The next page of the Word Smith is in the standard location.
Narf.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Friday, February 26, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Book Return
Alrighty. Getting right to the point: episode 9 of The Word Smith begins!
As mentioned previously, my update schedule is "whenever I can get pages done" but this will hopefully be about once every two weeks, on average.
Do not consider anything I say here to be binding.
So, until next time,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
As mentioned previously, my update schedule is "whenever I can get pages done" but this will hopefully be about once every two weeks, on average.
Do not consider anything I say here to be binding.
So, until next time,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Friday, January 29, 2016
Punctuation
There are a couple of days remaining in the month and I have yet to post anything for the next episode of The Word Smith which my previous post implied would happen sometime this month. I expect to get around to this some time over the weekend so as not to perjure myself.
In the meantime, here's some design sketches I did of a very minor character that appears in a flashback in episode 7:
The character is named The Punctuator and is, obviously, punctuation themed. I was also trying to make his outfit a bit "spikey" because he, well, punctures things, after a fashion.
And that is all for today. Watch this space for the commencement of the next exciting (exciting! I say!) episode of... The Word Smith!
Freak Out,
-TFitC
In the meantime, here's some design sketches I did of a very minor character that appears in a flashback in episode 7:
And that is all for today. Watch this space for the commencement of the next exciting (exciting! I say!) episode of... The Word Smith!
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Booklog
It returns....
After an unexpectedly long hiatus, due in part to some unexpected real-life stuff that happened unexpectedly, The Word Smith will be resuming sometime in January. When it does, the schedule will be something along the lines of "whenever I can get a page done" which will hopefully be no slower than a page every other week, on average. We shall see. Until then, here follows a couple of concept sketches for the Episode 9 title page:
Freak Out,
-TFitC
-TFitC
Monday, December 21, 2015
New Car Small
I bought a Tesla on the weekend - two of them even! Here they are chilling on my bookshelf with Bumblebee:
On the left is a Tesla Roadster, on the right is a Model S and in the middle, disguised as a VW Beetle (and feeling rather old fashioned about it - and perhaps even a bit self-conscious given the recent VW diesel scandal thing) is Bumblebee. It is probably obvious at this point that these aren't real Teslas (I don't have anywhere near that kind of money), rather these are the Hot Wheels versions which I found whilst doing some Christmas shopping. Now, I don't personally care much about the Roadster (as it's not the sort of car I would buy myself even if I did have the money) but as there was a Model S available and they were cheap ($1 each!) I figured I'd pick up the pair.
Anywho, that is all for the nonce. There may be other posts coming before too long...
Freak Out,
-TFitC
On the left is a Tesla Roadster, on the right is a Model S and in the middle, disguised as a VW Beetle (and feeling rather old fashioned about it - and perhaps even a bit self-conscious given the recent VW diesel scandal thing) is Bumblebee. It is probably obvious at this point that these aren't real Teslas (I don't have anywhere near that kind of money), rather these are the Hot Wheels versions which I found whilst doing some Christmas shopping. Now, I don't personally care much about the Roadster (as it's not the sort of car I would buy myself even if I did have the money) but as there was a Model S available and they were cheap ($1 each!) I figured I'd pick up the pair.
Anywho, that is all for the nonce. There may be other posts coming before too long...
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The Long Night is Finally Over
Well, perhaps the post title overstates things a bit. Nevertheless, yesterday's Canadian federal election delivered what is, in my opinion, a much welcomed (and perhaps overdue) change in government.
I have one piece of advice for our incoming Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau: don't screw up. Easier said than done, I know! To elaborate, there seems to be a desire for a more open, transparent, accountable (and so forth) governement. I believe that there was a rather high anti-Harper sentiment in this election for a reason, so please don't let Canadians down, the country deserves better.
Sincerely,
Some random guy on the interweebs.
-TFitC
I have one piece of advice for our incoming Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau: don't screw up. Easier said than done, I know! To elaborate, there seems to be a desire for a more open, transparent, accountable (and so forth) governement. I believe that there was a rather high anti-Harper sentiment in this election for a reason, so please don't let Canadians down, the country deserves better.
Sincerely,
Some random guy on the interweebs.
-TFitC
Monday, August 31, 2015
Unfaq Vol 5
As the Freak Log continues to do not much of anything, it occured to me that I never got around to doing the Unfaq for Word Smith Episode 8. The lack of an outcry on this matter suggests that nobody cares, but why should that stop me? So lets do this thing.
Episode 8 - Isn't it Ironic?
The episode's title is the same as an Alanis Morissette song. The answer to the title's question (in both cases) is, probably, no, or, at best, maybe. I was a bit wary about doing an episode related to irony as irony is a concept that I don't think that I entirely get. Oh, I went and read the definition and all that, and whilst I sort of "get" it, irony is one of those concepts which to me seems a little bit nebulous, and I'm not sure if I really "get" it on a fundamental level. Or at least when I'm trying to deliberately be (non-)ironic in some fashion. Oh well, lets not dwell on this.
The title page features the "villain of the week," as it were - the Irony Chef, meant to be a spoof on the Iron Chef (a show I've never actually watched, ironically enough.) I tried to associate him with a bunch of things connected to "iron," mostly prominently via a golf club and a curling iron as seen in the title.
Page 1 occurs in another bit of Kitchener/Waterloo - a part of Victoria park, in this instance. We get a look at the transformation sequence of one of the behind-the-scenes villains here. I practiced whirling my cape (that I own) around for the second last panel.
The next scene is another location in K/W. We get to see The Pen and The Waitress hanging out "out of costume" and get to hear about The Waitress' new job working at MegaBook Co. This is a reference back to Episode 2. The unfortunate victim of the cashiers in the middle row is meant to be a cameo of me (and not actually my first appearance.) The Pen's MegaBook Co membership was previously mention on this page.
We then have a series of flashbacks that reveal The Pen's origin story. This sequence is kicked off with a super dorky Magic: The Gathering reference. (Flashback is an ability that appears in some instants and sorceries.) The Pen became "The Pen" due to a co-op job that nobody else applied for. The whole bit about "still better than making charts" is based on one of my own work terms (which involved making charts...)
The final sequence takes place at a mall in K/W, though it's probably not overly obvious since there's no long shots of the mall so only a small portion gets shown in panels. We also find out that the Irony Chef's dialogue seems to involve a lot of iron-related things.
And there's not too much else to say. The situation with the Irony Chef turns out to be a trap that succussfuly lures out The Word Smith. The "book trap" at the end was meant to evoke the traps from Ghostbusters, ending the episode on a cliff hanger.
And with that, Episode 8 is officially finished. The script for Episode 9 is actually mostly written at this point so with any luck, and a bit of self-discipline, work should commence on it soonish and hopefully the adventures of The Word Smith should continue.
Until next time,
Freak Out.
-TFitC
Episode 8 - Isn't it Ironic?
The episode's title is the same as an Alanis Morissette song. The answer to the title's question (in both cases) is, probably, no, or, at best, maybe. I was a bit wary about doing an episode related to irony as irony is a concept that I don't think that I entirely get. Oh, I went and read the definition and all that, and whilst I sort of "get" it, irony is one of those concepts which to me seems a little bit nebulous, and I'm not sure if I really "get" it on a fundamental level. Or at least when I'm trying to deliberately be (non-)ironic in some fashion. Oh well, lets not dwell on this.
The title page features the "villain of the week," as it were - the Irony Chef, meant to be a spoof on the Iron Chef (a show I've never actually watched, ironically enough.) I tried to associate him with a bunch of things connected to "iron," mostly prominently via a golf club and a curling iron as seen in the title.
Page 1 occurs in another bit of Kitchener/Waterloo - a part of Victoria park, in this instance. We get a look at the transformation sequence of one of the behind-the-scenes villains here. I practiced whirling my cape (that I own) around for the second last panel.
The next scene is another location in K/W. We get to see The Pen and The Waitress hanging out "out of costume" and get to hear about The Waitress' new job working at MegaBook Co. This is a reference back to Episode 2. The unfortunate victim of the cashiers in the middle row is meant to be a cameo of me (and not actually my first appearance.) The Pen's MegaBook Co membership was previously mention on this page.
We then have a series of flashbacks that reveal The Pen's origin story. This sequence is kicked off with a super dorky Magic: The Gathering reference. (Flashback is an ability that appears in some instants and sorceries.) The Pen became "The Pen" due to a co-op job that nobody else applied for. The whole bit about "still better than making charts" is based on one of my own work terms (which involved making charts...)
The final sequence takes place at a mall in K/W, though it's probably not overly obvious since there's no long shots of the mall so only a small portion gets shown in panels. We also find out that the Irony Chef's dialogue seems to involve a lot of iron-related things.
And there's not too much else to say. The situation with the Irony Chef turns out to be a trap that succussfuly lures out The Word Smith. The "book trap" at the end was meant to evoke the traps from Ghostbusters, ending the episode on a cliff hanger.
And with that, Episode 8 is officially finished. The script for Episode 9 is actually mostly written at this point so with any luck, and a bit of self-discipline, work should commence on it soonish and hopefully the adventures of The Word Smith should continue.
Until next time,
Freak Out.
-TFitC
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Wherein I Try to Convince People That They Should Vote
While I imagine the "regular" readership of The Freak Report could be counted on one hand, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the 2015 Canadian Federal election that just kicked off this past weekend.
The short version is this: if you are an eligible voter, you should make a point of voting in the election. Seriously. Do it. Take a few moments this October and go vote. Don't make excuses, just go do it.
If that short plea from a random stranger on the internet didn't convince you to go vote, well, consider the following. (Be sure to read past the next paragraph!)
I can't address all the reasons why someone might choose not to vote, but a common one that I do want to address is that "my vote won't matter." To this I say... yes and no. In some sense, it's true that an individual's vote doesn't really matter. Populations these days are just too large for any one single vote to materially change the outcome. Without harping on things too much, a single vote is less than 1% of eligible voters - much less than 1%, really - so no, it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference whether any single individual votes or who they vote for.
"But wait", you might say, "aren't you trying to convince people to vote? Because all this talk of votes not mattering isn't really all that encouraging." Well, no, not if one looks at things individually. But when you look at the aggregate, when large segments of the population are underrepresented at the polls, well, that does matter. And can matter quite a bit.
There was an article on CBC a while after the 2011 Federal Election which reported on a study that examined the effect of underrepresentation of young voters (defined as being under 30) during that election. (The article is here for those interested.) While the election had an overall voter turnout of a little over 60%, the youth turnout was under 40%. The study found that had the youth turnout been the same as the overall turnout, the results of the election would likely have been much different - notably, the Conservatives would likely not have won a majority.
That article suggests to me that when large swathes of eligible voters choose not to vote, the outcome of the election can change significantly. So in this sense, whether or not someone votes very much does matter, not as an idividual, but as part of a group. And this is why I say everyone should make sure to vote. Because it matters that all segments of the population are represented. Because groups do have the ability to make a difference for the better. So go vote. Don't say it doesn't matter, because it does. Just go vote.
Lastly, on a personal note, I feel that if someone who is eligible elects not to vote, then they have no right to complain about the outcome. So if nothing else, vote so you can proudly complain about the results of the election for the next four years or so.
And with that, I shall get down off the soap box and will hopefully return with something more light hearted in my next post, whenever that happens to be.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
The short version is this: if you are an eligible voter, you should make a point of voting in the election. Seriously. Do it. Take a few moments this October and go vote. Don't make excuses, just go do it.
If that short plea from a random stranger on the internet didn't convince you to go vote, well, consider the following. (Be sure to read past the next paragraph!)
I can't address all the reasons why someone might choose not to vote, but a common one that I do want to address is that "my vote won't matter." To this I say... yes and no. In some sense, it's true that an individual's vote doesn't really matter. Populations these days are just too large for any one single vote to materially change the outcome. Without harping on things too much, a single vote is less than 1% of eligible voters - much less than 1%, really - so no, it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference whether any single individual votes or who they vote for.
"But wait", you might say, "aren't you trying to convince people to vote? Because all this talk of votes not mattering isn't really all that encouraging." Well, no, not if one looks at things individually. But when you look at the aggregate, when large segments of the population are underrepresented at the polls, well, that does matter. And can matter quite a bit.
There was an article on CBC a while after the 2011 Federal Election which reported on a study that examined the effect of underrepresentation of young voters (defined as being under 30) during that election. (The article is here for those interested.) While the election had an overall voter turnout of a little over 60%, the youth turnout was under 40%. The study found that had the youth turnout been the same as the overall turnout, the results of the election would likely have been much different - notably, the Conservatives would likely not have won a majority.
That article suggests to me that when large swathes of eligible voters choose not to vote, the outcome of the election can change significantly. So in this sense, whether or not someone votes very much does matter, not as an idividual, but as part of a group. And this is why I say everyone should make sure to vote. Because it matters that all segments of the population are represented. Because groups do have the ability to make a difference for the better. So go vote. Don't say it doesn't matter, because it does. Just go vote.
Lastly, on a personal note, I feel that if someone who is eligible elects not to vote, then they have no right to complain about the outcome. So if nothing else, vote so you can proudly complain about the results of the election for the next four years or so.
And with that, I shall get down off the soap box and will hopefully return with something more light hearted in my next post, whenever that happens to be.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Friday, July 10, 2015
Schroedinger's Blog
The Word Smith continues to be on hiatus. This is due, in part, to some Real Life stuff that happened last month that threw a bunch of stuff out of whack. As such, the continuation of The Word Smith is delayed and, while I'm hoping to get back to it before too long, the Real Life stuff is, for the moment, ongoing and occupies a (not small) chunk of the time I would normally have used for working on the comic. So, expect delays, is what I'm saying.
Until such a time as The Word Smith resumes, I may try posting some other things here. Or I may not. Treat it like Schroedinger's Cat, if you will. Or don't.
Until some time in the future,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Until such a time as The Word Smith resumes, I may try posting some other things here. Or I may not. Treat it like Schroedinger's Cat, if you will. Or don't.
Until some time in the future,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
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