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IT'S JEPH'S BIRTHDAY!

4 (8.7%)

His very own helium pony!

4 (8.7%)

The Training Montage!

7 (15.2%)

Vintage Porn Collection

0 (0%)

Wayfarers, Noam Chomsky flyer, and keys to a Volvo.

1 (2.2%)

Don't ever look in the black bin.

0 (0%)

How'd training day go? Nerve wracking!

0 (0%)

If I didn't think you could do it I wouldn't have told you to. (That makes one of us.)

0 (0%)

We wanted to say thank you for showing us around today.

0 (0%)

Banana Smoothie!

7 (15.2%)

WORK HARDER Evil Bonercat Demotivator!

1 (2.2%)

What's this strange feeling? "Job satisfaction." I think I need to lay down.

2 (4.3%)

You need the extra responsibility. I might not be working at the library forever...

0 (0%)

Like, what if my band takes off, and -

0 (0%)

How IS your band doing? "W-well... we're kind of still trying to write some songs..."

0 (0%)

Cart before the horse? "The horse is a foal. The cart is a pile of lumber and a gleam in the carpenter's eye."

7 (15.2%)

I WILL ACCORDION 4 YOU

12 (26.1%)

It can still be a fulfilling job if you put the effort in.

0 (0%)

Do what you love, but you don't have to be miserable. Make the most of it.

1 (2.2%)

Jeez, now I feel guilty for getting high and watching cartoons all day.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 44

[Doc]

Oooh, a my first pony realdoll.

[WAYF]

It must, of course, be ironically set to an "Eye of the Tiger" soundtrack. With Marten having to shout over the music.

[Milesb]

Turns out Marten ain't too bad when you put him in a montage.

What's in the black bin?

[Lubricus]

Supreme comic today! This was the first time I watched the live feed of Jeph's work, too, and it was surprisingly exciting.

[TheEvilDog]

I do believe this is the most appropriate song for today's comic. 

[Black Sword]

What's in the black bin?

Colors out of space and shadows out of time.

Madness ensues.

[Akima]

"You gotta have a montage.
 Even Marten had a montage."

[techkid]

(moderator)
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Do give yourselves credit: no amount of moderation could fix a forum if it had a bad crowd. Every good post you make keeps this being a good forum.

Oh, I do recommend against public criticism of particular people, now that there are better mechanism for resolving problems.
(/moderator)

What's in the black bin?

That's where the moderators disposed of the trolls. Comments. Yes, their comments...

Marten did an alright job at teaching, considering his first lesson.

[LTK]

Aw yeah, Marten's taking charge. About time too.

[bhtooefr]

Eh, moderators can fix a bad community, although it's a long and painful road.

It usually involves going on a banning spree, killing bad threads with fire, and then re-seeding the community almost from scratch with good members.

[pwhodges]

Aside from spammers (who are now blocked before they can even register), there have been only seven bans in the last nineteen months (i.e. since I became a mod).  We prefer to educate and civilise.

Marten seems to be covering the basics quite effectively - though I dare say the interns will need to know a lot more to get a Master's out of it!

[Soulsynger]

What a masterfully assembled montage of non-sequitur~esque funny moments. Well done. (Watch your step, slimeflow.)
I like the parallel between the "smug-barista-face" and "librarian-shush" lessons.


And a Herp-y Bubbleday to Jeph. He worked up to that birthday all last year long.

[cvcharger]

"You gotta have a montage.
 Even Marten had a montage."

Yep, nothing like a good montage to set the mood for a productive day.

[Throg]

What's in the black bin?

Dunno but that's where Pintsize gets all his...equipment.

[jmucchiello]

Aw yeah, Marten's taking charge. About time too.

Apparently he needed his morning coffee before confronting interns.

"I don't know why we're playing dodgeball. Just go with it."

[RyanW1019]

What's in the black bin?

Everything Yelling Bird left behind.

Also, I love today's comic. In my opinion it's the best one in a few weeks; the whole intern sequence has felt awkward to me. Glad to see Marten retaking control of the situation, and the "training montage" joke in the title cracked me up for some reason.

Regarding the forum discussion, my experience with the MMO forums has given me a high tolerance for trolls, although I ended up adopting an extremely sardonic tone to deal with them. It's one I ended up overusing a couple times on here against people who weren't really trolls, just said something I disagreed with. But I think I've been mellowed again by this forum.

I don't think moderators can really fix a bad forum short of razing it to the ground and starting over. Purging bad posts or members just creates bitterness among the rest of the community. The only true way to keep a community clean is to have it made up of members that don't let trolls get a foothold in the first place, which is what I think has happened here. I know parts of this have already been pointed out by other people on here, but I wanted to get this off my chest. Thanks, guys.

[Emperor Norton]

My opinion of the worst part of the forum history (the breakup arc):

(my background with the forum first for perspective: I was a lurker for a long time, then, when I went to register, it happened to be during the time the mail server was misconfigured. I then continued to just lurk the forums, until finally I was able to register when the registration mail was fixed)

Normally, people trickle into a forum at a slow pace. As they slowly trickle in, they adjust to the existing atmosphere because they are a massive minority on the forum (people not yet acclimated).

But, with the large buildup of people who wanted to join, but were unable to (which by the way built up some huge annoyance, I was pretty annoyed about it myself, especially when I had sent several emails and such about it and was never even justified a response. I'm not reactionary though, so all I did was go, eh, whatever and move on with my life) coming in all at once, the atmosphere of the forum was somewhat chaotic due to the lower ratio of older members to new members than a forum usually has.

There wasn't an atmosphere for people to conform to like there was before and after that period in time.

Combine that with the older members getting very comfortable with a closed system, the moderation in this part of the forum being nearly nonexistent, and the arc that was going on in the comic at the time, and its really rather surprising it wasn't worse than it was.

I really don't even think of it as being about terrible people so much as a shit situation created by a lot of little factors added together to create a large problem.

[Dr. ROFLPWN]

Awwwww yeah training montage

I was mildly worried we would have a Tuesday still filled with Birthday Pony

This worried me because Birthday Pony's visage is mildly frightening

[Delator]

This comic is awesome, but it makes me realize that we really don't see enough of Marten at work. When we do it's usually just him and Tai talking, rather than any sort of day-to-day workplace stuff. Marten's job might be considered too boring, but I could see some hijinks to be had. It's a college campus after all. 

Half of the rest of the cast works at CoD too, so the focus is often there. I guess CoD's business model is more interesting to watch. 

---

So the interns have met Faye and Hanners, and already know Tai and Marten...

...which cast member do they meet next?


My money's on Steve, with or without Cosette.

[Mr_Rose]

They will next bump into (literally in at least one case) Cosette, who will be helped up by Marten then forced to explain why this action makes her blush so.

[ASmellyOgre]

I can't wait to see what Tai has to say once she comes back from her (presumably) pot and Adventure Time binge.

[TheEvilDog]

My opinion of the worst part of the forum history (the breakup arc):

(my background with the forum first for perspective: I was a lurker for a long time, then, when I went to register, it happened to be during the time the mail server was misconfigured. I then continued to just lurk the forums, until finally I was able to register when the registration mail was fixed)

Normally, people trickle into a forum at a slow pace. As they slowly trickle in, they adjust to the existing atmosphere because they are a massive minority on the forum (people not yet acclimated).

But, with the large buildup of people who wanted to join, but were unable to (which by the way built up some huge annoyance, I was pretty annoyed about it myself, especially when I had sent several emails and such about it and was never even justified a response. I'm not reactionary though, so all I did was go, eh, whatever and move on with my life) coming in all at once, the atmosphere of the forum was somewhat chaotic due to the lower ratio of older members to new members than a forum usually has.

There wasn't an atmosphere for people to conform to like there was before and after that period in time.

Combine that with the older members getting very comfortable with a closed system, the moderation in this part of the forum being nearly nonexistent, and the arc that was going on in the comic at the time, and its really rather surprising it wasn't worse than it was.

I really don't even think of it as being about terrible people so much as a shit situation created by a lot of little factors added together to create a large problem.

Ah, the break up arc. I joined around then. It was chaos, brutal and stunning. Wow...just wow. And the amount of replies that would come up as you were posting just one sentence. Or if you went to sleep, woke up the next morning and there the 10(!) pages added overnight, over 500 posts in a few hours!

Seriously, hats off to the mods for dealing with that madness calmly and intelligently.

[cesariojpn]

What's in the black bin?

The singularity.

I can't wait to see what Tai has to say once she comes back from her (presumably) pot and Adventure Time binge.

"Dudeeeee.... didja know Momo can make Holoponies?!"

[rabidcentipede]

Wow. I have to say... I joined the forum back in mid-2007, and posted for a little bit, but soon forgot about it. I've been reading the comic ever since, and just now decided to check out the forums again. It seems like some serious stuff went down, huh?

I do particularly like the most recent strip though. I was hoping that the whole intern storyline would go somewhere amusing, and this was quite enjoyable.

[St.Clair]

Now that is all genuinely useful and important information.  And he thought he wasn't qualified!

[DSL]

Re: Dodgeball.
Is that Shame ... I mean, Pride Orb?

[jwhouk]

It's Intern Week Part Three. What's in store for them?

Emily loves her some Banana Smash Smoothie!    6 (10.9%)
Claire meets up with Marigold - and they have a Geek Moment.    2 (3.6%)
Gabby meets up with Steve... and you know what happens next.    2 (3.6%)
Turns out it was a big put-on by Tai to see if Marten had it in him.    8 (14.5%) <-- Leader in the clubhouse.
Except for the "getting high" and "watching Adventure Time" parts.    3 (5.5%)
Marten makes awkward advances on one of them - and fails miserably.    7 (12.7%)
One of the three reveals they are related to someone else in the cast.    7 (12.7%)
One of the three makes awkward advances on Dora!    5 (9.1%)
One of the three reveals they like space ham!    3 (5.5%)
It's Jeph's birthday on Sunday. Nothing but Yelling Bird strips all week.    8 (14.5%) <-- Close but not quite.
Hot Dog Scones for everyone!    4 (7.3%)

Total Members Voted: 55

[Somebody]

What's in the black bin?

The QC universe. (It's a parabox.)

[cesariojpn]

Re: Dodgeball.
Is that Shame ... I mean, Pride Orb?

PO: *thinking* Goddammit Jeph.......I SPECIFICALLY asked for no inanimate object roles in the main strip......

[Tova]

I'd say it's a Hard Work Montage.

(Warning: TV tropes can shorten your life)

[Kugai]

Marten - Master Trainer and Chief Dodgeball Coach

[Soulsynger]

Typical passive Marten.
"Don't know why we do, I just go with it. Nurrrrr..."

Also... standing that close to the guy with the ball is NEVER a good idea in dodgeball, Claire.

[Barmymoo]

Passive? Pretty sure he was joking, after all he is the one deciding what they're doing!

[Dr. ROFLPWN]

Dodgeball is an important part of every montage! It teaches the five essential workplace workflow delegation skills: dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.

[Soulsynger]

[ ... ] dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.

Dodge it, duck it, dip it, dive it, d -d -dodge it! ... Technologic.

Passive? Pretty sure he was joking, after all he is the one deciding what they're doing!

Pretty sure he wasn't. It was meta of Jeph to make him say it like that. °O

[VonKleist]

Yeah, well, they´ll certainly have to work on the dodgeball-part.

Other than that: dandy!

[TinPenguin]

COMIC

d'awwwww

That was a real great banana smoothie, huh.

[Lubricus]

BANANA SMOOTHIE! Gotta love Emily! 

Edit: And it really does not look like Tai actually got stoned, so it was all a plot to get Marten to sack up!

[VonKleist]

I might have squee´d a little at the interns' thank-you

[WAYF]

Awwwwwwwww.

Go on Marten, lie down and bask in your job satisfaction. You've earned it.

[cesariojpn]

BANANA SMOOTHIE! Gotta love Emily! 

Sexual innuendo double entendre ho!!

[Akima]

I wonder if Tai reads Lao Tzu: "When the best leader’s work is done, the people say: We did it ourselves."

[Soulsynger]

Evil bonercat in panel 5 is giving me all kinds of creeps... what should I be working harder ON?!

[cesariojpn]

Evil bonercat in panel 5 is giving me all kinds of creeps... what should I be working harder ON?!

No, thats clearly Kamineko from Azumanga Daioh.

[Border Reiver]

I wonder if Tai reads Lao Tzu: "When the best leader’s work is done, the people say: We did it ourselves."

The best leaders are practically surplus to requirements, because they've already trained their replacements, and are working on the replacement's replacement.

[Sorflakne]

Kamineko says, "Work harder, or your soul is mine!"

[Soulsynger]

No, thats clearly Kamineko from Azumanga Daioh.

Kamineko says, "Work harder, or your soul is mine!"

... my creeps didn't get better. All that changed is I now also feel inappropriate for not knowing enough about Jeph's artistic influences ... woe is me.

[jwhouk]

It's Intern Week Part Three. What's in store for them?

Emily loves her some Banana Smash Smoothie!    9 (14.8%)  <-- She does! She really, really DOES!
Claire meets up with Marigold - and they have a Geek Moment.    2 (3.3%)
Gabby meets up with Steve... and you know what happens next.    3 (4.9%)
Turns out it was a big put-on by Tai to see if Marten had it in him.    9 (14.8%) <-- And he did! He really, really DID!
Except for the "getting high" and "watching Adventure Time" parts.    4 (6.6%)
Marten makes awkward advances on one of them - and fails miserably.    7 (11.5%)
One of the three reveals they are related to someone else in the cast.    7 (11.5%)
One of the three makes awkward advances on Dora!    5 (8.2%)
One of the three reveals they like space ham!    3 (4.9%)
It's Jeph's birthday on Sunday. Nothing but Yelling Bird strips all week.    8 (13.1%)
Hot Dog Scones for everyone!    4 (6.6%)

Total Members Voted: 61

[LTK]

Hm. You know the Uncanny Valley, right? I wonder if there's something similar for quirkiness: when you know a person to have some quirks but who's still on the same wavelength as you, you like them. When someone is completely out of touch with reality, you probably regard them with a bit of pitiful amusement. But Emily's "Banana smoothie." today pushed her from 'lovably quirky' to 'er, what?' I think I'm more uncomfortable with someone who shows occasional lapses in coherency than with someone who you can depend on to be completely insane. Pintsize, for example.

[sitnspin]

Hm. You know the Uncanny Valley, right? I wonder if there's something similar for quirkiness: when you know a person to have some quirks but who's still on the same wavelength as you, you like them. When someone is completely out of touch with reality, you probably regard them with a bit of pitiful amusement. But Emily's "Banana smoothie." today pushed her from 'lovably quirky' to 'er, what?' I think I'm more uncomfortable with someone who shows occasional lapses in coherency than with someone who you can depend on to be completely insane. Pintsize, for example.

I interpreted it as her saying why she thought he did a good job, i.e. she enjoyed her banana smoothie. It did not strike me as a lapse in coherency at all. On the contrary, I found it perfectly coherent.