Jun 7th 2012 08:18 am A man’s world
Since Arlo and Janis are at the beach in the newspapers this week, I thought I’d dig out the above cartoon, a 1997 prelude to what was then the annual beach trip. To be exact, this cartoon was a prelude to the vacation when Gene’s shoreside buddy Mary Lou was discovered to be with child. No, I’m not going to repeat that series at this time.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
117 Responses to “A man’s world”
Neal in Bahstawn on 07 Jun 2012 at 8:47 am #
To see that series, buy the book!
Whistling Rufus on 07 Jun 2012 at 8:48 am #
Today’s daily is a visual treat. If I were to buy a print, it would be that one.
Ace on 07 Jun 2012 at 8:58 am #
I gotta say, I still prefer Ruth to Mary Lou.
Bill in Paducah on 07 Jun 2012 at 9:15 am #
Whistling Rufus is right – you nailed the art on today’s new strip Jimmy.
Burns on 07 Jun 2012 at 9:28 am #
I did like Ruth, but I think the Mary Lou story is very compelling! Especially the way you manipulated ours/A&Js feeling toward her back and forth back and forth
billinbossier on 07 Jun 2012 at 9:39 am #
Buy it, Arlo.
steve from richmond on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:00 am #
Loved spreading the boat over four panels in today’s ‘toon. Great visual.
Mindy on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:00 am #
Don’t buy it, Arlo! Get a sloop instead! Gus’ boat is too big!
Judy in Conroe on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:10 am #
My favorite time on the beach is early morning. Crowds are less and the world is new. The sun is less intense (I sunburn easily) and I can happily commune with nature. By the time it starts to get too hot, the AC in the motel beckons and after cleaning up, there’s lunch and vacation shopping to pursue.
David in Austin on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:16 am #
I’m a day late, but the death of Ray Bradbury is still notable to me. My favorite story of his was “There shall come soft rains” with the poem of the same title by Sara Teasdale. I read it first in junior high, about 20 years after it was published in “The Martian Chronicles.” We were fighting in Vietnam and the Cold War was going strong.
At least he lived to see a successful commercial space flight. We’ve had a lot of science fiction become fact during Mr. Bradbury’s life. I hope to see more of it become fact in my own lifetime!
Lot’s of favorite authors… both Science Fiction and Fantasy. I use the Baen website, http://www.webscription.com for e-books, since I’ve run out of room for paper.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:25 am #
jp (from yesterday): Phil Esposito did, indeed, play hockey for the New York Rangers – and, quite well, too. He had also played for Chicago and Boston in the NHL. His brother Tony was another first-rate hockey player….
David in Austin on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:27 am #
Just saw today’s strip. I too love the four-panel drawing of the boat. Only question I have, which is a nit, is shouldn’t the wheel be on the other side of the pedestal, so that the steersman is facing the bow?
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 07 Jun 2012 at 11:30 am #
I loved today’s sketch also, but it also felt a little like foreshadowing. Will Arlo finally get the boat of his dreams, quit the rat race, and sail off into the sunset, thus providing the perfect end for A&J? Things are certainly lining up for a clean finish of the strip- Gene is an adult and he and Mary Lou will soon be facing the daily ups and downs of a young family, just like our favorite couple did back in the 1980′s.
Hopefully I’m just reading too much into things but Jimmy strikes me as an artist who would gracefully bow out too early rather than let a strip drag on past its expiration date.
Boise Ed on 07 Jun 2012 at 12:52 pm #
I’m not a boater (neither asea nor on a head), but I imagine the maintenance chores would increase with the water-surface area of the hull. In other words, it’s too big, Arlo!
And, BTW: go, Devils and Brodeur!
Mindy on 07 Jun 2012 at 1:04 pm #
I lost The Far Side, I lost Bloom County, I lost Calvin and Hobbes…I don’t think I could survive losing Arlo and Janis!
Ghost Rider 6 on 07 Jun 2012 at 1:18 pm #
Mindy (from yesterday): I think what John possibly meant to say is that triangles can really cause problems when you can’t remember which side is the hypotenuse. Or did he have a better explanation at 3:00 AM?
Also, I thought “phil esposito” is the Italian phrase for “fill up my small coffee cup.”
nick chik on 07 Jun 2012 at 1:31 pm #
Blinky…Bite your toungue…I think the two scenarios in progress are prime for new A&J story lines to look forward to for a long time in the future!
Mark in TTown on 07 Jun 2012 at 4:09 pm #
Nick chik: I like the way you think. When Arlo isn’t using the boat, Gene and his family probably will be. As a break from farming, that is. Or maybe Arlo will take up fishing as a complementary sideline to Gene and Mary Lou’s farm!
Don’t think end of the line. Think new directions. As Scrooge McDuck said, there’s always another rainbow.
Mark in TTown on 07 Jun 2012 at 4:10 pm #
Oh, one more thing. I like the way Jimmy drew the boat across all 4 panels too!. Good eye, Jimmy!
Mindy on 07 Jun 2012 at 4:16 pm #
Ghost, at 3:00 this morning John’s explanation was, “The Devil made me do it!” Then I asked what, exactly, the Devil had made him do. He’s been exceptionally considerate and kind all day long.
phil in Missoula, MT on 07 Jun 2012 at 5:05 pm #
You know, we all need to keep in mind that this is comic strip boat and therefore not in need of maintenance, dockage, repairs and so forth. Then Arlo can quit dreaming about owning a boat and start dreaming about having enough time to cruise the world.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 07 Jun 2012 at 6:41 pm #
curmudgeonly:
You are right about Esposito. I remember now him being traded for Brad Paark and later being Coach of the Rangers…But his glory was with the Bruins and that was the car with the bumper sticker was from Mass.
Mark in Boston on 07 Jun 2012 at 8:10 pm #
Ever since “Death Is a Lonely Business” came out I’ve been meaning to write to Ray Bradbury asking if he knew Brun Campbell, the ragtime player who was a student of Scott Joplin, and if he’d ever written a memoir or profile of him. Now it’s too late. Don’t put things off for decades like I did.
Jerry in Fl on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:33 pm #
I may have mentioned this recently or maybe just thought it, but here it is. Bucket lists are not for the dying. They’re for the living so get to it. This from the president of Procrastnators Anonymus.
Mindy on 07 Jun 2012 at 10:57 pm #
I’ve never understood why people make lists of buckets. I generally know how many and what size buckets I have on hand or need to obtain for future uses. I do keep lists of other types, though, so I guess it evens out over time, no?
sideburns on 08 Jun 2012 at 1:54 am #
This night’s weekly meeting of LASFS, this world’s oldest science fiction club, was largely devoted to people talking about Ray Bradbury, their memories of him and how wonderful a person he was. Alas, I only encountered him once, for just a few minutes, so I had nothing to tell, and the more I listened, the more I regretted it. Ray was a wonderful writer, but I have to admit he was never one of my favorites because the stories he liked to write weren’t about the things I wanted to read about. And yet, I can’t say that I disliked his works because his writing was so good. He will be missed.
Lost in A**2 on 08 Jun 2012 at 5:28 am #
Yes, the wheel is on the wrong side of the pedestal. I hadn’t looked that closely the first few times.
It’s also hard to draw flags on ships under sail. Where is the wind coming from?
Jerry in Fl on 08 Jun 2012 at 7:57 am #
I would think that it’s hard to draw anything on a ship under sail. It’s kind of like my wife applying lipstick while the car is moving.
Mark from Maine on 08 Jun 2012 at 8:43 am #
Not only was it nice to see the whole boat, but i liked the way Jimmy did over the four panels to convey the sense of the story/dialog in the strip moves along over time. Brilliant!
Will Overby on 08 Jun 2012 at 8:57 am #
Say it ain’t so, Blinky!!
Mike From Hartland on 08 Jun 2012 at 9:29 am #
If Arlo buys the boat, Jimmy can draw Janis in her bathing suit more often.
Mindy on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:13 am #
Mike is a chauvinist!
Symply Fargone on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:19 am #
Did anyone besides me notice in this retro strip how much the younger Arlo looks like Gene, I hadn’t really made note of the resemblance before. I am slow though……
@Mindy
re: “I lost The Far Side, I lost Bloom County, I lost Calvin and Hobbes…I don’t think I could survive losing Arlo and Janis!”
Agreed, I do not want to lose another of my faves…I still read repeats on many of these!
It is a beautiful day in New England so I am Symply Fargone.
Ghost Rider 6 on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:54 am #
Mindy, Mindy, Mindy. You see, a bucket list is…well, never mind. However, I can see you as being “a person who makes lists.”
Re Janis’s swimsuits: The last one I recall was a one-piece but high-cut number, worn with a cover-up that didn’t really cover up much. Tres chic. The college guys she ran into on the beach seemed to think so anyway. Wonder what she’s wearing now?
Ghost Rider 6 on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:56 am #
Ah, hope that last comment doesn’t make me a chauvinist, too.
Mark from Maine on 08 Jun 2012 at 11:38 am #
Maybe “Arlo and Janis” will become “Gene and Mary Lou”?
DiverRick on 08 Jun 2012 at 12:49 pm #
Hi-
New here, but Have been following the comments for a while.
I don’t want to sound like a smartass here, but just wanted to say that for all those who think the wheel is on the wrong side of the pedestal, JJ knows more about boats than you! While it is not common anymore, on older boats, which this is, it was very common to see this type of steering setup. It was commonly a “rack and pinion” type of setup, with the “steering quadrant” attached directly to the rudder post. Today, the steering is done through a series of cables and pulleys, chains, or using hydraulics, which allows the pedestal to be located almost anywhere.
Even with the wheel behind the pedestal, as most modern boats are built, most helmsmen will stand or sit to the windward side of the boat so they can see around the sails to watch for danger in the form of other boats or just debris in the water. That being the case, it is irrelevant where the pedestal is located. The helmsman holds the “side” of the wheel, not the top.
David in Austin on 08 Jun 2012 at 1:51 pm #
@DriverRick,
Thanks for the update. I’m certainly a land-lubber from the central states, with no large boat experience. My comment was based on what I’ve seen in small boats and things I’ve read. It is never “smartassed” to provide new or corrected information.
CW in 617 on 08 Jun 2012 at 2:03 pm #
@ Driver Rick -
Ditto what David says about helpful information.
I’ve found that those who try to drive small powered boats as if they were cars do not drive the boats well (“drive” can’t be the proper term, but that’s what it seems like).
At a young age, when my uncle would take me water skiing, I noted that once out on the lake, he would mostly turn around to see how I was doing, with his hand on the wheel.
This same uncle later showed me how to sail a (very small) sailboat. When we were approaching a construction barge in a small channel, he explained that “sail has right of way over power” can’t overrule the fact that that barge isn’t going to give us the right-of-way.
He had been a destroyer commander in the North Atlantic in WWII, so his advice counted for a lot.
Norm in Utah on 08 Jun 2012 at 3:00 pm #
Mindy –
Mike is not a chauvinist; he’s an optimist!
Ghost Rider 6 on 08 Jun 2012 at 3:00 pm #
“Don’t worry. They’ll get out of the way. I learned that driving the Saratoga.”
–Captain Ron
Tom from the Front Range on 08 Jun 2012 at 3:07 pm #
OK, speaking of right-of-way (my apologies to all that have heard this before;)
A navy vessel is going along the ocean, when they notice a flashing light in the distance, directly in their path. The captain is summoned to the bridge and he gets on the radio.
“Unidentified vessel, you are in our path, alter your course two degrees south.”
Comes the reply, “Ah, we’re afraid you’re going to have to be the ones to turn away.”
The captain gets irritated at this, and radio’s back, “Negative, we are going about Navy business, now alter your course two degrees south!”
Again, they reply, “We really can’t turn aside for you, now make your own course correction.”
Now the captain’s pi$$ed. “Listen, you! This a Navy destroyer, armed with artillery guns, surface to surface missiles, and an anti-submarine helicopter. If you will not go around us, then you will go under us. Now alter your course!”
Comes the reply, “We’re a lighthouse, your call.”
Mark in Boston on 08 Jun 2012 at 3:40 pm #
Tom’s story reminds me of one my brother told me, from a book of cautionary tales for airline pilots.
A pilot is flying his own private jet on a beautiful sunny day when he hears on the radio:
“XYZ123 [his number] change course to 275 for traffic.”
The pilot looks around as far as he can see, and there’s nothing else in the sky. Nothing at all!
So he gets on the radio: “I don’t see anything. Make the other guy move.”
Radio silence for a minute, then “Air Force One, change course to 95 for traffic. XYZ123, please land at nearest airport.”
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 4:02 pm #
I’ve been away, at the annual summer theology workshop at Koronis Ministries near Paynesville, MN. Stimulating, as usual, and I gained about 4 lb. So I had to read through several days of posts.
cx-p: “ask eMb for confirmation.” As I remember it, cellular mitosis is quieter than the “galley-oh-hoop-hoop”, and sexual fusion of sperm and egg is less explosive. I noticed there were four offspring, which suggests 9-banded armadillo reproduction, but I expect that is quieter also.
The best beer: As someone noted, “best” = the beer I like best. Another noted that nobody has tasted all the world’s beers. My all time favorite, as I may have noted before, is Samuel Smith’s Tadcaster Porter, “Taddy Porter”, brewed in Yorkshire’s oldest brewery some 6 miles from York, Yorkshire, England. But I’d not want to drink only that. I also do stouts, pale ales, Central European [or "CE-style"] pilsners and lagers. There is nothing wrong with bottled Guiness from Canada; it’s the same stuff brewed by the same company, just closer to home. I prefer bottled Guiness to draft Guiness, but perhaps my favorite stout is Lilja’s Sasquatch Stout, from the Sand Creek Brewing Co. in Black River Falls, WI. The name is stupid but the stout is tops. I drink 3 or 4 beers a week, with supper, but I drink 1/12 more beer than I used to. Out of concern for her waistline, wife stopped having a beer with supper when I had one, but swigged about an ounce of mine.
Major sci-fi [and fantasy] author nobody has mentioned this time around is Ursula K. LeGuin, who did the Hainish series, other science fiction, the five or six books in the Earthsea trilogy, and other s-f and fantasy short stories. UKL is, for my money, the best writer-as-such in that whole area. There are other works that qualify as sci-fi of a sort: John Fowles’s “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, for example. Fowles is also a superb writer-as-such. UKL is 82, my senior by a month or two, and is still at it. She is a “soft” sf writer, interested mostly in human interaction, not gadgetry. I may have gone over much of this before. I know that I have, but this blog is not the only place I write stuff for others to read.
Asimov is famous for being an actual scientist who wrote sf. He was a chemist I cannot track it down, but I think he was the author of a short story, perhaps in Astounding Science Fiction, in which a chase [white hat/black hat sort] takes place on a lifeless planet with a breathable atmosphere [1:4 O2:N2 more or less] which, however, contains no CO2. He therefore says those involved had to consciously take each breath because there’s no CO2 to stimulate the breathing center in their medullas. No, it’s not the trace of CO2 in Earth’s air that stimulates our breathing, it’s the much higher concentration of CO2 in our blood that does it, CO2 we’ve produced by cellular respiration [stepwise oxidation of glucose]. Also [and Asimov was not an ecologist], a 20% O2 atmosphere is not going to persist on a lifeless planet. O2 is a reactive gas, continually being depleted as it oxidizes stuff. We have lots of free O2 only because plants and blue-greens continually replenish it by photosynthesizing.
Another who has written only one sci-fi novel that I know of is Marge Pearcy [sp.], “The Woman at the Edge of Time”. She also does neat poems, several of which have been posted on Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac”. I and two non-scientist colleagues used UKL’s “The Dispossessed”, Pearcy’s “Woman”, and perhaps UKL’s “Left Hand of Darkness” more than once as readings for “The Unity and Diversity of Knowledge”, a team-taught freshman honors course. Fun.
Ellis Island. If you have not visited it, do so next time you are in NYC. It’s cheap, instructive, and heart-warming/heart-rending. It’s worth a whole morning or afternoon. If your ancestors came through there, register [ours didn't]. They want data to improve and flesh out their records.
Esposito. Interesting that people keep this as a surname. It was given to mostly illegitimate babies who had been anonymously left at convents and raised by the nuns there. It means “exposed”. Another last name sometimes so given is Columbo, for the pigeons that frequent such public bldgs. A French equivalent is Trouve’. Then again, there’s the English or Scottish “Fitz”, as in Fitzwilliam, Bill’s illegit offspring.
Spanish moss, as many of you know, is an arboreal lichen, a composite of fungal and algal cells. There will be a short quiz next time.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 4:20 pm #
He was a chemist.[period] I cannot track it down, but . . ..
and
“If your ancestors came through there, register [ours didn't].” = “If your ancestors came through there [ours didn't], register.”
Ghost Rider 6 on 08 Jun 2012 at 4:56 pm #
Years ago, on a cross-country flight, I was using the area Air Route Traffic Control Center for VFR flight following. At one point, the ARTCC radar controller handed me off to approach control at a military facility (which shall remain nameless) whose area I was transiting. At one point, a very new sounding military controller advised me of slow-moving traffic at “six o’clock, five miles, west bound.”
Since I was east bound at the time, and the other aircraft was five miles behind me and going in the opposite direction, I couldn’t resist transmitting (very professionally, however), “Roger, Approach. Advise me if it turns around and tries to catch me.”
Which earned me a long pause, and then, “Ah, roger, sir.”
Steve the Rigger on 08 Jun 2012 at 5:39 pm #
DiverRick nailed it. Believe me, JJ is very familiar with “character” boats. Which the little schooner is. And boats in general for that matter. Note the little shroud cleat in the last panel today.
If I were to advise Arlo, I would warn him of the commitment that he would be making in purchasing a boat like that. And remind him that he’s already married.
JJ on the other hand is a lost cause.
He’s already caught the bug.
Mindy on 08 Jun 2012 at 5:42 pm #
“optimist.” Okay, I’ll buy that. Good spin on it, by the way, Norm. I like a person who can think on his…feet? Were you standing?
Simply Fargone, would you mind giving me a link to reruns of “Bloom County” and “The Far Side?” I’ll read them AFTER I read A&J [I promise, Jimmy! On my Southern Lady's Honor!]. Mark may be on to something with the Gene and What’s-Her-Name [I just had to do that], but not at the expense of A&J! Please!
And John says that Ghost should see some of the lists I make. Hmmm. Has he been peeking?
Jerry in Fl on 08 Jun 2012 at 5:55 pm #
I would simply advise him of the definition of a boat and also of the two happiest days in the life of a boat owner. Question-where is Ellis Island in relation to the Statue of Liberty?
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 6:16 pm #
Jerry:
They are less than a mile apart. Admission to both is, I think, free. What costs [and I think I remember a senior discount] is the boat ride from Battery Park. It was maybe $7 when wife and I were there in Sept. ’97, for my 50th Stuyvesant H.S. reunion. Boat leaves every half hour or so, stops at “Liberty” [formerly Bedloe's] Island, and then at Ellis I., and then sails back to the Battery. We didn’t get off at B.I., just continued to E.I., where an informal gathering of Stuyvesantians and wives was held [SHS was an all boys' school until some girl's parents successfully sued in the late '60s[?; she never went to SHS because the family had moved to Chicago]. Lunch at the E.I. cafe is reasonable. I’ve never visited B.I. though I went by it on the Staten Island ferry scores of times. I’ve also never been to Coney Island. Mostly museums and zoos. And the SHS class of ’47 graduated in Carnegie Hall. Been there for other things, too.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 08 Jun 2012 at 7:26 pm #
Ellis Island has a free website upon which one can seek out those who passed through its gates. Many of the ships used are pictured, too. No doubt, one can find it via Google; good thing, for I don’t have the address!
Many don’t realize that Ellis Island opened only about 1892 and closed about 1924, so far fewer persons entered the USA that way than many people think did.
Although a native NYCity-er, I have never been to Ellis Island but I have been to the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe’s Island. I’ve been to Coney Island, too, not that I was impressed with it. The Rockaways and Jones Beach were far more to my taste. I will never forget one or three serious sunburns my then-young body received at those places.
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 08 Jun 2012 at 7:38 pm #
eMb: I would rarely dare to contradict someone with your academic credentials, but … In the south, on those live oaks we’ve been discussing, Spanish moss means the epiphyte Tillandsia usneoides, a member of the bromeliad family. (see http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/spanish_moss/spanmoss.htm) Is there a lichen by the same name in your neck of the woods?
Bob, near Mark on 08 Jun 2012 at 8:23 pm #
Dropping another name to The People out there.
Zenna Henderson.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 8:41 pm #
Ruth Anne: 1. I am not credentialed in botany. 2. You are right. Spanish moss is a bromeliad, and I knew that. I was confusing it with a similar-appearing epiphyte of damp forests on the West Coast that is a lichen. Thank you for reminding me of the difference. 3. Credentials are only that. They guarantee neither accuracy not scientific integrity. Of the two, I consider inaccuracy a lesser sin than deceptive “science”. One source of the latter is advertising/marketing/politics. We’ll leave the other alone for now.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 8:46 pm #
That should be “. . . neither accuracy nor scientific integrity.”
Mindy on 08 Jun 2012 at 9:36 pm #
Ruth, I think the biologist is going to flunk you in his class! LOL!
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:23 pm #
Mindy:
Ruth Anne is the kind of student good teachers are grateful for. We need to be kept on our toes.
Judy in Conroe on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:41 pm #
I always liked Zenna Henderson for her optimistic and idealistic outlook. Hal Clement is another scientist who wrote science fiction.
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 08 Jun 2012 at 10:44 pm #
eMb: Botany may not be your field but you have helped me learn something here. First I looked up the lichen called Spanish moss and found a picture that reminded me of something I have seen in somewhere in the south. The name “old man’s beard” came to mind, so I looked up that. Turns out it’s a different lichen that not only resembles our Spanish moss, it also gave us its name. This lichen’s species is “usnea”; our moss is the usnea-like tillandsia.
And another bit of trivia for the rest of you – the bromeliad family includes both Spanish moss and pineapples.
If only my husband’s grandmother were still with us, the stories she could tell about some of the other bromeliads that she once owned that ranged from colorful to dramatic to simply odd-looking.
Ghost Rider 6 on 08 Jun 2012 at 11:50 pm #
I hope there’s not going to be a quiz later. I won’t be nearly as well prepared as Ruth Anne.
Mindy, dare I ask what was the, ah, oddest list you’ve ever compiled?
Mindy on 09 Jun 2012 at 8:11 am #
Fresh linen on the bunks? Gus is soooo devious! If Arlo plays his cards right and if Janis is the least bit romantic, well, it’s a sell. Sale? Anyway, a buy.
Ghost? I apologize for the delay but I’m making a list of all the odd lists so I can more fairly decide which was the oddest. I’ve even added the list I’m making to the list I’m making…
Galliglo in Ohio on 09 Jun 2012 at 8:46 am #
Zenna Henderson… it always gladdens my heart when I find someone who is familiar with her work. Her “People” stories are outstanding. She was not prolific but what she did write had depth.
Ghost Rider 6 on 09 Jun 2012 at 8:49 am #
Mindy: I agree with your appraisal of Gus. What better way to create a great first impression of the boat?
Apparently you are to lists as Mary Faulkner was to novels.
Mindy on 09 Jun 2012 at 9:37 am #
John has a list of all the lists I made and then ignored. John is strange.
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 9:54 am #
Galliglo in Ohio,
Zenna Henderson
http://www.adherents.com/lit/bk_Zenna.html
Except for “Ingathering: The Complete People Stories,” her stories are, I think, out of print.
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 10:02 am #
And,
Was “Escape to Witch Mountain” based on Zenna Henderson’s “People” stories?
http://www.ldsfilm.com/movies/EscapeToWitchMountain.html
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 10:08 am #
Mindy,
Better be careful. Listing to an extreme can result in capsizing.
Mindy on 09 Jun 2012 at 10:37 am #
Pun Alert! Pun Alert!
I have to admit, Bob, near Mark, that was an excellent pun! I’ll file that one away for future use! [Contrary to Dr. Johnson, I find the Art of Punnery to be even more fascinating that Limericks.] And would someone tell John that Dr. Johnson is not half of the Vaudeville Act, “Johnson & Johnson” [and the Talking Gerbil]?
Judy in Conroe on 09 Jun 2012 at 10:51 am #
Bob, near Mark – I believe the movie “Escape to Witch Mountain” was loosely based on Zenna Henderson’s work, but so loosely that she may not always be credited. As often happens with Disney movies, they took the idea and a few details, then came out with something that does not follow the actual work (although it often provides enough “flavor” of the work that one is left wondering). Another example is “The Moon Spinners” which is loosely based on a novel by Mary Stewart. I saw this movie as a young teen-ager and enjoyed it and immediately checked out the book from the library. I was so glad I had seen the movie first, since almost the only pieces of the story which had been kept were the names of characters, the location, and a few (very few) of the plot scenes. The novel was so much more interesting that I began buying and reading her other works, of which there are far too few.
Judy in Conroe on 09 Jun 2012 at 10:53 am #
I agree with Mindy about puns – I only wish I could come up with them myself more often. I have certainly capsized now and again, and now I understand why!
Lost in A**2 on 09 Jun 2012 at 11:00 am #
Witch Mountain may not have been, but one of her stories did make it into a television movie. I saw the movie, or part of it, at least, before I read her stories. When I did read them, I recognised the movie. Now if I just knew that movie’s name.
The only wheeled boat I’ve sailed was a modern one, so I didn’t know that the wheel used to be in front of the pedestal, at least some of the time. Thanks for the correction.
Symply Fargone on 09 Jun 2012 at 11:08 am #
@Mindy
Not going to plead a Mindy, no delay here
…(well until my daughter called and spent an hour on the phone
…here is a link to Bloom County.
http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty
Can’t find the link for Far Side..wish i could, Calvin and Hobbes is on Go Comics too.
Don’t get too Fargone in the bamboo or is that done for the season?
Jerry in Fl on 09 Jun 2012 at 11:53 am #
Here you go Judy. You make up your pun and I’ll just supply the word-bamboozled.
Galliglo in Ohio on 09 Jun 2012 at 12:24 pm #
Bob, near Mark: I do think her stories are out of print, more’s the pity. And I did not realize the connection with “Witch Mountain”… probably that was a movie that my kids watched (ahem…). I will check out those sites – thanks!
Judy in Conroe: I too enjoyed Mary Stewart’s books. Romance… intrigue…They were popular before all the graphic scenes of today became de rigueur.
Science fiction… witticisms… puns… gothic novels… only a few of the reasons why I enoy the company here!
Judy in Conroe on 09 Jun 2012 at 12:33 pm #
LOL Jerry – Mindy is the one bamboozled, not me! My garden jungle is over run with ferns and gingers, plus a generous assortment of weeds.
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 12:57 pm #
Lost in A**2,
The 1972 TV movie was “The People,” starring Kim Darby, William Shatner and Diane Varsi.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069072/
Mindy, re capsizing, I was not talking about taking measurements for new hats.
As for puns, I used to write in the “Creative Writing” room on the old Pridigy online service under a subject that I titled “Punnishment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 1:01 pm #
Sorry, I forgot, and tried a post with two links. It is now pendulum-ing to and fro in the Pit of Moderation. I’ll repost separately.
Lost in A**2,
The 1972 TV movie was “The People,” starring Kim Darby, William Shatner and Diane Varsi.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069072/
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 1:01 pm #
Repost Part Deux,
Mindy, re capsizing, I was not talking about taking measurements for new hats.
As for puns, I used to write in the “Creative Writing” room on the old Pridigy online service under a subject that I titled “Punnishment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 1:12 pm #
Simply Fargone,
Try doing a Google image search for “The Far Side”. You’ll find a bit.
Galliglo in Ohio on 09 Jun 2012 at 5:40 pm #
Bob, near Mark: Those Zenna Henderson sites were amazing! I had read of some of her background, but not in such detail. Thanks again!
Bob, near Mark on 09 Jun 2012 at 5:53 pm #
Galliglo in Ohio,
You’re welcome. I first read some of her stories back in the ’60s. One of my younger brothers brought home a borrowed copy of “Pilgrimage: The Book of the People.”
Mindy on 09 Jun 2012 at 5:57 pm #
Bamboo will not die this year. I predict two or three more at this rate. I hate bamboo. I now refuse to eat Chinese food that has bamboo shoots in it. I’ve Googled “The Far Side,” to change the subject, but can’t find a retro strip as with Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes. I still thing A&J is superior to all three, however, so I can’t complain.
Charlotte in NH on 09 Jun 2012 at 8:24 pm #
Judy in Conroe — Mary Stewart has been a big favorite of mine. As soon as you mentioned her, I had to go to Wikipedia and look her up. She has written quite a few books, a few of which I have, and she is still living at 95 years old ! If Wikipedia is up to date. Her trilogy about Merlin — King Arthur’s story — was read aloud on WGBH FM radio in Boston, years ago. It took a long time ! It was just a wonderful experience to hear it.
In the “footnotes” to the Wikipedia article is a link to a 1989 interview with the author which is fascinating. Do read it, you will love it, as you like reading and writing.
Mark in TTown on 09 Jun 2012 at 11:41 pm #
Mindy, there is your answer! Go to all the Chinese restaraunts near you and offer free bamboo for the taking!. Chopsticks, food source, even coffee filters under the Melitta brand.
Thank you for reminding me of Zenna Henderson. I had read her in the 1970′s and not thought of her in a long time. As for backgrounds, David Drake is a Vietnam-era tanker, David Weber is a minister, Heinlein was an engineer, Manly Wade Wellman was a novelist, musician and wrote non-fiction books as well.
sideburns on 10 Jun 2012 at 2:21 am #
To be specific, Asimov was a biochemist. Jerry Pournelle has PhDs in both Poly Sci. and Psych and Larry Niven’s degree is in Math, with a minor in Psych. I gather that Larry spent two years taking courses for the fun of it then worked out how to turn the credits he had into a degree and took the courses needed.
Judy in Conroe on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:31 am #
Well, y’all did it to me. So many good memories stirred up by our discussion. I not only looked up the Mary Stewart websites (thank you Charlotte) but I found a digital book that included her 4 Arthurian novels on B&N for a very reasonable price and downloaded it for my Nook. I have a copy of “The Crystal Cave” in paperback, but never got around to buying the other books. Now I’ll have good reading for next month when I go take care of my daughter-in-law after her gallbladder surgery. My grand-daughter is a little too young (5) to be reading the series to her, but I’ll take some other books she will enjoy. It will be like taking coal to Newcastle, but I am pleased to foster a reading addiction. Maybe I’ll dig out my Zenna Henderson paperbacks and take them too! Woo hoo! Good times!
Mark in TTown on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:36 am #
Good Sunday morning, everybody! Thanks for today’s strip JImmy. I have my IPhone set for the old-style phone ring. Two main reasons: 1. It doesn’t sound like everybody else’s electronic blips, and 2. I can recognize it as a phone call instead of all the other alert tones, etc, from the computer and other devices which are everywhere.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:44 am #
Mindy, I tried to think of some things you could do with bamboo besides curse and revile it. Then I got sidetracked wondering why, if something is already vile, should it need to be “reviled.”
Anyway, I came up with bamboo flooring, which I do not have, and bamboo cutting boards, one of which I do own. (Note the price differential.) I even looked online and got excited for a moment when I discovered that there are Bamboo Shoes. But then I realized that’s apparently the brand name and not the material used to make them. That’s the best I could do this early and with a headache.
Did you ever notice that women seem to get most of their headaches just before bedtime, while men seem to most often wake up with theirs? Headaches, I mean.
Now, where’s that tomato juice?
Mindy on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:54 am #
Yes, Ghost, women go to bed with headaches, but that’s the price they pay for being married. Men wake up with headaches as punishment for hogging the blankets and for not trimming their toenails. I don’t have tomato juice, just a vegetable blend, so the 7-11 is about 10 miles down the road on the right.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 10:08 am #
Hi, Mindy. I sure hope you don’t get headaches.
Speaking of Chinese restaurants, I just switched over to gocomics. But then I got sidetracked wondering if it’s “GOCOMICS” or “GoComics”.
Anyway, I found they were featuring today’s installment of “The Duplex,” and that it’s set in a Chinese restaurant. Fairly amusing, enough so to make me chuckle. Which made my head hurt.
Last time I noticed, ten miles down the road on the right from me was a bar. But they probably do have tomato juice. And other ingredients.
Judy in Conroe on 10 Jun 2012 at 10:26 am #
GR6 – I was intrigued by your suggestion of using the bamboo, and went to the internet, which, of course, had “1,000 uses” but most seemed fraught with potential problems. There are apparently many projects one can craft (screens, furniture, bicycles even) with bamboo, but they all seem to use commercial bamboo and don’t mention how one would take the slashed garden variety to the cured product pictured in the completed projects. Also, considering Mindy’s hate/hate relationship, I wonder if she wants to bring that stuff into her home for even closer contact. And as for installing plant frames and outdoor screens, I have a hunch the bamboo may be similar to a local scourge (yaupon holly). I have a friend that aggressively dug out a bunch of yaupon and stacked the branches on the side of the fence for burning at a later date, when the weather was wetter. You may have heard of the Texas droughts. That stuff stayed stacked for quite a while. When he was planting a garden, he decided he could use some of the dried out twigs for stakes or markers. Imagine his chagrin when he started to grow a bunch of yaupon amongst his vegetables. Just a friendly warning.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 10:38 am #
Hi, Judy. I sure hope you don’t get headaches.
I was reading your post about bamboo with interest, but then I got sidetracked wondering why 7-11′s didn’t get named 6-10′s or 8-12′s. Which made my head hurt. But I decided it’s probably because if you ask most anyone where the nearest 7-11 is, they can tell you. But if you ask after a 6-10, they will just look at you.
Anyway, it was interesting, and why does it not surprise me that Mindy’s variety would be “wild”?
Mindy on 10 Jun 2012 at 10:59 am #
Meow.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 11:34 am #
Meow?
Judy in Conroe on 10 Jun 2012 at 12:28 pm #
Aw Ghost Rider 6 – thanks for your concern. I hardly ever get headaches. But I might cause a few
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 1:12 pm #
Naw. I find that hard to believe, Judy.
Charlotte in NH on 10 Jun 2012 at 2:13 pm #
Mindy, All this talk of bamboo has made me wonder where yours came from originally. Does it usually grow wild in your area? Or did some long-ago person plant it? Inquiring minds want to know.
Judy, I’m glad to hear that your interest in Mary Stewart is re-ignited. Your reading plan sounds great !
Mindy on 10 Jun 2012 at 2:20 pm #
Charlotte, bamboo doesn’t grow naturally in this area and we were, in fact, told that it would NOT grow here. We both knew different since we remember it is one or two places from our childhoods back in the Dark Ages. So, because we thought it would look good, hold the soil in place, and serve as a good wind break, we “imported” it from a nursery in Tennessee. Boy! Did we ever prove the people who said it wouldn’t work out to be grossly mistaken! What we didn’t know what how fast and far it would spread and how difficult it would be to get rid of. Cutting is grossly inadequate. It usually sprouts back within 7 to 10 days. What we’re doing now is digging up and cutting out the runner roots as well as the periodic clumps of roots that grow downward as well as laterally. Bamboo will grow anywhere except Antarctica and most other deserts. [I wonder how many will catch that line?] It’s not as invasive as Kudzu but only because Kudzu climbs telephone poles. Bamboo simply grows that tall.
That has to be far more information than inquiring minds wanted but what the heck? I’m talkative today!
Ghost? I’ve read that even mountain lions meow from time to time.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 3:02 pm #
Oh, OK, Mindy. That kind of meow. Got it. Good one. Also reminded me of the old joke about what’s the difference between a mountain lion and a domestic kitten, but since I enjoy posting here, you’ll have to make up your own punch line.
Not that your comments about bamboo’s ability to shoot up overnight need validation, but a few years ago, taking a route to work I don’t take every day, I saw along the rear property line of a residence a thick thicket of the stuff I swear hadn’t been there a few days previously. And I’m a pretty good observer
I just got distracted trying to decide if “thick thicket” is an oxymoron. At least, that didn’t make my head hurt this time. And not to brag, but yes, I did know that Antarctica is a dessert.
So, this is one of your rare talkative days, eh?
Mark in TTown on 10 Jun 2012 at 3:11 pm #
Mindy, this link is for you, and anyone else who likes a good comic story. I thought of it when you began writing your bamboo saga. Enjoy.
http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Barks/show.php?s=date&loc=1956/W_WDC_189-01
John in Richmond Texas on 10 Jun 2012 at 3:12 pm #
I read eMb above about being gone away and coming back 4lbs heavier and catching up on everything here and the same thing just happened to me. We were 270 miles away at our state political party convention in Fort Worth, and my scale shows more or less 4lbs You try to be good and eat turkey sandwiches at Subway, but all the little things add up. Exhibitor booths have candy and all the driving and the sitting ( ugh – ok people this is a vote to cut off debate on the amendment to the amendment ) AND people who want to be a national delegate or national committee person or the Presidential Elector from our district pass out snackage.
I think Janis was last in a swimsuit 07/17/2011, when Arlo thought she had a nice midriff baring outfit on, then learned it was a swimdress and was horrified
Apparently bamboo is as hard to get rid of as banana trees
Mindy on 10 Jun 2012 at 4:41 pm #
Loved it, Mark! I wish I could get gophers to eat the bamboo…then I could have fun shooting the gophers.
I think I know the difference, Ghost. But I won’t venture a comment. Not even for another day.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 10 Jun 2012 at 5:41 pm #
Mindy: Gophers? Pocket gophers, the only family, or one of the few families of mammals that occur naturally in North America, or ground squirrels [e.g., thirteen-lined ground squirrels], a subfamily of the squirrel family that occurs throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere? Neither one will help much with the bamboo. Since you plan on shooting them, I’m guessing it’s ground squirrels, since pocket gophers rarely emerge above ground.
Some bamboos exhibit synchronous die-offs every century or so, reproducing solely by seed, which really puts a dent in populations of specialized bamboo-eaters, such as giant pandas. If your bamboo is among them, all you have to do is wait, then make sure you kill all the seedlings. Good luck.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 10 Jun 2012 at 6:08 pm #
GR8- Is that Antarctic “dessert” one which goes well with strawberry sauce? Sounds as if it should.
More seriously, thanks to all who have broadened my knowledge of plants which resist man’s control. I was never aware of that propensity in bamboo or banana plants or yaupon holly. In fact, I had never heard of yaupon holly at all. Kudzu is a different matter, as I have seen that scourge many many times.
Bob, near Mark on 10 Jun 2012 at 6:16 pm #
c ex-p,
You gave GR6 a two-pay-grade promotion. I hope he appreciates it.
At least kudzu is edible. Just don’t pick any that grows along a roadway. It absorbs auto pollution. Do a search for kudzu recipes. And no, I’ve never tried it. I have eaten other wild plants, though. Also grasshoppers, chocolate-covered ants, rattlesnake, etc. Alligator too, but that’s not uncommon.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 6:45 pm #
I do appreciate it, c ex-p, especially since I’ve felt more like GR4 today. I may have killed off a few brain cells too many last night.
I’m surprised that apparently no one has heard of Antarctic Dessert. It’s a variation of Baked Alaska. Actually, I do know the difference in dessert and desert. See second sentence of this posting.
Mindy: Based on your decision not to comment, I believe you got it.
Mindy from Indy on 10 Jun 2012 at 7:18 pm #
Re bamboo: the Mythbusters did a “myth” about bamboo as a torture device – beyond the other Mindy’s bamboo-induced torment – specifically, what can it grow through and how fast. Gory implications aside, even Adam and Jamie were shocked at how quickly it grows and its strength.. Having seen the footage, I wouldn’t want to tangle with the stuff myself.
Charlotte in NH on 10 Jun 2012 at 8:27 pm #
Mindy, Thank you ever so much for the whole story of the bamboo, and no, it’s not too much information at all. It’s just what I was looking for when I asked — a well written, interesting bit of plant lore. Tough luck that your good intentions turned out to mean a lot of aggravation for you ! I sure wish you success in your battle with the darned plant.
Mark in TTown, The link to Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories made me laugh and smile. We used to subscribe to the magazine through most of the 1960′s, and the whole family looked forward to its arrival in the mail. We have a bunch of copies put away, but they are tattered and worn.
Mark in Boston on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:19 pm #
For those who don’t know, big cats kill, but a small domestic kitten never hurt anybody.
Mindy on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:24 pm #
I’ve never been mauled by a big cat, Mark, but I have suffered at the claws of a domestic kitten. Does that count?
Thank you, Charlotte. I sometimes get carried away. John says I’d talk to a dead possum until it finally got up and ran away just to escape.
Bob, near Mark on 10 Jun 2012 at 9:29 pm #
Mark in Boston,
Domestic kittycats? Seriously, I looked up the death certificate for my 3rd-great-grandfather, John S. Roads. The cause of death listed was “bite of a cat.”
The incident was also mentioned in “Hall’s Journal of Health”, Vol. XVI. No. 4, April, 1869″ in an article on hydrophobia (rabies). It says, “Mr. John S. Roads, an aged and respectable citizen of Marblehead, died on Friday last from the effects of the bite of a cat, which happened four weeks before his death. He was attempting to punish the animal for scratching a child, when the animal bit him, and the bite resulted in his death as stated.”
That won’t stop me from petting neighborhood kittens though.
Ghost Rider 6 on 10 Jun 2012 at 10:37 pm #
Yeah, Mark, something like that.
But that’s just a joke. Actually, bites from even non-rabid domestic felines can be serious and sometimes fatal, due to severe inflection. I would hope all visitors of this blog are aware of that, as the group seems to include a large percentage of cat owners/lovers.
Bob, near Mark on 11 Jun 2012 at 3:56 am #
What’s just a joke?
http://books.google.com/books?id=cpwBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=%22hall%27s+journal+of+health%22+%22john+s.+roads%22&source=bl&ots=BYdcKmx1vn&sig=-wowNxG1SfK8DzfWMQ9ChTQCyFo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I7LVT5nHEeGe6AHaurCCAw&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Lost in A**2 on 11 Jun 2012 at 6:06 am #
Looks like GhostRider wasn’t the only one suffering yesterday. Mark’s comment about harmless kittens was the punchline to the question about the difference between two cats.
Mark in TTown on 11 Jun 2012 at 6:26 am #
To Mindy, and the others who like Carl Barks, that same website has more than the one story. Check it out.
Mark in Boston on 11 Jun 2012 at 5:33 pm #
Do I have to explain to EVERYONE what I mean by a “small domestic kitten”?
OK. Those of you who already know the joke know what I’m talking about.
For the rest, if you don’t know by now, you never will.
Lost in A**2 on 11 Jun 2012 at 8:05 pm #
(FWIW, I’d never heard the joke before. I guess I’ve travelled in the wrong circles.)