic. Perhaps Keenspace's uptime is related to my updating schedule! Sigh...another argument for me to continue the daily routine. But I think this is really how I'd like to go...remember, I did say it was temporary.
posted by Tim at 2:00 AM

Yeah, so I did the Arisia thing. Now, this is my first convention ever, so I didn't know what I was getting into. I spent the morning watching the Higgins Armory Sword Guild make their demonstration, and aside from an intermission caused by the fire alarm (nothing serious, I heard it was a burst pipe...only 10 minutes wasted), it was fascinating to watch. I spent most of my time there sitting in on the panel discussions, which in my naivete believed to be the meat of the convention (which it probably is). Therefore I felt uncomfortable wearing my costume in the crowded conference rooms, and didn't really go to the art show or masquerade, which are probably the two places I should've gone to gain the kind of exposure I was looking for. Then again, I wasn't really in "fantasy" garb. And, as I only took pictures of the demonstration, I don't have any pictures to really share my experience of the convention. Sorry about that.

I've got a few months to consider going to Anime Boston. Maybe that will be a little more what I'm looking for. At the very least, I'd be familiar with the layout, as it takes place at the same hotel.

Oh, and yay Patriots going to the Superbowl! =D
posted by Tim at 12:44 AM

Notice I actually got around to updating the comic today? Be happy.

Arisia tomorrow, Pats Sunday. Busy weekend. =P

posted by Tim at 9:11 AM

I swear to God, it should be against the law to be this cold. I mean, for this date, in many places around here, it's been colder than it's ever been. Ugh. I mean, Brr.

And now, to be fair since I ranted so much about the Red Sox earlier, I shall rant (or rave, really) about the Patriots. Well, I would, except there isn't much to say. The Pats won, and I'm happy. Cold, but happy. No, I didn't go to the game, but I'm still cold dammit. Though I find it a little different, since it seems the consensus around here is that the Patriots are going to win it all. Period. Confidence to the point of arrogance. I say this since with the Red Sox, it was more of a battle, like we could've been upended at any point. Here it'll be a genuine shock if we lose...especially after winning the last 13 ;-)

Though all the local news broadcasts using "Clash of/with the Titans" got a little repetitive.

How about Carolina knocking off the Rams, though? Nice, since I don't want St. Louis to continue. Why? See Superbowl XXXVI, that and it's kind of cool to see the underdog win. Up for tomorrow: Indy and KC (don't know who to root for here...though I am sick of hearing about Peyton Manning), and Green Bay/Philly (don't like GB for SBXXXI, and sick of hearing about Donovan McNabb...always pushing soup on people with his "mom"). Not like I care too much about these games...just gotta wait for the AFC championship game next week.

Also of note...looking up the previous Superbowls, the only other one to be played in February, was XXXVI on the 3rd. And we know how that one went. ;-) Maybe February is our lucky month?
posted by Tim at 1:43 AM

Damn. It's the new year for 6 days now (the Epiphany! Thanks, Mr. Calendar!) and I haven't updated the blog. Well, technically 7 as I'm writing this. Just I just don't have a lot to say right now. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you, the reader, I suppose.

Still trying to work on my costume for Arisia. Slow going, since I have little to no artistic skills, especially when it comes to sculpture. Well, hopefully I'll make significant headway this weekend. As for the date, right now I'm looking to go Saturday, January 17th. And, if I'm really crazy and have enjoyed it, or if someone else is even crazier and plans to meet me there, then I may try for the 18th as well. Now taking bets for which is the more unlikely scenario to occur.
posted by Tim at 3:24 AM