Thanks guys, Itll probably be late November before I get to actually see the final result (And be allowed to show anyone any drawings). And I don't think it's really anything special, since I've only ever done better work, so don't expect too much quality. I only joined the project four days before deadline, which is quite tight. I'm much more excited by my recent writing work.

So stuff has been happening! Very happy to read about the new baby, Genejoke – That's great!!

And, Kroatz – very cool. I'm really impressed and I'm gearing up my harking, as in “I remember him from WAY back …” (as a troll to new mafia players; a troll who had suspensions). But that was then and this is now.

And all the other stuff – it's just great to be able to see what people are up to again. This duck went on Such an F-n bender this time. FB is good for what is is, but it's no Duck.

Can you believe how close this year is near the end already!? My family has had to focus a lot on family this year. We lost our first parent, and two more are fragile. Otherwise, I have been trying to consolidate and Complete rather than piling more things on an already-full plate. Not with great success, but am pleased to report that a sweater I started knitting maybe a dozen years ago is in the process of being finished. Originally it was suppose to be for my husband. But there's been some “weighty gain” and now after all this time, it looks like it'll be just right for my son.

And I'm taking a lot of walks. I LOVE walking when the trees compete for most glorious color. Exciting stuff, yes: knitting and walking – that's why I round things out with the weekly episodes of American Horror. Balance. gotta have balance. And comics, though sadly many of my favorites are in duck-bender-land.

Maybe a thread is in order? A promotional thread where those comics that are still alive CAMPAIGN and show their wares, as it were, and find homes for jilted readers such as moi. a thought

Knitting has the potential to be every bit as exciting as for example:
- Sittting.
- Picking up various objects.
- Doodling.
- Cutting carrots and/or tomatoes.
- Watching commercials.
- Fighting dragons using nothing but a tootbrush made of valyrian steel and an inflated ego.

Well, maybe not that last one, but I can think of quite a few things a lot less satisfying than knitting and walking. Especially if you eventually finish the sweater, or find something you've never seen before on one of your walks. I've never been taught anything like knitting or sewing and I have spent quite a large amount of money buying things I would have most likely been able to create myself. My favorite hat (a red wool one) was made by my mom and I have spent several hundreds of hours wearing it. So don't knock knitting, it may not be the most interesting activity to perform, but it has the potential to create amazingness.

You know what? I'm going on a walk right now, maybe I'll be able to see the sun through the thick layer of clouds that has hidden it from me for so long. SUCK IT INTERNET, I'm going OUTSIDE!

Ugh… now I find myself looking for complete song lyrics for Grand Theft Audio's song “As Good As It Gets”. I've searched the net for them, but all of them are missing one set of lyrics. The set I can't find is where one of the female singers is doing a solo. I can't make out what exactly she's singing as there's a lot of echo in there. -_-

Ozone jinxed me! He features me and my computers power button stops working so now I have to wait till its done at the shop before I can update again >:(

JustNoPoint wrote:
Ozone jinxed me! He features me and my computers power button stops working so now I have to wait till its done at the shop before I can update again >:(

Damn that ozone, featuring the poo-poo and ruining your computers since 2004….

gullas wrote:
JustNoPoint wrote:
Ozone jinxed me! He features me and my computers power button stops working so now I have to wait till its done at the shop before I can update again >:(
Damn that ozone, featuring the poo-poo and ruining your computers since 2004….

And he keeps saying he wants to be overthrown, but I say where's the fun in that? We wouldn't have him to kick aorund any longer.

Water broke a few weeks early. Baby go time.

I think it's time I started writing that biographical comic I've kept talking to myself about for the last couple years. After the last two weeks, I pretty much have every single pitfall a 20-something could fall into covered I think. I broke ties with a roomate, who proceeded to rob me blind and trash my fledgling business in the process of her leaving which resulted in me literally being homeless, after being kicked out by my landlord, for two weeks until I could scrap together the money to move my possessions and myself into a storage unit and my parent's basement respectively. Right now, I'm using the public library for an office and hanging drywall for a family friend to try and scrape together enough of an income to get back to the point where I'm stable enough to start thinking about a home of my own again. I'm getting past the point of all the depression and stress enough now to be thinking about it and really how it just kind of adds to this weird, twisted and altogether surreal story.

lba wrote:
I think it's time I started writing that biographical comic I've kept talking to myself about for the last couple years. After the last two weeks, I pretty much have every single pitfall a 20-something could fall into covered I think. I broke ties with a roomate, who proceeded to rob me blind and trash my fledgling business in the process of her leaving which resulted in me literally being homeless, after being kicked out by my landlord, for two weeks until I could scrap together the money to move my possessions and myself into a storage unit and my parent's basement respectively. Right now, I'm using the public library for an office and hanging drywall for a family friend to try and scrape together enough of an income to get back to the point where I'm stable enough to start thinking about a home of my own again. I'm getting past the point of all the depression and stress enough now to be thinking about it and really how it just kind of adds to this weird, twisted and altogether surreal story.

you know lba, that does sound like a hillarious comedy… with a hint of european realism.

@Kroatz: Congrats! That is really exciting!

@Ayes: Well done with the sweater! You wouldn't believe how many half-finished scarves I have.
I think a thread for comics that are back up and running is an excellent idea.

@lba: That's really terrible - I'm sure you've done whatever you can, but there wasn't any way to get police involved with said roommate or anything? It does sound like it would make a good dark comedy-type comic, though.

bravo1102 wrote:
And he keeps saying he wants to be overthrown, but I say where's the fun in that? We wouldn't have him to kick aorund any longer.

We're in the process of a gradual usurpation, I think - I am helping out with newsposts now. :)
http://theduckwebcomics.com/news/2013/nov/12/friday-newspost-meet-your-new-newspost-overlordoverlady/

lba wrote:“…after being kicked out by my landlord, for two weeks until I could scrap together the money to move my possessions and myself into a storage unit and my parent's basement respectively. ”

On the bright side, you finally have time to draw webcomics again!

Live it up, spending time with the 'Rents normally means that you are now free labor for chores or help around the house. Think of it as payback for all the free room and board they supplied for eighteen plus years before you went away to college.

My apologies for what you had to go through with the roommate. It sounds like a nightmare, that (hopefully) is over.

Monday afternoon and my brain still isn't working opimally. >:[

@ hippie: It's kind of working itself out better without the police involved. I'm kind of in one of those situations where tangling with the law under any circumstances is bad for me. Besides, I ended up with one of her heirloom diamond rings and a pile of electronics she left behind that have actually turned out to be worth a bit more than she took.

@ kawaii: I've always kind of been free labor for them. I've been their business' marketing department for about the last 4 years. Now I'm just doing it while I'm standing at the counter in the coffee shop. It is mostly over now, and given the timing since I'm supposed to be working for the government for a few months soon it's a lot better than it could have been, and with the afore-mentioned valuables left behind, I may actually come out ahead in the long run here.

That's raw lba. If I were you I'd try and do a swap- your stuff for hers'. But I know that's easier said than done. :(

So I needed about 80 metal, smooth, high dome shaped buttons for my other hussar jacket. The place I ordered them from mislabelled the part of their site and they were actually plastic!
It is very hard to get just the right shape and type of button you want, even with all the internet to look in.
For this exact style of button pretty much no one makes them new now, unless it's in plastic. The only places you can readily get them are replicas from renactment outfitters for about 1.2 euros or even 1.4 pounds a button (at the minimum), or auction places for antique buttons…
But usually they don't have enoygh in a matching set. Even reneactment places have limited suplies.

So I zaged instead of zigged. Now I'm having them custom made in China.
There's a thousad piece minimum and I have to pay for the mould to be made… but at $0.14 a button WITH silver plating, the cost for 1000 is the same as getting as paying for 80 from those other places, even with the pprice of the mold.
Shipping will probably be a lot… But I can always sell them on Ebay. The scarcity means I can corner the market, even if they're mainly scarce because no one wants that style anymore. :)
Still, plain, high domed, silver metal buttons go with a lot of things and they're great for decorative touches!

I'm going to make an Adam Ant style waistcout with them:



Maybe put them on the outside seem of some tight trousers… that would look prety cool too ^_^

A laced hussar waistcoat. The 15th British Light Dragoon (Hussar) regiment has a reenactment unit who might be happy to get silver dome buttons. http://www.xvld.org/

At the very least they could put you in touch with someone else who needs them? Love watching these guys in action, gives you a feeling for what the uniforms looked like in service as opposed to how they are sculpted on my miniatures or even painted in all my Osprey MAA volumes.

Excelent idea Bravo! I'd love to offer them to guys like that, if they're good enough quality buttons that is. We'll see how the finished product turns out.
Shipping from here could be expensive for them, but if they needed a lot it'd be a bit more cost effective. The price for the buttons themselves would be better than they could get locally… if the quality is what I hope. You never know though.

Their genuine replica uniforms are pretty amazing! ^_^
Mine is only my own “ideal” design, based roughly on Prussian styles from the early to mid 19th century. - although with no modern touches or anything out of place inserted into the design.

I think my thing is that I love the “look”. I want it authentic, because it's the authenticity that makes it, but I don't want an actual replica because that involves compromises and also taking on the role of a real solder… which I'm not. I'm just a guy in a fancy outfit.
It's hard to explain.
But for the route those guys are going down, with renactments and being part of a troop, I admire them and that's the way to go if you're going the full replica path.

Wow, Iba. That's a tough road to walk (and tripping on all the potholes along the way). But it's good to know you're picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and moving forward. Just don't stay single like I have though… there may be days when you will find yourself regretting it…

Blah!

Okay… watched this crime thing on the Discovery Channel (we get Australia's version for some reason… lots of Australian commercials… especially that one scary commercial where this woman is really REALLY CRAZY about Christmas) and saw something disturbing… besides that commercial that is…

Here's this serial killer. He's gotten close to killing his female victim. She's mortally wounded, but managed to make it to a neighbor's apartment. Later the police arrive and request an ambulance. However, the ambulance is delayed. Turns out the person who tried to kill the woman intercepted the ambulance and wounded himself badly, forcing them to take him to the hospital first. This works for him because he wants her dead, and forcing the ambulance to divert its attention to him robs her of the help and precious time she needs to survive.

Too bad for him there was another ambulance in the area which also responded to the call for help.

Now I'm finding myself wondering how I will handle that if/when it happens when I'm on the job.

Now for something completely out of left field. Just out of curiosity (and watching too many old TV shows) is it true that women swoon when they see a man in military uniform? Or was that just made up to get more men to sign their lives away to the government for combat duty?

Lonnehart wrote:
Now for something completely out of left field. Just out of curiosity (and watching too many old TV shows) is it true that women swoon when they see a man in military uniform?

YEP.
Not new ones though, just the old ones with all the lovely buttons and buckles and hats.
It's completely involuntary. I have a massive crush on Captain Vidal from Pan's Labyrinth, and I hate myself for it.

(I can't speak for all ladies, of course. Just myself.)

I have watched Top Gun over one hundred times, and I can watch Christoph Waltz's strudel scene in Inglorious Basterds a thousand more. My idea of a good time is watching James Mcavoy in Atonement. So I get it. I know the appeal of a man in a uniform. Vestis Virum Reddit–“Clothes make the man!”

Personally, I love the uniform and clothing style of the Axis and Allies from WWII era. It has to do with that fresh-pressed, ironed pleat in the front and back of the pants leg that completes the outfit. And the daily workout regimen required to fit in dress blues guarantees a strong body.

Ah, but I digress…

My hometown is a very active military town with a major base in the city. It was not uncommon to see many girls in my high school bringing these slightly older, enlisted guys to formal dances. Everyone is entitled to their type, but I noticed that my classmates that joined the military immediately after graduation were getting married very young, having children (plural) and going through a divorce by nineteen. I have seen relationships shattered because of an unfaithful spouse or the depression of deployment.

It depends on the uniform, it depends on the guy.

Ya, what about a supermarket worker's uniform? Or a road worker all in hi-vis gear? :D

This is the current state of my hussar gear, as it continually evolves:



Needs bigger, shiner buttons on the doman jacket, silver strips on the trousers… Maybe a different hat.
Not really very swoon-worthy though. For that you need a sort of practiced flare/swager to wear it “juuuust” right, the right sort of bearing and stance.
-That's a real thing: Military types would have to stand very straight and correctly, they'd be very used to keeping their backs nice and straight, shoulders up, chests out that they'd do it naturally and without too much stiffness, also they'd be a lot more comfy in their outfit so they'd wear it better.

That's a good point, oz - I guess what I'm actually saying is that handsome actors look even more handsome in uniforms.
Like Tom Hiddleston in a uniform.



Yes please. :)

kawaiidaigakusei wrote:
Personally, I love the uniform and clothing style of the Axis and Allies from WWII era. It has to do with that fresh-pressed, ironed pleat in the front and back of the pants leg that completes the outfit. And the daily workout regimen required to fit in dress blues guarantees a strong body.



Yep those clean fresh World War II types… this is how World War II soldiers saw themselves… a far cry from movies and TV. It's not the uniform or the spit and polish, it's the man inside the uniform.

To be fair Bravo, the subject IS uniforms, not necessarily soldiers. I understand your perspective, but it's a little at variance with the ideal of the dashing hero that women swoon over.

The most dashing, swooniest, crisply dressed uniformed “heros” probably never amounted to anything militarily, and the most accomplished men and women didn't care a fig for straight seems or bright buttons, but that's a slightly different subject.
Still a perfecly valid point of view of course, but on a slightly different track?

Completely on track as only a man who has worn a uniform and made women swoon can know. There's something about a soldier especailly if he reeks of oil, grease and diesel exhaust. Drives them crazy. But not everyone can be a tanker.

What woman could resist this:

It is clearly not the hussarish cut of the uniform of an officer in the 95th rifles it's that scowl and “take no prisoners” expression and what that implies. Ladies, this guy ain't gonna romance you but he's gonna give you the best night of your life.

Definitely the man.

I mean just look at that bastard! (more recent picture from Sharpe's Challenge and Sharpe's Peril) And a “right proper bastard” he is. Men dirty, rifles clean…

But when they're clean even better look out! Every bit a soldier.

The Rifles today, no more pretty hussarish uniform but ladies this guy knows how to love a woman… yes ladies raise your sights, you too can love a Rifleman. You can't always get a tanker but in a pinch a Rifleman will certainly suffice.

Personally, I've found that most girls I know have a particular affinity for a dirty, stained, field-worn set of ACU's. Something about it looking more rugged when you walk in with a crappy shave, dirt and blood on your jacket and how that means you're more manly or something. As far as I know, it just means I had a bad couple weeks in the field, but who am I to argue. Most of the girls I know these days can out shoot me out here in the sticks.

You get bonus points for being an officer, having a tab or certain unit insignia too. A set of bars, a Ranger tab or a 101st Screaming Eagle can be spun by almost any guy into a girl magnet. Thing is, in my experience, the girls who will suddenly pay attention because of a uniform or ID card are usually the type most guys aren't too interested in knowing for more than a day or two.

And Oz, I'd skip ebay and go on Etsy for those buttons. They go ape over anything related to crafts, DIY or anything whatsoever that can be used for those purposes. You'd probably find a bigger audience there than anywhere else.

This discussion has been slightly one sided where it would have been interesting to switch around the genders and ask whether a woman in uniform makes a man swoon. Would it have the opposite effect? It would have been an interesting response! In retrospect, asking why women find men in uniforms attractive was almost like asking why men find Jennifer Connelly attractive. They just do.

In truth, when I go to War Museums where the full uniform is on display, I am fascinated but I do not swoon. The only time I did find myself being mesmerized was when I was standing in front of a real Avro Lancaster and could not stop staring. Maybe it was the painted yellow bombs on the side; maybe it was that big black cockpit. So I am going to make a quick nod to the massive machine that men in uniforms have controlled. I believe men and women can both agree that this behemoth is unquestionably swoon worthy.

Not sure if women in uniform are universally attractive in the same way, but personally I find them mega attractive. A female military officer, soldier, cop or…grocery store manager? Beautiful! Amazing!
Trippindicular!

I think with men it's a bit more hit or miss. With men, from the gender role perspective, even though you've got a lot more guys going against the stereotypes than before, I don't know that there's as many men looking for a woman with those symbols of authority. I think there's a definite social expectation factor in there, but also what it means to the individual for both sides. That, and the fact that damn near every female military uniform I've seen make a girl look like a librarian, and one more of the octogenarian rather than fetish persuasion. I swear, military uniform designers must have something against girls being attractive or comfortable. Dress blues are bad enough when you're a guy. The girls have it even worse.

Personally, any girl who can just rock a pair of jeans and regular cut t-shirt has my attention. Mainly because I appreciate someone who doesn't feel the need to get dressed up for the world, and all that sort of a lack of fashion concern entails. I've never quite understood the v-neck, tight shirts, yoga pants, or all the other types of clothes women seem to prefer that really seem primarily designed to showcase the body. It might just be me as a fairly large guy, but the idea of a skintight, clingy shirt does not seem like it'd be appealing to anyone.