October 3, 2020 - News Post

Welcome back!

I feel like I haven’t seen you since the beginning of September. I’m sure it’s because you checked the site wrong. I certainly didn’t go back and fill in 3 comics in the last few hours. You should probably check that you read everything, just in case.

In some completely unrelated comic news, the ol’ work/life balance has been incredibly off balance for a month. It will likely continue to be this way until mid-November. There may be some irregularities in posting until I get that sorted out. I’m a wee bit overworked.

(This is better than underworked)

So hello!

I hope all is well. I hope you’re staying sane. How am I staying sane? I'm glad your voice clearly asked me that in my head.

Books and Audiobooks have been my friend as of late. I’ve never been a huge consumer of fiction, but that’s all changed during the pandemic. Here’s what I’ve been listening to (mostly Sci-Fi):

• Dune - I’m very excited about the movie. I love the look of everything. The book’s pacing was slow in the middle, but good enough.
• A Princess of Mars - The book was dated but enjoyable. I listened to this on my phone. What an intriguing accent the narrator used. I know it’s supposed to be Virginian soldier in the 1800s, but the narrator sounded like someone who has never heard a southern accent before. Foghorn Leghorn doing Phil Hartman’s impression of Bill Clinton. Speeding it up to 1.75x made it less horrific.
• Animal Farm - Whew. Prescient and terrifying. I've known all about this for years but never read it before.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner) - Very different from the movie. A lot more animal-centric than expected. Fun, thought provoking read.
• The Happy Return - The first book of the “Hornblower” series. Star Trek and Star Trek: TNG are based largely on these adventures of a naval sea captain in the 1800s. It was more entertaining than I expected out of an obscure book from the 1930s. Definitely a worthwhile read for obsessive Star Trek fans. It’s essentially about the ocean instead of space, islands instead of planets.
• Neuromancer - This was recommended to me by so many people. I got bored. I think anything that was mind blowing when this was written has been done to death in movies since then. Too bad.
• Metro 2033 - Bleak Russian book about people living underground after a nuclear war? Oddly comforting at this time.
• Starship Troopers - Very different from the movie. Mostly about boot camp, with a mild sci-fi twist. I liked it more than I thought I would.
• Ender’s Game - Great. Loved it. Lots of cool visuals for the mind’s eye.

I’m working my way through Leviathan Wakes, the first book of the Expanse series. It’s great so far, but I’ve barely started it.

Go read all of these and come back to discuss.

-Jeff