This, from 2006. Believe me, dear readers. There’s no better license to have than an “artistic license,” not least of all because it doesn’t involve the DMV. Not only is it convenient, an artistic license actually is essential to a comic-strip artist. A cartoonist can indicate surprise in a character by literally having his eyes pop out of his head, with no lasting injury to the character. Of course, an artistic license isn’t a corporeal thing. I wish it were. I wish I could pull it out of my wallet and show it to so many online commenters who dismissively point out realities such as: “If a person’s eyes popped out of his head that way, it would be very painful, and he would certainly be blind the rest of his life.” I don’t talk about these things much, because there’s no winning. I don’t think it was Tommy Lasorda who said it first, but I first heard it attributed to him, and it sounds in character, “I don’t argue with people who buy ink by the barrel.” He, of course, meant newspapers. Boy, he hadn’t seen anything yet.
19 responses to ““Pull Over, You!””
Cats have a keen sense of smell. Obviously a skunk could not be mistaken for a skunk!
A cat could never be confused with a skunk. I was sitting in the dentist chair when I wrote that!
Pepe LePew was romantic enough to see the lady as he wished….not as she was.
And perhaps he needed glasses 🙂
Artistic license…wouldn’t THAT be cool to flip open an id badge and flash that around! (memories of “Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister”, on Dr Who. oh! Or even the Doctor’s psychic paper)
🙂
Have fun, JJ
C e-p
In case you missed it –
Thank you and MB thanks you also.
Re the Artistic License:
Is there a written test?
A behind the wheel test?
How often must it be renewed?
Are there limitations as Class A, Class B, Class C
or Day Light Hours Only? Trainee?
To what government department do you apply?
I know they were around before the internet so there must
be an official source – you probably could get an ersatz one on line now though.
🙂 🙂
“Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel” is an old newspaper saying. Though Tommy is certainly smart enough to heed the advice!
“…and paper by the railroad car load.”
Of course, now that is not as meaningful for either the paper or the railroad.
Would that be “electrons by the barrel” now? Since printed newspapers are going the way of the dodo.
Old Bear, was the information helpful or duplication? Write directly if you want ideas.
I love my artistic license!
Ghost — Are railroads in fact failing? I know AmTrack has never done very well since it’s a government enterprise and is supported, as needed, by our taxes. Customer service isn’t their forte. OTOH, shipping by train is remarkably efficient providing the source and destination are both serviced by train lines with minimal involvement of trucking. I took quite a few loaded trailers to the Los Angeles Union Pacific yard and later pulled similar trailers from the Portland OR yard to their final destination in the Portland metro area.
Commercial passenger service was losing money and the railroads were getting out of the business. AmTrak was formed from the remnants.
Actually, Amtrak is doing better. I have ridden it twice now on long routes and both the travel and the service was good. The government has been shorting them, though, and it shows in the condition of the equipment. They need to buy new cars and to thoroughly overhaul the ones they can rebuild. It is much more comfortable than air travel and you see actual scenery instead of cloud tops.
One last post about Pueblo, CO. My cousin reports that it’s very hot in the summer, very cold in the winter and has almost no trees. If you’re looking to live in a small town near Denver, there are several choices between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Hope this tells you what you need.
Got 50,000 tons of coal you need to move? Rail is the way to go.
A 1.5 pound package delivered to your door from Amazon? Not so much.
https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2018/10/04
This is cool! Watch the video in the article too.
https://www.nola.com/festivals/index.ssf/2018/10/ghost_manor_magazine_halloween.html
He’s still having fun with Halloween.
When our daughter lived in Chicago, we took the train there. When we got there we either Ubered or took the L. Having ridden trains in Europe and Japan, Amtrak is woefully under capitalized, but if you book in advance and have flexibility,it is a nice value. But the options are very limited in regards to schedules. I would guess that it is better out East? Instead of autonomous cars, I would like to see more train service. But there is always a cost involved.
Well, boomwhackers have to be cheaper than handbells…
https://www.ksl.com/article/46400902/have-you-seen-this-dont-stop-believin-on-boomwhackers-is-actually-amazing