Posts Tagged ‘jail’
3 items.
I’m trying to paint a picture here. The nerd judicial system is not somewhere you want to end up. The rules are harsh and Byzantine in their arrangements. If you think the nerd police are going to protect you from a random, Xena-inspired beatdown, you’re sorely mistaken, my friend.
The site redesign is pretty much cemented in place and I’ve anchored the store in place. We have TONS of t-shirts available for pre-sale until May 16. Baby doll tees and hoodies, too. Please place your orders now to assure delivery. Drop some of our new 1″ buttons into your shopping cart while you’re at it.
I wrote up a couple of paragraphs explaining the new direction of the store front and its renewed focus on customer service in yesterday’s blog. If you haven’t read it, you might want to scan over it quick so we’re all on the same page.
Something I didn’t mention yesterday was my new commissioned artwork service. If you have something you’d like me to draw for you, I’m game. Read all about what kinds of illustration and designs I can provide as well as check out a couple of samples here.
Because I’m promoting different aspects of the site like crazy, don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list over there on the right. Be the first to know all the latest information, site changes, convention appearances and whatnot. I’ll also be offering merchandise and advertising discounts for mailing list members down the road.
Speaking of conventions, I just added a new information to the page detailing my appearance at Wizard World Chicago August 5-7. You can get all the details about that here.
And lastly, it’s Friday, so that can only mean one thing: The Friday Five. It’s a little even we host every week in the THorum. We ask 5 questions, you answer them. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to the community as well as get to know other members. Sign up today and join in the fun.
More movie stuff later if I think about it. I feel kind of bad that I haven’t offered any new commentary lately. But it’s pretty late right now, so I think I’m going to bed.
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Well, if you’re here, then that means you’re interested to see how thing resolved themselves from Monday’s lack of comic. And if you’re interested, you have my thanks.
Basically there was a small coding snafu that prevented the site from loading in Firefox. And instead of posting the comic where only a portion of the audience could see it, I decided to hold off until the problem was resolved so that EVERYONE can see it. But now we’re in the clear and we’re ready to have a good time!
My only regret is that we missed out on sharing our 500 comic extravaganza with Jeph over at Questionable Content who also reached the same milestone on Monday. Spooky, huh? It’s like we’re conjoined twins, seperated at birth! Congrats to Jeph!
Can you believe that there are 500 of these bad boys in the archive? I can’t. Too bad comic Tom can’t celebrate with us. He’s too busy getting his mug shot taken. AGAIN!
I thought it was appropriate to tackle a pasttime not often discussed here at this site that shares it’s namesake – theater hopping. Staring down a blank piece of paper, trying to think of something for this momentous occassion, I took a step back and said "What’s the one thing these characters have never done?"
And then it hit me like a ton of brick.
But look where it got them? Remember, kids – crime doesn’t pay.
Thinking about 500 comics has put me in a reflective mood. I think it’s certainly a greater achievement than being around for 3 years. But maybe since that took place in August and this milestone is taking place at the end of the year when I’m already taking stock of how 2005 treated me, it seems more poigniant.
I know for certain that I wouldn’t have gotten here without the help of good people.
To Michael for helping to get the THorum on it’s feet. To Brian for his help with the hosting. To Carrington, Zach and Mitch whose feedback and friendship I so deeply respect.
To each and every one of you who took the time to write and e-mail of encouragement.
To anyone who bought a t-shirt or a poster to show your support for the comic.
To all of you who come to the site for a quick laugh before going about your daily chores.
Doing Theater Hopper has been one of the most fulfilling creative endeavors I’ve ever undertook. The fact that you guys appreciate it and continue to support me means more than you’ll ever know. I appreciate you guys a whole heck of a lot.
Someone new that I have to add to the list of life-savers is my good friend Dave. Y’see, Dave created something for the site that I think all of you are going to find very useful.
He made the archive searchable.
Don’t ask me how he did it. I’m sure it involved some kind of voodoo sacrafice. But the fact of the matter is that you can now search our entire archive of 500 comics, plus every guest comic along the way either using random keywords or by typing in the title (or even part of the title) for the comic you want to see!
Dave thought of everything. Not only did he make the archive searchable, but he reconfigured the archive display so it breaks out by year and by month. You can see EXACTLY what days I updated for March of 2003 if you wanted to. Extra bonus? Roll your mouse over any one of the links and and ALT tag appears letting you know the title of the comic! How cool is that?!
Even cooler is that Dave was able to use a color-change identifier to let you know which of the comics were penned by yours truly and which are guest comics. This is something I’ve wanted for the longest time. A way to recognize other artist’s contributions to the site. Dave found the perfect visual shorthand.
Oh, and another thing about the guest comics? They’ve all been added back into the archive. So those that were missing for a while are now placed back on the site in proper chronological order for you to enjoy all over again!
I will point out a small downside to this revision. If you are a web master and you’re linking to a specific comic in the archive, the links of the indivdual comic pages have changed. Whereas before comic URLs were generated by the number of the comic in the archive, things are now built by the comic’s publication date. So check your links if you have a site. I’d hate for you guys to miss what you’re trying to show others! I’m thinking specifically about the guest strip artists who may have linked to their work in our archive.
But, hey! Is that so bad? A pretty small price to pay for such a leap in functionality, wouldn’t you say? And what’s growth without a little struggle.
But wait! There’s more!
"How could there possibly be more?!" I know you are asking this to yourself. Well, it’s possible. Pleanty possible. Dave created something that is going to increase the user interactivity level on this site into the ozone.
Dave created a reviews section… where you, the user, can leave reviews of every movie Theater Hopper discusses!
Okay. I know. CALM DOWN! IT"LL BE ALL RIGHT!
The way it works is deceptively simple. First, follow this link to the reviews archive. From there, use the search perameters to find the film you want to discuss. For example, Austin Powers in Goldmember. Now let’s say you want to leave a review of the movie. So simple! See that little link that says "Add Review?" Click it!
At this point, it’s going to ask for a username and login. Don’t be psyched out! If you don’t have one, you can easily get one here. Y’see, Dave is such a genius, he tied the reviews database in with the THorum database! That means that they share the same login information! That also means that if you already have a THorum account, you’re ready to go right off the bat!
Now does getting a reviews account mean that you have to start posting in the THorum? Hey, we’d love to have you! But you’re not obligated. This is simply a way for us to keep tabs on what is being posted to the reviews database and to do a little pruning if this get out of hand, you know what I mean?
Obviously we don’t want any naughty language creeping into your reviews, so please be courtesy when you leave your thoughts for everyone to read. In fact, don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your Mom to read. And if you happen to have a very hip and liberal Mom, don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your baby sister to read. She has very sensitive ears.
Anyway, once you’re logged in, rate the movie from 1 to 10. After that, feel free to type up your review! After a while, we’ll have a database FULL of reviews all authored by you – the audience!
Don’t agree with my thoughts on a recent film? This is your chance to set the record straight. Wanna leave behind your thoughts as to why Weekend at Bernies is the best modern American comedy? Now’s your chance!
The beautiful thing about these movie review listings? Each one of them is tied back to the comic in the archive that references them. IT’S ALL CROSS-FUNCTIONAL, I TELL YOU! IT’S MAGIC!
Understandably, we don’t have EVERY SINGLE MOVIE in the reviews database that has been referenced in the comic. But there are a handful and we’re working to add new ones all the time. If there’s a comic that discusses a particular movie and a review page hasn’t been created for it, e-mail me and I’ll get right on it! I want this to be a truly interactive initiative. I want you guys to feel like you have a larger role in the community aspect of this site!
This is a lot to soak in, I know. But let the information settle. Once you’re done with that, test out the archive! Test out the reviews database! Take these bad boys for a spin! They’re here for your benefit!
Thanks again to Dave for all his hard work and for putting up with my general ignorance. Dave has a great comic called Taking the Bi-Pass that everyone should check out and add to their regular reads as a reward for his hard work.
In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for ANOTHER announcement later in the day that I’m not prepared to let out of the bag just yet! But it will be a lot of fun and I think you guys will like it.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT MAKES THEATER HOPPER A SUCCESS. THANK YOU!
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Okay, first things first!
- I am currently acutioning off some Theater Hopper #500-related artwork. The auction ends next Wednesday, so be sure to get your bids in now!
- get your bids in now!
- The archives are now SEARCHABLE! Enjoy this bounty!
- We have a brand-new movie review database where you can leave your thoughts on every movie Theater Hopper has ever spoofed. We’re adding movies into it all the time, so check back often for films to rank and comment on!
Now, where were we?
You don’t think our new buddy Victor actually cut off someone’s arm, do you? No way, man. It’s just an exaggeration. Or is it?
Victor is a brand new character added to the Theater Hopper mythos, so get used to seeing his face around the movie theater. It’s been a little while since I added someone new. I tend to do this arround milestone occassions.
One thing I’ve always felt was lacking in the Theater Hopper universe is a source of conflict to draw drama from. I tried to go that route when I introduced Charlie back in the day. But I didn’t think far enough in advance. So instead of making her a villian, she became merely misunderstood. There have been times that I’ve wanted to write her as the stone-cold b*tch I originally envisioned her as, but at this point it would see too far out of character. I still don’t know if I’ve developed her personality to the point where you can say "That’s Charlie. That’s what she’s about." So for the moment, she’s pretty much a gal-pal for Cami to hang around with.
Victor on the other hand is unrepentantly evil and I have no plans for watering him down. I just think it’s hilarious to create a Ukrainian movie theater floor manager who takes his job to a serious extreme. I mean, I think we’ve all had that co-worker who was ruthlessly efficient or maybe looked down their nose at you like you weren’t working as hard as they were. Victor is that guy times a thousand. I’ve already come up with a bunch of fun scenarios to use him in. He’s the perfect antithesis to Jimmy’s cheery optimisim. Every encounter the other characters have with this guy is going to be a living hell.
I have a mini story-line set up to introduce Victor a little bit more. Don’t worry – I’m not going to stretch this one out into some crazy multi-week arc. It’ll be short and to the point. He’s evil. What more do you need to know?!
No movie plans this weekend. There’s nothing much in theaters I care to see. Cami’s been advocating Pride & Prejudice for the last few weeks, but I’ve been dragging my heels. Now it looks like she’ll be going with a friend on Sunday and leaving me in the dust. I’m sorry, but in my mind, Colin Firth is the definative Mr. Darcy!
Aeon Flux comes out today and I can’t really bring myself to care. I used to love the cartoon shorts where Aeon died every episode back when it was broadcast on MTV’s Liquid Television. I had a harder time following the weekly half-hour series she had not long after that. What’s the point of seeing a live-action version when the original was so trippy and surreal? I’m a big sci-fi fan, but I’m having trouble seeing how the director of Girlfight could translate the property to the big sceen. And with Charlize Theron as Flux… well, that seems to be Halle Berry-in-Catwoman-level bad decision making.
What is up with all these actresses who win Oscars and then immediately turn around and do action films? What is the logic there? "I’ve been recognized by my peers and I’m being taken seriously in the industry! For my next film, I’m gonna play a superhero!"
Think I’m being too harsh on Aeon Flux? Paramount has elected to cancel all screeners for reviewers. So you guys won’t know if it’s good or bad until Roger Ebert plunks down $9 and sees it on his own time. Instead, they’re flooding the market with ads and crossing their fingers. Not a good sign. Have you been watching television at all lately? Seems like every third commercial is for Flux. I feel like I’ve already seen the movie! If any of you guys decide to see the movie this weekend, you’ll have to let me know about it. But I don’t plan on touching this with a 10 foot pole!
Here’s hoping everyone enjoys their weekend. Don’t forget to place your bid in the auction!ign: left;”>The archives are now SEARCHABLE! Enjoy this bounty!
Now, where were we?
You don’t think our new buddy Victor actually cut off someone’s arm, do you? No way, man. It’s just an exaggeration. Or is it?
Victor is a brand new character added to the Theater Hopper mythos, so get used to seeing his face around the movie theater. It’s been a little while since I added someone new. I tend to do this arround milestone occassions.
One thing I’ve always felt was lacking in the Theater Hopper universe is a source of conflict to draw drama from. I tried to go that route when I introduced Charlie back in the day. But I didn’t think far enough in advance. So instead of making her a villian, she became merely misunderstood. There have been times that I’ve wanted to write her as the stone-cold b*tch I originally envisioned her as, but at this point it would see too far out of character. I still don’t know if I’ve developed her personality to the point where you can say "That’s Charlie. That’s what she’s about." So for the moment, she’s pretty much a gal-pal for Cami to hang around with.
Victor on the other hand is unrepentantly evil and I have no plans for watering him down. I just think it’s hilarious to create a Ukrainian movie theater floor manager who takes his job to a serious extreme. I mean, I think we’ve all had that co-worker who was ruthlessly efficient or maybe looked down their nose at you like you weren’t working as hard as they were. Victor is that guy times a thousand. I’ve already come up with a bunch of fun scenarios to use him in. He’s the perfect antithesis to Jimmy’s cheery optimisim. Every encounter the other characters have with this guy is going to be a living hell.
I have a mini story-line set up to introduce Victor a little bit more. Don’t worry – I’m not going to stretch this one out into some crazy multi-week arc. It’ll be short and to the point. He’s evil. What more do you need to know?!
No movie plans this weekend. There’s nothing much in theaters I care to see. Cami’s been advocating Pride & Prejudice for the last few weeks, but I’ve been dragging my heels. Now it looks like she’ll be going with a friend on Sunday and leaving me in the dust. I’m sorry, but in my mind, Colin Firth is the definative Mr. Darcy!
Aeon Flux comes out today and I can’t really bring myself to care. I used to love the cartoon shorts where Aeon died every episode back when it was broadcast on MTV’s Liquid Television. I had a harder time following the weekly half-hour series she had not long after that. What’s the point of seeing a live-action version when the original was so trippy and surreal? I’m a big sci-fi fan, but I’m having trouble seeing how the director of Girlfight could translate the property to the big sceen. And with Charlize Theron as Flux… well, that seems to be Halle Berry-in-Catwoman-level bad decision making.
What is up with all these actresses who win Oscars and then immediately turn around and do action films? What is the logic there? "I’ve been recognized by my peers and I’m being taken seriously in the industry! For my next film, I’m gonna play a superhero!"
Think I’m being too harsh on Aeon Flux? Paramount has elected to cancel all screeners for reviewers. So you guys won’t know if it’s good or bad until Roger Ebert plunks down $9 and sees it on his own time. Instead, they’re flooding the market with ads and crossing their fingers. Not a good sign. Have you been watching television at all lately? Seems like every third commercial is for Flux. I feel like I’ve already seen the movie! If any of you guys decide to see the movie this weekend, you’ll have to let me know about it. But I don’t plan on touching this with a 10 foot pole!
Here’s hoping everyone enjoys their weekend. Don’t forget to place your bid in the auction!
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