Posts Tagged ‘Penny Arcade’
4 items.
Maybe I’m being a little cruel to Angelina Joile with today’s strip, but frankly, anyone who would make not one – but TWO Tomb Raider movies, deserves what she gets.
Oh, and are the two Penny Arcade references shameless attempts to get Tycho and Gabe to pay attention to me? Yes. Oh yes.
I think there is a lot of promise with Joile. She’s probably one of the few Supporting Actress Oscar Winners that hasn’t been completely crippled by her win. Usually, you don’t hear from those people ever again. Mira Sorvino, anyone?
But truthfully, I remain unimpressed by what is/was the three ring circus surrounding Joile’s life. The whole Billy Bob Thorton fling that didn’t wash. The estrangement from her father, actor Jon Voight. The facination with knives or kinky sex. Even her work for the United Nations or her adoption of an orphaned Cambodian boy aren’t capturing my imagination.
Funny. For as much as I profess to be annoyed by Jolie, I sure seem to know a lot about her… Meh.
I held firm to my promise and did NOT see Bad Boys II this weekend – something I am rather proud of.
Instead, Cami and were feeling in a documentary type mood and rented Jerry Seinfield’s Comedian and The Real Cancun.
The Real Cancun was everything you would expect: Totally facesless college students getting drunk and making out for two hours. Occassional boobie shot. Thanks guys.
I don’t know if any of you have seen it, but the movie was a huge turn off to me. Those twins from New Mexico? Did anyone else think they looked like lizards? Maybe it’s just me.
Comedian, on the other hand, was much BETTER than I expected it. I enjoyed how it didn’t always show Seinfield’s best side. It was also interesting how it mirrored Seinfield’s story (starting over from being the biggest thing in comedy) against the up-and-comer (TRYING to be the next biggest thing in comedy).
I don’t own a lot of documentaries, but I was impressed by Comedian’s cool style. I liked it a lot.
That out of the way, I want to announce that I will be out of town starting this Thursday and won’t be back until next Monday. I’m heading out to Las Vegas.
How this will affect the strip, I don’t know. Part of me thinks I can work ahead and have Friday’s strip post while I’m out of town (I can just post Monday’s comic late).
But on the other hand, I’m thinking that this is a vacation and that I deserve a vacation from ALL responsabilities. Maybe guest strips are in order?
Tell you what. If I get two REALLY good guest strips (from people who haven’t submitted before), we’ll see what happens.
Consider the idea tossed out into the universe. E-mail me if you’re interested.
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I don’t know if you guys are aware of the minor controversy that sprang up between Penny Arcade and buzzComix regarding PA’s charity effort Child’s Play, but basically Gabe took some members of the community to task for some rather disparaging remarks they made. Some had the audacity to suggest that Gabe and Tycho developed Child’s Play as a way of raising their own profile and that their motives weren’t completely altruistic.
What’s important about this story is that Gabe actually linked to the thread in the buzzComix forum where these comments were being made. (the link has since been taken down from the PA main page)
Kind of as a half goof/half publicity stunt, I decided to hop into the middle of the fray to promote Theater Hopper and placed a link for people to click. PA’s fan base is legendary. I knew they would swoop into action immediately after Gabe pointed out people bad mouthing them. So, I decided to capitalize on it a little. If nothing else, I thought I could insert a little ironic levity into what would assuredly become a lot of self-important bickering.
I’m mentioning this because astonishing, my plan seems to have worked! I’ve gotten a few e-mails from people saying they read my post and decided to give Theater Hopper a try.
I just want to say to those of you who came from Penny Arcade by-proxy and found yourself here, WELCOME! I hope you enjoy the comic. We have over 325 comics in our archive, so I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like. If you’re looking for an introduction to the cast, you can find it here. And if you like online communities give our THorum a try! We have lots of really cool people in there and we’ve managed to stay relatively drama-free for the last year or so.
Y’know, the Internet is a pretty crazy place to live and do business, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
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I understand that you’ve got a baby en route. The expected response to this revelation is usually “leaping joy,” but I’m already a father, and I’m exhausted. So if I just move my fingers around a little here on the keyboard, I hope that will suffice.
I have a story that will help introduce some of the powerful new concepts you’re about to be submerged in. I guess that technically makes this a parable, but anyway: I was taking the escalator down to the parcade at the Mall.
On the escalator opposite me, going up, an impatient father was tromping up the device and chastising his young son for being slow. He was not actually watching the son, so that when he exited the top of the moving staircase and his boy began to scream, he was not initially sure why. I was actually paralyzed by it: his son had tripped trying to catch up to his dad, but since he was on the escalator he couldn’t just fall down and pick himself up. He was being rolled by the mechanism, falling forever.
The first thing we can derive from this powerful scene is that you need to, you know, actually watch your kid. The challenge you will face later will be to watch them closely while still letting them experience the world. I have a feeling this is going to be my life’s greatest challenge.
But also: Falling in place. That is how I would describe the process you are about to undertake. For the first few months, anyway. It’s worse than you know. There are almost no handholds of any kind, and worse yet, everybody thinks they have the answer. They don’t. Most of this can’t be taught. I’m not trying to freak you out, but there it is.
You must invent a new Tom Brazelton, let us call him Dad, and do so under the most strenuous conditions. You need to become a man worthy of emulation. You will need to do this while someone is actively peeing on you. I used to regard human waste as something to be avoided; these days, it’s practically a condiment.
This is a situation where your precious movies won’t save you, although I guess there are a few valid Escalator Warnings in Mallrats. There is only one film with advice of any enduring worth on the subject of parenting, and the lessons it provides are mercifully clear: the movie is Aliens. If your child is being pursued by a Hive Queen, man, seriously – you need to blow that thing out the Goddamn airlock.
Welcome to the club.
(CW)TB
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I’ll make this brief because I know you’re not here to read my ramblings. But I wanted to thank Jerry for his time and generosity for writing his guest essay. When I put the wheels in motion for my partial hiatus – my paternity leave, if you will – I took a long shot and asked the guys over at Penny Arcade if they would be interested in participating. I wasn’t expecting anything, but I figured “The worst they could say was ‘no’.” Imagine my surprise when Jerry responded and he offered me this essay.
To be acknowledged (for lack of a better word) by someone who inspires you creatively is an incredible gift. That Jerry went beyond the pale and made his words personal means that much more. What Jerry has shared speaks directly to me. He offers sound advice about fatherhood in a language I understand – movies. Naturally, it’s hilarious to boot.
If you’re new to the site, I encourage you to stick around and thumb through the archives. Chances are if you type a movie title in the search field, I’ve made fun of it. If you’d like a quick sample of my best work, be sure to check out the Top 50 comics as voted on by my readers. They know what’s good better than I do. If you like what you see, I update every Monday, Wednesday and Friday just like Penny Arcade. So add us to your bookmarks and check back every now and again.
Tomorrow is our due date. No baby yet and no plans to induce, but the time is growing close. As you can imagine, we’re really excited. What can I say? It’s been a pretty good week!
Thanks again to Jerry. I hope you enjoy his essay as much as I do.
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