Dear Whelky: Why do the other kid's cheetos taste better than when I bring my own?

Because the Law Of Other People's Food is in play: Other people's food tastes better and imparts no calories because you did not bring it. It's why stolen goods look better than legally acquired ones.

Dear T.W.: Any advice for a "starter's set-up" for someone who is just starting to indulge an interest in cartooning? (Mostly computer-based, but the best pen & paper for scanning would also be good).

Hmm I have no idea on the computer front, id say work on magic life drawing and draftsmanship first - the drawing on the right side of the brain (the workbook!) has some great 101-level exercises for people who have never held a pencil before. From there you can figure out how to simplify and cartoon-ize - doing lots of really fast "gesture" drawing helped me to loosen up a lot and get just the basics in - but that was years and years of practice. Avoid anything like Drawing Cartoons for fun and profit/draw the Marvel way, etc. Scammy scam scam scams.

Computer wise? I wouldn't know, I'm still a traditionalist, I do all my washes and stuff by hand (although I do them on separate sheets of paper and then scan them in, animation students taught me that). And I don;t think any current tablet out there really matches the feel of paper and ink, at least with the same level of control - tho I hear the super pricey new portable Wacoms are pretty damn close.

But cartooning is weird, you can be a shit craftsman and still draw a huge audience with voice/tone/etc (see say Xkcd...) Bad habits, when done consistently enough, become "style" sometimes. For the hoobyist, I'd say just draw was amuses you and don't get to much into hock. It's supposed to be a fun, cheap kind of thing.

(Any decent scanner will pick up paper and pen lines, MICRONs are the industry standard, and they're everywhere. I use them with vellum or illustration board, very smooth, glossy covering that creates crisp, wet-looking lines.)Some people swear my blue col-erase pencils for sketching but modern scanners pick those up now, I usually just pencil on drafting paper and then put the vellum over it on a lightbox and trace.)

Mr. Whelk:

Who put the bomp in the bomp-she-bomp-she-bomp?

As a corollary to this, who put the ram in the ram-a-lama-ding-dong?

Whoever put the shoop in the shoop shoop ee oop.

Halfway serious question this time around, because you are a dapper gentleman, knowledgeable in all matters of style:

What is the necklace/chestpiece thing the blond guy is wearing at 0:49 of this video? Does it have a name?

I have never seen that before, for any examples like it. It looks like a shiny shiny necklace worn under a suit and ..vaguely military? Eastern European? I have No. Idea.

No worries! Thanks!

As a military insignium it's called a Feldkragen (English:gorget). It was worn by the Feldgendarmerie (military police)in WWII. But that's not what he's wearing. I think his kind of Pektoral is called a Mr T.

Thanks, jouke!

How're you feeling today Whelky?

Spritely! I basically slept for 23 hours this weekend and appear to have shaken it off. I wrote 2125 words today! I am going to pretend that is a lot. I'm ready for both the New Yorker AND the Suoernatural premiere tomorrow.

Excellent! 2125 is several book's worth if you ask me.