There’s nothing wrong with a good pun. The reason puns are thought of as lowly, or cheap, is because truly good puns are very difficult and very rare. They are not a pointless scrambling of words and letters, and they should not be so obvious–or so reaching—as to elicit nothing but groans and rolling eyes. In fact, puns are so difficult, an entire sub-genre of humor has grown up around them: jokes about how bad puns are. (See Pearls before Swine.) I’ve done maybe two or three good puns in my entire career. I count the above as one of them.
Clear as Mud
By Jimmy Johnson
Recent Posts
Ghost of Christmas Past
This holiday Arlo & Janis comic strip from 2022 is similar in concept to the new strip that ran yesterday. I thought the latter ...
Spearhead
I have produced a number of comic strips related to Veteran’s Day. Especially in latter years, I have tried to emphasize the universal experience ...
Dark Passage
Remember: it’s that weekend. The return to standard time can be a bit of a shock in the late afternoon, but I rather enjoy ...
What’s old is old, again
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build a web site, but there are similarities. Everything needs to be just right, or ...
Back to the ol’ drawing board
I don’t have a lot of time this morning. I wasn’t going to post anything, but I’m tired of looking at that old photograph ...
Thursday’s Child
On Sunday, I teased you with the suggestion there are more changes coming here. There are. They will appear soon, and I think you’ll ...
281 responses to “Clear as Mud”
Will someone explain today’s (4/23) cartoon, please?
Picture the old west saloon, the boys are whooping it up and someone is beating the keys on the old piano when Dead Eye comes through the swinging doors. Everybody freezes and there is silence while they stare at Dead Eye. If you have squirrels in your back yard and you let the cat out then the piano stops.
It’s one of JJ’s greatest strips.
GR 😉 short and sweet to read….come back and stay longer when you can…miss your posts big time.
Good morning Villagers..
The saga continues…Andrew was in his stealth mode yesterday….dropped off the ‘dead’ truck (old GMC we use to haul the dead) at the #1 hen house, without coming in and saying anything. Ian looks horrible, right eye is black and blue, and pain all the way down to his upper gum. May go see the doctor today, she is closed on Wednesdays.
Old Bear, yes there is a possible new strain…and I’ve heard they are working on a vaccine. Some 1.5 million hens (I’ve heard) had to be ‘depopuolated’ in Iowa I believe. This is not good. I asked what is done with the carcasses…they have to be buried onsite.
Oh, and the mushroom season is upon us here….you think deer season is bad, there are people crawling all over these woods looking for that mushroom….and no GR 😉 it’s not the magic kind 🙂
Morales is the name of the mushroom, if that is the correct word….Emb, you’d know.
gotta go..
ya’lll have a blessed day
David..thanks for explaining and taking the time to explain that cut and paste job, I thought it looked pretty cool.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2015/04/20/avian-flu-chicken-eggs/26094811/
one in five eggs from Iowa enter the market…….
today’s awww……
http://cheezburger.com/8481441280
I loved the way you explained it, Jerry! I imagined the piano was playing “Camptown Races”. Jimmy got the squirrels tail talking in the trees just right, too.
Debbe, I hope Ian has a chance to go to the doctor today, and that Andrew gets help for his illness soon. Hugs. Damn, there are times I wish this wasn’t a virtual Village, but a real one.
Ghost, thanks for the “wham, bam”! 😉
Arlo could have said that his broker was E.F Hutton…but then a whole lot less people would have known what Jimmy was talking about!
Mushroom hunters may be pests, but they’re less likely to be accidentally shot by other, sometimes squiffed* mushroom hunters.
Peace, emb
Debbe, I think the word you are looking for is “Morels”.
So people that go looking for morels and come up empty have “No Morals”?
Denise: “Thank you, ma’am.” 😉
Debbe 😉 Ian may have a fractured cheekbone, with the pain radiating like that. He should get it checked.
emb: Mushroom hunters are also much less likely to hurt themselves falling out of tree stands.
When I was in high school, there was a squirrel who would taunt our 3 cats (2 Siamese and an Honorary Siamese grey tabby) every day from the branch of the tree, frisking his fluffy tail provocatively. Often he would venture out onto the ground a short distance from the tree, using every bit of squirrel profanity that he knew, until one of the cats could stand it no longer and bolt for the squirrel, whereupon the squirrel bee-lined back up the tree with the enraged predator in hot pursuit… until about 8 feet up the tree, when the cat’s impetus petered out and it was clear to him the squirrel would make a clean getaway further up the tree. The chagrined cat then had to drop to the ground under a cascade of squirrel taunts, curse words and further tail-frisking. The scowls from the cats could bore through concrete at that point.
This squirrel particularly delighted in taunting the younger Siamese, who always proved unable to resist the bait put down by the rodent, and was routinely humiliated for several weeks as he lost the race halfway up the tree. The squirrel would watch for him each morning when we let him out and start right in on him. This was apparently loads of fun for this antagonist.
Then one fine morning, the cats came up with a plan. The younger Siamese slipped out of the house well before dawn as my Dad left for work. The older Siamese then later made an appearance outside, right at the time the younger cat usually appeared.
Down came the squirrel from the tree into the yard to taunt his favorite adversary. But Siamese cats apparently all look the same to squirrels, apparently, because the buck-toothed tormentor was not apprised that this was NOT the younger Siamese until he suddenly felt four fangs in his neck from behind. Someone had been waiting for hours for just that opportunity.
Shortly thereafter, there was an offering at our back door, and Dodge City was peaceful once more.
So if most people hunt the morels, would that make them the Morel Majority?
That’s a delightful story, Evan. Thanx for sharing it.
I was out at the VA yesterday for a routine appointment. Because I smoke a pipe, my doctor wants me to have an ultrasound of my aorta, to screen for potential heart issues. He sent me over to the right people when I was done, but alas, it has to be done fasting. Right. I’m scheduled for laser surgery on one eye (not Lasik) next month at 8:30 AM, the only time they schedule them, so I’ll have the ultrasound when that’s done and then eat breakfast.
Evan: Great story!
Debbe: Have courage! Sending prayers for you.
Ghost: Welcome home!
Per Loon’s request, a select few pics. We think the Ghostly one will enjoy at least one of these.
http://www.pinterest.com/sandcastler/slovakia/
Per Loon’s request a second board of pics.
http://www.pinterest.com/sandcastler/asia/
On mushrooms. In France pharmacists are trained in mushrooms identification; they will sort your rooms in to the edible and those to serve the inlaws. 😉
Cool pix, sand. Thanks.
Loon and sand, the shot of the Tatra Mountains is awesome! Only in France would pharmacists ID your shrooms…I can’t imagine that anywhere else. My Mom’s Father used to take my Dad shroom hunting. I regret that Dad passed away before he had a chance to teach me.
Thought for the Day: Try not to look like a nail when in the company of hammers.
OF due 1651-1711 CST. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html