It’s interesting how “squee”-filled the comic can become anytime there’s an adventure involving Flaco, where 90% of the strip’s dialogue becomes “squees” of various sorts.

The current crop of squees stirred an interesting thought from Sheldon reader Noah A. about the relationship between Flaco and Arthur. It’s a character-construction idea I had never before formalized in thought, and I found it interesting. Here’s his idea:

This just came to me, I noticed a parallel between Flaco & Arthur and R2-D2 & C3PO.

Here’s my angle: In a recent interview with Anthony Daniels [the actor who played C3PO in “Star Wars”], the interviewer gave Daniels props for helping to create R2-D2’s character; seeing as he was with R2 the majority of the time, he understood him and translated that vocally to the audience, thus R2’s character being born right there on the screen. Well, I feel the same goes for good ol’ Arthur & Flaco. Arthur obviously being the “C3PO” figure in this case, helping the audience understand Flaco and his personality. Granted, Flaco has much more to work with as far as true expression than our famous, dome-shaped droid, with his bulbous eyes, flexible body (and tongue, mind you). However, I really do feel that Arthur is just as much part of Flaco’s character as Flaco himself is. Does that make any sense?

It does, actually. And I had never really thought of it that way before. In fact, I’m now sifting my brain, trying to think of mute or near-mute fictional characters who have been “translated” for by another character… and so become part-and-parcel of the audience’s relationship with them…?

Penn & Teller? Laurel & Hardy? Groucho and Harpo? …I guess there’s some truth to the idea, Noah! Neat thought!

Looks like the daily “Sheldon-by-Email” deliveries haven’t been going out since the 7th. My apologies for that! This adds more weight to that old, 18th-Century saying, “Don’t mess with your Website coding when you’re running a high fever”.

Solid advice that I clearly didn’t follow!

With luck, tonight’s strip will be e-mailed out, as usual.

My apologies if I’ve been slow to respond to your e-mails this past week. I’ve started off the New Year in fine form…falling sick the first chance I got.

Boo!

Slowly but surely, though, the fever is becoming less feverish, and the dizziness is undizzying itself, and standing up is seeming like a more and more viable option for me.

It’s funny: This cartoon only makes me laugh when I’ve been sick. But then, alas, it rings all too true.

Sheldonista Wilbert R. pointed out something I completely missed about the printing plates, below. They weren’t drawn by just any Kane, they were drawn by BOB Kane. As in, “I-created-Batman” Bob Kane.

Here’s the link Wilbert found listing all Kane’s work.

Wow!

Not an hour after I made my previous post, Sheldonista Jesse S. pulled out a big win. Not only did he find the correct name (“Tunge!” I never would’ve guessed that spelling!) he found the full rules on a UK site. Check it out!

Jesse, I can’t thank you enough. We’ve literally been looking for this game for years. Years!

I can’t wait to bust out a deck and give it a whirl again. And if any other Sheldonistas enjoy a card game from time to time, try it out and let me know how it goes. And don’t let the rules deter you (…looking them over, they kinda read like a NASA training manual). Trust me: This is a genuinely awesome game. Give it a try!

Based on all the generous responses from my post about coffee mugs, it occurred to me that I should ask for help on a genuine question that’s been bugging my wife and I for years. Namely: What are the rules to the Jordanian card game, Tonj?

(Sad to say, this is actually a genuine question on my part!)

Here’s the back story: When my wife and I were going to grad school in England, one of her roommates was a really funny, wonderful girl from Jordan — who taught us this awesome card game called “Tonj” (or “Tanj” or “Tahnj”).

Not unlike the card game “War,” Tonj was a two-person game that could be played with one or two decks, and was (I think) played solely between two people. And my wife and I loved it — we played it all the time. But then, for reasons neither of us can remember, we stopped playing it altogether. Even worse: We completely forgot the rules after only a few months!

And now, despite my best efforts with phonetic boolean searches, I can’t find the dang game described anywhere on the web! Darn it all, only 16%* of the world’s knowledge has been codified on the Net, so Google is giving me bupkus.

So! If you’re from Jordan, and you know what game I’m talking about — drop me a line! You’d make two nerds very happy!

And, should anyone be kind enough to link to or describe the game, I’ll be sure to share it with everyone else via the blog. It’s a fun game to try: It’s one of those card games that goes fast, then slow, then fast again — but allows for rapid-fire conversation the whole time.

*I made that number up. But I’m guessing it’s a surprisingly low number in actuality.

This past year, when I was at the Small Press Expo (check out pics, here), a Sheldon reader gave me one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever received.

Convention gifts are always fun to get, but thankfully they’re usually under $3, and are usually Hobnobs (see this toon for the reason why)… so my sense of gift-getters guilt isn’t clobbered too-too badly.

But at SPX, Sheldonista Lorraine A. brought me the coolest gift I’ve ever received: Three lead-on-woodblock cartoon printing plates from the 1930s! As you probably know, I’m a big collector of original cartoon art, with everything from a Sunday Doonesbury to an 18th-Century print from Hogarth. But this! This gift is amazing: I have nothing like it!

I’ve spent the better part of the last three months trying to figure out the best way to ink and press these plates, with (ahem) mixed results of (ahem) terrible-quality prints.

But then, this week, it occurred to me: To heck with inking it, just scan the plate itself and modify the file in Photoshop. And voila! Here is the plate, and the resulting “print”:

I’m going to box-frame them side-by-side, and put them up in a place of honor in my studio. Thank you, Lorraine! These are immensely cool.

Something about Wednesday’s strip cracks me up: Hang gliding in Cancun is a little more random than what Arthur usually gets up to.

This will be launching us into a fun little storyline over the next few weeks — and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Also: For all of those who kindly reminded me, the “2008 Appearances” list has been updated — over on the left, there. My Spring and Summer convention schedule is a little lighter this year, but I think I’ll be adding some more stuff in the Fall — hopefully for the east coast or for Canada.

Also, Also: Over the next week or so, I’ll be going through the entire Website and updating the rest of the New Year changes. Even though a lot of the site is templated, there are 20-25 unique pages which need hand coding. But it’ll be done faster than you can say “Liberal Arts majors shouldn’t do coding.”

It’s always good to take stock of the year we leave behind… and my overwhelming thought as I head into 2008 is how much I have to be thankful for from 2007.

This past year represented a huge life change for me. I stepped away from a steady, 8-year, corporate job at Mattel Toys to dive into my lifelong dream: Cartooning full-time.

As you can imagine, it’s been exciting and terrifying and exhilarating all at once…. and has given me the best year I’ve ever had.

The most fun has been the interaction with the tens of thousands of Sheldon readers all over the world — you guys are awesome. I’ve had e-mails from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, UK, France, Spain… and even one from China (though that last one might have been spam). And time and again, Sheldonistas prove themselves to be thoroughly funny, kind, and, let’s be honest, attractive people. Thank you for being awesome, and thank you for the 10,000 kindnesses you paid me over the year: You made 2007 a year of thanks.

There is much to share with you about the year to come, but before I get too much into the hustle and bustle of what’s-coming-up, I wanted to make sure I thank you.

So, my friends, I thank you. Thank you for making this li’l cartoonist immensely happy.

I’m a little floored by the response to the “perfect coffee mug” post. Folks sent in links by the dozens…they pointed me to stores and ceramic artisans….they wrote me about the inherent benefits of this or that type of mug. And, most amazingly, I got dozens and dozens of e-mails from folks offering to buy, hunt down, ship, *make* (which I found particularly kind), have made, or even send me pre-owned mugs that matched my description.

And I have to be honest: I feel a little embarrassed that that post would garner that response. That wasn’t my intent… to cause folks to want to buy/make/ship stuff.

My wife, who is far wiser than I in every measurable way — looked at me as though I couldn’t see the obvious and said, “What kind of response were you expecting? Of course nice people are going to offer to do that when you write about your ideal mug!”

Husbands: Not-particularly-bright-when-it-comes-to-basic-human-interaction.

Needless to say, I could never ask folks to spend any money or time procuring me a silly coffee mug, but I thank everyone for the kindness behind the offers. And, it makes me aware of two things:

1.) Sheldon readers are really nice people, who will offer to pitch in even on an oblique call for help.

2.) I should blog about “needing” an iPhone or a Segway. (cough, cough)

Anyway, out of the 47 mug-links sent in, here are a few that most closely matched what I was shootin’ for: 1, 2, 3, 4, and just because it’s ridiculous: 5

(Interestingly, librarians had the best links…which once again proves the old truism that if you need somethin’ found that needs searchin’, ask a librarian.)

Also interesting: How many people e-mailed in saying that my Platonic Ideal of a coffee mug wasn’t possible because a 4″-tall mug with a cylindrical shape and a diameter of 3 3/4 to 4″ couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t hold 16 fl. oz. Alternative measurements offered included 10 oz, 12 oz, 20 oz, 24 oz and, most disturbingly, 6 oz. (Math: America’s Tricky Friend.) Sheldonista Kaleb B. sent in this funny tidbit on the matter: “In a mini-“MythBusters” like experiment, my dad and I tried to show that the reason you can’t find the perfect mug is that it’s physically impossible (i.e. can’t hold enough liquid with your measurements). However, we were proved wrong. His 4″x4″round Tigger mug from Disneyland fulfills all of your requirements, including holding 16+ ounces, except that it has a logo. Maybe you should take a trip to the “Happiest” Place on Earth and find yourself a new mug, then paint it.”

Also, also! Sheldonista Danny B. e-mailed me with the coolest possible solution to my mug-search: His home-made Albert Einstein mug. Check this puppy out:

Thanks again to everyone that wrote in: It was fun seeing how many other coffee-mug-o-philes there are out there!