Rawb

Hey guys!

Just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying doing the uStreams!  Not only is it a chance to talk to the readers, but I think that this is the best possible way to do tutorials.  Direct feedback in real time is the way to go.  I only recorded the most recent one, but as it didn’t lag my computer very much I’ll most likely get in the habit of recording almost all of them.

I realize that my broadcast times have not been the best of late, but since I seem to get a decent amount done when I’m broadcasting I am considering doing an hour stream every night at 7:00 pm EST.  Is that a good time for more people?  Mind you I’ll still probably do a stream on the weekend as well… just not sure what time that will be.  For now there will DEFINITELY be NO stream on Wednesday nights because the wife and I go to prenatal classes.  But that is only for the next 7 weeks.

Let me know if you guys would be interested!

Rawb

So I just finished my 3rd ever ustream broadcast!  it’s fun but I know that most people couldn’t tune in to them cause of the awkward time.  I’m doing another stream on Saturday morning at 9am EST when I hope to see a bunch of you there who have some drawing query’s for me, cause I’d love to help out where I can.  I’m going to try to complete an entire strip on that stream, but we’ll have to wait and see.  There’s a really good possibility that I’ll be doing a Sunday stream as well, so stay tuned for a twitter announcement on Saturday or Sunday about when that might happen.  If this idea is popular enough, I’ll set up a page on the website where you can watch the stream without having to go to Ustream.com  I wouldn’t mind getting the webtraffic.

So thanks to Lou, one of my readers, I was able to finally figure out how to Ustream my desktop so it looks like I’ll be able to stream my drawing sessions live from here on out.  I’m considering doing a stream Saturday mornings, I’m not sure what time at the moment, but probably around 10 O’clock EST.  I’ll be mostly streaming me drawing the strip but I can also do a little tutorial stuff at the same time.  Let me know if you guys are interested in this kind of thing.

GAMER JUSTICE!!!
I don’t know if you have heard about this or not, but it’s been all over YouTube and Twitter. A modder/hacker named “iTzLuPo” was banned by Xbox live moderator “The Pro” for Terms of Use violations. Mr Lupo was apparently recording the game and put together a heavily edited video making the modderator look as though he banned people with reckless abandon, abusing his position. However the footage was quite obviously tampered with and the full HALF HOUR video of the events leading up to the ban was leaked onto YouTube. Lupo and his friends seemed to think it was funny to goad the mod and verbally assault him for doing his job. In the end a few of the modders were suspended for having obviously used Modern Warefare 2 exploits and hacks. One of the kids attempted to “explain” how it was “totally possible to prestige 10 times in only 9 days…”. Uh huh… Sure kid. Anyway Lupo went further to threaten Microsoft with legal action. “I discussed it with my mom and we’re filing a class action lawsuit.” said the Hacker. Quoted in his friend’s video I found by flipping through iTzLuPo’s xbox modding and glitching YouTube channel… I’d like to meet the lawyer that would take THAT case… Needless to say the kid has been labeled an asshole by the community at large and I really don’t think The Pro has anything to worry about.

Also you should have heard the mouth on that one kid… Geeze! Not that I haven’t heard a hundred like him on XBL…

Anyway to all the mods out there trying to keep the gaming experience clean… We salute you!

I don’t think that anyone can truly say that they haven’t felt like older people who hold a position of authority over them haven’t treated you with the proverbial kid gloves. And to clarify, this is not coming from the angst ridden mind of a teen, I’m almost thirty for god sakes! It really does feel like we are due our moment behind the wheel. Unfortunately it seems a lot harder to pry those gnarled old claws from the controls then it should. If you don’t want us to drive, then you shouldn’t have given us lessons.

Just a thought…

Rawb

Rawb

So Febuary has almost run it’s course and March is looming over the Horizon.  Which is actually pretty sweet because that means Pax East is approaching!  I can’t wait for it!  If the West Coast Pax is any indication of how awesome the one in Boston is going to be, then I’m sure that we are in for a real treat.

So today marks the end of a story (?) and potentially begins another.  Not just in the comic itself, but also a new chapter for it’s author.  Oh wait, that’s me right?

So I’ve been sitting on this information for a little while, indeed I only imparted it to the people I see and spend most of my time with just recently, but I figured I should finally share the news with you all.  This July will mark the arrival of our first child!  (cue raucous applause)  To answer the immediate question, no we don’t know the sex and we do not plan to find out.  There are so few true surprises in life and we figured this is one of the big ones!  Plus if we end up having a girl I won’t be saddled with mounds of pink miniature sets of clothing months before the kid’s arrival :)  Anyway I thought I’d share the happy news with you guys!

Rawb

Hope everybody enjoyed valentine’s day. The wife and I had a nice quiet day in. Relaxing and enjoying each others company. Luckily for all the Canucks, today is a stat holiday as well! Yeah it’s “family” day…. don’t ask…. it’s new….

Wow, it’s amazing how quickly the time slips away when you get home from work isn’t it?  I’ve only been back working in the studio for a few days, but already my free time seems to be dwindling.  Well thankfully there is always the weekend.  Speaking of which did you get anything for your loved one for valentine’s day yet?

Rawb

Phew!  I almost forgot to post today’s strip!  And I worked so hard on getting ahead and everything!  Thankfully my website is one of the few sites NOT blocked at my work.  I asked the Tech Gurus here to unblock it last year and apparently it has survived!  Hooray!  Anyway so here’s today’s strip! Enjoy!

Rawb

Lost… the title has nothing to do with the passengers…. it’s all about how the audience feels after almost every episode. I feel like Lost has entered Joss Whedon territory. The first few seasons were really great, but now I think I’m only watching it out of some twisted macabre fascination with finding out how the writers intend to explain the next set of insane “twists” to the plot. Sigh… I’m still gonna watch…. damn you Lost….. Damn you….

You should be watching Fringe…. it’s got all the crazy with none of the “Awe that’s a load of crap!”

And seriously… when they were in the boat and time jumped…. why was the boat still there?!

Gawdamnit…..

Hey Guys!  Wow, it seems like I’ve had very little free time lately.  Which isn’t entirely accurate, but it feels that way.  Been doing a lot of running around, shopping and the like.  Maybe I just need a good night’s sleep.  Winter can do that to ya I guess…

Been doing a lot of extra art related stuff on the side lately.  Started doing some Warhammer-esque terrain for my D&D game as well… I really don’t know where I expect to find all the time for this stuff… sigh.  I’ll post some pictures when I’m done.

Hey guys!  So looks like the animation world is really picking up again.  I’m gonna have to really start exercising my time management skills cause I’m gonna be working two jobs for a bit!  Luckily one of them is gonna be a 9-5 salary gig.  It’s a good chance to put away some extra cash, which is nothing to shake a stick at.  Don’t worry though.  I’m gonna do my damnedest to keep the comic updating Mondays and Thursdays and hopefully, when I’m finally working one job again I’ll get it back up to Three a week.

Rawb

Hey guys, sorry there wasn’t a comic up on Monday this week.  Last Friday the director of the show I was working on called me and told me he had a set of scenes that needed to be done urgently, so I’ve been working long hours all weekend and all week.  I finally finished them off and had time to make today’s comic.  Hope you like!

Rawb

So I’ve been trying to find the time to play an hour or two of my newest acquisition… Dragon Age. Over all I find that it’s a pretty darn fun game, although you’ll find everything seems to take an awful lot of time. Coming from Bioware I wasn’t surprised to see the same conversation system they used in Mass Effect. I kinda feel like the whole system is a little tedious, but I’m more arty then wordy so my opinion is jaded. I played through the first stage twice… Once as a Wood elf and once as a Dwarven Noble. I found the Dwarf storyline a little more engaging, as the Elf story seemed to have a heavy frosting of Species-ism which I felt was not something I enjoyed. Sure it parallels real life a bit and the storyline is heavily steeped in a classism/speciesism flavor, but I still thought that a lot of the dialogue came across as bigoted rather then bitter and angry… The Game play is great, anyone who has played World of Warcraft will enjoy the special abilities set up, complete with cool downs and mana meters, and I really enjoy the way that whatever character deals the killing blow is rewarded with a special animation of the character dispatching the enemy.

It’s a great game for RPG enthusiasts, but be prepared to put in a lot of time.

Rawb

Hey guys! Is everyone setting into the hum drum of daily life again after Christmas?  Grooooan…. It’s been hard for me to get back on my schedule… I’m gonna blame the snow…. cause I can.   Stupid snow….

So there seems to be a lot of buzz about Webcomics.com going paysite.  I’m not entirely certain how I feel about it really. I mean if the site was so much work that he felt he needed to be paid for it, couldn’t Guigar have started advertising on the site?  I mean if it’s good enough for a webcomic site, why not a site about webcomics?  I didn’t spend to much time there, I have a bad habit of piling on more and more projects on myself and never seem to have enough time to really investigate some of these articles.  But reading webcomics.com was on my “to do” list.  Needless to say now it is definitely on my DO NOT do list.  What do you guys think?

Rawb

Today’s comic happened… to me… today… sigh.  Ottawa has had SO much snow over the Christmas vacation.  In fact, in the last three days or so I must have shoveled about 3 and a half feet of snow off my driveway.  Now grated a good deal of that was due to snow drifts that have been blown across the driveway from my lawn, but still.  Anyway I did actually have to dig my car out of the snow today.  We have two cars and the one that is technically mine was parked on the road so my wife could park her car in the garage.  We use that one a lot more because it has snow tires on it and for the moment mine does not… Anyway, there is a fire hydrant on my lawn, but you practically can’t see it anymore with all the snow.  So after I had dug the car free, I proceeded to start removing the foot or so from on top… As I was digging guess what I found?  A warning ticket for parking too close to a fire hydrant… I had a bit of a laugh about that.  Until further digging revealed an actual ticket for not obeying the first one….
I call foul!!  How can I obey a ticket when I can’t see it’s there?!  And on top of that I had to call the city like three times since the snow has started to get them to come plow the road.  I find it typical that they can’t send the plows out but the Ottawa Bylaw can swing around looking for people to ticket…. ah well… Such is life.

Rawb

Hey guys, sorry I didn’t post a strip yesterday.  Came down with a just BRUTAL cold… I didn’t even go out last night…. anyway here is part two of the strip.

Rawb

I’m not trying to be a Grinch or anything… but the older I get the more work Christmas becomes…  And I’m starting to feel the aches these days ;P

I hope you all are happy and healthy, surrounded by family and friends this holiday season.  And a special wishes to all those who can’t have their family together with them for Christmas, I hope you can be together soon.

Happy Holidays!
Rawb

My wife is forever making plans without my knowledge.  Oh she SAYS that she told me about it the week before… but I don’t remember a word of it…. then again… I can’t remember what I had for breakfast most of the time.
Don’t forget!  I’m posting another strip tomorrow! Hope you all have a great Christmas!

Rawb

Hey guys, Christmas is almost here?!  Are you as excited as I am?  I can’t believe I let it get so close without doing a Christmas strip! oh well, c’est la vie…

Okay so I don’t know if you guys know this about me but the Legend of Zelda series is my favorite game series BAR NONE!  I know that I play a ton of shooters and stuff and hell I don’t even own a Wii…. yet…. but I never have as much fun as when I’m adventuring along with the little green clad hero of Hyrule.  That being said, I just got a copy of Spirit Tracks and I haven’t had a chance to start playing yet, but I hope to put in the time over the vacation….  Anyways, I’m sure someone has done this joke but I couldn’t resist doing some Zelda fan art…. Enjoy!
Rawb

You know, this story has gotten a lot of press recently so I don’t think I need to go into too much detail about it.  I think a lot of people are concerned with the type of bad example Tiger is setting, but I’m more concerned that a guy with everything going for himself could screw it up so bad… I mean really…  Why is it that when someone is famous and has a lot of money and a dream career do they have to try so hard to screw it up?  I don’t get it….

Hey guys!  So one of the comments on Monday’s strip was attempting to direct me to a certain (semi) animated game reviewer by the name of Yatzee… He writes and produces a video game review where he talks really fast in a suspiciously British although in reality Australian accent throwing in words like ballocks, twat, tosser and any other obscure foreign swear word unknown to the western world while railing against the torrents of terrible laughable games shoveled onto the market place with impunity every single day….  (see what I did there?  it’s called an homage)  But you know what? I’ve been watching this guys stuff for a while now because despite my quiet personal inklings that he is actually a tremendous dick, the guy is actually really funny.  Getting back to the comment, I realized that perhaps not everyone has had the pleasure of experiencing Yahtzee’s personal brand of humorous rage… so go check out Zero Punctuation today and chuckle with glee at the man who’s obvious high blood pressure will likely kill him before he becomes old enough for his cynicism to befit his age.

Rawb

No really… it’s good…. go watch…..

Hey guys!  It’s great to be back!   Sorry I’ve been gone so long, but I think that I may finally be back on track with work and hopefully I won’t be missing any more updates…  I’m still sticking with 2 a week for now, but who knows what the future may hold…

Rawb

So in what little spare time I’ve been able to squeeze from my days I’ve been playing the new Call of Duty.  They’ve made a lot of changes to this iteration of the game and I can’t help but feel like customizing your classes with Perks feels very different from the last 2 CODs.   Not that it is a bad thing, many of the new changes are pretty awesome.  The introduction of more killstreak rewards is pretty awesome… I love how you see a lot more air support coming in and how you can quite easily take them down with a well placed shot.  The competition is fierce in multiplayer these days as people have had quite a lot of experience with the franchise now, but I find that it’s still a lot of fun even if you’re getting battered by very skilled opponents.  I should express my dismay at the lack of Zombie mode here…. I really enjoyed that… But the 2 player Spec Ops is pretty darn sweet… I just hope they’ll be including more ops in each map pack they release.  It’s a great game and I’m glad I chose it over L4D2…. Not that I won’t be buying that one soon… gotta have my Zombie fix….

Rawb

Hey guys…. sorry about not posting last night… some of the construction guys in the area must have accidentally cut my cable lines yesterday and I lost all service…  My provider wasn’t willing to send anyone out to repair the damage, even after I went down to the main box and witnessed the damage with my own eyes…  Sigh sorry guys for the inconvenience… just know that you were not the only ones suffering

Also, don’t worry about Cat in the Hat being shown stateside… that’s all in the works already!

Rawb

Hey guys… Sorry for the late post, I was working all weekend and only got around to doing the comic today.  Oh yeah and I never did get to tell you guys what the show is! It’s Dr Suess’ “Cat in the Hat!!!” with Martin Short as the voice of the cat!  It really looks awesome, just like the books!  I can’t wait to let you guys see some of the work, but the studio would have me strung up if I did so early into production… when a teaser finally surfaces I’ll let you guys know.

Rob