(Might as well see this Gene thing through. I’m guessing the Summer Olympics were going on when these posts appeared in 2012.)
The closing ceremony is upon us; our Gene Olympiad is coming to an end with today’s 10 classic cartoons from 1992. You don’t have to suffer withdrawal, though. Come back regularly to arloandjanis.com for an Arlo & Janis cartoon from the past and other activities. Extinquish the torch! Furl the flags! The official proceedings are concluded, but stick around: the Rolling Stones and Elton John will be along any minute now.
The Finish Line
By Jimmy Johnson
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101 responses to “The Finish Line”
🙂
I don’t remember that buzz cut on Gene. If you can program the VCR, you can flush the toilet. That’s a good one.
I noticed something else in these that I hadn’t seen before. Jimmy used exclamation points or question marks to end almost all the sentences. Take a look at the comic panels in this article, and see if you notice anything: http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-carl-barks/
Yes reading all of the old Gene cartoons reminds me of raising my son and daughter at about that time. I really did like this period of A&J. I especially liked the cork in the bathtub…
Me, too, Steve, but it’s hard to top the handcuff key found in the bedroom.
With Janis’ expression and Arlo’s “but it was your idea!”
More on the Parker Solar Probe: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
There seems to be a total lack of final periods in the word balloons. JJ omits them, albeit using exclamation points and question marks. The others end all dialogue snippets with exclamation points or question marks – apparently a simple statement does not exist. I prefer JJ’s method of allowing simple statements, even minus a final period.
BTW, “extinquish”?
I had read an interview with Carl Barks years ago where he explained why he used exclamation points almost exclusively. It seems someone had told him that periods could become invisible in the comic printing process, but that the exclamation points would always stand out. That way the end of a sentence was always visible to the reader.
Did you click any of the links from the text of the PSP photo? I laughed out loud at the one for “room temperature” – cat stretched out on his back in front of a box fan! Someone has sense of humor 🙂
Were the wheels of the Flintstones’ car ribs? I always thought they were rock. But then, I’ve been wrong a LOT of times!
Any more suggested books? I’ve a nice little list thanks to you, just waiting for me to finish The Name of the Wind. 🙂
Llee, I think the Flintstones reference is to the opening scenes, where they go to a drive-in and the rack of ribs turns the car over when they hook the tray on the window.
ah. thanks!
2 old classics:
“I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June,
the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father’s
house.”
“Are we rising again?”
“No. On the contrary.”
“Are we descending?”
“Worse than that, captain; we are falling!”
An oldie (Read to us by our 6th grade teacher.) dedicated to Debbe.
“Along with teaching us that lamb must be cooked with garlic and a lady never scratches
her head or spits, my mother taught my sisters and me that it is a wife’s bounden duty to
see that her husband is happy in his work.”
2 more line between “house” and “Are”.
Old Bear:
The first one reminds me of Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain” and Railroad Earth’s “Lone Croft Farewell.”
I think the second might be Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. No idea on the others.
“Green sky at night; Hacker’s delight.”
Mark:
Right author.
Rick think 1886.
The last one is 1945, there is a note that it is “…in full compliance with all government
regulations for the conservation of paper, metal, and other essential materials.”
Happy Birthday to Debbe! Aug. 16
Jackie if you speak to her pass it on.
Kenya: ring-necked dove.
https://explore.org/livecams/african-wildlife/african-river-wildlife-camera
Peace,
Everybody busy? Or is the page broken? We’re having a new granddaughter today!
Congratulations David and family! The page is fine – I think we may be experiencing the summer doldrums.
And… here comes our afternoon thunderstorm so it’s time to get off the computer 🙂
Still here, but not a fount of news. I get to attend a genealogy meeting in an hour or so and we will eat out with friends tomorrow evening.
Last week, I managed to get a small box of old [mostly] correspondence from the late 1860s to the 1920s era. Some envelopes were empty, but the letters found did say something of the life style of, mainly, the late 1870s and late 1880s (separate batches). Using my genealogical sites, I wondered if I could find the people listed anywhere. I had a difficult time locating “Hattie” in eastern Pa. until I found a few notes on which she had written her full name. She wrote several times a week to her beloved “Harry”. I do think they wed, but haven’t seen written evidence except for a note from Hattie’s mom to Harry in which the mom expresses her approval of the match. From her letters, I gather that it was commonly expected to write that often.
More to the west but still in Pa., there was “John”, a married man of some substance; apparently a bigwig in coal mining. His wife seems to have been vacationing in Ballston Spa, NY, perhaps with relatives. I have not been able to figure out the characters yet, but they all seem to have escaped the federal census people. Haven’t found them in other lists, either. John was engaged in a major redoing of their home while she was gone, to the extent of tearing out fireplaces and grates in several rooms and rebricking…and replastering several rooms, too.
Both families mentioned were prosperous enough to have hired help. In the first case, to help with farm chores and, in the latter case, for housework. In addition, Hattie and her kin were very frequent church-goers – a number of times per week. I think Harry was away at college although such has not yet been mentioned. He did turn up later as a teacher and then, if I found the right guy, as a lawyer.
That passes for news from here!
As some of you may know, due to the imminent opening of a larger clothing boutique we are re-purposing one of our smaller clothing boutiques as a faith-based boutique and gift shop selling religious clothing and other such items. So Jackie and I have been visiting gift shops in our travels to steal, ah, garner some ideas regarding merchandise. In one a couple of days ago, a refrigerator magnet, of all things, caught my eye.
It read, “Always love a woman for her personality. They have like 10, so you can choose.”
An even funnier thing happened about a week ago, while we were investigating a rather large store in Tulsa that trends very heavily toward faith-based merchandise, along with some other types. I’d already noted a couple of what I’d pegged as thirty-something school teachers shopping for some wall decorations and such for their classes, which were about to begin in Oklahoma. Jackie and I were shopping a similar aisle when I felt the very distinct feel of someone letting their hand drift languidly and sensually over my denim-covered right buttock.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought anything of that, as Jackie is always doing that to me, even in public. But Jackie was in *front* of me. I glanced over my shoulder and found that the pair of putative teachers had moved up the aisle toward us, and the younger one was standing very closely behind me. She looked oh-so innocent, as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I assumed her purse had brushed against me…then noticed she wasn’t carrying one.
Holy relics, Batman! I just got groped in a religious store!
Talk about your religious experiences…
Re: the above cool comments on punctuation:
Charles Schulz virtually never used periods in word balloons for ordinary dialogue. But he did use lots of ellipses (especially two-pointers) and exclamation points.
But I never noticed that about Jimmy’s work before! Thanks for pointing that out!