Animal spirits
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Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 3/4/26
Yeah, it is a good thing they aren’t playing for money! Imagine if the Smifs had learned that Sukey, a being that they have long treated as a beast and a possession that does manual labor at their bidding, were intelligent enough to understand the concept of the exchange value of currency — and, moreover, had somehow already acquired possession of enough of it to wager. The implications would be truly horrific.
Mother Goose and Grimm, 3/4/26
After some reflection, I’m OK with an entire Mother Goose and Grimm strip that consists of a glimpse into the internal monologue of a character we’ve never seen before as he dances with Mother Goose. What’s unsettling me is that he’s a human and none of said monologue includes reflection on the fact that he’s dancing with a human-sized bird. Do you think he already mentally covered that ground before we got here? Do you think he has a plan for when Ma Goose’s person-sized bird boyfriend shows up, and tries to peck him to death or swat at him with his powerful wings?
Mary Worth, 3/4/26
Ah, man, I guess it’s time to start the “blame game” for why our boy Harvey has gotten himself catfished. I think we can all agree that it’s probably a woman’s fault, and “Trixie”’s puppeteer isn’t even female, so I guess the problem is … Harvey’s daughter, for living a fun go-go single life in fast-paced Goleta and not spending her every waking moment monitoring his screen time? Enh, that’ll do.
165 replies to “Animal spirits”
MW: Goleta is the Pottersville to Charterstone’s Bedford falls.
The joke is that Snuffy is playing horseshoes with a… mule? When the strip has a long-established horse character? Barney Google and Snuffy Smith team, do you take us for fools?
BG&SS:
“Why’s everyone always laughin’ in this strip, None’a?– ain’t a danged thing here that’s ever funny!”
I have an idea for the next Mary Worth arc. It’s about a comic strip that invents two brand-new characters and tries to gaslight its readers into thinking that the main characters have known them for years.
MW:
“The last time I said ‘Go, Lita,’ Mary, I was shouting encouragement to her as she played guitar on one of The Runaways’ hits!”
MG and G:
“What’s your name, anyway, dear?”
“Tara. Tara Dachtel.”
MW: Toby’s already looking to bail on this whole story; “Dinner? Uh, I gotta wash my parrots..I mean hair.”
BG&SS: The mule can only ‘throw’ the shoes nailed to its feet.
[After four ringers] What are you gonna do now? You thumbless beast.” Laughs Snuffy.
MW: From the looks on their faces, not even Mary and Toby are buying this bullshit story line.
MG&G: What’s that thing hanging on the wall? A spare bird perch? Dancing human man is either in way over his head or has a kink I don’t want to think about.
I like the absurd chin that the unnamed man in today’s MG&G grows in the second panel.
What is the point of “Santa Royale” instead of “Santa Barbara” if they’re just going to add real towns like Goleta?
BGSS: This strip is a lot less wacky when you remember that “money” in Hootin Hollar is probably, like, acorns or something?
MGG: All I can think of when I see this scene is the famous Kids in the Hall Chicken Lady sketch, which just makes me imagine Mother Goose muttering “Gotta get laid, gotta get laid…” at the end of each and every strip.
MW: Goleta? Isn’t that where young girls are kidnapped? Hmm, something is afoot…
MW- Having been in the traffic between Goleta and Santa Barbara numerous times, I don’t blame his daughter at all.
MW (over muffins in Goleta) “What do you mean, I ‘should’ be keeping a closer eye on my dad’s internet activity? He keeps on asking me for disgusting tips about dating apps – specifically how to attract women younger than I am! I told him I’ll talk or visit if he can stay off the subject and he hasn’t called back for months.”
Wrecks Moregone:
Doug: “We always have rooms available. Who do you suppose wants to stay overnight in this dump?”
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What name will Lorna sign in the register, do you suppose? Sophia Loren? Theda Barra? Gina Lollobrigida?
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“Do we have *any* rooms available? All of them are available! Oh, wait I forgot Mud.”
“Mud?”
“One room is occupied by Mud.”
“What? You mean the roof leaks? I’m not staying here another minute!”
Wary Morth:
(Thought balloons)
Mary: “Which means that I must go and meddle Sharon into moving here right away!”
Toby (looks longingly at the cocktail table): “When will the old hag set off for Goleta so I can get properly sloshed?”
Murky Tail:
“Solar Power, the pro wrestler? Why is he fighting Ted Crass, and when? Are tickets available online? I want to watch!”
@Ukranazi Stepan: I’m also reading “fun vintage look” as “hasn’t been renovated since 1972.” Heaven knows when they last bought new sheets…
HtH: RIP Lucky Eddie, pulverized into fetid, steaming lump of goo, not unlike the meals he used to prepare for his fellow Vikings.
MW: Not just oceans apart, Mary, but world’s apart! Goleta, California, is a real city in the real world, and Sharon has chosen to live there, away from the wholly imaginary Santa Royale, its dysfunctional denizens, and her thoroughly deluded dad. Leave her alone!
@pugfuggly: I remember that poster!
Mother Goose and Grimm: There’s so much going on here I can’t begin to figure it out. Why is he smiling while she’s grimacing? Why does she then smile while he grimaces? And are those pool cues in the background? I can accept that they both lost a bet on a pool match. The world of Mother Goose And Grimm is one where there are no winners.
Mary Worth: Ah, I see we’ve reached the “Daughters should call their lonely, elderly fathers more often” trope, the highlight of any Mary Worth narrative year. (The low is when said father is Wilbur.)
@Spunky The Wonder Squid: I think the “pool cues” are ballet barres, suggesting Mother Goose is taking a dance class, which opens up more questions than were she simply dancing.
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith: Eh, I think Lukey’s wallet is safe. Those stakes are barely a single Snuffy apart, maybe four from where she’s kicking. Set them at the regulation 13.3 Snuffies, and Sukey won’t do any better than any other broken-down ass in this strip. Call me back when she can beat the buddies at cornhole!
BG&SS – Ooo Sukey Sukey Sukey Sukey Sooo….
MG&G – Save the last dance for the custodian….
MW – Knock-Knock. Who’s there? Goleta. Goleta who? Goleta that old asshole squander my inheritance on some phoney catfish mail order bride scheme….
Adios Amigos, DJ.
@InvasionOfTheZIM: Her dancing is so bad, it’s turned him into an Easter Island moai!
And also Mary Worth: If you were really hardcore, you’d bring Maggie and Hopey up to visit from Hoppers.
MW: Why doesn’t Mary just call in the woman who lectured us all on Internet safety after Toby fell for a phishing email and again when Estelle was catfished? No, wait. Let me guess. It’s because then she wouldn’t have the opportunity to meddle in familial relationships, isn’t it?
Mary Worth Mashups: Let’s add a panel to see what’s going on in Goleta…
Goleta? I lived in Goleta! I used to deliver pizzas in Goleta! Nothing good happens in Goleta.
RMMD:
“Hey — do y’have a room available?”
“So why wouldn’t you call first to find out?”
“Well, this is a way of increasing the burgeoning dramatic tension.”
Mother Goose and Grimm: I guess they’re in a dance studio? Maybe one of those dance studios in deep space, where only the void between the stars is visible outside every window?
Regardless, take off your hat, Charlie. Euclidean geometry may not exist in this realm, but good manners sure do!
MARY WORTH: To be fair, Toby is speaking from experience as a woman who needs help vetting new lovers (he last one was a parrot, for god’s sake!)
MARY WORTH (2): Pimping your elderly father out is the height of traditional family values. What is wrong with Sharon?
@Baja Gaijin:
Eeeeee ¡qlunq! What the hell is that thing?
It just occurred to me that the worlds of Mother Goose and Grimm, Slylock Fox, and Pluggers could be the result of furry scientists run amok, and looking at the face of Goose’s dance partner, it’s not everything it was cracked up to be. Dreams of dating Disney’s Robin Hood or Maid Marion died a swift death.
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Mary’s meddle sense is tingling! Wonderful! It’s been a while since we’ve had a good meddle! Lately it’s just been her lending an ear after the fact or encouraging a young woman’s delusions! Meddle away, Mary! Meddle away!
@Bob Tice: The Glenwood is so committed to its retro vibe that they not only don’t have any online bookings, they don’t have a webpage! The only way to find out their phone number is to get your hands on the town’s White Pages – and I mean that literally, it’s only published in the increasingly-rare hardcopy phone books!
@Bob Tice:
Bold of you to imagine Doug has a website, or online listings, or anything else more modern than, say, 1982.
MG&G: Hey Bub, You try doing the Lindy Hop with a large goose egg ready to pop out your cloaca.
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: Wait till Mary finds out that “Trixie” is short for Beatríz, i.e., Beatríz “Penny Century” García! Since H.R. Costigan passed, she’s been in need of a new sugar daddy!
RMMD-Most of the guests at the Glenwood Motel are long term residents.
FC-If you can’t find what country to send him back to your only other option is to put him down.
Marvin-By Friday I’m sure Marvin’s Dad’ll be threatening to burn that place down to the ground.
MW-Mary smells a challenge. Getting H@rv3y and his daughter back together.
rmmd- hi my name is mud miss but you can call me chubby chaser
Toby thinks ‘”Maybe if I look to the right, Mary won’t know that I am secretly loving this!”‘ and Mary thinks, ‘”Maybe if I look to the left, Toby won’t know that I’m secretly loving this!”‘
Luann-Such fascinating interviews. Luann’s paper is going to be a real page turner.
BG&SS: To quote Elviney, “!”
6 Chix Poutine is French Canadian, not French, and a French Canadian is no more likely to wear a beret than….well, than a Frenchman who isn’t an extra in a movie about the 1940s.
Dustin Kid, you’re in Gen Alpha, the subject of constant media discussion for at least the last year.
REX MORGAN M.D.: Lorna: “The motel’s got a fun vintage look. And is that the warm smell of colitas rising up through the air? This place is going to be alright!”
MW: As the event draws to a close and everyone drifts away from the Charterstone pool party, Carlos Alora takes a break from supervising his basement call center to clean up the food table.
@Baja Gaijin: Nice, I see you are copying the melting face look from Gil Thorp.
DT: This prison break so far is breaking down with everyone off getting whips, settling scores and not keeping their eye on the prize. Or as Mumbles would say “Yz’nthprz”
Flash: Ming clearly inspired the DeBeer’s diamonds are forever campaign
JP: It happened so fast, I missed it. April stopped the truck, and Bogdan jiggled something, tightened something or reconnected something without any tools, not even an Allen wrench and now they are back driving across a barren plain where their tire tracks make them simple to track in the snow.
MW: In the second frame, do Toby and MW have the same eyes but flipped horizontally? If so, another time saving measure!
Phantom: Wait, so the Jungle Patrol could just swoop in and topple General Chump like that?
RMMD: Is she Autumn/Summer’s cousin? If she wanted to fade away, sell her mansion, take her millions and go back to her original pre-Starr name.
MG&:G I’m just going to assume Ma Goose and–Larry? I’m thinking he looks like a Larry–were the last two people without partners in their ballroom dance class, because the only other explanation is they’re on a date, and I’m not willing to admit that possibility.
MW: To be fair, Sharon probably met Mary once and figured her father would be so closely monitored she wouldn’t need to step in.
@TK: Oooh, maybe Toby is going to challenge Mary for the Chief Meddler role. I think she’d be crushed — an
oldseasoned campaigner like Mary has a bag full of tricks that Toby won’t see coming.MG&G: Only one person can be happy at a time in the Grimmiverse. As soon as Mother Goose cracks a smile, her dance partner collapses into misery. And grows a goiter, apparently.
@treetown: Further evidence that Bogdan will turn out to be the head of the criminal organization that was running the prison, in a shocking twist that no-one saw coming. Well, other than the three commenters who predicted it here two weeks ago, obviously.
LUANN: Gee, Luann discovered that if you ask different people a question about their life choices you’ll get (spoiler alert!) different answers! Wow, those Sesame Street episodes our gal’s been watching really are paying off in spades!
MW – “It’s too bad his daughter doesn’t live around here. He really needs to be put in a home.”
FC: “Not sure, but I know he’s Schengen.” Replies Thel. Billy puts away his hypo containing a lethal dose of phenobarbital.
MG&G – With brain ejaculations like that, it’s a good thing this guy has opted for the hat with the reservoir tip.
MW – There’s more to his love interest than meets the eye. Speaking of meeting the eye, if Mary and Toby can just hold those poses for another ten minutes they’ll set a new personal record for avoiding eye contact.
@TomD: I’m just grateful that by using the name “Goleta”, the Mary Worth team avoids further butchering of the Spanish language as they did by naming the strip’s location “Santa Royale.”
Don Abundio, translated:
“Drop the silver flakes here”
“Yes, sir”
“Who hired us to do this?”
“Some rich wacko. Regular snow isn’t good enough for him”
“Ah, much better!”
@Ken: Foreshadowing – signs of quality literature!
MG&G: To explain the chin growth in Panel 2… that’s a pelican beak.
He knew the airborne virus would affect him eventually, the matter was just “when?”
LUANN: Panel #1: By the way that isn’t a summary. That’s the totality of Luann’s college-appropriate essay.
C’shaft: Look, I get it. It’s the twenty-first century, lots of people live together and even have children before they decide to wed and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But was there ever a reason were were supposed to think Max and Hannah weren’t married already?
DT: That last panel has all the makings of a great reaction meme. Who hasn’t gone on social media and thought, “Idtz. S’rndedbyidtz”?
Dustin: Kid, you’re in Dustin. No matter what your age you’re surrounded by Boomer energy.
GT: You mean he isn’t? I mean, he got the school board to roll over for him just because he threatened to quit…
Luann: 1.) Not happening. 2.) She’d need to find some first. 3.) This strip defines “normal” as “as boring and personality-free as possible,” so she’s ahead of the game there.
Phantom: “….at your court marshal.”
RMMD: You say “fun vintage look,” I say “hasn’t been updated since the Nixon administration.”
@TheDiva: Or maybe Mother Goose and Larry were assigned to each other by the dance instructor. If I were running a dance class and all the other participants looked like typical students, I too would probably pair off the giant goose with the guy who never takes off his trucker cap.
@TomD: if I were Santa Barbara, I’d sue Mary Worth. It would affect property values if people thought the ol’ biddies there were that meddling.
@TheDiva:
On Crankshaft : I hope one (or more) of these three things happen :
1) Pam doesn’t give a single shit about the wedding; Hannah spent three whole days demonising her as a bridezilla-by-proxy, and Pam’s reaction is “that’s nice. If I’m free on that day I’ll probably attend”
2) *JEFF* is the one that goes full bridezilla (“We have to have to unite both your comic book collections! And your wedding vows can be Stan Lee quotes! And, instead of formal wear, everyone’s dressed as superheroes!”)
3) Crankshaft gets angry that the two were living in sin under HIS roof and tosses the interloper out, only for a horrified Jeff&Pam to tell him ” *MAX* is your GRANDSON! *HANNAH* IS YOUR IN-LAW!” and Cranky goes ” Hannah? Huh, you mean that’s not Mindy?”
MG&G: Her dancing partner is doomed to becoming a minor figure in a Neo-Greek mythology. After a torrid night of hot feathery love, she will bear him a son who will make Adonis look like a diseased slug by comparison. The son’s overpowering appeal to the opposite sex will provoke a long war between rival women armies. The poetic saga that will be written centuries later will leave out a a critical element – the father having to endure his friends and relatives asking, “You did WHAT with a goose?”
@2+2=7: The “a few emails equals a composition course if you’re an athlete” scandal-plagued UNC instructors from years ago wouldn’t accept this, but Miss Inner beauty will get an A
@CanuckDownSouth: “Since his friend Mr. Epstein went away, it’s been one text after another from Dad”.
I misread colitas as coitus. It works either way.
Equines in the Snuffyverse all have big, round, soft feet unlike the hard keratinous hooves in our world.
So it’s really quite disturbing to find that they still get metal shoes nailed onto them – particularly if the work is as amateurish as seems to be the case here.
BG&SS: Wouldn’t matter if they were playing for money. The only currency they have in Hooten Holler is company scrip issued by the coal mine that closed down 50 years ago or what was issued by the Confederacy.
RMMD: Lady, we’re so vintage we require the hookers to wear lime green hot pants and halters and the drug dealers purple tiger stripe pimp suits.
9CL: Zygote is definitely not the last word alphabetically in the English language. Zyzzyva is defined as:
Any of several tropical American weevils of the genus Zyzzyva
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is (or will be) an English word even further down the list than that.
@TheDiva: Ma Goose works a side hustle as a dime-a-dance girl down at the Stardust Ballroom. It’s loaded with tomatoes.
MW: I’m pretty sure are we that “Trixie” is a woman. Admittedly, I also thought she was in prison.
Mw-oh, and since Goleta is home to UC Santa Barbara, the fact that Ian teaches at the local JuCo should keep his blowhard fantasies in check.
GT: I hope they were running tape on Gerads’ Goshen is going to the top! THE TIPPY TOP!. It can be substituted for any future interview with him.
H&L: If this were any webcomic I’d expect Trixie to come up with this song, including the anthorpomorphized quarter notes.
DtM: Alice, why don’t you trade that old bear in for a nice velveteen rabbit?
HtH: This is pre-Newtonian physics at its finest. To quote Archimedes, “Give me a lever of the same length on each side and I can throw Lucky Eddie thirty feet, max.”
Snuffy Smith: I’m so used to Snuffy’s main animal friend being Sparkplug the horse that seeing him hanging out with his donkey instead feels like some kind of infidelity. Hopefully not in a literal sense.
Mary Worth: This might be one of the few times where Mary’s meddling could be truly beneficial by helping Harv realize he’s being conned, but instead she’s focusing on trying to harrass some woman she’s never met for not following her ideals. I wish I could say I’m surprised.
Snuffy Smith : it has to be Sukey the donkey in this role, because Sparkplug cannot win a single contest ever, and his grandson Lil’ Sparky would spoil the surprise effect by appearing in that first panel that prefaces every single one of his appearances by telling us the strip is going to feature Lil’ Sparky.
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Family Circus : Barfy replies : “Bitch, I’m american”
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Mother Goose : is picking up the slack from Peter Parker leaving the funnies’ page; SOMEONE has to be incapable of telling a cha-cha from a waltz!
…Too deep a cut?…@Peanut Gallery: They are trying to look away and not catch each other’s eye because they would both break down laughing since it is so clear this poor guy is being conned.
@Joshua K.: Back in the Twenties, after the big earthquake the City Council changed the name to Santa Royale from Santa Vaca to stop the jokes.
MW-“Challenge accepted!”
MW: “the warm smell of Goleta, rising up to the air.”–original lyric of “Hotel California ”
GT: “We’re going to the tippy top! Now where is my sippy cup??! I have to go tee tee!”
@Little Blue Bicycle: MW: “the warm smell of Goleta, rising up to the air.”–original lyric of “Hotel California ”
I thought it was “the warm smell of Irwindale”, which filed a lawsuit in 2014 against the manufacturer of “rooster sauces”.
Gotta love today’s “Snuffy”.
Smiles are smilin’. Tongues are lollin’
The Familliar Mucus: “Barfy is a Labrador Boozehound,Billy,his name is actually ‘Bar Fly’, we got him from a bartender who used to feed him Rum and Coke™s behind the bar.” “Wow! He has more of a backstory then I have!”
@UncleJeff: Gotta love today’s “Snuffy”.
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Why?
@treetown: Good explanation!
@ectojazzmage: Snuffy Smith: I’m so used to Snuffy’s main animal friend being Sparkplug the horse that seeing him hanging out with his donkey instead feels like some kind of infidelity. Hopefully not in a literal sense
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He also has his kangaroo, Joseph, who is male,yet has a pouch for some reason, which he used during the war to get messages behind the front lines.
Today’s “Mother Goose” is about how goofy people look when they dance to the wrong music. A perfect joke for a medium that can use neither sound nor movement
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith – Seems like Sukey the horseshoe-playing donkey would be the sort of interesting sideshow to attract flatlander tourists and bring some sort of commerce to Hootin’ Holler.
Mother Goose and Grimm – Where does one get a hat with a brim that extends or retracts based on levels of romantic interest/arousal?
Mary Worth – Thanks for posting this strip, Josh! I will warn my friends and family in Goleta to look out for Mary Worth to avoid being absorbed into one of her meddling schemes!
@Peanut Gallery:
@treetown: Good explanation!
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“Treetown! Youse got some splainin’ to do!”-Ricky Ricardo (allegedly).
Snuffy Smith-If Snuffy really wanted to win he wouldn’t have pried the shoes from the donkey’s hooves loose.
@GarrisonSkunk: John Rose works well within the parameters set on him by a legacy strip. And, unlike some other strips we could mention, you can tell his characters one from another.
MW-Sadly Mary’s efforts to pair H@rv#3y up with Sharon will so she will focus on setting him up with Wilbur.
Mary’s Worse: “….When it comes to his love interest, I think there’s more than meets the eye.” “You mean she’s a Transformer™?” ” Yea, Toby, she’s a Transformer.” (Mary shows Toby her sarcasm sign.)
Mary Worth – Goleta is known for its ice cream parlor, where a cobwebbed skeleton of a young girl sits at a table in a corner.
Frazz – Variety. They’ve moved on to insulting Dr. Spaetzel behind his back.
Gil Thorp – If ICE arrests everyone who looks even a little bit off, the town will be a ghost town.
Who is gonna break the news to Snuffy that Sulky was aiming for his head,not the pole?
@Baja Gaijin: Mashup – Sharon has really cleaned herself up.
@UncleJeff: John Rose works well within the parameters set on him by a legacy strip. And, unlike some other strips we could mention, you can tell his characters one from another.
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Sorry, didn’t mean to insult Mr Rose’s work. But,having said that, have you ever tried to tell Tater apart from Snuffy without his hat?
RMMD: The Glenwood is so authentic in its retro vibe that the filters in all of the AC are the original ones that were put in when the hotel first opened.
What A Frazzhole: Caulfield, it doesn’t matter what you carry, you’re still gonna look like an insufferable know nothing know it all.
Uke and Garrison,
Thanks for your encouragement yesterday. I rarely make chocolate chip bars as they’re “deadly”– all fat and sugar. Next time I do, I’ll try actual butter though Ike says it led to puffy sugar cookies. And it’s that puffiness Im trying to avoid .
And you bet, I’m Lutheran basement church lady adjacent.
MW: You can’t spell “Goleta” without the letters for “ogle at.” We bet Sharon’s a real looker, either in one sense or in the other.
@The Breathtaking Bonehead Brothers:
Also “Toe Gal” if you get my drift.
Goleta is also the setting for Harper Lee’s unfinished graphic novel Goleta Watchman.
HtH: Walker Browne LLC have just completely given up on figuring out how a catapult actually works, huh?
JP: Truck’s fixed! I’d criticise Ces for how quickly he gets bored of his own plot contrivances, but that feels hypocritical since it’s not nearly as quickly as I do.
MW: Oh boy, the last time(?) Mary was in Goleta she just wanted to get dinner and ended up foiling a kidnap plot and fixing a waitress’s self-esteem, so I can’t wait to see what happens when she goes there with the specific intent of meddling!
OTF: So, as I understand it, “schmoozing” means to converse with someone in an affable and convincing manner, but not to mean a word of it. That is literally the main thing LLMs are good at, Holbrook!
RMMD: I love how fast we’ve gone from “Lorna Starr is virtually a prisoner in her own mansion due to the ravenous hounds of the press” to “While Lorna Starr might have to dodge the paps while leaving her mansion, once she’s more than 100 yards away from it, nobody recognises her at all.”
S4th: I was going to say “Wait, the Forths had people they could invite over for dinner before the new neighbours were introduced? What happened to them?” but I guess it’s actually very clear what happened to them.
@TheDiva: But was there ever a reason were were supposed to think Max and Hannah weren’t married already?
If you haven’t been reading Crankshaft since 1987 and kept track of every couple who haven’t had an interminable wedding storyline yet, Batty doesn’t want you here.
Goleta was founded in 1924 by supporters of Charlie Chaplin’s second wife.
Or if Mother Goose asks if he wants to go back to her place.
Ha ha! Try getting that out of your head now.
@Die Rosenkavalieren: Back in the Twenties, after the big earthquake the City Council changed the name to Santa Royale from Santa Vaca to stop the jokes.
The full name they approved was Santa Royale With Cheese, but French time travelers from McDonalds went back and asserted trademark protection for something that hadn’t been invented yet.
@I speak Jive:
MW-I see a COTW.
MW-“Goleta,” Toby exclaims followed by spitting.
@Horace Broon:
Sally Forth-They were the main course?
I see the “bird/human interactions lead to romantic squabble” theme has passed from Mary Worth to Mother Goose & Grimm. So where is it more appropriate? You might be tempted to say MG&G since the bird in question is the title character, but I remind you that over at MW we were dealing with the extremely bird-brained Ian and Toby.
@The Breathtaking Bonehead Brothers:
Donna Noble: Just think, what would Miss Marple do?
Agatha Christie: Who?
The Doctor (whispers in Donna’s ear): She hasn’t written Miss Marple yet.
Donna (To Agatha): Miss Marple is my character, trademark, patent pending Donna Noble.
MG&G: Purina Goose Chow™…chow chow chow!
Maybe today’s MG&G is the” H_____________Birdman,Attorney At Law” origin story?
There once was a hat guy whose fetish was geese/Mother G was so alarmed she called the police
“I’m harmless,my lady,like Coneheads, I come from France/I don’t want to goose you,I just wanna dance!”
“Ok,kind sir,just keep on your pants!”
Andy Capp: Is the Sinatra tribute show brought to you by Burger King™?
@The Rambling Otter: Donna Noble
Who?
It’s a town over! That could take TENS of minutes!
Mother Goose just can’t get over this guy’s stupid man suit.
Frankly, I hope Mother Goose is trying to leave her bird boyfriend for her dance partner here. Jim Varney is a much better catch.
@Liam: re: RMMD Which is funny because everything about this dump seems like it has a quesy “rooms-by-the-hour” vibe to it.
@2+2=7: Reminds me of the Schitt’s Creek Motel.
@Ukulele Ike:
From the looks of things, the cafe is about to make a KILLING.
MW: I’ve read that one feature of pig-butchering scams is that the scammers take their time building the relationship before doing the money grabs. But in this case, we know the captive scammer is truly desperate, and he is moving to the money grab right now. And MW stories, as we know, move at a leisurely pace. By the time Mary and her associates finally get around to extricating H@rvey from this scam, H@rvey may already have lost all his money and moved into a refrigerator box, is what I’m saying.
MT: RUH-roh. Please, let this story not reflect again that Jules does not entirely understand the legalities of land ownership.
RMMD: In soap strips, the very rich are different from you and me. Really, really different.
Late Thread Cuisine: It looks like ring bologna. Guess what the unexpected ingredient is.
@Guillermo el chiclero: Re RMMD, oh please, please, yes.
@Baja Gaijin: Pepto? Just for efficiency?
BG&SS: …because Snuffy has already been beaten up for cheating at cards. He doesn’t need to be trampled for trying to cheat at horseshoes.
MW: Toby is skating on thin ice here. “Vetting new loves” definitely falls under Mary’s meddle contract, and she’s not about to cede it to an amateur.
@A Grave Mind: It’s a town over! That could take TENS of minutes!
Or two to three weeks, depending how long Moy wants to drag out the story line. I can see it now: Toby and Mary in the car, three days of inane dialog have passed, when Toby says “I forgot to feed Sunny!” The car turns around, another two days of inane dialog, three days of Toby making Sunny’s salad, back in the car…
C-Shaft: Honestly, I had forgotten that they weren’t already married. Pam looks like she had too. But I guess this is as good a time as any to hit her and Jeff and Crankshaft for wedding presents.
DT: While “idtz” does sound like “idiots” with a syllable or two dropped, in the supervillain tongue it actually translates to “cannon fodder.”
Dustin: You’re what’s called Generation Alpha. Literally, go fly a kite.
GT: That’s disappointing. I was hoping the top news story would be about hair extensions being recalled because their catching fire. Would’ve been fun to see if Coach Gerads noticed/reacted to that one.
JP: Usually when they cut to characters playing chess, one of those characters will be hatching a devious plan. Admittedly, Charlotte does seem more qualified in that department than most of the adults in the strip, but that’s a low bar.
Luann: Bwad never struck me as particularly wise with or without pants, but maybe if Luann is the point of comparison.
MT: It must be said that this is the kind of pun that can only distract the very easily distracted.
Nancy: Caroline Cash is apparently outing Aunt Fritzi, although given the name this was really a long time coming.
6C: Sure, climate change, yada yada, but I still feel like it’s a little early in the year to be hitting the beach in Canada.
@Baja Gaijin: Cuisine – It looks similar to ring bologna; however, ring bologna is not a full circle. Mr. Jive would not put that in the grocery cart.
What are the black specks in it? Flies? And I bet those mixed vegetables are from a can. That’s a horror any way you look at it. I wouldn’t touch that.
The serving dishes are a nice pattern.
Ring bologna is popular not only in the cities in the rust belt, you can find it in stores here in Pennsyltucky.
“Trixie is more a @The Breathtaking Bonehead Brothers: The Rambling Otter: Donna Noble Who?
____________________________________________________________________________
” Donna Noble,Backstage Wife.”
@Rover Berkeley: The 1950s version of the dictionary that Brooke consults probably has “zygote” as the last word (yesterday’s strip involved a brush salesman, and when was the last time one of those existed in the zeitgeist). Also, he couldn’t possibly get as much of a banger of a joke from “zyzzyva.”
@Baja Gaijin: Beige alert!
@Baja Gaijin: She let herself goleta…
Wow, Mary Worth has been getting dark within the past few years.
-Dog kidnappings/fighting rings
-People enslaved into catfishing scams
-Wilbur
I might just skip this arc
LUANN: Do the Evansii even realize that Luann’s expression in the second panel makes her look as if she has one brain cell, and that cell isn’t large?
A&J: From a statistical bad-consequences point of view, I’d be a lot more worried about ticks.
GA: I’ll say one thing for GA: it knows how to present new stories that make the older stories look better.
@132 Poteet: The color is provided by catsup.
@136 I speak Jive: The only vegetables in the recipe are finely chopped onion, chopped parsley, and the parsley sprigs filling the center of the ring. The black specks are black pepper according to the recipe, though they could be cockroach droppings.
@140 taig: Yeah, she let herself golotta.
RMMD – Looking forward to Mud’s next big hit “Glenwood Motel #2.” Rene Belluso’s not gonna do you much good as a lawyer when the Leonard Cohen estate comes knocking.
LUANN: This kind of family togetherness makes estrangement look good.
@Rover Berkeley: #73: It’s kind of like back when there were still phone books. Companies, especially bail bondsmen, wanted to be the first listing in the yellow pages so they had names like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA+++ Bail Bonds.
@Baja Gaijin: Varnish?
@148 UncleJeff: The “varnish” is canned pineapple juice, light brown sugar, and small amounts of cider vinegar and ground ginger.
The unexpected ingredient in the ham loaf is…ground veal. Did any of you expect that?
@Poteet:
What is this, a day with a Y in it?
@Baja Gaijin: Makes sense, veal comes from {checks notes} baby pigs.
@I speak Jive: After posting last night I did ten seconds of research and learned that ring bologna originated in Pennsylvania Dutch country. So I guess it’s readily available in areas that boast a large German/Central European diaspora. (My best bet would be taking the subway up to Schaller & Weber). Any Texans here run across it on the home front?
Nancy: Mmmmm. So this is how Phil Fumble never managed to get past first base.
@Ukulele Ike: It doesn’t surprise me that it’s Pennsylvania Dutch. I’m not a fan of Pennsylvania Dutch bologna, but I especially do not like Lebanon bologna, a version popular here. I can’t describe it – I just know that I seriously don’t like it.
The Pennsylvania Dutch food gene skipped me.
@Ukulele Ike: #153: Not at any of the big box supermarkets here around Houston, but I’m sure if I looked hard enough in the central Texas Hill Country with its large ethnic population of German, Czech, and assorted bohunk ancestry I’d find it.
Luann:
A hottie showed Brad her path.
Dad dreamt of swapping his dootie.
Mom got pregnant doing the biz
In P1, Luann reads her script for a porn flick. Frank reminds her to write in the present tense.
@Guillermo el chiclero: That’s what I meant, certainly not mainstream Texas.
I’ve been making Penn Dutch chicken and dumplings for years, from a recipe in Cheryl & Bill Jamison’s Texas Home Cooking; great cookbook in general, and with a broad section on central state German/Czech dishes.
@I speak Jive: Lebanon bologna is the Beelzebub of cold cuts, especially the sweet variety. I want to blame the fermentation process, but most summer sausage is also fermented and I’m fine with it.
@Baja Gaijin: *Squints* Homemade Spam? Think I’ll pass.
@152 taig: I thought veal came from baby cows. Cute baby cows.
@153 Ukulele Ike: Looks like Phil didn’t fumble on the playing field of love; she’s playing for the “other team.”
@158 CanuckDownSouth: Looking at the picture was already grossing me out, then you put SPAM into my mind. Now totally grossed out. Sugar-coated SPAM with a pile of parsley. What’s not to love, except all of it.
@CanuckDownSouth: Homemade Spam? Think I’ll pass.
Recipe: Spam™, AKA Spiced Ham, homemade
1.Take one ham.
2. Spice it up
3. …???…
4. Profit!
Follow me on Facegram for more recipes.
@160 Trademark™:
Your step #2 is wrong. It should state: “Fuck it up.” Because that’s what they do. Fuck it up. Ham’s tasty. SPAM’s the opposite.
@Baja Gaijin: It should state: “Fuck it up.”
You just revealed the secret ingredient in Fuam™.
@162 Trademark™: Whoops! Sorry.
@Baja Gaijin: Whoops! Sorry.
That’s Sorry!™ to you, sir. A registered trademark of Hasbro these days.
MG&G: Ernest Goes To Dance Class