Posts Tagged ‘sandwich’
5 items.
For those readers who have marched in here from the forums of PVP or Real Life, torches and pitchforks at the ready, take a deep breath and have a seat. I’m talking to you.
Apparently, Monday’s blog caused quite a hullabaloo when a kind soul from Rancho Cordova, CA (“The town they named after a salad dressing!”) decided to tip everyone off to my comments about Scott Kurtz and Greg Dean “stealing” my ideas regarding two strips about Harry Knowles and Ferris Bueler’s Day Off. Appropriate poo-slinging followed.
I suppose I could go into the details of this fracas – about the multitude of incorrectly spelled and grammatically mind-bending flames hurled my way. But this is all old news to anyone who has been trolling about the community for any amount of time. Readers who have their favorites vigorously defend their sanctuaries from outsiders.
Instead, I’m gonna cut to the skinny. Monday’s comments were in NO WAY meant to be taken seriously. It was just a quirky coincidence I thought I would point out and have a little fun with. Doesn’t anyone else think that this triptych of web comics discussing such varied topics to be of interest? I do! In fact, I found it amazing! Especially considering neither Scott nor Greg have probably heard of my measly operation! Apparently, some people couldn’t see the irony that was clubbing them over the heads.
Perhaps it was my fault for not making my sarcasm a little more overt. After all, even my good friend Zach from No Pants Tuesday sent me an e-mail of caution (well intended, but undoubtedly due to exhaustion as we’ve seen no new strip for over a week – worried about you, pal!).
But for those of you who felt it necessary to make sweeping, negative generalizations against my talent, intelligence or mother, I’ve gotta recommend you take your B.S. detector in for some much needed maintenance. Otherwise, this world is going to eat you alive. It’s truly amazing how upset some people became. If people get this angry about web comics, I have to presume most of them went into an epileptic fit after that whole Enron thing. If their venom isn’t proportional, then their priorities are out of whack.
To the credit to many in the community, I did have my share of defenders in the forums. Several people came to my defense clearly pointing out that Monday’s comments were a joke and lobbing their own flames back in retaliation. Thank goodness for those who are switched on.
In summary, I didn’t mean offend anyone. If my comments upset you, I apologize. I’m a big fan of both PVP and Real Life. I think they are both sharply written and sublimely well put together strips. In fact, that’s where most of the irony stemmed from when I compared my strip to theirs – ’cause obviously I don’t have the kind of talent several years in the game have afforded those two.
If I’ve learned anything about the matter, it’s that next time I’ll be sure to make all my sarcastic comments IN BIG BOLD LETTERS as not to confuse anyone. Still, I’ve gotta admit, at least the second principle of my theory rang true – I scored 4 times as many unique hits to the site on Tuesday compared to an average day. Thanks.
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Aug12
I have fallen in love with a man. A wild-eyed man with an ‘fro that cannot be tamed. A grin that makes the Cheshire Cat green with envy. A man who has seen the end of the world and took a Polaroid.
I’m sorry, guys. It’s late and I’m feelin’ kind of loopy. I don’t know why I’m so jazzed about these three new characters I’ve tossed into the mix. Basically, I tried to come up with a strip where Tom was saddled with three slightly deranged wannabe “brothers.” It seemed fitting he would meet them at the bus station. I churned up the names and out spat the rest. I wanna hang out with T-Bear. He looks like he knows how to tell a good story.
I don’t have my eyes on Four Brothers at all. I’ve been burned by director John Singleton too many times. I’m sorry – But you don’t make Boyz n the Hood and then turn around to pump out swill like 2 Fast, 2 Furious. I even did a comic or two about that…
From the look of it, the film is a straight up revenge caper in the vein of some 1970’s Charles Bronson flick. I dunno. Maybe it’s good. I’ve read reviews that say there isn’t a CG shot in the whole thing. No phony explosions or out-of-context wire work. It play authentic and feels fresh as hell because of it.
Funny critics would choose to laud a picture for doing the job it’s designed to do – to economically tell a story with depth and character without relying on the crutch of special effects and A-list actors. But then, we are in the thick of Hollywood Blockbuster Season(tm), are we not? So maybe they’re right.
Some people wrote in expressing concern about my family situation – the illness we’re contending with and whatnot. Let’s say that it’s improved and leave it at that. I sincerely appreciate your thoughts and warm wishes. I received some very touching e-mails from people who tell me I worry too much about making sure there’s a comic here waiting for you each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
But that’s the bargain we made, you and I. You’ve given me so much. The least I can do is try to live up to my end of the bargain, right? If the situation changes, I’ll be sure to let you know.
I’ll be back later with more. Movie and site related, just so you can prepare yourselves…
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I’ll say one thing about the NAACP – they’re very prompt in regard to the answering of correspondence.
Today’s comic is ripped from the headlines! Did Wal-Mart.com totally botch it when their online DVD recommendation service (ala Netflix, Amazon) blew up in their faces by suggesting Planet of the Apes as a "similar interest" to films about Malcom X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Dandridge, Tina Turner and other notable African Americans? Oooh, you betcha! Their excuse? "Human error." They don’t mention if the human wears a bed sheet and a pointy white hat.
Okay, that’s a little mean. It could have been an honest mistake. But seriously? How many bad public relations hits can Wal-Mart take before the Colussus topples over?
I’m not a fan of Wal-Mart, let’s put it that way.
I was very surprised by the interest you guys have shown in Clickwheel and being able to download comics for your video iPods. Do that many of you actually own video iPods? LUCKY!
At any rate, I feel kind of guilty that there’s just one comic out there right now, so I’m going to try and diversify the choices. I mean, there are over 500 comics to choose from, right? I should be able to dig something up! I’m kind of thinking of adding every single incentive sketch I’ve ever drawn to the site and break it out by month or maybe year. I’m not sure which. I’ve saved every drawing I’ve done and it might be a neet retrospective. Not as rich content-wise, but a fun little slideshow for you to scroll through. That is, if I can tear myself away from playing Guitar Hero with all my spare time. Let me know if the incentive sketch collections sound interesting to you!
If you guys enjoy a feature like Clickwheel, I’d love to see you invest some time in the Theater Hopper Movie Review Database. I’m trying to build something community-based for the site where your voice can really be heard. I know it might seem daunting to log into the system and leave a review, but it’s not supposed to be a formal thing! Be casual with it. Not *too* casual. We’d like to avoid "the swears" if possible. But this is something fun for you guys to use and participate in. I’m adding new movies all the time. In fact, there’s a new feature that lets you know what the last 10 movies added to the database were. Pretty handy! Give it a shot!
Not much else on my mind today. Thank goodness it’s Wednesday. I feel like I’ve been running around all week.
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Today’s comic is going to make a lot more sense if you already have an appreciation for find sandwich condiments and delicious puns. But just in case I haven’t made it obvious enough, here’s another visual clue so you can get what I’m driving at…
I wasn’t planning on doing another Hellboy II comic for today, let alone one that incorporated continuity. But (credit where credit is due), jason_md2020 from the comments section over at FirstShowing.net gave me the idea for the Hellman’s reference when Wednesday’s comic was simultaneously posted over there. I decided to run with it. Thanks, Jason!
Not much else to mention today. I’m planning on seeing Hellboy II tonight after Henry goes to bed. Cami has no interest in seeing it, so she’s staying home and has invited her sister over to keep her company. I’m excited for the film. It’s been getting pretty good reviews, which I’m encouraged by.
Apparently, there has been a ton of viral marketing done on behalf of Hellboy II featuring Ron Perlman in the Hellboy costume and makeup. Hellboy is showing up all over the place! I would probably be more impressed if I came across the advertisements naturally. Y’know… while watching TV. Instead, someone forwarded me a link of one of the spots on YouTube and I watched the rest of the related commercials. I think I like the PSA where Hellboy is holding the cat the best. But you can watch a few of these and decide for yourself.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Tom’s really being a sarcastic jerk in today’s comic, isn’t he? I think I will hide behind the “making my characters unlikable gives them depth” defense, Your Honor!
Julia Roberts bashing aside, I’m actually interested in seeing Duplicity at some point this weekend. It’s written and directed by Tony Gilroy and this is his follow up to the brilliant and tightly wound Michael Clayton. Duplicity looks to be a little more effervescent, but it still swims in the waters of dubious corporate behavior.
Post-economic meltdown, I wonder how that will play? Roberts, along with co-star Clive Owen play ex-spooks and full time lovers representing two corporations who team up to con their respective bosses and steal a profitable new product. Will the audience find tolerance for a movie about corporate shenanigans – even if it’s the corporations (not the consumers) getting screwed at the end?
Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe they just want to see Roberts flash that ivory billboard she calls a smile. Ms. Roberts? The Joker called. He wants his mouth back.
Ya’ burn!
I keed. I keed. Hey, Duplicity looks like a lot of fun. And even though Cami and I will be seeing I Love You, Man this weekend instead, I’d still like to try and squeeze this one in – if for no other reason than to see Clive Owen put on the charm.
Owen has been locked down by a lot of serious drama’s and thrillers lately. I like him best when he’s self-effacing. I mean, Shoot ‘Em Up was a real turd of a movie, but he made it a lot of fun by putting on the airs of an afflicted, tough guy anti-hero.
Real quick, some site news.
I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I’ve moved the ShareThis application under the comic and above the comic navigation (before it was hidden in the lower left hand corner of the blog posts).
If you’re not familiar, ShareThis gathers up the links to nearly every social networking site there is and offers you, the reader, the opportunity to share links to Theater Hopper among your friends and peers.
I’ve been trying in vain to get some traction with social networking and I realize not everyone is on board with it yet. I also don’t want to mention it too much, lest it come off like begging.
But if you’re already on board with the social networking bandwagon, it would be really great if some of you could get into the habit of spreading links back to Theater Hopper around a little bit.
The ShareThis app has connections to StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Del.ico.us, Furl, Technorati and more. It even has connections to Facebook and MySpace – and I know a lot of you have accounts out there.
Anyway, using ShareThis to link back to Theater Hopper is something really easy that you can do to help the site. I appreciate those of you willing to test it out. Thanks.
In the meantime, it looks like a pretty strong weekend for movies. In addition to Duplicity and I Love You, Man, Nicolas Cage is starring in the new apocalypse thriller Knowing. It’s directed by Alex Proays who directed The Crow and also wrote and directed Dark City. So I’m always kind of interested to see what he’s up to even though Knowing kind of looks like it’s covering ground that Jim Carrey movie – The Number 23 – covered a few years back.
What do you guys think? What looks interesting to you? Leave your comments below and I’ll talk to you soon!
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