John Hambrock is a fellow cartoonist who creates The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee. I checked in on John’s site this morning, and he was doing some bragging in his blog. His fine comic strip launched in November of 2006, which led John to calculate that he has drawn over 3,000 daily and Sunday strips that, if laid end to end, would equal the height of three Sears Towers stacked on top of one another (about 4,500 ft.). Well, John’s calculations led me to some of my own. I have drawn over 10,700 A&J strips since 1985, not accounting for leap years, which if laid end to end would extend for 2.5 miles and closely resemble my office floor. Hey, Junior! Come back in a few years, and we’ll talk some more! I must say, I do admire the way he has copies of all his strips arranged in ring binders. And if you read John’s bio, you’ll learn he spent years developing his characters before Brilliant Mind was launched by King Features Syndicate. As evidenced by the above cartoon from the first month of A&J, it wouldn’t have hurt if I’d done a little of that.
434 responses to “A Long Long Time Ago”
Glad to hear from you again, Charlotte. Stay toasty – it’s coming your way. We get our next blast tomorrow night….
I was awestruck that New Hampshire was picked as the best state in America in which to live, tying with Michigan. I may have to come visit again. Just now contemplating taking a sailing course in Maine at the Wooden Boat School in August. I drive, not fly, everywhere. And Michigan is already one of my favorite places to visit. Small towns or big, they seem to offer so much.
Of course, Oklahoma is always at bottom of the barrel, we were #44, a good reason to visit others.
Know I have told this one but I was in NH in mountains in spring and I stopped at a small gas station/store high in mountains. I gushed, “What a wonderful view you have! It must be just glorious in the fall!”
Reply, “W’all tain’t so glorious when you’ve been looking out the same door for 70 years.”
Love, Jackie
Dear c ex p, thanks for the good wishes. It’s supposed to snow here on Saturday; I think it’s coming straight down from Canada.
Jackie, had not seen your story before, from the NH mountains. It’s a good one, and rings true. Hope you do come to Maine in August. Bring warm clothes, it can be chilly on the coast even in August — but you probably know that already. I think you are sensible to drive, not fly.
This looks like the day Martine gets it over on #9CL. Shot, I mean.
Debbe 😉 Good morning, hon. Something pretty for you…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgJxpr_8eOY
City Slicker asks Uncle Ezra “Have you lived here all your life”?
UE “Noht Yet”
70 years or not I’m just glad to be able to look “Out the door”
Back on the “Pibgorn Couch” Trolls were “(something)bridge symbionts” there was another adjective which escapes me at this time.
Me too, at 70 I am glad to be here looking at the world.
Good morning Villagers…..
GR 😉 ….awww, the sea of love, where everyone would love to drown. Thank you….good song. I have a niece by that name, but spelled the biblical way.
At 61, I’m just glad I can see….still have not contacted the eye doctor. My son told me that they don’t do cataract surgery until it’s real bad. At the other hen house is this lady who is going to have cataract surgery when they purge the house in March. Then there’s my SIL who has had cataract surgery and I’ve spoken to her about it….matter of fact she suggested her doctor.
Will come home today and look at health plans…I’ve been in contact with a very helpful Anthem agent all week, and she has put together a plan with dental, vision and such. Husband and I are discussing budget…..Even with my aid, premium will run close to $200 a month, but the deductible is $1700 which beats $6,000. Like I’ve said, all this is mind boggling.
Yup, it’s Caturday……ya’ll have a warm day…..rain and snow here tomorrow….yeah!!!!
=^..^=
G’morn Debbe, I’ve already eaten a muffin but thinking about eggs has me thinking about some with bacon and grits later after my morning nap. Charlotte, do you know of a state park in NH that has a walkway around and over a river, a small one? I’ve followed the trail as far as something called the bear cave although I don’t remember right now what that was. I was there two years ago, but didn’t have the time to explore as much as I would have liked. I promised my wife a trip to Paris this year, but I think that New Hampshire might be a better idea.
Jerry, your mention of bacon causes me to brag. I’ve started curing and smoking my own bacon. It’s very satisfying to start with a couple of slabs of raw pork belly and convert that into thick slices of crispy, salty-sweet deliciousness.
I saw a tip for cooking a few slices of bacon in a skillet without burning. Start with a cold skillet, arrange the slices, the add water to fully cover all the slices. Use high heat until the water starts to boil, then reduce heat to medium high. Once the water is almost gone, reduce the heat further. The boiling process starts to cook the bacon and render the fat. Until the water boils out the temperature is controlled at 212F/100C. With the water gone the bacon is largely cooked and can crisp up. This works really well for bacon bits.
If you’re cooking a lot, baking is still best. For a few slices, though this works really well. (It may be that everyone else already knew this. I’ve been skillet-burning bacon for years. I did not know it.)
Jackie, if you liked Hannah Mermaid’s other video, you’ll like this one. I did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7n5rpEDoG0
OF: No fog, still yesterday’s latest prediction. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Charlotte, Shirley Temple wrote that her mother was always on the movie set with her. Just before Shirley filmed a scene, her mother would say “Sparkle!”
I would be remiss if I did not politely contend with Our Humble Author about his assertion that he should have done “a little” of the “years developing his characters” done by another author, “(a)s evidenced by the above cartoon.”
My good man, you could draw that same cartoon again this very day, with Arlo in his current appearance, and it would be perfectly consistent with the character as we know him today. No one, save the readers of this page, would be any the wiser that it is almost 30 years old.
One tends to be harder on oneself and one’s work than most others would be. While there may be something to be said for a comic strip springing fully grown like Athena from the brow of the author, the characters’ appearance may have changed somewhat, but the characters of A&J have been pretty much who they are from the git-go. As I have previously noted, some of the veins of humor have changed over the years, ie, no more “little kid” humor from Gene, and Janis ultimately concluded that Arlo was going anywhere if he hadn’t already, but everyone has acted consistently true to their overall personality from Day One (you see what I did there, right? 🙂 )
Do not fret, Gentle Author, that “Arlo and Janis” is not “King Lear.” If it were, most of us could not bear to read it every morning. Trust me (and your legions of readers) on this one: it is just as brilliant and profound in its own way, and we do not fail to seek it out.
Good morning kindred village spirits.
After visitation to the the altar to view the daily offering, I can only say “score one for the home team.”
Athletics builds character?
http://www.wgal.com/news/hockey-dad-smashes-glass-at-kids-game/30882654
For the kids, often. (Especially if you don’t let them mess with their balls.) For rabid parents, seldom.
Jackie, which part of Louisiana would you say this guy came from?
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/01/judge_dishes_out_28-month_sent.html#incart_river
Probably the same part of Louisiana that the operator’s of the Mexican cartel that was operating the roadside honky tonk and bar on the property next to my mama’s farm in north Louisiana?
When the first bartender got killed I became concerned. By the second one, most concerned.
By the third one, every alphabet in Federal and state law enforcement was out in the mud around the place when I drove by with mama.
The sentence is too short, of course. The distribution and money laundering is being covered up in these smaller areas but it was going on long ago when I lived in Houston. My next door neighbor (literally) went to prison for it, along with others I knew back then. Bank presidents, attorneys, South African safari operators, you name it.
I am being more than a little philosophical this morning, due to a shortened sleep and getting up too early and being insightful too early.
Someone post a cute cat photo or a chicken or a nude (ish) woman for relief!
Love you, Jackie
I just wrote a comment, twice, each time clicked Submit, it left, and put me back to the top of the page. Only one URL. This is a test, with no URL. emb
Bad news for Tangerine Dream fans like me: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11367380/Edgar-Froese-German-pioneer-of-electronic-rock-dies-at-70.html
Will this do, Jackie?
http://cheezburger.com/8422353152
Or this?
http://cheezburger.com/68150017/funny-cat-video-10-signs-youre-a-crazy-cat-person
Mark, I am definitely a crazy cat person, but I already knew that, as well as do all my neighbors. I get asked to take in all the cats people need homes for. The fact I am down to only four inside cats is amazing, given that.
Made me smile and laugh, thank you. I used to have a LOT of inside cats who slept with me like the ones in end of video. I said if I died and God elevated my body, an outline would be left of me surrounded by cats, just like a police body sketch.
Love, Jackie
Re a comment on Luddie dying over on TDS a few days ago, that were it Lynn Johnston of For Better or Worse he’d be dead. I have to repeat the anecdote Lynn told about killing off Farley in the strip when he became old. She considered Charles Schulz her mentor and told him about her plan to kill Farley. He said he would have a truck hit Snoopy and have him recover to take some of the pressure off her actions and to show support.
Love, Jackie