We’ve had a couple of questions that I can now actually answer, so here ya go. The print version of Spwug is going on haitus while we work out some problems we’ve come across. It’s a bunch of dull business crap that I won’t bore you with, but the upshot is that there won’t be any printed magazines for a while. What we’re going to do in the meantime is on Saturdays we’re going to publish the content we had for the next issue on this blog on Saturdays. Hope you enjoy it!

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Like many people, when I come across a new web comic I start at comic number 1 and read everything they have. Sometimes it’s terrible and I’ll give up after a couple of strips and wander off. Mostly I’ll read through the whole archive and then see something shiney and wander off and forget about it. Once in a while though, I’ll read everything and love it, and it goes on my list. The plots: so ingenious! The characters: so complex and well written! The art: ok, sometimes not the best I’ve ever seen, but more than up to telling the story. I’m a big fan particularly of strong plots with a liberal dose of humor.

So I recently found a new webcomic, and I did what I so often do and hit the Wayback button. I have to tell you that I am hooked, and it’s all about character. Planet Karen has no plot, but it is big on Karen. In fact, it is her diary. It’s a daily slice of her life, and can be anything from a trip to get groceries to thoughts on a fall day, half remembered dreams, and conversations with fictional characters, or sometimes it gets more deep into her struggles with depression, discovering that she has diabetes, or her financial tightrope walk. In other words, just life. The tone is such that I kinda feel like she at least tries to keep even the disasters in perspective, which is nice in an age of rampant flame wars and blogged whining. On top of all of that, the art is quite good, and she is constantly developing new skills to refine her style, which I appreciate.

I can’t really say very well what’s so utterly compelling for me about Planet Karen. I guess I can relate somewhat to much of what she writes about. Man, if I had a dollar for every time the banks screwed me in exactly that manner, I might be able to actually pay their fees! I know exactly how it feels to be having a terrible day until some stranger smiles at me for no reason. I tried to explain to my mother what I find so fascinating about the glimpse Karen allows us to view, and my mother said “yep. People have days.”

I just wish I could draw mine out so well.

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From all of us here at Spwug, we wish you, our dear readers, a very Happy Holiday!

Here’s hoping your holiday wishes come true!

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…might well have been my favorite character in Avenue Q. She just seems to have been the most sensible character of the lot, although Gary Coleman comes a close second.

I bring it up only because I got to go see it last night. It was my Christmas present from my sweetie. He knows that I hardly ever get to watch a show, even if I’m running lights for the blasted thing. The hard part about going to shows for me is that I keep watching the tech aspects and forgetting the show!

This I find is a pretty common problem for people- leaving work at work. Watching anything in Japanese or playing most games with above mentioned sweetie is most educating. On the other hand, it does mean that I get more of the jokes in the anime that I watch.

At any rate, I hope that even if you’re not into the whole Christmas thing, at least you ahve a day off to enjoy. So enjoy it!!

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It’s almost inevitable. Every holiday season, sneakily nestled within the piles and piles of loot bought for you by people who actually know you and still like you will inevitably lurk a gift that no one in their right mind would ever, eeeeeeeeever want.  Typically, this is a clothing item of some sort from an aunt or an uncle who feels obligated to send you something because you were small and cute once and they choose to remember you that way for all eternity.  So, let us come up with some creative solutions to deal with unwanted holiday swag.

If your unwanted gift is an item of clothing, wear it for a day, especially if it’s particularly gaudy.  It’ll make for a nice conversation piece with your friends and co-workers especially if it doesn’t match your personal style.  Who knows, you could get such a laugh out of it, you just might keep the offending article.  If you really really can’t stand it, donate it as part of a clothing drive.  Someone out there can surely use a horribly colored sweater.  And you can always exchange it at the store.  Aunts and uncles are usually smart about clothing gifts.  They know you’ll probably hate it so they usually send along the gift receipt.

If your gift is a DVD that you never ever wanted to watch on purpose ever (say, Showgirls), you’re in luck.  Hang on to the offending film and host a shitty movie party with a bunch of your friends.  Grab some nachos, crack open a six pack, and spend some time with your friends lambasting the cinematic travesty unfolding before your eyes.  And of course, you can always return it.

Those are usually the two types of unwanted swag that show up at my door every holiday.  If you find that your offending gift falls outside of these two categories, my suggestion is to always use it first before you return, donate, or mangle it.  You can get a lot of enjoyment out of a completely useless gift!

Happy holidays!  I hope you all have a great time with your friends and families!

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As we approach the end of the year, I’d like to step back and take stock of what’s going right and wrong with this column. I came in with no clear idea of what I wanted to do, so in the beginning, I just wrote about a few topics that I found amusing and tried to see if things flowed from there.

The problem with this format, in my mind, is that what I find amusing and what all of you find amusing is vastly different. I’m an old hand at the Japanese moe market, and things that you would find fascinating or fun, I barely think about in passing. So I’m really digging down into the niche stuff, while I’m sure there are a wealth of topics I haven’t delved into yet that would make better columns.

So, with a couple months of columns under my belt, I’d like to take this holiday break to find out what’s working and what isn’t. If any of you want to tell me what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong, I’m listening. Hopefully I’ll come back in 2008 with renewed purpose and another flood of random tidbits about moe-moe culture.

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I was planning to write a post concerning the holidays and other festive things, but something really weird just happened to me and I decided this was way more interesting. At least I hope it is.

The other day I was walking to the supermarket when I felt something in my boot, poking me on the foot. When I got home I fished around inside my boots and found nothing. The next day I felt nothing, even as I trudged through the mall while Christmas shopping. I got home and took off my boots. Nothing.

As I was putting on my boots this morning I felt something poke me in the foot again. This time I immediately reached inside and pulled out the last thing in the world I ever expected to be in there.

It was a Green Lantern ring.

For a split second I didn’t register the fact that it was too small for my hand, or that it was made completely out of cheap plastic, or that it looked like something you’d find at the bottom of a cereal box. All that crossed my mind in that split second were three words… “It’s about time!”

I still don’t know how this little thing managed to get into my boot and evade detection for two straight days. All I know is that for one tiny second I thought I was finally getting something I’ve always wanted for Christmas. Superpowers.

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I got home just a little while ago, and I’m dead tired.

Sorry, folks. I’ll have a post for Christmas day, though.

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Man, what a difference a week makes, eh? Crybringer here, for your Wednesday update.

It’s really tough to pin down any one thing to talk about, since a number of events and activities are centered around this time of year. It’s a funny sort of gravitational effect, from the cemented traffic lanes, crowded stores, busy busy busy blog posts, new releases, re-releases, private and personal get-togethers, and then of course the Big C. I mean, Comiket. Did I mention how excited I was for Comiket?!

So, coining my blog stylings from the esteemed Sports Guy of ESPN, here’s a geek’s bullet list of random events and points-of-interest. I might actually use text bullets!

• Last weekend was an EXCELLENT movie double-header. “I Am Legend”, starring Will Smith was a sensationally bleak ride for the first half. Although purists who were expecting Vincent Price, The Omega Man or a cinematic transcription of the book have plenty to boo about, the movie actually manages to command a degree of subtlety that most disaster or post-apocalyptic movies lose in the sturm-of-FX and drang-of-bad-dialogue. I think this review encapsulates the feeling. Spoiler-free, methinks. But following that was a rediscovered little brit-crime gem; “Layer Cake”, starring James Bon– I mean Daniel Craig. Bloody cool and visually sleek, just like the dialogue, but with smart pacing and a few legitimate twists. Excellent work, considering we never learn the lead character’s name. You can find it on DVD for a reasonable price and I DEFINITELY recommend it as a movie buff stocking stuffer this season.
• While everyone else in the gaming world is Rock Band-ing out, the nostalgic charm and soulful stylings of old arcade games still gets me moving. As a die-hard shoot ‘em up fan (You kids don’t know the meaning of “mob” unless it consists of 200+ projectiles ALL AIMING AT YOU!) , this “Shooting Game Historica” just makes my heart swell two sizes. A palm-sized Vic Viper? You shouldn’t have, Santa.
• One of my favorite artists, “o_8″ I rediscovered recently, was really generous in allowing me to join in some networked doodling sessions over OpenCanvas. It’s a slick little program, and for those artistically inclined, it’s far and away better than simple text chatting. For best results, use a tablet (another gift suggestion, AMIRITE?)
• A holiday tradition of mine, I’m actually breaking this year. It was this time, five years ago that I made a pact to read a good book over the holidays. I mean, I was at my parents house, adrift and far far away from a solid internet connection, quiet spot to draw or even a decent cellphone signal! What else was there? (oh yeah food.) Bruce Sterling’s “Holy Fire” kicked things off, then it was a double dose of Mark Roger’s “Samurai Cat” series. Did a run through some old Robotech/Macross US novelizations too! Now, I’m without a heavy dose of cyberpunk or satirical pop-culture slaying to drown out the Christmas carols! Who’s got some winners?!
• Lastly, let me wish you all the best this coming holiday — I’ll be back per usual on BOXING DAY, the worst single day of any retail grunt’s existence. Don’t let the horror stories fool you about Black Friday. It’s the returns after Christmas that carve a trail of tears into a part-timer’s soul. So please everyone, be safe, be happy, be Merry, and be extra nice and understanding to both your friends, family and those downtrodden soldiers of the cash registers! Their sacrifice might get you a replacement Rock Band!

(Be back with a festive pic in tow later today! >_<)

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Since Rich was kind enough to help me out a bit yesterday, and since I seem to be in an extraordinarily chatty, I feel like telling you about a couple of my family’s holiday favorites. When I was a very small child my parents tried to expose us to a wide variety of literary styles and subjects. My father would read us just about anything, but the one that left the most permanent impression on me was when he tried to read us the Orthodox-Geek classic, Lord of the Rings. We didn’t get very far into the story on the first try (hey, Dark Riders are freaking terrifying when you’re 4!) but I recognized that here was an author I wanted to keep on my own shelves.

Imagine my joy when I discovered that he wrote a far gentler fiction for his own very young children, and that he carried it on over 20 some years. I found this out the day my mother brought home his Letters from Father Christmas. In the copy that we have are reproductions of the actual letters, written in “Father Christmas’s” own shakey hand, and pictures he drew of elves making toys, the North Polar Bear making mischief, and even a few attacks by goblins who it seems have a weakness for mechanical toy trains. There’s a lovely article about it here, also. It also mentions an audio recording that I suddenly feel is necessary to my continued existence.

Just to make this an even longer post (I told you I was feeling chatty,) I would like to share my other somewhat geeky favorite. Berkeley Breathed has made a rather successful career of writing about penguins and anxiety closets, but did you know about this book? The Red Ranger Came Calling is a wonderful story about a boy, a very grumpy boy, who is shipped off to his aunt’s unexciting house every year for the holidays, and he very much is disinclined to go. He never gets what he wants, and knows that this year will be no different, until he stumbles across a secret. Santa Claus is not only real, but is retired not far from his aunt’s house. This boy introduces himself as the Red Ranger and challenges the ancient Santa to prove it. I really encourage everyone to find this book and read it, as the end will leave you both stunned and laughing out loud.

All right, I think I’ve blathered on for plenty long enough. Rich should be here soon to write about something wonderful I am sure, but I do rather hope you look into these book, since I think they are just right for the holidy geek in your life. Even if they don’t believe in Santa.

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