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Certitude.

8 (13.6%)

Palimpsest.

12 (20.3%)

Cloaca.

10 (16.9%)

Phrontistery.

8 (13.6%)

Gudgeon.

9 (15.3%)

Other. (and you can't say 'antidisestablishmentarianism,' that's cheating.)

12 (20.3%)

Total Members Voted: 52

Voting closed: 18 Apr 2010, 21:51

[pendrake]

Personally,  I vote for Faye to make her art gallery work the full-sized 2-ton hemi-expresso-saurus rex.

As for comic #1645, I like how Dora snaps up the oppurtunity, such sharpened money-sense (like spider-sense, but you tingle in in the presence of an easy monentary commision ) comes from being a successful small business owner, after all.

P.S edit-add: Also like the cute art-gallery couple.

[Binary]

Dammit, I said "NO!"

I think Carl-E is channelling Eric Cartman...

Come on guys, it's a T.Rex! Sculpted in metal by Faye! It should be singing 'Metal Guru' by T.Rex.

Coincidentally I went to an exhibition today where this guy was sculpting creatures (mostly) out of old hubcaps. I have to agree with the people who thought the T.Rex Cafetičre was a bit of an anti-climax - I too was expecting Faye to produce something like this.

[Carl-E]

No, it's not Cartman.  I'm a father who's actually had to turn this car around, dammit! a few too many times. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the few left who actually likes "Don't worry, be happy" (Bobby McFarren, not Bob Marley, though).  But don't go turning a minor work of art into a Billy Bigmouth Bass, that's just wrong...

Was Faye's ego just stoked by Marten in a wig and fake beard?

I noticed that, too.  Clearly we older gentlemen have nothing better to distinguish us than our facial hair.  I think Jeph just hasn't had enough practice with guy faces - we've got Marten, Angus, Sven and Wil (neither lately), and Steve (who's practically a cameo) along with a few other brief visitations (Amir, Mike, and...Dale?), and with the exception of Mr. Bianchi, who's rather cartoonish, they're all young. 

He needs more practice.  Especially with older dudes. 

I'll selflessly volunteer to be a recurring character.

Coincidentally I went to an exhibition today where this guy was sculpting creatures (mostly) out of old hubcaps. I have to agree with the people who thought the T.Rex Cafetière was a bit of an anti-climax - I too was expecting Faye to produce something like this.

Yes!  Scroll through the commissions page (the second link) - there's some amazing stuff there.  I especially like the steampunk flying orb thingy.  You must be in Britain?  Seems a lot of his stuff is in pubs. 

[Dliessmgg]

beard?

no beard.

Jimbo.

[Binary]

You must be in Britain?  Seems a lot of his stuff is in pubs. 

Yus, guv'ner, Londoner born and bred.

Had a chat with him and told him his work reminded me of a 3D version of Hajime Sorayama's stuff (see bottom left image), which he didn't get until I mentioned Sexy Robot, then he knew what I was on about.

He was also exhibiting an F-14 type model aircraft made out of vacuum cleaner parts!

[Akima]

Was Faye's ego just stoked by Marten in a wig and fake beard?

And contact lenses... But who was his partner? Dr. Corrine rendered unrecognisable by wearing glasses (It works for Clark Kent)? Hanners in a Mission Impossible-style mask?

[raoullefere]

Perhaps QC is like the Timothy Hutton Nero Wolf series*—an ensemble cast with the 'lesser' stars playing various roles each strip. As I recall, that confused hell out of the audience at times.

Really, though, I must have no 'eye'; save for stylistic similarities, everyone in QC looks different to me.


*A damned fine show, despite (or because?) of the casting. Rex would've been proud.

[J]

In 458, Faye said of her sculpture "I had to give that up when I moved up north". She was not being straight with herself. She's been hiding from her past, and it's good that she's recovering. Full credit to Dora for the insight that Faye needed to be pushed into sculpting. Did she notice how content Faye looked in 1130, or is she just that understanding of human nature?

possible, but more likely she simply did not have a suitable workspace. metal sculpture is generally not something you can do in an apartment bedroom. of course that does raise the question of where and when she built the Rexpresso tm since we haven't seen her in any sort of studio, or any indication that she owns any tools.

[Akima]

*A damned fine show, despite (or because?) of the casting. Rex would've been proud.

It was a good show, but I thought Timothy Hutton was terrible as Archie Goodwin. Rex Stout's Goodwin cracks wise for sure, but on a granite-hard bedrock of physical and mental toughness that Hutton totally missed. Maury Chaykin on the other hand was the best Nero Wolfe in any adaption.

Rexpresso tm

Best name ever!

[Kugai]

Jeph, your secret is slowly being exposed.


Time to hide the Cloning Machine   

[jwhouk]

<snip>
...Clearly we older gentlemen have nothing better to distinguish us than our facial hair.  I think Jeph just hasn't had enough practice with guy faces - we've got Marten, Angus, Sven and Wil (neither lately), and Steve (who's practically a cameo) along with a few other brief visitations (Amir, Mike, and...Dale?), and with the exception of Mr. Bianchi, who's rather cartoonish, they're all young.  

He needs more practice.  Especially with older dudes.  

I'll selflessly volunteer to be a recurring character.
<snip>

We'll name him, "Carly Stu"!  

And I would have to bet that Faye was using the back room of the store as her "lab" for creating Rexpresso _tm.

[raoullefere]

*A damned fine show, despite (or because?) of the casting. Rex would've been proud.

It was a good show, but I thought Timothy Hutton was terrible as Archie Goodwin. Rex Stout's Goodwin cracks wise for sure, but on a granite-hard bedrock of physical and mental toughness that Hutton totally missed. Maury Chaykin on the other hand was the best Nero Wolfe in any adaption.

I thought the tone of the whole show was a trifle lighter than Stout's tales (for the most part—some of the short stories were a little silly, too). Also, even though he narrates, we get less of Archie's thought process than we do in the novels, and I think that's where some of that inner toughness flows from. Chaykin also plays Wolfe with a slightly lighter touch than the character exhibits in the novels, or again, at least, in some. At any rate, they beat hell out of Lee Horsley and William Conrad, whom I quite liked in Cannon, but not as Wolfe.

Anyway, it's one series I really need to buy, if ever I have the spare bucks. Scenes like the one where Inspector Cramer 'storms' the brownstone to the music of "Go Big Daddy!" are priceless.

[Carl-E]

I read a lot of Nero Wolfe when I was much younger, and recently rediscovered them as books on CD (I have to drive a lot).  The ones read by Michael Prichard are fantastic - his vocal characterizations of both Archie and Wolfe are spot on, and they're unabridged, so you lose none of the character or locale details. 

I got my daughter hooked on them, and can't recommend them enough - they're wonderful detective tales, and at the same time, amazing little time capsules! 

[Schmorgluck]

possible, but more likely she simply did not have a suitable workspace. metal sculpture is generally not something you can do in an apartment bedroom. of course that does raise the question of where and when she built the Rexpresso tm since we haven't seen her in any sort of studio, or any indication that she owns any tools.

The more important question it raises is how she actually burned down her former appartment building.

[akronnick]

That's an interesting point, while she did say she was making toast, she did not specify what kind of toaster she was using.

Perhaps her former toaster was  the prototype for a giant steel pterosaur shaped meqa-toaster.

[Binary]

I got my daughter hooked on them

Since you mention your daughter - how's she doing? You posted this:

Unfortunately, it's one of those things where only time will tell. 

and kind of left us hanging. Hope she's OK now.

[Mr_Rose]

possible, but more likely she simply did not have a suitable workspace. metal sculpture is generally not something you can do in an apartment bedroom. of course that does raise the question of where and when she built the Rexpresso tm since we haven't seen her in any sort of studio, or any indication that she owns any tools.

The more important question it raises is how she actually burned down her former appartment building.

Have we considered that she didn't actually burn down anything, that the whole "my apartment got incinerated" sob story was a fabrication entire?

[jwhouk]

possible, but more likely she simply did not have a suitable workspace. metal sculpture is generally not something you can do in an apartment bedroom. of course that does raise the question of where and when she built the Rexpresso tm since we haven't seen her in any sort of studio, or any indication that she owns any tools.

The more important question it raises is how she actually burned down her former appartment building.

Have we considered that she didn't actually burn down anything, that the whole "my apartment got incinerated" sob story was a fabrication entire?

Possible entirely.

[Carl-E]

I got my daughter hooked on them

Since you mention your daughter - how's she doing? You posted this:

Unfortunately, it's one of those things where only time will tell. 

and kind of left us hanging. Hope she's OK now.

Umm... yeah.  I got my older daughter hooked on the books, actually - I have two.  The younger one is ill.  All we had back then was a "working diagnosis", in other words, it was acting like a particular disease, but not completely, and none of the tests were positive. 

It took six months of steady deterioration and the removal of a surprise tumor before we got a real diagnosis. 

I'm not going to load the board with details, but the prognosis is good, or will be, eventually.  But it'll be a while before she can get off the feeding tube, and probably a few years of constant therapy before she can get around without her wheelchair.  If you want details, message me. 

Oh yeah, and I'm losing my teaching position (cutbacks - nothing I did, thank god).  The insurance ends in June.  And the new regulations, which really would help about now, won't kick in soon enough.  I actually ripped into a neo conservative student the other day when he was crowing about how the "best healthcare system in the world didn't need fixing". 

Sorry, didn't mean to inject American politics into the board - if you're seething, just ignore that last part and calm down. 

"The more you know..."

[Is it cold in here?]

Ouch. Best wishes, and a speedy recovery for your daughter.

Will Faye get sued when the first Rexpresso burns somebody? She's getting gallery exposure already so she's got above-average career prospects if she's willing to free up the time.

What will she give up, CoD hours or socializing?

Did Dora have something like this in mind all along? She did commission a sculpture, not for herself, but for the coffee shop where it would be on display.

If Dora is subtly manipulating Faye into fulfilling her potential, will she someday do the same for Pennelope?

Are there any AnthroPCs with a coffeemaking feature? Did Faye use the surplus guts of one for the working parts of her sculpture?

And (dramatic organ music) what about Naomi?

For the answer to these and other questions ("Is that your Jetta with the lights on?") tune in next week to Questionable Content.

[LTK]

So we've got Dale, the Rexpressosaurus, and then suddenly a previously unknown art collector couple in just four strips within Coffee of Doom? I get the feeling that jeph is up to something.

[Carl-E]

Oh, not just a collector, but a gallery owner...

This means exposure for Faye, and if his gallery sells it, a sizeable markup for him...  which means he thinks he can sell it for a good bit more than he just paid. 

It can take an artist an awfully long tie to find out what they're really worth on the marketplace, what with all the middlemen involved.  By the time some of them find out, they're dead. 

and that's when their value changes! 

And you thought working retail sucked...  well it does, but it's a different kind of suck.  You know, steady paycheck, regular hours, dealing with costumers customers...   

[Border Reiver]

Working retail does suck - and my loving wife who worked over 25 years in retail will be the first one to tell you that.

[raoullefere]

Right you are, Carl. If she wishes financial security, what Faye needs to do is gather a local reputation, churn out a ton of work, and then die.

[Is it cold in here?]

Maybe even profit from the example of Shelley Winters and die more than once.

[Mr_Rose]

Huh. I was pretty sure that Shelly only died that one time and that now she managed to escape death-land she's pretty much immortal. I mean really, being blown out of your car by the explosion that destroyed it and mysteriously landing unharmed in the next field? Fate is clearly conspiring to keep you well away from Death.

[Scott Haley]

There's a neat article on civet coffe in the New York Times today.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/world/asia/18civetcoffee.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[Binary]

"Waiter - this coffee tastes like shit! Same again please."

And speaking of shit happening - Carl-E, that sucks. Really hope it all works out for you and your family.

[sudamerican]

"Waiter - this coffee tastes like shit! Same again please."

Do you have something a little less... ducky?

[nothing]

I kind of missed the boat on this one, but I call "phthisis".

[Carl-E]

Who you callin' phthisis??