Zamo the Destroyer

Zamo on last.fm

2010-12-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

Quoth the lizard:

It's become obvious to me that humans have no clue what constitutes good music. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to set up a profile on last.fm to share my listening habits for your edification: Zamo's profile on last.fm. Listen and learn.

Twitter

2010-02-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

Zamo is very busy these days, or maybe just lazy, so for the next little while she'll be pursuing her agenda through her Twitter:

twitter.com/zamo_destroyer

140 characters is way easier to squeeze in between naps, ya know.

The Vampire's Ball

2009-04-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Zamo says:

Well, the monkey who draws my comic also does a radio show or podcast or something like that. Even though she fails to heed my requests for The Iguanas, I guess she plays some OK stuff too.

The Vampire's Ball Playlist for April 25th, 2009

You can download the show on iTunes.

Now, to get her to draw more comics too...

Smarter than the Average Croc

2009-04-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm watching "Killer Crocs of Uganda" on the Knowledge Network (local TV that's supposed to be educational).

Zamo would probably describe it as the "feel-good drama of the season."

Anyway, I had to laugh my ass off when I saw one scene. The guys are out at night tagging crocs. They've set a snare trap, and they've tagged the croc and let him go.

As you might imagine, he's not a happy camper at this point.

The croc immediately jumps into the supply boat. This is an inflatable with food, camera gear, and... oh, yeah: a stash of AK47s.

And people think reptiles are stupid.

"Go ahead, punks: Make my day!"

Zamo's Remix

2009-04-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well, finally got a new Zamo posted: Zamo's Remix

Like Zamo, I'm working on a remix of Nine Inch Nails' "The Hand That Feeds," but I'm not booting anyone off the computer to do so.

Paleoconservative

2009-02-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

Howdy folks,

Zamo here.

After getting out the metal meat mallet to take out my frustration on the cartoonist's shins, I have a new cartoon posted again. Finally! I mean, I like to nap and strike, but said cartoonist was wide awake and yet she dared to work on - get this! - school projects and personal work instead of my comic.

I think perhaps we have come to some sort of understanding whereby my comic might be on a goofy schedule through April but it gets posted anyway.

Anyway... this week I get into a political discussion with Granma about what consitutes "old-time traditional values." Read it or else:

Zamo the Destroyer: Paleoconservative

Signed your Supreme World Leader, Zamo the Destroyer.

PS: It's cold and cloudy here in Vancouver. Some of you aren't doing your part for global warming yet. C'mon folks! Buy a Hummer and drive it lots!

Merry Igmas to all!

2008-12-22T19:29:00.001-08:00

Merry Igmas!

As always, Zamo hogs all the space. The cartoonist can just get her own damn cartoon if she wants to spread any holiday greetings of her own.

Weird...

2008-11-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, I was looking at my analytics stuff for the main Zamo the Destroyer site and saw this:

Uh, was that a joke, or are there really people who type "cool cults to join" into Google? And if there really are such people, is it because they previously saw my site and remember the page where Zamo's trying to recruit into her cult and that's why they typed it that way, or is it that they're really sitting there thinking, "y'know, I should join a cult. That would be a fun thing to do with my weekends... maybe shave my head, hang out at airports, give up my life savings..."

Three times over the last month.

Oh well, hits are hits, I guess. Hope they enjoyed the comics either way.

I await emails on what particular shade of lime green is the correct one to dye one's mandatory spiky green mohawk and whether Zamo prefers the flowing green robes be made of a high-quality silk fabric or if cheap and crappy polyester will suffice.

Zamo's Lament

2008-11-18T12:58:00.001-08:00

Yup, Zamo's pissed that there wasn't a comic last week. And she gives you a bit of my excuse as to why (the little bit she might have accidentally listened to while doing what most iguanas would do in such a situation: shunning the offending human).

Whatsisface is actually Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, but I guess if anyone cared to Google the Nearly Famous Music Festival mentioned on my t-shirt in the comic and look at their MySpace page blog about workshops they would figure that one out for themselves. I also attended Jeff Dawson's seminar and both were quite informative and fun.

So, that would mean "Nude Photo Guy" is Nivek Ogre from Skinny Puppy and ohGr. And it's true: I do have a nude photo of him as my laptop's primary desktop image (which is quickly swapped out for a plain black background when I have to hook my laptop up to the projector to present something in one of my classes.)

Of course, Zamo calls him whatsisface because she wasn't listening, but the reality is I probably listen to more of Rave's work than Ogre's.

And yeah, I realize there's a bit of a continuity issue where last month Zamo was stoked about seeing Ogre in concert and this week Zamo refers to him as just "Nude Photo Guy" as if she's never heard of him - oh well. Such is the iguanid attention span.

Zamo's Lament

In news that might appease Zamo, I already have tomorrow's comic drawn and ready to go. And I have the script for next week's ready, too.

About the Election

2008-11-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

So, this week Wilhelm tries to bait Zamo into giving an opinion on the recent election in the States, but the response isn't quite what Wilhelm expected.

Turns out Zamo can't be bothered to be racist, having jumped right up to being speciesist.

About the Election

On the Canadian Election Today

2008-10-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

I don't have time today to post a full-blown comic on the election, but here's a scan of a sketchbook page from earlier today. Enjoy!

The Visa Bill

2008-10-08T21:39:00.001-07:00

So, we're back on track with the schedule, but Zamo isn't back on track with the budget. Or at least, Georgie won't be once she find the Visa bill that Zamo's been hiding.

Want to know what Zamo's been spending it on? Check out this week's Zamo comic.

Zamo Calls Stephen Harper

2008-09-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Better late than never.

Last week was quite busy with school, and so I didn't get last week's Zamo published until yesterday. It's a little nod to the Canadian election where Zamo is trying to find a party her International Iguanas' Union can endorse. Someone who cares about important iguana issues, like ending winter by promoting global warming. Maybe also a national ban on treat rations and parsley.

Harper is just thrilled to talk to Zamo, as you might imagine.

Zamo Calls Stephen Harper

On Message

2008-09-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

This week, Zamo borrows a tip from marketing and spin and practises message repetition to try to win over Georgie's subconscious mind in the fight against treat rations.

On Message

Also, I rejigged the front index/splash page. I thought it would be a good idea to have a nice big (disingenious) welcoming grin, and more user-friendly buttons on the side.

Check it out: New Index File.

Zamo the Destroyer: Fast Food

2008-09-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Oops... it's been an insanely busy month, so I haven't been as consistent with this blog even though the comic's still running.

Anyway, this week, Zamo is picking on Wilhelm yet again, but Wilhelm manages to get the better of Zamo. For the second week in a row.

Zamo will not stand for this sort of thing.

Fast Food

The Monster

2008-08-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Monster

This week, Georgie drags Zamo along for a nice Nature walk at Lost Lagoon, but Zamo's more concerned with self-defense from the monsters that live in the lagoon.

This actually had me looking on the Taser website to check out their wares as research. I figured Zamo'd go for an M18 rather than the C2 which is aimed at women (comes in fashion colors like pink and leopard print!).

The frame of them standing at hte little bridge s probably familiar to many Vancouverites - it seems practically guaranteed to see at least one heron in that spot, and in fact the last time I was there in July a green heron walked right by me maybe 15 feet away (I have some great photos that I really should get posted to Flickr one of these days.)

Anyway, some may point out that herons eat small prey whole, they don't actually peck at innards as Zamo thinks (but hey, Zamo's not really a details sort of iguana when it comes to her phobias.)

Cycling

2008-07-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

This week, Zamo gets stuck running errands with Wilhelm. Much to Zamo's disgust, Wilhelm runs errands by bicycle.

So much for Zamo's visions of riding shotgun in a nice little German sports car. Nope, Zamo gets to ride up front in a wicker bike basket, and she's not too thrilled about it.

Zamo the Destroyer: Cycling

Cherry Picking

2008-07-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the big crop of way-too-high-to-reach cherries on our backyard cherry tree now that the weather has finally turned hot enough to ripen them, I thought of how Georgie might handle that. So, she sends Zamo up the tree in this week's comic, but whether Zamo decides to bring anything back down is a whole other matter.

Zamo the Destroyer: Cherry Picking

Zamo en français: Les Devoirs

2008-07-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Mon français craint, mais je veux le practiquer ici. Prenez patience avec moi, s'il vous plait. :)

Zamo en français: Les devoirs

Cette semaine, Sarah demande à Zamo pour l'aider avec ses devoirs de la classe française. Mais, les questions sont très faciles, et Sarah peut les faire elle-même. Et pourtant, elle espère que Zamo les fera poue elle.

Cette bande dessinée est inspirée par le comportement général parmi quelques de mes camarades de classe - pourquoi devraient-ils se forcer quand ils peuvent obtener les responses de moi ou un autre camarade? Pourquoi achèteraient-ils les provisions quand ils peuvent demander à les embrunter?

Ceci est un programme pour développement des carrières. Dix pour cent de notre notes est pour «le professionalisme» - comment professionnel est-ce que si on ne fait pas ses propres travails? N'a pas ses propres provisions?

Enfin, la bande. La reaction de Zamo reprends le mien, mais je ne peux pas l'exprimer dans la classe pour motifs politiques.

Zamo the Destroyer: Bracelets

2008-07-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Zamo the Destroyer: Bracelets

This week's comic is all about one of Zamo's many summer sidewalk stand scams - er, I mean businesses.

The idea of having Zamo wanting to sell WWZD bracelets came to me last summer, but I ran out of time to get it up before the summer was over.

For anyone who, like my mother, isn't familiar with what I'm spoofing here, this is based on the very popular What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD) bracelets. I'm not sure when they first started, but I know I've seen many earnest Christians wearing them over the last few years.

It's a big enough phenomenon that Zamo wouldn't be the first to do a take on it - as just one example, there's a gentleman in Utah selling What Would Anton LaVey Do? t-shirts. (Scroll down a ways.)

The question remains, though - does Mrs. Churchman buy any bracelets? Maybe even the whole lot just to remove them from the market? I guess we'll find out next spring whenever Zamo gives an accounting of the year's income to Georgie's accountant.

Naughty Monkey

2008-07-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Naughty Monkey

In this week's comic, Georgie thinks that bringing home a new pair of heels will get Zamo the Fashion Nazi off her back, but it doesn't quite work out that way.

The shoes in question are based off a new pair of shoes I have, which you can check out on my Rhett Foxx blog here:

Naughty Monkey Pics

I first stumbled upon Naughty Monkey a couple of years back at Winners. I found the most ridiculous pair of pink suede sneakers with grey and pink boucle plaid fabric sides and a red tulle ruffle around the ankle. And on sale too - how could I resist?

Since then I've seen numerous fun and funky styles by Naughty Monkey, though half the time some other bitch has already snagged them in my size. I got luckier this time and picked these up on sale for $30. I love the detailing, and I thought of how Zamo might react to a brand named Naughty Monkey. And so this week's comic was born.

En français, c'etait la fête du Canada mardi - le début veritable d'été. La classe parlent de activités amusants d'été.

La fête du Canada

David Icke

2008-06-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Zamo the Destroyer: David Icke

Thought I'd give a little bit about how I found out about conspiracy theorist David Icke, as mentioned in this week's comic.

A couple of years ago as I was starting Zamo the Destroyer I was flipping the channels and saw an iguana filling my screen on the Discovery Channel. Naturally I paused to watch, as there is precious little about iguanas on TV.

It only took a second or two for me to notice the film noir-ish lighting and creepy and dramatic music accompanying the iguana. Perhaps a second more to note the clipped British man doing the voice over. He was talking about the reality that the world is ruled by reptiles in human disguise. Apparently the British Royal Family and most world leaders are part of this reptilian ruling class.

Well, I know a great comic idea when I see one, and I had already been planning to have Zamo wanting to take over the world, so it didn't take me too many more seconds to see the potential in this David Icke's ideas. I watched the rest of the show, and its repeat later that night, taking detailed notes this time.

And the rest was just a matter of incorporation.

So, there you have it. Zamo insists the world is ripe for a New Saurocracy and David Icke supports Zamo's insistence and Zamo's insistence is supported by David Icke's ideas.

George Carlin

2008-06-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's not like I'll be the only one writing about George Carlin this week, so I'll skip listing off all his many accomplishments (we all know them anyway) and I'll just provide a more personal account.

I first heard Carlin when I was about 13 or 14, hanging out with my first sort-of boyfriend in his room and listening to Carlin tapes (especially the Seven Words bit). It's probably why I still think of the smell of incense whenever I hear Carlin's voice, and afternoon sun streaming in through filtering sheer curtains and being curled up on a bed.

Anyway, I did pick up my own Carlin CDs eventually (during my high school obsession with squeezing all of the few good CDs out of Columbia House. And whenever Bravo TV aired Carlin specials (as they did every Saturday night for a whole summer a number of years back), I eagerly taped them and watched them over and over again - while painting, while cartooning, while knitting, while doing any number of other things. I must have hours of material memorized or nearly memorized by now, yet there is always more to find online.

Last fall when working on the production of Discorder Magazine, I would find clips from Carlin (and some other comics) on YouTube and keep them going in the background to entertain us and help the time pass faster.

I missed the opportunity to see him live a couple of times in the last few years, always assuming there'd be a next time when it would fit my schedule better. Just goes to show - don't leave it for later if you can do it today.

Just Joined Technorati

2008-06-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

Technorati Profile

"Deal with the Demon" and "Le Sport"

2008-06-18T15:59:00.001-07:00

This week, Mrs. Churchman makes a deal with the little demon that lives next door: Zamo.

Zamo the Destroyer: Deal with the Demon

En français, Zamo and Louis argue about soccer.

Zamo en français: Le sport

Oops...

2008-06-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post the link to this week's Zamo comic.

Zamo the Destroyer: Zamo's Suggestion

June 9th

2008-06-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

It is the 9th of June, and here in Vancouver the rain is still pissing down on us out of the blank silvery white sky.

Zamo would respectully suggest maybe it's time to do something about that. Something ...drastic.

More details in Wednesday's cartoon.

Forgetful Monkeys

2008-06-05T17:17:00.001-07:00

Zamo says, "What's the deal with idiot monkeys who never remember to bring the stuff they need with them?"

I tend to agree.

Oranges and anatomy

2008-06-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

This week, Zamo tries to take slothful gluttony to a new level.

Zamo the Destroyer: Oranges

En français, cette semaine Louis essaye enseigner l'anatomie à la classe, mais Zamo ne s'intéresse pas à le corps human.

Zamo en français: L'anatomie

Zamo and Wilhelm's Bet

2008-05-28T16:38:00.001-07:00

This week, Zamo relieves Wilhelm of his cash.

Zamo and Wilhelm's Bet

Phase one of tweaks over

2008-05-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Just finished uploading some code and CSS tweaks to the entire Zamo site. Some will be invisbile to you readers, like how I made the code more nicely divvied up so I can tell what's what, but some will be visible.

I restricted the width so the site doesn't sprawl all over on wide screens. I added a link to the newest comic page, this blog, and the opening Zamo en français page in the left sidebar, added a links page, added more semantic code stuff like some rollovers on the nav in the comics section, and a couple of rudimentary Flash animations, etc.

Future changes will include some color tweaks, breadcrumbs, more stuff added to the neighborhood tour page, some sub-nav on longer pages, "link to us" banners, some new character description pages and better linking between the character profiles, a browse comics by topic page, more rollovers, and possibly some more French translations (I may actually make a French subdomain and flesh it out that way).

But that'll all have to wait at least a week, and it will probably be done incrementally.

This week's Zamo comics

2008-05-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

It's a two-comic week here at Zamo the Destroyer.

In English, Zamo tries to teach Georgie some choice Spanish phrases. Unfortunately, Zamo's devilish grin gives her not-so-honorable intentions away every single time.

Oh well. Have a look at "Cars and Coke" here.

En français, this week Zamo and Louis face off on the eternal question of whether real Frenchmen really wear berets or not. Lisez-le ici./Check it out here.

Redirects

2008-05-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just finished replacing all the pages on the old Shaw site with a little cartoon of Zamo and Hoppy hitting the dusty trail, bound for their new home at www.zamothedestroyer.com.

So, I should now have caught all my readers to guide them to the new location.

This week: Zamo's Rant

2008-05-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is having the coldest spring in 40 years, and it's wearing on Zamo's nerves a bit.

Zamo's Rant

Yes, it's all Al Gore's fault. How could it not be?

Anyway, in other news that probably doesn't interest anyone much, I have some new coding tricks up my sleeve that I will be applying to the Zamo website later tonight, but it should be pretty seamless.

Update: Yesterday I posted Zamo's Rant, and today the sun finally came out to cook us all. Maybe Al Gore has repented his evil ways? ;)

Up and running

2008-05-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

So, wanna know what the delay was?

Human error. (Or, as Zamo would call it, "inevitable error.")

See, I had typed everything correctly in my domain registration, but misspelled the damn domain when entering it into the hosting thing. :P

Apparently it's a common error (yes, I didn't pick this up until emailing support for help.)

But, it's all better now.

Check out www.zamothedestroyer.com to see the strip in its new home.

Adjustments and whatnot will be made and tested first on my desktop, so you probably won't see too many major changes right away, though there are some small coding tricks I'll probably start implementing immediately.

A new home for Zamo

2008-05-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked up a hosting account at DreamHost and a couple domains. I'm just waiting for zamothedestroyer.com to finish its DNS propagating or whatever is causing a slight delay and then the site will be available.

Once that happens, I'll pop over to the old http://members.shaw.ca/zamothedestroyer site and replace each page's content with a graphic linked to the new location and a little blurb reminding folks to update any bookmarks they might have, and then we're good to go. This should be complete by Tuesday at the latest unless I run into technical glitches.

Of course, I want to reconfigure Zamo's website as it's become a bit unwieldy. I think some subdomains should do the trick. This process might take a while, however.

The Magic Wand

2008-04-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

This week Zamo finds a new toy: The Magic Wand.

Planning for site changes and the move are proceeding well and I've learned a couple of code tricks that should make the navigation building much simpler than the current mess.

Walpurgisnacht preview

2008-04-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow being Walpurgisnacht, I thought this week's Zamo the Destroyer should centre around magic and manifestation. But that's all I'll say for now - you'll have to wait for it to go up tomorrow afternoon. ;)

In other news, I am still making plans for the site's move (hopefully later this month if everything goes as planned.) Some changes will happen immediately while others will be implemented gradually over the next couple of months while I have time. I'm planning to restructure the site into subdomains, but I haven't gotten too much further in the planning of them. And I have to find a spot to stick some Flash animations where they won't look too much like a Web 1.0 passé thing.

There will also be some new written bonus material, including expanded character descriptions, additional content en français, and I might even get around to "getting off my lazy butt" (as Zamo would put it) and drawing some more artist's conceptions of exhibits in the Zamo Anthropological Museum.

Stay tuned

2008-04-24T15:49:00.001-07:00

Check here for news on the upcoming improvements for the Zamo the Destroyer website....

In the meantime, check out the comic here.