Posts Tagged ‘gift’
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Okay, I’ll admit that today’s comic isn’t “wet-your-pants” funny, but I’ll be damned if I was going to pass up an opportunity to win some points by doing a birthday comic for Cami on her actual birthday.
For those of you who sent birthday wishes from Friday’s post, Cami has read them all and thanks you. It just goes to show what an awesome fan base we have.
That’s why I feel so crappy for being late on the comic. The Labor Day holiday had something to do with it, but add the big birthday blowout into the mix and it all adds up to about 4 hours in the house total this weekend. We’ve been catching up with family and friends from out of town and have eaten about a dozen birthday dinners. Good times, good times.
I hope you had a great holiday weekend, too.
Be sure to check back tomorrow – I have some news relating to the site you should know about.
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::Tear rolls down cheek::
Tom, did you happen to see what I gave Cami for her birthday?
Apparently I’m an 8 year old, though the money thing is true.
ahhh
::sucks it up::
Anyway, I saw Freddy vs Jason on Friday. I found it good for a laugh. Though it was gory, I didn’t find it scary. There is a kid in it that wants to be Silent Bob’s friend sooooo bad.
I’d like to give a shout out to my friend Pete, the $60 man. He’s getting married this weekend and it should be a blast.
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If you’d like to see Jared give Ben Affleck a post-beatdown lecture, be sure to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix for a glimpse of our latest incentive sketch. Professor Jared teaches Mr. Affleck about the differences between holidays!
I don’t really have much to say about Surviving Christmas that I didn’t already cover in Wednesday’s blog. But I knew I couldn’t let another Affleck movie slide without giving Jared a chance to take a swing at him. It’s all becoming part of the rich tapestry of Theater Hopper history.
Before I forget, everyone needs to stop and check out The Webcomic List. I recently wrote the site owner Ash about possibly moving Theater Hopper’s listing away from all the comics whose titles begin with the word “The”. I had received a couple of complaints from fans of the TH saying it was difficult to find our listing because of all the “The” comics they had to wade through.
Anyway, Ash was kind enough to honor my request, so I want to send a little traffic his way.
I really like The Webcomic List. It’s neat. It’s organized. It carries an air of non-partisanship and is alarmingly comprehensive. Everyone gets a fair shake there. If there is any web comic you can think of, it’s probably on that list.
Incidentally, if you want to check out Theater Hopper’s listing, you can view it here. Maybe you want to sneak a peek at our overall rank. Maybe you want to leave comments. That’s up to you. But now you have easy reference.
Anyway, that’s about it for me today. Cami and I are staying home this weekend, so I’m hoping to get some work done on the site. Maybe post that Truman shirt I promised you last week.
By the way, I’m still taking orders for the Spoiler shirt. That’s an on-going thing, so you don’t get confused. I just do pre-orders because I don’t have the capital to buy a bunch of shirts in advance. Never mind I don’t have the storage for them, either!
Anyway, next pre-order session ends on October 30, so get your order in today!
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First things first. Theater Hopper has slipped down to the number two spot on the Web Comics List. I think I know why. You guys haven’t had any new incentive sketches since last Friday. It’s understandable that we’d take a little slide since last Friday’s sketch was, admittedly, a little lame.
But no worries! Today’s sketch is five times awesome! Vote for Theater Hopper to witness Ben Affleck in his post-bee attack state! Everyone wins!
Second order of business. Thanks for giving me the day off on Monday. Between packing up our stuff, hauling furniture up flights of stairs and performing the family and social obligations of the holiday weekend, I was far too depleted to come up with anything original or witty.
I feel bad about it because I’m not one to normally miss updates. And although most of my American readers were probably out celebrating the Independence Day holiday, my international readers got the short end of the stick and no updates at all! For that, I apologize, mes amis.
I think it worked out for the best, though. Because I’ve been sitting on the idea for this strip since last Thursday when I learned Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner got married and I wanted as many people to see it as possible. I’m just really happy with the way it turned out.
In case you’re only vaguely familiar with the site, Mr. Affleck and our good friend Jared have been entangled in violent encounters since February of 2003. In fact, they’ve met on several different occasions. So many times, in fact, that I’m considering assembling all the strips where their paths cross and selling it as “Ben Affleck’s Greatest Hits.” It would sell like hot cakes, I tell you. If it ever came to fruition, this would undoubtedly be the cover:
I have to give points to Affleck for keeping his nuptials hush-hush. Fleeing the country to wed in a private ceremony is much more preferable than the J.Lo spectacle of a year or so back. Who care if Jennifer Garner is knocked up! It was the classy thing to do.
I wonder though, does this mean that Affleck is starting to mature? Does becoming a family man mean that he can no longer be the object of my scorn and ridicule? Who else will I hold up as my bloated, only-in-it-for-the-money avatar of Hollywood excess? Whatever happened to the hard partyin’, hard drinking’, hard gambling, stripper tippin’ Ben of yore?
Oh, well. I suppose I should be happy for him. I think he did himself a service marrying someone with a strong jawline than his. Now there will be NO MISTAKING who the “man” in the relationship is!
Oh, c’mon! You know I can’t resist!
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Introducing a monkey into the comic kind of feels like a lame way to up our cuteness factor similar to how Diff’rent Strokes brought in that little red-haired kid after Gary Coleman stopped being adorable. But, hey. You try saying "No" to that face.
I haven’t decided if Dewey is going to be a permanent addition or not. I suppose that depends on your reaction to him. For now, he’s serving as a means to an end so that I can talk about King Kong this week.
I’m really excited about Kong opening this Wednesday. Moreso than I’ve been about any other movie opening this season. I’ve been talking a lot about movies with friends recently. Going over the year that was. Most of us agree that 2005 was a pretty dismal year for film. Here’s hoping Kong can send it out on a high note. After all, just like in the movies, you can have two acts that are nothing but crap, but if you can really push it over the top with a great ending, that’s what audiences are gonna remember!
I’ll likely have more to say about Kong as the week – and this storyline – unfolds. So stay tuned for more on that front!
Real quick, something you might have noticed this morning is a change to the front page. I’m experimenting a little bit with my advertising options. Trying to find a way to integrate them more seemlessly into the site. I haven’t decided if I’ve accomplished that or not. That 728 x 90 banner ad above the comic and below the navigation is kind of distracting. But I like the 468 x 60 banner below the comic navigation and above the blog.
I’m trying to find a way to still offer cheap advertising for other web comics and interested parties. I was thinking about somekind of insert within the blog space, but I don’t know what I’ll do yet. We’ll see how the 728 x 90 banner ad at the bottom of the page performs. I might end up placing sponsorship links there.
Or perhaps I’ll place them to the right of the logo and push the navigation down a little bit? I’m really interested in hearing from any past advertisers on your preferences. I’m not married to these 728 x 90 banners. Nothing is set in stone. E-mail me if you have opinions.
Additionally, I’m polling the readership-at-large for advice on what to do with the navigation bar. Links inside colored boxes isn’t working and it doesn’t address the sub-navigation problems I’m sure to encounter on subsequent pages in the archvies. If you have any thoughts on how I could make that a stronger interface for you, please let me know.
I’m taking all kinds of feedback, so let me have it!
Talk to you all again soon!
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I know that it’s not Valentine’s Day anymore, but you have to commemorate the season. I decided to commemorate it by drawing a better Valentine’s Day strip than I did 3 years ago. Man, how time flies.
Cami and I enjoyed the holiday together. We had a nice dinner, exchanged cards, and – although we agreed not to – I got her some gifts. Nothing complicated. A stuffed animal, a DVD and some CHOXIE! Sorry, I just like shouting the word CHOXIE!
Anyway, the DVD I got her was Just Like Heaven and I went through something Just Like Hell to get it for her. Does it make sense to anyone else that Target would be sold out of this particular DVD a few days after it’s been released? I mean, aren’t these guys sitting on crates of new releases, or did everyone have the same idea I did?
I wanted to get Cami Just Like Heaven because the film is set in San Francisco. One of our first vacations together as a married couple was to San Francisco. Of course the city is romantic as all get-out in its own right, but the time we spent there makes movies set in San Francisco extra special to us. We’ll sit and watch and then pull each other’s shirt sleeves – "We were there! We were there!" Does anyone else do this?
Of course, I should shamefully admit that I did something dunderheaded while making my purchase of this movie. In response to Target’s low inventory policy, I was sent scrambling to Best Buy to pick up the movie. In my haste, I grabbed the FULL SCREEN version instead of the wide screen version.
This… I never do.
I’ve lectured family members for hours on why wide screen is better than full screen and I come home with this? It’s like walking in the door with Mr. Pibb when you meant to grab Dr. Pepper.
Guh…
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I’m having a bit of a crisis as I write this blog. It took me a while to put together this 6 panel strip and I think I may have committed to the idea too early. Because I realized after I finished the comic, uploaded it and started writing the transcript for the web site that there really isn’t much of a punchline. Just an angry exchange.
There should have been more of a twist at the end. Maybe a bottle of Jergen’s falling out of Tom’s pocket, or something. “I HAVE DRY SKIN!” could have been his defense. Alas, I finished too early.
And if you think you can make a joke out of that last statement, the work is already half-way done for you.
The genesis of the comic’s plot came from a truthful place, however. I’ve been begging Cami to see Black Swan with me for weeks. She’s declined citing a certain level of discomfort with the much-publicized lesbian hook-up between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.
I’ve talked to friends who have seen the movie and they’ve confirmed it’s no big deal. Nothing graphic. But Cami has not been persuaded.
I don’t know exactly what kind of debauchery she thinks will be splashed on the screen, but she remains unconvinced that this is a movie she needs to see.
Truthfully, the shine has worn off a little bit for me as well. Now that the critical praise has died down, it’s evident to me that Black Swan is a Grade-A mind trip – a Darren Aronofsky specialty.
You have to be in the right frame of mind to watch Aronofsky’s films. They’re challenging and often uncomfortable. That’s a hard sell when you’re the parent of two small children and your movie choices are limited. Do you pick the film that entertains or the film that discombobulates you for three days?
Hey! You have work in the morning and the kids need their breakfast! Sorry, son. Daddy’s mind has been scrambled by an auteur who sought to explore the psycho-sexual underbelly of the bleeding arts.
Like I said – a tough sell.
I’m trying to convince Cami that she’ll be kicking herself when Portman wins the Oscar for Best Actress. At this point, it seems almost inevitable. She has the groundswell behind her and Academy voters are sheep. I don’t mean to imply she’s not deserving (without seeing the movie, I can’t say for sure). But when it comes to the Oscars, once a campaign goes in a certain direction, it’s hard to turn the tides.
I guess I’d like to talk to the family that thought this might be a good film to watch over the Christmas holiday when it originally came out. I imagine there were some grandmothers expecting an intriguing film about ballet that were in for a rude awakening…
How about you? Have you seen Black Swan yet? Does it live up to the hype? Was it everything you thought it would be? Leave your opinions in the comments below.
Oh, and also – if you have time – be sure to check out the new Bonus Materials section of the site. It’s a secondary blog where I post trailers, reviews and other movie-related odds and ends… Stuff that doesn’t really have a place on the home page or that is unrelated to the comic.
Credit where credit is due – I stole this idea completely from Gordon McAlpin’s Deleted Scenes blog over at Multiplex. But he gave me his blessing and things are cool. We’re like internet brothers who will loan each other our jackets on a windy day.
Aww…
Anyway, swing by the new blog. I’ll be updating it occasionally. Sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes not at all. I just wanted something untethered from the comic where I could post random bits. Y’know… someplace that WASN’T Facebook.
Although, in truth, they’re probably end up there as well.
Don’t forget to toss in your two cents about Black Swan! New comic next week! Cheers!
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