Podcasts

I read far too many webcomics. This is a known fact. A lesser known fact is how many podcasts I listen to. My first one was ExtraLife Radio, courtesy of the webcomic EXTRALIFE. After that one very sadly ended, I branched out into other podcasts that the creator, Scott Johnson was part of or mentioned.

First came Final Score, the replacement for ExtraLife, where they talk about video games and all the random paraphernalia that comes with it. Along with that came another of Scott's podcasts, Current Geek, where the investigate the current geekiest stories of the week. I also got into Hypothetical Help, where Scott and a British friend offer hypothetical help to someone.

Along with all these podcasts that involve Scott Johnson, I got into Critical Hit, a Dungeons and Dragon's podcast from the good folk at Major Spoilers. After getting through the considerable backlog, I decided that these guys were great, and started listening to their main podcast, Major Spoilers podcast.

So yes, while my webcomic list is longer then my arm, my podcast list definitely is not short, and updates more then often enough. You can find all of Scott Johnson's podcasts, a bunch of other podcasts, and other fun stuff at FrogPants Studios

-The Mysterious Penguin

I am a very serious and dedi-OOH LOOK A BUNNY

So I have a working computer, I have tons of time on my hands, and yet I still haven't really updated. WHY???? I don't feel like it. I'm still going to be posting here, and there will likely be lots of webcomic reviews still, but this blog is for me, and if I don't feel like posting webcomic reviews, then so be it.

In other news, I got confirmation that I'm into second year Computer Engineering and Society! Unfortunately, I can't choose courses until the 17th, so that's going to be lots of fun. Sarah is coming in tomorrow (its after midnight), and Great Big Sea concert is next weekend! Now that I'm done school, I find myself spending a lot of time doing absolutely nothing. If anybody reads this and can think of something actually interesting for me to do before September, comment and let me know. I also still welcome webcomic suggestions, because I wuv my webcomics.


And to distract you from my lack of update....

















-The Mysterious Penguin

Comics...FROM SPAAAAACE

Comics From Space! is a relatively new comic in my repertoire, that chronicles the adventures of some nameless starship and their wacky crew, who include a robot who goes DOOT and a guy who got to go to space because he won a contest. There has been a bit of plot, but it mostly consists of small funny story arcs and funny characters being funny. The art style isn't really anything special, not all that good and not all that bad, but good enough that it its readable.

This comic is not really for everyone, its humour isn't exactly the kind everyone gets, but if you like funny but real characters in a setting that isn't quite normal, then this is a good webcomic for you.


-The Mysterious Penguin

The Comic's Return...

Well, I'm realtively certain I have all my webcomics back and ready, but I have an exam on Friday, and am holding off on updating until Monday. There may be a rather incoherent post on Sunday about beaches and heavy drinking and my liver trying to murder me, but ignore those >_>


-The Mysterious Penguin

Zombie Computers!

My computer has risen from the undead once again! I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out which webcomics I'm missing from my list. Hopefully I'll be able to find them, or else I'm going to have to rely on my meatspace friends and anyone who reads this blog to try and provide me with new webcomics to read. *HINT HINT*

In other me related news, my course is almost done, one of my best friends just turned 19, so drinking fun times with her tonight, and crazy engineering shenanigans for this coming weekend are a go!

-The Mysterious Penguin

Drawing

Just a short post to vent some frustration here. I'm not a good artist. If I try and draw anything more then a stick figure, it turns out horrible. Even my stick figures aren't that good. But I wish that I was a good artist, because, from time to time, whether its because of something I saw, something I read, or just a random flash of inspiration, I think of this absolutely amazing and beautiful thing to draw. Of course, whenever I try and draw something, it ends up looking absolutely terrible and I give up.

I was reading a forum, and one of the posts brought an image to my mind. A young angel looking girl, with one wing broken and dragging on the ground, crying, in a cage. It was one of the saddest and most beautiful things I had seen, in my mind. When I tried to draw it, I got a sketchy outline of a cage, and a stick figure girl. Drawing is one of the greatest gifts a person can have, and if you do have it, you should cherish it and nurture it. And if you happen to make an image of a crying angel, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it....




-The Mysterious Penguin

Damn pieces of junk!

Welp, I managed to fry my main laptop's hard drive, so I can't boot onto that and get my wonderful list of webcomics. BAH. I do have a backup, and a new hard drive is on its way, so barring any random catastrophes, I should be back posting soon enough. In the meantime, If anyone does read this, and has any webcomics they would like to recommend to me, go ahead and leave a comment!

-The Mysterious Penguin

Axe Cop - He's a cop. With an axe.

Axe Cop is a webcomic that has become a bit of an Internet sensation. Written by the artists 5 year old brother, it proves that age is no detriment to quality, or at least Internet loldom. It follows the adventures of a superhero cop, who has an axe, called Axe Cop. The story is often confusing and strange, the characters are hilarious, and the art is of high quality. It also makes absolutely no sense. I could probably find more plot by throwing some Alpha-Bits (that was such a great cereal) in the air and seeing how they land.

AND IT WORKS.

You will read this, you will enjoy this, and the twisting plot will only make it better. It updates very often, and remains possibly the craziest webcomic I read.


-The Mysterious Penguin

Applegeeks - The other side's comic

Applegeek's is a webcomic by two Macintosh loving geeks. It tells the story of the wacky hijinks of Hawk and his friends. Hawk is a genius, who has created a robot from his Mac, and has somehow come into possession of a talking Apple IIe. The current storyline involves him accidentally travelling back in time with the Apple IIe and a rather demonic little girl who reminds me a bit too much of the devil-girl from Yu-gi-Oh the Abridged Series (episode 20). Also included in Applegeeks is the AG lite feature, a smaller, black and white comic that is much more silly and much less continuous.

AG has been around for quite some time, and is now on its 3.0 addition. The artwork is really quite good, not going for the highly realistic look, but having a look slightly reminiscent of anime (it is NOT anime, I simply can't think of a better way to describe it). If you are an Apple fanboi, then go read this comic and get off my site.* If you want a pretty damn good story and rather good artwork, give this one a read. The antics of Hawk, Jayce, Gina, Eve, Alice and the evil teddy-bear girl (aka Ashley) will at the very least keep you entertained for a few hours, if not for several years.


-The Mysterious Penguin


*I kid, Microsoft, Apple, Android and even Linux users are all welcomed and hugged

METAPOST

Sorry, no review today, got a major test. Expect a new review up on Monday at the latest.

-The Mysterious Penguin

The Swedish One: Anders Loves Maria

Anders Love's Maria is not your average webcomic. Created by Rene Engström, it tells a complete story that I will in no way reveal. While the translation to English is not always perfect, there were very few times when it was not readable, and it was worth the effort to understand it in any case. This graphic novel no longer updates, as the story is finished, but if you want a really good read, I highly recommend giving it a try. He is making it into a fleshworld book, which I for one am going to pick up as soon as its done.

The art style in Anders Love Maria is rather unique, and probably actually has a name and following and history and all that jazz, but I don't know much about art so I couldn't really tell you that. What I can tell you is that the art-style makes the story even more engaging, and draws you into a world that is very similar to ours, but just different enough.

While trying not to give away any spoilers, I can say that the story is highly mature, real life scenario based, and funny in surprising and unexpected ways. The story jumps around a bit from place to place and time to time, but remains followable. If you do go and read this all in one go, don't be surprised to be sniffling at the sudden ending. Lots of thanks go out to Ray for introducing this one to me.

-The Mysterious Penguin

The first Comic! Girls Don't Play Games

 **Note, comics will be reviewed in the order they are in my bookmarks**

Girls Don't Play Games is a comic that I only recently discovered, but is keeping my interest fairly well. It's part of the typical gaming webcomic, except that this one is written and drawn by a female gamer. While it doesn't really feature long story arcs (at least, not yet), it does have continuous characters. I'm not really sure how much of the comic is based on real life events and how much is made up, but GDPG certainly keeps your attention, with very bright colours and an art style I don't think I've seen before. Many of the comics focus on various games and other gamer related things. The author is an avid gamer and cosplayer, and frequently features her family and friends in this comic. Although she does draw her boyfriend as a salamander. Or is it a newt....

-The Mysterious Penguin

Webcomics! Get Your Webcomics Here!

So, as you may or not know, I read a LOT of webcomics. The list currently stands at 63 different webcomics. This is just a small fraction of the webcomics on the tubes, and some of the most famous and well read ones aren't even on my list.

The precise definition of what is a webcomic can be argued over for days on end (of course, the same can be said for anything on the Internet). Personally, if it contains an image and/or text, and considers itself a webcomic, I will consider it a webcomic. I have webcomics that are drawn with incredible talent, ones that are stick figures and even one that is just starting up by some pretty cool people I know that is drawn with marker on a white board. To give me something to do over the coming days, I'm going to be posting short reviews of each and every one of these 63 webcomics. Some reviews may be more in depth then others, and as a disclaimer, please remember that these are webcomics that I personally like. I make no guarantees that you will enjoy them, that they will be safe for work, funny or updated. That being said, I hope that you will take some enjoyment out of reading my reviews and find at least a few new things to read this summer.


Good luck, have a good summer, and enjoy!

-Mysterious Penguin

Oh What a Week

This past week has been possibly the most craziest thing to happen to me, ever. It was of course, Mac Eng Musical! Artsy and the Geek, a fine loving tale of a geek and an artsy who fall in loveish, not at all based on Beauty and the Beast. We have been prepping for this since September, and as a member of the almighty crew, I helped build the awesome props we used to make this musical come to life. The week started, as weeks are wont to do, on Monday, when we headed down to the theatre for the first time. The majority of the props were already there, but we spent that day making a bunch more little, and not so little, last minute props that hadn't been done yet, and rehearsing the play, which the majority of crew hadn't even read the script for before that night. After a rather successful day, we headed back to campus around midnight, content with our awesomeness.

The next day was much the same, except this time we had an audience of some of the past leaders of the Eng Musical, which we didn't realize until we noticed laughter from the audience. That was also the day I met Brianna, who, as almost the first thing she told, is not to be called Britney. The thing is, Brianna is a high school student where we held the play, and was doing the lights. When I met her, she had just woken up from a nap, had messy hair and was wrapped in a blanket. Naturally, in my prop-making daze, I assumed she was an upper-year engineer and struck up a conversation with her. Eventually I realized, wait, this girl doesn't seem like an engineer at all...oh shit she's jailbait. That day also marked the arrival of my personal favourite prop, the Snuggie. Not only was it suprisingly comfortable, it makes for an awesome two-man person, and thus, Snuggieman was born. The next night we ran the entire dress rehearsal, completely flawless (well, almost), and the crew realized that during intermission, while the band was still playing, was a great time for an impromptu dance party on the stage. Afterwards, the lead of the play and my good friend, Andrew, my fellow crew-mate, Kevin and I went to West End for a delicious St. Patty's pint (after 12, but hey, its the spirit that counts!)

The next night was the big night, opening day! Us crew had to act as ushers and ticket-takers, and we watched with great big grins as what seemed at the time like a large group of people flowed into the theatre. We were a bit disappointed to realize they barely filled one sixth of the theatre, but hey, it was an audience. We performed the show nearly perfect, and gave birth to our personal tradition of wearing silly hats at all times. I also went out waving a trident prop for the curtain call :D. We then went back to the dressing room, broke open and communally drank from the champagne bottles, and cheered lustily for everyone. That first night, our destination of choice was the Honest Lawyer. It was quite a rush having the bouncers check my ID, and let me in without a second glance. There, we relaxed, played pool, pinball and Guitar Hero, and chatted it up. Afterwards, a large group of us went to Tally Ho's, the traditional after pub eatery for Mac students. Their fries were surprisingly tasty.

Friday night...that was the first of the crazy, crazy nights. We had over 350 people in attendance, and were flawless. Even when the unexpected happened, like a laptop prop breaking on stage, the cast rolled with it and improvised amazingly. Once again, champagne, vodka as well, and then off to 1280! Except of course, that being 1280, we realized after about 1 beer that it was fucking lame and all went to West End, where we found a large group of fellow engineers, admirers and redsuits. One delicious pitcher of Rickard's White later, and a rather delayed fries, I headed up the street, where I heard there was an engineering kegger. Turns out, it was the second half on Eng <3, where Mac Eng visits Carleton and later Carleton visits Mac. Getting my hat stolen by a flight-suit, taking  their super frosh to Gino's, almost losing him, led to a very fun, very late night.

The next day I woke up around 2, slightly disoriented but otherwise OK. Once I was fully awake, I packed my stuff and headed to the bus stop to meet my fellow Thespians (what a fun word :P). Stupidly of me however, I thought it was warmer then it was, and went in a t shirt. After some tasty fish and chips from Swiss Chalet and the discover that Will has a bottomless stomach, we walked over to the theatre, which was where I first noticed it was getting a bit cold out. Before we knew it, the time had come, and we watched in amazement as more, and more, and more, and more people bored into the theatre. Redsuits, flight-suits, hell even faculty were coming to see the last night of 'The greatest Eng Musical yet!' Around 7:55, with a line stretching around the corner, we started to get nervous. At eight, when the show was supposed to start, one of us ran back to let them know we couldn't start yet, there are too many people. We didn't end up with everyone in and get started until 8:15, fifteen minutes just to get all the extra people in their seats. Over 500 people showed up, the theatre was all but maxxed out. Of course, since it was the last night, we couldn't let the cast just act without pulling a few pranks. Between crew and band, there was no scene left untouched, from laptops with penises, to shirtless guitar solos, to Rastafarian head-banging. After what was undoubtedly the best show we put on, it was time to tear down the set. The majority of props got thrown out, although some, like the massive, fully operational, full scale, castle gate took a little more work then others. I did however end up with a prop weapon to take back to the cast party with me...on the bus. Walking to the bus with a bunch of the others, I was shivering really badly, it had gotten real cold out, and I was in a t-shirt still. Taking pity on me, my wonderful friend Anelise, took pity on me and gave me her blazer jacket. This of course, combined with my raccoon hat, made me look like a girl from behind.
Waiting for the bus, a very intoxicated man walked past us. Apparently taking offence, or admiring, Kevin's Rastafarian hat, he shattered a pane of glass in a Bell phone booth, and kept on walking without a trace, leaving us to go, waaaaaaaaaaaaaattt??????????????????????????? Then another large group of musicalees showed up, looked at us disbelievingly, and then got on the bus. That bus driver was probably very freaked out. When a group of around 30 university students get on your bus, some carrying instruments, others carrying props, and all talking what seems to be nonsense, that bus driver probably couldn't wait for us to get off. I soon reached the cast party (still wearing Anelise's girly jacket), and proceeded to start drinking. Eventually Anelise showed up and I reluctantly took it off again, but soon afterwards I won the Hebrew Hammer Award, and a giant protractor :P. Later in that drunken night, a bunch of crew decided we wanted Gino's! Unfortunately, Anelise didn't give me a jacket, so that time I had to go cold. So yet again, walking around Hamilton at night, in a raccoon hat, t-shirt, and dress pants. Other highlights of the night include being told that from now on, when this unnamed person saw me, she would think of a raccoon, regardless of whether or not I was wearing the hat. We also discovered that even small girls can do long kegstands, if they got experience. Then we decided to have pancakes. So we charged off to the Pancake House, me wearing Anelise's girly trenchcoat this time. It was hilariously awesome. We got there around six, and standing out in the rain/hail, were annoyed to discover that even though its supposed to be open from 6, they wouldn't let us in until around 6:40. Lazy asses. Will was not there to finish our uneaten food unfortunately, as he was back at the house looking after George, who was completely done. Soon, I was headed back to the house alone to grab my stuff, wearing Anelise's one other jacket, a sweater with flowers on it. Once there, I walked back with Rob, Will, and another person my fogged mind can't recall. Rob was carrying a pink bazooka with one puke covered shoe in it, and was wearing a garbage bag on one foot, Will was carrying a giant SlapChop we made, and I not only had a girly sweater on, but was carrying a giant bazooka. We looked from person to person, and, realizing just how completely and utterly crazy hilariously awesome this was, proceeded to burst out laughing, because really, this past week had been one of those weeks, the ones you never think are really going to happen, until they do...Oh, and by the way, this Friday, after I write a math test, I'm going to a real, legit, toga party.

I Want an Adventure

Midnight is long gone. I have a midterm tommorow (technically today), and on wednesday (technically tommorow). I have drawings to do, physics problems, I don't understand enough of my math, I need to interview random students about beer (loooong story), I'm going to be stroking people's beards friday (looooonger story) and I have roughly two months left of school.



But I'm not thinking about any of that right now.



I want an adventure. I don't mean I suddenly want to discover a hidden underground society or some bullshit (though that would be sweet), I want to do something different with my life. Travel across Europe, visit the Arctic, learn to blacksmith, anything, anything to make sure my life doesn't drown in a wave of mundaneness and routine, one last hurrah before I begin the long trudge through life. I want an adventure, something I can one day tell my kids stories about, a time which leaves me with friends I can call from around the world, something which shows me that we aren't just boring little automatons clunking from wind-up to wind-down.

But the worst thing about all this want is that I know its temporary. I know that the majority of it is just frustration over the workload, over all of life's little problems, and that tomorrow this burning need will be gone.

Still...if right now, someone came up to me to propose doing something so awesomely and incredibly outrageous, if, to quote the less famous Captain Jack, "That special kind of Doctor" was to come by, right now, I'd accept in a flash.

Too bad really. Life is a great adventure, and I am incredibly fortunate to be able to do what I do, and I love pretty much every aspect of my life, so I don't think I will complain.

Still...I want an adventure

-Mysterious Penguin

Epic Swiss Fricking Glacier Goddam Goggles!!!! (now with pictures)

Today I received a very, very exciting package in the mail.

In this package was a tiny tin can.

Inside this tin can, was the most awesome thing I have ever owned.

Antique Swiss glacier goggles.

I am badass :D

-Mysterious Penguin

Life is a damn crazy thing.

So I've been holding up posting because of very exciting news. I have a place to live next year! Its a house of eight engineers, seven guys and one girl, in every year possible, and a wide variety of streams. In other words, a fucking crazy party house fun time! However, the very night I was supposed to sign the lease, my father got a call from the transplant office, telling him to come down to the hospital (he's been on the list for years, but now has finally gotten it).
So, instead of my dad and mom coming down to see the house, my sister came down to see it for them, and as we were winning our first gold medal on our own soil, my dad was getting admitted to surgery.
I'm happy to report that the surgery went AOK and he is now recovering nicely. But well, my plans for a fun-filled reading week have slightly evaporated, and I am exhausted.

-Mysterious Penguin

Ow. My head

I can't really remember last night. There was lots of toasting and cheering. And I think I found a house. While drunk. I'm going to go get some food now. MMMMMMMM

Steampunk Fireballs and Facebook Pictures

Holy shit on a stick, life has gotten crazy busy recently. Not only do I have a metric shit ton of work and midterms and assignments to do, I've been going to social after social. Most recently was Fireball, the engineering formal where everyone is at least 19, and you get three free drink tickets. Needless to say, that was a very, very good night. I also am going to a medieval reenactment society meeting thing (read being dragged along by a friend), and am anticipating the arrival of a pair of very nifty goggles soon, for the coolest project ever, a steampunk costume.
In terms of facebook, its kind of sad that I post so few pictures myself that my parents actually wonder whether or not there is something between me and whoever is posting the most pictures with me in at the time. (Yes Sharayah, they thought we were 'more then friends', and yes, this is about all I'm going to post about you. You need to give me stuff to post about next time :D).

-Mysterious Penguin

P.S. You know, you never see ragamuffin steampunk, its always high class victorian, never the underbelly. Sarah, get on that :P

Sickness and BEvERages

Bkarghfsxgjdsng. Being sick legitemately sucks. Also, even though the first month of the semester isn't over yet, midterm season has apparently started.

In far more awesome news, my professional engineering project is currently (more on that later) finding a way to keep a beer keg cool and distribute it to everyone better. As long as my professor doesn't decide that it isn't professional enough, no idea WHY he'd do that. :D
-Mysterious Penguin

Extra Extra

Read all about it! My first article has been published in the Plumbline, my universities engineering newspaper! Sure the entire thing is a satirical rag that people wouldn't wrap fish and chips in, but hey, front page! Without further ado, I present,

Save the Dutch!

My fellow engineers. Our brave dyke-building cousins, the Dutch, are in need of our assistance. A terrible new disease is sweeping through the Dutch people, like an ocean crashing through an improperly maintained dyke, spilling out onto the hamlets and villas below, crushing the villagers trying to run in their wooden clogs. This disease is ODADCD (Obsessive Doodling and Drinking Coffee Disorder), a mental disorder which causes the victim to doodle obsessively on everything they find, including windmills and stroopwaffels, and drink coffee constantly. The poor victim becomes like an addict, doing anything they can to try to get their fix of coffee and when without a pen, doodling with everything in arm's reach, from kroketten to peppernoten. When I asked an ODADCD victim recently how it affected her life she said, "Ask me when I'm less distracted", then went back to drawing oranges playing soccer. We here at the CNDCADWODADCD (The Centre for Non-Dutch Concerned About Dutch with Obsessive Doodling and Drinking Coffee Disorder) are begging you for any help you can give to help bring an end to this calamity. We are also accepting volunteers to donate their time to help spread the word about this cruel disorder, they would be well compensated with liquorice. You can reach us at 1-800-ODADCD or through our offices at Beverenstraat 61, Amsterdam, 020 4083013.

Enjoy!

-Mysterious Penguin

P.S. Don't call that number. I mean it. Really. Don't.

The secret to a successful webcomic

A lot of time has passed since my last blogpost, as seems to be the general pattern...but here I am, now in university, and two of my friends have started up a webcomic. This is a rather familiar process to me, since I have attempted to start up three so far. It is in fact so familar that I have come to see the inevitable pattern of these webcomics.
1. Make a website after considerable arguing over name/style of webcomic/pennames/who's doing what etc.
2. Ceremonial first post saying that you will be starting soon and hope your 'readers' stick around (this is around where most people fail and give up)
3. Make first comic
4. Delay second comic.
5. Give up.

My two friends however seem to have not heard of my wonderful 5 step plan. They instead followed their own plan, which consisted of
1. Make a website
2. Start drawing and posting webcomics
Despite the obvious shortcoming of only being 2 steps long, somehow they are not only continuing to update regularly, they are beginning to have people visit them.

Since I'm a sucker for pimpin' others peoples site, here you go.
Sure this blog has almost no readers (that I know of), but hey, you never know what might help :3

Well, I'll post again in a couple of years!

-Mysterious Penguin

P.S. I had to get the artist of the webcomic to help me come up with that pen name. Oh the irony. (It was Rah btw)