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

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Wrath of the Gourds

By Jimmy Johnson

June 7, 2011


It’s going to be a bad year for blossom-end rot around these parts. It most commonly occurs when the growing season begins wet and turns dry when vegetable plants are fruiting. It’s been a very wet spring, and that’s already begun to taper off. Consider that your gardening tip for the day. Have you seen the Spacelink satellite train yet? I have. I tend to sit out after dark, and I’ve seen such trains in several stages of deployment. The first time, a few weeks ago, we observed a satellite overhead, which is always cause for low-level excitement. After all, satellites and meteors are the headliners most nights. Then, wow! About 30 seconds later there was a second satellite behind the first, on the same trajectory. You don’t see that every day. About 30 seconds after that a third satellite came along! Our excitement level rose and eventually plateaued as we stopped counting at about 45 satellites. A few days later I witnessed something similar as another satellite train passed overhead; this time, however, they had dispersed somewhat; each satellite was about two minutes apart. Then, last night, I saw a “train” pass over that had been placed in orbit just the day before. There were approximately 60 satellites, grouped in a close line and simultaneously visible, strung out like the tail of a meteor but moving at the speed of a passing satellite. This is all part of the effort by a private company, SpaceX, to construct practically global, space-based internet connectivity. Before they are finished, there could be 30,000 of their satellites in orbit, many passing overhead at any given time. What I want to know is: did anyone discuss this with you?


Recent Posts

Ghost of Christmas Past

This holiday Arlo & Janis comic strip from 2022 is similar in concept to the new strip that ran yesterday. I thought the latter ...

Spearhead

I have produced a number of comic strips related to Veteran’s Day. Especially in latter years, I have tried to emphasize the universal experience ...

Dark Passage

Remember: it’s that weekend. The return to standard time can be a bit of a shock in the late afternoon, but I rather enjoy ...

What’s old is old, again

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build a web site, but there are similarities. Everything needs to be just right, or ...

Back to the ol’ drawing board

I don’t have a lot of time this morning. I wasn’t going to post anything, but I’m tired of looking at that old photograph ...

Thursday’s Child

On Sunday, I teased you with the suggestion there are more changes coming here. There are. They will appear soon, and I think you’ll ...

49 responses to “Wrath of the Gourds”

  1. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    You know, I think the staff at Mad magazine must have foreseen the coming of social media years ago. They tended to always refer to the “usual gang of idiots”. Or maybe they were thinking of the news media, as they operate today.

  2. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Do away with police? Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters? Sorry Ghost.

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      I’ve seen several explanations offered as to what “defunding the police” means. So far none of them explain what the substitute groups (community-based, of course) would do to qualify or train themselves to run towards, not away from, bad guys with guns.

    2. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Boo! 😀

  3. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    During a previous era when there was a serious anti-police movement (well, in the 60s, of course) a common saying was, “If someone is trying to break into your house, try calling a hippie.” No offense, but most of those hippies would be pushing 80 now. It might take a good while for one to arrive.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      “But remember, ultimately police aren’t there to protect citizens from criminals, so much as to protect criminals from informal law enforcement at the hands of citizens.” Law Professor Glenn Reynolds
      As always, Be Careful What You Wish For is good advice.

  4. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    From “Life in the Slow Lane”: Life in the slow lane is not always a bad thing. For instance, yesterday, which I believe was the hottest day in eastern Oklahoma so far this year, the air conditioning in my vehicle (y’all remember Bullet, doncha?) shuffled off to Buffalo. Well, to Checotah, anyway, which is where I was headed.
    Parts on order by the local Ford dealer; repair slated for Wednesday morning. Fortunately, no medical trips to Tulsa for Jackie this week. I believe I shall stay en casa under the AC tomorrow and catch up on the boutique’s books and perhaps pull some preventive maintenance on a few of my shootin’ irons…just in case those elder hippies need some backup. 🙂

  5. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Ghost – I am pushing 80 , it is not in the rearview mirror yet, most hippies are a lot younger than I.
    So they probably would get there sooner – Cane instead of Zimmer Frame – (Cynical observation deleted)

  6. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    Regarding today’s strip (June 9th)

    Janis: You Cannot Lie!