Well, we griped about the cold all winter; can we gripe about the heat yet? It’s been a hot summer where I live, or it would be except it isn’t summer yet. The temperatures haven’t been so extreme, but the humidity has been stifling. I’ve been busy with a lot of outdoor projects this month, and on some days work simply is impossible for several hours past noon. I’ve almost been bear-caught on several occasions. Well, now is the time for all of you who endured all that snow and ice to put away those sun-belt real estate brochures and relax outside.
179 responses to “No, the other left”
Jerry, That is wonderful to hear. I’ve missed your weather forecasts. Don’t suppose you can predict a even *slightly* lower humidity index could you? 🙂 Glad to see you again.
Debbe 😉 As one of my former co-workers was wont to say, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” (Hey, I do believe that was accidentally “on-topic”. Sort of.)
Somehow, I can picture you in this audience, blonde hair just a-bobbin’. 🙂 [Tag]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7g_oViD00I
Chili? I love chili, but I made that last weekend. I made stuffed peppers for supper today.
Jean dear: David McCallum [Tag]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWlth2csLNw
Jackie, you had mentioned Dawn French in an earlier posting. I found this and thought several of the folks on here might like it. It has Dawn French and a few surprise guests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KR7txrLvuY
Jerry in FL …. glad you are back in the discussion group. Traffic report: bad! Battery report: very good!
Hello Mindy from Indy: I love your story of the sprouted pinto bean! Take good care of it — I have a similar story which I will relate tomorrow, or soon, anyway. A magic beanstalk would be nice to have!
You want guitar music? Here’s guitar music. All from one guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdaPoUNk5R8&list=RDsdaPoUNk5R8
Ashes, The World Famous Cat, decided he/she had enough of living in back part of house and escaped back into civilization, the front part of house. He/she has draped himself around my neck like a living fur stole with long gray hair. After pulling my hands off the keyboard to stop me typing, then walking on keyboard to see what can be seen thru window. Nothing.
Now stretched behind me on floor. Ashes is Mike’s cat and misses him. He is a man’s manly cat with big paws and attitude.
Ashes appeared in my yard the same time Ashes I died. It was eerie. Then he lived in the drainage culvert forever while Bonnie and I tried to coax him to house.
Then he moved in and took over house. And Mike.
Love, Jackie Monies
Went back to look at today’s Sunday strip, mainly for twilight effect and then was struck by how absolutely like Arlo the ass is.
Not that Arlo is an ass, but the drawing! The drawing! The ass looks like Arlo, with eyes, expression, everything! I am totally impressed.
This might be a good time to tell my story about drawing someone I had never met nor seen before, my husband.
I drew cartoons under a pseudonym and they were often satirical of frats, campus big shots, etc. But many were just people I made up. During school spirit week my husband’s fraternity was an extreme case of over kill in the spirit department.
Since I hung out with other frats, we thought his was geeky. So, I drew the ultimate geek frat standing in the men’s room holding a roll of toilet paper saying “___ Supports ____” (Fill in your own favorite frat and school) The geek who is obviously in charge says “Alright men, this is carrying school spirit too far”. Original line was “Carrying school spirit to wrong end” or similar?
The fraternity did not take this well. Nor did the officer satirized.
Except I absolutely had never seen nor heard of said officer!
I got it so right that when my adult children finally saw it they did not believe me either. Daughter says “And he married you anyway?” I swore it was coincidence and daughter said no way, it is him down to the way his nose pointed! Hair, everything. Never met the guy until I went on a blind date and had NO idea.
Love, Jackie Monies
Jackie, if you can find the strips where Jimmy temporarily turned the family into squirrels, you will see the same thing. Arlo, Janis and Gene were squirrels, yet they were still themselves! Now that is high competence at work. And the final strip, where the neighbor comes over and tells Arlo he likes the looks of his wife, plans to run Arlo off and move in…great. If you have seen squirrels chase each other around a tree trunk, Jimmy got it down to a T while still keeping Arlo’s personality.
Jackie, check this link. Go to 12/22 and you will see the start of these strips.
http://tonyc.com/ajarchive/1997/
Mark, isn’t that one in book? I will go look for it. That donkey head is the most amazing drawing and characterization!
I look for things beyond the gags and I have about decided that JJ is the “beatingness” artist out there in the funnies. That is one of those old southern expressions I hope I got right.
The sword work in the identity theft cartoon and footwork is also fantastic.
Movement is hard to do, especially where you can really “see it” and not just implied.
Love, Jackie Monies
Cat refuses to leave desk or keyboard!
Mark, thank you, thank you! I read entire year of 1997 which was a banner year for Mr. Johnson. The famous Jimmy Buffet sailboat dream, Mary Lou’s pregnancy, the squirrels and the adventure strip were great, Arlo’s haircut, so many great strips in that year.
Love, Jackie Monies
Good morning Villagers….
Gary, stuffed peppers sounds good…but I can’t seem to get any further than slicing bell peppers and spreading Ranch dressing all over them.
Got Brooklynne to eat bell peppers last night too. But towards the end, all she wanted to do was lick the dressing off of the sliced pepper. And, I did convince her that eating anything green is good for you 🙂
Andrew must have taken Brooklynne out to the river yesterday evening….there are muscle shells on my kitchen table. Hindostan Falls is very close to us. When the river is low, there is a large flat rock you can drive on. Sadly, a century or so ago, a plaque wiped out the community of Hindostan…there is a historical landmark there noting the demise.
GR 😉 loved the David McCallum intro….bookmarked that one.
Hot and sultry today…storms supposed to be moving in today, with a high tomorrow of 80 degrees….and a few more storms….I’ll take it.
Ya’ll have a blessed day..
And Jerry, love your little drop ins 🙂
Today’s grin:
http://cheezburger.com/8229478912
GR6:
Considering that Elizabethan stages could have only men, Pepys comment about “handsome women,” was appropriate, I guess.
Rick in Shermantown, maybe Pepys was watching the audience instead of the play? Sounds like he didn’t find much interesting on the stage.
You are welcome Jackie. If you delete the year from the link, it should take you to the main page, which has links from 1996 up to 2011 or so. Not all the strips are there, but plenty to keep you busy, as if you need it.
Rick in SO: Although that was true during Shakespeare’s lifetime, women had begun to appear on the stage in England by the decade covered by Pepys diary.
Thanks, Wikipedia! 🙂
Symply not a word here about FIFA’s USA vs PT last night. Crazy Fargone ending, thought we had one in the bag…Was on SKYPE watching with my Portuguese friends; was interesting groans from one side cheers from the other!
On Writer’s Almanac, Garrison Keillor says tonight, 23 June ’14, is Midsummer’s Eve. The Swedish site below, in contrast, says it’s movable, and held there always on Friday to yield a long weekend. Their short video is > explicit > ours might be / possible consequences and avoiding those. [Sorry, no pokies and such.]
https://sweden.se/traditions/midsummer/?elq=6093e4fb38194088b25d7f1fb42e084a&elqCampaignId=7550
Comment on Arlo and Janis’ bird bath. Daughter who drove us to funeral wanted to stop at large concrete and outdoor décor display her dad always passes by. Said she was looking for a fountain.
Does anyone remember the yard décor in “Great Big Fat Greek Wedding” movie? What she wanted to look at was a fountain all right but it was higher than my little house and multi-tiered! She said it was right scale for her front yard between drive way and walk to porch. I asked what she planned to do with broken concrete in drive and walk before she planted the miniature boxwoods and Victorian partitioned garden?
This block of concrete cost $3000 and would have taken a flatbed 18 wheeler to move from Louisiana to Illinois! I asked her how close her husband’s ancestors lived to Greece but I think it’s her.
Love, Jackie Monies
It has taken me WAYYY longer to get through the recent comments than it should have because of course I have to go listen to the music, and look at the cat pictures, and who can go to the A&J archives and JUST read certain strips? I don’t think I’ve seen the arc with Janis and the huge dust bunny before, or if I have I don’t remember it. Great story, and once again I wonder how JJ manages to find time to come peek in my windows and get everything else done!
David McCallum did more than just introduce singers…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4rYhWht-Wo [TAG] By the way, has anybody else seen the much-too-short series Sapphire and Steel (1979-1982) with a young David and pre-AbFab Joanna Lumley? Very good little science fiction show.
Jackie, glad things are looking up out your way!
Jerry, YAY for new batteries!
sideburns, your comment about the aliens and skinny blonds brought this to my memory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx4oWVw0lI4 You have it wrong, they will fatten them up first.
emb, that site reminded me of something I’d heard before but not thought of lately…that crayfish is a very popular and highly prized delicacy in Sweden. Wow! If I ever take that dream trip to Europe, Sweden will definitely be on the agenda. Nordic blondes and mud bugs…what’s not to like?
Jimmy may share that opinion with me. Did anyone who perused the archive link as did Jean notice that Arlo’s female sailing enthusiast neighbor had Swedish ancestry? And Janis’s reaction that that fact?
Jean dear, I still cannot see or hear of David McCallum without thinking “Illya Kuryakin”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwBW7EKfBac [Tag]