Bond Villains

Although I have been a bit better about updating the comic lately, I've been not so good about posting here.

Here are the previous three:

October 1, 2012

October 29, 2012

November 3, 2012

Okay, now for the most recent.  This one falls into the category of "sometimes these things write themselves."  Before I share that story, though, I just want to repeat that my husband is not Crazy Guy, and I am definitely not (Not)Jesus (which is not to say that I am Jesus, either, but you know what I mean).  That being said, this conversation was very close to one I had with my husband, where he misread the Rolling Stone cover-story teaser just as CG* does here.  After I made fun of him, he pointed out that the magazine has, after all, done quite a few in-depth stories on bank fraud.  He's also quite certain there are "bond" villains of the kind he expected to read about, who might, in fact, be much more evil than any one might encounter in a "James Bond" film.

*Aside:  I can't even tell you how disturbing it is when I see that "CG" on the internet these days = Christian Grey, the abusive "hero" of the Fifty Shades series that began as a Twilight fanfic.  No, CG = Crazy Guy!

Siri

Yes!  Finally, a new strip!  I've been planning to do something with the Siri app ever since I started to see this ad.  You know the one:  "Call me 'rock god.'"  ::rolleyes::  The only upside of that ad is that she really does sound insincere, doesn't she?  Amusingly, I found this parody.  (Warning:  does use the f-word 1x!)

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo.  Against all good sense, I have decided to give it a try--my second attempt.  Well, "attempt" makes it sound as though I didn't "win" the first time I tried NaNo, and that's not the case.  I did meet the 50,000-word goal.  However, I ended up with a document I never wanted to look at again.  It had lots and lots of filler, including large quotations (with credit given, of course, but still).  It also just wasn't good.  This first attempt was in 2007.  It has taken me since then to recover from the trauma!

And I am way, way behind.  I've only completed 2,194 words so far, after telling myself that I would do a big catch-up over the weekend.  On Saturday, I actually did things!  Like going places, seeing people, engaging in activities.  So I got NO work done on NaNo OR "Crazy Guy."  And I'm setting myself up to feel that whenever I'm doing NaNo I'm stealing time away from "Crazy Guy" and vice versa.  I'm also determined to write something halfway decent this time!  (I'm trying my hand at a YA novel with a sci-fi/supernatural element to it, but NOT Twilight!)  So no taking the approach "Crazy Guy" is taking, despite how tempting that might be.  :)

As a matter of fact....

Last week, I did actually spot the real Crazy Guitar Guy with his hat on his guitar.  Today, I saw him again, but with his hat on his own head.  For all I know, CG could have set him straight!  :)

No Auto-Destruction at the Altamont Fair This Year

The demolition derby and car drop are my son's favorite events at the Altamont Fair, so we are a bit bummed that they aren't having either this year.  We have no plans to outfit the pigs with little cars, though.  :)

Weiner and [fill in your own joke about "wiener"]

In case you've missed the kerfuffle about the pic sent from Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account, Google News will get you up to speed....

The jokes really do write themselves.  In fact, it's difficult (I was about to say "hard") to discuss this WITHOUT making a joke, even if you're not trying to.  So for CG, this would be exhilarating and depressing, as everyone else will have beat him [see?] to the jokes first.

Maybe it's only a matter of time....

Uh-oh....  I hope the greeting-card industry doesn't get funny ideas from the latest strip and start marketing "you're welcome" cards.  After all, don't they typically seize just about any opportunity to get people to spend more money on cards?  Hm.  Maybe I ought to jump in ahead of the curve and start marketing a line of  "CG and (N)J" "you're welcome" cards?  But only use them if you really want to mess with someone.  Next thing you know, the "Miss Manners" column will be overrun with people stressing over whether proper etiquette dictates a "you're welcome" card for every thank-you note received. ;)

Free Comic Book Day

Well, I didn't scour the comics blogs or dispatch a team of crazy guys (which, of course, I haven't got).  I did just go to the nearest comic shop, though I had my guys with me (husband and son) and we each got to have six comics apiece!  Also a Green Lantern figure that promptly got broken from its base within 24 hours.  Same exact thing happened with last year's figure!

Somehow, I manage to come across the FCBD blog entries AFTER the day and see the super-amazing books I managed to miss.  Ah, well.  I won't obsess.  :)

ComicCon

There was another Albany ComicCon back in October.  My guys and I went to it, and my son was absolutely delighted at the sight of people in costume, dressed as characters from Star Wars and various comic books.  After shaking hands with one of them, he exclaimed with glee, "I shook hands with a FANBOY!"

Now that I've put up today's strip, my husband thinks we should actually show up at the con dressed as "Crazy Guy" characters.  :)

Madoff

Another idea from my husband.  He came across the article I link under the strip--a New York Magazine interview with Madoff--shortly after passing the strip idea along to me.  Life imitates crazy!  Original idea had CG making signs, but I liked the visual of him making a t-shirt with Madoff's face and the "Freebird"-inspired slogan.  One hazard is that while I was working on this strip, I kept getting "Freebird" stuck in my head.  Darn Skynyrd!

Bubbles

My husband has two MBAs and a law degree.  He reads financial and economic blogs and makes predictions about the impending economic doom.  Today's strip was born in his brain, as are many of the economic/financial-themed strips.  Ha, it's all his fault I had to [try to] draw Cuomo for four panels!

The Doodle

Crazy Morbidly Obese Guy came about unexpectedly from a doodle on a legal pad.  Once I'd drawn him, the idea for the script followed and I scribbled it out on the same piece of paper.  Here's the doodle:

  

Chartock and Egg Yolks

In no way, shape, or form is my husband Crazy Guy.  HOWEVER.  The story about the UAlbany graduate journalism class, Chartock, and the egg yolks is his.  It seems that, out of health consciousness, Chartock would eat just the eggs whites and feed the yolks to his dog.  And, as CG recounts in the strip, a student impressed him by suggesting that something bad for Chartock would also be bad for the dog.

CG's "Chartock" Obsession

As you can see from the collection of strips featuring or mentioning Alan Chartock, Crazy Guy is a little bit fixated on him.  In CG's Albanycentric view, Chartock has a MEDIA EMPIRE.  He might be the only one in the world to think so (no offense intended to Mr. Chartock).  :)

New Administration, Fresh Crazy

Crazy Guy just can't let go of the notion that he's going to be a playa in state politics!  By the way, the "yard sale" strip came from a couple of suggestions my son made.  He wanted a yard sale strip, he wanted both David Paterson (then-Governor of NYS) and Elly Patterson to be in the strip, and also some of his favorite characters.  Those of you who read "For Better or For Worse" might be able to recognize the "Elly Patterson" bobblehead next to the David Paterson one.  Other favorite characters appear on the table.  :)

Solitaire Staring

I was just amused by the idea of CG having a staring contest with himself.  Then he can't win without also losing.  Such a dilemma.  :)

Scenes from finish lines

The idea for the January 15, 2011 strip comes from my husband, who observed the finish-line situations noted in the strip.  I did a half marathon on the first of this year, and he was disappointed that nothing extreme happened at the finish line!

Strip for Saturday, January 8, 2011

The characters in my strip are most decidedly NOT me. (Okay, the woman in panel four of the "Library" strip is loosely based on me--when I'm in the library during my lunch hour I just want to be left alone!) But otherwise, the characters are not me and and I am not the characters.

HOWEVER. For the longest time, I thought the saying "A stitch in time saves nine" made no sense whatsover, because I thought it was about a stitch into TIME itself. My misinterpretation only declined from there.  When I realized my mistake--and my realization was embarrassingly belated--I felt pretty silly.  :)

(Similarly, I misread "I want to be in that number" in "When the Saints Go Marching In" well into adulthood and still hate the song because it led me astray like that.)