Metapost: Hear Josh now!
I try very hard to keep up with the “new media” trends that were all the rage approximately eight to ten months ago. Having mastered this whole “blogging” thing, I’m now ready to make the leap to podcasts. Blank Label Comics is an independent comics artists collective which produces hilarious and amusing weekly podcast interviews with Internet cartooning luminaries, and they were nice enough to make me their latest audio conquest. So, if you enjoy my writing but always wondered how pinched and nasal my voice sounds, be sure to check out the interview with me. I talk with Dave Kellett (creator of Sheldon) and Kristofer Straub (creator of Starslip Crisis) about blogging, soap opera strips, the state of the modern funny pages, and crystal meth. Quite a lot about crystal meth, actually. Don’t miss it!
Beasley
November 21st, 2005 at 11:40 pm
What is that you said? “Relentless and petty criticism”?!
I’ll leave this as an open ended comment.
;)
C. Havoc
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:30 am
meta-first
C. Havoc
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:31 am
crud…
mooselet
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:43 am
Wow, Josh you sound…. nothing like I thought. You’re completely honest – you *do* sound very nasal – and I respect that. I’ll chalk it up to whatever method you were speaking to the interviewers on – bad connection, yeah that’s it!!
Chawunky
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:00 am
I have a brand-new fixation in Starslip Crisis now.
Thanks for the introduction!
yellojkt
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:06 am
Podcasts will never catch on. Ther are too real hard to listen to on company time.
yellojkt
November 22nd, 2005 at 8:04 am
No more commenting before coffee. Let’s try this again.
Podcasts will never catch on because they are too hard to listen to on company time.
Rosscott
November 22nd, 2005 at 9:29 am
Good podcast!
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
November 22nd, 2005 at 9:46 am
I just clicked on the hair loss ad.
All I can say is…
WOW.
Dennis Jimenez
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:35 am
Hilarious – I thought I was gonna bust a gut on the rap on Garfield and Jim Davis.
Jon Bristow
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:43 am
Oh that nutty Kris Straub and his Crystal Meth conversations… it comes up more often than you think.
Ces
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:10 pm
Great podcast, Josh! Very nice, conversational tone and really funny!
Mibbitmaker
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:36 pm
One of the hosts was actually doing a Stewie-from-Family-Guy immitation!
The voice? Awww, from the description I thought it’d be Conan O’Brien’s nerd voice!
That was alot of fun(ny papers).
Mibbitmaker
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:55 pm
Today:
A3G: “…for, you see, I’m actually a millionaire with an extensive art collection. I’m in town to console a good friend who got left by his fiance. Ever heard of THE Scott Gaines?….” Hoo boy, here we go again!
DTGT: Gee, guys, if you’re so unhappy about the rain, how come you both have barely contained smiles? Oh, I forgot………bad drawing.
FW: 1st panel… right on! Sums it up nicely.
Panel 2… She nailed it! Such is the woe of us indy comic book readers. So panel 3’s GOT to be a great payoff. Let’s see…
Panel 3: wha’? ….NOOOOOOOOO! Reality show?? THIS is our serious journalist? I hate reality shows! Gee, thanks alot, Ms. Ex-Winkerbean! Just when I thought Batiuk finally ‘gets’ it…
FBOFW: Can I get Shannon to “think positive” about Les “Killed Joan of Arcadia” Moonves? Or maybe the heads at FOX if Arrested Development goes away…?
FC: Oh my God, they’re going to actually insert a coin in the old man, aren’t they?!! (shudder!)
Comic Book Guy
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:32 pm
Pod cast….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The Rexecutioner
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:47 pm
hey. how come michael’s glasses are stuck to the bottom of his nose in the first panel of today’s Doonesbury? it’s freaking me out.
also, yeah, yesterday’s Gil Thorp was AWESOME! (sorry I don’t read this page often enough to be current). I knew there was a reason I read that stupid comic every day.
edgeways
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:50 pm
FC: not only are they trying to stick a quarter in the fellow, but from the embarrASSed look on the dads face and the… er… position of bratkid #2, I’d say they tried to shove a quarter up dad’s ass.
david
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Must be my inner geek talking, but you guys sound like a lot of fun to hang with (Oh, who am I kidding–I’m all outer geek).
loudfan
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:24 pm
Josh, I was really impressed and entertained by your incredible enthusiasm! Very fun interview — I laughed out loud several times. It made me proud to have been a CC reader since the “olden days.”
Sassy_Rocks
November 22nd, 2005 at 5:01 pm
Josh says that Gitsum has the most hits of any ad on his blog yet every time I (obsessive compulsively) click on it I get an error msg about bandwith exceeded. Mind you I’m not going to order the gitsum clothing, just curious about the gitsum girl’s celebrity status or lack thereof after one poster claimed she’s Eliza Dushku of Buffy fame.
Jane Hand is having doubts about dissolving her union, yet her busybody secretary seems to know all about her personal life. Maybe she’s a recent graduate of the Mary Worth Academy of Meddling .
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:41 pm
What I found a bit odd was how these two seemingly comix-savvy guys you were talking to seemed to need some explanation for why it’s fun to blather on about lame comics.
Marc
November 22nd, 2005 at 7:31 pm
The busy body secretary could soon be down on her luck, she moves into to Mary’s wayward home, and they beat each other to death, because they are practically the same. There will be more than swans broken in Mary’s apartment!
David
November 22nd, 2005 at 8:55 pm
Josh, thanks for turning me on to You Knit What? -at last, a blog for my wife to read, so she can understand fur-wise why I love your blog comic-wise.
yellojkt
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:15 pm
I was about to succumb and click on the GitSum Girl out of morbid curiousity but now Josh has shamed me out of it.
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:02 pm
Oh, go ahead. You know you want to.
Marc
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:09 pm
it doesnt even work anyway.
bubujin
November 23rd, 2005 at 12:09 am
Good podcast, Josh, and you sounded just like….just like a….a [i]normal[/i] person!
Who woulda figured?
DCBirdblaster
November 23rd, 2005 at 12:17 am
Very Nice Josh! Yer like famous now!!
So is your day job getting less and less of a priority now?
bubujin
November 23rd, 2005 at 12:28 am
(Regarding previous post, obviously my attempts at using HTML utterly failed.)
Re: #14 and FW
Mibbitmaker, granted the reference to reality TV is lame, but the person speaking this line is not photojournalist Cindy but presumably one of the members of the jury. The hairstyle and clothing are different, and you see her from the back in the strip from the day before when everyone clears to check out the “reality TV” scene from the courtroom window.
Kristofer Straub
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:54 am
Oh, that’s just interview talk. It wasn’t a learning experience for Dave and I, that was for the benefit of people who haven’t seen Josh’s site before.
The podcasts are just a gigantic ad for Dave, me, and our guest that week. Brought to you by McDonald’s new Fruit Salads — get a Fruit Buzz ™.
Frank Drackman
November 23rd, 2005 at 6:36 am
Wednesdays paper has a bunch of disturbing strips..Jefffy uses the word “Fairy” twice in a sentence,in FBOW it appears the slow girl is about to start cyberin with “Justin” (in the school library also, i guess she IS slow).BC is its usual unfunny self..if Mr. Hart is so religious shouldnt he be avoiding pork And shellfish?
blanqui
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:05 am
Great podcast, Josh. I was so excited when you mentioned the time your were gone for a couple of days and in your absence we attempted a coup. Although I don’t comment very often (not witty enough), I consider myself one of the original Cardinals.
More podcasts, mule!
Curious George
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:25 am
All three of you sound unrelentingly gay.
David
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:37 am
All right, I can’t be quiet about this any longer. Has anyone else noticed the not-so-subtle shading of the rude, cell-phone-talking, jive-using (”so i said, dump that chump, girl”) airline counter worker in Judge Parker?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/judgeparker.asp?date=20051122
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/judgeparker.asp?date=20051123
What’s Wilson doing? Is she supposed to be black? I can’t think of any other reason for the heavy shading, and yet, online, she’s just as pasty as Neddy, that vigorous consumer advocate.
rich
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:07 am
Family Circus: Grandma was hoping to put off this conversation for a few more years. Darn you, liberal media!
Nom du Jour
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:09 am
FBOFW today, Shannon is having the book read to her by some hi tech foob technology. This is how she “reads”.
If she were to get onto the information superhighway, should would be traveling down the breakdown lane with her left turn signal constantly on.
.
Blink! Blink! Blink!
BigJoe
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:31 am
#34 – I like how when she states that her friend’s luggage has been lost, the shady (pun intended) counter worker says, “It hasn’t been lost…just misdirected.” Despite the fact that a huge sign behind her head states that she works in the LOST BAGGAGE section.
Moesy
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:43 am
I loved the podcast. It was like a stroll down memory lane…remember the time the cardinals tried to overthrow me?…remember the time Mark Trail …Remember the time Mary Worth…Good stuff. I must admit, I laughed out loud. I am such a nerd…oh well. I fit in here :-)
Sassy_Rocks
November 23rd, 2005 at 12:02 pm
Cheque it out – “I’ve got a spare and I hafta read something”. This Canadian slang is killing me. What is a “spare”? Is a spare some rite of passage prior to the Grade 9 grad or is Gaypril obsessing on her protruding pelvic shelf?
yellojkt
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:52 pm
Spare must mean study hall. Unless you need to carry a spare when you go roadside. In that case a spare would be a condom.
Frank Drackman
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
In Italy the accepted practice is for drivers in the fast lane to keep their turn signal continuously blinking..
gershwin
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
So you’re a copy editor/tech editor, too, Josh? Too cool. I bet there are a bunch of us here, actually–we need a break from reading stuff, and we spend it… reading stuff. Well, the more entertaining reading matter fuels the mind, wot?
Congrats on the podcast.
Marc
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:39 pm
oh, man..Shannon’s falling in love with a computer…it’s..name..is…Justin.. How dreamy! A foob computer. It’s not just any computer, and I heard foob comps are the best lovers, because you can program it to do whatever you want and program how fast you want it………………………to run.
rich
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:45 pm
I’m a copy editor/proofreader too (who shamefully misspelled “taxidermied” last month).
rich
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:49 pm
If Apes thinks there’s a computerized voice program that “sounds like an actual real GUY!”, she needs to get out more often.
Lor
November 23rd, 2005 at 3:17 pm
#9 – Chet, you piqued my interest, so I too clicked on the hair loss ad … and found this:
“DHT reduces the hair follicle until it no longer produces visible hair.”
So now I have to worry about invisible hair production? Damn you, josh, dammmmnnnn yooooouuuuuu!
I can already feel the prickling all over my body from the hair I can’t see….
Pha-Q
November 23rd, 2005 at 3:33 pm
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Be safe and be thankful for something…anything.
Marc
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:08 pm
I’m thankful for Mary Worth not stripping down to her bra……..like Margo. I’m not thankful for that bitch, Rita, who broke Mary’s “gitsum” swans.
Rich (45)- Yeah, I agree. A computer cannot sound like a regular guy’s voice. The only computer voice I heard, was Microsoft Sam, who i play with when I’m bored. I typed “Hello Shannon, how are you?” It sounded like “Hell-oh Shah-none, how are y-ou?” I could make a cruel joke here…but….well what the hell, Shannon likes “Justin” because they have both have problems pronouncing words.. There. I said it.
Library Cat
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:16 pm
#46
Invisible hairs…..that is creepy.
Mark Trail: Is that all there is? He’s just going home now after scoping out one woodpecker? Was that the only bird in the whole forest? Is it not possible that say the actual ivory-billed woodpecker he was looking for might have been in the tree behind him the whole time. And why is the dog going on TV with him?
So many boring questions and even more boring answers.
FBOFW: If April did mean “To the library?” in the way Shannon thought it did; that was a hell of lot ruder than anything Becky the Gig ever said to either of them.
Ah well…I did enjoy Brevity today:
http://www.comics.com/comics/brevity/
Marc
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Notice how in foobland, the ” ’special needs” kids arent allowed to go into the real library. They have an “Integrated Learning Center.”
I sense some segregation in Fooby-town, maybe Elly could get the on the school board, and slaughter this segregation.
” I have a dream, that we will sit in the library of brotherhood in Fooby-town, AMEN!”
Curious George
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:22 pm
“Ah well…I did enjoy Brevity today:”
Yeah, nice try Guy or Rodd
Laughing Boy
November 23rd, 2005 at 8:29 pm
I thought “spare” just meant free period…..
Marc
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:01 pm
It does, Laughing boy, but in Fooby of course.
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:27 pm
Don’t you mean the Bantar tongue?
Maybe Lynn should start to use the asterisk, and provide us with littel footnotes in the manner of the Phantom.
LMK
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:27 pm
I dunno, I wouldn’t have called the voice “Justin,” I would have called him…”Renaldo”.
Yeah…Renaldo. Sexy. Sexier than Justin, at least.
And a spare is indeed a free period. I wish I had one this semester but, unfortunately, I don’t.
I won’t burden you all with my timetable woes, though. I’ll leave that for next time
mooselet
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:46 pm
She should’ve called him “George” so she could say “And I will love him and feed him and pet him and call him George.” Darned if I remember what cartoon that was from – Bugs Bunny I think – but it sticks with me.
I figured that “spare” meant free period, and again wondered in what foobiverse does Lynn live where anyone talks like that. You could have fun making sentances, though: “She’s roadside, but only during her spare.”
Marc
November 23rd, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Someone should make a Foob-English(US) dictionary.
Prostitute. (n).: An idividual who sells their body for sexual pleasure to customers. There are many prostitutes in the red light district.
now to Foob. . .
Roadside. (adj).: A descriptor for a prostitute. Often used by Canadian youths. Man, Becky, well..she’s roadside. That’s what I heard!
anon
November 24th, 2005 at 8:59 am
I disagree with that definition strongly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A young kid who “puts out” is “roadside” and has nothing to do with prostitution. What 14 or 15 year old girl is going to demand payment up front from some high school boy? They “put out” to be popular, not to amass a small fortune! Jeez.
Linus
November 24th, 2005 at 9:29 am
#43 – Hey, listen if you want to make fun of FBOFW, that’s your doing, but don’t make fun of slow people in general, ‘K?
Marc
November 24th, 2005 at 10:32 am
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
payola
November 24th, 2005 at 11:14 am
Tryptophan is the opiate of the masses.
Marc
November 24th, 2005 at 11:57 am
Awww look at that little freeloader. She’s all standoff-ish and sleeping, like usual.
If I had a dollar for how many comics page families have those rounded chairs with the spindles, i’d be rich
Kaliflower
November 24th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
Tryptophan only puts people to sleep on an empty stomach so the rumors that it is the cause of Thanksgiving sleepiness are highly exaggerated. Clearly the only opiate the Forths have taken part in this holiday is their annual opium. Which seems pretty dark for the comic pages.
Roonil Wazlib
November 24th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
“I figured that “spare†meant free period, and again wondered in what foobiverse does Lynn live where anyone talks like that. You could have fun making sentances, though: “She’s roadside, but only during her spare.†”
Lynn didn’t make “spare” up – that is, in fact, what we call it in Canada.
Bill Peschel
November 24th, 2005 at 4:30 pm
FW: A bold statement for freedom of speech! Didn’t see that one coming. Those toonists must be cowering in fear since Michael Moore was stranged with the intestines of Margaret Cho.
David
November 24th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
39 and 56. Yes, once and for all, Canadians (and presumably all right-thinking, freedom-loving citizens of the world) call free periods in school “spares”. Live with it. Every other freakin’ strip in the paper knocks us over the head with Americanisms. I give Lynn props for standing up to her US syndicate and keepin’ FBOFW Canadian through and through (though I won’t comment on the “roadside” issue. She’s on her own there). I could even name a Canadian strip or two that pander to the US readers by celebrating Thanksgiving today even though it was a month ago in the Great White North.
56. Yeah, Bugs Bunny, I think. And also a little-known book called “Of Mice and Men”.
Finally, I’m uncomfortable seeing others make fun of Shannon in FBOFW. . . it seems cruel. Though I have to say, doesn’t her voice read like Stevie’s on “Malcolm in the Middle”?
Marc
November 24th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
David, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I’m not sure what that disease or disablitly is called, but years ago I went to school with a boy who talked like Stevie and Shannon, but he wasn’t in a wheelchair.
Sharkbait
November 24th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
In Mark Trail, entirely too much attention is being paid to Andy’s presense on Mark’s trip: one character or another mentions it almost every day. Today Mark Trail 11/24 Mark’s being interviewed on TV, and he’s introduced as “…Mark Trail….and his famous dog, Andy!”
Something bad is going to happen to poor Andy. He’ll probably be kidnapped by some low-life with facial hair who is up to no good in the swamps. Either a drug dealer, or someone with an unnatural attraction toward Ivory-billed woodpeckers…
Kaliflower
November 24th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
At first I thought the haggard old guy who initially found it would have been upset enough about Mark proving him wrong, that he would begin to cause some trouble. Perhaps even start selling drugs. However, I realized that Mark probably would have informed him of his mistake on the way back home in the boat. One would think that any foreshadowing of his drug habits would begin in such a scene. But, alas, we were not treated to one.
Consequently, I’m seriously hoping that this Mark Trail story line ends here, in the most anti-climactic way ever. ‘Mark, I think there is an Ivory Billed woodpecker in these parts, Could you confirm that?‘ ‘Sure, let me see…. Nope, it is not an Ivory Billed woodpecker. Sorry.’ ‘That is okay. Good bye.’
Mibbitmaker
November 25th, 2005 at 2:13 am
Yeah, Shannon’s computer, “Justin”, does sound like an actual, real guy – if that guy is Steven Hawking!
Mibbitmaker
November 25th, 2005 at 2:39 am
Thanksgiving Day strips:
A3G: Notice how, in the ongoing Margo story, they work “thank(s)” in twice. Actually a clever way to do a Thanksgiving strip without the actual holiday taking place there.
FW: Notice the “so far” is in a totally separate balloon, but with no “stick” connecting it to a speaker? Could it be the ghostly voice thrown by the late Dr. Frederick “I hate comic books” Wertham chiming in with an ominous threat? Maybe he’s emboldened by the fact that he’s the subject of more revisionist history these days than the Nixon pardon.
JUMPING the GUN on CHRISTMAS (at least in my paper): FC, SF, Hi & Lois, and just making it in on a technicality (fruitcakes), Crankshaft. You’re riding on a bandwagon, Ces.
Adam @ thenewspaperIget: Vegetarians, vegans and carnivores of the human race should respect each others’ preferences… so shut it, kid! Preach! Preach! Preach! (Bark! Bark! Bark!)
Spiderman: Yeah, Peter, because the good guy NEVER wins in superhero stories. (Now here’s a “spider” Garfield should squish!)
Foxtrot: Actually, he’s just using his older brother as a weapon to crash into their sister. Ain’t homicidal sibling rivalry precious?
randomdude
November 25th, 2005 at 2:49 am
I discovered this site today.
Seriously, it’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in awhile :)
Especially the BC comments…
I haven’t read the funny pages since Calvin & Hobbes ended. Glad to see I wasn’t missing anything… without the funny comments I don’t think I could have taken it!
rugrat95
November 25th, 2005 at 6:30 am
#62 I’m sitting on one of those exact chairs as I’m reading this…my God that makes us a comics page family! Oh well, where do I send your dollar to?
Marc
November 25th, 2005 at 9:27 am
dollar? I’m not sure, but comments on my blog would be appreciated. Hah!
Laughing Boy
November 25th, 2005 at 10:34 am
re: MT 11/25
#68 you mentioned Andy taking up too much of the spotlight, but what I noticed most was the two old guys in the last panel:
Guy #1: “We’re gunna lose alotta money now that he didn’t find that big black bird…”
Guy #2: “Yeah, but I sure do like that big dog of his!”
WHAT?! All of a sudden it’s OK to lose money as long as the guy who’s giving you the spiked high hard one has a cool dog?!
What universe do these people live in? No, don’t answer that…..
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
November 25th, 2005 at 12:37 pm
If ol’ coveralls Bubba had facial hair, I’d be worrying about a dognapping. We had one of those recently, involving Sassy with a villain named “Snake,” and it was very disturbing. Without facial hair, I don’t know what to think.
That TV set shore do look like my microwave oven.
Marc
November 25th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
Look! In today’s Family Circus, Dolly has no legs! She’s a parapeligic. Parapeligic Circus.
Scocad
November 26th, 2005 at 1:53 pm
Hey Linus,
Lighten the foob up! Nobody here is making fun of ‘tards. If anything, we are making fun of Lynnie Johnston’s portrayal of ‘tards. You… know… with… the… halting… speech…? Gimmeafoobinbreak!
I don’t think there is ANYONE here who would mistreat a ‘tard. But I think most of us are “done” with Lynnie’s condescending and patronizing portrayal of ‘tards, Injuns, and other oddballs.
Feel better, “Linus?” Good.
Scocad
November 27th, 2005 at 9:17 am
David in #66 sez:
“39 and 56. Yes, once and for all, Canadians (and presumably all right-thinking, freedom-loving citizens of the world) call free periods in school “sparesâ€. Live with it. Every other freakin’ strip in the paper knocks us over the head with Americanisms. I give Lynn props for standing up to her US syndicate and keepin’ FBOFW Canadian through and through …”
Oh, well la-dee-da. Get over yourself. Since most of the papers that carry Foob Better or Foob Worse are IN America, maybe the strip should be written so that those who want to ridicule it can understand the lingo. This crap with “cheque” and “I go to University” and “kilometre” and “I have a spare” all has to go. Speak American, ferchrissake, or drop the strip from American papers so that Canadians can have their glorious ‘Tards and Eskimos to themselves. We wouldn’t miss ‘em for a minute.
Buh bye.