Jan 28th 2013 08:27 am Now Available via Streaming
There’s an interesting comic premiering today over at Gocomics.com. It’s Hutch Owen by Tom Hart. Tom’s cartoons featuring the down-and-out title character have been around for a while in the form of graphic novels. I’d like to say I know a lot about Tom and his work, but I don’t. I’m just an old guy absorbed in his not-yet-planted herb garden. However, from what I have learned, he’s clever. I’m anxious to see what happens in Hutch Owen, the comic strip. I’m not sure exactly how old Tom is, really, but I’ll bet he’s younger than I. According to his Web site, tomhart.net, he has “projects” going. Man, I wish I had projects. I envy those young guys.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
50 Responses to “Now Available via Streaming”
phil in Missoula, MT on 28 Jan 2013 at 8:30 am #
I have all kinds of projects. They’re just not going…
Lost in A**2 on 28 Jan 2013 at 8:34 am #
Yeah, the young guys can remember the projects they are working on. When I switch from one thing to another, I forget the first thing.
Rich in Belchertown on 28 Jan 2013 at 8:54 am #
Just checked out Hutch Owen. Not sure how old Tom Hart is, but I’m guessing he’s over 30. In the first panel, one character is reading a book and the other is reading a newspaper (the kind that’s printed on actual paper). If that’s not enough, the denouement involves one character’s desire to purchase a CD of Coltrane. Not download the mp3 or pirate the iso, but purchase a CD. Talk about geezers. In between, there’s an Arlo-esque anti-commercialism rant. Looks promising.
As for projects, when I was younger, everything was an adventure. Now, everything’s a project.
Don Robertson on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:06 am #
He is 43 but looks 29. I hate those guys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hart_%28comics%29
sandcastler on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:11 am #
Don, he was only 33 in the Wiki photo, who knows how he may have aged. I am one of those who does not look their age. I was still being carded in bars at age 27_28. My wife who is years younger than me likes the fact since IHO I mare her look younger.
Don Robertson on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:16 am #
Yes, but he looked 19 then! Hmmm… he is a professor at New York’s School of Visual Arts.
Don Robertson on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:19 am #
Or was… he does not seem to be listed there anymore: http://www.sva.edu/faculty#H
Lost in A**2 on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:39 am #
This is the first time I’ve noticed a paw print on Mr. Johnson’s comment.
Tom T. on 28 Jan 2013 at 10:03 am #
It’s funny that the date on this strip is from just twelve years ago, but what it’s depicting essentially no longer exists. Things change so fast sometimes.
Non Est Mea Culpa on 28 Jan 2013 at 11:03 am #
I have 300+ VHS cassettes stored in a back room awaiting the day when I can convert them to DVD. Naturally, DVD is now an endangered species by Blue Ray. Unfortunately, I am now an endangered species simply because I’ve lived through so many incarnations and mutations. Don’t cry for me, Argentina.
Robb on 28 Jan 2013 at 11:07 am #
Just a warning- I went to ‘Hutch Owen’ and my anti-virus blocked it because of a threat.
Robb on 28 Jan 2013 at 11:08 am #
One thing about CD/DVDs they have a limited life span. I have some CDs burned about eight years ago or so that no longer work properly. I had read this was likely to happen, and it has.
Mindy on 28 Jan 2013 at 11:21 am #
A CD seems to fade away long before a DVD does, Robb, or so that’s been our experience. A lot of it has to do with the manner of storage. That’s what I’ve been told. I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Ghost Rider 6 on 28 Jan 2013 at 12:14 pm #
Ref the 1/28/13 (today’s) real-time cartoon…loving Janis more and more all the time.
Have I mentioned that the character of Janis could well be an amalgam of the personalities of the members of my all-female staff? Or that my relationship with them is much like that of Arlo with Janis? Except that I don’t get to sleep with them or watch them take baths.
Ghost Rider 6 on 28 Jan 2013 at 1:09 pm #
The fact that Tom Hart’s new offering has a character who even knew who Trane was tells me a lot.
Mindy, compact discs are long-lived but certainly not immune to data loss, unless maybe they are made of gold or stainless steel. I think some manufacturers claim up to 200 years for standard CD’s if properly stored, but that strikes me as questionable. And needless to say, if the Mayans had put their calendar on them, probably no one would have been worried about 12-21-12.
sideburns on 28 Jan 2013 at 1:19 pm #
Back when I was 19, I never got carded because I looked like I was in my mid 20′s. (And, I tried to act like I was about 23 or so instead of just barely 21.) Now, I’m 63 and most people think I’m in my mid 50′s. In some ways it’s been the best of both worlds.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 28 Jan 2013 at 1:29 pm #
Both my wife and I look very young in our wedding pictures. She was 19 but looked even younger. Fortunately, she still looks young.
When I filled a recent prescription I was asked to write my birthdate. The kid behind the counter thought that I wrote 1936 instead of 1956….I just stared at him!
Bookworm on 28 Jan 2013 at 2:05 pm #
Okay, y’all, stop making me feel bad! I’m an old lady and look it! And my projects have projects. But here I sit at the computer, very comfortable and contented, enjoying the reading material.
Tom from the Front Range on 28 Jan 2013 at 2:45 pm #
Oh, jeez, another strip with very small lettering (like Loose Parts.)
Well, one example does not a keeper make but I didn’t find it to be laugh-out-loud funny either.
Of course, once you’re an A&J fan, everything else is an also-ran.
Ghost Rider 6 on 28 Jan 2013 at 2:46 pm #
I, on the other hand, look at least 25 years less than my actual age. And if you believe that, remind me to tell you about the beachfront property I have for sale in Kansas.
The way I look at it is that gray hair and wrinkles are your battle ribbons from campaigns you survived.
“Oh well a touch of grey, kinda suits you anyway,
That is all I had to say, if it’s all right
I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.”
–”Touch of Gray” by the Grateful Dead
DJJG on 28 Jan 2013 at 3:17 pm #
Thanks, Jimmy! We need more good comic strips. I am for the first time able to read Percy Crosby’s classic “Skippy”– http://www.gocomics.com/skippy/ –so great to get to know the good old stuff. But frankly I have fallen in love with something new, Graham Harrop’s “Ten Cats”– http://www.gocomics.com/ten-cats/ –I love the way the warehouse will be drawn tilted just a little bit or how the cats are often mostly all mouth–but the writing! More good stuff.
Mary in Ohio on 28 Jan 2013 at 3:26 pm #
Non Est Mea Culpa: I’ve forgotten how to say “You and me both” in Latin.
sandcastler on 28 Jan 2013 at 3:49 pm #
Some years back I had an assignment that took me into northern Wisconsin tourist area just after Labor Day. Most of the folks in local dinners were retirees hanging on past the holiday. Several times the wait staff would automatically give me the senior discount. Was unsettling, now I take ‘em without a thought.
JDS on 28 Jan 2013 at 4:04 pm #
Dear Mary in Ohio,
“Tu et me, quoque.” ?????
Mark in TTown on 28 Jan 2013 at 4:37 pm #
Tom from the Front Range, just click on the strip and it will enlarge. Thank you GoComics. I especially appreciate the online sites that will allow you to enlarge their fonts too. I wish they all would do that.
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 4:40 pm #
Having just gotten off Facebook before coming here, my fingers were twitching to “Like” the first few posts on this site … thanks to Phil in Missoula and to Lost, and others as well. Wise and amusing writing.
Tom from the Front Range on 28 Jan 2013 at 4:54 pm #
Thanks, Mark in TTown,
I’m talkin’ after I zoomed the strip!
It got larger but not funnier.
(With Loose Parts, zooming does little good.)
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 5:00 pm #
Okay, I am back from checking out a few on GoComics. Have to say, I don’t “get” today’s A&J.
Can you explain it to me? I presume Janis is on Facebook.
Do any of you guys read “2 Cows and a Chicken”? It’s the first one on the list at GoComics. I’m very fond of it and have read it for years. The artist has ended the strip, but just like “Cul de Sac” they have started printing it again from the beginning; most appetizing, both of them; I love it!
I adored a kind of similar strip a few years ago, “Silo Roberts”, and was so sad when the artist gave up his lovable characters and moved on to other things; and no re-runs! (Wondering: could the old strips be found somewhere if I knew how and where to look? Note to self: start looking … )
Mark in TTown on 28 Jan 2013 at 5:20 pm #
Charlotte in NH, my guess is that Arlo only has Janis “friended”.
Here is some good news for you then, about Silo Roberts:
http://rob-logic.blogspot.com/2012/03/silo-roberts-united-media-2003-2006.html
Mark in TTown on 28 Jan 2013 at 5:22 pm #
Tom from the Front Range, yeah, making something unfunny bigger does not help. Witness some so-called comedies on TV and in the theaters.
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 5:39 pm #
Mark in TTown, thanks for the tip on enlarging comics — will try. Also: perhaps this depends on what browser one has; my Windows 7, the taskbar (?) has icons, also words Page and Tools. Click on Page and from the dropdown menu choose Zoom; then you get to choose Custom, or several percentages; I usually use 150% to read comics. This works for any page one is looking at, including newspapers, Google, Wikipedia, and on and on. It’s a VERY useful feature.
Mark in TTown on 28 Jan 2013 at 6:25 pm #
Thanks Charlotte. I use two different computers during the day. My employer-provided one which still uses XP, and my own personal one which came with Windows 8 (although I am using Chrome on it instead of Explorer. ) I will try it out. Chrome has the page enlarge feature which I do use for small text/graphics. I just found out by accident that the Gocomics strips would enlarge if you clicked on them. Makes it easier to pick up all those neat little details that artists love to put in and the print versions reduce to microscopic size.
Mindy from Indy on 28 Jan 2013 at 6:32 pm #
Ghost, glad you enjoy hearing from my nerdy side (as most don’t). Actually I was glad for the distraction: yesterday afternoon I was on the phone with my aunt when her 89 year-old mother caught her foot on a rug in the kitchen and fell and broke her hip. I am not sure if there is much more of a helpless feeling when you know something has gone horribly wrong and there’s nothing you can do. This woman is a wonder – she is almost blind and deaf, and yet there is no stopping her. She does laundry, cleans – 98lbs and moves a hide-bed-sofa to clean!, bakes using recipes from memory, and most of the prep work for meals. And heaven help you if you are trying to keep up with her on clear, flat surfaces – she can power walk like nobody’s business. She had a partial hip replacement this morning and is doing well. Hopfully she will make a speedy recovery; we have a date with some catfish in Arkansas next year!
Judy in Conroe on 28 Jan 2013 at 7:41 pm #
Charlotte in NH – I was wondering too, then read the comment that probably explains it – After Arlo’s question of how many friends – seems as though Janis replied with one digit (not the polite one) – then he sweetly tells her he’s sure she has more than one.
sideburns on 28 Jan 2013 at 7:41 pm #
Your aunt’s mother may not have fallen and broke her hip, Mindy from Indy; at that age, she probably has osteoporosis, and she could have fallen because her hip broke, not the other way around. Still, I’m very glad to read that she’s doing better.
Ghost Rider 6 on 28 Jan 2013 at 7:54 pm #
Lady Mindy, so sorry to hear about your great-aunt. Bu expect the best. My mom, who is even a few years older than that, otherwise pretty well meets the same description…mentally alert, remarkably healthy, lives independently. She fell last month, suffered bilateral sacral fractures, but no displacement, and the fractures should heal in couple of months. Will slow her down a bit, but otherwise, business as usual. Man, I hope I can do half as well as she does, if I even make it to her age.
Ghost Rider 6 on 28 Jan 2013 at 7:59 pm #
The Weather Channel must be trying to get more “edgy” or whatever. I noticed this morning the background music to “Local on the Eights” was “Baba O’Riley.” What’s next…Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo? Or Melons Rising by The Meat Puppets?
OK, I’ll admit I’m just being bitchy because since the advent of colder weather the weather babes on TWC are mostly ruining the effect of perfectly good short skirts by wearing opaque leggings under them. Why don’t they just wear corduroy trousers–or State Department issue pants suits–and be done with it. OK, I’ll also admit to suffering from sundress deprivation.
What Edda Burger is wearing today would be OK, too.
Mindy from Indy on 28 Jan 2013 at 8:41 pm #
sideburns, In this case it was the rug. My aunt was in the next room when it happened and I heard it in real time over the phone. She stepped back and caught the rug. Having the older bones just didn’t help any. Her biggest concern was that her “grandkitty” was been neglected – he’d been without his beloved tuna for a *whole day*! (Never mind the big o’ dish of dry food down at all times for him.) while I’d rather it didn’t happen at all, I’m glad my aunt was home so she got help quickly.
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 8:53 pm #
Mark in TTown, You are a dear to look up the long lost Silo Roberts for me! Thank you, very very much! I was so excited to see these dear characters back again.
Judy in Conroe, that could be the explanation, I guess, though it seems an awful stretch. I don’t like Arlo very much when he has that expression on his face, in the last panel. Creepy, actually. Thanks for the input.
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:10 pm #
Mindy from Indy, I really sympathise with your aunt’s mother having broken her hip, and glad she is doing well. For all our friends with older relatives, better get the rugs off the floors. Nurses, doctors, and therapists all give this useful safety advice, and I have paid attention myself and given them all up. Not without a pang, for I really liked to have a comfy soft mat in front of the stove, and the sink; but I figure it’s not worth taking the chance of tripping.
Charlotte in NH on 28 Jan 2013 at 9:25 pm #
Debbe 59, It was good to hear from you this morning. You sure have a cheerful good attitude! Bless your heart, for getting out there and doing what needs to be done. You are a mighty fine example to the rest of us.
TruckerRon on 28 Jan 2013 at 10:24 pm #
From what I’ve read, CDs and DVDs mastered by a factory can last 10 – 20 years or more because they are pressed into their final shape and then coated with the gold, aluminum, or whatever metal they use. The ones you burn are distorted by the laser, thus exposing the underlying material and the edges of the disturbed metal to air, thus allowing oxidation… So, those are likely to start losing data after 5 – 7 years, depending on where they’re stored and the ambient conditions.
Mark in TTown on 28 Jan 2013 at 10:36 pm #
Charlotte in NH, you are most welcome. I have discovered that I am good at finding things. So, having been raised to be helpful, I put that skill to use where I can. I can empathize with your enjoyment at rediscovering those lost strips too. My favorite strip growing up was Dick Tracy and I had a blast when Blackthorne Comics started reprinting the old ones I had never seen.
Debbe59 on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:32 am #
GR…
Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman’s face
Hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste
Time waits for one, no favours has he
Time waits for one, and he wont wait for me, yeh
Rolling Stones “Time Waits For No One”
Debbe59 on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:38 am #
Charlotte in NH….thank you so much for your words of encouragement, I use to say “I can only stay ‘down’ for a little while, because I have to get back up and get ready for the next ‘downer’. The boss’s son-in-law snuck my son into the other chicken house to blow it out and clean the vents to give him a few hours. Then when I got home, I found out my son’s laptop crashed. He was devastated…he said that was the only thing that mattered to him…besides me
…for this too shall pass
a blessed day ya’ll
Hi Mindy
Debbe59 on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:43 am #
Mindy from Indy…prayers for your Aunt’s mother…..amen
Mindy from Indy on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:26 am #
And Debbe59, Much joy and peace to you. J. R. R. Tolkien always believed there was such a thing as a eucatastrophe – a sudden, unexpected change for the better. The big ones are called a “miracles,” and I am a huge believer in them, large or small. In fact, it’s the little, every day ones that give me the most joy: an unexpected call from an old friend, watching a baby take its first, wobbly steps, a compliment from a stranger – it’s amazing how many there are in a single day. I wish all of these things and more to you, Debbe59.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 7:19 am #
I hope Virgin Mindy has been lurking the past few days. If so, she may have actually learned something about adults. And how to be one.
Jean in Dahlonega Ga aka Trapper Jean on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:28 am #
Hi guys! Back again, hobbling around, but doing good. The knee surgery went well and I am walking on my own, so that’s good. The first day I was on pain meds, but after that I didn’t need them. I am seriously glad that I got a second opinion and went with that doctor instead of staying with the first one. I was so much more prepared for “apres-surgery” than I would have been.
Ghost-admittedly by the time I came out of my drug-induced fog I didn’t go back and read all the comments from the previous post. Did I miss something important? What has Virgin Mindy been up to this time??
As to cds, wasn’t that why we were all supposed to coat the back sides with that green marker stuff? Some company even made special markers with really wide heads just for that purpose.
Mindy from Indy-good luck to your aunt’s mother.
I never got carded in my teens because I looked older than my years, but somewhere in my late twenties I caught up with myself, and from then on I’ve looked younger than I really am. Even now that the hair is going silver and the “character lines” are showing people don’t believe my age when I tell them. No, I’m not telling you, either, and tomorrow (that’s Wednesday) I get another year older!
Virgin Mindy on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:12 am #
Kiss my foot, Ghost.