Geeks In Space #39

2011! What a great year it's been. I drew hardly any comics at all, but I made trips to Sydney, the Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States of America, and Canada. I visited Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix's graves and Kurt Cobain's final home. I finally got to see my musical idols They Might Be Giants live. I met one of my heroes, Weird Al Yankovic (for the second time) and German sex symbol Astrid Rot from Die Roten Punkte. That, my friends, is all kinds of awesome. So, who cares about sitting around drawing cartoons? Stuff that!

I'm just kidding. I plan to get back into cartooning next year. The long-delayed Volume IV of Airbury Academy should finally begin production. Seriously, someone get on my back if that thing doesn't materialize. And of course, there will be more of this sort of tomfoolery:

On a worldwide scale, 2011 was a memorable and turbulent year. Occupy Wall Street spread worldwide. Death of Steve Jobs. Nevermind turned 20. Bin Laden, Gaddafi and Kim Jong Il dead. Magnitude 9.1 earthquake in Japan. Final U.S. space shuttle launched. World population reached 7 billion.

Anyway, have a great New Year. I hope your 2011 was as good as mine. Maybe it was better, because you all have social lives, and I don't. But if I did, then there would be nothing here for you to see.

Little Drummer Boy

This is the sign outside the world's first Starbucks Coffee shop in Seattle, and as you can see, they don't use the familiar logo used worldwide; the original brown logo of the two-tailed mermaid is used. It's tasteful nudity though, coffee fans. As for the store itself, it's tiny and always packed. Everyone inside is talking on their phone saying "I'm in the original Starbucks...jealous?" etc.

Here's a signed Foo Fighters drum head, on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. I can make out the Mexican hat, sorry, UFO, and the words "Foo Fighters, Nate Mendel, Rock On", but what are those words at the top? It looks suspiciously like "To: Surfers Paradise"!

And finally, a Christmas message from the Smart Mouth Cafe in the Gastown area of Vancouver, Canada. "Your (mostly) friendly neighbourhood cafe", indeed!

Geeks In Space #38

Six thousand hits! Most of the time I doubt that anyone out there is reading this rubbish, but the view count shows they definitely are. So thanks to those of you who have seen something you like on this blog in 2011 and have decided to keep coming back.

I have one more month in the United States, and my iMac is taking a rest as well. Yesterday I visited the Apple Store (glaven) in the city of Tacoma. Just what do they call that silver plate thing that has replaced the mouse? I know it's been out for a long time, but it was the first time I'd seen one. Anyway, since I spent my money on plane tickets instead of getting a new Mac, all that stuff I saw will have to remain in the realm of fantasy for the time being.

Okay, here's Geeks number 38. If you've never been to Minotaur in Melbourne, it won't make sense. But read it anyway, because that emo kid from the previous strip is in it.

Geeks In Space #37

In this strip, I kind of centre on the term 'LOL' (which I used to hate, by the way, but now it doesn't really bother me), but I had to squeeze in that reference to 'unfunny Chuck Norris crap', which does bother me. Here in Seattle, in several cool comic book & collectible shops, I've found all manner of unfunny Chuck Norris crap. What's going on? Seriously, the people who put that together should just go marry the dude or something. Then we can get to the merchandise that really matters: Pickle Fingers! I don't know what they're for, but they rule, and you shall deal with it.

On an unrelated topic: in his book Planet Simpson (2005), Chris Turner writes that when he visited an American supermarket he found seven types of frozen broccoli. Coming from Canada, he was used to seeing one or two brands, but seeing seven really surprised him. Well, I can do better than that Chris...I found ten!