I AM GOING TO BE IN CANADA NEXT WEEKEND.
This is entirely due to the awesomeness of Danielle Corsetto, who last-minute needed a boothmate, and the Blind Ferret Entertainment guys, who helped me get some of my merchandise into Canada so I actually have something to sell. (It is a very complicated and potentially amazingly expensive process.) Since it was such a close call, I won’t have Shortpacked! books with me, but I will have a buttload of Dumbing of Age books and posters. This includes the new Amazi-Girl Strikes poster and an even newer Dumbing of Age Cast of 2013 poster which I haven’t shown on this site yet. (Unless those get incinerated during customs inspections, since those are a late addition and I will be bringing them with me.) Or throw any amount of money in my tip cup and I will be happy to doodle for you. It will be a swell Canadian time!
and apparently my square creditcardreaderapp probably won’t work up there so
man i’m gonna need some canada money
Why am I sadden by the lack of hover-text joke?
But there is one. XD
There wasn’t when I posted my comment. Thank you, Willis?
Who does?
Well, clearly Dorothy. Either that or she has an aversion to sweater vests.
I do!
Mayonnaise is awesome and delicious and anyone who says that it’s not is either a scoundrel, a liar, or has never tried it with fish fingers.
I second this! there are a lot of mayonnaise variations out there you need to do research of what mayonnaise fit your taste bud best.
Me? I prefer Japanese mayonnaise, it’s just….. perfect!
Mayo is essential for a good tuna salad sandwich and potato salad.
No, you just need to eat Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. Because that is the best one there is. Always keep a jar in the fridge, to have on sandwiches, eggs, random other stuff…
Hmm I can’t even remember how many years ago it was that I completely stopped eating butter in favor of mayo (well, most of the time… sometimes I don’t have either on my sandwiches, and when it comes to toast I use butter).
I have an extreme dislike for mayonnaise. But then I’m that weirdo who genuinely loves the taste of health food.
Is Maggie coming along to chaperone you two? Everyone knows you and Danielle can’t stop telling each other TMI stories! Now that Joel is shacking up with Randy’s Beard, it was only natural you’d two would hook up, leaving poor Jeph at home, crying alone and naked in his room like Howard. ;p
I cannot stomach mayo at all myself, so I can relate.
Me neither. It’s gross.
I am fortunate enough to have only ingested it on two separate occasions, the second time by accident, because the first time was enough to be horrified.
Oh my, I get what you mean. I’m totally grossed out by mayo though in my case it’s more because I like my food to be clearly defined as in solid or liquid. Can’t stomach ketchup, mayo or mustard though mayo is by far the most disgusting to me.
Maybe you haven’t tried the right mayo. Mayo varies wildly in flavor and quality.
This. Mayo came in different flavours. Also avoid mayo that’s not thick.
Really? I love mayo!
The only true way to eat fries with!
Well, the original way at least. 😉
Why is it always these three, anyway? I mean, Sarah is barely a main character…
Yeah. I mean she’s only Joyce’s roommate and saved her from a rapist. She’s obviously not a main character. Why does Sarah get all the banner love? [/sarcasm]
The way I understand it, Sarah was originally intended to get a lot more panel time, but it’s kinda difficult to give an antisocial misanthrope a leading role in a comic that’s built on interpersonal relationships.
She is still fairly important, but I think I’d be lying if I said that I couldn’t name like five other characters that have eclipsed her in prominence.
Something Positive manages!
Maybe it works better if all of your characters are antisocial misanthropes?
Didn’t Willis say something in one of the commentaries for the strips like “every time I write Sarah into a scene, she tries to get out of it”?
Plus, Sarah’s already said she doesn’t like teenage drama. Probably tries to stay out of that as much as possible, too.
(I think it may have something to do with these characters’ relationships, too. The people closest to Joyce right now are Sarah and Dorothy — plus, they play off each other pretty well.
That said I’m surprised there isn’t more interaction between Sarah and Dorothy. The both of them could discuss Joyce and how to help ehr out of her shell a little bit better, or Dorothy could be a voice of reason to tell Sarah that her anti-social tendencies aren’t going to help her outside of college.
Just throwing ideas out there.
Yes, he said that in the book at least. Not sure if he said that phrase online anywhere
Ya need to throw in a ‘self-destructive’ in front of the “antisocial misanthrope” part when describing Sarah.
Oh, and if only Sarah and Raidah’s emo crap was half as tolerable as Something Positive. At least in S*P they call each other out on their bullshit every single entry. Here, the second Walky, Mike or anyone with the capacity to not be sucked into the bullshit vortex, has a chance of walking in, Raidah and her 2-woman entourage are GONE.
Your avatar works, you are almost as pissy as Sarah. But not as cool.
Having some vaguely similar experience with “She was doing drugs” and “SHE WAS GETTING BETTER!!”‘s brand of drama will do that to a person.
Didn’t pick the avatar. I want one of Raidah doing one of her Halloween mask impersonations, dammit! The extra from Shortpacked! whose bladder apparently joined the Green Lantern Corps would also be nice…
I’m not missing some connection between Calgary and mayonnaise am I? Dorothy just ate some bad mayo and that’s the joke right?
The joke is that Dorothy is trying to avoid being shaken by Joyce. Again.
Not sure where the mayo comes in, though.
Canada: Like us Americans, just nicer. If it weren’t for the fact that I like living a few hours from Disneyland, I’d like to move to there.
Disneyland is expensive. You won’t miss that place that much.
I actually have an annual pass, so I can not only theoretically go any time I want excluding blackout dates, but I get discounts on stuff in the park, and my picture shows up when they beep me in. 😀
Nothing “free” about it.
Except for, you know, the free part.
Certainly for Joyce it would be. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t pay any taxes to Canada!
Do non-Canadians get access to the “free” healthcare?
Nope. For an American, or especially for someone not legally in either country, Canadian healthcare is less “free” than American: Americans will treat you and then try to bill you, whereas the Canadians are supposed to (they don’t always) just let you die. (This is why American healthcare costs the government so much – the uninsured are usually people who can’t pay anyway, if they’re even on the grid, so as often as not Uncle Sam ends up footing the bill.)
Well, that’s a massive load.
Any Canadian hospital is obligated to provide emergency care to anyone who needs it. Non-Canadians will be billed for the services afterward.
Nobody is going to “just let you die”.
That is correct. Also, depending on the province you live in, and the province you get hurt in, a Canadian could have to pay, if they have not contacted their provincial medical provider and let them know they would be travelling outside their province/territory, or else payed for secondary insurance. (I hail from the frozen Yukon and live in Alberta, and have to jump through a few hoops, but it means I don’t have to pay.)
It would be pretty fantastically Un-Canadian to let somebody die just because they can’t afford healthcare. It’s… sort of why we HAVE healthcare. Though if any province would do it, it’s Alberta.
But you probably don’t care about Canadian politics, do you? Understandable.
Maybe they don’t, but I always do. Re: Alberta, I always hear it called the Texas of Canada :-/
We ARE the closest thing to the Texas of Canada, yes, but we’d still be pinko commies by Texas standards.
No Raen, you’re just being ridiculous. Do you really think people will let others die? in a so called civilized country? I don’t know how skeptical you got from living in a country where people with less wealth (even when they worked hard everyday in their life) got shafted from health treatments because they can’t afford it. I believe even Canadians will help sick/injured tourists and not turn into complete monster (they just bill you later on).
I’m sick of people who hyperbole everything to support their political views. In a webcomic comment section nonetheless. Go to Fark if you want to fill your political debate need.
Okay, okay. I don’t think Raen was trying to start anything or be angry. She/He probably just got some bad info. Since we’re talking about Canada, I think we should be polite, eh?
Also: I have heard “Alberta is the Texas of Canada” quite a few times, and I have to agree. Just keep in mind it’s also “Canadian Texas” so it is a heck of a lot colder!
Gawd, I love Calgary. I wish I were going with you, David!
I couldn’t get the time off work to go this year, so I hope you enjoy it enough to come back.
Also, forget mayo, Poutine is where it’s at.
Seriously!!???!! Seriously???? This is awesome!!! I’ll see you there!
Glad to have you here in Canada, Mr. Willis! The Sci-Fantasy club at the U of A in Edmonton is road tripping down to the con, so I (and likely many of my friends) will see you there!
I would go to this… if I Calgary was a reasonable driving distance from Toronto… Man, I could have met Willis, and probably purchased some books, and meet the Loading Ready Run crew. I’m sure there would be other stuff, but those would be my reasons for going.
Toronto? Aren’t you closer to him right now than you will be when he is in Calgary?
By like, 1700 miles or so?
Checking Google Earth, Calgary is over 2700 kilometers from Toronto, if just looking at a straight line between the two…
Assuming you were able to drive on a highway between the two, with no turns, at 110 km/h, it would still take more than 24 hours.
I’ve never commented before but I had to this time. I go to the Calgary Comic Expo every single year for the last many years, except this year. We are getting married in May so we are short on funds, and I always spend a lot of money when I go so we decided against going to this year. And now I don’t get to finally meet David Willis. This is just terrible. So I ask you Willis, have a great time and COME BACK TO CALGARY NEXT YEAR!!! We would love to have you twice!
I don’t get it. What does mayonnaise have to do with Calgary?
I spent a month in Calgary way back when, didn’t have mayonnaise even once.
That photo is a couple years out of date. You’re missing a building. http://www.digitex.ca/files/image/calgary.jpg
With the angle of your photo, it ought to be completely blocking the trans Canada Tower (big red one)
Are you talking about the Calgary tower? I don’t know of any “Canada tower”. But the pointy red one is the Calgary tower. It has a glass floor on the top that is super scary to stand on, and a restaurant at the top that slowly revolves around the tower as you sit and eat your dinner.
Sorry, what was I smoking this morning? I meant the Petro Canada Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suncor_Energy_Centre) and The Bow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bow_%28skyscraper%29) should be in front of it from the angle of the photo in the comic, which was taken facing west.
Oh okay 🙂 I loved watching the Bow Tower slowly coming together. I remember when they first started building it I couldn’t even imagine seeing it finished! It’s amazing.
Mayo is a thing here? o.o
Maybe they’re mistaking Canada with Holland.
i didnt get tickets this year but have arranged for a friend of mine to find you and get a poster for me. love your stuff also square works in canada from what i understand. hope you make it out or way in coming years as well.
I’ve lived in Calgary 28 years and have no idea what the mayo thing is.