What's up Dicky? Did you miss me? Hoss's reign of metal on 21deadmonkeys is now at an end. And what better way to end it than to send him to Valhalla? This strip, we were originally going to animate it in flash and make it all fancy but we ran out of time. It's cool though, cuz I think it turned out well. Did you see that last panel? That's freakin' epic! I'm really proud of that one. I made a copy of it and hung it on Hoss's door for his birthday. Oh yeah, his b-day was yesterday (the 30th). I think we're celebrating either today or this weekend or something though. And yeah, even though I gave him the month of November and a contest devoted to him, he still wants a birthday present. The bastard! It's cool though. I'll probably be buying his ticket to either the Motor City Ska Fest or the Suicide Machines. Most likely I'll end up buying both for him. And I'll probably end up buying Ducky Boy's and the Baron's as well. No, I'm not made of money, I'm just a sucker. So yeah, Happy Birthday HOSS.

Let's talk about the contest for a minute. It's over. Okay moving on... er no, not yet. I want to say thank you to everyone that entered. I honestly didn't think we'd get any entries and I'd have to make up the names of the winners. Low and behold you guys came through. I think we got over thirty entries. That's crazy because I didn't even think thirty people read this site (now watch as my ego explodes...). But, um, yeah, the contest is officially ended but we're gonna wait a few days in case anybody sent their entry by mail. Then Hoss is gonna sit down and go through 'em all. Probably look at technique and skill and color and how much money they sent in... I think the winners will hopefully be announced at the end of next week (don't hold us to this!). This also buys us some time, because some of the stuff we ordered for prizes hasn't arrived yet. Once we get all our shit together and the winners are announced and stuff, whatever we have left will go into our little merch section. But no promises on when that's gonna happen.

I also wanted to add my own little comments on the last couple of comics that went up. First off, I hope no one took offense to the metal meltdown one. I read about what happened with Aaron Barrett and felt really bad for him that it all went down in public like it did. It was really sad to see the message boards light up with shit talking about him. No, I'm not saying you did, but if you take a look around, I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. And I don't know Aaron and I've never met him, but I hope all is well with him. Hugs. Man that sounded kind of sappy, didn't it? Oh well. Hey did you see that dragon I drew in the Hoss's Measure of Metal comic? Originally I was just going to draw it from a picture I had of Hoss and the Baron killing a dragon but the lighting in the picture wasn't that good. Then I was just going to wait until they went dragon hunting again, but they said they didn't know when that was going to be. Eventually, Hoss handed me a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual Core Rulebook III (version 3.5) and pointed to the dragon on page 71 and said "I want to slay that one!" So I attempted it and I think I did an awesome job. I mean seriously, did you see it? Call me Mark McGuire because I am so in awe of myself right now.

Wow, I wrote a lot. There's still more to say, but I think I'm just going to wait until next time... whenever that is. Later.

off the train,
mmr 21

Metal Month has come to an end, sad isn't it? Not really for all you ska kids. Before I go I want to say thanks to all the kids who entered our contest. You guys are the best. It's gonna take me awhile (a week at most) to pick a winner. And a special shout out to my friend Al, this kid totally rocks at every ska show I go to, a nonstop dancing ball of energy. This has been the best birthday ever thanks to you guys. Everyone give themselves a pat on the back, except for that one guy, you know who you are. One more thing, before it goes down, I think you should all go rock out to Testament one last time. I would stay and chat longer but Valhalla is calling to me. I must leave you for now to go fight the hordes and sing tales of Thor with my viking brethren. VALHALLA I AM COMING!!!

HOSS