Metapost: Smell the newsprint on the comments of the week!
Your COTW coming shortly, but first! You might recall that last fall I was sentenced to prison in the Jumble. Well, according to this past Sunday’s edition, I’ve been freed but sentenced to almost as sad a fate: toiling in the dying print newspaper industry!
Appropriately, the Sunday Jumble is nearly impossible to find online, but faithful reader queek took a picture of his physical “news-paper” and sent it to me! I include the adjacent bridge column so you can get the full experience of reading this the way our primitive forefathers did.
Also, this is not really comics related, but, indulge me: speaking of things that will kill print, I somehow briefly bamboozled my way onto CNN as a “tech analyst” (thanks to one of my other gigs) talking about the supposedly exciting upcoming Apple tablet thingie. My 15 seconds of glory begin at about 0:33 on this video. Despite my unabashed Apple fanboyness, I express some ambivalence about the future success of this device!
If it appears that I’m not looking at anyone in particular, that’s because I’m not! I filmed this in a closet-sized room in CNN’s Washington studio, and the people actually putting the segment together were in New York, so I was just talking to a disembodied voice in my ear. I swear that I said funny things during my filming session, but alas none of them came through in the segment, and I admit to being jealous of the Motley Fool dude’s “iManPurse” line. My tie, at least, looks good. Also, Wolf Blitzer was in line ahead of me at the makeup station, and his beard is even more fluffy and magical in person.
Ahem! And now that that narcissism is out of the way … your COMMENT OF THE WEEK!
“In Rex Morgan, MD, The Movie, I would like the part of Sarah to be played by Danny DeVito.” –Ned Ryerson
And the runners up! Very funny!
“When a goose with a thirty foot wingspan warns me to stay out of his end of the lake, I usually comply.” –AndyL
“Sam’s hands are so furry I’m tempted to believe he’s evolving a sophisticated array of sensitive cilia that warns him when Abbey is getting too close. I shudder to imagine his matted back.” –trey le parc
“Are Rocky and Godiva known to the tabloids as ‘Gocky’, or ‘Rodiva’?” –imperturbe
“It looks to me like Dagwood and Herb have joined one of those door-to-door religious cults — maybe ‘BREAKFAST FOR BUDDHA’ — with their matching bacon-layered briefcases and wacky waffle shoes. There’s no god like a syrupy god.” –R in CT
“Still, there’s something special about the way Mary’s eyes light up in the second panel with all the warmth of xenon laser death beams suddenly acquiring a target. If there’s a problem, yo, she’ll solve it.” –One-eyed Wolfdog
“Mary’s just disturbed because Dawn only gave her a half-baked version of the Nazi salute. ‘Look, Dawn, we’ve gone over this and over this. Do I have to show you how to hail me properly AGAIN?’” –Amateur
“I love the look on Mary’s face in panel two, just like someone who in passing puts a quarter in an airport slot machine and hits a $50,000 jackpot. For the mere investment of a ‘hope you had a nice holiday,’ she receives an e-ticket to the schadenfreude express.” –Sans Sense
“Come now — it’s called ‘foreshadowing.’ Or maybe ‘side-shadowing.’” –Zla’od N
“I can’t be the only one who can’t look past the bizarrely bright nighttime of Blondie? Perhaps the colourists spend so much time bathed in white florescent light while chained to their desks that they have never experienced darkness?” –Anonymous
“For some reason, the artist of Mary Worth thinks that extreme closeup = extreme emotion, usually negative. If ever we see someone in a killing rage, presumably it’ll just be a drawing of enormous eyes, possibly framed by downturned eyebrows.” –Carly
“That Blondie strip is obviously a glimpse into an alternate universe in which Dagwood and Herb are a hilariously argumentative gay couple. And in the daytime, the sky is black.” –Super King
“My growing suspicion that Wilbur Weston has never actually had sex in his life has since led me to suspect that Dawn actually sprang, fully formed, from his forehead. Which would explain the comb-over.” –mojo
“It appears as if the lake itself is yelling at the Parker Brothers in panel one. Perhaps this isn’t a fight between the brothers and the dudes in the canoe, but a violent battle between the personification of water and people who haven’t realized that hairstyles have evolved since 1973.” –Patrick
“I think Chip’s friend works as an organ-grinder’s monkey on the weekends.” –bats :[
“Oh, please. Winter or summer, Chip and friend would be doing the exact same things: playing Wii or surfing for porn. I’d update the septuagenarian writers of Hi and Lois on advances in technology, but I don’t know how to send them a telegram.” –DaveyK
“I’d think the easiest way for Hootin’ Holler residents to care for their personal hygiene is with their disturbingly capacious tongues.” –jvwalt
“Tonight! The Keane Kids and Max Von Sydow star in Ingmar Bergman’s Frosty The Snowman.” –Rachel K
“What, exactly, is Ted Forth wearing? Some kind of Masonic snuggie?” –Joe Blevins
“The Family Circus is turning into Calvin & Hobbes so slowly that we’ll never see them get to the good part.” –Kibo
“Dennis has failed to learn the valuable lessons of this week’s FC: Snowmen are, at best, fleeting friends. To love a snowman is to know death.” –Rusty
“On what planet do teenage comic book nerds NOT already know the history of comic book characters? If this was reality, a ‘back in the good old days’ comment like that would be met with five hours of nitpicking and debate until the old dude just went and shot himself to make the trivia stop.” –Carrie
“‘Steve Luhm’s been giving Micah Huang some pointers’? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? And by ‘it’, I mean being thrust into the world of womanhood by a janitor in a closet that that smells of bleach and dashed dreams.” –skullcrusherjones
“Dagwood, stop bothering that poor man about the bird and get to the real burning issue: what on Earth is he wearing? Are they making mustard-yellow maternity wear for men now?” –Roger
“If I were that little guy, I’d be concerned about what Billy’s got in his pocket. Never bring a snowball to a knife fight.” –Makya
“I’m in luck! Sabretooth can’t find me! Or hear someone yelling from ten feet away, because his four evenly-spaced faces leave no room for ears!” –He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus
Big thanks to everyone who put cash in my tip jar! And we must of course give thanks to our advertisers:
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Erik
January 26th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Josh, I think you forgot to close a link up there…
Sheila Sternwell
January 26th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Congrats all!
Josh, your link to the CNN video seems to have taken over the article. Also, you might wanna put Hogan’s name on that last quote.
And now, I disappear into the shadows, unseen and unknown, like Crankshaft’s sense of decency.
Jessie
January 26th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Eh, that link’s not really happening.
Josh
January 26th, 2010 at 1:55 am
Ack! Link is now fixed and the video should work. And the last quote is properly credited to its quotee.
Josh
Andy L
January 26th, 2010 at 1:58 am
I’ve been meaning to ask, is the Kibo that shows up on these Comments of the Week the same Kibo of usenet religion fame?
Or is it simply *another* person by that name who makes hilariously well written observations on pop culture while wearing ridiculous leather outfits. (I assume.)
Sheila Sternwell
January 26th, 2010 at 2:01 am
I think it’s the same Kibo. He has at least once post a link to a project of his which went to Usenet Kibo’s website, at any rate. Kibo is a mystery and an enigma.
And uh apparently I was wrong about who wrote that last quote, so mea culpa and all that. Again, to the shadows.
boojum
January 26th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Wait —— Andy L can see what we’re wearing?!?
Baka Gaijin
January 26th, 2010 at 2:04 am
@Sheila Sternwell (#6): “Kibo is a mystery and an enigma.” Wrapped in a Snuggie?
Congratulations Josh on your simultaneous CNN interview and appearance in Jumble. When you were a small tyke, did you ever think you’d ever be so influential?
Ed Dravecky
January 26th, 2010 at 2:04 am
Congrats to all the funny people on the float!
Moon Mullins
January 26th, 2010 at 2:08 am
Cool that you are in Jumble. I think I’ve figured out the scrambles, too:
Gront’s elbow is in poo, but Fairies’ dog, by golly, is in Gump’s.
Andy L
January 26th, 2010 at 2:20 am
@boojum (#7): Yes I can. If I were you, I’d go change before posting again.
Carly
January 26th, 2010 at 2:21 am
Very funny this week. Mojo and Super King are my faves.
Red Greenback
January 26th, 2010 at 2:24 am
Gemini, and my name is Red. I’d like to honor Ned Ryerson and all the Floaters this week- Float On.
boojum
January 26th, 2010 at 2:33 am
@Andy L (#11): But the fishnet Snuggie is so comfortable…..
Dingo
January 26th, 2010 at 2:43 am
I’m typing this from home so I can’t preview. I hope it’ll be correct. First off, I’ll only be checking in from work once a day. A coworker has reported me as spending too much time on the internet. This is the same man who spends his day playing World of Warcraft in his cubicle. My boss didn’t realize that I would know immediately who complained about me. The jobs of corporate life.
On 12″ Roommate (NSFW), I am the first comment under strip #74. Please feel free to leave him comments yourselves. What could have been a very funny strip has become tiresome.
Mars
January 26th, 2010 at 3:12 am
If your paper doesn’t print Spider-Man tomorrow, there’s a reason. In the online edition that just went up, MJ lifts up her top and flashes her bra full-frontal in panel 2. I’m not kidding.
This does make me remember that in MJ’s previous two appearances, she was just coming out of the shower and, before that, standing around Pete’s apartment in a bikini for no reason. I’m starting to pick up a theme.
There have been plenty of comics artists who’ve handled these characters and did nothing but degrading cheesecake with MJ because they couldn’t think of anything else, but I thought her own creator would know better.
Mr. O'Malley
January 26th, 2010 at 3:13 am
A-3G: If Lu Ann and Tommie are both such hotshot pianists, why is there no piano in the apartment? I’m looking forward to a gripping and realistic portrayal of New York theater circa 1956. It’s going to be Prairie Flowers of South Dakota—The Musical.
Luann: I’m looking forward to the knife fight between Gunther and Quill.
MT: I’m concerned about the sanity of that duck.
MW: Wow! Dawn’s tirade blew Wilbur’s hat right off! I hope she’s not going to dump those fish in that big pot of boiling water without cleaning them. Although I would be a trifle worried by the way they are starting to levitate …
Mr. O'Malley
January 26th, 2010 at 3:29 am
@Dingo (#15): From the examples on that page, I can’t conceive of how that strip had any potential to be funny. It seems nothing more than the gay version of Marmaduke. You have a way with a criticism, though.
Is that the first time you’ve marked one of your links NSFW? You used to say your name was enough…
Too bad about your stupid coworker. I would get one of those cheap netbooks and take my lunch break somewhere that had wifi, although of course I don’t know if that’s possible in your situation.
Master Softheart
January 26th, 2010 at 3:32 am
Phantom: Say what you will, Captain Savarna knows exactly how to put the moves on Kit Walker. Artillery fire, automatic weapons fire, and a high kick all based on a ‘misunderstanding.’ Ready your Bösendorfer, Captain Savarna – if there’s anything that will turn the Phantom into a 9CL character, you’ve found it.
FW: Sure she’s a psychotic, suicidal stalker who is still working through her incomprehensible high school fatal attraction to Les Moore, but you have to admit that the two of them were made for each other. And it would give Keisha’s mom a chance at a normal life.
Farley's Revenge
January 26th, 2010 at 3:34 am
Congrats to Ned Ryerson and the very funny float riders!
MT: Whoa. The ginormous duck is carrying on a conversation with itself. What’s next? Floating fish? Oh wait. That was last week.
MW: One strip, Dawn(AKA “Purple Princess”) is contentedly cooking the swill du jour and in the next, she’s going off on Wilbur while the fish decompose on the kitchen counter and the swill burns to the bottom of the pan. Is there a missing strip? If not, this strip has become even more daffy than usual, and that’s lowering the daffiness bar to Marianas Trench depths.
Jason1981
January 26th, 2010 at 3:42 am
1/26
Luann: I suddenly hate Knute.
S-M : Panel 2 is probably the best thing we’ll ever see in the this comic strip.
Curtis: Curtis, forget what I said yesterday…and beat the crap out of both your brother AND that bitch who calls herself your mom. No wonder Barry’s such a little f*cking asshole.
MT: “I’m afraid you’ll be doiing most of the paddling”
“That’s fine.”
“No, I mean I’m really AFRAID. I mean, what if a deer runs out in front of us? I heard about what happened to your kid!”
mollificent
January 26th, 2010 at 4:15 am
@Dingo (#15): Bummer…sorry to hear about that. (Whatever you do, don’t leave the cover sheet off your TPS report…that’s some seriously bad juju there.)
Sheila Sternwell
January 26th, 2010 at 4:27 am
@Dingo (#15): A coworker has reported me as spending too much time on the internet. This is the same man who spends his day playing World of Warcraft in his cubicle.
YOUR COWORKER SUCKS. THAT IS ALL.
KarMann
January 26th, 2010 at 4:50 am
MT:
Sen.: “I’m afraid you’ll be doing most of the paddling.”
Mark: “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be on a camping trip with Mark Foley? I think paddling is more his thing.”
ms. docweasel
January 26th, 2010 at 5:00 am
SPOILER////////////////////////
STRONG
BELLOW
POISON
SAFARI
GOODLY
IMPUGN
GOOD IMPRESSION
No anagram proggy used! What do I win?
KarMann
January 26th, 2010 at 5:03 am
Pluggers: It’ll be a cold day in Hell when a Plugger knows anything about them hi-falootin’ terms like “Return On Investment” or “diminishing returns”.
Blondie: Man, this comic is really good!
Crock: End-of-year clearance sale joke. On January 26th. Way to go, big guy.
Groovy Blinkerlegume: FWIW, I think what’s-her-name-the-crusher’s joke certainly beat Les’ from yesterday. To a bloody pulp. A bloody, cancerous, tumor-ridden pulp, with a side of cancer.
Real Life Adventures: At first read, I assumed they were in a residential neighborhood, where one would more often be walking a dog than in a shopping district. That put a whole different twist on that strip, lemme tell you!
Ziggy: I really don’t think you should be putting us down as your references, Zig. Unless it’s all part of your plot to avoid working somewhere where you’d have to put pants on, of course. Then, by all means, go right ahead.
Lucky
January 26th, 2010 at 5:23 am
Blondie – My first impression was that Alexander is watching MST3k, so I was fairly disappointed to find out that this is just another gag about how them kids these days talks all backwards.
Hi & Lois – I kind of remember reading that Obama was going to get rid of that bowling alley. I also heard that Nixon used it extensively, but no one liked playing with him since he unsurprisingly cheated. And just to make this post have more information about White House bowling alley than most people will ever get (or need), I’ll also mention that it was built during the Truman administration.
Mark Trail – Are we supposed to understand that the duck is hearing voices in his head? Also, Jack Elrod ball apparently floats, who knew?
Ziggy – Ziggy has followers on Twitter?
Kibo
January 26th, 2010 at 7:30 am
@Andy L (#5):
I’m pretty sure I’m me. If I’m not me, please call me and let me know.
And since I haven’t yet heard back from Jack Elrod’s dealmaking department regarding the offer I made three days ago, it’s time to raise the stakes again:
I will pay Jack Elrod SEVEN AND A HALF imaginary Internet dollars if he draws a bizarre, one-eared, glowing black deer inviting Mark Trail to lunch on Saturday.
Also, regarding the Jumble… how _dare_ North-South not bid?
Kibo
January 26th, 2010 at 7:34 am
@Baka Gaijin (#8):
I own a Snuggie, or any of the other brands of diapers they sell these days. I’ll thank you not to try to pin a diaper on me. Why do people keep confusing me with Marvin? Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!
Kibo
January 26th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Ack, I meant to say “I don’t own a Snuggie”, and for some reason the automatic spell-check didn’t catch the missing word that must have gotten accidentally deleted during my fifth draft. Now I look like an idiot instead of a baby! CRIPES AND POOP!!!
Anonymous
January 26th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Somewhere in the VAST Luanniverse —
[At the Pitts High Rehearsal Hall]
Hell-Spawn Disciples of Zeye -
“When Elwood Druitt,
Goes marchin’ IN!
When Elwood Druitt goes marchin’ IN!
Well, Mr. Quill’s days will be NUMBERED!
When Elwood Druitt goes marchin’ INNNNNNN!”
Luann – “ELWOOD! What the heck are YOU doing here and WHY are you dressed up like a Royal Canadian Mounty??”
Elwood – “Me and My choir just got parts in Westside Story! I’m playing the part of Officer Krupke! Like the Stetson?”
Luann – “Wait a minute, Officer Krupke’s NOT a Mounty!”
Elwood – “He IS in THIS production! I’m bankrolling this play and making some NEEDED changes! Right Knute?
Knute – “Yo, Luann! I just got the part of Jeff Spicoli! Aloha, Mr. Hand!”
Luann – “Jeff Spicoli’s NOT IN….,”
Elwood – “Now, now Luann. You NEED to save your voice. You’ve GOT the part of Maria!”
Luann – “But I haven’t even auditioned, yet!”
Elwood – “Details, details. My choir plays the part of my deputies, and Quills got the romantic lead. Oh, and Gunther plays a halpless victim of street violence between the Sharks and the Jets. The PERFECT part for him.”
Luann -”Oh well then, if Quill’s got the Romantic LEAD…,”
Elwood – “I got the BEST part. As a cop, me and my deputies get to NIGHT-STICK the living CRAP out of EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY the Romantic lead.”
Luann – “You know, SUDDENLY I’m no longer interested in acting in Westside Story.”
Elwood – “You MUST. I just saw your grade-point adverage. You need the EXTRA credit for acting in this production!”
Luann – “DARN IT, Elwood! I…,”
Elwood – “You don’t have to thank me. Oh I forgot to tell you. You ALSO have the lead role in this Summer’s Festival in the Park production of Oh! Calcutta! Don’t worry. Everybody’s fully clothed (EXCEPT you).”
___________________________
DEATH to TJ!!!
Little Guy
January 26th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Congrats to Josh! Congrats to the COTW and Floaters!
Curtis: Billingsly has a app that brings the AJG3K to his iPhone, did a mod, and voila!
Big Nate: I don’t care if it is a fanasty. I like Psychotic Jealous Artur.
SpiderTits: … I’m sorry. What was I thinking?
Candorville: DS9 and Buffy shoutouts. Here’s your Nerd Card back.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 26th, 2010 at 8:39 am
“If it weren’t for the presence of me, the amazing Spider-man, crime in New York would practically vanish overnight! Wait.”
nerowolfgal
January 26th, 2010 at 8:56 am
RMMD – I am beginning to wonder if Brooke is going to move into the Rex household permanently. It would be a way to expand the story potential, as well as giving the artist a teenage female butt to lovingly highlight every strip.
Just think of the opportunity for endless witty banter between Sarah and Brooke. Rex can then avoid reacting to two women in tight clothes, and June can wear her sexy frowny face all the time.
wossname
January 26th, 2010 at 9:11 am
MaryKayCommando @ Y125-126 – Great costume! Do you want to use the Editrix nom-de-superhero? You obviously had it years ago. I’d be fine with being Precisiona, the Scourge of Is-is. But no pencil skirts.
Congrats to Ned Ryerson and all the float riders!
Mayzshon
January 26th, 2010 at 9:14 am
[b]FW[/b]-Um Les, while I’ll admit the “Frieze!” joke isn’t exactly funny, it is fairly original, while your joke about reduncy has been done many times before, making it, y’know, redundant.
smacky
January 26th, 2010 at 9:16 am
RMMD: Are assless chaps really appropriate attire to the dishes, Brook?
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
January 26th, 2010 at 9:18 am
LIO: I just saw this for the first time. Is today’s a typical average strip? Very weird.
Amateur
January 26th, 2010 at 9:32 am
I made the float! Whee! I’d like to thank everyone who helped me get here, but especially Dawn and Mary! :-) Thanks, Josh, and congrats, fellow float-riders!
queek, Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando
January 26th, 2010 at 9:45 am
perhaps the closest I’ll ever come to being on the float, but darnit, its a mention in the Metapost. *happy dance*
Doons: heh. Nice. This is right above F- on my Dean-it-yourself Chron page, so it was doubly interesting.
Beandocks: anvilicious as usual. True, but still anvilicious.
MC: mmmmm, Ashley.
PBS: the win, it burns! (with shrapnel as well)
StripyButt: dang, Cap’n Bindi, girl got some bootay, as well as a level in Bad Ass!
RwO: hehehehe. A certain Muppet character comes to mind.
MT: you thought the bombing-run geese were bad, that’s an A-10 ubiquiduck, coming in hot with its bill loaded.
(please note that the above are video links, and the first in particular is pure Grade A gunporn, set to Ramstein. Turn it up!!!! \m/ \m/ )
Ed Dravecky
January 26th, 2010 at 9:48 am
First there was a giant floating 8 in Pibgorn yesterday and now there’s another floating 8 in today’s Garfield. That is not a crossover I thought I’d live to see.
queek, Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando
January 26th, 2010 at 9:51 am
@LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL (#38): reL Lio?
*Trekkie MOnster voice* “You Have NO IDEA!” */voice*
Lio is inspirationaly weird on a regular basis, and beyond wonderful on a good day. Plus, it has squid.
wossname
January 26th, 2010 at 10:00 am
What I learned about ducks today from the comics:
1. They have teeth (PBS)
2. They have schizophrenic conversations with themselves (MT)
smacky@37 – Actually, I thought at first that Capt. Savarna in Phantom was wearing assless chaps. Finally decided she’s just wearing very shiny pants. But there’s still something anatomically impossible about panel 2 — maybe the fact that we can see her left buttcheek even though we’re looking at her right side. Or that her upper thigh is about the size of most people’s wrists. Now there’s somebody who could wear a pencil skirt with impunity.
Uncle Ritzy Fritz
January 26th, 2010 at 10:06 am
SM: “Miami! That’s where they film one of the CSI’s! Oh, nice tits, MJ. Maybe I’ll meet David Caruso!!!”
Beanwean
January 26th, 2010 at 10:10 am
RMMD: It looks like Brook is wearing Prince’s peekaboo butt-window pants from the ’80’s. I expect her to start busting a move at any moment….”My name is Brook! And I am slutty!”
bourbon babe, unbuckled
January 26th, 2010 at 10:18 am
BB: Cookie claims that someone stole one of the doughnuts, but Slylock thinks that he’s lying and that he ate the doughnut himself. Why does Slylock suspect Cookie?
Because he didn’t wipe the sprinkles off his face.
Bl: Dagwood probably forgot because the last time a kid used “bad” that way was at least 20 years ago.
SM: Sabretooth is looking for Wolverine; why would he leave if he can’t find Spiderman? Spidey has the relative thinking powers of a cobweb.
I do have to give the Parkers this, though: They walk in the door, and they start gettin’ nekkid. Unfortunately, that’s only in preparation for flopping onto the couch to watch some TV.
MT: Given the duck’s early-stage schizophrenia, instead of looking into development in the lake area, maybe Mark should check to see if there’s another toxic-waste dump here.
A3G: Is this the beginning of the “Tommy branches out” plot? (Or has that been forgotten and abandoned already?) If so, I’m hoping that her piano lessons went from ages 4 to 16 and that her inept rendition of “Fur Elise” leads to hilarity and humiliation!
wossname
January 26th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Dingo@15 – That so sucks. How petty! What the hell does your co-worker care if you’re spending time on the interwebs, as long as you’re getting your job done?
Ukelele Ike @ Y102, queek Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando @ Y104 et al – Let the record show that I asked queek what he was fixing for dinner, so that wasn’t just gratuitous recipe-swapping on his part. Uke Ike, glad you were just kidding, and your menu sounds equally delicious. I’m firmly in the camp of those who enjoy all kinds of OT ramblings from this very witty and well-informed group. That’s really what makes it a community, more than the clever snarks on the comics, IMHO.
bourbon babe, unbuckled
January 26th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Congrats to the Float Folk—so funny!
@Uncle Ritzy Fritz (#y118): One of my favorite WashPost writers, Lisa deMoraes, refers to that particular pattern in sitcoms (schlumpy husband with hot wife) as “male-pattern optimism.”
@Mary Kay Commando (#y126): Excellent!
@Dingo (#15): Wait—you work with Curtis’s little brother Barry?
(Seriously—what a jerk.)
@Farley’s Revenge (#20): re: MW: I wondered the same thing. Yesterday, Dawn was happily stirring her pot of canned glop and asking about the fishing; today, both the glop and Dawn are steaming. Dawn might want to lay off the Potato-Ade until things simmer down a bit.
What fascinates me is that while the characters’ facial features skitter about like roaches when the light is turned on, that damned ugly pattern on Dawn’s shirt is replicated in each panel with the utmost precision.
@wossname (#35): Precisiona has a nice ring to it!
wossname
January 26th, 2010 at 10:27 am
@bourbon babe, unbuckled (#46): Re MT – You’re right! Ducks that talk to themselves… Hindenburg-sized fish floating above the water… blond zombie-girls walking the streets of the nearby town… geese pooping Elrodballs… there is something unnatural going on at Paradise Lake!
spike
January 26th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Dingo@15: Perhaps we should all ask Pastis if you can borrow the Helikitty. I’m sure he’ll loan Snuffles out to a good cause! [Napalm--iit smells like victory in the morning!] :-)
Apt. 3-G: Blaze will see his deams dashed when, after 12 years of piano lessons, Tommie can only bang out “Chopsticks” and “heart and soul”.
Professor Fate
January 26th, 2010 at 10:52 am
MW: We have to talk, but not look at each other, we must never look at each other! Ever! Ever! Exterminate! Exterminate!
FW: Is this some kind of Meta comment on Tom’s sense of humor or lack of it? Or in the next strip is Les going to go to Funky and tell him how lame his jokes are?
Muffaroo
January 26th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Curtis – Rerun? Exact repetition? Does it matter?
Bonzo Dog Circus – “And how did you find yourself this morning?”
“I just rolled back the sheets and there I was.”
Gil – And why does she have to listen to her parents? The dollar sign drifting out of her mouth is a clue.
Hägar – Oh, man, that is so inappropriate! Those crazy, inappropriate Vikings and their inappropriate shenanigans! Whoever heard of conducting a survey on the quality of someone’s raiding? I mean, apart from readers of this strip.
Muffaroo
January 26th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Luann – Maybe next year Luann and Gunther could be Desdemona and Othello. Considering how appropriate the rest of the proposed casting here is, perhaps they should be Othello and Desdemona.
Mark – “We’re going from left to right… Now we’re going from right to left… You might have to do some steering as well.”
Pluggers try to stiff the guy who’s standing behind them with a pair of scissors.
Spidey – Wait; can we go back to Camera 2?
Muffaroo
January 26th, 2010 at 10:59 am
@Rusty’s Ghost (#y133): Ah, if I was still in Virginia, I’d show this to my friend who can sing “My Mother the Car” (and who combats insomnia by recounting the names of all the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court in order). Well done, Mr. Spook!
ms. docweasel @25 – I’m not the prize guy, but if I could suggest using the ‘abbr title=’ tag to hide the solved words, it would be more concealing than the spoiler slashes. I generally skip the scrambled words and just guess the punch line from the number of letters.
wossname @47 – There’s something about seeing someone doing not-work on the computer that brings out the inner squealer. Twenty years ago, my boss said one of the teachers had reported me for playing chess on the computer. Yes, I said, I wasn’t trying to hide it. I finished all my work, and when we bought this computer, you said, quote ‘you can play on it,’ end quote. Well, she said, that wasn’t what I meant. So I could do stuff on the computer as long as it didn’t look like it might possibly be enjoyable — this was before my days of having an internet connection. It didn’t matter all that much, as they started giving me work that other department secretaries hadn’t finished, thereby teaching me never to work quickly and efficiently, or I’d be punished (and the slow ones would be rewarded, of course).
Dingo, the Essence of Purity and Virtue Incarnate™
January 26th, 2010 at 11:11 am
@Mr. O’Malley (#18): Oh, please. Please! Leave your Marmaduke comment on his board. You were a bright ray of sunshine in my butterscotch day.
Saying that my name is akin to NSFW is a running joke that started a few years ago. I do attempt to mark everything. Our system where I work actually flagged Cabela’s and wouldn’t let me on the site because they sell weapons. I no longer click on anyone’s posts when I’m at my desk. I wait until I get home.
MT: I will resist, even though the urge is strong, to make a joke about Mark Trail and paddling. I so want this to turn away from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and become Deliverance in three panels. Cue the bald-headed banjo boy!
CanuckDownSouth
January 26th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Phantom irks me for something beyond the presumably-ridiculous reflectors scattered around the ship to allow Savarna’s shiny, shiny pants to be lit from the front and the back: the “grab the gun away” trope. Yeah, I know it’s the newspaper so they have to keep the violence within certain constraint, but if someone grabs the end of a gun you’re holding, shouldn’t you keep shooting? It’s still pointing away from you, you might hit your assailant or at least make him recoil, allowing you to re-aim. Point blank.
Mibbitmaker
January 26th, 2010 at 11:20 am
@Dingo (#15): That guy’s a jerk, alright. Seems like the Dwight Shrute type (though the “Office” scene this most reminds me of is Angela — the Hot Lips to Dwight’s Frank Burns — playing “Pam Pong”)
No, I’m not Spider-Man, why do you ask…?
queek, Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando
January 26th, 2010 at 11:24 am
some days you feel fierce and others you just want to hide, but a little luv always makes it better.
Comcis Fan
January 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
FW: In panel three, Susan looks devastated that Les has dissed her joke. Little does she know that she had him at “frieze,” that he’s actually moaning in ecstacy rather than groaning at her pun, which has made him, at this very moment, fall deeply in love. Methinks that door handle in the background will be turning at any moment, and we’ll be treated to the awkward moment when Kayla walks in to discover their blossoming nerdly passion.
FC: Grandma (backstage, after the scene): That’s it! I can’t work with this material. “How did you find school today, Billy?” Who talks to a kid like that? And where are my damn cigarettes?
MW: Is Dawn stewing a daddy-bunny on the stove, or is there a fire in a file cabinet?
Luann: Gotta love Gunther, “way out of my skill set, Knute.” And only in Luann would they visually hint that the high school was producing a play called “Wet Side Story.”
BB: Sarge realizes he may have drooled in Cookie’s kitchen.
DtM: Again, Dennis is sweet, not menacing, something the strip seems to be recognizing for the first time in 60 years. Perhaps the title will be changed, more appropriately, to Dennis the Menaced.
RMMD: Someday Sarah will grow into her 35-year-old face.
LUJBEM FEJF
January 26th, 2010 at 11:31 am
JUMBLE!!! Henri Arnold nailed you Josh. WT#! What paper was that in? I can’t tell you how many papers still don’t have me in the byline, 2 years later. Oh well, I still get paid, so I’m not too upset. Lazy editors! Don’t blow this job Josh!
LUJBEM FEJF
January 26th, 2010 at 11:33 am
BTW- notice the WWMD bracelet Josh is wearing.
MaryAnnTheRest
January 26th, 2010 at 11:43 am
MW: You know, I can’t believe Dawn hasn’t tattled to her Mommy yet about Kurt. If they have Twitter in outer space (@Nasa_Astronauts), where could Wilbur’s wife possibly be that doesn’t have telephone access? This looks like another case of “plot that would be ruined if we acknowledged the cell phone.”
That’s so common, it must have a “real” name in TV Tropes, but I’m at work. I don’t want to get on TV Tropes and get Dingoed. (Dingo, speaking from corporate cubicle land, I feel your pain.)
bats :[
January 26th, 2010 at 11:50 am
@Dingo (#15): well, that sucks (like I need to tell you that), and your coworker is an asshole (ditto). It’ll make your correspondence all the more tantalizing to look forward to! :)
[True story about another WoW jerk: A couple of years ago, we attended a Major SCA event (medieval/historical recreation group), with about 6000 people in attendance. It was a "war," so there were probably 1500-2000 people running around hitting each other with sticks, poking each other with rapiers or doing target archery stuff all week long. One of the guys in charge of running the event was pretty put out because he didn't have an internet connection on the site so he could play WoW. (Well, you fat old so-and-so, if you'd lose some weight, maybe you could strap on some armor and do the Real Thing...) It would've been funnier if it really hadn't been so pathetic.]
queek, Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando
January 26th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
@MaryAnnTheRest (#62): Can You Hear Me Now?
Ned Ryerson
January 26th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Well, what do you know? Thanks JoshThere’s nowhere to go but down from here.
Drew Funk
January 26th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I swear that “South” fucker cheats at Bridge.
nil zed
January 26th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@MaryAnnTheRest (#62): all this time, I’d assumed Dawn’s mother was ‘late’ as they say. If Wilbur and Dawn’s mom are merely divorced, I find it interesting that she didn’t call her, the MINUTE Kurt walked into the house if not sooner. I’ve been getting details about my ex’s latest situation minute by minute from one daughter or the other. Betweein IM’ing, texting, chatting, calling and actual face to face talking, I’m as up to date on the details as anyone actually involved in it.
nil zed
January 26th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
@bats :[ (#63): SCA? hmmmm. we should talk…
Ned Ryerson
January 26th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Does Omar Sharif still get a byline in that bridge column?
Roger
January 26th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
As I accept this statue of a tiny golden man for my Runner-Up placing, I’d like to thank all the people who helped me along the way. And I’d especially like to thank the single, all-powerful Judge who deemed me slightly worthy.
queek, Source of Cuteness, Kwaii Commando
January 26th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
@Ned Ryerson (#69): yes, yes he does.
Super King
January 27th, 2010 at 1:55 am
@Carly (#12):
People have noticed me.
I feel disquieted.
I must watch ‘How Not to Be Seen’ again.
Perhaps I’ll learn this time.
Kibo
January 27th, 2010 at 5:41 am
@Super King (#72):
Don’t let it get to you, Super King — there are worse things than being noticed. For instance, being aware of your tongue. This is the condition where you think about what your tongue feels like in your mouth, for even a moment. It feels like it just keeps getting bigger and the feeling won’t go away no matter how hard you try not to think about your tongue. DON’T THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR TONGUE FEELS! If you become aware of your tongue for so much as a millisecond, your tongue will take over!
(I freely admit I got this idea from an old comic strip written by that master of evil, Charles Schulz.)