Geeks In Space #51

Technology creates more problems than it solves. Discuss.

Geeks In Space #50

OH MAN IT'S THE FIFTIETH GEEKS IN SPACE STRIP IT ONLY TOOK NEARLY 8 YEARS TO GET THIS FAR

Geeks In Space #49

Greetings, friends. I'm cold, I'm tired, my nose has been running for hours, my brain feels like it's about to blow up and there's plenty of work to do, but will I still make time to do a new Geeks strip? You bet!

Get into it, one more of these and I'll be able to claim an anthology!

Geeks In Space #48

Moving swiftly on...this strip was drawn yesterday, like #47, and refers to the recent mind-shattering revelation that the prices of certain brands of bottled water, compared to the price of tap water, represent a markup of around 180,000%. What?! People who filter and bottle ordinary tap water and sell it on the basis of "funky" packaging are ripping people off? Say it ain't so, guv'!!

Although it'll never happen, I'd like some marketing bod to see this cartoon and begin producing a brand of water called "Fauxhemian Poseur".

Thanks go to Jason Phelan for coming up with the name "Mount Spanklin" (five years ago...).

Geeks In Space #47

For anyone who doesn't live in Melbourne (and I suspect each one of you), this is based on the recent big deal made about what slogan should appear on Victorian car number plates. A long time ago it was "The Garden State", then "On The Move", and then recently "The Place To Be", which very few people liked (apparently). Now they've come up with a new one, which is something to do with road safety.

XCM 748 was the number plate of my family's first car in Australia, just for some added useless info.

Geeks In Space #46

Not Seen As Weird/Seen As Weird is the first Geeks strip this year. I had the idea for it months ago, when I saw something on TV about brainwashing babies, but didn't draw it out until last night. Funny 'ow that 'appens, innit.

There's also a blog redesign, which you can't fail to see. Minty green, to soothe your fried eyeballs. After a hard day of staring at the computer screen and crying intermittently, come to Nonesuch and check out a comic strip or two. And fry your eyeballs some more.

Geeks In Space #45

I drew this strip while in Seattle, and the challenge to do a four-panel strip about a real-life event was set by none other than Bernard Caleo. Thanks Bernard! This strip is the last one from the 'backlog', meaning that when you see the next one, it will have been freshly done – straight from my Mac to this blog with minimal time lag. Don't ask me how that makes your life better, it just does.

Geeks In Space #44

Hi, my name's Piedt Körrey and I like drawing weird cartoon people with no eyebrows. My timespan upon this earth has somehow stretched out to 33 years. And in that time, I have learned a lot about life. At this point for me, it's almost exactly half a lifetime of 'childhood' and half of 'adulthood'. In the first 17 years, the 'childhood' half, there was much knowledge to be acquired. Don't chase a ball into the road. Don't insert little plastic camels into the VCR. Don't put leftover food in the fishtank. And so on.

But then adulthood comes; now the real learning begins. I guess we keep on learning new things right up to the grave. It never stops. If only there was some way I could write down some things I have learned so that others may know.

Oh yeah –

Geeks In Space #43

And so, the childhood adventures in a make-believe detective agency come to an end! Or do they? Well, yes actually. I never did end up becoming a detective. But I still get to sit at a desk with piles of papers, and face a window with blinds, which at night gives me a view of the twinkling city lights. One day, I'm gonna clean up this stinkin' town.

UPDATE: Since drawing this cartoon I remembered that there was someone on the list called 'Major Head Injuries'. Even though I thought for ages, I have no idea which person that referred to.

Oh well. Join me next time for the exciting launch of Mini Epics!

Geeks In Space #42

If you're a regular reader of Geeks In Space, you'll know that while the strip doesn't have a cast of regular characters, certain recurring themes keep, er, recurring. Themes such as pop-culture trivia, obsession with technology and the dumbing-down of society are all mined for cheap laughs. But until now only four strips (#3, #17, #29 and #35) have been autobiographical!

Well, for those of you who want to see more strips depicting actual events from my life, take a look at this strip and the one to follow. I might open myself up to ridicule with these two, but hopefully the risk will be worth it.

Geeks In Space #41

Whoa, we're crunching towards our final conclusion, kids! I got a pleasant surprise this morning when I looked at Europopped, a European pop music blog (of course) and saw the heading "Greeks In Space". Ha ha. Anyway, as the tech-inspired foolery you see above gradually winds down, work on the Mini Epics has been going well. Twelve of them have already been done, ahead of the launch date.

Patience Ramón! There eez plenty of time!

When the Mini Epics finally do premiere (on this blog, February 29th, in case you somehow didn't read the previous post), they won't be posted one at a time. When you read those corny comic strips in the newspaper, the idea is that you only read one strip per day. But what I'm trying to do here is present several (three or four) strips at once, so the length of the narrative is that much more than your typical three-panel daily strip. Hey, we all like bite-size chunks, but some like to bite off more than others, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. You do, right?

Geeks In Space #40

I'm heading off to New York tonight, and will arrive early tomorrow! Pretty exciting. I won't have any sleep tonight though. This will be the last post until I return on the 14th, so enjoy 'Pointless Desires'!

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.

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!

Geeks In Space #36

The only Geeks strip drawn in 2010. The second year that has passed by with me doing only one of these. Hooray!

Geeks In Space #35

This strip, like one I previously posted, is completely true. I've been to the school and seen the spot where the shooting took place. My dad said the gunman, as expected, went to jail, but no one knows what happened to him after that.

As for me, I'm still in Seattle and having a good time. I've seen some really interesting things which will follow in a themed mega-post.

Geeks In Space #34

Finally, the truth about how the internet was created is revealed! This isn't somethin' they teach you in your little history books, kid*.

* This statement is from the lady who runs the Watchhouse (women's cell) tour at the Old Melbourne Gaol. She's quite a character.

Geeks In Space #33

So funny, I forgot to laugh.

Geeks In Space #32

Hmmm, not too much to say about this one. Hope you like the new layout for the blog though. It probably more resembles my actual desktop. Also, it doesn't 'tile', so it might not look good if your computer screen is really big. It looks fine on mine.