Dr. Muskiday tries to turn feelings into data. His emotion-reading technology translates emotions into glowing clouds. As the experiment spirals, it becomes clear that understanding emotions is much messier than measuring them.
Double-Dog Dare!
If you’re looking for something excellent to read, my friend Dave Kellett has a brand-new Kickstarter live right now. It’s packed with never-before-printed comics and is absolutely worth checking out! https://go.evil-inc.net/Double-D
Transcript
(Panel 1)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: Oh, Musky! I’m so PROUD of you!
Dr. Muskiday: You are?
(Panel 2)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: Sure! And I’ll prove it to you.
(She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.”)
(Panel 3)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: That’s odd. I’m definitely experiencing a twenty-five percent increase in admiration.
(He looks at her as she stands confidently in front of him.)
(Panel 4)
Dr. Muskiday: (sighs) I know. I wrote your approval algorithm.
(He buries his head in his hands.)
(Panel 5)
Computer (stylized): Disappointment detected. Initiating emotional buoyancy protocols.
(She stands looking at the dejected Muskiday.)
(Panel 6)
Computer (stylized): Activating file: hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe
(She touches her lips in contemplation.)
(Panel 7)
(Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip— to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully.)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: Well… I AM proud of you!
Alt Text
Comic strip featuring Holo-Clone Miss Match (a holographic clone of Miss Match) and Dr. Muskiday (a small, humanoid fly in a lab coat) having a humorous interaction. Miss Match tells Muskiday she’s proud of him. She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.” It fails to trigger the expected results. She insists that her admiration has increased by 25% even though it’s not indicated by the mist. Muskiday sighs, saying he knows because he wrote her approval algorithm. Detecting his disappointment, Muskiday’s computer initiates an “emotional buoyancy protocol,” executing a file named “hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe.” Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip — to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully. The dogs cameo from the "Sheldon" comic strip to promote Dave Kellett’s Kickstarter book, "Double Dog Dare," available at doubledogbook.com
The Mean Streets of Sesame
At first blush, it seems like one of those stories that makes people wax hysterical about that old boogey-man “Political Correctness.” From the Philadelphia Inkwaster…
[
Philadelphia Inquirer]
The gang at Sesame thought it would be a sunny day, and everything would be A-OK when they introduced Abby this month, complete with her poofy, sparkly pigtails, fluttery lavender wings, a magic wand, and a pretty chiffon frock.
But before any of them could spell Aloysius Snuffleupagus, the criticism began…
…Susan Linn, cofounder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, calls Abby’s introduction a blatant attempt to compete with the gigantic Disney princess market.
“The last thing little girls need is one more pink fairy,” she says. “My understanding is that she’s a little incompetent with her magic, too. I’m concerned that now even the Sesame Workshop has bought into the girly, girly commercialized image of what it is to be feminine…OK, apart from the people who are worried about Abby’s magic being a portrayal of witchcraft, some of these people have a point. It
does smack of the Disney Princess syndrome. We’ve got enough girl characters in pink, frilly dresses demonstrating a sort of “oopsie” incompetence. I think the anti-Abby lobby has a valid point.
For my money, I would have much rather seen the next Sesame Street character be based on
this little lady.
