Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Electrichanic

Ahhh, it's good to be back.  Flexing (even as minimally as I do) my mental muscles to bring these posts can sometimes be as therapeutic as working out or talking at my wife's ear until I'm shooed away.  Tonight's inspiration comes as a result of a few things, of which we'll probably need to address in order.

It's no secret that I love building things.  This can be in the form of Lego, ideas, tension, jokes, websites or furniture.  It's the last that derailed me from completing my regularly-scheduled comic a few weeks back.  This segued rather comfortably into the Thanksgiving holiday break and all the related relaxation, during which I didn't even have a need to take my car out of the garage until returning to work this week.

At this time of the year, work is a nearly-constant fire drill (without the drill) mode as I rather deftly navigate between deadlines and expectations.  It's earlier tonight that for some of you the story actually becomes (momentarily) interesting.  Apparently the recent drops in temperature were enough to kill my car battery, which decided to completely give out after work as the sun began to set in the distance.  Luckily, my sister works nearby and we were able to easily get it purring again and back home to my garage.

Going back to my earlier point regarding my love for building, I can probably narrow that down a little bit more.  My love is for a job well done, that moment of standing back and surveying your accomplishment.  As stressful and disappointing as my car had become earlier in the evening, everything was forgotten once the new battery was installed and sockets spun to secure it snugly.

Smiling at the device that just hours before made me think for a second about mass transit or buying a good bicycle, I had a small self-realization.  As long as I get to fix it or put it back together, I don't really care what breaks.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Crack it, Chewie!

In what was to go down in history as yet another 'you got your peanut butter in my chocolate' moment, Angry Birds and Star Wars partnered to create, you guessed it, Angry Birds Star Wars.  The game immediately topped every chart when it comes to apps, then it made a few new charts just to top those too.

I assumed that there were a few that were proposed that ultimately didn't make it into the actual game, so I stealthily procured some test images and have posted them here tonight.  If they come for me, you now know it was so the truth could be told of the other birds in a slingshot game on your phone.

For those of you that play Fantasy Football, have you ever had a weekend where nearly every player on your team just decides that they're going to take it easy in their games this week?  Maybe they're thinking about their own bodies, or tending to injuries or are distracted by their personal lives or the politics of the locker room.  In any case, why can't they just run down the field a little farther so I can accrue a few more fake points in a game that might as well be called Statistical Roulette?  Actually, forget I ever mentioned that, I need to go design how you would play Statistical Roulette now.

Punch it, Chewie!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

This Case Is Closed-ish

We've got another installment of everyone's favorite tough-talking, stick-walking private investigator!  He's got a 100% success rate for his cases.  Just ask him, he'll tell you.

Actually that brings up an interesting point that brings it back around to Batman eventually.  Thinking of all the cases that Stick Guy P.I. may or may not have just closed because he wanted lunch, this would create a potential wing of the local prison with guys that have something against the 'stache.  That's the point at which I think of Batman's rogues gallery.

I was listening to a podcast earlier today that brought up the point that Batman is unique as a super hero in that most heroes are a reaction to an inciting incident.  They then make it through the other side and find themselves changed and ready to take on graver and larger threats.  Batman inciting incident was post-traumatic stress and guilt as a result of small-time crime.  Instead of joining the police force though, he escalated things and was actually on the scene before his villains were.  The Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc, Clayface, the list goes on and on of super-powered baddies that only seem to stick around in Gotham because Batman won't relent.  The idea of a hero that spawns enemies is fairly unique on the scale that Batman is responsible for, yet rarely do you truly feel a sense of guilt from the Caped Crusader about that fact.  Granted, it's not really something he could do much about it would just be nice to see him acknowledge it maybe once in awhile.  My favorite sociopath could use a little more self-awareness.

Hoping the weather cooperates with us this weekend, we're going hiking and maybe cow tipping! One of those things is false, you choose.

Punch it, Chewie!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Mouse-ter Chief

I've been brewing on this story for a full week at this point, but if things go the way they have been, Disney will be acquiring additional properties over time, including more mediums of entertainment.  Word came down that Disney would be buying Lucasfilm, creating another trilogy of Star Wars movies and otherwise managing the universe Lucas created.

There are a few thoughts that come to mind as I try to process these kinds of things that I have no clear understanding or power over.  Firstly, I worry about one over-arching voice of creative control for so many different aspects of entertainment.  At the same time, the war chest that Disney can dispense for their projects allows for so many more projects to go through the machine.  In the end it may come down to your personal preference; do you prefer a lot of the things you used to really like or would you rather have less but respect the product more.

At the same time, I can't really complain that Disney took over everything Star Wars if I look to how they treated taking over Marvel a few years ago.  When word came down that the sugarplum empire was going to handle my childhood (alright, I'll concede probably lifelong) obsession, I was very worried.  In practice, the only problems I've had with Marvel since come from maybe a little too much marketing for movie cross-promotion and weak writing for their huge events.  Otherwise, writers kept on doing what they were supposed to do and artists did the same.

In the end though, I'll just have to wait and see.  It's like I said before, it's not like I'll ever have a clear look behind the curtain or have any chance to affect any change if I did.  Guess I'll have to work harder to create entertainment of my own.

Punch it, Chewie!