Trivia Master

Not to toot my own horn, but I must crown myself trivia master after our recent team road trip. So, as I continue a game show theme in the comic strip, this seemed appropriate. If you do not like it, write your own comic strip.

Jesus Was a Janitor

This was not the comic strip I thought I was going to publish today. I had another idea ready that Mom gave me last week, but this one kept popping into my mind on the way in, so here it is. The trick for this one was how to present it, so I went with two janitors. Then, I went back and added in the Bible verse reference for those that might not immediately make the connection. You did, though, right?

TPIR

Why yes, we did attend a taping of TPIR (The Price Is Right) yesterday. No comment on how we did...at least yet. So, I got to wondering how we could use that excitement and even format in any way at work.

The Best

One of the challenges about creating a comic strip is giving each cartoon a name that is descriptive, but does not give away the final punchline. Today's is a good example of that challenge. I suppose I could have named each one of the auto-complete series a name starting with Auto-Complete and then the mistyped word. However, when I started it, I did not know it would be a multi-day series. So, I could have called today's strip "Good Week," but I decided a better name would be the final text and the ambiguity introduced there. Why? What would you have called it?

Piers

Today's auto-correct idea came straight from a pair of messages passed through our internal company Facebook-like application. As always, when auto-correct is turned on, and you mistype even one letter, you never know what word will be suggested, I guess someone typed in 'pi' and accepted the proposed word of 'piers' when they wanted to write 'peers.'

Pop In The Shower

Spell-check is a wonderful thing. I know it has saved me a number of times from sending out misspellings, although I rarely accept the grammatical corrections it recommends. Still, there are times when the auto-complete function is not as thorough, especially if you fat-finger words anyway.

Next Great Thing

Here's an example of me digging until I found something buried. The only idea listed in my file was Windows 3 X 3. So I needed to decide why the characters would even bring that up and then where it would lead. So I wrote that joke in, then added something about Mac OS, then finally found that it was about predicting the next great thing that would come along in 2011.

Cabinet on TV

I don't know. Somehow, I was surfing the interweb last night and found a news story about a legal ruling that could allow boobs to be shown on TV. So, the idea of an alternate definition of the word came to mind and I decided that could apply to a lot of different groups of people. Obama's cabinet seemed to be an easy target, even though I had to look up some names to even know who to reference.

Dongle

The term dongle, while common in an I.T. setting, may be unfamiliar to the average computer user. According to Wikipedia, it first came into use in the U.K. in 1980 referring to a piece of hardware you had to plug into the back of a computer to use a certain software. It has now become more generic and it defined as noted in today's cartoon. A friend and I were talking about having taken the corporate Harassment class and wondered what they would want us to call it. So, that became today's CoV.

Business Intelligence

A lot of people talk about business intelligence, and I know that it is an important corporate strategy for US businesses. However, the two separate words can also be applicable to help businesses. Today's cartoon explores the misinterpretation these words can cause.

Courtroom Sketches

When I heard the news talking about no photos during a trial, but sketches were allowed, I decided that would make a clever cartoon. I had thought I would let silly drawings be the focal point of this comic. However, once I started trying to fit words around it, they became the key element. For example, in panel two, I expected the anchor to comment on not being able to see the judge clearly in the drawing. And in three, I thought the anchor would say they all look like salt shakers or something. And if he had, the reporter was going to say "Interesting fact. Richard Nixon was a Shaker." However, that is not what the characters wanted to say.

Dedicated Server

Today. we return to a familiar playground with more wordplay. Here, the boss has interpreted the word server in a modern way, while whoever ordered it interpreted it in a more traditional way.

Veggie Radio

Are you ever driving along with the radio on but you are not really paying attention, and then you hear something unexpected? Once that happens, though, you wish you had been listening more attentively. So yes, I did hear a song where the "I am..." sounded like "A yam...." No, once I decided on the veggie theme, I put in the rutabaga idea. I did not actually hear that one.

C.U.S.S.

Comic strips like today's point out the challenge of publishing an edgy cartoon without crossing a decency line... at least overtly. I went back and forth considering options for acronyms that would make you think of 'cuss' acronyms, but not be too safe. I finally ended up not completing one that is still not allowed on normal broadcast TV.

New Exercise Equipment

Come on. Admit it. Even at your house, doesn't the exercise stuff always end up either packed away or holding clothes? I am not sure what made me think of this for today's comic strip, so there is no interesting back story. Sorry. I did hear about recumbent bikes on today's commute, but that is a comment for a different day. Sorry again.

Pleading Edge

Today's comic strip is another play on words. I was thinking about the process of asking for an upgraded computer and came up with having to plead for one. That sounds enough like leading edge that I used that idea as the punch line. This is one the few CoV comics where the punch line is not delivered in the final panel.

Top Ten COV

OK, after 420 comic strips, I wonder which ones were at all memorable? Anybody? Anybody? Buehler? Well, at least I had fun.