Posted August 2, 2015 at 8:13 am
(This isn't an ad and I'm not being paid to write this. It's just my honest experience with the product.) Three weeks ago, I replaced most of my diet with Soylent. A food replacement that started production last year, after a successful crowd funding campaign that raised $3 million bucks. Soylent is designed to contain absolutely everything that the body needs. Theoretically, a human being could survive on nothing but Soylent and as long as they were getting a healthy amount of calories, they'd be perfectly healthy (at least as far as nutrition is concerned). Kind of like that goop they were eating in The Matrix. Just not as gross. maxresdefault From what I understand, most people don't outright replace their diet with Soylent. Instead, they use it as a meal replacement when needed. I think I'm one of the rare users of the product that has replaced all but a couple meals a week with the drink. I know that the idea of not eating actual food is unappealing to a lot of people, but for me it's perfect. Sure, I love food. Pizza, sushi, sugar cereal, ice cream... all of this is awesome stuff, but most of the time, eating is a nuisance for me. I'm always racing against deadlines and I forever have two days of work to get done in one day. I'm more interested in finishing more work, than I am in eating. As a result, I often end up choosing the fastest food option, rather than the healthiest. More than once, I've had Pop Tarts for dinner, simply because I wanted to get something in me and rush back to drawing. So the fact that I can walk to the fridge, pour a glass of Soylent, down it and get back to work, is a game changer for me. It not only helps my work schedule, but my health as well. The two or three meals a week that I eat, are usually due to social responsibilities. If I'm out with my family or friends and we go to a restaurant, etc. Ulcers Over the past couple years, I've started to have serious issues with re-occurring ulcers. I can honestly say that when an ulcer hits peak ouchiness, it's by far, the worst physical pain I've ever felt. Too many times, I've found myself curled up on the floor, groaning or even yelling due to the pain. I've been to the hospital a number of times and I'm on prescription meds for it, which helps a LOT. While avoiding really spicy foods or an entire pizza helps smooth things over, food generally hurts at least a little bit. But Soylent... this stuff doesn't hurt. Now I don't want other people with various types of tummy troubles to take what I'm saying as factual evidence. I'm not a scientific study. I'm one guy with one, single experience. So it's important to understand that I'm not telling other ulcer sufferers that this stuff will work for you. Also, I'm only three weeks in with this stuff. Who knows, by week four, my ulcers may come back with a vengeance. But so far, so good. The Taste Okay, so what does it taste like. Well firstly, don't drink it warm. It's just... well... yeah. Don't drink it warm. Yuck. However, when it's shaken up well and served cold, the stuff isn't unpleasant. It's like a very bland smoothie with a hint of vanilla and peanut butter. I wouldn't call it delicious, but it's very easy to drink. I know that some people blend it up with fruit, etc but I've only ever downed it plain. Hunger Of course, when I'm hungry I sometimes think "I could go for a big cheeseburger or something". Though, while Soylent isn't as enjoyable as a steak dinner with mashed potatoes, it's amazing at removing hunger. Seriously, after drinking a glass of this stuff, I'm not the least bit hungry and once I'm done my liquid dinner, any craving for food is just gone. Is This Stuff Safe? Before I ordered Soylent, I did a lot of research on the stuff and while it certainly hasn't been around for long, there is no end to people online speaking about it. Actually, that kind of makes this blog redundant, now that I think about it. Oh well. There are websites talking about how dangerous it is, because it doesn't contain the right vitamins, etc and there are websites talking about how it's perfectly safe. But here are the reasons that I personally believe this stuff to be safe.
  • I eat crap. I mean... I don't literally eat crap, but... well you know what I mean. On a daily basis, I do not get the vitamins and nutrients that I need. So when compared to what I was eating... this goop packed with all manner of vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates all designed to keep someone healthy is definitively a big step up for me.
  • I'm no longer eating processed foods and things covered in icing or ketchup. All that junk that my body definitely doesn't need is pretty much gone. So again, this has got to be a step up on the health... scale. You know, the health... rating... measurement... thingy.
  • A couple years ago, I went vegan for awhile. During that time I accidentally deprived myself of various proteins and such that I need to live and fight crime and stuff. I'm not saying that a vegan diet automatically deprives you of those things, just that a vegan diet done incorrectly, deprives you of those things. I learned as I went along and figured out how much tofu or nuts I had to eat, etc. But here's the thing... each time I was missing out on something that my body needed, I felt it. I either felt sick or weak or in some way icky. My body seems to be really good at saying "Hey, dumb ass! Eat some protein!" or whatever. But for the last three weeks, I've felt pretty damn good. I've been paying attention to my body to see if it seems to be lacking something, but I feel awesome. Granted, no one has lived off Soylent for twenty years to see what happens, but at least I know that three weeks is no problem.
What's The Company Like? This is one of the biggest selling points for me. They seem to be genuinely cool people. They're accessible and friendly and seem really willing to help if you have questions. I jumped in with both feet and got the subscription of monthly orders and my first shipment arrived pretty quickly. It was packaged really well. Here's a pic... CJfevzdWUAAeWgq.jpg large So I know a lot of people will shake their heads and turn up their noses at the idea of this stuff, but I freakin' love it. It's made my life a lot easier. Even if you're just wanting some for the odd time you need a meal replacement, I can highly recommend it. Thanks, -Tarol
Posted July 11, 2015 at 9:29 pm
I just placed a sneak peek of the upcoming Goblins page, under the vote button (located at the top/left of this site). It shows Thaco after he's been "upgraded". Give me a quick vote and you'll get to see the unfinished panel. To see exactly what's going on with Thaco, check out the next Goblins page, which'll be posted as soon as it's ready enough to be shown. If you don't already, follow me on Twitter to get tweets about when the comic is up, etc. It's currently the best way to contact me, as I tend to just leave Twitter up while I draw. If you tweet at me, I'm very likely to respond. Drawing is a very solitary sorta thing, so a friendly hello is always a "make Tarol happy" thing. :) Thank you. -Tarol
Posted July 3, 2015 at 2:45 pm
So I'm about to head out the door and go be in the woods for the weekend. This means that I won't have internet access, etc. I'm passing the daily bonus pages over to a friend so that he can update those while I'm gone. Also, I'm putting the latest Goblins page up as I run off. It's obviously not finished, but I really want to have 'something' for you guys. I really hate how slow the updates are, due to working on G:AR. However, I'm really making great headway with the game and I'm enthusiastically racing to the point where I can focus all of my energies on my first love, my comic. A lot of people continue to ask me if the game will be available for anyone to purchase, even if they didn't back the Kickstarter. If the game reaches physical form, you'll be able to buy it. And I can't give out any information yet, but I've been talking to some people and things look very promising. I'll go public with more details once I'm allowed to. I'm still hoping to get that Kickstarter backer list. If you've moved, etc. Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll make sure that you're not ignored. Follow me on Twitter for a nigh-daily look at a G:AR card and for other nonsense. Thanks and I'll see you on Monday! -Tarol
Posted June 11, 2015 at 3:44 pm
The Federal Trade Commission has squished some guy who claimed he was making a board game and went to Kickstarter. He asked for $30,000 and got $122,000 and guess what. He didn't make the game. He did announce to his backers that the game would never be made, though. What a nice guy. Anyways, the guy is actually ordered to pay back the backers! How awesome is that?! Click right here to read about it. What does this situation remind you of? Anything? Oh, that's RIGHT! Goblins: Alternate Realities! Evertide Games asked for $30,000 to make a game, too! Except they didn't get $122,000... they got $182,000. And while this other guy told his backers that the game project was cancelled, Richard James (CEO of Evertide Games) just kinda... disappeared with the money. And while this other guy gave a few people refunds, Richard was still making NEW sales for his nonexistent Goblins: Alternate Realities merchandise for two years before he finally (recently) took that page down. And while the other guy doesn't have a warehouse of Goblins merchandise, books and convention banners that disappeared with him and the money... Richard does. Y'know, when I compare this other guy to Richard, this other guy seems like the lesser of two evils. At any rate, I'm going to the FTC with this story. If he'd contacted me with some kind of reasoning for what's happened, my reactions would be very different, but I'm giving Richard mountains of opportunities to contact me with some kind of explanation. I've been understanding and taken the "Let's work this all out together, I know how being overwhelmed can feel" route, but he's never contacted me (or anyone). So screw it. If there's a chance I can get the thousands of backers some of their $182,000 back, I'm all over that. If you're a G:AR backer and you want to help out with this (or even if you're just somebody who wants to see this come to somewhat of a happy ending for the people who were ripped off), please contact the FTC as well. I don't usually call for Goblinites to do something 'spamy' like this, but this is a lot of people who lost a lot of money. Click here to go to the FTC site. The actual amounts are... $177,850 Direct payments through Kickstarter $5314 Payments made to the Kickstarter campaign through Paypal/credit cards $??? Roughly two years of profits from his ongoing, merchandise sales for G:AR products that were never to be made and shipped. As for the actual game, I've been playtesting it with friends and brought the finished product into focus. Lately, my efforts have been on drawing/creating the actual cards. It's a slow process and it's slowed down the amount of time spend drawing Goblins. I can say for certain, that it will definitely be made available for everyone to play online. Programs like Tabletop Simulator will make that possible. As for G:AR becoming a physical game that people can hold in their hands... I'm doing everything I can, but it's still a big question mark. You can contact me on Twitter for whatever you need (Click here). Thanks! -Tarol
Posted June 10, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Just wanted to let you all know that there's currently a brand new sneak peek of the upcoming Goblins page hidden under the TWC vote button located at the top/left of the Goblins website. Don't worry, it's not all super spoilery. Thanks! -Tarol
Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:18 pm
It's a new month and time to see how well we can do on the TWC list. I've just placed a sneak peek of the upcoming Goblins page under the vote button (upper-left corner of this site). It's four panels complete with text! You can also vote for Goblins (and any other webcomic on the TWC list that you like) every day! Also, if you'd like to read each Goblins page a few days early, you can help me out over on my Patreon (click right here for the Patreon page). Chipping in one buck per update (which works out to be about 3 or 4 bucks a month) gets you access to each Goblins page as soon as I finish penciling it. You can read it before it's inked and coloured! Thanks, -Tarol
Posted May 15, 2015 at 2:36 pm
The upcoming Goblins page shows a room with a LOT of dead adventurers in it. I have a neato idea. If you'd like your favourite D&D character to be immortalized as one of the dead adventurers, email a picture of your character to goblins@dccnet.com  <-That's an email link.

The Rules

  1. The picture doesn't have to be all expertly drawn. It just needs to clearly show what he or she is supposed to look like (including gear). If I can't really understand what the character is supposed to look like, I'll probably just pass it by, so be clear.
  2. Notes are okay, but keep it short. I'm going to be getting a lot of emails for this, so I won't really have time to read all about the background of your character, etc. I'm sure it's really interesting, but I'll be paying more attention to pictures that I can look at and instantly get a good idea of what to draw.
  3. Sending me a picture doesn't guarantee that your character will appear in the comic. Like I said, I'm going to be getting a lot sent to me.
  4. By sending me a picture of your character, you are giving me permission to draw that character and use it in my comic, on my site or on any merchandise or promotional material. You are also claiming that you are the creator of that character and you're not sending me a Dragon Ball Z character or something (I have to be thorough with this legal stuff. I'm not looking to steal your ideas, I just don't want to get sued down the road).
  5. Finally, thank you for the use of your character and I'm so very sorry that he or she had to die in this room like this. But it's okay, this is an alternate reality and your character *may* still be alive in your reality. It's going to be okay.
Thanks! -Tarol
Posted May 9, 2015 at 10:42 am
If you click on the vote button at the top of the site, you'll see a glimpse of the upcoming Goblins page. It's an... erm... "epic" battle. By clicking the vote button, you also help to support Goblins by spreading the word about it. Thanks! -Tarol
Posted May 5, 2015 at 5:17 pm
I'm trying to get back into the habit of live broadcasting my drawing. I miss the good times we all had! Anyways, I'm firing up the broadcasty goodness now. If you're reading this hours after I've written it, I may have stopped. But go make a Twitch account (if you don't already have one) and then favourite my channel. That way you'll get an email whenever I go live. Or you can follow me on Twitter, since I always mention there, when I'm live as well. Come and chill out with us and either join in the chat or lurk in the shadows. :) Thanks, Tarol
Posted May 2, 2015 at 12:01 am
Under the vote button (found at the top of this website), you'll find a brand new sneak peek picture of the hallway that the goblins have to travel down. So what about you? Would you think that hallway was trapped? Would you be one of those players that starts throwing copper pieces down the hallway to see if spikes fly out of the walls or something? Thanks, Tarol
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