Here’s a nice coincidence: Disney is about to release a film of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Burn Gorman stars, Lisa Cholodenko wrote it and Miguel Arteta directs, so it has multiple indicia of excellence.
You might want to give some modern Disney a try. The House the Mouse Built has been turning out interesting things of late. If you’re not outright opposed to musicals, at least watch Frozen. If you are opposed to musicals, try Wreck-It Ralph.
I was being snarky and facetious. The book is a funny account of a sulky five year old absolutely determined to have a bad day no matter what. It’s psychologically funny in its simplicity. The idea of giving it the Disney post-modern irony dripping pop-culture trope-shedding like dog shaking off water treatment just seems irritating. Another drop in the meme chum-bucket. Even if Disney surprises me and avoids loud nod and wink irony blender that is de rigueur for kids movie these days, a movie by its very nature and length can not really reflect a story that is basically a five year old looking for isolated things to bitch about.
Douglas Adams on the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie being a Disney production.
“What people forget is that Disney made Reservoir Dogs. So Hitchhiker’s will be a cross between Bambi and Reservoir Dogs.”
(At least, I’m pretty sure he said that, but I can’t find a source. I definitely read it somewhere, but it’s not in The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, or Don’t Panic [but then, I appear to only have the second edition, which surprises me, so I might have read it in the third] and if it’s in The Salmon of Doubt I can’t find it.)
(And yes, the eventual H2G2 film wasn’t great, but that doesn’t invalidate the principle.)
In discussions of the impending rampage, its been pointed out that Tip is not a creation of Mad Science. And it occurs to me that, when you get right down to it neither was Dave
Tip is as much a product of mad science as Dave. It’s his entire life now, after all: friends, job, and even vacations now are all steeped in mad science. It shapes his entire perception and has for years. No wonder he’s getting a bit mad hattery.
(TUNE: “Puff The Magic Dragon”, Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow)
Happy Captain Wilkin,
Skipping down the hall!
His team, perhaps, will find his traps
And get spread across the wall!
Super Shelby Silvers,
Though he seems quite gruff,
Gave Tip some flares, and laser snares,
And other girly stuff!
[CHORUS:]
Oh,
Tip, the top transvestite
Has so much fun!
He skips and smiles,
And hides the files
In the depths of Annex One! (repeat)
Is Tip going mad now?
Does he show the signs?
Scattered all across the hall
Are a hundred-twenty mines!
Is he just facetious,
Or will he rampage?
Eagerly, the readers we,
Await the next damn page! [repeat CHORUS]
Huh. Shelby is black. I guess that kills the theory that the scary, Anton-LaVey-looking, but ultimately nice head of maintenance for Annex One is really Shel Silverstein.
Also, did Chris always censor himself with sci-fi swears or has he been hanging around Nick too long?
It was programmed by Dr Lee. It definitely doesn’t.
And jdreyfuss, I think he’s just one of those people who swear in nerd because why not. I bet he finds all the talk these days of hydraulic fraking hilarious. Not that I know anyone like that >.>
Was Dr. Lee a scifi fan prior to bonding with Nick (aka prior to Nick escaping her [deliberate, planned] meddling with his brain)? I got the impression that she was too dreadfully practical to have that interest before Nick’s carefully planned course of study, but I admit I don’t have the patience to reread enough of the archives to check my memory.
Huh… someone said it looks like it is building into Mustachio rampage.. now someone says Sweetheart rampage… possibly even a Tip rampage… sweet mother of mayhem… a triple rampage??? Is such a thing allowed? When in the tropes of mad science has such a thing ever occurred before?
Okay, Bubbles is standing behind Sweetie (does Sweetie know her rival is right there?), so where has Unity gone? To find a new, fresh, body part for her ‘date’ with Bubbles?
In yesterday’s strip, Sweetheart was arguing with Bubbles (so yes, she knows she’s there) and saying she couldn’t find the files. Since the purpose of the coffee date was to give her a chance to look for them, I would guess that she has returned from the date and Unity, for reasons unknown, hasn’t.
Roh roh. Somebody is cranky……..
This is looking more and more like a rampage…
Or Tip’s orders. While he’s feeling a bit snarky he’s never had problems mixing pleasure with business
People always seem to forget what Tip used to do before joining Project Skin Horse. They may come to regret that…
Include me in the “forgetting” category. What was Tip’s previous profession?
US Soldier I think – Not sure which branch though…
I believe he was a Marine, but don’t quote me on that. I know he pulled three fellow soldiers out of a burning humvee!
US Army, and he was a Captain. (That’s the third officer rank up.)
Used military weapon and Grade A violence.
Thought he was a psychologist at some point.
Yes, that’s what it is now
Yup, rampage.
OhmanohmanohmanohmanRAMPAGE HERE WE COME
EEE! An adorable cobra!
I wonder why we don’t ever see any of the other Basement Dwellers.
I mean, yeah, everybody loves the cobras, but its not as though anybody hates the other groups
We see the silverfish and centipedes all the time. They’re like ninjas: every panel contains at least one.
We do? PLEASE don’t make me go back and read all the way from the basement dwellers’ storyline just to find these, I’ve got other things to do! 🙁
Well I think they were only VISIBLE once. Sneaky things, silverfish.
Here’s a nice coincidence: Disney is about to release a film of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Burn Gorman stars, Lisa Cholodenko wrote it and Miguel Arteta directs, so it has multiple indicia of excellence.
Disney. Movie. Those two trump and cancel any possible such indicia.
You might want to give some modern Disney a try. The House the Mouse Built has been turning out interesting things of late. If you’re not outright opposed to musicals, at least watch Frozen. If you are opposed to musicals, try Wreck-It Ralph.
I was being snarky and facetious. The book is a funny account of a sulky five year old absolutely determined to have a bad day no matter what. It’s psychologically funny in its simplicity. The idea of giving it the Disney post-modern irony dripping pop-culture trope-shedding like dog shaking off water treatment just seems irritating. Another drop in the meme chum-bucket. Even if Disney surprises me and avoids loud nod and wink irony blender that is de rigueur for kids movie these days, a movie by its very nature and length can not really reflect a story that is basically a five year old looking for isolated things to bitch about.
And it *was* the modern Disney I was thinking of when I made my snark comment.
Douglas Adams on the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie being a Disney production.
“What people forget is that Disney made Reservoir Dogs. So Hitchhiker’s will be a cross between Bambi and Reservoir Dogs.”
(At least, I’m pretty sure he said that, but I can’t find a source. I definitely read it somewhere, but it’s not in The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, or Don’t Panic [but then, I appear to only have the second edition, which surprises me, so I might have read it in the third] and if it’s in The Salmon of Doubt I can’t find it.)
(And yes, the eventual H2G2 film wasn’t great, but that doesn’t invalidate the principle.)
The terrible, horrible, etc. day would be terrible as resevoir dogs. It’d be terrible as any film.
Personally, I just don’t feel that book is filmable
Or very good, for that matter, but let’s not get into that right now
In discussions of the impending rampage, its been pointed out that Tip is not a creation of Mad Science. And it occurs to me that, when you get right down to it neither was Dave
But he kind of was, wasn’t he? He might have been happy and totally sane being a web designer in San Jose.
Before I answer that… how far are you into Narbonic?
Tip is as much a product of mad science as Dave. It’s his entire life now, after all: friends, job, and even vacations now are all steeped in mad science. It shapes his entire perception and has for years. No wonder he’s getting a bit mad hattery.
No, you misunderstand me. I’m not saying he’s a product of Mad Science at all. I’m saying that he, much like Dave, is going Mad.
Um… don’t know how to break this to you… If only from reading all of Shaenon’s creations, we are *all* a product of mad science.
OK, we need that on a T-shirt.
Oh man, if Tip goes Davenport then say goodbye to anyone with a libido within a three-block radius. 😀
What do you know, it turns out that Tip doesn’t like being degraded and/or dismissed for just being “girly” any more than girls do.
This begs the question: What other grades of laser trip-mines are there?
Is it like groceries where you can get Grade C ones that look kinda icky and a bit mushy but are still healthy and nutritious?
There’s also ‘retrograde’ (they only work in reverse.)
If the mines only work in reverse, that just means you’ve got ’em the wrong way ’round
“This side towards enemy”
Good advice.
It’s not just advice! It’s _regulations_! 🙂
(TUNE: “Puff The Magic Dragon”, Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow)
Happy Captain Wilkin,
Skipping down the hall!
His team, perhaps, will find his traps
And get spread across the wall!
Super Shelby Silvers,
Though he seems quite gruff,
Gave Tip some flares, and laser snares,
And other girly stuff!
[CHORUS:]
Oh,
Tip, the top transvestite
Has so much fun!
He skips and smiles,
And hides the files
In the depths of Annex One!
(repeat)
Is Tip going mad now?
Does he show the signs?
Scattered all across the hall
Are a hundred-twenty mines!
Is he just facetious,
Or will he rampage?
Eagerly, the readers we,
Await the next damn page!
[repeat CHORUS]
Once more, you have won the internet. This means I can blame YOU for improper maintenance when there are connection issues :p
See? Exhibit A. Definitely a product of Mad Science.
Huh. Shelby is black. I guess that kills the theory that the scary, Anton-LaVey-looking, but ultimately nice head of maintenance for Annex One is really Shel Silverstein.
Also, did Chris always censor himself with sci-fi swears or has he been hanging around Nick too long?
I don’t think Nick’s censor allows for sci-fi swears.
It was programmed by Dr Lee. It definitely doesn’t.
And jdreyfuss, I think he’s just one of those people who swear in nerd because why not. I bet he finds all the talk these days of hydraulic fraking hilarious. Not that I know anyone like that >.>
Was Dr. Lee a scifi fan prior to bonding with Nick (aka prior to Nick escaping her [deliberate, planned] meddling with his brain)? I got the impression that she was too dreadfully practical to have that interest before Nick’s carefully planned course of study, but I admit I don’t have the patience to reread enough of the archives to check my memory.
If you’re the right kind of media-SF geek, SF pseudo-swears are practically obligatory.
Too smegging right.
Frackkin’ tanj.
Huh… someone said it looks like it is building into Mustachio rampage.. now someone says Sweetheart rampage… possibly even a Tip rampage… sweet mother of mayhem… a triple rampage??? Is such a thing allowed? When in the tropes of mad science has such a thing ever occurred before?
Godzilla movies.
Okay, Bubbles is standing behind Sweetie (does Sweetie know her rival is right there?), so where has Unity gone? To find a new, fresh, body part for her ‘date’ with Bubbles?
In yesterday’s strip, Sweetheart was arguing with Bubbles (so yes, she knows she’s there) and saying she couldn’t find the files. Since the purpose of the coffee date was to give her a chance to look for them, I would guess that she has returned from the date and Unity, for reasons unknown, hasn’t.
Could UNITY be on a secret mission to take the files elsewhere? Who would be interested in a monster-mash of mutants?
It has been noted that high heels and high explosives are a killer combo.
Here’s hoping Tip doesn’t make that a literal statement.
You have discovered the source of my power. Now you must die … in 50 or 60 years, give or take.
Gorram, that was a reply to mickeyf above.
This ain’t a rampage, IT’S A JAIL BRAKE. HE BUSTIN TIGERLILLY OUT!
Gee it sure would be handy if there were a digital copy of all those files right now.