Archives

Teenage Angst Has Payed Off Well

“PORTA JOHN SMITH” SHIRTS ARE UP AT SHARKSPLODE!!!

sharlsplode-porta-john-smith-ad

The big giant mega blowout HE Store sale is over, and we are putting the final touches on the new HE store which will soon live HERE.

GAHHHHHH! WHY DOES TIME KEEP MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION FURTHER AWAY FROM MY YOUTH AND CLOSER TO MY EVENTUAL DEATH?!?!? IS THERE NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT THIS?! No? Shit.

In Utereo, an album that defined my youth and shaped the way I would love music for a decade to come turns 20 years old this week. To commemorate the fact that Nirvana hasn’t generated as much revenue as it could have since the mid 90’s, the record company/rights holder to Nirvana’s catalog have rereleased In Utero in a 3 disc mega box set situation with a remastered 2013 version of each song, a few b-sides that have been available since the albums original release in 1993, a bunch of EXTREMELY rough, instrumental demos and the audio from Nirvana’s 1993 Mtv Live and Loud concert (the only thing in this collection that I don’t believe has ever been officially available in audio-only format).

It might sound like I, a person for whom discovering Nirvana changed their life in a PROFOUND way, am not entirely enthusiastic about this release. This would be mostly true seeing as how A) it marks my further decent into the void as age creeps up behind me, wrapping it’s silky, wispy fingers around my throat and whispering… hissing in my ear, “Soooooon, Friend. Soooooon,” and B) It doesn’t really offer a true Nirvana fan… anything. I suppose the casual fan that remembers being fairly familiar with flannel 20 years ago might enjoy the 4 or 5 b-sides (Marigold, Moist Vagina, I Hate Myself And Want to Die, Sappy, etc.) they’ve never heard, but old school listeners like myself actually had to seek out the b-sides in the ACTUAL RECORD STORES to listen to these musical morsels. Among them, Marigold (a Dave Grohl song which was later rerecorded and released by Foo Fighters) and Sappy are the only songs you might want to listen to more than once.

Which brings up my major complaint with rereleases like this: They aren’t going to unearth any new high quality Nirvana recordings. Ever. There was one (You Know You’re Right), but it came out years ago for the 20th anniversary of Nevermind. That was it.  Every other “never before heard” thing is going to be a garbage recording from a tape deck, or a blown out, unmastered, meandering noise jam (there are two of these on the In Utereo rerelease). And don’t even get me started about the utter mess that was 90% of the content on With The Lights Out (the 700ish disc set of mostly unlistenable Nirvana b-sides, rarities and live performances). These are recordings that you can listen exactly once, go, “Huh. Well. That was certainly something,” then go back to listening to the same 11 songs you remember from the first time you bought the record. Even the remastered versions of the album tracks offer very little in terms of new discovery. The left/right balance is different and you can hear more of the duo-tracked vocals and guitar parts (where the same exact part is recorded twice, and played on top of each other to get a subtle variation in the sound and make it sound larger without adding additional parts or instrumentation), but that’s about it.

So check out In Utero‘s 20th anniversary edition on Spotify where you can listen to the handful of “new” tracks a few times then jump face first into your flannel lined coffin as a choir of greasy haired gutter punks hold a candle light vigil and sing All Apologies as you’re lowered into your eternal dirt hole. This thing is a record company money grab, and not worth your time.

COMMENTERS: What media release anniversary made your realize you were SUPER FUCKING OLD? 

PACMAN NECKLACE! WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA…

This is my wife’s birthday week! Celebrate it by buying yourself a present from her Etsy store “Science and Fiction.” Check out her her latest geeky creation, a Pacman inspired necklace!

Pacman Necklace on Etsy

Comments (15)

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Admin Options

jujyfruit0's avatar - Go to profile

jujyfruit0· 90 weeks ago

The 25th Anniversary of The Goonies was pretty hard to comprehend. But In Utero’s 20th is almost harder, because it coincides with me starting high school, 20 fracking years ago this month.

Age math sucks, man. IT SUCKS.

furrbear's avatar - Go to profile

furrbear· 90 weeks ago

It happened in 2002, when I realized that Quarterflash’s debut album was old enough to drink legally. It was one of the first albums I bought right near the time of its release in 1981 (I was in high school at the time), so that had an impact.

For myself, Nirvana was part of the reason I stopped listening to new music in the ’90s – the entire “grunge” thing was a complete musical turn-off for me and as the only other genre getting a lot of attention at the time didn’t appeal to me either (various kinds of hip-hop/rap) I just tuned out.

autojim's avatar - Go to profile

autojim· 90 weeks ago

Out of pure serendipity, you’ve paralleled the choruses of Barenaked Ladies’ “Box Set” from their debut album, 1992’s “Gordon”:

“Disc One, it’s where we begun, it’s all my greatest hits. And if you are a fan then you know that you’ve already got ’em.

“Disc Two, it was all brand new, an album’s worth of songs. But we had to leave the whole disc blank ’cause some other label bought ’em.

“Disc Three, yes this is really me, in a grade school play. I had about a hundred thousand lines but of course I forgot ’em.

“Disc Four, never released before, and you can tell why: it’s just some demos I recorded in my basement.

“Disc Five, I was barely alive, I was coughing up a lung. So we had to use a special computer as my replacement.

“Disc Six, a dance remix, so I can catch the latest trend and it’ll make you scratch your head and wonder where my taste went.”

Of course, “Gordon” is even older than “In Utero”, so… GAH! I’m old! There are CDs in the rack that I’ve had since 1988 when I got my first CD player.

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 90 weeks ago

Steve Albini’s letter to Nirvana on producing In Utero
http://imgur.com/a/p0tKn

1 reply · active 90 weeks ago

autojim's avatar - Go to profile

autojim· 90 weeks ago

That’s refreshingly straightforward and completely devoid of bullshit. I like it.
Dave's avatar

Dave · 90 weeks ago

It’s my son that makes me feel old. He was born in 2012, I was born in 1981, roughly 30 years earlier. Here are a few ugly revelations.

Star wars came out 4 years before I was born. 4 years before he was born: Dark Knight. He will think of Bale’s 2nd Batman movie the way I think of Star Wars.

The Lion King came out 18 years before he was born. 18 years before I was born: Cleopatra and From Russia With Love. He will see The Lion King the way I see the 2nd Bond movie ever made. The Lion King is ALMOST old enough for him to be seen the way I see the Original Series of Star Trek.

Shall we go on? Yes Lets. Because I hate me.
He’ll think of Bill Clinton the way I think of JFK.
He’ll think of the turn of the millenium the way I think of the Moon Landing.
He’ll think of the Animated Transformers Movie the way I think of The Seven Year Itch (Time wise anyway… at least I hope)
The first episode of the original TMNT cartoon is as far away from his birth as the Ten Commandments was from mine.

and on and on.

4 replies · active 90 weeks ago

Gretchen's avatar

Gretchen · 90 weeks ago

I hear you. I was born in ’82, my son in 2012. I distinctly remember my mom playing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as she cleaned the apartment when I was very, very young (I like to say my love of zombies was established then). Michael Jackson died before my son was born.
Dave's avatar

Dave · 90 weeks ago

Thriller is a good one! Released 30 years before my son was born in 2012. Elvis’s first album is 5 years TOO NEW to be considered the same as the Thriller album to my son.

Michael Jackson is OLDER to him than Elvis is to me.
I don’t even recognize these songs from the top 30 of 1951. Too Young by Nat King Cole? On Top of Old Smokey by the Weavers? Mockin’ Bird Hill by Les Paul?

Gretchen's avatar

Gretchen · 90 weeks ago

I recognize On Top of Old Smokey, but only because it was turned into a kid’s song. I’m feeling old!

And just in terms of world events, there will be no “pre-9/11” in his understanding of the world. The event happened over a DECADE before he was born. The things we recognize a direct results of that event will, to him, be just the way the world is. It’s funny to think how different our kids’ understanding will be (because I don’t feel nearly as old as I thought MY parents were when they were my current age).

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 90 weeks ago

Everyone one of these made me let out an audible, “GUHHHHHHH”.
lou's avatar

lou · 90 weeks ago

I was born in 1984, same year as (among other franchises) Transformers, which is approaching their 30th anniversary, which means I will be officially out of my 20’s in a matter of time. Time, that dick.
Lawrence's avatar

Lawrence · 90 weeks ago

Not a re-release, but in 2011, I was listening to TMBG’s “Flood” for the first time in a few years, and was of course singing along, and found myself singing out loud in front of my pre-school child, “Why is the world in love again? Why are we marching hand in hand? Why are the ocean levels rising up? It’s a brand new record, for 1990 JESUS H. FUCKNUT”

1 reply · active 89 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 89 weeks ago

Yes, “Brand new” and “1990” seem in direct opposition.
KryssLaBryn's avatar

KryssLaBryn · 58 weeks ago

Hah, this isn’t an album or what, but the other day, during a conversation a few coworkers were having in the lunchroom about whether or not 23 was young or not, I suddenly realized (and immediately blurted out): “Dude, I’ve been having sex since before you were born!”

It pretty effectively ended the discussion of whether or not 23 was young.

I Feel The Need

The BIGGEST MERCH SALE I HAVE EVER DONE  ENDS THIS WEEK (9/21/13)! GO NOW to the HE STORE $10 Books! $9 Shirts! 

[I’m hearing reports of unusually high shipping charges in the store. I’ve asked what the deal is but so far I have not gotten a straight answer. I PROMISE you that shipping prices will be normal when the store re-opens shortly after the blowout sale. I’m really sorry about this and I appreciate anyone that tried to support the sale, but had to abandon their cart due to crazy shipping prices.]

Hot damn if these new strips aren’t kicking my ass. I spent a day just trying to figure out how to draw Denise. Longtime HE readers may know that she’s appeared very infrequently and thus has never really had a consistent appearance. Primarily her scarceness was due to my lack of confidence with regards to drawing ladies. I am forcing myself to get better at this by writing them into the comics for essentially the first time ever. I am also taking more time on the backgrounds since I’ve realized that continuing stories will probably call for continuity in background settings. Feel free to check my math on that, but I’m pretty sure I’m right. Anyway, these new challenges have lead to my typical 4-5 hour comic process taking 8-10 hours.

Regardless of the additional time constraints I am extremely proud of the new comics and the feedback I’ve been getting is really reassuring. It’s does wonders for my enthusiasm to see people tweeting and posting jokes from my comics that are just dialog I’ve written between characters instead of my take on some Hollywood shenanigan or Doctor Whoism. There’s still a place for that in the Lo-fi comics (because I still love telling those kinds of jokes), but it’s gratifying to know I can invent something of my own and have it still be amusing to some.

COMMENTERS: What did you significant other do to make you realize that they just GET you? Or vice versa? When did you look at someone and go, “Oh, you feel that way about that thing, then our brains/hearts must have similar operating systems.”

NOTE: The Mobile Alt Text button broke when I put the big store sale banner in the site. As soon as the sale is over I will put the button back.

Have you seen my wife’s geeky jewelry creations? 

You can see her Tetris necklace below and more geeky goods in her shop! 

tetris-necklace

 

Comments (34)

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Admin Options

iampaul's avatar

iampaul · 91 weeks ago

Im from the Philippines
But I dont seem to get it
Sky Boners?
Please explain
Thanks

2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

benthorp's avatar - Go to profile

benthorp· 91 weeks ago

Top Gun has been consistently accused of being full of thinly-veiled homoerotic motifs. The joke here is that, because of this, when it’s translated into another language the thin veil is removed – it’s not necessarily Philippines specific.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

What he said. I’m glad you did this because I would rather chop off my own head with a brick than explain a joke.
All-Purpose Guru's avatar - Go to profile

All-Purpose Guru· 91 weeks ago

I like Denise. No, I *really* like her. “My ass needs a couch, my brain needs a beer.”

2 replies · active 72 weeks ago

Fren's avatar

Fren · 91 weeks ago

Give us six of her and worlds shall tremble.
Phil's avatar

Phil · 91 weeks ago

As a former American colony, the Philippines rarely gets alternate movie titles.

But if we did, Sky Boners would be TIGAS LANGIT. Which is awesome.

4 replies · active 91 weeks ago

Stephanie's avatar

Stephanie · 91 weeks ago

Tigas Langit is a good name for the hero of an action sci fi adventure movie.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Is that Tagalog?
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Also, please be super prepared for my vision of the Philippines and the ACTUAL Philippines to differ WILDLY.
Phil's avatar

Phil · 91 weeks ago

Yep.
Stephanie's avatar

Stephanie · 91 weeks ago

For me and my hubby it was the sense of humor. My best friend stuck us in a car together for a long drive to an exhibition game against another college. I started out bummed because I actually had a crush on another guy. But then we passed some land feature named after some sort of tableware (fork pass or something) and we spent the rest of the trip naming land features after tableware. It was silly and ridiculous, but it passed the time quickly. I relentlessly pursued him after that until he finally gave in and asked me out. We’ve now been married almost 10 years and we still have the same sense of humor. I’ve discovered that his ability to make me laugh when I’m having a bad day is the single most important thing in our marriage.
AmyLynn's avatar

AmyLynn · 91 weeks ago

My husband is a baseball geek as well as a Browncoat and a Trekkie. We find common ground on the latter all the time. The other day I said something like “yeah, but that record is from the dead-ball era” and he just stared at me. I swear I could see Looney Tunes style hearts emanating from his head.
's avatar - Go to profile

Bill Murphy · 91 weeks ago

While reading the comic and before reading your blog I thought to myself…
“Oh good, he’s staying consistent with the background.” It’s something I appreciate. I like to become familiar with character’s surroundings.
I also laughed at Joel in the third panel. 😉

As for the comment question, for no reason at all, I was given a Gamorrean Guard doll.

Paul's avatar

Paul · 91 weeks ago

Just wanted to join the chorus and say that I think this move to continuing stories is a good idea. It’ll help you stretch creative muscles you may not have used previously, and I think that focusing on and expanding a cast of regular characters will build readership and contribute to the longevity of the strip.
Sonia's avatar

Sonia · 91 weeks ago

I love both the new direction you’re going in as well as the lo-fi strips and think you are doing a fantastic job. Challenging yourself artistically is a good thing. I will keep reading as will most of my friends.
InkBlot's avatar - Go to profile

InkBlot· 91 weeks ago

My wife told me when we were dating that she wanted me to come over and watch the NHL finals with her. I grew up playing hockey, she had only a tangential knowledge of it. She then asked me to explain it to her. I’m not sure there is anything better for a sports fan than explaining the sport to a newbie.
HikingViking's avatar

HikingViking · 91 weeks ago

I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read about Pretty Horse and Mustache Duck, or I would have spit it out. Because laughter.
Thatman42's avatar

Thatman42 · 91 weeks ago

Anything you decide to do with the comic I will support. I’ve been reading it for a couple of years and have enjoyed it all.
I used to be pretty into Warhammer back when I had more time to devote to it. My fiance isn’t much of a geek but one year for Christmas she made a folding warhammer table for me. At that point I realized that even though she may not be into all the same stuff I’m into, she will at the very least support and encourage my involvement which is awesome.
Richter's avatar

Richter · 91 weeks ago

When I rebuilt an engine over the kitchen sink
thehappysmith's avatar - Go to profile

thehappysmith· 91 weeks ago

I knew the ex and I were in trouble when we went to the Grand Canyon and she described it unironically as “just a hole in the ground.”

2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

Huttj509's avatar

Huttj509 · 91 weeks ago

When my family went there, my reaction was basically “It’s pretty, a bit bigger than what I’m used to, but not as magical as the hype has it.”

Then I moved to Indiana, and realized how good scenery-wise I had it back in northern New Mexico, with the Rio Grande gorge literally in my backyard.

Bruceski's avatar

Bruceski · 91 weeks ago

The main thought I remember from the Grand Canyon was at sunrise, when the shadows combined with the size of it killed my brain’s sense of scale and made it look like a cardboard diorama.
Jon's avatar

Jon · 91 weeks ago

When my wife got me a giant book of DC comics art. I want to put it on a pedestal in the living room like some families do to bibles. In turn I gave her a pendant of Mars for her birthday. The look on her face was priceless as she is obsessed with the planet and space in general. As for the new direction I dig it. Reading this comic is like grabbing coffee with good friends.
Neph Sy's avatar

Neph Sy · 91 weeks ago

Having a similar sense of humor was the turning point for me. I’d been attracted to men that were funny, but most of them liked to be the center of attention, as if they were constantly on stage performing a set. Then I met someone who thought “I” was funny, would laugh at the odd things I say, and then could join in and throw back his own concoctions to get me going too. Rarely does a day go by when we’re not being silly and joking around.

And it didn’t hurt that on our first official date when I was talking about my favourite science fiction and fantasy authors (at the time) he ran into his boarding house and came out carrying their latest releases!

Aetheling's avatar

Aetheling · 91 weeks ago

Pretty much as soon as I met her!
She’s an English Civil War re-enactor who specifically runs a cannon crew, she shares the same man-crushes as me, listens to dodgy eighties hair metal, and farted at me in the pub on the very first occasion we met.
After that, I knew it was only a matter of time.
Dudeguy's avatar

Dudeguy · 91 weeks ago

I once told my wife that sometimes, on long car trips, I imagined shooting laser beams out of my pinkie finger (since the others were occupied) and blowing up stuff on the side of the road. She looked at me like I was absolutely nuts, shook her head slowly and said “That’s stupid. Everyone knows the index is your laser finger.”
Laura's avatar

Laura · 91 weeks ago

There have been many things with my boyfriend (like when I mentioned that after long gaming sessions, I would get in the car and be disappointed that it wasn’t my epic mount, to which he responded “Yeah, so you keep reaching for the spacebar to jump, and slowly realize you can’t just fly over the other cars…”) but the most recent have been as a result of moving into a new place together. Talking about getting art for the walls and such, he mentioned putting up giant prints of Magic: the Gathering art and I mentioned a series of DC comics based art that caught my eye. We were both thrilled with the other’s choice.

Also, although moving costs have left us strapped for cash, he told me the other day, “So the first time we ordered pizza over here, I tipped the guy really well. $10 on a $30 order. I’ve been tipping similarly well every time since then. Our delivery time has been cut in half.” Priorities, man…. priorities.

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 90 weeks ago

My wife got me Pandemic for my last birthday.

We started dating when we were 18, and it wasn’t that I met her so long ago and she still “gets me.” It’s that we got each other when we were 18, then we started to grow up and mature and refine our interests and become more complex people… together. We sort of progressed at the same rate, changed in very similar ways, and through luck stayed compatible though we are both entirely different people that we were when we met.

 

Take My Breath Away

The BIGGEST MERCH SALE I HAVE EVER DONE  ENDS THIS WEEK (9/21/13)! GO NOW to the HE STORE $10 Books! $9 Shirts! 

When I was still in high school, my mom and I had a 36″ JVC TV that I have gotten from the store I worked at for essentially nothing because the coax cable input had been broken off of it. I figured we would just tune channels with the VCR. When I it home, on a whim I stripped the coax coming from the wall and touched it to the bare terminal in the back of the TV where the coax connector USED to be. Low and behold there was picture! And sound! It was the late 90’s, so let’s assume it was one or more of the friends from Friends! I held it still while she brought me some electrical tape. I taped everything just so and delicately backed away from the TV, holding my breath. It worked perfectly for at least 2 years, until I tried to solder on a new coax connector and ruined it forever.

Many years later I spent 3 or 4 months building a small form factor PC into an NES case in order to use it for a HTPC. Finally I had the thing all button up and running smoothly. A specially ordered external power supply and two little fans kept it running cool, and you could plug actual NES controllers into the controller ports and use them (through an internal rewire that sent their pins to the proper parallel port pins) to control the AV software. I hooked it up to the TV with VGA and got ready to watch a downloaded copy of The Animatrix. And… ANNNNNNNND… nothing. Despite it 1ghz processor and 1gb of Ram (halfway decent for the early 2000’s), it was unable to decode compressed video due to it’s otherwise shitty specs. That thing is still in my closet. I have never used it for anything and I will NEVER part with it. I could probably rip everything out of it and just plop a Mac Mini right inside of it. Kids today don’t know how good they got it… in terms of putting computers inside of classic game consoles…

COMMENTERS: What was the most complicated or ghetto AV setup you’ve ever had or had to deal with? 

NOTE: The Mobile Alt Text button broke when I put the big store sale banner in the site. As soon as the sale is over I will put the button back.

Have you seen my wife’s geeky jewelry creations? 

You can see her Tetris necklace below and more geeky goods in her shop! 

tetris-necklace

 

Comments (22)

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Admin Options

nenslo's avatar

nenslo · 91 weeks ago

I recall in my student days that my friend’s house was covered in AV (multiple projectors, TVs, 5.1 sound systems, Xboxs, PS2s, DJ decks and the like). There was a mass of cables in the corner of the room, which to this day I’m sure you could see moving up and down as if it was breathing. I think if mouldy pizza was added to the mix, the first true instance of the Borg would have been created.

Side note: In the alt text, I think you mean “pour”, not “poor” </pedantry>

Aetheling's avatar

Aetheling · 91 weeks ago

For a society fundraiser at college only last year, we had an outdoor cinema and all day gaming marathon. Two of us hung from the upper windows of one of the lecture buildings to tie a sheet of canvas up on the wall using spare lengths of ethernet cable. There was a little almost silent petrol generator running that we didn’t actually have to power anything with- the Xbox and PS3 were sat next to it to stay warm on a Welsh May night. The projector and soundsystem were entirely held together with duct tape and the scart ends were attached to the bare cables with crocodile clips. We had a barbecue, and played Halo 3, Unreal Tournament 3, Soul Calibur 4 and a pile of old Tekkens. Then we watched Stardust and The Last Crusade. It was an amazing night.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

My favorite part is tying the sheet with ethernet cables. That’s perfect.
's avatar - Go to profile

Bill Murphy · 91 weeks ago

I have to say I busted out loud when I read the vacuum cleaner line! 😀

As for the comment question…
My family was in awe when they heard Super Mario Brothers being played through our home stereo for the first time. That game system was the original Nintendo System. 😉

seriously's avatar

seriously · 91 weeks ago

I imagine it’d look something like this: http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/c…
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Mine is very close to that. I did have the CD tray coming out of the cartridge door. I mounted the two intake fans on the back, but otherwise it’s almost identical. I had seen a lot of them online and they were all so ugly. I made sure mine was super clean and incognito. As far as I know Im the only one that ever did the controller ports in the particular way that I did.
seriously's avatar

seriously · 91 weeks ago

A buddy once bought an entire entertainment system at a yard sale. It worked great, for about a week.

After that it was a never ending series of workarounds just to keep it working. By the end he’d replaced so much of it there was barely any of the original remaining.

TormundThunderfist's avatar

TormundThunderfist · 91 weeks ago

Being in a band in my teens we had a PA that we would hook up to the TV for movie nights with my bass amp as the crowning glory. We had to remove all the pictures from the walls as they would just fall off otherwise.
It would take us all day to transport and set it up at whoever’s house we were at, but that was half the fun.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Oh god. You just reminded me of all the ways my teenage bands used to try and rig PA systems. THe first was a computer mic plugged into the drummer’s CD player. We’d prop it up in on his chest of drawers so we could almost sort of hear it. Eventually I blew both of his speakers. Later the bass player bought a 35watt radioshack power amp (used for CB radio I believe) and a car subwoofer box with 2 12″s in it. We have a shitty mic that I’d permanently borrowed from church and that lasted maybe 6 months. It was all feedback and screeching all the time. When I was 15 or 16 we all chipped in and got a halfway decent starter PA with a 100 watt Peavey head and 2 Gemeni (cheap DJ club brand) 15″s with horns. We were the envy of every other shitty teen band… until we broke up and had to figure out who actually owned the equipment. NEVER NEVER NEVER own gear with band mates. I should also mention that my mic stand was a PVC pipe stuck in a 20 lb lifting weight all wrapped in black electrical tape.
TormundThunderfist's avatar

TormundThunderfist · 91 weeks ago

…and when I was a student there was a wall near my flat painted white. The people opposite would put a projector in the upstairs window and the whole neighbourhood wood bring chairs and even sofas to watch the movie.
You can see it here http://goo.gl/maps/TolzI

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

TormundThunderfist's avatar

TormundThunderfist · 91 weeks ago

*would
Laura's avatar

Laura · 91 weeks ago

I find every single part of your NES build to be amazing. AMAZING!

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

I should really dig it out and post some pics. I probably have the “WIP” pics on my file server.
lurkie's avatar

lurkie · 91 weeks ago

A.V.lanche. ha. lurv it.
Stephen's avatar

Stephen · 91 weeks ago

Hey Joel, what happened to the alt text button? I can’t view the mouse-over text from my tablet anymore. It makes me sad. And I read your comics to bring myself joy. 🙂

2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

read the blog post.
Stephen's avatar

Stephen · 91 weeks ago

Ah. Well now I feel silly. Thanks for the reply though. 🙂

Highway To The Danger Zone

The BIGGEST MERCH SALE I HAVE EVER DONE  ENDS THIS WEEK (9/21/13)! GO NOW to the HE STORE $10 Books! $9 Shirts! 

I made you TWO new Breaking Bad Lofi comics over the weekend. Check them out HERE and HERE.

“Take my breath awaaayyyyyy… Bum buhhhh, bum buhhhhhh, bum BUHHHHH…”

COMMENTERS: WHY DID GOOSE HAVE TO DIEEE!?!?!? Wait… no. That’s not the question. Top Gun is a movie that nearly perfectly encapsulates the 80’s. How we talked, how we dressed, the kinds of jets we flew… it’s all there. Which movies do you think can define, or at least explain each decade to someone that didn’t live through them? For the late 90’s, the only correct answer is Hackers.

NOTE: The Mobile Alt Text button broke when I put the big store sale banner in the site. As soon as the sale is over I will put the button back.

Have you seen my wife’s latest geeky jewelry creation? DNA Necklaces! 

DNA Necklace on Etsy

 

Comments (38)

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Admin Options

ricky's avatar

ricky · 91 weeks ago

Hahaha!!!!
Bruceski's avatar

Bruceski · 91 weeks ago

I think to explain the 80s you just have someone watch a sunset while playing Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

MrPlow99's avatar

MrPlow99 · 91 weeks ago

In a house filled with popcorn
Pete_Bone's avatar - Go to profile

Pete_Bone· 91 weeks ago

I’ll see your Top Gun and raise you a Desperately Seeking Susan. It’s horrible that it’s so accurate.

Also “Go” for the 90’s

Dean's avatar

Dean · 91 weeks ago

<i.Strange Days</i>. It captures late-90s technofear and pre-millenial angst perfectly.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

thank you so much. I hope they seem more real because that is my intent and it’s not just some grand accident.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

You’re spot on. I think it encapsulates exactly what it was like just before social tech changed essentially everything about how we interacted with the world and the people in it.
's avatar - Go to profile

Siirenias · 91 weeks ago

Oughts. I call it the Oughts.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

I dont know if I can get on board with this. Swingers captured a type of behavior that I have never seen an actual human exhibit. It might be a good movie from the 90’s but is it a great movie ABOUT the 90’s? I’d counter with “Singles” and “Reality Bites.”
HikingViking's avatar

HikingViking · 91 weeks ago

It’s interesting – now that I live in Seattle, I could totally see Singles being a staple movie of the 90’s. Actually, the Seattle-impression from that movie was what attracted me to move up here in the first place. But growing up in Southern California, I can vouch that many, many people acted EXACTLY like the characters in Swingers.
That_guy's avatar

That_guy · 91 weeks ago

Empire Records

It’s a bunch of emo teens saving a record store run by a guy who would have had to accomplish something to be washed up.

Also, I still like it.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

This is my wife’s favorite teen-times movie and yes, you are correct that it bleeds the 90’s from every pore.
nenslo's avatar

nenslo · 91 weeks ago

Surely Clerks for the 90s? Whiny, narcissistic, unsure where to go or what the future holds. Dante Hicks is the human race in one perfectly encapsulated arsehole.

80s, I’d go with Big Trouble in Little China (mainly because I still don’t know what that movie is about and I have similar feelings about the 80s in general); early 00s I’d go with Suckerpunch, because we all got taken to mental wards/brothels and then fantasised about killing steampunk Nazis with Gatling guns… obviously.

2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

See if you can follow me on this line of logic (since Im not sure that it makes sense), but to me Clerks in a quintessential 90’s movie not because it was INFORMED BY 90’s culture, but because of it’s own influence on the way we spoke, dressed, and the affect it had on movies to follow. In that respect, I would not say it’s very representative of what living through the 90’s was actually like.
nenslo's avatar

nenslo · 91 weeks ago

I see where you’re coming from and maybe it is a case of hindsight but to be so spot on, surely it must be informed of current culture (at the time) otherwise it wouldn’t have hit home in quite the same way. I absolutely agree with you that it affected cinema since its release but as a definition of 90s, the zeitgeist, the angst and apathy (although this could be a regional thing) then I think it’s spot on.

Personally, I love Clerks and Dante always reminds me of myself and how I felt after leaving university.

Aetheling's avatar

Aetheling · 91 weeks ago

I think the Matrix sums up the late nineties and early two thousands (I hate the term noughties). The whole thing about rebellion against a system certainly influenced me and my friends. That, and all the cool clothes. (to an extent, I’ve always thought of the Matrix as a tipping point when people really started to ask questions about government in the modern age and it’s been steadily fermenting from 1999 onwards.)
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

I dont think he would like it, since it’s cheap mexican beer with a fake german name.
The Unknown FB's avatar

The Unknown FB · 91 weeks ago

It sounds more like something directly marketed to straight frats in college towns who need to get drunk to have man-on-man sex. ..
…before they come out 20 years later after decades of hitting on me when “the wife is out of town”.
's avatar - Go to profile

Bill Murphy · 91 weeks ago

For the 80’s “Wall Street”. 😉

For the 90’s just a photograph of Sandra Bullock. She was in almost every movie that decade.

bubujin_2's avatar

bubujin_2 · 91 weeks ago

For the 80s, “The Breakfast Club”–at least as a microcosm of white teenage suburbia.
Dave's avatar

Dave · 91 weeks ago

For the past few comics, I have noticed that the radio button to reveal the hover text is gone. Now I can’t see the hover text when I am using my iPad to access the site. That makes me a sad Mac.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

samldanach's avatar - Go to profile

samldanach· 91 weeks ago

If you read the note at the end of the commentary section, it mentions that that button is currently borked, but will return to service soon.
DuckAmuck's avatar

DuckAmuck · 91 weeks ago

I kinda think the best movie to sum up the ’80s is actually “Hot Tub Time Machine.”
Complete with a whiny John Cusack. And sex, drugs and booze. And skiing. And “violent” preppies.

2 replies · active 91 weeks ago

gabepuratekuta's avatar - Go to profile

gabepuratekuta· 91 weeks ago

But it wasn’t made in the 80s
MrPlow99's avatar

MrPlow99 · 91 weeks ago

Yeah… if we’re going to allow movies made more recently but set in the 80s, I would nominate The Wedding Singer.
Steve's avatar

Steve · 91 weeks ago

Because if Goose didn’t die, we wouldn’t get Deadmeat jokes for Hot Shots. Not to mention Washout. Goose died for better humor.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

lou's avatar

lou · 91 weeks ago

So, it was worth it, right?
90percentgeek's avatar

90percentgeek · 91 weeks ago

I think you can define decades by their horror movies (but then I am currently involved in watching a horror movie marathon). So 80s the Friday the 13th saga, 90s the Scream saga, 00s The Ring. I can’t wait to see what this decades defining horror movie will be.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

VERY interesting idea. Scream is almost the perfect 90’s movie. It’s jaded with it’s own genre. That’s the 90’s in a nutshell.
jiynx's avatar

jiynx · 91 weeks ago

you and wheaton need to get together to make brobrau a thing.

 

Breaking Todd

The BIGGEST MERCH SALE I HAVE EVER DONE  ENDS THIS WEEK (9/21/13)! GO NOW to the HE STORE $10 Books! $9 Shirts! 

Apologies to non-Breaking Bad fans, both for your inability to understand this comic and for your questionable life choices.

It takes a special kind of psychopath to stand out from the crowd on a show like Breaking Bad, which is essentially STAFFED by monsters, murderers and human personifications of the abstract concept of evil. But then there’s Todd.

Todd is perhaps the most frightening monster ever introduced on Breaking Bad. His motivations for murder aren’t greed or thirst for power or… ANYTHING. It’s just something to do. Something he’s seen his entire life and something that sometimes just needs to be done. He’s Patrick Bateman without the charisma. “No offense, but I’m murdering you right now. There. You’re dead. Ok, I gotta go. I’m supposed to help my uncle with some white power stuff.” That shit is stone cold real deal broken murder brain type shit. I’m starting to wonder if this whole series has been Todd’s story and we just don’t know it yet.

COMMENTERS: Whether you watch Breaking Bad or not, you are probably going to be murdered by Todd. It’s just a statistical inevitability. I have been told that the actor who plays Todd was some dumb football player on Friday Night Lights. What other actors have surprised you by going from an innocuous role to a murderous one? 

Thanks to @scottberry for inspiring the alt-text for this one.

NOTE: The Mobile Alt Text button broke when I put the big store sale banner in the site. As soon as the sale is over I will put the button back.

Have you seen my wife’s latest geeky jewelry creation? DNA Necklaces! 

DNA Necklace on Etsy

 

Comments (22)

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Admin Options

Bean's avatar

Bean · 92 weeks ago

Heath Ledgerrrrrrr.
@TheArtimus's avatar

@TheArtimus · 91 weeks ago

Seeing MIchael C Hall go from playing David FIsher on ‘Six Feet Under’ to the lead on ‘Dexter’ was quite jarring.
's avatar - Go to profile

Bill Murphy · 91 weeks ago

Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son.
He was the only reason I went to go see it. To see the “Home Alone” kid being evil was fantastic!

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Yeah he was sufficiently terrifying in that.
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

They’re actually the same character. Gordie was never OK after that summer.
LazyDolphin's avatar - Go to profile

LazyDolphin· 91 weeks ago

I hear the dad from Malcom in the Middle went on to tackle a much darker role. . .

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

Jason's avatar - Go to profile

Jason· 91 weeks ago

“… a show like Breaking Bad, which is essentially STAFFED by monsters, murderers and human personifications of the abstract concept of evil.”

And that right there is why I have absolutely zero interest in watching Breaking Bad, no matter how good everyone says it is. I know (judging by today’s media) I’m in the minority here, but I really don’t enjoy watching people be horrible, to themselves or to each other, or just generally acting like shitty human beings. It also means I have no interest in 90% of what passes for comedy these days either.

Anyway, sorry, I’ll get off this soapbox now.

3 replies · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

I read an article about a kid with cancer who was a huge fan of Breaking Bad and eventually became friends with Bryan Cranston (or at least pen pals). The weird thing was the reason he identified with the show was that Walter “took charge” of his life when he got cancer and refused to let the disease determine his fate. I won’t begrudge anyone with cancer something that makes them feel better or have the strength to survive, but I cant help feeling this kid COMPLETELY missed the point of the show. Beyond his willingness to survive, there is NOTHING about Walter White that should be emulated or looked up to my ANYONE. Cranston sent him a signed photo that said something like “When you can’t find the strength to go on, ask yourself What would Walter White do?” He seemed to leave out the part about “Then do the EXACT OPPOSITE.”
Mitch H.'s avatar

Mitch H. · 91 weeks ago

Jesse Plemons played a *very smart* football player – Landry – to the point where his motivation for having joined the team was really poorly justified. It wasn’t as if he was a particularly talented player, either. He was just the Cinderella-trope quarterback’s top-of-his-class nerd sidekick who just drifted into playing football because that’s how you become a character on Friday Night Lights. I think he ended up drifting from defense into kicking. And then there’s the time Landry beat a rapist to death with a length of pipe…

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

To be fair, I’ve never seen FNL. I’m sure he’s very smart and talented.
Bruceski's avatar

Bruceski · 91 weeks ago

I’ve been watching old episodes of Mission Impossible and I think I’ve seen William Shatner show up as three different bad guys (also Sulu as a biochemist and Spock as a main cast character for a couple of seasons). Law and Order is also a good place to see familiar faces play criminal psychopaths.
lou's avatar

lou · 91 weeks ago

Imagine how people felt when they saw Christian Bale, child star of “Empire of the Sun” and “Newsies”, grow up to take the role of Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho”.
I’d like to add Mark Hamill going from Luke Skywalker to The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and the Arkham games.

1 reply · active 91 weeks ago

Bruceski's avatar

Bruceski · 91 weeks ago

The voice I have no problem with (since he’;s an amazing voice actor), but the first time I saw a video of Hamill doing the voice in public… yeah, total cognitive dissonance. I understand why he prefers to keep it behind the screen.
LazyDolphin's avatar - Go to profile

LazyDolphin· 91 weeks ago

Here’s another good one — I haven’t seen the full movie, but Michael Cera in the trailer for MAGIC MAGIC is about the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elU_AlgW6Lw
hijinksensue's avatar - Go to profile

hijinksensue· 91 weeks ago

Todd from ‘Breaking Bad’: I’m an Ambush Predator

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/todd-from…

's avatar - Go to profile

Stupido Comics · 90 weeks ago

Oh you mean ‘Breaking Bad’ isn’t the sequel of ‘How I met your mother’, in which the guy tells his kids how he broke up with their mother? Damn! I know nothing of TV programming!