It's up to me to hold down the fort while Tycho is off gallivanting across Europe. I realized that this meant it was up to me to upload the comic strips at the appropriate times but it did not occur to me until just a few minutes ago that I would also need to produce a news post. It's funny, back in 1998 when we started doing this PA thing we were one of only half a dozen or so web comics. We left loonygames after Jason told us that the word fuck "just isn't a funny word" and we decided to make our own website. Being as we had not yet met Emma and had only the most rudimentary knowledge of HTML it amounted to some buttons on the left side and a big empty space on the right. Tycho said he didn't like having all that white space on the right and that we should do something to fill it up. I told him to figure it out and he decided to write a little post to accompany each comic strip. Originally he would write posts just long enough so that they equaled the length of the buttons on the left, making the page look more balanced. As the years went by the number of buttons on the left side of the page grew and his posts became longer and longer. He essentially invented the web comic "news post" as we all know it today in an effort to make our page not look like ass. We could have just as easily centered the buttons or put a picture of a lobster over there and accomplished the same thing. Obviously I'm glad that he revolutionized the world of web comics or whatever, but its times like this when he is gone and the news post falls on my shoulders that I think how much easier this would be if I'd just put a picture of a goddamned lobster over there.

It helps that I actually have some really exciting news to share with you all today though. We have a really cool Penny Arcade event coming up this month and we just finished finalizing all the details. Coming up on Monday, June 23rd we will be holding a Penny Arcade Soul Calibur 2 tournament at Lanwerx in Bellevue (Their website is being re done right now.). Even if you aren't into SC2 I encourage you all to come down and hang out with us. The plan is to pack Lanwerx with as many PA fans as the law will allow. So tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends. We will have SC2 running on two gorgeous 36" televisions. The PS2 version as well as the Cube version will be available and we will have a couple of X-Arcade sticks on hand if you prefer to kick ass with one of those. You're welcome to bring your own sticks as well. Lanwerx also has a ton of gaming rigs all set up to play whatever you can imagine. You're welcome to come down and get your PC fix with Tycho or kick my ass at SC2. Hell, just come down and chat with us for a while. If you want something signed that's cool too we are there to meet you guys just as much as play games. I'm not 100% sure of the time yet, chances are Tycho and I will be there pretty much all day but the tourney probably won't start until later. There will be no cost to enter the tourney and there will be some really cool prizes provided by Kicks. If you need a map to the location you can get one here. If this turns out as cool as I think it will we might just do something like this every month.

-Gabe out

Any person who has flown internationally knows that the airplane, at some point in your trajectory, becomes a sort of flying asylum. Time loses meaning. You are buffetted by wailing of all kinds as you try to retain a grip on the steady operation of your mind. Children keen and shriek as though being murdered, and you hold to your in-flight cookie like a life preserver.

To make things worse, I was sitting next to some kind of mutant. I don't know if they just grow them that big where he's from, or what, but he was eight feet tall if he was a foot. We immediately took a dislike to one another. I try not to touch other human beings if I can help it, it's just a personal rule, but his gargantuan legs splayed in all directions and made it difficult to exist in that space.

When they brought out the breakfast, however, something wonderful happened.

They had given me a raspberry yogourt that was sealed on the top with tinfoil. There was also some sort of Air Quiche, but it's best if we don't discuss it. I opened the treat as carefully as I could, but after the initial resistance the cup practically exploded. Covered from head to toe in stunning pink, the mutant looked like a carnival float in a gay pride parade.

(CW)TB

If you are interested in participating in the Soul Calibur 2 tournament please fire off an email to Brad.

Some people have asked why we decided to hold it on a Monday. That was just the best day for Lanwerx and Tycho and I. They are usually pretty busy on the weekends but Mondays are slow. This way we can pack Lanwerx with PA fans and pretty much have the palce to ourselves. I know Monday is kind of a bitch but that is why I am giving you this much notice. Get the day off from work or school or whatever you have going on and come down and play video games with us. I also got word that there will be a vicious stomach flu outbreak on the 23rd that may require many of you to call in sick. Just a heads up.

-Gabe out

I apologize to Club PA members for the month of May who have not received the gift yet. Tyco left all the information for me to login and send out that gift but it does not appear to work. I hate to bother him with this kind of thing while he is on vacation so it might just be best to wait until he gets home.

-Gabe out

I am in a really good mood right now. There was a good sized protest last night in Seattle and it’s all over the news today. They are running video of it on all the local news channels. There is nothing I love more than watching hippies get the shit kicked out of them by cops on TV. I’m not saying I like cops or that I think one side was right and the other wrong. Honestly I am too apathetic to care about it either way. All I know is that for me it just doesn’t get any better than some as clown in a gasmask and a pair of Birkenstocks getting a face full of pepper spray. Now that is good television. Cops even used something I had never heard of called “sting grenades” and judging by the reaction of the hippies I saw they lived up to their name. They could just show protests and animal attacks on TV 24/7 and I’d be a happy camper. Like that one lady who tried to take her picture with the polar bear and got her leg chewed off. Oh God…that one still cracks me up.

-Gabe out