Awkward Zombie / Bone: Coda

Issue No. 83

AWKWARD ZOMBIE – FROM THE WEBCOMIC THAT PARODIES VIDEO GAMES OF ALL KINDS

Awkward Zombie: We’re Going To Be Rich
by Katie Tiedrich
2012, 164 pages (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

Awkward Zombie is one of my favorite webcomics. Creator Katie Tiedrich writes a comic that focuses on parodying video games of all kinds, with the occasional strip drawn from poking fun at her own life. Fans of video games will find a lot to laugh at here. We’re Going to be Rich! collects the first 100 comics originally posted to Tiedrich’s website, Awkward Zombie, and is available in softcover or special edition hardcover format.

In this first volume, Tiedrich primarily writes about Nintendo games like Super Smash Bros and various entries in the Legend of Zelda series, with other games popping up occasionally. If you’re a fan of those games you’ll likely love every panel, as Tiedrich has a great ability to point out the funny logical problems present in these games. One of my favorite such comics makes a joke about the potential difficulties with surfing in Pokemon. Even if you’ve never played a particular game she’s referencing, the jokes tend to be broad enough to understand by more general video game fans. You may have never played World of Warcraft, but if you’ve played any role-playing game you may understand the humor in a large character trying to fit into stolen armor that logically should be much too small for them.

Tiedrich’s art stye is perfectly suited to the sort of sideways world parody she excels at. The first couple of comics may seem crude, but they become more refined as the book progresses. It’s kind of funny actually because as Tiedrich develops her own style and the characters begin to resemble each other, she even further exaggerates the physical attributes that make them unique. Being a parody, each character resembles the character it parodies just enough to get the idea, but it isn’t as if Tiedrich is trying to do copies of those characters. She usually makes them even more cartoony than they already are, with fun results (look at how goofy Luigi looks, but it is still clearly Luigi).

One thing I wish was translated into the book a bit more frequently is Tiedrich’s tendency to explain the comic with a note underneath. She self-deprecatingly references this in one of the comics, but it only pops up a few more times after that. Tiedrich seems to think it’s a hokey device, but those are some of my favorite bits of comedy and I miss them here.

If nothing else, it is my hope that you may read this book and follow Tiedrich’s work on her site. She has many more comics available and updates semi-regularly. Fans can even suggest comic ideas on her forum, which she periodically produces. Sadly, We’re Going to be Rich! is the only book she’s released so far, but hopefully there will be more to come. – Alex Strine

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BONE IS POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BEST FANTASY SERIES EVER TOLD. HERE’S ITS CODA

Bone: Coda (25th Anniversary Special)
by Jeff Smith
Cartoon Books
2016, 136 pages, 6.4 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

If you haven’t read Jeff Smith’s Bone series, just stop. Stop reading right now, mid sentence, and go pick up his masterpiece. It’s wonderful. Quite possibly one of the greatest fantasy stories ever told. Once you’ve read that and fallen in love with Smith’s humor and characters, then you can appreciate this follow-up that gives you a reason to revisit the Bone Brothers.

If you aren’t familiar with the Bone series, this coda won’t interest you. It’s a companion piece that includes interviews of Smith, an oral history by comic historian Stephen Weiner, and early illustrations of the Bone characters. I found it compelling to hear that Bone was a story that almost wasn’t. But through determination, some luck, and careful maneuvering, Smith was able to get the comic off the ground. It’s great inspiration for any independent artist out there.

But the best part about this book is that there’s a new Bone story to be had! The brothers and Bartleby are still in route back to Boneville, when in true Bone fashion things go awry. It’s not a long story, or a deep one, but it’s a reminder about everything that was so great about this series. It’s a little heartbreaking that Smith makes a point to define coda as “the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the base structure.” Hopefully we’ll see more from this world, but for now this is a pretty good sendoff. If you’re a completest, you’re going to need to pick this up. – JP LeRoux

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

09/9/25

Portable Performances

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 154

Fan-hosted performances

The Complete Guide to House Concerts

Once all music is available online, for free, what’s a musician to do? House concerts are one alternative. Instead of plying a circuit of poorly-paid bars, clueful musicians can now rely on their fans to organize, promote, and pay for small, intimate, private performances in their homes and other non-traditional venues. Fans win, and performers win (by earning more). This slim book explains to both fans and musicians how this new system works. I’ve been to a couple of house concerts and I found them 100% more enjoyable than arena concerts. — KK

• What is a house concert?The definition’s flexible, but generally, it’s a show that’s presented in someone’s home, or a nearby private space (barn, backyard, shearing tent, you name it).
  • Usually, but not always, the audience capacity is smaller than at a coffeehouse or club.
  • The money collected usually (but not always) goes straight to the performers, with no “profit motive” on the presenter’s part.
  • Often, but not always, house concerts are conducted “by invitation” (for practical reasons we’ll get into later), rather than as “public” concerts like a club or concert hall.
  • Often – again with exceptions – there is little or no “sound system” – performers play and sing acoustically, unless someone needs a little amp for their keyboard.
  • Refreshments, if any, are usually either a “pot luck” brought by the listeners, or provided by the hosts using a bit of the gate receipts.
  • Sometimes – but definitely not always – the performers get a meal and/or lodging with the presenters as part of their compensation.
    — House Concerts, Tom Neff
• The bottom line for traditional venues isn’t pretty. The basic bar gig pays between nothing and $300, unless they’re hiring a big name band that will sell a lot of expensive tickets and alcohol to their audience while they are on stage. The standard cafe either sets out a tip jar or pays you $100 for three to four hours of singing your heart out. And it may be difficult to sell CDs, simply because people have already spent their money on drinks. What’s more, sometimes you get the sense that the audience would really appreciate it if you and your music would stay out of their way while they talk and have a good time.Ready for some good news? You can make considerable more money with alternative venues and have a much better time while you’re at it! If you play a house concert with 50 people and a $20 “donation” per person, you are guaranteed to go home with $1,000. And since house concerts are a practically perfect place to sell CDs, you may sell to 50 percent of the room or more, and at $15 per CD you stand to make an additional $375. If you have more than one CD, this figure will likely be even higher. Not bad for a night where all you have to do is show up, eat a delicious meal, and give a concert to a room full of captivated, music-loving people.
• I’ll be frank with you here. Almost every single great thing that has taken place in my music career has been because of a really dedicated fan. An unbelievable two-week tour of Brazil was set up for me by a fan. I played on nation-wide TV shows, got lots of airplay, was outfitted by clothing sponsors, played at the very best venues in the country, and experienced two of the best weeks of my life, all because of a fan believed in my music.Want more? Because of a fan, I played a show with Crosby, Stills & Nash and Carlos Santana on the same night. The fan set it up. He sold it to the concert promoter. He made it happen. All I had to do was show up and play.What about setting up tours across the country? Yes, my fans have rented out venues or hustled the owners to lend it to them for the night. They have gone on to get amazing press, print up tickets, set up venues, and make it possible for me to play sold-out shows to hundreds of people in towns where nobody has ever heard my music.
• At the end of every house concert, at least one person will approach you because they want to set up a concert with you at their house. And once people find out that Susie is going to host one, many more will want to show you off to their friends and family too. Before the night is through you will be in the lovely position of adding several names and numbers to your house-concert file and following up with them to book a firm date for each show.When you play bars or cafes, it is frequently a struggle even getting the booker on the phone! With house concerts, you are constantly juggling plenty of gig offers, which come with guaranteed money, a guaranteed audience, and a minimum of hassles. What could be better?
  — The Complete Guide to House Concerts
  
  Three portal sites:
  concertsinyourhome.com
  houseconcerts.org
  houseconcerts.com

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Multifaceted mini-amp

Roland MicroCube

As someone who makes his living playing and teaching guitar, I love the tone and power that large, loud amplifiers provide. But there are many times and places where a big amp just doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s just carting it around; sometimes it’s space issues. If you live in an apartment or townhouse, playing a large amp at supersonic volumes can make for some really bad neighbor relationships or even get you evicted. You really can’t take a large amp camping either, unless you use a power inverter and drain your car battery. Also, you have a difficult time taking it traveling on business or vacation.

What to do? For all those places, the Roland MicroCube is perfect. This little amp has been around for about four years and is loaded with features closely related to its larger, louder cousins. The controls on the top provide a wide range of sonic possibilities. Along with a knob for tone, there are controls for gain (think distortion control) and volume. On the back is a headphone output (that shuts the speaker off when in use), an auxillary line input and power in for a 9 volt DC power source. I love portable, and for such a small amp this thing puts out, and with great tone. My favorite setting? Brit Combo with a little distortion along with my lapsteel. — Jeff Bragg

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Backyard hi-fi

Cambridge SoundWorks Portable Speaker System

This is, hands-down, the best portable audio system I have ever heard. It takes a few minutes to set-up and pack-up, and you need a power source to run it, but wow! does it have great sound! I have used it for parties, outdoor BBQs, and on vacation and it never fails to sound great. The included speakers and amplifier, the necessary cables, and your iPod, all pack into the included hard case (which also contains the subwoofer).

My only gripe is that the connections are all clip-connections rather than banana connections, but Radio Shack and other sources sell small banana-style plugs to use with clip connections, making set-up much easier (no frayed wire ends).

I can’t recommend this enough for anyone who wants audiophile-quality music they can take with them to a cabin, condo, RV, or to their backyard as needed. The price is higher than your standard portable units, but Cambridge Sound Works constantly has sales and coupons on the net, making the price a little bit better. In any event, it’s well worth even the full list price!

There are few things I have come across that are “best of class” but this is certainly one. The only other thing I can think of that I have found to be as perfect are metal tongs for cooking; I use those more than any other piece of kitchen equipment to the point that I don’t see how I ever cooked without them. — Torgny Nilsson

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Most portable PA system

Fender PD-150 Pro

There may be slightly better sounding or feature-rich PA systems in this price range, but nothing comes close to the outstanding portability of Fender’s Passport. It’s barely 30 pounds, and when it’s packed up and put together in its slick integral case no moving or delicate parts are exposed to scraping or damage. And since the case tapers at each end, it’s easy to carry without it bumping against my side with every step.

I use it primarily as a sort of keyboard amp for a laptop, also for playing music from an iPod. I play in a band with some friends and plan to use this Fender PA system for small or outdoor shows. There are three of us in the band, and we needed vocal and laptop amplification. The PD-150 has three mic/instrument inputs, so we’re all set.

It’s most cool as PA; the mixer is perfunctory but useful and welcome. It is a trade-off in terms of price, portability and integration, like a boom box versus a component system. The advantage of buying the speakers, amplifier and mixer separately is that you can customize the amount of power, mixer features, and speaker quality that you’d like, but it will be more expensive and harder to transport. The portable PA is just so cool in that it does the basics decently and packs itself into a supercompact little suitcase.

I purchased a PD-150 that I found on Craigslist for $150, but the current model is the PD-150 Pro, which supposedly has better sound quality, and adds a second stereo input. It’s also 3 pounds lighter. — Mark Groner

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Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

09/8/25

Cheapest destinations/Similar song finder/Mini vacuum

Recomendo - issue #478

Cheapest destinations

Every year, Tim Leffel, who runs our sister newsletter Nomadico (a Recomendo for travel) researches the cheapest places to travel round the world. His 2025 Cheapest Destinations report is brief, but very current. Inexpensive regions can extend how long you travel, or raise the level of quality, or both. Cheaper places also make the most difference if you are attempting to work for a while as a nomad. His survey takes that into account. — KK

Similar song finder

This search tool helps you generate playlists based on your favorite music. Just input a song, and it finds similar tracks based on energy, instrumentation, acoustics, and danceability. You can also adjust your preferences. I’ve been discovering artists I never would have found — and songs I instantly love. — CD

Mini vacuum for quick cleanups

This handheld vacuum from HRYCF is a handy helper for small messes. I use it to clean coffee grounds near my espresso station and crumbs on countertops. It offers strong suction and comes with versatile attachments, even converting into an air blower. Its compact design makes it easy to grab. The USB-C rechargeable battery runs for up to 40 minutes. — MF

In a category of one

Martha Stewart, now 82, was the original lifestyle influencer. She built a media empire beginning in the 1970s around herself making stuff, from gardening, baking, to crafts, to home improvement. She was the first woman to become a self-made billionaire. Like many geniuses, she was a bit of a jerk. (I had a chance to interview her mid-career.) What I really like about Martha, the new documentary about her surprising life, is that it reinforces the power of being the only, of being a category of one. Instead of trying to overcome her oddities, her unconventionality, her character weaknesses, she leaned into them hard so that she was unique and had no competition, until she herself was the brand. This later became the goal of many others: “the brand of YOU.” The documentary is extremely well done, a lot of fun because Martha Stewart can’t hide her flaws, and is streaming on Netflix. — KK

How to resist everyday temptations

This is a useful guide for understanding impulsive behaviors and managing everyday temptations, like snacking and binge-watching. What I find helpful is immediately replacing an urge with a healthier and enjoyable alternative — like swapping doomscrolling for a phone call — and creating roadblocks by deleting apps or moving snacks out of sight. More importantly, the guide emphasizes being kind and gentle with yourself, and reminds us that progress comes from consistency and smart tweaks to your environment. There’s plenty of actionable advice here, but the real shift for me was how it normalizes impulsivity without shaming it. With that acceptance, it becomes easier to better understand myself. — CD

Free newsletter for life experiments

I’ve known A.J. Jacobs for 20 years and have read all his books, including his accounts of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, becoming the healthiest person alive, and thanking the 1,000 people involved in his morning coffee routine. His newsletter, “Experimental Living,” is a weekly dose of his signature immersive journalism. Each issue blends memoir, humor, science, and practical self-help tips from his latest life experiments. — MF

Sign up here to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.

09/7/25

Public Speakerphone Fines/What Not to Buy/Biz Class Deals

Nomadico issue #169

Get Some D%#@ Earbuds Already!

Some travel etiquette “no-no” rules are up for debate. Others should not be—like playing sound on your phone or tablet speaker in a public place. This rude behavior won’t just get you an angry stare from those around you if you’re on a train in Ireland. It could cost you a €100 fine from Irish Rail. This follows a public campaign on the London Tube, announcements on many flights, and a few isolated fines so far in public stations. Let’s hope that this highly popular “shame or fine” trend is going to spread quickly since the abuse is so rampant, from biz travelers filled with self-importance to the spoiled kids on iPads.

Things Not to Buy

We’re often recommending products and services on here that are a good fit for working travelers, but here are three products you might want to avoid for now. 1) Spirit Airlines tickets. The company’s CEO expressed “substantial doubt” about its ability to survive, which is bad news if you’re booking a ticket with them for a wedding you need to get to. 2) Cybertrucks. Musk said Tesla would sell a million cybertrucks. They’ve sold 52K instead and already had 8 recalls. 3) Kodak photography products. As with Spirit, the company expressed doubts about the “ability to continue as a going concern” and is trying to pivot to pharma products.

Airline Loyalty Program Changes

This has been a busy month for loyalty programs. Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines’ programs will merge into one October 1. JetBlue inked a deal to offer Condor flights to Europe with its miles—and vice-versa. Frontier has been busy capitalizing on Spirit’s troubles (see above) to take over its routes and is aggressively wooing customers with lots of new loyalty program goodies and status matches.

Business Class Deals to Latin America

Most of the online chatter about business class flights is about status upgrades or cashing in points, but some routes have a much lower premium for the front of the plane than others. As mentioned before, I’ve snagged one-way fares between the USA and Mexico for less than $100 more than basic economy. It’s often a 2X or less multiple when flying further south, on U.S. carriers or foreign ones like Copa, Aeromexico, or LATAM. See info in this article, with actual prices: Business Class Deals for Latin America.

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A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

09/4/25

What’s in my NOW? — Danielle Krage

issue #222

Danielle Krage is a writer and creator of Questful World.

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PHYSICAL

I’ve just completed Ray Bradbury’s 1000 Nights challenge—to read a poem, a short story and an essay a night for 1000 nights (2.7 years). I’ll include one physical item from each of these categories. Ones that delighted me, and I hope you might enjoy too. (Prior to this I read fiction, but hadn’t touched poetry or short stories since school!)

• Poetry collection that I found accessible and dynamic: Machete by Tomás Q. Morín
• Essay collection that made me laugh and cry: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
• Short story collection that was both fun and philosophical: Sum:Forty Tales from the Afterlives, by David Eagleman

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DIGITAL

• This is the Ray Bradbury talk that sparked it all off. (I also took his advice to write a short story a week for a year.) I love his zest and gusto!https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_W-r7ABrMYU?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
• This site sends you a poem a day. (I still chose to read collections of poets I was interested in, but it’s a super easy way to get started if you want to explore more poetry.)

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INVISIBLE

I’m now hooked on doing extended creative Quests, and will be starting a new one shortly. My mantra has become:

Make it hard enough to matter—and fun enough to finish.

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09/3/25

Tiki Style / An Unreliable History of Tattoos

Issue No. 82

TIKI STYLE PACKS A BIG PUNCH FULL OF EVERYTHING UNDER THE TIKIDOM ROOF

Tiki Style
by Sven Kirsten
Taschen
2015, 192 pages, 4.9 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

This little pocket book packs a big punch full of tiki culture with flamboyant images and a fun history. The author Sven A. Kirsten is the go-to guy for everything tiki. He’s the author of the Book of Tiki, which this bite-sized edition pulls from. The book takes you through the origins of tiki in the South Pacific, explains how this island culture worked its way into mainstream Americana, and highlights some of the legends like Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic.

There’s something about Tikidom that’s just fun. The mugs, the artwork, the cocktails – it’s easy to get wrapped up in the tropical fantasy. Maybe it was growing up in grey and rainy Seattle that made me a sucker for tiki, but I can’t get enough and this book delivers. It’s filled cover to cover with photographs, illustrations, and incredible island imagery. So grab your favorite ceramic mug, pour yourself a Mai-Tai and enjoy this fantastic look at the stylish world of tiki. – JP LeRoux

Note: If you already have The Book of Tiki there won’t be anything new for you here, but I’d highly recommend picking up any of Sven’s other tiki books if you want to learn even more about the culture.

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SATIRIST PAUL THOMAS MIXES FICTION WITH FACTS IN AN UNRELIABLE HISTORY OF TATTOOS

An Unreliable History of Tattoos
by Paul Thomas
Nobrow Press
2016, 96 pages, 7.9 x 10.6 x 0.7 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

A minor celebrity/reality star, whose name I can’t remember, said in a recent interview that she thinks of people without tattoos as being “unicorns” because they are so rare. It’s true that today tattoos are much more popular than when I was a kid. In my day, only sailors or criminals had dye permanently etched into their bodies, but according to the graphic novel, An Unreliable History of Tattoos, inking people has been around since Day 1 (think Adam and Eve).

In his first book, award-winning British political cartoonist Paul Thomas loosely traces the origins of body art. There’s definitely a focus on European (and specifically British) history in this book, but Thomas also pokes fun at a few famous Americans. Mixing fiction with facts, (honestly sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s made up) this book is interesting, humorous, and very unusual!

I don’t know if the Upper Paleolithic man really punctured his skin with blunt twigs, nor do I know if King Harold II had his wife Edith’s name tattooed on his chest way back in 1066. Should I believe Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth, had her knuckles tattooed? Was Kings Charles II’s chest covered in permanent ink with names of all his many bedroom conquests? According to this parody, Queen Victoria, Sir Winston Churchill, and even President Obama love body art too. An Unreliable History of Tattoos also touches on Japanese, Greek, Roman and Viking ink. If any, or all, or some of the fun facts in An Unreliable History of Tattoos are true, the thorny roses, tribal arm sleeves, and Mickey Mouse heads that show up on today’s bodies are nothing compared to what came before them. – Carole Rosner

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

09/2/25

What’s in my NOW? — Danielle Krage