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

Est. 1985

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Wavering

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Water is tricky to draw. First, you turn on both the hot water and the cold and then stick your hand under it. When it feels just right, you plug the drain. When enough water has run into the tub, you sit down, and inevitably you’ll feel like you’re being boiled alive. Water is also tricky to depict. I was getting better at it when this cartoon ran in 1995. The wave in the first panel doesn’t look very convincing, but the foam in the last three panels looks about right. When drawing water (with a pen), less is more. Water is about negative space, what you don’t draw. That’s the way it is for me, anyway.

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248 responses to “Wavering”

  1. Mindy from Indy Avatar
    Mindy from Indy

    eMb – If memory serves, they tried to film silver slippers, but they gave too much glare for the cameras of the day. (The clash of red shoes and blue gingham has ALWAYS bugged me.) If anyone makes it that way, go to Liberal, Kansas and visit the “unofficial official” home to the Wizard of Oz film. There is an annual “Oz-fest” and most of the Munchkin actors made it there at one point or another. An elderly couple used found items to recreate scenes from the film. Before they retired, it took several semi trailers to move everything. It is now on permanent display in Liberal, along with the miniature house prop that spun in the twister in the film. Fun stuff. The day I stopped, “Uncle Henry” gave the tour as “Dorothy” was still in school. 🙂

  2. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Don’t forget to display your US flag tomorrow for Flag Day. What’s that you say? You don’t have a flag to display. Well, get one and display it, for crying out loud.

  3. Mindy from Indy Avatar
    Mindy from Indy

    Ghost – I’ve never had a proper way of displaying a real flag; however, I have a flag window decal that I’ve had since elementy school that I have faithfully transported and have hung in every place I have ever lived. When the day finally comes when I can display a “official” flag, I fully intend to keep my decal.

    Which brings up a point of severe debate amongst my friends and I: are all those flag printed shirts and “4th of July” merchandise in violation of the flag code or not? I say yes, and refuse to buy any of it.

    (i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkin or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

  4. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    As a matter of fact…I have red, white and blue, stars and strips flags and stars garland hanging on an entrance door and my pass through, which I have placed on it a white, milk glass ‘vase’…my flag,,

  5. Llee Avatar

    and from the album “Battle of the Bands”…. 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CpWiE86vXw

  6. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Lady Mindy, I totally agree with you on the flag issue. But I think displaying red, white and blue colors in a tasteful way is fine.

  7. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Debbe 🙂 I’ll bet you’ve danced to this one…[tag]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2LSSgQMc2E

  8. Mindy from Indy Avatar
    Mindy from Indy

    Ghost – I have no problem with displays of red, white, and blue. I just get annoyed with the image of the flag being used like a logo. Old Navy is probably the worst offender.

  9. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park

    Flag code – an easy way to set off a rant at my house. (Not me, my husband.) Those giant flags that get carried by a crowd at NASCAR races and other events really get to him because the flag is supposed to be higher than its surroundings (or something like that).

    Besides displaying our flags tomorrow, we’re all supposed to go outside and sing the national anthem at 4 pm EDT in celebration of its 200th anniversary. Better start warming up now! http://anthemforamerica.smithsonian.com/

  10. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Yeah, Lady Mindy; I got that and agree.

    But the way I sing would be neither a worthy salute to the US Flag nor an honor to our National Anthem, I’m afraid. 🙂

  11. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Ghost Rider 6, but like the way I sing in church, it’s the honor and respect i show by singing. It’s not about me.

    By the way, with the discussion of comic strip women over the last couple of days, have any of you ever read The Spirit by Will Eisner? He was very good at drawing sexy women and made many of them strong characters who drove the action in the comic.

  12. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    Ghost: “Yeah, men are such little boys, aren’t they?”

    In Act II of G&S’s “H.M.S. Pinafore” [an acronym], Mrs. Cripps [= Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth bumboat woman] informs us that “Men are grownup catchy-catches” in a duet with Captain Corcoran.

  13. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Jackie, you can find one “America Louisiana” on Ancestry.com. If you are not a member, your local library might have a general subscription for the use of the taxpayers (mine does). The same person – apparently – is mentioned in 3 family trees.

    The [free] LDS site has no such person as far as I now.

  14. TruckerRon Avatar

    Whenever I see a claim that an astronomical event is rare, I have no problem finding articles declaring it common:

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/06/13/full_moon_and_friday_the_13th_not_so_rare_after_all.html

  15. Lilyblack Avatar

    TR, I never doubted it

  16. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Yeah, well, what I mostly got out of that article is that it’s not the same time everywhere on Earth at the same time. I kinda already knew that. 🙂

  17. pawn shops near me that buy electronics…

    blog topic…

  18. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    Good morning Villagers…..

    A new blog topic? I don’t think so.

    And JJ left me in suspense…twice, once with the bottle of wine yesterday, and then today’s real time strip. TDS is trying to decipher the letters…..I’ve no idea. The one comment about Jersey Shore was pretty funny.

    And the practical jokes just didn’t end with the earthworms….our septic system is backed up at work, nothing and I mean nothing can go down the drain. So, for my convenience I’ve a five gallon bucket with water for a latrine….went to the ‘bathroom’ before I left work, and the little 15 year old put a garter snake in the bucket……I hate snakes.

    He made up for it though, and placed the commode seat on top of the bucket……I know, I know, we blue collar workers can be crude, rude and socially unacceptable at times 🙂

    Happy Caterday

    So, we’re supposed to sing the Anthem at 4…..would that be Debbe Standard Time? And all this time I thought we were all on the same time and the world was flat 🙂

    GR 😉 the Yardbirds….the ultimate

    Llee….did you read some of the comments below in your link?

  19. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    Speaking of flags….I live near this city and have seen this flag…pretty impressive.

    http://www.jasperengines.com/jasper-flag.php

  20. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Send fifteen Choco Chipmunk Crunch and fifty cents to: Jimmy Johnson, Decoder Ring Promotion, Camp Hill,AL 36850.

  21. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Box tops, Choco Chipmunk Crunch boxtops

  22. Trapper Jean Avatar
    Trapper Jean

    Wearing red, white, and blue “flag-like design” clothing doesn’t bother me, nor does a small flag patch on a jacket. What DOES irk the dickens out of me are the people who put flag patches on the seats of their worn out blue jeans.

    On the topic of cropped tops (also known as belly shirts) and such, I wish my stomach were taut enough that I could entertain thoughts of navel rings, short shirts, and low riders. Unfortunately, after three children-and at my age-that isn’t going to happen. Not that I would get a navel ring anyway, but it would be nice to be able to. 🙂

  23. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    GR6, this link is for you. http://becomeapilot.si.edu