Welcome to this week’s post of my Geek Journal!

-

Ah, Hallowe’en Eve, otherwise known as Devil’s Night in the metro Detroit area where I grew up. Not that I did anything bad, but I did always look forward to the local cable company’s attempt to limit the chaos by making all of the pay-TV channels (HBO, Cinemax, etc.) free to view for that one evening. I wonder if they still do that…

-

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about components I’d like to upgrade my computer to when the time comes, one of which was the monitor. I forgot to mention a couple of additional aspects I’d like to see in the next monitor I get: LED backlit (like I mentioned for the next TV I’d like) and multi-touch support (got to make the most of Windows 7 whenever I get it ^^). You hear that Dell? Make me proud!

-

It appears that the wave that Nintendo has been riding since the release of the Wii may have finally crashed upon the shore: It was recently posted that their profits weren’t as high as expected. A local news anchor commented that it may be due to the Wii’s popularity: Everyone already has one.

Nintendo also announced the DSi XL, which is exactly what its name implies: It’s an enlarged version of the DSi. Besides having larger screens (still having the same resolution as the DS and DSi, meaning the pixels will be VERY BIG), it comes with a larger stylus. This may be mainly to make it more accessible to older people who have a hard time seeing the smaller screens and holding the standard (and quite thin) stylus.

-

There are indications that Sony is at work on the PSP 4000, which will continue to support UMDs. I guess many people didn’t like the PSPgo’s lack of it. Sony may make the 4000 more go-like, to include built-in storage.

-

Netflix also announced the near-future availability of their Watch Instantly service on the PS3. At the start, a special Blu-ray disc will be used to access it (free via the link), but it appears that Sony will add built-in support in a future (sometime in 2010) firmware update. I (and others) wonder if this will force Microsoft to remove the X-box Live Gold requirement on the 360’s version. There are also indications that the service may become available on the Wii as well.

-

The next Final Fantasy XI update is close, with a release date of Monday, November 9th. This is also when the third mini-expansion, “A Shantotto Ascension”, goes live (it became available for pre-order earlier this week). SquareEnix did a pre-update update yesterday, downloading around 1700 files totaling 30MB in size.

-

That’s it for this week!

Greetings, Fremen!

Anyone who is a huge fan of Hallowe’en most likely knows the history behind the holiday.  Some of its background has roots in the end-of-summer festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-ane or sow-in), a Celtic festival that celebrated the end of the “light half” of the year and the transition into the “dark half”.

Over the years, the pagan and Celtic aspects of All Hallows’ Even were gradually replaced by more Christianized elements, which caused the holiday to evolve into more like what is celebrated today.  Yet despite theses changes, the original Celtic, Pagan, and Wiccan aspects of what is now Hallowe’en have never really gone away.  Many people still recognize these facets of the ancient festival – and in many cases – still celebrate them.

This is especially true when it comes to modern fiction, especially in movies and television.  Shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer and movies like Halloween III: Season of the Witch incorporate the Celtic, Pagan, and/ or Wiccan practices into their Hallowe’en-themed plotlines.  One popular way in witch which this is done is by making Samhain a physical manifestation of the essence of Hallowe’en, imbuing him with supernatural power.  He often uses this power to protect and preserve the holiday.

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I offer you my two favorite incarnations of this Spirit of Hallowe’en…

Sam, From the Film Trick ‘r Treat

In case you missed my review last week (of course you didn’t!), I really love this movie.  I just can’t shut up about it.  Seriously.  An instant Hallowe’en classic, this film follows five different, intersecting storylines in which characters break the traditions associated with the autumn holiday.

This is where Sam comes in.  Dressed in footie pajamas and wearing a burlap sack over his head, Sam looks like he might be just another trick-or-treater.  In reality, he’s the physical manifestation of Samhain, whose sole purpose is to punish everyone who breaks the “rules”.

And punish he does.  Like a pint-sized terror, Sam’s creepy, burlapped visage pops up frequently throughout the movie, doling out just desserts either directly or indirectly to each individual who fails to observe tradition.  Sam’s nocturnal activities, as well as his visual design, help propel him into immediate horror icon status alongside the greats like Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, and Michael Myers.  In fact, NECA had created an action figure of him long before the film had been released (shown above)!  Not bad for an entity whose reputation precedes him by several centuries.

Sam Hain, From “The Real Ghostbusters”

This version of the patron saint of All Hallows’ Eve proved to be one of the best “villains” of this popular, animated series, mainly due to the fact that his episodes were written by J. Michael Straczynski.  He showed up in two episodes of the original series, and then made a return performance in the “Ghostbusters Extreme” animated series.

This guy is quite the hellion – sinister, manipulative, powerful.  His position in the grand scheme of Hallowe’en differs from Sam’s in that instead of just wandering around castigating those who don’t follow the laws of the We’en, this ugly, red, source of all evil commanded an army of demonic minions.  His goal?  To cast the world into eternal Hallowe’en.  Quite a nefarious scheme (and all the Hallowe’en fans scream “yay!”).  The GBs were able to trap him, but it wouldn’t be long before he escaped from the containment unit, seized the firehouse and attempted to invoke his All Hallows’ Evils once again.  Even though he was defeated by the Ghostbusters a second time, this entity proved that he was not a force to be reckoned with.

This concludes my Hallowe’en series for yet another year.  But, don’t fret boils and ghouls.  There are still a couple of days left until dark half of the year is upon us.  Until then, grab yourself a hot beverage of choice, settle yourself in with your favorite scary movie (might I recommend Trick ‘r Treat?), get your costume ready, and have that bowl of candy set up for those little, monsterish hands that will be grabbing at will.

Oh, and don’t forget your Freddy standee…

The Don got a rock…

Here’s a little review of a different kind. Just read–the eyes you save could be your own. (I apologize for NOTHING there.)

Having gone nearly three years without glasses after the tragic demise of my old pair, I was pretty well out of patience with having to stick in my contacts every time I needed to drive five minutes to the grocery store or wanted to watch TV. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pay the several hundred dollars a new pair would cost me. I’d heard good things about the website Zenni Optical over the years, but wasn’t too sure about buying from them. I mean…glasses, frames AND lenses, for as little as $8.00 a pair from some place on the Internet? My last pair of glasses clocked in at a cool $400 (my eyes are short-bus special). How good could glasses that cost me less than my favourite sushi lunch really be?

The short answer is, “Really damn good.”

The longer answer is, “Even better than the pair that cost me four hundred kicks to the clams!”

A month ago, I finally gave in to the burning desire to own a good pair of glasses, and also gave into the equally burnariffic urge to NOT pay $400 for them. So I hit up Zenni-land, and was pretty impressed right away at what I had to choose from. So much so, actually, that I ended up with two pairs, one costing a sweet base cost of $8.00, and the other $9.95. My wonky prescription, which my old optometrist’s glasses office claimed they’d have to charge extra for? No problem! was Zenni’s stance, and my credit card and I rejoiced. I sprang an extra $4.95 for the anti-reflection coating on each pair, the lenses came with free anti-scratch coating and UV shielding, and the shipping was $4.95–a flat rate no matter how many glasses you order. I passed on the offer of polarized clip-on shades since I already have a pair of polarized sunglasses I wear over my regular glasses. My grand total for two pairs of eye-saving love? $32.80. Suck on that, $400 glasses! You’re no longer welcome in my life.

The glasses arrived about two weeks later, and I was thrilled with them out of the package. They were much smaller and lighter than my old pair, made of titanium (my former pair was made of a heavy bulky metal because I was told my lenses were too thick to be supported by lighter materials). After a day or so of my ears and nose getting used to the fact that there was something on them, it felt like I wasn’t wearing glasses at all. And the most important aspect, the prescription, is spot-on. I can wear these glasses all day if needed without eyestrain or headache. I know where I’ll be getting my glasses from now on!

You do need to do your homework before ordering. The best thing you can do beforehand is to go visit physical stores and try on their frames to see what feels and looks good on you. Write down the brand names and all the little letters and numbers engraved into the temple arms of the frames you like. Then, go to your favourite search engine and input that information until you find the specs of each set of frames: lens width, lens height, bridge, temple arm length, and frame width. The more info you can track down, the better chance you stand of finding just what you want, particularly when it comes to lens size information. On Zenni, look for frames that have lens shapes and frame size specs similar to the frames you liked in person. They don’t have to be an exact match, but you want them to be as close as you can get, within about five to ten millimeters if possible.

In addition to your prescription, you’ll also need to know your pupillary distance (PD), something optometrists often don’t write on your prescription. This is the distance between your eyes, and it’s VERY important you have this measurement correct (I don’t recommend trying to measure it yourself). Luckily, you can walk into just about any place that sells glasses and have them determine your PD. Zenni also provides helpful data on how to read the measurements you’re given for every section of the ordering process, so even though you may be confused to start, everything is explained and made easy. Trust me, doing the little bit of legwork is totally worth saving a few hundred dollars on your glasses!

Zenni also makes sure to verify the information in your order before making the glasses. If you make a mistake or buy an add-on you don’t really know that you need for your prescription, they’ll contact you to explain why you don’t need the extra purchase and refund any extra money you were charged. When you place your order, Zenni tells you that you will receive a receipt by e-mail; mine didn’t come until my glasses were shipped about two weeks later, so don’t worry if you don’t get your receipt e-mail right after ordering. But make sure to check your spam filters regularly–Zenni sends their glasses with Delivery Confirmation, which means you get a tracking code in that e-mail! Speaking of shipping, Zenni’s service is much faster than in previous years. I remember hearing that all their glasses used to come from Asia and could sometimes take months to arrive and be processed through (and occasionally rejected by) customs. Now, orders for US customers are coming from California, which is good news to anyone in the country who prefers to have their glasses in days rather than weeks. Glasses ordered in other countries still come from Asia, I believe.

Do I seem happy with my glasses? Because I totally am. And now, my glasses and I are going to play Oblivion on the PC while still being able to see the DVR’d episode of The Venture Bros. playing on the TV four feet away. Long live Zenni Optical!

Welcome to this week’s posting of my Geek Journal!

-

Apologies that this is being put up so late; I just got back from Busch Gardens.

Howl-O-Scream was good, though Don and I found that the Scare Zones were kind of lacking compared to what we remember from previous years. We did manage to make it through all of the Mazes, but had to pass on the Shows (I may try to make it back this or next weekend to catch them on my own). We’re still disappointed that BG has continued to not do the haunted train ride.

-

Windows 7 has finally been released. I haven’t yet gotten around to ordering a release copy for myself, as the RC is doing quite well for me and I want to wait a little while before doing the actual switch. I’m also hoping that I might be able to find a copy of the full version (not upgrade) for less that was the current retail price is (I want to get Pro, which is currently $300).

-

That’s it for now, as I’m really worn out from BG. ^^

Greetings, Fraggles!

This week has been a hectic one.  But, so as not to deny you another installment of Hallowe’en-themed goodness, I present to you another of my world-famous two-fer reviews.  This week’s goodies fit in perfectly with the monthly festivities – Zombieland and Trick ‘r Treat, brought to you with limited commercial interruption…

Zombieland

It was just over twenty years ago when we last saw the popularity of watching the living dead shamble across our movie screens start to wane.  Then, right at the beginning of this “new millennium” I keep hearing about, the spark got relit, and suddenly re-animated corpses have become all the rage again.  Unfortunately, we are currently in a situation where it seems like everyone in Hollywood wants to make a zombie film (when they aren’t cranking out remakes ad nauseum).  This strategery has made it so that moviegoers have become oversaturated by the very thing they’ve been crying “brains” over.  The other side effect?  With so much crap out there, it makes it harder and harder to find the occasional gem, or to even care if one is found.

Luckily, there are still occasions where a zed-word flick is done correctly, and it is practically handed to fans on a silver platter.  The last truly great one was Shaun of the Dead in 2004.  This year, we got Zombieland.

The odd thing about Zombieland from the beginning is that it isn’t really a zombie film.  I mean, it is… but instead of the zombies being the focal point of the film, they are merely  the back drop.  I read a review a few weeks ago that summed it up best – it is a dark comedy, road trip film with a zombie apocalypse as the setting.

And I think that this is where the genius of the film comes in, as not only does this make the movie a character-driven flick, it also makes this film a character-driven flick.  We given a brief set-up (in slo-mo- contradictory!) during the opening credits establishing the current world our characters live in.  Then, we are immediately released into this world to get to know our protagonists.  Sure, they do have to fight zombies throughout the flick, but in the end this movie is all about how each of the main characters handles their situation.  Not just the living dead, but isolation, betrayal, loss, love, and lack of Twinkies.  And all of this is played with a fair amount of dark comedy, as well as a clever use of “wordplay”.  I’ll let you go see it to find out what I mean.

With all of these ingredients put together, Zombieland is almost a perfect little film.  My only problem?  At just under 90 minutes, it feels to short.  This is definitely a world I would have liked to have spent time in a little while longer.  As it is, Zombieland is good enough that I want to go back and see it in theaters again.

Trick ‘r Treat

The movie Warner Brothers sat on for two frikkin’ years because they “didn’t know how to market it”, according to some sources.  Others hinted that it may have been shelved because it was produced by Bryan Singer and that WB was still sore over the lackluster performance of Superman Returns.

Whatever the reason, its heart or its shoes, the Warner Brothers (and the Warner sister!) finally decided to release this finely-crafted film on the Blu a couple of weeks ago.  And after two years of hearing all the positive buzz on this film and not being able to see it for myself, I finally snagged me a copy and gave it a look-see this past weekend.

I was not disappointed.

This is a well-crafted film.  Following in the footsteps of previous anthology horror staples like Creepshow, this movie follows four different, intersecting storylines that are told in a Tarantino-style chronology.

I’m going to be blunt – this movie is an instant Hallowe’en classic.  It’s also an instant film classic.  The stories are interwoven so beautifully that you have to watch this a few times just to catch how certain items, moments, or even people are connected to the different segments.  The actors are given plenty to work with, allowing each of them to build and perform as well-rounded, three-dimensional characters.

And the most important part – Trick ‘r Treat will get you into the Hallowe’en spirit immediately.  The tone of the film is dead on.  I found myself grinning from ear to ear the whole time, completely transfixed to what was being presented on the screen.  By the time I was done, I realized my only error was that I watched it while it was still daylight, instead of at night with the lights off.

If you are a big fan of All Hallow’s Eve (and who isn’t?), it’s practically guaranteed that this film will become an integral part of your October viewing, right next to the original classic that shares this holiday’s name.  I’ve already planned on watching it a couple more times myself before the month is over.

That wraps up this installment of tricks and treats.  Only one more week remains between now and the day of The Great Pumpkin.  So, what are you still doing here reading this drivel?  Go check out those movies already!  I didn’t give my seal of approval on these movies for my health, you know…

The Don forgot to check his candy.  Now he’s got candy corns…

Some were expecting me to write a nice long rant about Jeph Jacques’s* recent blog post on the “State of the Webcomics Union”, part of which read:

The idea of critical analysis of webcomics has largely died out. Sure, people still blog about webcomics and “review” them and stuff, but it’s become a tiny, tiny niche sector. I think this is mainly because there’s not a whole lot of point to reviewing something anybody can go look at for free and make up their own mind about! Is this a good thing? I have no idea.

*The creator of the terrific webcomic Questionable Content, reviewed by yers truly here.

I’m not going to write a nice long rant on this rather controversial view because, well, just look at that statement. I shouldn’t have to point out the irony of someone saying that talking about the world of webcomics is becoming obsolete in a heavily-read blog post that is talking about the world of webcomics. Also, even though the majority of my current articles aren’t about webcomics, most of the traffic I get here on Spwug comes from people who are looking for more information about them. So, you know. Suck on that for a bit. You can split hairs about what you think was actually being said on ye olde LiveJournal, but I’m here to write about something more positive this week.

Instead of complaining about geek divisions, I’m here to talk about geek love, and how it penetrates (huh huh, I said “penetrates”) webcomics, even through other genres of nerdism.

Tonight, I watched the supremeariffic (it’s a word now) parody movie The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. As anyone who’s seen it knows, it relies heavily on making funny commentary about dice gamers. But it went beyond that, oh, yes. Within the first few minutes, the character Nodwick was introduced–a henchman NPC (not to be confused with Dungeons & Dragons’ hireling NPC’s), whose primary role is to lug the adventuring party’s crap and do all the little odd jobs the player characters just don’t want to do–like guarding treasure–as it would distract them from seducing tavern wenches and priestesses.

Hey, wait, this Nodwick guy sounds familiar…and I don’t just mean in the context of Dungeons & Dragons parody. Why is that….Oh, I know! The webcomic Nodwick, which is itself a nod to tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons. A gaming movie nod to a webcomic that’s a gaming nodwick?

META BLACK HOLE. MY GOD, IT’S FULL OF SCARS.

For much of the movie, the gamemaster wears a shirt featuring switchblade-toting rabbit Bun-bun, from the webcomic Sluggy Freelance. While not a gaming parody webcomic (Sluggy pokes fun at pretty much everything), it wasn’t any less “nifty” a nod, as the Sluggites would say. It gives me a fuzzy tingle to think of the movie crew, largely geeks in real life as well, leaving the dice and the set to go home and possibly read webcomics.

Maybe we don’t have hundreds of thousands of webcomic-reviewing blogs right now, like we do for celebrity scandals and politics (both MASSIVELY more well-known topics than online comics; let’s be honest here). But it’s not like discussion of the digital-comic world is going away, despite what Jacques wrote. If anything, the discussions are growing in number, as webcomics themselves become less limited to the dark corners of the Internet and start penetrating (heeeeee) the general online realm, and the world outside our computers as well. More people read webcomics; thus, more people discuss webcomics. (How many movies would have featured webcomics fifteen years ago, hmmm?) You no longer have to perform arcane rituals in order to find a webcomic review, and these reviews are no longer limited to randomly-updating personal blogs. Now, you can talk about your favourite online comics at convention panels, while hanging out with friends, or even with total strangers who recognize your Bun-bun shirt on the street. Online, you can find reviews of webcomics on almost any site that appeals to the general nerd, in the comments as well as the posts. Opinions are EV’-RY-WHERE! To say that expressing opinions about one single topic is dying out is not that much less absurd than saying that expressing opinions in general is dying out. You know what they say about opinions and arseholes, after all….

And this was mine. Opinion, I mean. You don’t get to see the other thing.

Well. I guess I did rant a little after all. Therapeutic! I’ll see ya all next time, yo.

Another Friday is upon us, so that means it’s time for another post to my Geek Journal!

-

First, I would like to give congratulations to Richard and Katy for their marriage to one another this past Saturday. I’m glad I was able to be a part of the craziness that ensued that night.

-

It appears that Sony has decided to let the US have access to the 250GB PS3 Slim… I may have to jump at that since I’ve been having so many issues with my 60GB model. Too bad that means I’ll have to give up PS2 support.

There are rumors starting to surface concerning the possibility of Nintendo releasing an HD version of the Wii sometime in the future. They may finally started feeling pressure from their HD-supporting rivals. Of course, who knows (besides Nintendo) if this is true or not?

-

Being a computer geek (among other geeky things), I’m always on the lookout for newer things I can use to upgrade my system and then forcing myself to not buy them (so hard to resist at times!). I usually try to do a major system upgrade every three years or so, and this coming May happens to the three year anniversary of when I upgraded my system last. Current plans:

CPU – An Intel Core i7 processor, most likely the 920, as that appears to give the best bang for the buck: It runs at 2.66GHz, but there have been reports of it being overclocked quite high without the need of expensive cooling.

Motherboard – This is still up in the air right now, but I’m hoping to be able to hold out for one that has native support for USB 3.0 and third-gen SATA (eight ports at least).

Memory – Right now, 4GB has been doing quite well for me, but for my next system, I’m planning on pushing that to either 6GB or 12GB.

GPU – I already upgraded my video card from an ATI 1950 to an ATI 4870 1GB, so I’ll probably not worry about changing this anytime soon.

Storage – I’m already good on HDD storage (4.75 TB and counting; someone has to make backups of the Internet ^^), but I’m thinking that I may finally look into getting a Blu-ray drive. Still not sure if I’ll get one that can burn them.

Monitor – Ah, Dell 2405FPW, you have served me well these 4.5 years I have had you, and you currently show no signs of giving up on me. I have thought about getting one of your younger siblings (the 2408), but for now I think I’ll stick with you. Now that I think of it, getting the newer one would be nice, allowing a side-by-side setup… *drool*… Must… resist!

TV – Ok, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Why would he include a TV in a computer upgrade?” Well, right now I’m using my TV as a second monitor (great for multimedia stuff). I did just upgrade it earlier this year, but I figure that it wouldn’t hurt to include what it’d take for me to consider getting a newer one: 3D support (hopefully one standard will prevail out of the multiple that have been mentioned lately by Sony, Panasonic, etc.), and the display itself using OLEDs (awesome contrast ratios, but right now still too small, way too expensive, and the life is not yet good enough) or an LCD back-lit with LEDs (better contrast than cold-cathode lit LCDs due to the ability to locally dim single or groups of LEDs).

-

That’s it for this week’s post!

Greetings, Soldiers of the Future!

Hallowe’en is approaching fast, so it’s important that I impart on you some vital information that could make the difference between whether you have a killer Hallowe’en… or a Phyllis Diller Hallowe’en (trust me, no one wants a Phyllis Diller Hallowe’en; I’ve seen pictures and it’s downright frightening).

I’m sure you all remember that I recently came into some prize items at the recent horror convention shindig.  Let me remind you: it was a brisk, autumn evening.  I was dressed as some character from a series of movies that a couple people have seen.  I raised a few eyebrows.  I won some stuff.  The end.

Only it’s not the end.  See, one of those prizes (if you actually read my stuff remember) was that life-size, cardboard standee of Freddy Krueger.  Well, needless to say he found a warm cozy spot in Casa de The Don rather quickly:

As you can see, he is quite happy standing under his street sign in our foyer/dining room/entrance to the kitchen/walkway to the stairs/post you have to go around to get to the downstairs bathroom.  From there, he is free to greet anyone who is foolish enough to come into our home through our front door.

This would include Mrs. The Don.

This leads me to today’s lesson, kids – How to Scare the Bejeezus Out of Your Loved One(s) with Your Life-Sized Freddy Krueger Standee Appropriately and Responsibly (or HSBOYLOYLSFKSAR for short).  This is part two of a three-part series.  If you haven’t completed part one yet, please turn the record over and begin on side A.

Let’s begin (click on the images to see them larger):

Step 1:

Always make sure your loved one is greeted warmly from the bushes when they come home from work.  They have had a long, rough day, and a simple hello from a severely burned child-murderer is just the thing to lift their spirits:

And remember – daytime is okay, but night time is generally better, as it reduces glare.

Step 2:

When your loved one brings in the mail, make sure that they are shown exactly how appreciated their efforts are.  A simple, razor-gloved greeting can make all the difference between having your post handed to you lovingly… or being tossed to you in a screaming, violent frenzy:

Step 3:

Sometimes, it’s important for your Freddy standee to have friends over so that your loved one doesn’t feel so lonely on those cold, late nights when she’s home alone.  Having both of them there together provides the type of company that tells your loved one, “We’ll always be here whenever you turn around.”:

Step 4:

Ever run out of TP before you were finished?  With your Freddy standee, this doesn’t have to be a problem for your loved ones anymore.  The Dream Master will make sure you always have an extra roll handy… or two for those extra…“surprises”:

Step 5:

Everybody loves ninjas (except those blasted pirate-lovers).  What better way to show your loved one that you are a fun person who is up-to-date on the latest stealth techniques than by teaching your Freddy standee the art of ninja.  With a few quick and easy lessons (available where the HSBOYLOYLSFKSAR album series is sold), you’ll have your sweater-clad menace descending from the rafters with ease for a rousing, family-friendly game of hide-and-seek:

Step 6:

What better way to top off the end of a long day then to have your homicidal nightmare help your loved ones with chores before bedtime.  From doing the dishes to mowing the lawn to helping your loved ones put their laundry away in the closet, your loved one will be extremely grateful to have the free time to relax before a solid night of restful sleep:

And there you have it!  Take it from me, two-time Bejeezus-scaring champion The Don – follow these six steps, and you’ll find yourself becoming a master Bejeezus-scarer in no time with your Life-Sized Freddy Krueger Standee.

Pleasant dreams, Mrs. The Don!

The Don is sooo sleeping on the couch tonight.  At least Mr. Krueger will be keeping him company.

Some time ago, I read an article in an entertainment magazine that described how babies are the death knell of American sitcoms. According to this piece, babies change the score of a television series, just as babies change the score of…well, everything…in real life. If a young’un is present in the show from the first episode, that’s fine (remember how popular Full House was, for some unexplainable reason?) In that instance, there’s nothing majorly new for the viewers to have to grow accustomed to later. But add a little bundle of joy six seasons in, and watch the ratings fall like Fat Bastard on a free buffet. Fans who’ve spent years watching a show for the antics of a funny young couple are put off and ditch the series when the wacky fictitious antics of a child-free life are replaced with jokes about 2 AM feedings and not being able to find a babysitter for Friday night.

Most webcomics are a lot more like sitcoms than many of us would care to admit. They’re often bite-sized chunks of problems that can be resolved in a very short span of time: five weekdays is the common golden rule, a carryover from the heyday of newspaper funnies. Things rarely change dramatically, if they ever change at all–at the end of the day, everything is back to normal. And the jokes are usually recycled and aimed at the largest, and often dumbest, demographic. (Yeah, I confess I’m not a fan of most sitcoms that don’t bear the BBC’s logo. And when I did watch a lot of American network sitcoms, back before I had satellite or cable, I do remember that I usually dropped a show shortly after a new kidlet came along.)

Luckily, one way that some webcomics break away from their talkie-picture relatives is in the area of babies. Instead of making the webcomic less funny, I’m actually finding myself laughing more at what family expansion is bringing to the table in a couple of my favourite online strips.

Take Something Positive, for one. The characters in this comic are known for their burning cynicism and sarcastic, profanity-laden, and often entirely inappropriate humour. These are characters who will make coat-hanger abortion jokes to expectant mothers–the very first strip, for example (although the guy, Davan, would probably say there was no joking involved):

In other words, the cast of Something Positive make all the blunt-but-funny commentary that most of us wish we could get away with in public. When two of the cast, Aubrey and Jason, announced they were adopting a baby, I had a moment of glee. These two weren’t going to be the boring parents that every sitcom couple becomes, oh no! They were going to raise their kid with all the cutting-edge sarcasm, street smarts, quick wit, and pure “cool” that the rest of us can only envy. Aubrey and Jason were going to be the Queen and King of Freakin’ Awesome MomandDadland.

And, don’tchya know, I was right. (Linked instead of posted here due to some possible naughtiness in this particular strip.) I think that’s the first time the addition of a baby to a story has made me laugh aloud!

In another brilliant strip, Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic (warning! Lots of funny naughty bits and funny fantasy violence in this series!), babies aren’t on the way just yet in the current storyline….But considering a royal wedding has just taken place between a newly-crowned orc-human prince and his three(!) orcish brides, the pitter-patter of little green war-waging feet may not be far behind. When you’re part of a species that prides itself on its Chaotic Evil alignment and have recently acquired an army of servants, the whole pesky “raising kids thing” is done a little bit differently, and, with any luck, by someone else:

Yes, I can safely say that, for once, I’m actually looking forward to the addition of children to some of my favourite comics! Take note, sitcom writers. That’s how you handle family expansion correctly: you make it funny without changing the style of humour, and you don’t let it interrupt the pre-established flow of the story that’s existed long before rugrats came into play.

I’ll take my pay for saving countless sitcoms in cash, please.

…congratulations to Richard and Katy, the supreme rulers of the Spwugniverse!!!!!

They are the essence of everything that is Spwug.  Without either of them, this site wouldn’t be here to bring you a daily dose of all things geek.

It was an honor and a privilege to witness the joining of these two forces of good.  They are my friends.  They are my family.  I am proud to be the head writer of something they envisioned, and I am proud to be a part of their lives.

My best wishes to both of you, Pocky Rich and Katy.  Here’s to bigger and greater things.  With your powers combined, anything is possible.