My Brain Is Oatmeal.

First of all, my Mom is home from the hospital and everything is cool. Thanks to everyone who posted your well-wishes. When I told her about it, she warmly replied "Oh, are you still drawing that crazy comic thing?"

It's 11:32 pm and I just crawled home from another 14-hour workday. Don't know if I'll have to work over tomorrow night, but if I can get home at a decent hour, I might be able to post a comic before we go on vacation Saturday.

While I am away next week, I will be posting sketches and digital paintings and a couple of friends of mine will be taking over the blog. They have free rein to post whatever they want, whenever they want in order to keep the site at least a little fresh and keep the ad banners rotating. They're fun to drink with, so I figured that makes them qualified to fill in for my smart ass.

But maybe they'll seem funnier if you drink while reading their stuff. I dunno.

Anyway, I will be making comics next week and if I can find a computer, I'll check in with a post or two, so be sure to come back here for more Haley and huge plot twist no later than June 6.

Stay frosty.

So Far, Not So Good. PLEASE READ!

Okay, here's the situation.

My Day Job has several intense Drop-deadlines that I have to meet this week because my wife and I are taking next week off. It will be our first vacation since the Honeymoon early last year. These deadlines were unexpected by me.

On top of working until 11 tonight, I had to go to the hospital because my Mom was taken to the E.R. for chest pains.

I really, really want to get the next two strips up ASAP; they contain an important plot twist. Will I be able to do it before our vacation? I don't know, but I sure aim to try. The strips are written and about 1/3 drawn.

It all depends on how things shake out with work and my Mother, who was admitted to the hospital tonight.

I do have plans and content for the site during my Vacation week, but I'll post about that on Friday.

Thanks, again, for your patience. I miss the strip more than you do.

Strip for Wednesday, May 25 Will Be Late

I'll have it up mid-evening. I had to pull an all-nighter at the Day Job today.

I would've published another sketch to hold you over until then, but I have to get these next two strips out. You'll see why when you read Friday's installment.

Thanks for your patience.

And Check This Out...

A Rolling Stone interview of George Lucas from 1977.

Well, I saw it.

I saw Revenge of the Sith this weekend, and I thought it was great. It was fun, rousing, fun, sad, fun and dark, dark, dark. Lucas made a silk purse out of a sow's ear and six weeks ago, I didn't think that was possible, but there you go.

All of the fat that was in the last two movies is gone. The story focuses on the characters of Anakin, Palpatine, Padme and Kenobi as the Clone Wars end and the Empire rises. It does alter the audience's perception of Darth Vader in Episodes IV, V and VI, just as Lucas said it would. I thought Hayden Christensen did a much better job this time around, and it was very cool to see Ewan McGregor morph into a young Alec Guiness.

Were I slightly younger, still single, and not authoring this comic, I'm sure that I would've seen it twice by now. I'm not sure where I would rank it among the other Star Wars films. Right now, I would place it on the same level as The Empire Strikes Back. Do I think it's better than Empire (which is my favortie Star Wars movie)? Maybe... just maybe.

Pros: The CGI is Lord of the Rings level. The face-off between Mace Windu and Palpatine, which reflects Luke's final confrontation with Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Palpatine is one evil, snaky sonuvabitch. Yoda is not to be trifled with. The birth of Darth Vader.

Cons: The dialogue is just as bad as everyone says it is; How it doesn't inhibt the rest of the movie is a feat in itself. Two important plot elements from the original trilogy are explained away via expositional dialogue in the last two minutes of the movie.

Final Fantastic Four Trailer is Online

Me still likey.

This is Why Elvis Shot a Television Set

I fully intended to watch at least a little of Britney Spears and "The K-Fed's" new "reality" show last night, just to see how bad the train wreck was, but it slipped my mind. Then I caught this article on MSNBC this morning, and all of a sudden, I'm thrilled that today's eight-panel strip kept me busy.

What a spoiled brat. If the far-flung Right ever decided to outlaw divorce, I could at least take comfort that those two narcissistic slimeballs would be stuck with each other. I could think of no better punishment.

Star Wars, Nothing but Star Wars...

Well shuck my corn and kiss my grits, it looks like Episode III might be the real thing.

Taking a vacation day from the Day Job today. Gonna take a break from working on the strip and the site to pick up Friday night tickets for me and my Nephew.

A word or two about merchandising for these flicks.


1) Am I the only one who thinks Chewbacca shouldn't be endorsing any kind of food product? It's like if I buy a box of Corn Flakes with Chewbacca on it, I halfway expect to find thick strands of foot-long yak hair in my cereal bowl.


2) Why is M&M/Mars printing pictures of Harrison Ford and Mark Hamil that are 28 years old on their promotional pacakging? I mean, just how old are those M&Ms they're selling?

Big, shiny brass ones

Every so often, we need a gentle reminder that Bill Gates is Lucifer's lapdog.

Take this article for exapmle, wherein Billzebub says "As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run... if you were to ask me which mobile device will take top place for listening to music, I'd bet on the mobile phone for sure".

I guess Son of Scratch missed this Wired article from a few months ago documenting the fact that "80 percent of Microsoft employees have a[n iPod] music player -- that translates to 16,000 iPod users among the 25,000 who work at or near Microsoft's corporate campus." He might also be ignoring the fact that iPods are firmly attached to the hands and hips of most of the people in working in the film and music industries, from big-name artists down to the Key Grips. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't in that Apple Store with me last January 3rd, when I saw lines and lines of people snatching up iPods and accessories as if they were free cuts of prime rib.

My wife gave me an iPod for our anniversary a few months ago. After the "kewl" factor wore off in a few days, a very strange thing happened; I found that, without thinking about it, I never left the house without the thing. Everyone should have an iPod. It doesn't matter if you're into music and/or walkman-type devices or not. The fact that you can carry 10k+ songs in a device the size of a deck of cards is not a novelty. "Empowering" may not be the right word, but it's not far off.

I'm sure Mister Bill's little "predicition" is the first sign that Microsuck has a stake in an upcoming phone/camera/MP3 player that they suspect (or even know) is inferior to the iPod, but they're gonna market the thing right up our collective butts anyway. Sorry, you suit, but I won't be trading in my iPod for a very long time.

Contest Update: WE HAVE A WINNER!

Phillip Ginn correctly guessed that the woman on the left is English soprano Sarah Brightman and the woman on the right is Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, recently voted The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, or some such.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in, especially Goh Han Lim, who correctly guessed Aishwarya, but sent in like 8 emails in 45 minutes trying to guess Sarah.

Excuses, Excuses. And a CONTEST!

It happened again. Some Gregorian Calendar genius placed The Kentucky Derby exactly one day before Mother's Day, thereby creating a double-holiday weekend for all Kentucky residents and I found myself too long on family obligations and too short on time to create a strip for today. Instead, I'm posting a concept sketch for Haley that I colored in Photoshop.

I have received about one metric ton of fan mail about Haley and how everyone just loves her and they're also thrilled that Alan is finally getting his due. Haley was actually inspired by the two celebrities you see pictured above the sketch. To make up for no comic today, I am holding a contest. The rules are simple: The first person to correctly identify the two women who influenced the creation of Haley Bhairavi in an email to me will win the original sketch posted above. Spelling counts. No hints. International shipping is not a problem. If you are related to me, or if you eat, sleep and/or drink with me on a (semi-) regular basis, you are not eligble.

Now for some good news. My Day Job is finally starting to let up a little, and I will be taking 10+ days of hard-earned vacation this month. During this time, I will be working on Suburban Tribe's first official piece(s) of merchandise which I will be selling through the site, in addition to maybe getting an extra strip out per week.

Stay tuned. New comic Wednesday.

Local Flavor

I received an email from a fan overseas who was surprised to learn that Heine Brothers (the coffee house frequented by the Suburban Tribe cast) is real.

Actually, many of the locations the characters frequent are real. (Except Yesman & Puckerup, of course.) Here are the websites of Alan and co.'s favorite eateries and hangouts. The next time you're in Louisville KY, USA, drop by and tell them I sent you:

Heine Brothers Coffee - 5 locations in the city compared to, say, 10+ or so Starbucks stores. But the coffee is so much better.

Clifton's Pizza Co. - The best pizza on earth, he said, without hyperbole.

The Irish Rover - Local Irish pub that is so authentic and popular, there's a standing-room only wait to get a table or a seat at the bar every weekend.

Gmail Invites

I have 20 Gmail invites which I will give to the next 20 readers who send me their email address. (See the left nav bar for my contact info. There is no hotlink to my email address because I am trying to avoid spam.)

For those of you who do not know, Gmail is Google's free webmail service, which has been in beta for a year or so. They recently raised the file storage limit to 2 (two!) gigabytes.

And Speaking of Star Wars, Space stuff and Blogs...

Some literary genius has been posting a blog as none other than Darth Vader as he dictates to his online journal events as they transpire in The Empire Strikes Back. Among other things, Darth muses about the "metrosexual" Lando Calrissian, bitches constantly about his artificial left leg "acting up" and wonders about the sexuality of Admiral Piett after he catches him with a young enlisted officer in a remote corner of his Star Destroyer. Read this right now, you guys. It's a screamer.

Also, Tribe reader Scott Carland asked me to pass along a link to the trailer for Joss Whedon's own sci-fi epic, Serenity. It looks great. If Episode III manages to disappoint, I'm pretty sure Whedon will pull through for us.

Bah! I'm starting to CARE!

Crap. After making a big deal about not getting excited for Episode III, word is starting to leak that the movie might actually be good... as in not as good as Star Wars (I refuse to call it "A New Hope"... it's just Star Wars, dammit!) or The Empire Strikes Back, but better than all the others, including Return of the Jedi.

First came Kevin Smith's spoiler-filled rave review. I discounted that, because he liked Attack of the Clones. Then came Steven Spielberg's endorsement of Sith on BBC Radio. To paraphrase, he said "It's wondeful, the best one since Empire, and you will cry when you see it." Well... okay, except Spielberg gave Phantom Menace a glowing review and he just so happens to be Lucas' best buddy, not to mention he co-directed an action sequence or two in Sith itself.

But wait... what's this? Time Magazine has reviewed the movie and loves it? Adding to the fire, I purchased The Art of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith this weekend, and have barely been able to take my eyeballs off of it. It contains hundreds of GLORIOUS pencil drawings and paintings, colored with the help of Photoshop and Painter's digital markers and oil paints. (I am really becoming intrigued with this process of coloring pencil sketches digitally. It preserves the pencil marks while adding finished, print-ready colors. Check out comic artist Mike Weringo's site for some of his samples. )

Oh, yeah... the Dark Chocolate "Dark Side" peanut M&M's aren't curbing my enthusiasm, either. The kicker? An ever-cynical friend of mine, known as ElJefe on the forums, reminded me recently: "Even if you hate the last two Star Wars movies... Lucas is still 3 for 5."

Curse you, Lucas! If this one isn't good, I'm gonna take it out somebody!

I Power Blogger

The Suburban Tribe custom-created blog was getting rather clunky, so I decided to take a vacation day from work and re-fit the site with Blogger.com technology. Hopefully, this will make it much easier for me to hop online and flap my yapper, thereby keeping the blog from being so stale all the time. Linking in to Blogger.com's community doesn't hurt either.

Feel free to leave comments using the link below each post, but be warned that blogger.com comments fall below email and the site forums in my response priority.