If you think that I’ve finally gone off the deep end… well, you might be right. But you’d also be missing the wonderful song behind today’s strip!

Get ye to Jonathan Coulton’s website and listen to Skullcrusher Mountain! Actually, while you’re at it, listen to pretty much everything else he’s ever written. You won’t regret it! Re: Your Brains is one of my favorite campfire songs (guaranteed to freak out the people in the next site!) and I have to hum “Ikea” every time I shop there.

Ok,this is a pretty Canadian specific joke. If you’re wondering what’s going on, Tim Horton’s, Canada’s favorite coffee-shop-chain-named-after-a-hockey-star, runs a promotion called “Roll up the Rim to Win”.  Basically, there’s some little tiny print under the rolled-under bit on the rim that mostly says, “Please play again/Réessayez vous S.V.P.”, but sometimes says that you’ve won a prize.

Seems a pretty straight forward way to run a promotion – there’s no messy scratch-and-win bits, which would probably melt anyway being so close to the hot coffee, and no little fiddly peel off bits that always get lost anyway.

But here’s the thing. It’s a winter promotion. And it’s damned cold in Canada in the winter. Like, you don’t want to take your gloves off, EVER, kinda cold. So, a common sight in Canada is a bunch of people fiddling around with the little waxy rim of their paper cups, trying to get the damned things to lift up without taking off their gloves.

I always have to resort to using my teeth to rip the rim off completely, usually mangling the text in the process. But that’s ok, because the only thing I’ve ever won is another coffee, and man. After I’ve just torn the neck off of a paper cup, the last thing I need is another coffee…

Hey everyone! Sorry for the hiatus, but things have been really crazy for the past few weeks! We’ve all moved into the new place now, and we’ve got a few weeks of breathing time in between convention appearances for me to get caught up on things. Like, I dunno… Comics? Man, my buffer really took a nosedive over the past month. I have no idea how the guys with no buffers do it – working on the strip the night before is an utterly nerve-racking experience, and I hope I never have to do it again!!

We’re all moved out of the old apartment, and though we’ve still got a few boxes left here at the new place, we’re more or less settled in. Thanks for stickin’ with me through the craziness!!! Things should get back to normal (or as normal as they ever get!) around here shortly!

<Watch this space for a full con report when I’ve had a few hours sleep and am more coherent!!>

Hey, this probably goes without saying, but if you haven’t checked the calendar today, you probably should.

That’s all I’m saying. There is silliness about everywhere today.

Also, you should go read The Devil’s Panties! Why? Well, cause it’s awesome, that’s why. And I’m going to be sitting next to Jennie Breeden at the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend, so if you haven’t read her comic yet, go read it now, and they you can save yourself time and just meet us both at once! See? I’m saving you guys time here, cause I know how jam-packed full of awesomeness the line-up at ECCC is this year.  Seriously. You’re gonna need a schedule book or something, because there’s just so many cool people to go see.

Planning on coming out? Gimme a shout!! I’ll see you there!!

No. Not that Slash. I’m talking slash-fiction, baby. Haven’t heard of it? Well, Google at your own peril…

My buddy Danny, featured in today’s strip, is something of a fan fic connoisseur. She recently had a bad fall and has been in the hospital, so today’s strip goes out to her! Hope this brightens your day a bit, hon!

Seriously, though. This is a hell of a fun game to play on road trips. All it requires it a little knowledge of the tropes and mores of the fan fic community, and the ability to shudder and drive at the same time. Seriously. There is fan fiction for just about everything, and some of it is very, very terrible. Just check out Cracked.com’s list of the 5 baffling pairings. (Warning – link kinda NSFW, also probably not-safe-for-your-sanity)

For the record, I am not a slasher. I’ve tried reading it, but I just don’t get it, and I certainly couldn’t bring myself to write anything “blue” without breaking into giggles. Just not my thing, I suppose. I do, however, maintain a morbid sense of curiosity about the whole phenomenon, and will occasionally wander across a bit of fiction so bad it’s actually rather fascinating. (Link also not particularly SFW…)

Want to try your hand at “guess the slash pairing”? Try a game here!