Productive Time on the Road

I just got back from a nice little week-long jaunt down through southern Washington and Portland. But besides being a great trip, I can say that it was productive as well! First stop was in Olympia to help Jule finish up work on his stone patio (with a little extra landscaping thrown in for good measure). The whole thing turned out great* and even left some time for family meals, some frisbee golf, and a trip to the theatre. Next stop: always wacky Portland. The plan was just to hang out, see friends, and of course get in as many pub quizzes* as possible. The result, however, is that I somehow talked my way into helping Andrew and Gretchen build the lovely pathway you see here. We gathered the broken concrete for free via craigslist so the only cost was the sand. I think it turned out awesome! (North agrees. I couldn't even get him to look away from the path to get a decent picture*.) Last stop on my productive week on the road was a trip up the Columbia River for a "business meeting"*. While the meeting was productive, the train ride really took the cake. The views as we cruised along the Columbia were spectacular! It is a nice feeling to combine seeing good friends and traveling around with being productive. Maybe I'll have to try that again soon*...

Sunday May 16 2010

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on Sun 16th May, 2010 02:29 pm PDT mely said: soon come! ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 06:30 pm PDT andrew said: Mely got #1!But for realz, the path is superb. Couldn't have been done without you. Next time I guarantee some darts. ...and could you help us take down the Christmas lights? ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 06:43 pm PDT mely said: yes, very nice path, and a cute kid! (wren's not too bad either) ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 06:52 pm PDT Dave said: Is that kid a product of Andrew and Gretchen? (If so, congratulations A and G.. if that's the right word?) ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 09:17 pm PDT Root Mama said: Your path looks great! ************************

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FC 105 - The Sandman Cometh

The idea of another Jeopardy! comic made me smile so big that I moved it to the top of the todo list. For those not around for the early days of Friday Comics, the first comic ever (which never had intentions of becoming a series) was Jeopardy based. FC 6 also poked fun at our favorite television trivia show. Although I'm not super fond of the format (mostly because of technical constraints), I relented and made this a 3 panel comic. I suppose a variety in format isn't a bad thing. Hopefully you will chuckle which will make the format choice, the hours I drug tits over a hot keyboard*, and everything else worth it. Happy Friday!! (Unlike my last Jeopardy comic, this one wasn't traced at all! Having that as a comparison shows me how far my computer comicking skillz have come.)

Thursday May 13 2010

File under: comic

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on Fri 14th May, 2010 08:11 am PDT Saxtor said: I would suppose murder ballads would also be out of the question... ************************ on Fri 14th May, 2010 11:01 am PDT Mom said: I'm quite certain that we didn't have keyboards when you were a child. ************************ on Sat 15th May, 2010 08:29 pm PDT andrew said: uhh. is her name "Mely"? ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 08:55 am PDT Wren said: @Andrew: Yep. It is a shout out to a commenter from the previous post. Next time, I will use "Andrew" and you won't like the drawing I make of you! ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 02:26 pm PDT mely said: yes, my name is mely :-) ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 04:17 pm PDT Sean said: I thought Ken is blond? ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 06:29 pm PDT andrew said: DAmn. I just got served. Sorry, Mely! ************************ on Sun 16th May, 2010 06:41 pm PDT mely said: heh heh heh, it's alright :-) ************************

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Mount St. Helens

The last time I went to Mount St. Helens, I bet I was only 14 years old, if that. It's funny how you can live so close to something that is really quite spectacular and fail to give it the attention it warrants. Well, since the 30th anniversary of the massive eruption is nearly upon us, I thought that no better an excuse to check it out again*. The weather for the day fell into the Oh-this-is-why-Washington-is-the-best-place-in-the-world-to-live category, which made everything glisten and gleam that much more. Unfortunately, the tippy top visitor's center hasn't opened yet for the year, so we couldn't peer down into the crater, see the spectacular documentary movie, etc. Instead, we had to be content with just driving around and taking in some of the viewpoints which made for a spectacular day as it was.

Monday May 10 2010

File under: misc

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on Mon 10th May, 2010 02:41 pm PDT mindi said: Washington is NOT the best place in the world to live. In fact, it sucks. It is absolutely horrible. If you live somewhere else, please stay there. You DO NOT want to come to Washington. Not even to visit. There is nothing here but rain. ;) ************************ on Mon 10th May, 2010 07:52 pm PDT mely said: that *does* sound like a pretty fun day. :-) ************************ on Tue 11th May, 2010 11:47 am PDT Saxtor said: Per Mindi's comment, in terms of tourism, Washington is the new Iceland.In terms of natural disasters, Iceland is the new Washington. ************************ on Wed 12th May, 2010 04:34 am PDT Dave said: Correction: That heron is thinking "with all the lakes this state just stocked with stupid, fat trout, I had to pick the empty one?" ************************

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FC 104 - Please Pass the Mashed Potatoes

While the worst of the comic is seen here, I should probably throw out of a bit of a warning: there is a chicken running around with its head cut off in this comic. If such grotesqueness offends you, it might be best to skip this week's comic. Otherwise, by all means, check it out. In an effort to save time (believe it or not, but I've actually been quite busy of late), I considered cutting and pasting my last chicken drawing into this one. But just the thought of that made me feel a little bit dirty, so I bucked up and drew one from scratch (and then cut and pasted it, with a tweak or two, to come up with chicken #2). Oh if I could just draw things by hand like normal comics people, life would be so much easier. Anyway, I hope you have a fabulous Friday!

Thursday May 6 2010

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on Fri 07th May, 2010 01:39 am PDT Horge said: Nice! ************************ on Fri 07th May, 2010 06:03 am PDT Saxtor said: Nice comic, but you do know, despite what KFC would have you think, a chicken isn't just a chicken leg with head, wings and feet attached, right? ************************ on Fri 07th May, 2010 11:26 am PDT Jen Kay said: I actually laughed at this one! ************************ on Fri 07th May, 2010 03:38 pm PDT jen said: So the warning about today's comic being grotesque unfortunately came a little late... Funny though. Thanks for the friday chuckle. ************************

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Another Compost Experiment

Remember that test I did with the supposedly compostable drinking glass from Pizzeria Pagliacci's a couple years ago? Well, I ran across another product making the "compostable" claim, only this time to a greater degree (to see the info, go here and then click "compostable packaging"*). Call me a skeptic if you want, but I just had to try it. It turns out that the timing is such that the Sun Chips bag is the first item in this year's bin, having just emptied the now well composted soil into the gardens. This means maximum compost time, pressure, and heat. I'll check on it in 12 weeks or so, maybe a little longer to allow for enough other food stuff to really get the party started. Then I will report back. This is skeptical environmental consumer lookout guy signing off.

Wednesday May 5 2010

File under: environment

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on Wed 05th May, 2010 04:24 pm PDT gretchen said: they do say it is going to take at least 14 weeks...but i'm going to stand by what i said in the last prediction, won't get hot enough in a-train. but i could be wrong. on another note, how freaking annoying are those bags? soooo loud! ************************ on Wed 05th May, 2010 11:22 pm PDT per said: If I remember correctly, Hammer pants produced twice as much noise, but you still rocked em tough. ohhh! ************************ on Thu 06th May, 2010 07:45 am PDT katie b. said: awesome! i can't wait to see the results. i'm thinking that bag will look the exact same, with a little dirt here and there. ************************ on Sat 08th May, 2010 03:40 pm PDT Sean said: Ohhh! Ohhh-ohhh! Ohhh! STOP. Hammer time ************************ on Tue 11th May, 2010 03:48 pm PDT mindi said: What ever happened to that cup? ************************

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Quote For Monday - ABCs

A to Z: you're sure to find something that calls to you. P.S.*

Monday May 3 2010

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on Mon 03rd May, 2010 01:07 pm PDT Jenn said: Yeah, xeriscaping is what they call our front yard here -- I call it a whole bunch of rocks. ************************ on Wed 05th May, 2010 05:52 pm PDT The other wren said: I'm gonna "Master Something". Or maybe I'll master-something... ************************

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FC 103 - Work Those Muscles

Wow. It feels like it has been years since I've worked under a deadline like this. It's 11:49 pm on Thursday evening and an hour ago, I hadn't even started this week's comic. Usually, I have it done before lunch on Thursday and all I have to do is cut and paste the post last thing before I go to bed. Not this week. No, this week has been hectic: drive-ins, after parties, double dates, work(!)*, circus ballet, and more. The result of a hectic week is a quickly thrown together comic. Perhaps you can't even tell a difference. Well, this one took under an hour while most take 2 or more. All in all, though, I'd say the more than 50% drop in time leads to less than a 50% drop in quality, but that's just me. Anyway, we all know 2 hectic weeks back to back for me is practically unheard of so next week's comic will be back in the regular vein. Anyhoo, happy Friday!!

Thursday April 29 2010

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My Earth Day Contribution 2010

I've been really making an effort these last couple years to honor Earth Day. While the saying goes that we should treat everyday like Earth Day, it is easy to slip into less than perfect habits. Plus, having one day where everyone (media, organizations, etc.) is focused on doing good things for our planet makes for a wonderful excuse to do something yourself. The past 2 years, I've been taking a couple hours out of my Earth Day schedule to go pick up trash on the side of the road. Not only is this Earth Day inspired, but when bike is one's primary mode of transportation, one tends to notice just how trashy some of our roads can get. Besides the great feeling I get from doing my little part to help clean up, it is just downright interesting to see what ends up on the side of the road. In my unscientific survey, here are my observations. At least 3/4 of the garbage on the side of the road is easily recyclable (glass, plastic, aluminum, etc.).* A majority of that (at least in my small test area) is glass such as beer bottles, alcohol bottles, and wine bottles (the weight and breakablity of which led to some interesting thoughts on glass's desirability as a packaging medium). Some roads haven't had a trash crew through in a long time. Just an hour of cleaning up trash can make a huge difference. I'm hoping to make my Earth Day trash clean up a yearly thing. If you happen to be around next April, feel free to join me.

Monday April 26 2010

File under: environment

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on Thu 29th Apr, 2010 11:51 am PDT Horge said: Just thought I'd throw in my 2 Euros about your glass pondering from my work/research: glass is one of the most easily recyclable packaging (saves about 35-32% energy, produces about 1/4 the solid waste, reduces pollution of air about 20% and water 50%, and would reduce mining waste by about 80%); recycled aluminum is even more cost-effective (saves 90-95% each of the energy, raw materials and air pollution); obviously plastic is awful (full of dangerous chemicals and it can really only be downgraded - drinking bottle > detergent bottle - instead of used for the same purpose, uses up scarce petroleum resources, gives a funkier taste...). But to my thinking, glass still wins out, because if the bottle manages to stay intact, it just needs to be cleaned and refilled, while the aluminum will have to be reprocessed from the start... So that's my 2638 cents for the day :) ************************

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FC 102 - Holiday Comic Cop Out

Two years ago, I planned a whole month of comics in honor of Earth Day. But I ended up being on the road for most of April so couldn't get it all to come together. And then last year, I was on the road again, so again it didn't happen. This year, I have no excuse except that I forgot. But while I might have forgot about my Earth Day comic aspirations, I didn't forget about Earth Day, of course. But more on that later. Anyway, this is one of the comics that I was planning for that month long homage 2 years ago. Had I known how quickly it would come together, I might have just made it happen back then. (Comics without people in them are so much easier to draw.) Anyhoo, I hope you all had a happy, productive, and conservative Earth Day.

Thursday April 22 2010

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on Fri 23rd Apr, 2010 04:19 am PDT Dave said: Dude, this was awesome! Nice work. ************************ on Fri 23rd Apr, 2010 04:26 am PDT Saxtor said: Good show! ************************ on Fri 23rd Apr, 2010 05:22 pm PDT Amanda said: Seriously, one of my favs. ************************ on Sat 24th Apr, 2010 10:09 am PDT andrew said: Bring back Pluto ************************ on Sun 25th Apr, 2010 12:09 pm PDT Chris said: Dadly, I've celebrated Earth day by burning tons of jet fuel. On the upside, I did see a lot of said earth and found all the green we've been missing; it's hiding over here in Germany. ************************ on Thu 29th Apr, 2010 11:55 am PDT Horge said: I also unfortunately had to spend earth day burning up fuels. But at least it was carpooling to try to convince various mayors here to solve eco-problems (though given the results of our discussions, I think you probably had a more satisfying experience...) BTW, nice comic! ************************

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A Beard With a Story

Here's the story: There is a short beard-related documentary showing at the Pickford Cinema here in Bellingham. Being a beard enthusiast, I rallied my beard-o-phile friends together to go. Then I had the thought, "Hey, I'm due for my bimonthly shave anyway. Why not get creative for the event." I promptly called my buddy to borrow his hair buzzer. Said buddy is a clowny fellow. And it just so happened that the buzzer exchange was going to happen at Vaudevillingham. Clown buddy decided that we should turn the ridiculous beard trimming into an act. I somewhat (but not really) reluctantly agreed. The act was an audience plant act. I was the plant and I was to win the bid on a special hair-cut auction. When I got on stage, I sat down to get ready for my hair cut. Then out came Blinky. He brandished juggling knives, took a shot from his bottle of whiskey, then went to down on my beard. He climbed up on my knees, pretended to shave my legs*, shushed the audience, and generally clowned around. And then I ended up with this beard. On the Trustworthiness of Beards scale, they call it a Horseshoe a.k.a. The Hogan and rate it "unsavory". If it is paired with oversized, yet mismatched, sideburns, I only imagine that moves it more to the "threatening" side of things. The upside is that after the movie, I'm free to shave it off. The downside is that that won't be until Tuesday.

Sunday April 18 2010

File under: beard

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on Sun 18th Apr, 2010 06:37 pm PDT Wren said: The documentary was awesome. It was called "Enter the Beard". See the trailer here. ************************ on Sun 18th Apr, 2010 07:30 pm PDT katie b. said: haha!! ************************ on Sun 18th Apr, 2010 08:07 pm PDT Mom said: The Bearded Lady won't stand a chance against you clowns. ************************ on Tue 20th Apr, 2010 05:35 pm PDT Wren said: The official photos are in. You can check out the whole series (as well as lots of other great ones from Vaudevillingham) at this flickr page. This one's my favorite! ************************

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