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

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

The Mockingbird’s Shrill

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I did want to post something, as service here has been spotty lately. I’m not sure my subconscious wasn’t at work when I chose today’s classic A&J. I’ve been fighting with my computer lately, plus the mockingbirds have begun their seasonal concert. Except, in reality, they sing about 3 a.m. For hours. I actually have gone downstairs in the middle of the night to flush one from the camellia bush below my bedroom window. I didn’t kill him, but I did scare the bejeebers out of him. Is that a sin?

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413 responses to “The Mockingbird’s Shrill”

  1. Mindy from Indy Avatar

    Old Bear – My company’s POGs are generally okay with spacing – unless a new size (less, with bigger packaging)/formula/other “merchandising update” rolls out from the maker after plans have been finalized. My company’s biggest product issue is relevance – the new sets come out once a year, and only very rarely do we get the latest “must have products” in a timely manner. Products other places have been carrying for months, we still don’t carry. Frustrating. And yeah, force outs of unwanted product can drive you bonkers. The one advantage to my location – the bigwigs rarely show, so I tend to “forget” to bring in unwanted products after initial run and backfill with what I know I can sell. Ah, retail. 🙂

  2. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    Had to copy and paste the whole page….scroll down to the bobcat. Wanted to be sure and copy what was written under the pic.

    http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/lolcats

  3. Granny Carol Avatar
    Granny Carol

    Debbe, sure am thankful you were not impacted by the tornado! About a year ago we had a devastating one go through our area. Many homes damaged and quite a few mobile homes wiped out. The only death was a lady whose mobile home literally disappeared – one day it was there, the next, completely gone – even the debris seemed to be blown away. She lived alone and it was out in an open field. She was found in the field, still alive, and was treated and released from the hospital. However, she did not live too much longer after that. She was in her 90’s and I guess the trauma of the experience was too much for her. 🙁

  4. Jackie monies Avatar
    Jackie monies

    Yall, I absolutely hate tornado season and have my entire life. I moved to bad location, I know but if I had given in to Mike on OKC and Norman it would be worse. Good reason National Weather offices are located there.

    Hope we are all safe this year. My life has taken a dramatic upward turn, I am happy and want to live and love life a good deal longer. Prayers for the Village.

  5. Denise in Michigan Avatar
    Denise in Michigan

    Debbe and Mindy, I’m thankful you made it through all right. I’m a coward; high winds scare the heck out of me. I want to watch outside to see what is going on, but I want to go hunker down in the basement, too.

  6. emb Avatar
    emb

    Todays A.W.A.D. quote: “Bad weather always looks worse through a window.” Tom Lehrer, singer-songwriter and mathematician (b. 9 Apr 1928).

    There’s some truth in that, and when you’re outside, it’s hard to separate how it looks from how it feels, and if you then see a twister, it’s surely false. But a greater objection is that someone is always reminding you how old you are. Impossible: TOM LEHRER JUST TURNED 87!

    Peace, emb

  7. emb Avatar
    emb

    TIP BlogSpot = yesterday’s, and comic is a repeat:

    http://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/

    Peace, emb

  8. emb Avatar
    emb

    http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/lolcats

    “I has a nose?” reminds us of something: in nature, there are few mirrors. Most critters that have image-forming vision have never seen themselves, especially their own facial features. They have to learn which moving things they see are kin, which are food, which are predators, etc. Much of this may be predetermined by genetics, more so in some forms than others. Other than eels, most fishes have never seen their bodies at all. Yet a hen wood duck sure knows a gaudy male when she sees one, which is why we still have wood ducks. Natural selection and all that.

    Peace, emb

  9. emb Avatar
    emb

    OF webcam keeping its eye on OF while view eruption to W. emb

    http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html

  10. Ruth Anne in Winter Park, FL Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park, FL

    Don’t remember if I learned about Breaking Cat News here or elsewhere. If not here, fellow cat people should check it out. http://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news

  11. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Northern IL, including Chicago, now under a 6 rating for tornadoes until 11 pm. While twisters fascinate me no end, they also scare the bejabbers out of me.

    Here’s a prayer that ALL miss out on injury and serious damage.

  12. Bob in Orland Park Avatar
    Bob in Orland Park

    c ex-p
    You’re right about the tornado watch here but I just looked out the back door and the sun is shining.

  13. emb Avatar
    emb

    OF: Buncha people out on the geyser field. Look like visitors, but resolution not that fine. A safe distance, I think.

    http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html

  14. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Our high school sports teams were called the Tornados. Boy did we have an ughly mascot.

  15. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    EMB, That foursome over to the left looks like they have an easy chip shot to the hole.

  16. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    IT’S BLOWING.

  17. emb Avatar
    emb

    Well, they had the sense or luck to watch with the wind to their backs. Presume there was no webcam operator or they’d have been shooed off. OTOH, maybe they were a VIP family w/ a ranger. Found a “contact us” and sent an email, but it was about 1645 Fri. YNP, of course can watch its own webcam; maybe nobody was watching, or it was arranged. More than 6 people total. Peace, emb

  18. Denise in Michigan Avatar
    Denise in Michigan

    c ex-p, that weather is heading here. Tigers had a rain delay at home but managed to squeeze the game in the doughnut hole between storms.

  19. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Comic genius at work, mostly by movements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfhq0IFMSHw

    I hope everybody is avoided by the tornado, too. It was four years ago this month that we got the big one. Would not want anybody to have to go through that.

  20. Mindy from Indy Avatar

    So, not only did I have to redo yesterday’s paperwork – again, battle malfunctioning machines – again, add an almost complete order for another store onto mine (can’t wait to untangle *that* mess tomorrow), maintenance shows up to take BOTH freezers. Apparently, the higher powers changed the game plan – again, and failed to inform the people who really, kinda, sorta, needed to know this.

    Hope Our Fearless Leader has a Luddie strip in the queue for tomorrow. I’m going to need a dose of kitty humor to get through tomorrow.

  21. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    The tiny burg of Fairdale, IL, was hit very hard by the largest of the IL storms this evening. From what a chaser showed right after the hit, it may have been wiped off the map. I pray that the residents were all underground. The wedge twister was thought to be somewhat more than a half-mile in diameter at its base; Fairdale probably didn’t measure that much in any direction.

  22. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Made it home in one piece, took my house keeper/animal sitter/ gardener out to eat, she had chile rellanos and I had grilled shrimp and salad more or less. Managed to go off and leave my ice chest with a large amount of Glucerna, Ensure and Special K protein shakes, have to call them and tell them I’ll pick it up in a few days when I have to go back.

    Looks like I got off the Monroe to Texas to Oklahoma milk run just ahead of the tornadoes there. If I am lucky it will take out the old house I am going to have to demolish or someone is on the bayou lot to build new. It won’t be me.

    Hope it doesn’t hit the hotel, iI have gotten fond of that property, it is nice, friendly and convenient. Now that I have gotten accustomed to driving there again, I had forgotten how small it really is in a town like that, you can cross entire town in about 5-10 minutes, unlike Houston or Dallas where 30 minutes barely got you to a grocery store and going to work was a two hour or more commute.

    I am seriously worried about all of you, I took a look at the weather radar in the Mexican restaurant and it was scary, scary. Everyone get a plan if you don’t have a tornado shelter.
    It is fun being friends with the Village and we need to stay alive.

    Love, Jackie

  23. Gary Avatar
    Gary

    emb, there is a note on the OF page that says for the next week they will be using ground penetrating radar (GPR) to try and get a view of the structures under OF to better understand what is going on. The folk doing the work are apparently experience with this environment and are dressed accordingly. They decided not to drag the GPR on a sled but rather use a cart so prevent damage to the surface around OF.

  24. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Video of large tornado hitting Illinois and word is that Michigan was hit too. We hope that Denise and everybody will be ok. “Significant damage”. We had company and haven’t had the tv on.

  25. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Since Ghost is not here to admonish me about stuff I will admit I am not only buying myself my own little Scamp micro cruiser sailboat but am back talking to a friend who is also building one and has a Pacific Seacraft Dana 24 trailerable blue water sailor that I have been lusting after for at least thirty years. Not this particular boat but the type of boat. It is small and can travel on its own special trailer which means it can be moved over land without breaking the bank. Yet it can sail anywhere in the world and they have, including around the world many times. This is most unusual, these size boats are not normally suitable for that type of sailing conditions and a trailerable boat is normally limited to what we call coastal cruising.

    I know Jimmy knows what I am talking about and would understand what I mean. This is me living my own dreams, not those of someone else. My husband Mike neither wanted a fiberglass Scamp nor a Dana, in fact when I suggested buying one last while he was better he was not the least interested. I am funny, I often keep things I love, like my pickup truck which is quite old but I have loved. That is how I am with dreams too. Don’t quit dreaming. Especially if you can make them come true. How will we know if we don’t go?

    Love, Jackie