A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Red on Black, Friend of Jack

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
We seem to be making progress. I see yesterday’s comments still are with us, although older comments are nowhere to be found. I have learned they’re out there somewhere, and when I have time I’m going to look for them. Until then, I think we can manage, don’t you? Remember Freecell? Of course you do. You probably remember paying AOL to go online. As for today’s comic strip, it admittedly was one of the last drawn during an uninspired week. However, I can say it is based on a true story. Remember the olive trees? I made a big deal out of planting them last spring. Both of them are dead. They did not survive an uncommonly harsh Zone 8 winter. I remain convinced they’d have survived 9 out of 10 winters here, and if they’d had a few years’ to grow prior to this year, who knows? However, luck was against us.

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122 responses to “Red on Black, Friend of Jack”

  1. Jack in Minnesota Avatar
    Jack in Minnesota

    As sideburns said, Linux at one time did have issues with graphics and sound, but all of that has been ironed out and everything works great. Linux works well on older hardware, but to eliminate any doubts you can boot from CD-ROM or USB (if your BIOS supports it) just to try it out.

  2. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    Regarding today’s strip: Well it is Friday….

  3. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Debbe šŸ˜‰ Old Carnac the Magnificent bit from Johnny Carson…

    A: “Gladys Knight & The Pips.”
    Q: “Name a female pop singer and a chicken disease.”

    So I hope you didn’t catch the pips from “the girls”. Also, another classic for you…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78-ftcqpNw

    As a friend who worked in an ER once told me, “All bleeding eventually stops.” I suppose that applies to rain, also.

  4. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    GR6, entropy always wins out.

  5. Woodrowfan Avatar
    Woodrowfan

    the Bejeweled Virus must work the same way…

  6. Trapper Jean Avatar
    Trapper Jean

    Debbe, as the man said, ever wonder what the chickens do when you’re not looking?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AImXP2gQKu0

  7. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    Again, TIP is a rerun, but the blogspot

    http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/

    is priceless. emb

  8. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    And in the meanwhile, sand, gravity always wins.

    Homer Simpson, after falling out of Bart’s tree house: “Stupid gravity.”

  9. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    GR6, are you referencing Sir Issac Newton’s or Sandra Bullock’s views on gravity?

  10. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Newton had the better take on it. If we’re talking the Sandra Bullock version, I suppose Homer should have said, “Stupid Gravity.”

    Speaking of late night TV show hosts, I see in the news that Letterman is retiring. He was once amusing in an acerbic sort of way, but since his heart surgery, not so much. Now I find him to be mostly just acerbic. And grouchy. And mean.

  11. nickchik Avatar
    nickchik

    Candy Crush…the new Free Cell?

  12. Lilyblack Avatar
    Lilyblack

    I love Frecell, but sometimes I cheat and reboot my computer when I am stuck instead of taking my loss like a woman. šŸ™‚ There, I said, it, and I am glad. Glad, I tell you!

  13. Galliglo from Ohio Avatar
    Galliglo from Ohio

    Thanks Sideburns! Got all the relative discussion copied over to my “technical” file.

  14. Radgrad Avatar
    Radgrad

    Galligo: Here’s a good article about Ubuntu replacing XP. http://askbobrankin.com/a_free_windows_xp_alternative.html?awt_l=E9CRx&awt_m=J4SRH4WTbuP6SL. Oddly enough, This just posted yesterday.

  15. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Lily, I’m not too big on games, but I used to play FreeCell a bit. Whenever I was tempted to cheat, I asked myself, “Self, do you realize you are only cheating yourself?” That kept me from doing it. Usually. šŸ™‚

    Kind of reminds me of this from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”:

    Ted: “Dude, are you sure we should be doing this?”

    Bill: “Ted, you and I have witnessed many things, but nothing as bodacious as what just happened. Besides, we told ourselves to listen to this guy.”

    Ted: “What if we were lying?”

    Bill: “Why would we lie to ourselves?”

  16. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Thanks, Radgrad.

    Yeah, it amazes me how often I used to learn a new word and then immediately see it in print several times in the next few days.

  17. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    From the same site that Radgrad linked to above is a good overview of why continuing to use Windows XP as long as you are “careful” online or have good firewall and AV programs may not be a good choice.

    http://askbobrankin.com/windows_xp_game_over.html

  18. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    GR6,
    Ted: ā€œDude, are you sure we should be doing this?ā€
    Vietnam crew chief: “This bird is the most expensive beer cooler ever made. Hain’t half bad as a mobile deer stand and makes a great lady hauler. Besides we where taught to improvise. šŸ˜‰ “

  19. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    I was at my 88 yrs old mother’s when she got a call from Pee-tah who had a strong Indian accent. He had impotent inflammation about Windows. My mother doesn’t hear anyway and gave me the phone. I listened a few seconds and told him that there was no computer of any kind at that residence. That didn’t even slow him down so I said OK. One more time. There is no computer in this house, not even a lap top. You understand? He was saying something as I hung up. I could have done that without even talking to him but I try to be polite and experience tells me that they just call back.

  20. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Does anyone remember the 727, a former airline plane that was being converted to carry cargo, that vanished in 2003? It was sitting at an airport in Angola when it was boarded by two mechanics who did not know how to fly it. Shortly after that, without radio contact, it was seen to take off and has not been seen since. There was also an airplane, named Stardust, that disappeared in 1947 and was found in the Andes 53 years later. And I believe that more than one plane was found buried deeply in ice in recent years.

  21. Lilyblack Avatar
    Lilyblack

    I know. I’m weak. But the thought of giving in just gets to me sometimes. I could take the ding in my stats, but its that awful “Sorry!: screen that makes me reach for the “LOg off” button. I will try and be a better person, honest! šŸ™

  22. Shelly Avatar
    Shelly

    Russell Crowe is in the back yard building a boat. Goodbye.

  23. Charlotte in NH Avatar
    Charlotte in NH

    Jerry in Fla, You have to wonder sometimes what those telemarketers, or scammers, think they are doing. Guess they are looking for somebody dumber than they are!

    You are kidding about the airplanes, right?

    Lilyblack, you are doing okay. Computers can be so annoying.

    Glad to see you are back, Shelly.

  24. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park

    Jerry in Fl, Interesting story about the Star Dust – http://www.damninteresting.com/the-star-dust-mystery/

    Charlotte, unfortunately he’s not kidding about the airplanes. A quick search for Airplane Disappearances will get you several articles with titles like “5 mysterious…”, “10 most mysterious…”, etc.

  25. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Ruth Anne, thanks for the link. I remember now I had seen a previous story about that, with pictures taken by the expedition that found the crash site.