Posts Tagged ‘computer’
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Apologies for the slightly delayed upload! I was totally immersed in a project this afternoon and apparently forgot that it was Tuesday today. Anyway, here you go.
While I was drawing todays strip, I had a flashback to my childhood. I don’t know how old I was exactly, maybe around 10 or 11. Must have been right in the middle of the 80s. My parents, my brother and I were traveling through Greece by car for our summer vacation (one of the best vacations ever), and there, on a ferry from probably Kefalonia to Patras, I saw my first real computer game. It was a Pacman console, just like the one in todays strip. I was mesmerized. But our parents wouldn’t give me any money to play it. Not that I would have known what to do anyway. But it sure made a big impression, because I can clearly picture the scene in my mind. So I guess I can relate to Chuck’s enthusiasm here …
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We would like to thank United Airlines for, once again, providing us with great material. You knew it was only a matter of time until our chickens would tune in to current airline events. Just wait until Hans reads about the latest United Airlines incident. Stay tuned for more!
On a more serious note, I am hoping this will shed a little more light on what has been happening to airline travel over the years. Many of you know I travel a lot for my job and can’t get around the airlines. Overbooked planes, running out of overhead spaces, broken planes, angry flyers, those are all almost daily occurrences for me. I have to admit I enjoy a certain degree of status with some airlines which helps but what I have noticed the most lately are routinely completely booked or overbooked flights in the last few years. I can’t remember the last time there was an empty middle seat next to me. And if you miss your plane because you can’t make the connection, you’re almost completely out of luck. And that’s not just United but some of the others as well. Maybe now they will all make an effort in order not to be “that airline” …
And it’s not just the airlines. The passengers get more annoying every year as well. Refusing to turn their phones off, making a total mess on the plane, being rude to the crew, the list is long. Human decency has gone out the window. Airline travel sure isn’t what it used to be anymore. But how to fix it?
Writing is definitely one of those things that look easier than they actually are. And a lot of people I know have ideas about stories, books and movies they would love to write, if they only could find the time. I know I do! But even though I don’t do a lot of writing, I have really learned some respect for the art over the years.
Writing comics comes rather easy by now, after many years of doing it. At least I have the technique down, coming up with ideas is a whole other subject. But when it comes to writing other things, such as these little blogs, or descriptions for our online shop, or prefaces for our books etc. I still break a sweat. It’s hard to be witty, concise, while keeping it interesting and bringing the point across. But I think having dabbled in writing makes me appreciate other people’s writing even more.
I’m sure this is true for most subjects. As an amateur guitar player, I think I can appreciate the craftsmanship and achievements of many professional musicians on a different level than a complete layman. Having dabbled in music, I know what it takes to get up on stage and have a vague idea of what it takes to become a star, just like maybe a recreational pilot can appreciate a Blue Angels pilot more than I can.
A friend of mine once told me how he would like to start a band, describing to me all the vivid details of how awesome it must be on stage. But when I asked him if he played any instrument, he said no. I neither want to bust that friends dreams nor want to sound like a downer, but, most likely, his band career is not going to happen. I have also met kids who thought it would be easy to fly a helicopter, after having “practiced it” in computer games.
This combination of overestimation of one’s own abilities and underestimation of what it takes to become a star is the basis of the whole industry of casting shows. And to be fair, I haven’t watched one of those in ages, but I remember that I always enjoyed the first rounds the most, where you can see the absolutely untalented cohort making asses of themselves.
That gave me an idea: How about an aviation themed casting show? Put wannabe pilots in airplanes and let them have a go! Action and entertainment would be guaranteed! But it would probably be rather expensive to produce.
Anyway, let me tie this all together by pointing out one more time how hard writing is. I’ve rambled on for a few paragraphs, moving on aimlessly from one subject to the next, without really gaining very much insight into anything except a couple of opinions I hold. Now you see why I draw chickens and don’t write blogs for a living.
If I should ever feel for a pseudonym, “Hotshot McThunderbolt” would probably be on top of the list too! But wait, now that I’ve mentioned that, I can’t really use it anymore. And “Maverick” clearly is taken. Hm, maybe “Ice … man”, periods and all. But then, I don’t like the cold very much. I can see why Chuck is having such a hard time!
Chucks frustrations most likely might come from our own past of trying to sell a movie script. But we will never know, will we? 😉
Many of you might not know this but we came pretty close to getting Chicken Wings animated twice in the last ten years. Unfortunately the movie business is brutal and things got in the way. We ended up with a few half-done shorts and a bunch of storylines, treatments and storyboards but not much else to show for. Maybe after things settle down with work and Stef’s kids start being able to feed themselves we can revisit the idea. What do you guys think of a Chicken Wings short-film?
If anyone reading this is a media mogul or producer, get in touch with us! 😉
Here is one page of one of the storyboards we wrote:
It’s always fun, with the benefit of hindsight, to analyze predictions from the past about today. And it looks like the prediction of the “paperless office” was about as wrong as you can get. But, on the other hand, maybe the content of that prediction is not wrong, but only the timing! I’m sure we will reach that stage at some point, but it just will take its time. Technology can advance in leaps, but societal, cultural and economical change needs time to run its course.
I still do almost all of my accounting in paper format. But I’m getting more and more digital receipts etc. that I’m sure I’ll get to the point of not even bothering to print them anymore. Coincidentally, exactly while doing my accounting, I came across the line “think about the environment before you print” that gave me the idea for today’s strip …
Ha! We drew this strip right before I went to Greece for the fire season and right when I got to the helicopter fire base the internet was down for two days. Boy, was the helicopter and the base clean after those days! Could we possibly predict the future with our comics?
On the same token I couldn’t help but wonder the whole time if the crew chief didn’t do to us what Hans did to Sally. As I am writing this blog I am actually starting to wonder if we should even publish this strip since my boss might be reading it as well. But Stefan is on vacation and I can’t make the changes so I will have to live with the consequences I guess.
We truly do live in an era of technological wonder. It’s so easy to lose sight of all the technological awesomeness that surrounds us, because we adapt so quickly and take everything for granted. I remember the first time I heard what a GPS was, I was about 12 or 13 years old. The concept blew me away! Satellites! In space! Helping you pinpoint your location to a few meters! Of course, back then it was ridiculously expensive.
Not so today. Nowadays, every third grader has technology in his pocket that would have blown the mind of even the most visionary person just a lifetime ago. But smartphones are around for just about a decade! So has Youtube! Of course, I also just take all that for granted. But every now and then stop and think about how things have changed just in my lifetime. It’s simply amazing! And I am curious about what else I will live to see.
Everything comes with its own problems, risks and drawbacks, of course, as Chuck experiences in this comic strip.
I think I mentioned here before that I don’t have any games installed on my computer. The reason is simple: I work from home and sit either in front of, or right next to the computer all day. It’s so easy to tell yourself to “just play one little game”, and boom, suddenly your whole afternoon is gone. I experienced that in the past more often than I’d like to admit. My biggest problem is that I really like strategic and/or building games, along the lines of Civilization, Age of Empires or Sim City. Those things can absolutely absorb me. I decided to go cold turkey many years ago, because it seems that’s the only way for me to deal with it.
It’s not like I wouldn’t be wasting any time anymore. Tons of browser games are just one click away! But I limit myself to ones where I know I can quit, and a round takes maybe 10 minutes or so. I don’t play Airport Madness though, because that really stresses me out! However, my brother is rather fond of that game. But, let me stress again, that all similarities between Mike and Chuck are strictly accidental! 
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Reddit. But those of you who are, probably already stumbled across “Tales From Tech Support” or “Tales From Retail“. I really think Julio has it easy compared to what some poor people working in tech support or retail have to deal with all day. My favorite call of all time probably is the guy who can’t see the difference between 0.002 dollars and 0.002 cents. I think it’s way longer in the original, but I found a clip on Youtube here. Although in this case, it’s the support guy who’s the moron. If I remember correctly, it starts out with a disgruntled customer who has been quoted 0.002 cents per MB of data used and was then charged 0.002 dollars.
Does anybody have any stories to share in that regard? I know that in aviation, you have to deal with a whole zoo of customers too.
