Questionable Content 8: OMG I SHIP IT

[Gnoman]

I can't put my finger on it, but these Emily-centric strips really highlight something that's been bugging me since she was introduced. She looks wrong, somehow. I'm not sure if it's the proportions of her head, or the angles in her face, but she's somehow subtly out-of-style for the strip.

[Starbuck_II]

I can't put my finger on it, but these Emily-centric strips really highlight something that's been bugging me since she was introduced. She looks wrong, somehow. I'm not sure if it's the proportions of her head, or the angles in her face, but she's somehow subtly out-of-style for the strip.

She's created out of non-Euclidean dimensions. So she, of course, will seem wrong.

[eee]

Ah, feel the LUV!!!

[IthilanorStPete]

No Randy?

[Traab]

No Randy?

Or Shebly!

[IthilanorStPete]

Or Shebly!

I know! How can we promote Questionbubble Continent without Shebly?!

[Traab]

I know! How can we promote Questionbubble Continent without Shebly?!

Quickly! Someone summon the Shame Orb to guilt him into doing it!

[eee]

These two seem pretty determined. And really bad shots. I wonder if they've chugged down too much non-non-alcoholic eggnog to shoot straight?

[eee]

At least they're enjoying themselves. Not.

[eee]

Uh-oh. If Faye's started drinking heavily again...

[Discus-Spinner]

Adding shots to coffee may not count as "heavily". Heck, some of the alcohol will evaporate.

But who adds nice whisky to coffee? If it's nice, it tastes nice on its own account; you don't want to swamp it with coffee flavour. Frikkin' barbarians.

[Morquard]

Is it me or does Faye look like she lost 30 pounds since the last time we saw her?

[stsasser]

Adding shots to coffee may not count as "heavily". Heck, some of the alcohol will evaporate.

But who adds nice whisky to coffee? If it's nice, it tastes nice on its own account; you don't want to swamp it with coffee flavour. Frikkin' barbarians.

Glenfartin may be a single-malt, but it's not all that good.

[Kato]

Adding shots to coffee may not count as "heavily". Heck, some of the alcohol will evaporate.

But who adds nice whisky to coffee? If it's nice, it tastes nice on its own account; you don't want to swamp it with coffee flavour. Frikkin' barbarians.

Well, I'm neither a coffee nor a whiskey enthusiast (well, not an anything enthusiast when it comes to foods, I guess) but I think it is common to mix proper ingredients to get a real good composition. Including Irish Coffee. Or whatever the result would be. Then again, putting good whiskey in bad coffee (or actually vice versa) seems like it's a waste of either.


Though, you might be right on the "getting wasted" bit... but then this is not really anything new for Faye, so I'm not sure.

[Discus-Spinner]

A lot depends whether "good" actually means "really good" or just "not crap". You use good steak in a steak and kidney pie, but you probably don't use prime Wagyu...

Really good single malt deserves to be appreciated in its own right. Irish coffee merely calls for a not-actually-disgusting blended.

[eee]

I wonder if the April "F*ck Off" is going to be collective, or if I'll do something really spectacular and the President will be moved to comment. I have to say, it would be a SINGULAR honor to be insulted vulgarly by the leader of the Free World.

[Kato]

I wonder if the April "F*ck Off" is going to be collective, or if I'll do something really spectacular and the President will be moved to comment. I have to say, it would be a SINGULAR honor to be insulted vulgarly by the leader of the Free World.

I'll... just assume you're using that phrase ironically.
D'Oh, Jeph removed the Yellingbird comic? But now I don't know what to expect each month and how to prepare against it... dang it.


So, Faye DOES take the bad way to solve her problems... yikes Godd thing she already is in therapy.

[eee]

And she IS drinking heavily again. Oh dear. But since she bothered to talk to Dora about it, I assume she's trying to get an authority figure to tell her to stop...

RE the Yelling Bird comic: Oh poo, it IS gone. I wonder why. Was Yelling Bird (gasp) CENSORED???

[Shogo]

*shrugs* Still can't feel sorry for Faye. Not least of which because I saw something much more interesting to comment on in this very thread.

Alcohol that tastes nice of its own account? What devilry and witchcraft is this? I find myself forced to accuse you of tomfoolery if you expect me to believe that.

I've never once encountered an alcoholic beverage that tastes good on its own. In fact, I need it to be mixed with something just to tolerate it. (Although I wouldn't mind giving Mead a try.)

Please. Enlighten me. Describe to me these mystical alcohols.

[Flickerdart]

Alcohol that tastes nice of its own account? What devilry and witchcraft is this? I find myself forced to accuse you of tomfoolery if you expect me to believe that.

I've never once encountered an alcoholic beverage that tastes good on its own. In fact, I need it to be mixed with something just to tolerate it. (Although I wouldn't mind giving Mead a try.)

Please. Enlighten me. Describe to me these mystical alcohols.

I used to be like you. Then I took a Trappist ale to the tastebuds.

Anyhow, here's a list of alcohols you should try:

• Hard cider: Generally very similar to soft cider except for a slight edge. I was spoiled by a great craft cider place in Pittsburgh - Arsenal Cider House - that has a sweetness range like wines (from sweet to bone dry), usually what you'll find on the shelf is sweet or semi-sweet.
• Mead: There are a lot of different things calling themselves mead - wine sweetened with honey is the most common and also the least good. Get your mead from a proper meadery - if your state allows shipping alcohol, you can just order it from their website. Or you can make your own - mead was the first alcoholic beverage for a reason, and that reason was that it's hella easy. Arsenal periodically has meads on tap. If you live close, I 100% recommend the drive up.
• Wheat beer: Predominantly German (weissbier) and Belgian (witbier), wheat beer is lighter and more palatable than bitter IPAs, robust stouts, or pisswater lager. Expect notes of banana and cloves in abundance. Blue Moon tries to be this and fails miserably; it shouldn't be hard to find a Hofbrau or Weihenstephaner bottle.
• Sour ale: This is an oddball style of beer that won't be served everywhere, with a distinct sour taste. In fact, it almost doesn't taste like beer at all.
• Bock/doppelbock: Essentially a strong lager. Troegenator is a very good example.
• Belgian pale ale: A sweeter take on pale ales (American or Imperial Pale Ales are NOT the same thing!). Leffe Blonde is a common option that's very palatable, if not super exciting.

For the beers, the best thing to do would be ordering a flight at a pub. A flight is 4-6 small glasses of different beers, essentially a sampler that lets you try a bunch of stuff without committing to any particular pint, though many bars will simply let you get a sample of something if you're considering whether or not to order it.

[Fawkes]

I'll... just assume you're using that phrase ironically.

In case you're not familiar with that expression...

[Ibrinar]

*shrugs* Still can't feel sorry for Faye. Not least of which because I saw something much more interesting to comment on in this very thread.

Alcohol that tastes nice of its own account? What devilry and witchcraft is this? I find myself forced to accuse you of tomfoolery if you expect me to believe that.

I've never once encountered an alcoholic beverage that tastes good on its own. In fact, I need it to be mixed with something just to tolerate it. (Although I wouldn't mind giving Mead a try.)

Please. Enlighten me. Describe to me these mystical alcohols.

Since I don't particularly like alcohol either my two scents: The
mead I tried really was quite tolerable compared to most other things. Still not something I would drink because of it's taste but I don't have to force myself to drink it.
There is a big range for wine and beer though and I don't know much of it.
While traveling through a wine growing area I did drink some wine I didn't find bad, probably on account of high sweetness and not much of the disgusting taste components.(Hmm I have trouble finding the correct translation for Frühlese, anybody here that knows?)
And I tried a fruit lambic a while ago (st louis kriek lambic) and it was actually better than mead. I might willingly drink it at parties if I could get it as cheaply as normal beer. Only the aftertaste had the taste components I find unpleasant and it wasn't strong. Though I guess that might count as mixed.

[Flickerdart]

Yeah, lambics are pretty un-beery, but they're pretty rare and unreasonably expensive.

[Coidzor]

Yeah, lambics are pretty un-beery, but they're pretty rare and unreasonably expensive.

They're rather good though, I think because they've all got some angle on craftsmanship which is the reason they still exist rather than having been driven to extinction by mass-marketed "pilsner."

And I really, really miss party supply stores the size of grocery stores with all kinds of spirits that one can't normally find in liquor stores and have to know about to order online if you can even secure shipping. Small liquor stores are just... depressing and chintzy-feeling after that wonderful experience of being able to actually see an entire section devoted to lambics and ciders.

I suppose that's all the more reason to start homebrewing though, so I can get to the point of being able to produce my own lambic.

[Discus-Spinner]

Faye's definition of "good stuff" now turns out to be "stupidly potent", so the point is moot here, but regarding actual good whisky; the flavours have a depth and complexity that probably exceed anything else for sheer interest value except good wines and the best restaurant cooking. They're like the most sophisticated classical music; they're not really meant to be simple, appreciating them properly involves getting your senses attuned, and sure, maybe not everyone will ever get them. But even a beginner (which I myself am, really) can sometimes take a sip and go "wow", and anyone with an open mind and a full set of working senses should be able see that there's something going on.

In other words, Claire's reactions in the comic were actually somewhat realistic.

Good single malts aren't usually sweet, though. Going to them and expecting lots of sugar is like going to Bach and expecting bubblegum pop. And sometimes, well, some things just don't work for some people. I'm sure that I'll never get my head around the island malts that have a distinct taste of iodine...

[Coidzor]

Good single malts aren't usually sweet, though. Going to them and expecting lots of sugar is like going to Bach and expecting bubblegum pop. And sometimes, well, some things just don't work for some people. I'm sure that I'll never get my head around the island malts that have a distinct taste of iodine...

Yeah, alcohol is not candy, and one should stop and re-examine things if that's the aesthetic one is approaching things from.

There are many distinct flavors and qualities exhibited by different alcoholic beverages, to the point where thinking that they all taste the same means there's something wrong with either the size and/or nature of the sample or the person doing the sampling has some underlying issue that prevents them from experiencing a reality that is akin to most when it comes to flavors.

[Ibrinar]

Who has said they taste the same?
(Though it doesn't particularly matters whether something has many subtle taste components, if you can't stand the overall taste of it. Take beer as said something like a fruit lambic is tolerable but even with more common variations people claim there are significant differences, however I usually find beer disgusting which tends to overshadow any smaller variations.)

[eee]

Tai is really pretty together. I hope she and Dora can stay the same: Together.

And life with Emily continues to be... interesting. She should have kept some of those condoms for her date with Clinton. So they could blow them up and twist them into animal shapes. That's probably her speed...

[golentan]

Judging by the expression on Claire's face in the last panel, she may go play hide and seek with Marten.

[Kato]

Judging by the expression on Claire's face in the last panel, she may go play hide and seek with Marten.

I... think they said they wanted to take things slow? We'll see how fast that means.