The peas are like floating survivors from a sunken beef ship



I was pleasantly surprised by the series premiere of American Dad last night. I mean, considering nearly everyone else seems to hate it. True enough, it is very similar to Family Guy, not only in visual style but also in humour, dialogue and pacing. But the scenario and characters are just different enough to make the show feel like a Family Guy spin-off instead of a Family Guy rip-off. Plus, it appears that the timely referential writing style is going to work just as well for political jokes (aimed at both ends of the spectrum) as it did for pop culture jokes. It will date quickly, but for right now, I think watching God on the phone with Dick Cheney is pretty funny.



In other news, it looks like a song from the upcoming System of a Down album has been leaked -- probably by the band members themselves. It sounds like more of what made me like these guys in the first place: Rubin-powered hard rock with goofy guitars, wacky vocal delivery and ridiculous so-overtly-suggestive-that-maybe-they-are-being-literal-after-all lyrics. It's also mixed by Andy Wallace, who I just noticed mixed no less than twenty of the CDs I own. It is just a little unsettling to find such an obvious connection between the Ben Folds Five, Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana albums that I have owned for years. Has this common thread always been there? Or is it a part... of the conspiracy?



Sam Logan

Come back, baby, fight off the lethargy



Wow! I couldn't help but notice the spike in Capitalism shirt sales after I posted those photos on Wednesday. You... you do realize that there are photos of all the other designs in the shop, right? Maybe you should go look at them. Apparently they have subliminal powers of suggestive consumerism. And I am OK with that.



There are a lot of good webcomics out there, really. Take Blank Water Comics, for example: a strip with tons of charm and style to spare. There is just something really neat about the mood it evokes, though I can't quite put my finger on what it is. And then there is this man, who is drawing 100 comic pages in 100 hours to raise money for the Tsunami relief effort. He'll be lucky if he still remembers his own name by hour 99, but it's still a nice thing to do.



A few folks have been interested in this kind of thing when I have posted it in the past, so here it is again... my latest mix CD. As usual, I wasted many hours analysing relative keys, styles, tempos and dynamics, and many more thereafter rigourously play-testing and re-adjusting. But I am now confident that there is no better possible way to organize these songs. Or possibly, to organize any series of songs at all. Ever.







Maybe I have a small problem.



Sam Logan

Black emptiness, black, black emptiness



Today's comic was brought to you by the bucket tool: friend of the cartoonist, enemy of the ink salesman.



Thanks to the generosity of viewers like you, PBS is able to provide quality original programming. And also, now I have photos of the I'm Capitalism t-shirts in action. Well, as active as shirts can get, anyhow.







I am glad that there are still folks out there buying these t-shirts since -- as some of you have already heard -- I am making the big finance-crushing trip down to San Diego this summer for Comic Con. I'm sharing a big corner booth with a bunch of the other guys from Dayfree Press. You'll hear more about this when we're a little closer to the summer, but me, I've got to be thinking about this stuff right now. You've gotta plan meticulously when you are an obsessive meticulous planner.



And speaking of obsessive... remember Thom May, the man responsible for this stellar Sam and Fuzzy guest strip? Well, Thom has dipped into the archives of his own comic, Pihakwa, and retooled the whole shebang. It's better than ever, and that's saying a lot. Truly, a feast for the eyes and brain. Go have a look!



Sam Logan