Allow me to crank up the mega-hyperbole machine for a minute to announce THE GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN. Or, if you won’t allow me that, allow me to announce the next Sheldon Collection… Nerds on Parade!

This will be the fifth Sheldon collection, after “Pure Ducky Goodness;” “The Good, The Bad & The Pugly;” “62% More Awesome” and “A Blizzard of Lizards”.

If you’d like to see a larger version of the front cover, click HERE. My talented buddy Katherine did the heavy-lifting on the cover, and I couldn’t be happier with how it came out. I can’t wait for you guys to have your copies

Look for it in the first week of December, in the Sheldon Store!

Much like Sheldon, I used to make fun of “Doctor Who” all the time. When I lived in Canterbury, my English friend Jon (…link to his music, there) was always pitching me on the show, saying I’d love it, and that it was great, etc., etc. But I could never get past the super-weak-sauce special effects.

But the “new” shows, starting a few years back, have been wonderful. It really has been some of the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen. In fact, my wife and I have elevated the episode “Blink” to one of our all-time favorites… in any genre. And now that the writer of that episode, Steven Moffat, is scheduled to take over the reins on Doctor Who for the fifth series…the whole show is going to keep getting better and better. Trust me: Moffat is a genius. So if you’re not into the show yet, now is a great time to jump in.

Flashback: I still remember walking through the out-of-the-way town of Scarborough, and Jon was trying to explain to me what the TARDIS was, and I could see him getting so, so frustrated that I couldn’t grasp it. And now I love it, I absolutely love the whole show. So Jon, thank you! You were right! Despite the continuing lameness of the Daleks, the show is wonderful!

In light of this toon, Sheldonista Eli B. sent along word of “the stick” being entered in the Toy Hall of Fame. You can read more about it here.

(Related sidenote: Next up for the award, no doubt, is the “Smooth Skipping Rock for Ponds and Lakes”.)

I always like to give a public “thank you” when a Sheldonista surprises me with something kind…but I’ve just now realized I never thanked two Baltimore-based readers for an *awesome* gift (below) that they gave me at Baltimore Comic-Con.

I’m still astounded when I go to a convention and people show up with gfts. I won’t lie: It’s a lovely thing — but it’s still such unexpected kindness. There have been dozens of Sheldonistas that show up with gifts of Hobnobs, most likely based on this strip (…and Lord knows those cookies rarely last an hour in my hands.)

But occassionally people go waaay above and beyond in their kindness. Some examples that I’ve mentioned in the past:

– A 1930’s cartoon printing plate.

– A cake made out of Sheldon and PvP artwork.

– A really cool Flaco sculpture.

But today I realized that I never shared this gift from two brothers in Baltimore: A Sheldon sculpture made entirely out of colored pipe cleaners. What an amazingly cool way to do it!

Thank you guys! You’ll be happy to know he sits right on my monitor, and reminds me to get back to drawin’. 🙂

For those who haven’t seen it, I thought I’d pass along this link to the full Time Enough At Last episode.

Also, if this is your first time watching it, post your thoughts below after you’re done. I’d imagine there are more than a few non-Americans who haven’t seen a Twilight Zone yet, so it’d be fun to hear your thoughts on it.

I’m sure these continue to air in Canada, as they do in the US…but did they make their way to the UK, NZ, Australia, Hong Kong?

Sheldonista Dwight H. sent in an awesome e-mail after reading Sunday’s strip:

“Concerning yummy burgers from a grill that’s never cleaned — there is a “restaurant” in Memphis called Dyer’s (an appropriate name, you’ll see) that has been in business over 75 years. Their specialty is deep fried burgers (just the meat, to be totally clear). No, that’s not the killer part (well, yes, but it gets better/much worse). The killer part is that they deep fry the burgers in a big kettle of grease that has NEVER BEEN CHANGED in over 75 YEARS. They just top it off a bit if needed (probably not often, since the grease from the burgers adds to it). They just throw the patties in and they sink — when they’re done they rise to the top. I became aware of this a few years back from a newspaper article on them moving from their original location — they were treating “moving the kettle” like they were shifting King Tut’s collection. I can imagine a sample of that grease would contain an array of concentrated carcinogens unequaled by even the most outrageous of toxic waste dumps.”

Thought this might be fun to share: It’s the “working script” for Sunday’s toon. It’s pretty typical of what they all look like — with the exception that this one doesn’t have a coffee-ring stain on it:

First the pics, then we’ll get into the explanation:

So, just to take you through the decision-making on this, here’s how it went down:

1.) We thought it would be cute if I was Luke, Glo was Leia, and I’d have a little “Yoda” riding on my back, ala “Empire Strikes Back”.

2.) But, when we started to look at baby Star Wars costumes, the baby Princess Leia was just too cute.

3.) That, right there, is where our thinking went off track. Does Glo then become Amidala? But then who do I become, in that scenario? Boss Nass? Greedo? Some dude in the background at Jabba’s palace? It just wasn’t working.

4.) So, we settled on the ol’ comedy “Rule of Threes”, and all went as Leia.

Et, voila.

In a day or two, I’ll be posting pics of our family Halloween costume. It’s pretty ridiculous. To prime the pump, I thought I’d share some past Halloween costumes. Let’s see what pics I can find on the ol’ hard drive, here…

OK: First up, me as Cap’n Crunch, from two or three years ago….

Next up: Gloria and I as tropical dancers. We called it “Halloween…Con Fuego.” The mustache and flavor-saver, I’m happy to say, were real. The eye-liner, not so much. But Lord above, I was hammin’ it up all night with that outfit. I think the last pic is my favorite, just for sheer ridiculousness of facial expression.

Anyway, this year both Glo and I had a few projects distracting us from our typical costume extravaganzas, but I think we managed to pull out a last-minute “win” over our Option A…which was “not doing anything at all”. Pics forthcoming!

…And in the meantime, Happy Halloween!

Since we’re in Halloween season, allow me to share one of my favorite Sheldon strips of all time:

Stage Three Halloween Candy