Jan 11th 2012 08:03 am Waxing unpoetic

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Venturing into international relations, I read this morning that the U.S. Navy went to the rescue of a boatload of Iranian mariners in distress in the Persian Gulf—for the second time in less than a week. The Navy is there, of course, because diplomatic dialog has reached the so’s-your-old-lady stage. I can’t help it. I think it’s great that while our sailors steam back and forth waiting for World War III to erupt, they make time to rescue those in peril on the oldest shipping lanes in the world. It’s the same warm-and-fuzzy feeling I get whenever I am reminded of the unofficial Christmas truce of World War I. Of course, highers-up on both sides put a stop to that.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

28 Responses to “Waxing unpoetic”

  1. John in Virginia on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:09 am #

    What is so troublesome, Jimmy, is that we apparently have only ONE USGC icebreaker in service, the Hailey, I believe she’s named, and that vessel is currently engaged in breaking a way for a Russian tanker to deliver oil to Nome, Alaska. Something seems wrong with this picture. I can remember when the USCG ship Burton Island used to break the ice in the Ross Sea leading in to McMurdo Station. I think it was the West Wind was also available and those breakers were in addition to others in the North Atlantic and Bering Sea. Sorry, I almost started discussing politics there. I apologize.

  2. Joni in Western ND on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:17 am #

    Jimmy – thanks for the nice mention of the US Navy. I was in myself as a cyptologist for 7 years (4 active, 3 reserve).

  3. Nodak Wayne on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:25 am #

    Actually the second rescue was performed by the Coast Guard. WhenI was in the USN, the Coast Guard was a part of the Treasury Department. Now a part of Homeland Security and with the wars going on, under the control of the Navy. There would be more than a few “Coasties” upset about being refered to as the Navy.

    Oh, now I’ve gone and started a fight. — JJ

  4. Nodak Wayne on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:27 am #

    http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=113226

  5. John in Virginia on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:31 am #

    We of the Naval Service always kidded the “Coasties” about having to be six feet tall to be accepted…so they would wade ashore in case their ship sank. But trust me, Nokak Wayne, I never failed to buy a Coastie his first drink simply because they were so truly beautiful breaking the way toward McMurdo with that USNS ship a thousand yards behind. They did and do a totally rotten job, going out to save civilian sailors with more brass than brains, and they do live by their rule: You have to out, you don’t have to come back.

  6. Robb on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:33 am #

    What a depressing outlook on world affairs……………

  7. MINDY on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:35 am #

    Jimmy, I read that there was a similar truce in World War II but I’m not sure. The “higher ups” had to put an end to it. If they hadn’t the rank and file might have ended the war right there! And didn’t the same thing happen almost every year during the Civil War [Or, as it was put, the Late Unpleasantness]? My Dad always said that it was the politicians who start the wars and the sons [and daughters] who have to fight them. He said Patton had the right idea: Let the top generals face off and do the fighting one-on-one, winner take all. Of course, it would be much better if the politicians who started it did the fighting as well. I bet there would be fewer wars! God bless our servicemen in all branches!

  8. John in Virginia on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:37 am #

    I meant that the Coast Guard has a rotten job, not that they’re doing a rotten job. Lord! Those guys are great by any standard!

  9. Neal in Bahstawn on 11 Jan 2012 at 8:40 am #

    Today’s A&J, by contrast, is a beaut; a simple gag but with loads of empathy.

    Unfortunately, having just finished ‘Beaucoup A&J’ last evening, I now have this multi-decade compendium of great strips, including one in which Arlo is planting the live Christmas tree after the holidays, and behind them is a veritable forest of prior year’s trees. Did they give up the practice? Or did they harvest the tree from 1999?

    Sometimes, having too much information is a curse.

    I evoke the unassailable defense: “It’s a comic strip!” I just wish I could use it in real life. — JJ

  10. Symply Fargone on 11 Jan 2012 at 9:35 am #

    It’s a comic strip! A comic strip….how dare you! ;-) it is a beautiful slice of life! It is the final piece of my morning before I get washed and dressed….it makes the start of my day as much as coffee. Comic strip indeed! JJ, are you as Symply Fargone as me? JK…..

  11. phil in Missoula, MT on 11 Jan 2012 at 10:37 am #

    In regard to the Unofficial Truce of WWII, I first heard of this in a song by John McCutcheon called Christmas in the Trenches. Here’s the the song, with a little preface by John.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9coPzDx6tA

    It’ll bring tears

  12. Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 11 Jan 2012 at 11:07 am #

    JJ’s probably too humble to mention this, but Rhetta writes a great (and heart-felt) review of BA&J:

    http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20120111/OPINION/201110318

    Favorite passage from the review:

    The question I’m most often asked after speeches is not “Where do you get your ideas?” or “What writers influenced your style?” or any of those common things you might suppose readers would wonder about a columnist with three decades in the business.

    No. The question I’m most often asked is “Are you Janis?”

  13. Dave in MA on 11 Jan 2012 at 11:24 am #

    Blinky,

    Great minds think alike! I saw that review and posted about it on the “The A&J Book” page….

    Then I came over here and saw your post about the review.

    She’s very convincing. I may have to buy a second copy.

    Dave

  14. John in NY on 11 Jan 2012 at 11:54 am #

    Thank you for that link, Blinky. It was a touching read. Although I believe my favorite part was her suggestion at the end. When can we see a movie or even a television show on? I love cartoons, but I would thrill at a chage of the vulgar for the sake of being vulgar (almost anything by McFarlan) for a slice of life show about the Days. Big money there, Mr. Johnson.

  15. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 11 Jan 2012 at 12:06 pm #

    Yes that was a lovely review by Rheta. I love the fact that folks can remain civil. For some reason it reminded me of an obituary that I read about Don Carter, the famous bowler who died recently. He of course is in the Hall of Fame, as is his first and second wives.

    In the 1980s he appeared in Miller Lite commercials featuring retired sports stars.

    “I really don’t think anybody under the age of 65 remembers me,” Mr. Carter said about those ads. “I’m really big with senior citizens. I’m famous because I’m the only guy to have two wives in the Hall of Fame.”

    Well Jimmy and Rheta are very talented writers, so if there was a Writers Hall of Fame, they both should be in it.

  16. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 11 Jan 2012 at 1:01 pm #

    Blinky:

    Thanks. I bucked the link, plus my own comments, to one of my blind-copy groups, and a few other literate sorts. The book could use more publicity.

  17. Robin in FL on 11 Jan 2012 at 1:59 pm #

    I loved Rhetta’s commentary. My first thought was awwwww, and my second was, why aren’t you two still together if you’re that fond of each other. Not prying, just being overly romantic and sappy. Awwwww

  18. Mark in TTown on 11 Jan 2012 at 2:23 pm #

    Neal, who said it was Arlo’s tree?

  19. Mark in TTown on 11 Jan 2012 at 3:38 pm #

    Joni, I was a CTO myself. That is how I was fortunate enough for 2 years shore duty in Hawaii! NAVCOMSTA Wahiawa.
    And for those without experience at sea, all sailors are supposed to help others in distress at sea. As we were told in fire-fighting training ( and in boot camp), if your ship goes down where can you go? It’s not like a building fire where the lucky can run into the street. You might be miles from shore and any other help.
    I have never needed rescuing but I am very grateful for the Coast Guard anyway. Who else is willing to go out in miserable conditions to rescue anyone who calls for help? And on relatively small ships, too!

  20. Neal in Bahstawn on 11 Jan 2012 at 4:15 pm #

    Mark, I’d have to go through the entire book to find the specific page, though I’ll say it is in the final quarter. The dialog makes clear that the tree being planted was their ‘live’ one and Janis is proud that they don’t buy cut trees. In the final panel, the view pulls back to reveal a multitude of similar trees, and I took it to mean that these were all trees from prior Christmases, planted by A&J.

    Of course, I could be wrong. And, as someone with a tiger paw print noted above, it’s ‘just a comic strip”.

  21. Mark in Boston on 11 Jan 2012 at 4:45 pm #

    I know a ragtime piano player who does sing-along shows, and on special occasions like Memorial Day he’ll salute all the services with their songs.

    First he leads everyone in “The Army Goes Rolling Along”.

    Then the Marine’s Hymn.

    Then the Air Force Song (“Wild Blue Yonder”).

    Then he vamps a bit on the piano as he goes “I know I’m forgetting something …”

    Finally he’s like “Got it!” and he goes into the Coast Guard song!

    (But he’s always forgiven because he eventually does a big finish with “Anchors Aweigh”.)

  22. Lost in A**2 on 11 Jan 2012 at 6:27 pm #

    It may have been a reprint, but that was this Sunday’s (Jan 8, 2012) strip.

    I’ve yet to figure out why the Air Force musters ahead of the Coast Guard, since the Coast Guard is the elder, and thus senior, of the two. (The Marine Corps is junior to the Navy, but the Secretary of the Navy ordered that the Marines would form first of foot and right of line, giving us priority over the Navy.)

  23. Bob, near Mark on 11 Jan 2012 at 7:01 pm #

    MiB,
    Having spent time in the Air Force, I always liked “Wild Blue Yonder,” but I much preferred “Air Force Blue.”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pos1BzW_t2A

  24. Jim from NC on 11 Jan 2012 at 7:21 pm #

    Joni in Western ND and Mark in TTown

    Who would believe 3 CT’s on the same night? CTR here 69-73. Pensacola for A School, Shu Linkou Air Station, Pensacola C School, Keflavik for long year with great duty, then Northwest Receiver Facility before getting out. Never set foot on a ship, learned a lot about myself, and made lifelong friendships.

    Jim

  25. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 11 Jan 2012 at 7:39 pm #

    Jim:

    “Never set foot on a ship” will immediately remind some of us of “When I was a lad”, the song in which Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, the First Lord of the Admiralty, describes his rise to that rank in Act 1 of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore”. It ends with the advice, “Stay close to your desk /And never go to sea / And you all may be the Rulers of the Queen’s Navy.” I expect you can find all the verses on the Web. He has, in fact, set foot on ships, but is only comfortable “When at anchor here I ride”, from an earlier song.

    I learned only a few years ago that H.M.S. Pinafore is an anagram of Name for Ship. Gilbert was a clever man.

  26. Mark in TTown on 11 Jan 2012 at 10:24 pm #

    Jim from NC
    Good to hear from another crypto “spook”. I was in Pensacola for A school from late 1973 to early 1974. Then Hawaii, then to USS Oklahoma City, which was the 7th Fleet flagship in Yokosuka, Japan. So as the old slogan went, I joined the Navy and saw the world. At least the Pacific portions.

  27. Joni in Western ND on 12 Jan 2012 at 11:37 am #

    Mark & Jim – was a CTO from 92 to 96 then reserve 2003 to 2006 (I took some time off between jaunts). Spooks! In my active days, I also did not set foot on a ship. However, when i was reserve, I spent a few months on the USS Ronald Reagan. Interesting really.

  28. Mark in Boston on 12 Jan 2012 at 5:00 pm #

    Have you ever read the story of Sinbad the Sailor in the Arabian Nights? I always assumed he was a real sailor, spending all of his time on board his ship. Wrong. He was about as much of a sailor as Thoreau was a hermit.

    Actually he was a merchant and one day he got the idea of going on a trading voyage to gather merchandise, so he hired onto a trading ship. He did this a total of seven times in his long life — the Seven Voyages of Sinbad — and each time it was the same pattern: stop at many ports, buy lots of stuff, pack it in the ship, head for home, big shipwreck, he’s the only survivor, loses all his stuff, fantastic adventures in far-off lands (such as getting picked up and carried away by a giant bird), finally makes it home, a salvage company found his stuff and he gets it back, spends a few happy years at home but then gets the same fool idea in his head again.

    Now there’s not much room for a crew on a merchant ship so no doubt everyone on board has to learn how to be a sailor in a real hurry. But the only REAL sailor is the captain which is probably why the ship gets wrecked every single time.