The Internet seems to hav ethis mad fascination with trying to make Garfield funny. Why does it want to do this? I’ve no idea. I’ve now noted 3 different approaches which have varying degrees of success. Yet all are funnier than the source.
It was 7:45, we were all in line 2 greet the teacher Miss Kathleen
First was Kevin, then came Lucy, third in line was me
All of us were ordinary compared 2 Cynthia Rose
She always stood at the back of the line, a smile beneath her nose
Her favorite number was 20 and every single day
If U asked her what she had 4 breakfast, this is what she’d sayStarfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds and a tangerine, a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby, maybe U’d understand
Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam
—Prince, Starfish & Coffee
FREAKANGELS is a free, weekly ongoing comic written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Paul Duffield. As the interview with Warren Ellis via CBR states:
“FreakAngels” takes place in an imaginative future world in which something has gone horribly wrong. In this case, the “something” is the fault of the FreakAngels themselves, a group Ellis described in a “Bad Signal” email blast as “a clan of unrelated young people with purple hair and purple eyes.” The trouble, Ellis goes on to say, comes when “a girl called Alice from Manchester turns up with a shotgun and a grievance, having met the lost, prodigal last Freakangel, who had very different ideas about what they should do with themselves and this flooded future England.”
Aside from the more than consistant, lovely storytelling by Ellis and the wonderful character designs and artwork by Duffield, FREAKANGELS has something else worth noting. It’s a completely free comic done by comic professionals. It’s out there on the web for all to see and enjoy. Also, the professionals in question are getting paid for their work. The comic is free and the creators are being paid. Avatar Press has gone and made me a happy 21st Century Man.
For readers, the benefits of a free web comic from a top-name creator are obvious. But from a publishing standpoint, there are still many questions surrounding web content—particularly free, open access content—that still do not have straight, easy answers. What is the best way to present material online? How will free access affect sales of a printed edition? How does one measure whether the endeavor has been successful?
There are genius webcomics out there in Internetland. Yet I have not run across a site yet that features fully established creators putting their work on something that is not a clunky flash reader. Each page is a jpg without any browser enabled image blocking. In theory, a savvy user could download each page and have the entire collection living on their harddrives. What they do with it after that is anyone’s guess.
I’m sure Avatar Press will release a printed collection as soon as the content allows. But they’re taking a lot on faith. They’re hoping that people would rather have nicely organized stack of dead trees, than digital shadows lurking about random external drives. In my case, they’re half right. I appreciate the convenience of the webcomic yet I’d rather re-experience the story away from the burden of technology.
Nothing compares to a quiet night, a book at the ready, and your iPod whispering sweetness in your ears.
I hope this experiment is the beginning of something new. I’d like the think that Marvel or DC or even smaller publishers can take full advantage of the internets in a similar fashion and not feel threatened by all the inherit dangers within.
I also hope that Paul Duffield doesn’t mind me using his works to make a widescreen wallpaper. If there is a problem, just follow the link on the above picture and leave a comment on my Flickr.
Below are links to the first two episodes of FREAKANGELS with a link to Avatar’s official FREAKANGEL wallpaper set.
While watching DINOSAURS RETURN TO LIFE on The Discovery Channel I heard the following:
“Late one night, Harris is studying feathers in a strain of mutant chickens“
–Narrator, Dinosaurs Come to Life
My love of that line is beyond all sense. The absurdity of it. The practicality of it. The mashup of the two is divine.
Let me say, Discovery Channel, you make it damn near impossible to find a damn thing on that digital confusion you call a website. You know who your audience is, why not try to live up to their standards a bit harder? I never found a main site for this wonderful show you aired. It’s as if you don’t want people to know it exists. You air love and deny any chance of finding it again.
I’m kinda pissed off at you for that. Yet I’ll continue to watch you cause I’m science’s bitch.
Your treatment of me, it is confusing.
Completely improvised, Free Radio offers a fresh alternative to the typical sitcom, showing just how far real A-List celebrities will go to tolerate a complete moron. In season one, Hollywood luminaries from “24’s” Kiefer Sutherland to “Heroes'” Jack Coleman and comedy legend Ray Romano are subjected to the idiot storm that is Lance and “Moron in the Morning.”
I would not have believed it possible. FREE RADIO is a improvised comedy series on VH1. Yes, VH1 has comedy. No, they don’t play videoes anymore. We’re long past that stage of questioning.
The celebrity camoes are A-Listers. I’m unsure how they managed that but I am sure it makes all the difference. Watching Lance make random asshat comments is half the fun. Seeing which of those A-List folk have the chops for improv is the other half.
The Skinny in newly fashionable list form:
Sidenote: You can be friends with All About Walken. Woah, that’s a whole lotta Walken.
The new Knight Rider. I’ll be damned if I wasn’t ok with it. A straightforward, simple adventure with a supercar that talks. I’ll admit to geeking out a little. at the beginning inside the inventor’s workshop. Seeing bits of old KITT lying about and the Foundation’s old logo overloaded my nostalgia. The 11 year old me couldn’t help but to smile.
Back in the 80s, I only sent out two fan letters. KNIGHT RIDER was one of them. Getting a print out of KITT’s specs through the mail made my month. Lame, yes. You couldn’t tell Kid Groonk that. Not back then, in the me-some 80s.
There were sequences that can only be described as Car Porn. Long, lingering shots of KITT’s shiny Shelby form in high speed. Sultry glances of KITT’s metamorphing into random mustangs. Definite Car Porn.
But, yeah, the new Knight Rider was not a boatload of fail. It was, in fact, a case full of adequate.**
Although, Val Kilmer as KITT I couldn’t reconcile with that. His voice sounded incredibly forced. My ears were set to hear Gob* and through random corporate asshattery, they switch it out for the lame Batman.
Burn.
*If you watch the promo video on Shadowy Flight, you can hear how much awesome Will Arnett managed to cram into the few KITT-isms you hear in 29 seconds.
**Anyone who thought this Knight Rider was crap did not see Team Knight Rider, Knight Rider 2010, or the 80s show direct sequel Knight Rider 2000. If you did not see them, count yourself lucky.
UPDATE: I take it all back. That show was bad and I should feel bad for watching it. And…I do.
Last night was fairly uneventful. Running into Ben Trussell and his band Leaving Madison at Philby’s turned out to be most pleasant.
Wishing you all a Happy Horny Werewolf Day.
Don’t act shocked and dismayed. You prude. Horny Werewolf Day has been mentioned before.
Newsmine
