Flashback time! This comic was originally posted by MINIUSA at their MINI Takes The States website. This was the first in the series and never actually published on My Geek Odyssey. With the ever changing interwebs the link has been removed (although still working on a blogpost from July 31- who knows how long that will last) and I really wanted to make sure that it was here for you.
As the story goes I submitted this to MINI near the end of July and while I was in Terre Haute (and Cecil was being thrown off buildings) I received a call asking if I might be able to integrate the theme song into some part of the strip. This was done by adding the introduction and changing the words to the song I was singing in the first panel. I was originally singing Tom Lehrer’s “Be Prepared” for those who want to start creating the My Geek Odyssey Trivia game – look for it at GenCon next year 😉
How did I get this gig? I have received mixed stories, but it all started with a strip I did in June dealing with the lack of information about MTTS, which brought the strip to the attention of MINI and the folks who were working hard to make it happen. After a week (was really listening the Blues Traveler with a bunch of friends from across the country just last week?) I’m finally taking today to upload all the photos so look for them on Flickr soon.
I hope this posting makes up for missing two days this week (although if I do the math (to take care of my guilt) having strips on Saturday & Sunday does make it so I had 5 strips… Yes, I know it still doesn’t count.
So today marks the end of MINI Takes the States for 2010. After all this fun and adventure I just have to wonder why more car companies don’t try to embrace their owners in a similar fashion… I know some try- but I have been amazed at everything. MINI creates an atmosphere where we as owners make our car and member of the family, in turn they treat us and members of their family (actually sometimes better). I know I posted a long time ago about not having information out in a timely manner, but I also said I knew it would be fantastic… and it was. To all the folks who worked so hard to make Cecil, Sue , Mongo and me feel appreciated and special thank you.
Also I have donated all the original artwork (meaning no color & may have mistakes in it) to Ryan’s MINI Adventure so check with them if you are interested in owning part of My Geek Odyssey.
I will come back after I go through my photos and post about MINI Takes The States and this entire project. It has definitely been an experience. Tomorrow we return to the basic black & white strip and posting only on weekdays.
MINI does know how to throw a party… hence the rush this morning (need to make it to another rally) I’ll post details later. Woo Hoo!
It’s later now… A wonderful party that did include a fantastic wedding of two MINI owners (exchanging keys… ceremony read from the owner’s manual)
GOOD NEWS! For those who enjoyed the MINI Takes The States comic strips The original artwork (drawn into the wee hours of the night & signed by yours truly) are starting to make its way to Ebay. The proceeds from the auctions will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you are interested check them out at the following link- and look for more once I get the remaining ones into the mail.
Denver Garage Party
Bidding on this strip ends August 28th SO Let’s go out and raise some money in the name of Ryan’s MINI Adventure!
I would have posted this last night but my Internet connection was a little “dodgy”
This has been a great trip and tonight we get into Denver. Yesterday definitely was a long day (and hot). Besides Adam losing his hood scoop we had a great time. I’ll try to get a blogpost together rehashing everything that has happened, but it won’t be until we get back.
For regular readers just a reminder that we will be posting Saturday & Sunday. On Monday we return to our regularly scheduled programming (in Black & White).
Today was a great drive through Missouri and into Kansas City. We started off on time in St. Louis and “dawdled” taking our time across the state. The journey ended at Baron MINI where they really treated us well, I for one was very impressed. Sue and I sampled various unique snow cone flavors – I had a Blackberry Lavender, and Sue had a Watermelon Basel. Cecil and Mongo (unfortunately for us) found the Red Vine licorice and the pizza. After coveting our friend from Toronto, Christina’s MINI purse Sue decided to pick one up, which lead to the purchase of a shirt for me and a “rubbish bag” for Penfold. But we are now in Kansas, and tomorrow we head out to drive to Dodge City. Which I am looking forward to seeing some of the historic sites and enjoying the company of good friends who understand when I’m just kidding around… right Janet?
GOOD NEWS! For those who enjoyed the MINI Takes The States comic strips The original artwork (drawn into the wee hours of the night & signed by yours truly) are starting to make its way to Ebay. The proceeds from the auctions will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you are interested check them out at the following links- and look for more once I get the remaining ones into the mail.
August 12th strip (Kansas)
Bidding on this strip ends August 28th SO Let’s go out and raise some money in the name of Ryan’s MINI Adventure!
So you are driving along with over a hundred of your closest friends and what do you do (Besides sing “The Wheels on the MINI”) to help make the trip interesting?
We have arrived in St. Louis and after playing some catch up and a few glitches (nothing major) it was nice to have a little time to get caught up. I guess posting this after midnight is being caught up. Tomorrow (Today?) we are off to Kansas City, MO. We will end up losing a few people who are heading straight to Denver for MINIs in the Mountains as the rally heads to Dodge City.
Today’s highlights- Cecil did finally get the Vandalia Dragon Cache although I was a little upset to find out that it had been painted covering up the drawing I did back in 2006 (not graffiti I was given the paint pen by the person who owns the dragon). Sadly no geocache at the world’s largest catsup bottle… there should be.
What will tomorrow bring? Just another adventure.
GOOD NEWS! For those who enjoyed the MINI Takes The States comic strips The original artwork (drawn into the wee hours of the night & signed by yours truly) are starting to make its way to Ebay. The proceeds from the auctions will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you are interested check them out at the following links- and look for more once I get the remaining ones into the mail.
August 11th strip (Vandalia Dragon, Catsup Bottle)
Bidding on this strip ends August 28th SO Let’s go out and raise some money in the name of Ryan’s MINI Adventure!
So it begins. First of all it was hot, really hot at the Motor Speedway so most people ended up with a popsicle & blue lips. I was a little concerned about how Tink would do (Sue took Barrett) but she handled like a trooper. Afterwards we hung out with some of our friends ending up at Gramboli’s Pizza after hearing comments of “not barbecue again.” Tomorrow it is off to St. Louis.
As for being able to see the MINI Countryman up close (we had seen the Beachcomber in Detroit, but not allowed to get anywhere near it). While there are people who still say it is too big, I would disagree. It fits a market that MINI has had some difficulty reaching, but still is smaller than the majority of the cars out there. This is definitely not a Ford Expedition. I liked it and could see it becoming the new caching mobile since with a be it more clearance we won’t have mechanics look at us funny when they clean dead grass from the undercarriage. But it is still a decision for the future.
As for our first day at MTTS- Like I said months ago when I was complaining about a lack of information… I knew it would all come together, as always the only thing that couldn’t be controlled was the weather… it was hot and I think the veterans from 2006 were hoping for the air conditioned room MINI had set up for that stop- it was not to be.
So after fantastic launch parties in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, & Chicago MINI Takes The States has hit the road & is heading for Indy. Today’s event is a lap around the track and dinner at the Indy dealership. So What about my command center? Well, this time around MTTS is wired with Twitter feeds, Facebook, Flickr, and all this on top of White Roof Radio updating with videos along the route (if it isn’t sate to text and drive… is it safe to vodcast & drive?) So I’ve been trying to keep up- unfortunately Ustream doesn’t work on the iPhone or IPad.
As with any drive there are casualties and I’m sure Janet is the only one who has received a ticket for taking liberties with the speed limit. North Carolina 55 mph I know from experience. Hope to see some of you on the road!
A quick note to regular readers: Don’t get spoiled with the double sized color strips this week… Once I get back (and school starts) we will be back to single black & white comics during most of the week.
MINI Takes the States has started and will be rallying through my backyard on Monday. Sue & I (and the monkeys) are ready to go. We will be meeting everyone at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the afternoon. People have asked how you might spot me along the route- I’ve been replying “Easy! I’ll be the one in the MINI.” With that said I’ll be the one with the “Cartoonist” sign on my MINI.
Look for this on the back of the MINI or Mini I'll be driving during MINI Takes The States 2010.
Which MINI are we taking? Picking a MINI for a trip is kind of like saying to one of your kids “We’ve decided to take your brother on an Alaskan Cruise with us this year… not you.” Not always the best way to show you care. For non-MINI owners let’s just say MINI marketing has done a bang up job to get you make your MINI a family member. So Sue and I did discuss which we should take and decided on Penfold (My MINI) for a few reasons. First, Sue wanted to keep the mileage down on her MINI (always practical Sue). Penfold is already way out of any thing that would resemble a warranty with 81,000 miles. Sue’s MINI also is still stock, and while that isn’t a bad thing, Penfold has a few modifications which help him to stand out. MINI United mirror caps, and a “Zoomer’s” exhaust that the kids at the dealership car wash on Saturdays always comment on. So does Sue’s mom but not in the same positive tone. Penfold missed out on MTTS 2008 and Mini Meet East meets West, so… for these reasons Penfold will be taking us to Denver.
Why not Tink? If the date for MTTS had been this weekend so I had a week to get back- I would have taken the Tink and had a great time. I just can’t push my luck when I need to leave Denver Sunday morning and be back in Indy to meet my students Monday. Tink will be at the Motor Speedway taking a lap so she doesn’t feel left out, then again so will Barrett (Sue’s MINI), we wouldn’t want any of our MINIs to feel left out or unloved.
We did arrange with Todd (of White Roof Radio, Toddsmods, Motoringbadges, etc.) to get some MTTS graphics for each car. Why haven’t they been added to the cartoon? I haven’t put them on yet. Sue and I right now are going for the “artistically asymmetrical” look, but who knows what will happen before Monday.
Yes, Monday starts the comic strip for MTTS (this one was an extra added bonus). So starting Monday I will be doing 7 days straight of double sized color comics. You’ll be able to find them here or on the official MINI Takes The States site. Enjoy!
For those who have been following some of my posts I might have mentioned something about a secret project I was working on which has caused me to be a bit behind on the strip. Well the secret is out… I have been asked by MINIUSA to take the comic on their big rally marking the end of Summer- MINI Takes The States. So starting August 9th until the 15th My Geek Odyssey will be on the road & in color. I’ll be dragging the studio along with me as we travel to Denver with a whole lot of our MINI friends. What will happen along the road? No idea… That’s why I’ll be doing the strip on the fly. I’ve taken over the coloring duties since Ben has been on vacation and will continue to color these strips since I have no clue when I will actually get them done.
You may be wondering how this got started… Well, I did a Friday strip at the beginning of the Summer that was a commentary on MTTS which ended up with a few phone calls from the people putting this whole ginormous event on. While we talked they brought up the idea of continuing the comic as the event went on. My response was “sure” since I was going to do it anyway. The first of my efforts has been sent out as a link to those who have registered for the event, so if you got the “Know before you go” email and didn’t read the entire thing you might have missed it. I was finishing up this strip (more like a comic page) Tuesday while at my workshop. Added to what I had worked on before was the top panel integrating the song and I tweaked some color things that I had missed when I first sent it (stuff I would know was wrong but no one else would) so if you haven’t seen it here is the link- http://www.eventjack.com/registration/minitakesthestates2010/announcement/PDF/my-geek-odysssey-cartoon-series-1.pdf
The actual strips during the rally will be posted in both on the event page & here.
To me this kind of brings it all back around to what started this strip which was a MINI event – MINI United. I now have the chance & a bit more experience to do MINI Takes The States the way I would like to have done MINI United (now that I have looked back on those strips). Of course lots to do before school starts but amazingly enough it will get done “it’s amazing the things that would never have been accomplished if it wasn’t for the last minute.”
