#958

Amelius on Aug. 21, 2012

I know this is last-minute (and I spent all night trying to get this done in time!) but I switched with my friend Neila to do a podcast scheduled tonight with Moonhawk Studios, at 10 pm if youse want to join in the chat or whatnot http://msp.starshipmoonhawk.com/schedule/
I'll try not to sound like an idiot, haha!
In the crappy luck department, this weekend some jerk smashed Nick's car window and stole our Garmin GPS. We'd be more upset about that loss if it wasn't 4 years outdated and only works 2 minutes without the power cord (HAW HAW! Good luck pawning it, you thieving scumbag!) but we didn't like having to replace the entire window. And worse, when Nick opened his door to see what else had been pilfered, the stupid car alarm went off. ARGH!
Anyway, Zeno's eating “Bean Better” Coffee grounds. I was gonna put Duncan Hills coffee on it, but only like 3 people would get the joke! :D But if I can come up with something lame but passable on my own, that's favorable to making a direct reference. I try to reserve pop-culture references for when I have an actual joke. Just throwing it in because “it exists” is a trend I've been noticing that doesn't really do anything for me. For me, it ought to be subtle or actually have a reason. For instance, I loved Spaced, and that was chock-a-block with references!

So, I've got some fictional branding in this comic alongside real products, but I try to keep it somewhat consistent. If I got Spork which is supposed to be like Spam, Spam still exists and Spork is silly a knock-off. Fiz is like dollar store Mountain Dew. I'd just rather make my own thing up than feel like I'm doing some advert for the product even if it possibly exists in-universe. And Spork may very well be something that's only made in the Bureau's dimension! :D
But, I do try and avoid stupid situations like The Simpsons having McBain as a Schwarzenegger stand-in and then suddenly having actual Arnie show up. That's the worst!