ozoneocean wrote:
@Hippie.
If you have a mind to set it up, or maybe we can get someone else to organise the secret Santa? I'm always so busy and I know you are for the next few weeks too :(

I'm actually completely done for the semester after December 2nd, so I'm in a pretty good position to do it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on anyone's toes!

Glad your nose is getting better btw! That seems like it's been going on for a while now. :(

—

I'm getting pretty efficient at essays. In my first year it took me at least three days to write a twelve-page paper, now I can apparently whip one off in a day (plus another half day for editing and references). Not that I advocate doing that, mind you, but…it happens. I usually spend way too much time doing research and don't leave enough time for actually writing. But I'm so close to being done the semester, it's awesome! I have two pages left of a political analysis to write, then one take-home exam and one real exam. And then a whole month off! Woohoo!

Hey Bravo,
thanks man! Ive heard of Do The Gods Wear Capes?, but the hardcover is 60Euros, which would be 75 dollars, which I do not have right now. The rest iskind of new to me, so Ill give it a google.

- - -

Its strangely kind of appropriate that, especially during the coming season, Ozs nose is red andswollen. Rudolph anyone?

- - -

It seemsthat your government just really values your wisdom, Skullbie.

- - -

I've almost finished my first novel. I have no idea if it is any good, but at least it has all the necessary components that are present in any good book. Like superheroes, attonements with fathers, time travel, questioning the existence of god, people dying, a massive forest that shares one consciousness, crossing a couple of thresholds, genetic manipulation, dragons, immortality and all its problems, and of course a lot of thematic subtleties.

I can't wait to know how it's going to end.

Okay, I made a Secret Santa thread! Everyone sign up!
http://theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/176725/

HippieVan wrote:

Okay, I made a Secret Santa thread! Everyone sign up!
http://theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/176725/

Great! I'm all singded up!

Wow… just… wow…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FswnpdUdY_0

Security officers like that guy give us “dedicated” officers a bad rep…

Haha! that's hilarious Lonne'! Great to get an insight into your work - I haven't done a shift on shrooms myself since I left the civil service.

I'm signed up for the Secretive Santa thread and really getting into the festive swing of things now. I Visited a couple of stores that weren't playing christmas music this morning so I provided my own by doing Bing Crosby impressions. Managed to get a few bemused shoppers looking skyward for broken speakers.

Lonnehart wrote:
Security officers like that guy give us “dedicated” officers a bad rep…

*Face slap* And I just look at him like the animal robots do.
Yeah, such dedication for $10 an hour.
You do know you're on camera right?
And I'll have to write this up and start diciplinary actions?
Why are you making my job harder than it needs to be?
I hate paperwork. Dumbass.

Had a shelf collapse and some kits I won buku awards and kudos for back in the day are now so many spare parts. How depressing for someone with seasonal effective disorder on a horrible rainy day just before the beginning of that always disappointing Holiday season. And one day it got up to 70 and the next plunged back down to freezing and two days later a Nor-easter with some snow mixed in.

Okay I get it, I'm supposed to be depressed. Think I'll watch another of the greatest film adaptations of a novel ever The Godfather. I was totally spellbound by a nearly 3 hour movie. Really a great film and deserving of being #2 on best all time movie lists.

I'm so close to being done for the semester. It's like the last hour of a long road trip which is somehow longer than all the rest. There's not a lot left that I need to do, but I'm not feeling very motivated. I just want to draw and do Christmas stuff!

Ironscarf wrote:
Haha! that's hilarious Lonne'! Great to get an insight into your work - I haven't done a shift on shrooms myself since I left the civil service.

I'm signed up for the Secretive Santa thread and really getting into the festive swing of things now. I Visited a couple of stores that weren't playing christmas music this morning so I provided my own by doing Bing Crosby impressions. Managed to get a few bemused shoppers looking skyward for broken speakers.

I'm crossing my fingers that I get your request. XD

HippieVan wrote:


I'm crossing my fingers that I get your request. XD

You are in a fairly good position to fix the result! I'll get started on Santa Cat (Just in case!).

—

No work to do online today. I suppose this is because the company is US based and are stuffing themselves with turkey. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My thanksgiving tradition is to ask what thanksgiving is actually all about, since we have no clue over here. Every year I get a different answer. Any takers?!

Ironscarf wrote:

My thanksgiving tradition is to ask what thanksgiving is actually all about, since we have no clue over here. Every year I get a different answer. Any takers?!

Just be thankful for everything you DO have right now. Don't think about what you'll never have, or what you want right now but don't have.

I guess that's about how I see it. I'm thankful that I still have MOST of my family right now. Just not gonna think about what's missing…

And I thought you'd want to watch this, Kawaii (unless you've seen it already).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMKmiPtYYw

I feel really sorry for Todd. Not as bad as Markiplier but his fear is broader (fear of inanimate objects coming to life) though it doesn't appear to be a phobia. Kinda like how I'm creeped out by animatronics… I'm not prevented from entering a Chuck E Cheeses, but I will make any excuse possible to avoid entering one. Now if there were animatronic CLOWNS in the building… I'm gonna hire Bravo as a bodyguard. I mean… THIS is HIM, right? :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Kt-GsQres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEIdTALWgG8

Ironscarf wrote:
You are in a fairly good position to fix the result! I'll get started on Santa Cat (Just in case!).

—

No work to do online today. I suppose this is because the company is US based and are stuffing themselves with turkey. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My thanksgiving tradition is to ask what thanksgiving is actually all about, since we have no clue over here. Every year I get a different answer. Any takers?!

I found a Secret Santa generator thingy online, so I'll know the results but they'll be completely random. Although now if I get yours people will probably think I fixed it. :P I promise not to!

Canadian thanksgiving was back in October, but where I live it's just a day off (or overtime at work, woohoo!) and dinner with your family. I think officially it's a celebration of the harvest (so boring and Canadian), so kids draw pictures of pumpkins and turkeys and whatnot. It's not really a big deal overall. I was always vaguely aware of the whole Pilgrims and Native Americans thing from American television, but it's not a thing here as far as I know. That might be different in other areas of Canada - something like 12% of the people in my city are aboriginal, so there's no way the American myth wouldn't be called out.

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the good fortune in life and hoping for a favorable outcome for those things in doubt. Fill your belly with all the things from the harvest that you can't preserve through the long winter.

Modern US Thanksgiving actually goes back to the American Civil War not the Pilgrims and has been observed annualy since 1863. The first Thanksgiving meal in America was in Jamestown nearly a decade before the Pilgrims arrived. The supposed First Thanksgiving in Plimouth Plantation was actually a cleebration of the harvest. The harvest meal in Jamestown was a giving of thanks to God for his bounty. Damn Puritan propaganda. Erect a Maypole, have some ale with your turkey and fuck the Puritans. God bless King James and thanks to God we're still here after this tortuous year. And thanks to you Indians for sharing your bounty and not killing us this year.

Days of Thanksgiving had been decreed by Colonial legislatures, US Congress and various Presidents going back to Washington whenever the colony or nation surmounted a crisis. It's what you did when life was as fragile as it was in the 17th-18th-19th century. It was made an offical observed government holiday in 1863 by President Lincoln. If ever there was a time for giving of thanks in American history it was after the summer of 1863 when the tide of the American Civil War finally turned after Gettyburg and Vicksburg.

And just when I thought I had enough depression with the shelf collapse and all, my car died on the way into work on Thanksgiving morning. Had to get a new battery installed Friday. Well it had lasted over six years so I can give thanks for that. And seeing members of the family I had not seen in a long time was nice on Friday. Cousin Maryanne, my sister and mother were all in rare form. And my brother actually agreed with my sister in the family roundtable on Ferguson! Right and left can see eye to eye every once in a while.

That's terrible about your car and your shelf Bravo. That sort of stuff is such a bastard… The thing is it's a problem that's brewing away quietly by itself, just wating for a time to strike, but if there was any possible way to check on the status of those things (I mean, why would you?) in the mean time yoy could prevent them from going wrong or at least be prepared for the moment of failure (i the case of the battery).
Too bad you can't run your house like an aircraft maintainance crew… :(

——

The things Americians say for Thanksgiving sounds a LOT like what people say when they “Say Grace”, it's weird. The Christianity is strong in that culture. :D

——

Ever sice I did a lot of recent work on my Hussar gear I've been wanting to watch some good Napoleonic themed shows to marvel at the fancey costumes and get into the spirit of that time. But it seems I've already seen all the best ones! :(
I've watched and rewtached all the good Sharpe series. I saw a colouple of later ones when he's in India but they were just so crappy, not up to the standard of the ‘90s ones at all. Waterloo is a gret film but I’m not ready to watch it again yet, I've seen The Duelists 2 or 3 times now, Royal Flash and The Charge of the Light Brigade are set a lot later but still have great costumes… but I've already see those too (many times in the case of Royal Flash). :(
Hornblower is great but mainly at sea so limited costume types in that one. I tried watching the War and Peace TV series but it was soooooo dull… Maybe one of the film adaptions will be better?
Vanity Fair was a peoce of crap.

So far it looks like my only options are foriengn langauge movies! UGH! Cannot draw or sew while reading fricken susbtitles. :(
You'd think there would be a LOT more movies and TV shows about one of the most important times in history, whouldn't you? Seriously!
Most of the other movies were made in the 1920s or they're dodgey quality things done in the 1950s or '60s… I need high quality colour visuals to enjoy those costumes.

It's happening again. If I'm having fun with something I will somehow fall asleep. Doesn't matter if I'm playing an MMO, toying around with a 3D program, or talking to my nephew. If I'm having fun, I will end up asleep.

Now if I'm doing something I find boring, nothing will put me to sleep. In fact, it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to sleep when I'm bored.

It's a very nasty curse for me right now. I mean… I was having fun at my sister's birthday party and according to her, I fell asleep while eating and socializing with the family (I thought I woke up after taking a nap).

So in order to stay awake as long as I want, I have to be bored with everything? X_X

I hope no one else has to deal with this problem… *ugh* fell asleep again…

ozoneocean wrote:
Maybe one of the film adaptions will be better?

The recent European German/Russian co-production had great costumes. The one with Malcolm McDowell. Stay away from the Audrey Hepburn adaptation it's awful. And it's not as dull as the BBC one.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0495055/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
You should be able to find a dubbed version of the Russian 1960's one which has some the most complete spectrum of costumes ever.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063794/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5

So far it looks like my only options are foriengn langauge movies! UGH! Cannot draw or sew while reading fricken susbtitles. :(
You'd think there would be a LOT more movies and TV shows about one of the most important times in history, whouldn't you? Seriously!
Most of the other movies were made in the 1920s or they're dodgey quality things done in the 1950s or '60s… I need high quality colour visuals to enjoy those costumes.

Yeah there's so many in ofreign language. But you should be able to find a dubbed version of the Bondarchuk War and Peace. I saw it on TV in the 70's. Find the Napoleon miniseries form the early 2000's. Murat the hussar is a major character.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253839/
Sadly one of the best movies for costumes the original Norma Shearer Marie Anntoette from the 1930's It is in BW but has such beautifully detailed uniforms for the hussars ofLe Ancien Regimecomplete with the slightly longer tails and glorious miriltons.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030418/?ref_=nv_sr_3
Lady Caroline Lamb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068827/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_36

I recently had the chance tro finally see Waterloo in a less edited wide-screen version. The uniforms are a bit more disappointing thatn I remembered. Either that or my immersion in uniforms had gotten worse. Try to find the videos on Youtube of various Napoleonic reenactments. The Borodino one has a cool English language doc'y/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZUxHBsnhw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAZPx0XSEyI
Leipzeig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2NU_gf1e7o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM-I7j2Gsfg
There are lots of people in Europe devoted to these reenactment and go crazy with the uniforms and details.

Thanks Bravo!
That's a lot to check out. I'll have to have a look through that when I''m on my home comp later on :D

At work at the moment… Having Lonne's problem, but I don't have to be happy to be tried, just bored.
Lonne, it sounds like you have narcolepsy. Or really low blood preasure.

I WISH I had low blood pressure. I have high blood pressure, but luckily I'm only taking two medications for it at the moment.

Narcalepsy could be it. I've worked graveyard shift so long that maybe it's getting to me. Well… except that narcalepsy (from my understanding) doesn't care if you're interested in something or not.

Oddly enough I don't fall asleep when I'm driving. Then again, driving is boring…

Yeah… I would not wish this on anyone. Being bored with life just to stay awake is not fun.

Are you sleeping well at night Lonne? Could be a side effect of not getting enough decent sleep. I never get enough sleep and when I sit down to do the things I really want to do like playing a guitar or drawing, suddenly I'm passing out. I think it's just a case of feeling relaxed about something and you're gone.

Gunwallace's Awfully Decent Fellows theme is perfect! How did he know what that comic sounds like inside my head?

Ironscarf wrote:
Are you sleeping well at night Lonne? Could be a side effect of not getting enough decent sleep. I never get enough sleep and when I sit down to do the things I really want to do like playing a guitar or drawing, suddenly I'm passing out. I think it's just a case of feeling relaxed about something and you're gone.

I get four to six hours of sleep a day when I'm working (I work graveyard). And 8 hours at night on my days off. I guess there's a problem with that sleep pattern…

Ironscarf wrote:
Gunwallace's Awfully Decent Fellows theme is perfect! How did he know what that comic sounds like inside my head?

Many thanks. How did I know? Well, the way i compose each tune involves time-travel, a wild stoat, several twisty things that wobble about a bit and recite poetry, and mind-reading.

Okay… so I watch this Weird Al video called “Tacky”…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq7Eki5EZ8o

Then I read about it on the net. Now I consider all the outfits in the video to be mostly tacky, but apparently if you're in Europe you'd end up in fashion magazines… in a good way… X_X

I guess fashion sense is not always the same everywhere around the world despite the internet…

Yeah, fashion sense is not even the same in different parts of a country. I live in the Netherlands, where I can usually guess whether someone comes from the North, West, or South, by looking at their outfits. There is a lot of sweat pants and shiny things in the south of the Netherlands.

- - -

I just dreamt that Terry Pratchett came to my brother's birthday party, wearing an Orange-Yellow wizard robe and a matching Wizzard hat. There was an opening on Terry's chest, in the robe, not his skin, and I knew that that was the place where he would be operated on soon. We talked for a bit, about his books as well as mine, and then I had to wake up because my uncle was starting to undress my aunt on the other side of the room, and I didn't really want to wait until he was naked himself.

I think Sir Terry Pratchett is going to die soon. Although I really hope he won't.

- - -

Podcasts you should listen to:
- No Such Thing As A Fish
- Harmontown
- Welcome To Nightvale
- The Thrilling Adventure Hour
- Here Be Monsters
- Getting On With James Urbaniak
- The Truth

You're Welcome!

Gunwallace wrote:
Many thanks. How did I know? Well, the way i compose each tune involves time-travel, a wild stoat, several twisty things that wobble about a bit and recite poetry, and mind-reading.

I thought it must be something like that. You've created not just a theme tune, but the perfect sonic landscape for the characters to inhabit. A thousand thanks and please accept an ADA (Awfully Decent Award) for your outstanding work (this will probably be a real thing when I get round to it).

—

Brrrr! It's cold. Time to get out the brandy and ginger wine.

Gunwallace's music is fantastic. It's like the icing on the cake for the Quackcasts. It's a privilage to be able to showcase it :D

—————-

This is one of those times when I'm feelling extremely non-social. I don't want to interact with other people. I just want to be by myself in my home office and watch movies and anime on my big TV while I draw and sew for a couple of days or so.
And catch up on Archer, which I'm currently doing. I've rewatched the 1st and second seasons, starting on the 3rd now. Love that show.

—————-

Happy Birthday Bravo1102! He's now… 32 years old!
I like coming up with abritrary ages for people.

BTW: all the theme tunes so far are now up athttp://www.virtuallycomics.com/music.htm, where I think you can just right-click on them to download then should you desire to.

ozoneocean wrote: And catch up on Archer, which I'm currently doing. I've rewatched the 1st and second seasons, starting on the 3rd now. Love that show.

“That's how you get ants.”
Archer is awesome. And so by association is Bob's Burgers, which crosses over once in Archer, and Archer's spirit crosses over in a Bob's Thanksgiving episode with some Absinthe transforming Bob somewhat.

And yet another Weird Al “Tacky” video. Why do I like this particular video so much? It's a single camera motion while he's singing… “LIVE”. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFlTfaQ6x0U

ozoneocean wrote:
Happy Birthday Bravo1102! He's now… 32 years old!
I like coming up with abritrary ages for people.

I wish I was 32 again. newlywed, still in the National Guard, pre-soft tissue injuries, capable of jumping tall buildings in a single bound, those were the days.

As for me now? well Jethro Tull said it so well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlpjL8PB-eI