Not Enough BBQ Blog

Aah!! Late late late!  Not that late but AAAHHHHH!

Okay.  Panic over.  I’m okay.

It’s been a bit of a strange week for me.  Busy/not-busy days mixed together makes things feel kind of sluggish during downtime.  I did get to celebrate not one, but two birthdays.  That was a lot of fun and merriment.

Anyways, a Happy New Year to all you people out there.  There’s a lot to look forward this year… EVE’s Walking in Station, Starcraft II, Jumpgate Evolution, DC Universe Online, The Agency… oh wait.  I mean… yeah.  It’s a new year ahead of us.  (I forgot that the world didn’t revolve around MMOs for a second.)

As for me, I’ve been playing some more EVE, doing the whole carebear thing.  I’m thinking about skilling up to recon ships… and I recently fired up a trial account on World of Warcraft… Don’t look at me funny like that.  Unless I get to level 80.  Then please please please tell me that I’m playing too much.  I’ll appreciate you all the more.

By the way, if you’ve seen some unpainted Kroot walking around, please let me know.  I’m missing half of my Tau army.  Thanks.

-Benson

Hello, hello.  This is not Shaina, sorry.  She’s trapped on a computer that can’t blog, so I’ll write something.  I suppose this will be less awesome than usual, but bear with me.

So I’ve been in China since school let out for winter break.  I’ve been to Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.  It’s getting progressively warmer as we move from city to city, but damn, it’s still cold.  We arrived on the coldest day ever in Beijing: The temperature was between 5-15 degrees Celsius, and it was windy.  Boo to that.  However, I did a lot of souvenir/gift shopping - I wasn’t home for Christmas so some of the things I bought will fill in for those gifts.

And it turns out my relationship with my significant other has become… rocky, I suppose.  Long story short, long-distance, vacation time, and ex’es don’t mix.  It’s been… not a lot of fun thinking about that.  I don’t really want to talk about it.

Aside from that (read: games), I’ve been on EVE, running some missions, though I’m thinking of playing Mabinogi again to hang out with my guild. (wait.. did you really want to hear about my gaming habits?)

Anyways, best of the New Year to you all.  I’m expecting to take a flight back on the 31st at night - I’ll probably get to count down twice.

Cheers,
Benson

P.S. I want Dissidia!

So, Batman fans, rejoice.  I realize this is old news, but apparently Gaiman (of Sandman fame) and Kubert’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? is currently in the works and is available for pre-order on Amazon.  (I did not know that.)  I’m excited, cause the title is an obvious nod to Alan Moore’s Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, which is basically the comic that reinvented Superman (also being reprinted July 2009).  Um.  Okay.  And Iron Man fans…COOL TOYS!  I loved the movie designs; I have a small Ironmonger army on my desk in tribute.  I can’t wait to add Iron Man (x3) to my collection.

Also, if you haven’t seen StarCraft II’s Battle Report, possibly the most beautiful video on the planet, please do so now.  I watched it three time in a row.

Andddd I got my Warhammer 40k Space Marines!  They’re waiting to be assembled after I finish my long list of things to do.  I will be posting pictures when they’re all painted!

Also, yesterday, I went to my former drum instructor’s concert.  He just released his debut CD; it’s pretty neat.  He’s the man responsible for my high school’s Final Fantasy 8 half-time show, so you know he’s a cool guy. (He made the whole drumline cosplay as FF8 characters.  Benson was Laguna, and I was Ellone.) Check out his site!

ALSO.  WORST WEEKEND EVER.

Thursday: I pull an all nighter on to write my Ancient Greek Philosophy paper about Batman.
Friday: I nap for three hours and forget that my dorm dining hall no longer provides food.  I am snowed in.
Saturday: I still have no food, but I get to the airport around 4pm, to find that my 7:24pm flight to DC is pushed back until 9pm.  This will cause my to miss my 9:55pm connecting flight in DC (to LA), so I have to switch connecting flights.  Then I somehow miss my 9pm flight from Boston to DC.  I look sad and miserable and a lady takes pity on me and just sticks me into a flight to Denver.  I spend the night at Denver sleeping in the airport on the floor.  Classy.
Sunday: I wake up, talk to Benson, who is in Beijing, and take a flight back to Southern California.  I am tired and hungry.  BBQ IS UPDATED.

Without Wax,

Shaina

Note From Benson: Right now, the forums are down because of a DNS outage server-side.  They’re working on it, so no worries.

Hey all!

Hope everyone’s doing okay.  I still have one more exam and one more paper (that I haven’t started, but I think I’m going to write about Batman so that shouldn’t be too bad.)

Um.  So.  It’s almost Christmas.  About the comic…I’m experimenting with art styles, so this switch may or may not be permanent.  I’ve also caught the holiday bug, so this comic is going to be a two-parter.  Ohh! And support Child’s Play by buying some postcards by webcomic artists!  Good cause is good.

+++

And I’m doing Secret Santa with my friends, so here’s your gift, MK.  HA.  I’m a total ninja. ;)  Did you expect that?  You SO did not expect that.

+++

Without wax but full of holiday spirit,

Shaina

Instead of a fun blog, you get…my To-Do list for the next two weeks!

Philosophy Essay #1 - Plato: Love
Philosophy Essay #2- Plato: Just Soul
Philosophy Essay #3- Aristotle: Happiness
Philosophy Essay #4- Aristotle: Justice
Revise (by Sunday night)
Astronomy Observing Project (Monday)
Astronomy Galaxy Project (Monday)
Art History Paper #1
Art History Paper #2
Art History Paper #3
Revise (Monday)
Create Study Sheet (Monday)
Art History In-Class Test (on Tuesday)
Art History Research Paper #4 (due Friday)
Create BBQ comic (Weekend)
Latin Final Exam
Philosophy Paper (next Friday)
Create BBQ comic (next Weekend)

Hope your week is less stressful than mine!

Without Wax,

Shaina

PS.  Oooh, my guest art went up!

If you ever feel down, or blue, or sad, or even remotely lachrymose, have no fear!  Pick up a copy of the Twilight series or waste ten bucks to watch the movie.

Funniest.

Thing.

Ever.

It’s so amazingly terrible.

Imagine a six-year-old girl on crack got her very own word processor, and then she proceeded to write down everything that she thought about her dream guy — um, a vampire that really wants to suck her blood, who sparkles like a diamond in the sky, plays super-powered baseball, and bruises and hurts her when he makes love with her.  Oh yeah, sounds like a keeper.

And eventually (in book four!), he’ll impregnate her with a demonic half-breed that grows so fast in her stomach that her spine breaks and a fountain of blood spurts everywhere.  Yay!  So romantic!  Wait, and then, she names it…Renesmee.  Because that name is very pronounceable and normal.

Omgomg!  Edward!  I wish my boyfriend were just like Edward!  ZOMGGG!!!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, PETA released a Cooking Mama game about turkey dinner.

–Digression here–

I knew that PETA was the animal rights group, but I never knew what exactly it stood for, especially since when people stay PETA aloud, I totally think of the Mediterranean foodstuff.

Anyhow, as I learned, PETA stands for:

People for the
Ethical
Treatment of
Animals.

I guess PftEToA doesn’t sound too good, and it’s probably kind of hard to say.  Sounds like spit.  Or..something.

–End digression–

Anyway, to summarize the game for those that were too lazy to play it, basically a carnivorous Mama guts a poor lil turkey and stuffs it.  It’s a bunch of cartoony gore and such.  …I’m seriously wondering if PETA really thought that a lot of gamers would be turned off of their carnivorous ways by seeing some blood and guts.

And then Mama goes veg, and decides to make a shiny, bubbly tofurkey that has flowers and sunshine and rainbows.

I don’t know; I like animals and all, but I still eat them.  Sorry, PETA.  I’m still eating turkey for Thanksgiving.

Without Wax,

Shaina

I went to the Jonathan Coulton concert at the Paradise Rock Club on Friday night.

And it was amaaaaazing. Paul and Storm were hilarious, too!

It was the coolest nerd-fest ever. ;)  When we were riding home on the T, we started singing Still Alive (the Portal song), and five other random people just joined in.  Never have so many nerds been on the subway at the same time.  Okay, that’s totally not true, but whatever.  It was great.

AND, he performed Space Doggity live for the first time ever.

The internets are going to be sooo jealous.

Without Wax,

Shaina

PS.  And in the spirit of Thanksgiving.  Play some Cooking Mama for Peta.  I’m sure bleeding eggs will deter many gamers from their meat-devouring habits.

Hey everyone-

This week has been a tiring week for me, and I’m sure that, as finals and paper deadlines approach, the stressload is only going to get worse.  Somehow all the blog comments in the past have been erased! :(  So now you can’t find them anymore.  All the previous blog posts are still there.
On a more positive note, we’ve finally gotten a forum for BBQ!  Thanks for joining.

This week was fun because I got to use my Hyrule City style to draw the film-noir stuff in the first three panels.

On a similar topic, a lot of people have been asking about the stylistic changes from week to week, especially in the character Eva.  I’m still learning a lot about art, especially art on the computer (I’d had been more of a traditional media person before.), and the style will change week to week until I find one that really suits me and this comic.  I’m still experimenting with body shapes, head shapes, and color and more.  I’m trying to improve more as an artist, so expect some more dramatic changes in the future, too.

Without Wax,

Shaina

P.S. Also, if you find anything odd/non-functioning/weird in the forums, direct your emails to Benson at mailus@notenoughbbq.com, subject line: Benson.

I thought now would be a good time to comment on the character Eva.  (Sixteen strips into this comic.  Landmark!?  Not really.)

I’m trying to create a character here that breaks the cliche of gaming comics as the “hot gamer girl.”  I want Eva to have a personality of her own separate from “girl gamer.”  Or even “sarcastic girl gamer.”

I kind of want to create a girl character to which actual girl gamers (or just girl nerds) can relate.  She’s snarky, smart, and she can be a little silly.  She’s trying to balance her love of gaming with her more intellectual side.  I’m trying to make her as real as I can.
(And males: Does it weird out guys to have a girl as the protagonist?)

I mean, not all of us are exactly always “cute” and “hot.”  And a lot of us can be sarcastic, but seriously, boobs and sarcasm don’t make up our entire personalities.  And I don’t poop out rainbows and fairies.  WHAT?

We have our own troubles and woes too, just specific to us.  How many times have I heard the phrase:  “You’re a girl who plays games?  I don’t know many girls who play games.”  And sometimes if you’re not good at a game; it’s all blamed on that fact that you are a girl.  Which isn’t cool.  Hey, I know some guy gamers that aren’t good at some games.  Why don’t we blame their “badness” on their balls?

I mean, I know every girl out there has her own unique experience of being a nerd, but this is just mine.  Let me know your story if you want.

And obviously, being a girl that games or reads comics doesn’t automatically qualify you as cool, but hey- gamer chick, I think you’re cool.  And not only cause you play games.

\/\/1+|-|0|_|+ \/\/4><,

Shaina Lu

P.S. I realize Berk is a little lacking in development other than “guy addicted to games.”  That will be remedied soon enough.

P.P.S. We now have a forum!  JOIN NOW!  Not Enough BBQ Forums