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[pmcd9]

KOODGE

I actually remembered the Koodge before the comic opened.  That's some high quality onomatopoeia.

[colmore]

So achewood is a weekly now I guess?

Or maybe Chris should actually schedule himself a few weeks of vacation a year.

[wombat]

I think it's only fair to give him a chance to actually post a strip late tonight before we start whining about only one strip this week. Hey, Saturday is still part of the week, even.

Hope is the thing with...  a barbed penis?

[colmore]

The 'thanks for your patience' bit appeared very shortly after I posted that.  Or my browser cache is behaving weird.  But my ego will go with the former.

So anyway if you're reading this, Chris: take your time.  love the strip.  And good god, not guest weeks.  I hate those things.

[AugustWest]

If, y'know, he hadn't shit on and pissed off every other webcomic type guy out there.

Too bad he doesn't have your sense of tact.

[littlefallsmets]

Or dude could'a been slowly building a backlog of short out-of-continuity "gag" strips to parcel out in situations like this.

You know, like the flow-chart bits and so forth or Phillipe's newspaper or whatnot.

Or... all of the content that is now hidden behind a pay-per-view wall that could've been purposed to grow and maintain the continuance of a fanbase during times like this.

Instead of losing recent adopters of the strip to long stretches of nothing and slowly curtailing the growth of the product.

You know. Just kinda my theory.

[AugustWest]

Or dude could'a been slowly building a backlog of short out-of-continuity "gag" strips to parcel out in situations like this.

You know, like the flow-chart bits and so forth or Phillipe's newspaper or whatnot.

Search earlier days of the board for the occasions when O has made an appearance.  This very idea was suggested to him but he's dead set against it.  Alternatively he could not publish for a week or so and create a reserve which would allow him to publish regularly.  Dude will. not. do. it.

[littlefallsmets]

Well, okay...

But even if it was just a week jam-packed with the in-character blogs, you know?

Which... seem like they've been shifted to the PPV section.

I don't know. Ultimately, I'm way too un-web-design-saavy than to ever do a web comic and so maybe I shouldn't been judging the dude's kitchen but...

No, wait. I've NEVER believed in the "you've never done it so you can't judge" thing. It is the weakest sauce of all.

If it is your goal to have a continuing entertainment resource, that is awesome and it is even forgivable if you really just can't do nothing.

But when the material that should've been your patches for just such an inability to draw for a couple of weeks is the material that you've made into your "exclusive pay-site stuff"... you've robbed Peter Paul and Mary to feed Mama Cass, if you'll excuse me the mixed metaphor.

[wombat]

In the abstract, it makes sense that not updating regularly etc are bad business strategies.

However, you may recall from another recent thread that he just had a book signing in New York where the line went around the block till midnight and people waited for two hours to get books signed. And reports from all the other signings have been similar.

My friend who was going to meet me there so we could have dinner afterwards - who has a book coming out in January - scoffed at my warning that she might have to wait. She said even mega-best-selling authors never had more than a dozen people at a book event in New York City.

When she got there and saw the line, she was flabbergasted. She asked who his PR guy was so she could hire him. I had to break it to her that he didn't need a PR person to get those lines. She nearly wept.

So, whatever we think about his business methods, they seem to be working for him, you know?

[Golfhaus]

So, whatever we think about his business methods, they seem to be working for him, you know?

This is going to sound kinda douchebaggy, but I'm not as concerned with how they work for him, as how they work for me. At this particular moment in time, I'm far less inclined to spend money on Achewood stuff, because I'm starting to forget that the strip even exists. This board is starting to take a place in my mind as "the board about that strip I used to read when it was active."

Then there's this:

Gargantor multi-strip coming late night today Saturday. Many strips in one. We're working hard on our next Dark hoss book, thanks for your patience.

So yeah, it's great for Onstad that he's got a book deal for new stuff. Way to go. It just makes me sad because I can't afford to buy it, no matter how awesome it is. Achewood is no longer free, which means it's too expensive for me to enjoy.

[wombat]

Golf, I hear you, because while I can afford to buy Achewood stuff, I am sad that the board is so slow when he's not posting strips, and activity on the board is not something that money can buy.

But as I have said many times before, it is a totally bizarre modern phenomenon that we expect creative people to give their stuff away for free. People have to make a living. And it's odd how even someone like LFM, who is a writer, underestimates how much work it is - as if "just a week jam-packed with in-character blogs" is something Onstad could toss off in moment while he's packing for the next book signing.

I know I go on and on about this, but it's because this isn't just about Achewood, I am worried about the state of culture in general and to some extent my own paychecks as well.

[miles]

I actually remembered the Koodge before the comic opened.  That's some high quality onomatopoeia.

Me too! And then I thought "alright! something funny to post! a one-liner even!" until I read one message down. One of my many betters beat me to it.

He could have scheduled himself a guest week or two instead of letting the site go stale.

Is it just me, or does anyone else dread these days? There have been a couple, maybe a handful of exceptions, but I'd rather go back through the archives (currently here).

[pmcd9]

My friend who was going to meet me there so we could have dinner afterwards - who has a book coming out in January - scoffed at my warning that she might have to wait. She said even mega-best-selling authors never had more than a dozen people at a book event in New York City.

Oh goody, I get to tell my Dan Rather book signing story.

In case you weren't aware Dan Rather is from Houston.  I don't know if that is significant, but when he had a book signing the line was all the way from the back of the store to out the front door (about 2-300' approx.).  It's a big store that used to be a theater actually.  See here.

Back at that time I had a thing about the music charts and had started buying Billboard magazine from time to time.  This was the only store in town that sold Billboard.  Also at the time I was living way out in the outskirts of town about 35 miles from this midtown store.

So I made a trek to the store one Saturday afternoon and discover when I arrive that Dan Rather is having a book signing and there are hundreds of people waiting in line to see him.  As I said the store is an ex movie theater and they have left the insides basically the same as it was only instead of rows of seats there are rows of books.  The magazines are up on the stage area and that's where Dan Rather is set up.  He's sitting at a table right in the center of the stage area facing to the right.  The line is coming in from stage right and exiting to the left.

When I get down to the stage It's roped off.  I can't get to the magazines.  So I start looking for the manager.  He's down in front of the stage area so I go there.  I tell him that I want to buy a magazine and he says that "The area is shut down until the signing is through.  If I want to wait until it's over or come back later..."  I explain to him that I live a long way away and it would be extremely inconvenient for me to have to come back later.  He says "in respect to Mr. Rather we have shut down that area."  I said (a little too loudly) "I don't give two shits about Dan Rather I just want my magazine."  I forgot that I was basically standing right in front of him.  He looked up from the book he was signing turned his head to the right and looked right at me.  We locked gazes and It seemed like time froze.  I know our staredown couldn't have lasted more than a second, but it seemed like much longer.

I guess I unnerved the store manager wishing to avoid a scene.  He still didn't allow me back to where the magazines were, but sent one of his people back there to find me a copy.

[wombat]

That is an excellent story.

As for the other topic we've wandered onto: I was just about to check if there was a strip yet, and suddenly thought, how dull it would be if there was just a strip posted like clockwork every morning. This way it's like hitting the lottery.

You know that the reason people get addicted to gambling is because that kind of unpredictable, intermittent reinforcement is so powerful. Good animal trainers know how to use it, too. He's messing with our minds, is what it is.

[AugustWest]

TWO SUGGESTED WAYS TO IMPROVE PAUL'S DAN RATHER STORY:

1.  After the staredown, Dan asks Paul, "What's the frequency, Leroy?"; or

2.  Hot oil wrestling.