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

Est. 1985

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The Shipping News

By Jimmy Johnson


I know I’ve shown to you this not-so-old A&J from 2014. I just hope it wasn’t in the past couple of months. If so, I apologize; I feel as if I’ve been chasing my tail since before the Kickstarter thing early this past summer. Speaking of that, there are a couple of things I want to mention today, and that is one. The Kickstarter rewards promised for October are shipping. Some of you will get a package today. Other rewards haven’t yet been shipped, but we’re working hard to get everything that was promised for October in the mail before Halloween. Thank you for your patience.

The other thing: that Web site make-over I keep talking about. It is on hold and, for once, for a very good reason. GoComics is in the process of seriously revamping its own site. You know, that’s where you go for “Today’s Arlo & Janis.” I don’t know the details yet myself, but supposedly the changes will not be totally cosmetic. There will be a new structure that affects not only you, the reader, but people like me, the creators. So, for now, it’s a good excuse to take a wait-and-see approach.
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30 responses to “The Shipping News”

  1. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Oh, goodie! More change. Which, as everyone knows, always results in improvement…as long as one’s definition of “improvement” is loose enough.

    I, of course, am being facetious. I embrace change like a…well, let me work on that a bit.

  2. Anna Avatar
    Anna

    GR6: you embrace change exactly not the way I embraced my Kickstarter package that arrived yesterday?

  3. DaveP Avatar
    DaveP

    Don’t forget Ozzie and Harriet … there’s an oft told story that Ozzie refused to show themselves in separate beds, and stood up to the network censors about it.

  4. TruckerRon Avatar

    As the standards and practices have devolved, how many censors have lost their jobs? 😉

  5. ursen Avatar
    ursen

    As far as change goes I would rather have loose change in my pocket, rather than have things change around me.

  6. TruckerRon Avatar

    I’m unhappy with Apple for changing how certain menus work. My fingers are having to add extra keystrokes to get to the right menu items. I’ll adjust, but why should I have to change how I do things? I don’t mind what they do “under the hood” where I can’t see what’s changed, only improved, but I resent it when they play around with the UI.

  7. sandcastlerâ„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerâ„¢

    Every good procrastinator puts off the task at hand until intervention from a higher authority justifies their procrastionation.

  8. TruckerRon Avatar

    Odd thought for the morning: Can you imagine a little kid telling his dad, “When I grow up I want to be a network television censor!”

  9. hc Avatar
    hc

    Change is becoming a 4 letter word when it comes to updates (aka changes) on the computer! Now I can’t print a whole bunch of things that I have always printed before – loose change in the pocket is OK – otherwise – not so good! TruckerRon is right

  10. Steve from Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    EMB: It’s pronounced Ven (as in vent) Sens (rhymes with lens). Of course I grew up in Northern Indiana, so who knows with the southern twang kicks in.

    I realized how difficult it is to revamp a website. We are lucky that this version is still supported.

  11. Mark from Maine Avatar
    Mark from Maine

    As a Pro Gocomics user (soon to be “Premium User” at a higher rate) I got a notice about the updated site this morning. Here’s the link they provided. I’ll reserve judgement when I see it, but I’m anxious to see what they do.

    http://blogs.gocomics.com/2016/10/change-is-coming.html

  12. emb Avatar

    Steve: Thanks.

    I may be the only Villager who never saw the D.V. Dyke show. Was it the first TV show that implied there was physical attraction btw. husband and wife? There’s a 3/4 [I think] bronze statue of M.T. Moore in downtown Mpls.

    Peace,

  13. Larry Sheldon Avatar
    Larry Sheldon

    I saw the announcement regarding “changes”.

    Changes that are needed and changes than make things better, just happen–nobody much notices during or after the changes, until a fifty-year reflective, when some will be noticed.

    Changes that are announces are never good for the users of the product being changed.

    Changes that are announced always consist of one or more aspects of degradation of the product.

    Yes, I am very old, why did you ask?

  14. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    GoComics.com says: “HUGE improvements are coming to GoComics.com. We’ve heard your feedback and have been hard at work rebuilding the site from the digital ground up, so that we can get it just exactly the way we want it.”

    OK, I made up that last part. But they do say: “We’ve added comic recommendations based on what you already like and follow. We’re striving to help you discover even more content you’ll love.”

    There is probably nothing I love less about the InteWebNet than when some commercial site’s algorithms decide what I love. And they must change or tweak those algorithms pretty regularly, not that it makes much difference. This week, based on Kindle selections they are sure I will love, Amazon seems to think I’m a 55-year-old spinster school teacher of Asian ancestry who owns seven cats and has an inexplicable attraction to high-performance fighter aircraft and the word “pokies.”

  15. sandcastlerâ„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerâ„¢

    GR6, Amazon knows more about you than you ever revealed to your fellow villagers. 😉

    My use of the GoComics.com website is limited to a redirect from this blog and a few comics I’ve bookmarked. Should they ever go behind a pay wall my humor intake will go down. I find subscription services become more focused on subscriber metrics, allowing content to slide.

  16. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Kris Kristopherson and Rodney Crowell made me laugh and sing along and applaud and cry.

    My seats were NOT behind a post nor in ladies room although I am typing this from Abuelos ladies room. The Mexican food was superb, as always.

    I loved Cains Ballroom. I have missed too much too long.

  17. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Debbe 😉 I’ll admit it…I’ve been doing some of this lately.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyouflDC3UU

  18. JACKQULINE MONIES Avatar
    JACKQULINE MONIES

    Sir Ghost, here’s one of my favorite Little River songs, Cool Change. https://youtu.be/9bKwRW0l-Qk

    Maybe it’s time for a change. I try not to reminisce much. That’s why Kris made me cry.

  19. JACKQULINE MONIES Avatar
    JACKQULINE MONIES

    Today’s current bedroom fantasy. Separate bedrooms can be good, you can visit and play and sleep together or apart, whichever you like, have time apart or together. It isn’t rejection necessarily, the British well to do did that and I suppose that ours did too.

  20. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    Good morning Villagers….

    Thanks you Smigz.

    Dad is going into rehab. He had an urinary tract infection and tore off his big toe nail when he fell. He’s going to be ok, he is comfortable with going into a nursing home there in Vincennes. My one sister had to scold him for his flirtations with the nurses and his doctor. I did ask her if the doctor was a female 🙂 , yes, she said…. so there is nothing wrong with his vision.

    Emb, Steve is correct in the pronunciation of Vincennes…

    Happpy hump day…..

  21. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    GR ; speaking of changes, and the lyric is “turn and face the strange” (that dang curser disappeared on me again)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCgzX7vwlFk

  22. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    nothing like a good photoshop to plug

    http://cheezburger.com/8983640064

  23. sandcastlerâ„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerâ„¢

    Debbie, good to hear things are improving on the dad front.

    With Halloween rising, the spirits seem to be guiding thoughts towards twin beds. Today’s Daily Offering follows a spooky parallel to recent Village chat. Is the much discussed window in truth a two-way mirror?

    On a twin bed side note. We once booked a rural Russian cache for a long weekend, only to arrive to find twin beds. College dating throw back trip. 😉

  24. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    The person that first said, “No bed sleeps as good as your own”, was not wrong.

    Yes, I survived the trip and have returned to base.

  25. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    I had planned to sleep in today, but apparently a momentary power fluctuation caused my new/old TV to come on by itself. Loudly. And early. I need to check the manual about that.

    Or perhaps have the place swept for poltergeists. Or check on the last known whereabouts of Angus. Lady Mindy, has he pranked you with the smoke detector lately to make you jump out of the shower naked? 🙂