Sith Training?
–UPDATE 1/11/12: Back home from surgery. In pain, but recovering. Thanks for those asking after me. Just wanted to let you know things went okay. END UPDATE–
By the time you read this, I will either be on the way to the hospital; waiting; under the knife; or recovering. That’s the beauty of scheduling a blog post which will be left up for a whole week. As mentioned before, I’ve had terrible neck pain due to a herniated cervical disc, which spills over to my hands and arms. After trying all other options without success, I’m left only with surgery. They’ll be fusing the discs in what they call an anterior cervical discectomy at 7:30 AM Monday morning. They go in from the front of the neck and around the throat so I expect I will be on a diet of chicken soup for the next few days. I’ll be in the hospital for a day or so and have the next month off work with unpaid leave. So, we’re taking a hit to the income and welcome all clicks on our ad banners.
Also, the website was hit by a virus on January 1st, which I believe is a fault of a security breach at our web host. I woke up that Sunday morning to find the site was blocked by my Anti-Virus software. But I’m sure, for others, the the virus may have infected their machines. Great way to start the new year! :-/ Fortunately, we were saved by Jamie King of Sparking Design, who had a hand in the redesign of the site last year. Jamie fixed all our websites in less than an hour. There’s nothing quite like being able to turn to a consummate professional when you need them. I have to insist that our readers consider running a virus scan of their computer (anti-malware and spybot too). I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. I welcome recommendations for a new, stable webhosting company. :-/
Again, thanks to Jamie for getting BMS back up in operation by that same evening. We will more than likely be calling upon Sparking Design for our upcoming non-BMS projects soon. If you’re thinking of a website for yourself then consider contacting them. They come with my personal recommendation.
As mentioned before, BMS is now a 1 strip per week webcomic. I’ll reintroduce the donation feature for those able to support us. Please make the minimum donation $5 dollars as anything less has a significant portion taken by Paypal as their fee. You will get a personalized thank you pinup within 1 week of the donation. I’d try to respond sooner, but I can not predict how my health will impact my access to a computer in the next few weeks. Hope you like the current strip. Who says Vader didn’t have to complete similar training under the Emperor?
Finally, don’t forget that German is the latest language to embrace Blue Milk Special. Check out Jedipedia’s Blue Milk Special.
Before I sign off, can anyone recommend the best of the original 1960s Outer Limits series?
Also, can anyone recommend any fun, carefree anime to check out? Japanese animation. I don’t want anything remotely epic. Just something I can escape into for a while which doesn’t get all heavy and serious halfway through the series. I have a need for some upbeat comedy at the moment. Thanks guys!
Best wishes for the surgery, Rod. I sincerely hope it all goes well for you.
Love this week’s strip – especially Yoda’s breaking of the fourth wall in panel two 🙂
My recommendation: just watch the entire Miyazaki back catalog – especially ‘Naussica’.
Hmmm… wonder what would be on Palpatines’ playlist?
I hope all goes well, Rod! I want to thank you and Leanne for making me spit fluids out my nose, yet again. May the Force be with you both, and good luck!
At 4 AM on a Monday morning, all I can think of is “Cromartie High School” – the very definition of silly, meaningless wackiness. Sort of like your favorite hilarious and surreal gag strip come to anime life. Short episodes, too. My only complaint is that the whole series is way too short – only 3 discs I think. I wanted it to go on forever…
All the best for the surgery. Hope it all goes well and you’re feeling like your normal self again in no time.
Rod- best of luck with your surgery. My pointless Anime recommendation would be “PROJECT A-Ko” from 1988. No heavy exposition in it, and it is considered a classic from that era of Japan-a-Mation.
I’ll make sure to give you some ad-clicks this week.
Not Anime, but if you’re looking for carefree animated escapism, you could try Danger Mouse…
Get well soon btw…
Good luck, Rod! I hope you have a speedy recovery and enjoy the soup. 😉
I love the Obi-Wan pic. Hope to see more of him!
Best of luck Rod my boy. I have two webcomics for you to catch up on 🙂
Re: the virus. I read recently that some hosting companies that appear to be great value can end up putting your site on the same server as lots of other insecure sites and even porn sites etc., making yours more vulnerable to attack. Seems that the real pros always check this stuff out before going with a hosting provider.
That’s not any reflection on you or me by the way. I’m clueless about that stuff.
Best wishes when you get this and the other messages Team Hannah! For my site, 1&1 seems sturdy enough. And $40-ish every three months for server fees is mostly affordable; something to potentially consider.
And that training? Well, consider Vader wasn’t always Sith. He did start out a Jedi so probably Obiwan ran him through similar training, though probably on less shit-hole turf.
For anime, I’m seeing ads for Masters of Martial Hearts. Looks like mindless boob fun.
Good luck with your surgery and recovery!
awesome this comic is
I hope the surgery goes well.
Loved this comic – I wonder what the Jedi order did before Yoda? Being a KotOR addict, the first thing that popped into my head was Master Vrook beating his students over the head with the butt of his lightsaber, urging them to go faster.
If you want a couple hours of relief, I liked the movie Trigun: Badlands Rumble. Of course, it’s only a movie, but it is hilarious and not very serious or heavy at all. Good for a few hours of fun.
Get well soon, and May the Force Be With You.
I hope all goes well and you recovery goes well! As for anime, I only watch the heavy thought provocing stuff like Neon Genesis, Rahxephon, and Seriel Experiment Lain… All would be really good to watch on recovery meds! But Last Exile is a fun series and Oban Star Racers if you can find it. Oban is a serious rip off pod racing but still fun to watch but hard to find the entire series.
Get well.
Nice. I’d love to see a follow-up comic on what Vader and Palpatine are up to in that panel. 🙂
I hope you have a fast recovery. I quite enjoyed Full Metal Alchemist recently (not Brotherhood, the other one; though I hear both are good and both are on Netflix streaming).
Best wishes Rod; hope the surgery goes well, and the recovery is speedy!
Is that how you hurt your neck, carrying Leanne around your back yard in a Jedi harness? I’m starting to suspect.
Lol. I’ve said it before, i’ll say it again–the comments are ALMOST as funny as the strip!
Good luck the surgery. Also, VEERRYY funny comic this week.
I hope the surgery & recovery go well for you. I like Gintama a lot & think it’s hysterical but some of the jokes might be obscure? It’s set in 1850 but with aliens instead of Commodore Perry’s ships invading Japan so it combines traditional edo w/ the present and future and has a lot of meta commentary on pop culture & other anime.
Praying for you both, Rod & Leanne.
Recommended anime…
1) Chobits – Very light-hearted and funny series, a little ecchi at times.
2) Spirited Away – Childhood fantasy in a world of ghosts and demons.
3) My Neighbour Totoro – Two young kids meet the spirit of the forest.
4) Ponyo on a Cliff.
5) Howl’s Moving Castle.
6) Princess Mononoke – Relies a bit too much on the use of celebrity voices, but still very good.
But whatever you decide to watch, all the best for a speedy recovery!
Scott.
My dad had that surgery a few years ago! I hop everything goes well and I hope the healing process is very quick for you.
My fiance’s mom (who’s a graphic designer) swears by Network Solutions. She’s never had any virus problems and she says it is very reliable.
As for anime, try Excel Saga. There is no plot. None. It is pure, senseless humor. And Lupin the 3rd is my go to. Absolutely ridiculous 70s humor.
Very funny strip this week you two, the final panel is flipping fantastic. I lol’ed hard all over myself. Wishing you best luck and a speedy recovery!
Love your comic, I would recommend Nadesico (not sure if I’ve spelt that right) Crazy funny space anime I watched years ago 🙂
The only anime I really got into was Escaflowne. You need to get the real Japanese one though. Fox in America tried to put it on Saturday mornings and ruined it.
Anybody heard how the operation went yet?
I haven’t seen or heard anything. I sent a “good luck in you surgery and recovery” type of email and got no response. But someone has to have seen that us fans are wondering about the well being of this strip’s creators considering that the comments still have to be moderated.
Good luck in you recovery!!
I’m not sure anyone would want to “train under the Emperor” quite like that!! ;P
As for non-serious anime “Those Who Hunt Elves” is pretty zainy (I only made it through the first episode btw and decided I wanted a bit more substance, so let that be a guide).
Hi, Long time reader first time poster!
Just couldn’t resist recommending one of my all time favorite anime series:
Azumanga Daioh!
Discribed by many as the Seinfeld of anime series, it’s not really about anything. Just the rather odd lives of some school girls (nothing dirty!) who become really great friends during high school
If you need up beat funny this is the BEST anime. It is gureented to leave you with that warm happy feeling!
Get well soon!
Hey, Rod!
Glad to hear you’re home from the hospital, and that you’re doing okay. I mean, not pain-free, but still, okay.
I have great sympathy for you, having had surgery myself in November. Nothing as serious as spinal/neck surgery (deviated septum repair), but still un-fun in those first few days afterward.
Get oodles of rest, do what the doctor tells you to do, and for heaven’s sake, get well SOON!