Okay, this was the post that you were meant to read this morning, but the one I couldn't get to until I put Henry down for his afternoon nap.
Regarding Transformers, that can wait. I'm going to be talking about it all week, so there's no need to dive neck-deep into it now.
Although, I must confess today's strip is autobiographical. I'm less interested in seeing the movie than I am in finding out how they wrote Shia LaBeouf's hand injury into the storyline. I anticipate that it will be richly satisfying.
Anyway... onto business.
As you know, a few weeks ago I lost my job. This came at a bad time for a lot of reasons, but one among the myriad of reasons is that I was about to send my registration for Artist Alley at Wizard World Chicago, August 6 - 9. Losing my job halted that action in it's tracks.
Although Theater Hopper is its own entity and has its own money, I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to attend a convention when I might have to dip into that money once my severance is gone.
I won't bore you with the mental tug-of-war I put myself in the middle of. But, eventually, when I talked to Cami about it, she didn't see where there was a problem and told me to go for it. Bless her for being as supportive as she is.
So, long story short, I'm going. I'm sharing a table with Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey, hanging out with the guys from Digital Pimp Online and hopefully selling some new merchandise.
Ah, but there's the rub. I don't exactly HAVE any new merchandise.
People who pre-ordered Theater Hopper: Year Three know this. I've been sitting on a finished draft of that book for months, but I haven't had the money to have it printed up. Pre-orders stalled and I'm still trying to raise funds.
I thought I would bolster that effort by designing a new shirt - Spoiler Alert! - in hopes that the revenue from the sale of those shirts would help bridge the gap on the funds I need to print the book.
That didn't happen, either.
I'm not pointing fingers at anyone but myself. In all honesty, I haven't been talking about Year Three or the new shirt. So, beyond the intifada announcement, why would I expect there to be any orders? I haven't been talking about it, so people haven't been ordering. It's really that simple.
Well, here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to kick my plan back into gear and I'm trying to push the Spoiler Alert! tees hard before I go to Wizard World Chicago. I'm confident that this design will be a big seller in Chicago and I want to get this shirt to the printer before I leave for the convention.
With your help, I can raise the money I need to get the shirts printed up, take to Chicago and produce the profit I need to put Year Three back on track for publication.
To help us with our goal, I've created this handy bar graph:
As you can see, I need a minimum of 50 shirt orders before July 31 to make this work. If I can sell more than that, great. If the sale of merchandise extends beyond the Spoiler Alert! shirt and into the Spoiler 1 and 2 shirts, the Theater Hopper: Year One or Year Two books... that'd be great as well! Every little bit helps! What's important is that we inch that bar to the left as far as we can before July 31.
I've been gun shy about this kind of promotion since Theater Hopper: Year Two came out in the fall of 2007. Well, I can't afford to sit on my hands any longer. I've set a goal for myself and I need your help! So let's see what we can do about racking up some pre-orders!!!
As always, I appreciate your support, patience and enthusiasm. Thanks again and I will talk to you soon!
No chance for a youtube version? HULU hates those of us on the wrong side of the planet.
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Forget just the wrong side of the planet… Anyone North of the 48th Parallel is equally locked out.
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I was actually at USC when they were going to film a scene from the new Transformers there. THey set up and everything then LaBeouf had to go get his hand crushed so they couldn’t film. I was so pissed! That was when my hate for him started. I hope his hand get ripped off in the movie!
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I really think your Shia LaBeouf hatred is flimsy, insubstantial, and based on really petty things. Your site got along on its own steam fine even back when the hate was on Ben Affleck. I think you could benefit a lot more from using your non-Ben/Shia humor a lot more, because that’s really what keeps me coming back here in the first place.
That being said, you’re pretty much spot on about the quality of his various performances… I don’t find him amazing. At all.
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Different strokes for different folks, Murph. But the whole point of the Shia hate is that it’s insubstantial, irrational and unjustified.
Do I have a problem with Shia in real-life. Yeah, a little bit. I find him kind of pretentious and undeserving of the attention that’s been paid to him.
But for the purpose of comedic effect, those petty grievances have been amplified. Either it speaks to you, or it doesn’t.
You’ve never had an oil-and-water situation with an actor, a friend of a friend or maybe someone at your job? Think of it in those terms.
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I’m a Shia fan from the days of Even Stevens (also a big fan of Ben Affleck…why do I come here so much? lol) but I think you’re ragging on the wrong Transformers cast member. Megan Fox is easily a more talentless void then Shia is and I would dig a strip where Cami and Charlie rag on her for her goofy tattoos or her many stupid quotes. If ever someone needed to be made fun of…Megan Fox is that someone.
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I have to agree that Megan Fox is more of an empty void – so much so that she was a non-entity in the firm movie.
But they’ve really upped her profile since then and I agree she could stand to be taken down a few pegs.
My Shia hate is irrational by design. But hating Megan Fox is a little more justified.
Consider your suggestion under advisement.
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