Comics – Spoofy Randomness

Make Beliefs Comix

Here’s a bit of a change from random road sketches. For my final class for my Chem Ed masters (almost done!), I am taking a course on tech tools for the classroom. Part of our assignment for today was to use one of the tools provided* to make a comic strip. I used Make Beliefs Comix. Of course I had to make reference to Spoofy Randomness. (And yes, as a high school chemistry teacher I am WELL aware that OTHER things can be spelled…)

One aspect of trying new tech is that some is a hit (definitely using a site from a different part of this assignment in A&P!) and some…isn’t. This falls very much under the latter. I was not too impressed by the options in this comic generator; it has very specific use and doesn’t allow much creativity in the characters themselves as most characters have only one to three poses. Plus, as a long-time cartoonist, the word bubbles…EUGH (that’s more me just being picky than a legit complaint like the former).

I went to link to one of the oldest Spoofy Randomness art out there, the logo used way back on the old ComicGenesis site in 2012. Apparently it never made it into the sketchbook after the move! So I had to add it.

EDIT: Removed an extra nitrogen from panel 2, as apparently I forgot to factor in the “n” from manganese.

*I was actually allowed to use my usual design program, but I figured I’d try this instead since mine isn’t exactly student accessible (and it would take too long to make a proper comic).

May 26, 2023

NW LNK Improvement Sketches 3: Purple Heart Hwy West and an alternative to I-80

I was recently in a situation where I was not allowed access to a computer, phone, books, etc. for several hours…but I had a couple pens and some handouts with blank backs! So for the next few weeks I will post these sketches. They are just some thoughts I’ve had about how I would improve roads in NW Lincoln. I did draw these 100% from memory; I did not alter anything afterward, and so once I look at satellite pics, that will probably nix some of my ideas. (Obviously not to scale for the same reasons.)

The top sketch shows a continuation of the Purple Heart Hwy conversion to freeway that I started previously. There actually is a road that has been started that travels north from NW 38th St and Airport Rd, but the project seems to have been abandoned as far as I can tell. This finishes it and makes an interchange with Purple Heart Hwy, because making a left off of NW 31st St can get really interesting some days! I also show the NW 48th St project being completed (upgrade to four lanes) and connecting W Fletcher Ave to North Park Rd and Airport Rd so that one doesn’t have to go all the way up to Wildrose Ln and back down to get from Air Park to the Highlands. I also eliminate S55C from the highway roster, as it is now entirely within LNK city limits.

One of my peeves of living in the Highlands is that there is not a good way to get down to US 6 to head west (also known as my non-interstate way to work) without either going all the way around the airport or backtracking to N 1st St to drop down to Sun Valley Blvd if you don’t want to take the interstate. So I proposed a surface road that would connect airport-area roads and NW 27th St along the north side of I-80. Of all of these sketches, this one is probably the least viable, because a) my working memory is slightly less here, b) protected salt marshes, and c) potentially national security issues with the National Guard right there (but at least I proposed that as a possible name?).

That’s it for these sketches! If you liked them, let me know and maybe there will be similar content in the future!

May 19, 2023

NW LNK Improvement Sketches 2: I-180 @ I-80 and Superior Street

I was recently in a situation where I was not allowed access to a computer, phone, books, etc. for several hours…but I had a couple pens and some handouts with blank backs! So for the next few weeks I will post these sketches. They are just some thoughts I’ve had about how I would improve roads in NW Lincoln. I did draw these 100% from memory; I did not alter anything afterward, and so once I look at satellite pics, that will probably nix some of my ideas. (Obviously not to scale for the same reasons.)

This was an attempt to redesign the two interchanges at the north end of I-180. They are very close together (not meeting modern Interstate standards!) and it looks like some preliminary work may have been done when I-80 was widened to redo this, so I took what little I had and ran with it. In addition to hopefully eliminating the dangerous area between the two interchanges, I also eliminated the cloverleaves leading to and from I-180 to help improve downtown access (and Memorial Stadium on game day).

I threw in a diverging diamond mostly for fun, although given that Superior Street is a primary route going east it might not be a bad idea to eliminate cross traffic turns.

May 12, 2023

NW LNK Improvement Sketches 1: Purple Heart Hwy & NW 12th/13th St Corridors

I was recently in a situation where I was not allowed access to a computer, phone, books, etc. for several hours…but I had a couple pens and some handouts with blank backs! So for the next few weeks I will post these sketches. They are just some thoughts I’ve had about how I would improve roads in NW Lincoln. I did draw these 100% from memory; I did not alter anything afterward, and so once I look at satellite pics, that will probably nix some of my ideas. (Obviously not to scale for the same reasons.)

For this one, I focused on Purple Heart Hwy and the NW 12th/13th St Corridor. My goal here was to convert Purple Heart Hwy to freeway–not interstate standard, though–out to N-79 (the western half will be shown later). This involved closing the Fallbrook Blvd intersection and converting W Fletcher Ave to an interchange (trying to avoid as many buildings as possible from memory); it also gives a roundabout at W Fletcher Ave/Fletcher Ave/N 1st St. I also put a roundabout at W Fletcher Ave and NW 1st St, because making a left turn there drives me crazy.

There are currently long-term plans to build a bridge connecting the roundabouts at W Fletcher Ave and Aster Rd (I can’t wait!). I expanded this plan to include an interchange. One of my minor peeves is that NW 12th St becomes NW 13th St by Highlands Pool, and the new bridge will result in it rejoining the NW 12th St corridor. So I decided that these improvements would involve a consistent name from the south end of the I-80 interchange all the way to Aster Rd (where it would take the NW 12th St name). Renaming wouldn’t actually be too difficult; there are very few addresses on this stretch. I also threw out the consideration of including W Cornhusker Hwy in the renaming, since that is no longer a highway, never was part of US 77 (the original Cornhusker Hwy), and it is the same road, just curved to be E-W instead of N-S. If you can’t read my handwriting, I’ve listed the name ideas below with brief justification. I also said it should be part of the Lincoln Parkway system, which would also involve upgrading the section between W Highlands Blvd and W Fletcher Ave to a four lane divided street.

N Highlands Pkwy: It serves the Highlands. This is my favorite name, but to be fair we do have W Highlands Blvd on the south side of the residential Highlands
Duncan Pkwy: In honor of Duncan Aviation (as this is access to W Adams St to reach the airport) and a major Lincoln family
Fredstrom Pkwy: Matches the name of the nearby elementary school
Aeronautic Pkwy: Nearby airport
Arrow Pkwy: Named after a former airport of Lincoln. Has the added bonus of being a DC Comics reference (Lincoln’s nickname is the Star City, which is also the name of the Green Arrow’s city)
Lindbergh Pkwy: Supposedly Lindbergh learned how to fly at Arrow Airport.
West Lincoln Pkwy: This would be particularly good if W Cornhusker Hwy is included, as West Lincoln is served.
Star City Pkwy: Good name for the major road bringing people into Lincoln from the airport/US 34
Lancaster Pkwy: Honoring Lincoln’s original name, and goes roughly past the salt marshes.

If you like this kind of stuff, let me know in the comments and maybe there will be more!

May 5, 2023

Train Track Stoichiometry V2

I made a new version of the Train Track Stoichiometry that kind of simplifies things. It eliminates metric conversions, but includes density conversions.

February 5, 2023

Spoofy Avengers

I was proctoring a test and got really bored, and the end theme from Avengers: Endgame was stuck in my head. I realized that my main cast was six, and there were six original Avengers in the original movie. I hadn’t drawn these goofballs in a while and I had some scratch paper, so this happened. (And yes, that’s elf-Nikki from Percy’s mind.)

I’m also going to link this, just because I love it.

April 9, 2022

Train Track Stoichiometry

As my real job is a science teacher, one thing I teach is the “train track method” of unit conversions and stoichiometry. And naturally if one is using a train track method, one needs a map of train stations. This actually does serve a purpose other than satisfying my inner (outer) map nerd, as students need to be able to identify where they are starting and stopping in conversions, which translates beautifully to train stations. Using MetroMapMaker (and then editing in the conversions), I made this for my students earlier this week, and seeing as my last map-related post was relatively popular, I figured I’d throw this on here as well!

February 1, 2022

Intersections of Lincoln

I came across Peter Gorman’s artwork of Omaha intersections, and to my knowledge no one has done this for Lincoln. It had been stewing in my brain for a while, so I finally decided to pick up my (digital) pen and draw it myself. I think I’m going to make a poster and a T-shirt of it for myself. At this moment, Spoofy Randomness doesn’t have a store so I doubt if it will be printed up for general consumption, unless there’s significant demand. (And yes, it’s copyrighted, ya dang internet scalpers!)

Choosing which intersections to include was a bit tricky, so if your favorite didn’t make the cut, sorry. I decided no freeway interchanges fairly quickly, and it had to be in Lincoln city limits. Runners-up included 56th/Cotner/Randolph, Cotner/66th/Starr, Cotner/Adams/66th (Cotner is very unique, okay?), W Fletcher/NW 13th, 14th/Superior, Capitol/Randolph/G, Pine Lake/91st, 84th/Yankee Hill/Yankee Woods, Fallbrook/Tallgrass, and 33rd/Sheridan. I actually had finished drawing 56th/Cornhusker/Havelock/Superior/Touzalin/Russell when I realized that I had not included Rosa Parks Way, so it got eliminated because I had another Cornhusker intersection less than a mile away and there were too many road names involved.

A couple interesting (well, let’s be honest, interesting for me and not many others) bits of trivia from this map. First, the top left does not include Pinnacle Arena Dr in the title. There’s some debate as to when Salt Creek Rdwy ends and Pinnacle Arena Dr begins. A lot of maps have it at the left roundabout, but the signage actually shows the change occurring at N 8th St. Being an OpenStreetMaps guy, I follow the rule of signage, hence that decision. The other unusual choice I had to make was Nebraska Parkway’s name (top middle). Currently, it is actually Nebraska Highway, but very soon (in construction terms, 2024ish) it will have a name change to Nebraska Parkway as N-2 will be rerouted onto the new south leg of the beltway and Nebraska Highway will join Lincoln’s parkway system as Business N-2, hence the renaming. By doing this, this also allowed me to feature every parkway (yes Rosa Parks Way is actually part of the parkway system, and yes, it is a glorious pun) in some form. Also, yes, there are a few side streets that connect that aren’t shown. Artistic liberty. Same goes with scaling (especially on O Street).

I wanted something unique, other than a different style of artwork, to set my work off from Gorman’s. Hence, including O Street (despite technically not being an intersection). While technically it has five names (Road 9, O Street Road, West O Street, O Street, and East Union Road, and also designated the Bess Streeter Aldritch Memorial Highway for a stretch), it is arguably the longest stretch of straight Main Street in the world (there’s some debate on this matter), with no curves between south of Waco to the Missouri River, and 9 Rd after a slight curve continues west almost to Grand Island.

On a non-road geek note, this art had me tinker with some things that I didn’t really do with webcomics. My biggest problem was how to make the road widths consistent. This led to a rabbit hole that never really answered my question (I just drew a thick line over a screenshot of the map and outlined it on a new layer, then discarded the layers with the thick lines and the map), but did introduce me to the world of vectors and how to use them in Clip Studio. WHY DID I NOT LEARN HOW TO DO THIS WHEN I WAS MAKING COMICS????? Man, that would have made life so much easier. (I was aware vectors were a thing, but didn’t know much about them. Remember, I never took art after 6th grade, and I was still on an Apple IIGS then…)

January 9, 2022

Distracting Hobbies

I couldn’t resist inserting an Alpha House reference (Senator Andy Guzman). If you like political comedies and don’t mind a fair bit of swearing, check it out. It is one of my favorite shows of all time. (Alas, it’s exclusive to Amazon Prime.) The other reference that may be a bit obscure is Andy Weir. Most people have at least heard of The Martian film starring Matt Damon; Andy Weir wrote the book it is based on. As my wife puts it, his writing is basically a bunch of word problems. She’s not wrong, but he makes it a very enjoyable read. I just finished his most recent book, Project: Hail Mary, and it is very good.

Also, Disney lawyers are jerks. I’m waiting for the Great Disney Lawsuit Against Everything Egyptian, as copyright law is not really respected over there, to put it mildly (the owner of my school could not see anything wrong with only ordering one copy of each textbook, and then having professionally bound copies made of said textbooks). and many businesses, especially private schools, use Disney logos, characters, etc., to excess. Don’t get me wrong, protecting content creators is a good thing, but Disney has been known to take things a little too far…