Feb 2nd 2012 08:05 am “Play it!”

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Since movies have come up in the current A&J strip running in newspapers, I thought I’d bring out one of my favorite Groundhog Day cartoons, from 2007. I thought the movie by the same name was great, Bill Murray’s best. It might make my top-25 list, as would Lust for Life, the story of Vincent Van Gogh, starring Kirk Douglas. Normally, I would post links to some of these great subjects, but I’m in a bit of a hurry today. Besides, you can Google it. You do know how to Google, don’t you, Steve? Just put your hands together and type.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

61 Responses to ““Play it!””

  1. John in Virginia on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:22 am #

    Every morning she tells me that I ask her that every morning. As Pogo once sort of said, “We have met Arlo & Janis and they are us!”

  2. John in Virginia on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:22 am #

    Can I quote Pogo in here?

  3. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:29 am #

    Love Groundhog Day. I thought it was one of the most original movies made in the last few years.

    I am amazed at how so many people that I work with or are friends with that do not know how to google. There was a commercial on TV for a search engine that showed how some search engines will lead you to some pretty strange sites. That is is very frustrating to me at times, but I have learned how to type in the right words and phrases so that most of the time I find what I am looking for.

    I am still not a very good whistler. There is more to it than putting your lips together and blowing!

  4. billinbossier on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:31 am #

    I find that I am increasingly dependant on Goggle these days. It is a lot easier than searching down a dictionary or encyclopedia everytime I want to know something. I just wonder what my Grandfather would have said if he had lived to see the computer age. He was an early pioneer in the field of electronics, working for Western Union for nearly 40 years.

  5. bruce on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:46 am #

    Have you read the book by Irving Stone? Outstanding.

  6. Rich in NE IL on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:47 am #

    If you get CMT (which I think is “Country Music Television”), they’re showing “Groundhog Day” tonight at 8:00 central.

    The groundhog isn’t seeing his shadow around here today. Can’t even see across the street! But I don’t know about an early spring; we haven’t even had what you could call winter yet.

  7. Bob, near Mark on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:49 am #

    I guess gazillions of guys go gaga over Google, and it is great; but for looking up movies, I prefer IMDB.

  8. richard on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:53 am #

    Hello, Jimmy

    Long time reader over the years; first post. Your work has given me GREAT pleasure. I am a fan of cats and your portrayal of Ludwig has made me smile many, many times. Your strip speaks in a way others do not. A daily must-read. Simply amazed at how you nail events/topics in my life thru your panels. For all the smiles, I thank you.

    Regards,

    richard

  9. MINDY on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:56 am #

    Groundhog was wearing sunglasses here for awhile. Now it’s going to rain. How many names are there for groundhogs, by the way? Woodchuck, Whistlepig…

  10. MINDY on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:57 am #

    No, wait! Sun’s back out! I guess…no, wait! Sun’s gone again…

  11. adaks on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:07 am #

    Got to go to youtube and watch “One Meat Brawl” in honor of Groundhog Day. Great 1947 cartoon from Warners. Love the song, “A Groundhog’s Shadow Doesn’t Mean a Thing!”

  12. phil in Missoula, MT on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:19 am #

    I think that there should be a class in middle or high school (and maybe a remedial class for adults) on how to ask questions to get information and, more importantly, how to evaluate information.

    With nearly all of the information in the world at you’re finger tips, it is idiotic not to be able to ask the right question to find what you are looking for. That said, there are some tips and tricks you can use to improve your searches.

    Here’s a good synopsis of how to search for terms or phrases
    http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861

    Limit your words to a specific set of words that you want to find. Enclose in quotes if you want the words in exact order and not just occurring somewhere in an article. You can exclude pages with terms or phrases. You can also use a logical OR to get one or the other or both parts of a search clause.

  13. phil in Missoula, MT on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:23 am #

    I meant “your finger tips”. Searches are harder when you can’t spell or type.

  14. Dave in MA on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:50 am #

    The groundhog here says we’ve got 6 more weeks of winter. Poor thing, someone forgot to tell him winter never arrived this year!

  15. Dave in MA on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:52 am #

    Steve from Royal Oak, MI, wet lips are a big help, but I’m not going down that path….

  16. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:55 am #

    Dave in MA: Thanks, I think that I will google that…but on my computer at home.

  17. Nodak Wayne on 02 Feb 2012 at 10:35 am #

    Can you say “Star Wars?”

    http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=114661

  18. Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 02 Feb 2012 at 10:38 am #

    Happy Groundhog Day to all and a Merry Rites of Spring!

    I have the good fortune to be very good friends with a fellow from Punxsutawney, so it follows that Groundhog Day has been a big deal amongst our circle of friends for over 30 years. I even made a pilgrimage to P’unxy for my friend’s wedding and got to visit the Great Prognosticator. Right now, I am drinking form my Official Punxsutawney Phil coffee mug.

  19. Debbie in Alabama on 02 Feb 2012 at 10:52 am #

    School librarians (media specialists in today’s world) try to teach search skills to the kiddos. But you know what we teach and what they learn are often two different things.

  20. Redman in the "Big O" on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:47 am #

    If I put my hands together, how am I suppossed to type?

  21. Robin in FL on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:47 am #

    Phil

    Doesn’t really matter what you put into Google or any search engine any more. You’ll get the same sites over and over–the ones that have paid to be there. There might be a great deal of information on the web but it’s very difficult to access any more.

    Robin

  22. Dave in MA on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:54 am #

    Redman in the “Big O”, I was going to say that myself….

    Robin in FL, there’s a growing tendency to filter things based on your past usage of the search engine. The result is if you’re liberal you get liberal results and think the world thinks like you do. If you’re conservative, you get conservative results and think the world thinks like you do. If you’re psychotic, you get psychotic results and think you’re normal. :)

    Sorry, if I want to know my own opinion, I already know that. If I want details of other points of view, the net used to be the place to go, but now it’s hard to find dissenting opinions because it’s all filtered out…..

    1984 is just around the corner folks! (But like in T3, the machines aren’t going to tell us until it’s too late…..)

  23. Boise Ed on 02 Feb 2012 at 12:13 pm #

    Wow, I’ve never had a comment go to moderation before! It’s probably because it included two URLS, so here’s the first part:

    I was amused to note that a comment to Candorville today referred to http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2002/02/02 .

  24. Boise Ed on 02 Feb 2012 at 12:14 pm #

    And here’s the second part:

    And it, in turn, reminded me of http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2012/02/02 .

  25. Ruth on 02 Feb 2012 at 12:33 pm #

    When I get home form work tonight my husband will be watching Groundhog Day. It’s a tradition for him and he’s been talking about it for a week.

  26. Jim in Daphne on 02 Feb 2012 at 12:36 pm #

    My wife and I watched Groundhog Day last night (Can’t watch it tonight because I have a Mardi Gras association meeting). Great movie and we watch it every year like we watch It’s a Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve. A 50+ year old engineer working for me never stepped into the the computer age completely. A coworker was in his office while he was on the internet and asked him to Google a shop so he could find the location. The engineer looked blank and said “I don’t think I have Google on my machine.” I don’t know how long he will last with those skills.

  27. Dave in MA on 02 Feb 2012 at 12:55 pm #

    Boise Ed, thanks for that. I had seen today’s Non-Sequitur, but had forgotten about the old A&J.

    Jim in Daphne, “wow” is all I can say.

  28. CW in 617 on 02 Feb 2012 at 1:26 pm #

    If one can risk sounding too much like a wise guy, try wishing folks a “Happy Candlemas” or, more extreme, “Happy Brigantia” today.
    While I got this online at
    http://www.almanac.com/
    I keep a hard copy of the Old Farmer’s Almanac within arm’s reach at home. Like so much else, there are many ads (gotta stay in business), and I skip the astrology parts. The long-term weather predicitions are close to 50/50.

  29. Tom in Southern Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 1:34 pm #

    As an “IT professional” I find it very frustrating when I come across people who make it a point to be computer illiterate, even when using a computer every day is part of their job. They’re proud of it and resist any attempt to teach them. I tend to think that usually the problem is that they’re intimidated by the computer and are afraid of screwing things up. I can understand that up to a point, but computers are just tools to be used and like any tool it’s up to the individual to learn how to use it properly, effectively, and safely.

    One other observation I’ve made over the years is that the average user (and I include myself in this group for the most part) tends to learn just enough about a given program to do whatever they need to do right now. Of course, this tends to make some relatively simple tasks overly complicated, such when they suddenly find themselves directed to add transitioning effects between slides in a slide show and they’ve not the foggiest idea where to start.

    One of these days I’ll have to get and watch that Groundhog movie. I understand it’s a bit repetitive, though. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Tom

  30. phil in Missoula, MT on 02 Feb 2012 at 1:51 pm #

    Dave in MA’s comments above reminded me that Google has announced that is will start combining information it gleans from your searchs, emails and whatever else of theirs you use, to direct information and advertising tailored toward what they perceive your interests to be. Their words:

    “If you’re signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries – or tailor your search results – based on the interests you’ve expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. We’ll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you’re searching for and get you those results faster.”

    Philosophically I am uncomfortable with this, but practically I am not sure how much of a difference it will make. Mostly I don’t even see advertising. Since most of my searches are for non commercial information, I’m not sure how that will change.

  31. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 02 Feb 2012 at 2:06 pm #

    MINDY:

    There’s also Marmot, but that also applies to several other North American and Eurasian species of the genus Marmota. Our woodchuck, inhabiting mostly open woodlands from eastern N. Amer. nw through the Prairie Provinces and into lower Alaska, is in some ways an unusual member of the group. It occupies lowlands and adults are more or less solitary. The others, at least those in western N.A., are mostly mountain dwellers and occur in small colonies. Most of the others are also larger that the woodchuck. Overall, they are the largest members of the squirrel family, Sciuridae.

  32. Lost in A**2 on 02 Feb 2012 at 2:09 pm #

    I expect we’ll see that Non Sequitur again on Saturday. :)

    Maybe the A&J, too.

  33. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 02 Feb 2012 at 2:26 pm #

    After watching the Geico commercials with the woodchucks “chucking’ that wood, I think the little varmits are just playing with us. They have a built in barameter, but since we humans realize that, they purposely throw us off with their predictions…because they can :-)

  34. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:30 pm #

    Debbie in Alabama: You got THAT right! We teach it – they don’t necessarily learn it!

    richard – y’all come back now that you’ve had your toe in the water!

  35. CW in 617 on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:36 pm #

    @ Tom in Southern Ohio:
    Since the days of punch cards, I’ve been on both sides of this issue. IT instructions that are incomplete, incorrect or confusing try my patience quickly.

    Several years ago, while teaching a lab class involving (warning!) statistics, students were asked to do fairly routine calculations. One student asked me how to do this on a handheld calculator, and I asked her to see the instruction booklet. She had thrown it away upon purchase, thereby relegating the $300 HP (older times) to paperweight status. Years after that, a student asked for help with his calculator, and booklet or no, I was stymied by the Chinese charcaters on the keypad.

    On the other hand, I just spent an hour figuring out how to use my new office phone. The most constructive thing I taught myself was how to edit contact information in Cyrillic.

  36. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:41 pm #

    As of 1537 CST, both Decorah eagles were in the nest tree. I’ve seen the male [only, I think] on the nest itself several times in the last two weeks.

  37. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:51 pm #

    Here’s a couple of unusual takes on today

    http://www.gocomics.com/offthemark/2012/02/02

    http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/

  38. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:52 pm #

    Oopsy – this prooves 2 URLs put you in mod pit!

    http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/

  39. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:53 pm #

    AAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNDDDD here’s the other one!

    http://www.gocomics.com/offthemark/2012/02/02

  40. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:57 pm #

    ooooooo! One more!

    http://www.gocomics.com/strangebrew/2012/02/02

  41. Mary in Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 4:04 pm #

    And Agnes and Daddys Home (both on GoComics) are worth a peek too, if you want different takes on Candlemas. (“Half your wood and half our hay/ You must have by Candlemas Day.”)

  42. Robin in FL on 02 Feb 2012 at 4:40 pm #

    eMb

    Why it matters to you is that you might be searching for non-commercial information but you’re going to get the same links over and over, regardless of what is out there. You will get the links someone has paid for you to get, seeded with random words. Search engines are much more limited than they appear.

    And yes, Google’s self-licking ice cream cone approach is AWFUL.

  43. Mike from Hartland on 02 Feb 2012 at 4:44 pm #

    I remember reading 1984 in high school. I thought to myself how could they ever get all of those machines that watched people into their houses. Now we have computers in our houses and telephones with us all the time.

  44. Bob, near Mark on 02 Feb 2012 at 6:14 pm #

    One thing that helps with Google searches is to go into “Search Settings” on your Google page and set Google instant predictions to “Never show instant results.” Otherwise, Google tries to decide for itself what it is that you’re searching for.

  45. Mark in TTown on 02 Feb 2012 at 7:42 pm #

    And one other thing on the “new” Google privacy. It operates if you are signed in. I don’t sign in just to do searches. My pet peeve is all the popup junk which a certain web-surfing software doesn’t filter out, even if you have set the so-called popup blocker. It drives me crazy when I link to the new A&J from this site and get popups and assorted ad garbage all over the screen. That is what I most dislike about the Gocomics site. I understand they have to make money to pay for the space, but it doesn’t have to be THAT intrusive!

  46. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 02 Feb 2012 at 7:55 pm #

    Robin:

    Are you sure it was me you meant to address? I didn’t think I had posted anything one way or another about search engines. emb

  47. Robin in FL on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:04 pm #

    Bob, near Mark

    Thanks–that did help a bit.

  48. Jerry in Fl on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:04 pm #

    I love it when a computer recording converses with my voice mail. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand your answer.” Stupid computers. Young people don’t always know anything before the most up to the second gadget. I told a young woman at the hospital that I had worked there about 100 years ago and she asked me what my job had been. When I told her that I had supervised the key punch operators she didn’t have a clue. Of course when I had a problem with the net just now the companie’s computer asked me if I had recycled the modem. I gave the computer some instructions of my own and hung up Since I am here I must have fixed the problem and I didn’t throw anything in the scrap metal box (yet).

  49. Robin in FL on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:04 pm #

    eMb

    You’re right. I was hallucinating. Again. Sorry.

  50. Jerry in Fl on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:07 pm #

    For the first time in a long time I am in moderation so l will try a test to see if this is the word that did it-stupid-andI wasn’t talking about anybody.

  51. Jerry in Fl on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:09 pm #

    Nope, then I don’t have a clue.

  52. Charlotte in NH on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:12 pm #

    I will try the “Search Settings” that Bob, near Mark, recommends; looks useful. However, I must say that I have had amazingly good results from Google. I like to look up artists and authors, and if I click on Images it will bring up page after page of an artist’s works or a writer’s face and those of his family and friends. If you ever wondered what some favorite greybeard looked like as a young man — there you are.
    I longed for a photograph of the Rec Hall at the summer camp I went to as a child — had tried before, no luck — hit on the right combination, and there it was ! On a 1940′s postcard ! I was thrilled.

  53. Charlotte in NH on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:15 pm #

    And I haven’t noticed any of the bad things our friends here are talking about. I have never signed in, does that make the difference?

  54. Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 02 Feb 2012 at 8:32 pm #

    billinbossier: My dad worked for the Western Union for over 50 years and I’m pretty sure I know what he would think of this computer age – he would love it! Although he never had the opportunity for higher education or to travel far in person, he explored the world through books and his ham radio and his curiosity about all things never waned. The places we go with the click of a mouse would be pure delight to him. (And he would probably have a pretty good grasp of how it all works too.)

  55. Mark in TTown on 02 Feb 2012 at 10:47 pm #

    To Phil in Missoula, Google is coming rather late to this party. (Using searches, etc to suggest things). Tracking cookies seem to be set for most sites, and no matter where you go next, there are ads touting things from where you’ve been.
    The internet is great and I have a lot of enjoyment out of hunting up things on it. What is making it less enjoyable for people is the advertising overload. I have found one site that I can read news stories on without popups, etc on their main page. But if you have to follow a link out, you are back in billboardland. If you are interested look up My Way. Thanks to you all for the interesting conversations, they keep me reading everyday.

  56. Tom in Southern Ohio on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:12 pm #

    @ CW in 617,

    I started in the days of punch cards myself as a mainframe computer operator. Even then we’d get phone calls from users telling us that their terminal wasn’t working. We’d ask if it was turned on, and when they insisted that it was ask them to please make sure. Most times after a moment we’d see that terminal come online and the user would get back on the phone and say it was working now, what did we do to fix it. We’d tell them we’d just waited for them to turn it on.

    That “turned on” concept is still an issue for some.

    I do agree about lousy documentation being very frustrating but, as you’ve noted, many do not bother with it at all. When I do write up a procedure for users I take it step by step, with screen shots every step of the way–and then give it to a couple of users to see if they can follow it accurately. If they can’t it’s up to me to fix it so they can.

    Cheers,
    Tom

  57. potato queen on 03 Feb 2012 at 6:46 am #

    “Lust for Life”! Oh I love that movie–Kirk Douglas is just brilliant depicting the pain of mental illness. He absolutely inhabits that role, BECOMES Van Gogh.

    p.s. Please come to DC, Jimmy, my husband and I so want to meet you!

  58. Dave in MA on 03 Feb 2012 at 7:41 am #

    My favorite experience with computers and people who don’t understand or don’t WANT to understand was when i worked in customer service for a health insurer. A caller wanted to know why his bill wasn’t paid yet. I asked for his ID number. “That’s in your computer.” Well then, can I have your name? “That’s in your computer too!”. He couldn’t understand why the computer wouldn’t automatically know who was on the other end of the phone with me and call up his account……

    I’d say, “gotta love it”, but you really don’t “gotta”.

  59. Jerry in Fl on 03 Feb 2012 at 2:47 pm #

    My comment from last night re key punch still says awaiting moderation, but from other comments it appears as if some of you read it. Is my comment on the forum or not? Just wondering and yes I did read JJ’s omment. Hang on, I haven’t read the latest comments yet.

  60. Mark in Boston on 03 Feb 2012 at 3:08 pm #

    Dave in MA:

    Reminds me of a scene in a movie — I’ve forgotten which movie. A man is trying to pick up a woman at a bar:

    Man: What’s your phone number?
    Woman (brightly): Oh, it’s in the book.
    Man: What’s your name?
    Woman (even more brightly): That’s in the book too! (Walks away.)

    Now seriously, companies DO have technology that automatically looks up your information based on Automatic Number Identification (something like Caller ID but it’s in a side channel and is always accurate, being used for billing long-distance calls). My brother was a founder of the company that invented this technology in the early 1990′s. It’s not used as much as it should be, I think mainly because people are a little creeped out when they dial a number and the person answering it says, “Hello Mr. Jones! What would you like to order from us today?”

  61. MINDY on 05 Feb 2012 at 8:24 am #

    Talking about “other search options,” just remember, You Always Have Other Options [YAHOO]. Gosh! That’s the first thing I’ve ever said that might imply that I’m computer literate! Do I get a medal? A gold star to take home to Mommy? A stick of chewing gum?