Month: November 2008

Sheldonistas! It’s time to vote!

After well over 1,000 entries, I’ve narrowed down my favorite 15 captions. But before I pick the final winner, it’s time to hear *your* picks! So vote below, and let’s see which caption(s) offered up the biggest laugh.

Here’s the good news: Sheldon readers are funny, funny people. From the 1,000+ entries, there were a heckuva lot that made me laugh out loud. I was able to narrow down my favorite 50-70…but getting down to these final 15 was really, really hard. So your feedback, below, is especially welcome before I choose the winner — ’cause there are a lot of good ones in the mix.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated: I hope you guys had as much fun as it seemed. I think we’ll do this once a year or so — lots of people got very excited for it. And I really enjoyed reading through ’em! So thank you again!

Now go vote! We’ll keep the tallying open until midnight on the 21st.

My wife is helping to raise money for ovarian cancer research and treatments, and I wanted to mention it here in hopes that there are some Sheldonistas willing to donate.

Even small amounts, bundled up together from many people, can make a great impact. Thank you!

Allow me to crank up the mega-hyperbole machine for a minute to announce THE GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN. Or, if you won’t allow me that, allow me to announce the next Sheldon Collection… Nerds on Parade!

This will be the fifth Sheldon collection, after “Pure Ducky Goodness;” “The Good, The Bad & The Pugly;” “62% More Awesome” and “A Blizzard of Lizards”.

If you’d like to see a larger version of the front cover, click HERE. My talented buddy Katherine did the heavy-lifting on the cover, and I couldn’t be happier with how it came out. I can’t wait for you guys to have your copies

Look for it in the first week of December, in the Sheldon Store!

Much like Sheldon, I used to make fun of “Doctor Who” all the time. When I lived in Canterbury, my English friend Jon (…link to his music, there) was always pitching me on the show, saying I’d love it, and that it was great, etc., etc. But I could never get past the super-weak-sauce special effects.

But the “new” shows, starting a few years back, have been wonderful. It really has been some of the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen. In fact, my wife and I have elevated the episode “Blink” to one of our all-time favorites… in any genre. And now that the writer of that episode, Steven Moffat, is scheduled to take over the reins on Doctor Who for the fifth series…the whole show is going to keep getting better and better. Trust me: Moffat is a genius. So if you’re not into the show yet, now is a great time to jump in.

Flashback: I still remember walking through the out-of-the-way town of Scarborough, and Jon was trying to explain to me what the TARDIS was, and I could see him getting so, so frustrated that I couldn’t grasp it. And now I love it, I absolutely love the whole show. So Jon, thank you! You were right! Despite the continuing lameness of the Daleks, the show is wonderful!

In light of this toon, Sheldonista Eli B. sent along word of
“the stick” being entered in the Toy Hall of Fame. You can read more about it here.

(Related sidenote: Next up for the award, no doubt, is the “Smooth Skipping Rock for Ponds and Lakes”.)

I always like to give a public “thank you” when a Sheldonista surprises me with something kind…but I’ve just now realized I never thanked two Baltimore-based readers for an *awesome* gift (below) that they gave me at Baltimore Comic-Con.

I’m still astounded when I go to a convention and people show up with gfts. I won’t lie: It’s a lovely thing — but it’s still such unexpected kindness. There have been dozens of Sheldonistas that show up with gifts of Hobnobs, most likely based on this strip (…and Lord knows those cookies rarely last an hour in my hands.)

But occassionally people go waaay above and beyond in their kindness. Some examples that I’ve mentioned in the past:

– A 1930’s cartoon printing plate.

– A cake made out of Sheldon and PvP artwork.

– A really cool Flaco sculpture.

But today I realized that I never shared this gift from two brothers in Baltimore: A Sheldon sculpture made entirely out of colored pipe cleaners. What an amazingly cool way to do it!

Thank you guys! You’ll be happy to know he sits right on my monitor, and reminds me to get back to drawin’. 🙂

For those who haven’t seen it, I thought I’d pass along this link to the full Time Enough At Last episode.

Also, if this is your first time watching it, post your thoughts below after you’re done. I’d imagine there are more than a few non-Americans who haven’t seen a Twilight Zone yet, so it’d be fun to hear your thoughts on it.

I’m sure these continue to air in Canada, as they do in the US…but did they make their way to the UK, NZ, Australia, Hong Kong?

Sheldonista Dwight H. sent in an awesome e-mail after reading Sunday’s strip:

“Concerning yummy burgers from a grill that’s never cleaned — there is a “restaurant” in Memphis called Dyer’s (an appropriate name, you’ll see) that has been in business over 75 years. Their specialty is deep fried burgers (just the meat, to be totally clear). No, that’s not the killer part (well, yes, but it gets better/much worse). The killer part is that they deep fry the burgers in a big kettle of grease that has NEVER BEEN CHANGED in over 75 YEARS. They just top it off a bit if needed (probably not often, since the grease from the burgers adds to it). They just throw the patties in and they sink — when they’re done they rise to the top. I became aware of this a few years back from a newspaper article on them moving from their original location — they were treating “moving the kettle” like they were shifting King Tut’s collection. I can imagine a sample of that grease would contain an array of concentrated carcinogens unequaled by even the most outrageous of toxic waste dumps.”

Thought this might be fun to share: It’s the “working script” for Sunday’s toon. It’s pretty typical of what they all look like — with the exception that this one doesn’t have a coffee-ring stain on it: