Clockwork Chap

Casa
Uruguay
Montevideo
Clockwork Chap

Freelance writing, comic book lettering, comic book coloring, design, sound editing, odds and ends.

Contact the Clockwork Chap for the following: articles and essays on all nerdy subjects (comic books, roleplaying game, science fiction, etc), videogame flavor text, roleplaying game text, comic book lettering and coloring, custom short comic scripts and short prose stories. And if you're not sure, just ask, and he'll see if it's something he can do.

13/04/2026

My Life Without A Jetpack - It's A Name

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/322

My sister Silvia knew how to drive me crazy, even if she wasn't doing it intentionally. She's no longer with us, but not a day goes by that I don't think of her, and that I don't miss her. All the family does. Speaking of superheroes, too bad Flash didn't show up in the Batman TV show when she and my sister Laura read the on-screen sound effects out loud for me: bit.ly/nojetpack133.

Music this time is not from the year the strip takes place, because one of my sister's favorite singers, Rodrigo, had already passed away a decade earlier. I chose the song Lo Mejor del Amor, from his 1996 album of the same name:

https://youtu.be/w3OuRpcJ5iY

28/03/2026

My Life Without A Jetpack - Squirrel Boy

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/321

I have to admit that I don't remember this, but it was something that my family liked to talk about all the time. Rabies, luckily, was out of the question, as it's extremely unlikely that squirrels can contract (and therefore transmit) rabies.

This time music is the song Wild Life, from Visage's 1982 album The Anvil:

https://youtu.be/ym_Bw0RbWcU

13/03/2026

My Life Without A Jetpack - Olympic Spirit

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/320

I've never been an athletic person, so combine that with the awkwardness of a teenager, and I was doomed. On top of that, I got my elementary education at a small public school in my neighborhood, then my parents sent me to a posh private school for junior high and high school (it's all high school here). Not only I was surrounded by hundreds of complete strangers (there were like 120 of us in the first year alone, and almost everybody else knew each other since preschool), the day of my first gym class two girls saw me in my tighty whities (https://nojetpack.thecomicseries.com/comics/117/), and soon afterwards I had to deal with vaulting boxes, pommel horses, high jump bars, long jump sandboxes, shot puts, etc for the first time in my life. Up until then, all those things were stuff I'd only seen on TV. My elementary school was a very good one in a good neighborhood, but we basically only had footballs (soccer balls), volleyballs, and a volleyball net.

Needless to say, I sucked at gym class that year, and the following three years, thanking the universe for that not being a subject in my junior and senior years. I suspect that I didn't fail the class that first year because I would have been the only one and the teacher did not want to do the extra work of preparing an exam and having me take it.

Music this time is Get Ready For This, from 2 Unlimited's 1992 album Get Ready!. Readers, I was not ready, at all:

https://youtu.be/iPOmFUid3vA

27/02/2026

My Life Without A Jetpack - Divine Hatred

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/319

Truth be told, I didn't see O'Connor ripping up the photograph on Saturday Night Live as it happened; it didn't even air where I live back then. And I'm not sure when I learned of it, but she had some real guts doing it. About my balloon, I was going home back after a birthday party, riding in the back of my dad's station wagon with the window open, and the balloon flew away from my hand right as we were driving past the cross.

That cross has it's own history, as it was meant to only be a temporary structure along with the stage were the Pope held mass in his visit to Uruguay in 1987, the only time a Pope visited our country. That makes sense, since we've separation between state and church for over a hundred years; around 40-50% of the population is non-religious; we're the least religious country in Latin America, and in the top five in the world. The cross is right in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Montevideo, our largest city and capital.

So, back in '87 after the Pope's visit, a large group of people were against keeping the cross there, as it gives one religion a prevalente place over others. At first, it was debated in the city's legislative body, but 21 to 10 votes decided to keep it there. It then went on to be debated and voted in both of the national legislative bodies, where the decision was upheld by 19 votes out of 31 in the Senate, and by 48 votes in 99 in Congress. There it still stands, and now it even includes a statue of His Holyness JP2, put there in 2005 to more controversy.

To this day, every time I pass bt the cross (at least a couple of times a month), I remember that the Pope stole my balloon.

This time, music is, obviously, by Sinead O'Connor on SNL in 1992. What I didn't know until today, is that she performed a cover of Bob Marley's song War (from the 1976 Bob Marley and the Wailers' album Rastaman Vibration). That, in turn, has lyrics almost verbatim from a speech made by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I before the UN General Assembly on 4 October 1963:

https://youtu.be/ZSLyEPeWjNk

13/02/2026

My Life Without A Jetpack - The Death Of Time

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/318

Alright, I didn't actually react this way, but I did think it, and it was a fun thing to use for a strip. This happened during my "pocket watch phase", a time when I bought a handful of cheap-ass, retro-looking pocket watches, complete with chain and all. I used to carry the watch in my jeans thumb pocket, and wear the chain in addition to my wallet's chain. This lead to this strip back then:

https://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/106/

I still use my pocket watches now and then, mostly when I'm wearing a vest for a wedding or something like that.

Music this time is "Fragments of Time", by Daft Punk with Todd Edwards, from the French duo's 2013 album Random Access Memories:

https://youtu.be/_ScM9pKlCfo

14/03/2025

My Life Without A Jetpack - Secret Origin

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/317

Every nerd has thought stuff like this after a lab accident. If you like Star Wars, you dream about having the Force, even if it is to reach the remote from the couch; or if you like superheroes, you fantasize about what superpower you'd most like to have. And if my kid got superpowers, I'd be their "guy in the chair" or Alfred, who's the original "guy".

This time music is from mega nerd band Kirby Krackle and their 2015 album Mutate, Baby!, and it's called The Day My Powers Arrived:

https://youtu.be/YxQqI7ROdnE

07/02/2025

My Life Without A Jetpack - Top Brand

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/316

Back in the nineties, my parents bought groceries at a wholesaler, which made sense because there were a lot of people at home... and one of them was me. I had a voracious apetite as a teenager (I still do, but I digress), and they had to buy boxes and boxes of cornflakes, for example. Still, they usually stuck to brand name stuff (store brand was not a thing here yet), either local or international. For the most part. Once, my mom bought this very cheap mayonnaise, that came in a five kilo package. She paid less at checkout... but we all paid way more afterwards.

Music this time is Rock and Roll Is Dead, from Lenny Kravitz's 1995 album Circus. This was a hard choice, because 1995 was a very prolific year in music, a year in which I listened to a lot of different bands, many of them fairly new to the music scene, or new to me. Circus was the album that introduced me to Lenny Kravitz, who would become one of my favorite musicians. I recently saw Lenny live again, and he didn't disappoint, but he didn't play any songs from this album. I guess he doesn't like it, as it's on record that he wasn't very happy while making it, and its darker sound and mood doesn't fit the image he generally likes to project:

https://youtu.be/yw8_5OYKQNA

21/12/2024

My Life Without A Jetpack - Mistaken Identity VII

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/315

Yes, this happens to me all the time. It's cute when kids do it, but if you're an adult, don't make the Santa Claus joke when you see me. It's old, and not funny coming from you, please don't make unsolicited comments about other people's appearance.

This time, music is Christmas Time Is Here, the holidays classic by the Vince Guaraldi Trio from the Charlie Brown and Peanuts TV special. Happy holidays to you all!

https://youtu.be/YvI_FNrczzQ

07/12/2024

My Life Without A Jetpack - Rebel Rebel

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/314

Some years ago I got into playing X-Wing, the Star Wars miniature game, or one of them, at least. I first tried it at a convention, and was immediately hooked (you've seen it in a comic here: https://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/259/. It's great for me for several reasons, starting with the fact that space combat is one of my favorite parts of Star Wars.

On the practical side, this is a tactic miniatures game or wargame, but far more simple, rules-wise, than things like Warhammer. Additionally, the starter set is cheap, allows you to play with a friend, and you can spend a little more money or a lot more, depending on your needs and means, and have fun either way (The Force knows I've spent some credits on this).

Another plus is that the minis come pre-painted, which is good for me, since I don't have that kind of ability (you can of course customize them if you wish). I got one of my best friends on the game, and we get together to play and drink beer, and we've bought a lot of ships together.

When we play, we'll sometimes pause the game for dinner, and leave everything on the table.... which my cats, particularly Leia, love. We have to be alert and protect the ships and their positions from the giant space monster.

Speaking of her, we found her lost as a months old kitty in our building's "backyard" (it's a glorified air shaft), where she had fallen down from a wall. We weren't going to keep her (we already had Ludwig), so we gave her some food and a place to sleep under our apartment's patio roof, while we posted on social networks to find someone to adopt her.

Nobody volunteered, and two days later, I came home from work and my wife had let the kitty inside and named her Leia... to win me over. That worked, and it's been almost 8 years since she became part of our family.

She definitely takes after her namesake, she's fierce and rebellious, but also very kind and sweet.

Music this time is, of course, David Bowie's Rebel Rebel, from his 1974 album Diamond Dogs. Did I use a Bowie song last time? Sue me:

https://youtu.be/DJxCsVcZL2I

29/10/2024

My Life Without A Jetpack - Perfect Hearing.

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/313

This is one of those strips where there's not much to write about. Parents will understand me, we're always talking about our kids, even (especially) good stuff. When my wife and I go out on a date, we always end up talking about our kid, who's already 20. And it's not because we don't have other topics, it's just that children are that important. There, sappy and short.

This time, music is David Bowie's Blackstar, from the album of the same name, because both my kid and I love Bowie:

https://youtu.be/kszLwBaC4Sw

25/08/2024

My Life Without A Jetpack - The Volunteer.

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/312

You know when you volunteer for anything, just to get out of class? Well, that's what I did. It's not that I didn't like class, but I got a bit bored sometimes. This time, I didn't last, because I like to dance, but spontaneously, not with rehearsal, and much less folk dances.

But... you know what? One of my ancestors Pedro José Viera o Pedro José de Vieyra was a 19th century Brazilian military officer who fought in the independence wars of Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Perú, and Rio Grande do Sul. He was friends with José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay's foremost national hero, and together, they smuggled cattle before being revolutionaries. Pedro was quite the charmer and the life of the party, he loed to dance... and was nicknamed Périco el Bailarín, Périco the Dancer, because of the Pericon. Périco introduced the dance to his homeland of Brazil and, supposedly, created the traditional choreography they tried to made me dance in school over a hundred years later.

Check out some schoolchildren dancing El Pericón Nacional:

https://youtu.be/baMwZSjeONU

29/03/2024

My Life Without A Jetpack - Dark Secrets.

http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/comics/311

In Uruguay, your final two years of high school you have to choose an orientation for your studies, to prepare for your chosen university career (if you're going to do one). The first of those two years, you choose a broad orientation, such as Humanities, Math, Arts, or Biological Sciences. Then, in the second one, you choose something more specific.

In my case, I wanted to be a veterinarian (yeah, that changed), so I chose Bio Sciences first, then Medicine, which would prepare me for Med School or Vet School, among other things. I did flunk most of my senior year subjects and ended up finishing the last two some 21 years later, but that's a tale for another time.

I did enjoy my biology classes; which on our senior year were all about the human body. We had to learn every bone of the body, all nerve insertions in the skull, etc. And for that, we were given a permission slip from the school to go pick up a skeleton from a public cemetery. The skeleton of someone who had no relatives, and that, after a certain amount of years, was going to be cremated and put in an urn.

It's a bit sad, if you think about it, this person's remains (which we had to boil in water with sodium hydroxide to clean up) were supposed to contribute to science and healing... and I ended up being a writer, journalist, and podcaster. The two other friends with which I studied did go into health-related carreers, so there's that.

My (supposed) senior year was in 1997, and at first the bag with the skeleton was being stored at one my friends' house, but then his mom dropped it off at mine. I kept in the closet (a literal skeleton-in-the-closet, nacht) for a couple more years before my girlfriend (now wife) found it and had the beejezus scared out of her. I did not take it with me when I moved out, and I think some years later it was given to a friend of the family's kid, who was also studying pre-med high school. I *think*.

Music this time is Clint Eastwood, from Gorillaz's 2001 self-titled album:

https://youtu.be/1V_xRb0x9aw

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