CSotD: Deceptive Short Takes
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This is going to seem like a short post, but you'll see at the end there is some required reading that should soak up any time you thought you were going to have.
Pearls Before Swine made me laugh because, back in the ancient days, we'd get calls in the newsroom alerting us to various days that we absolutely had to cover, usually having to do with some dread but obscure disease.
It might not have been so bad if they were having a March Against The Dread Disease, because we could send a photographer down to shoot a picture of that, though it would have been nice if they didn't wait until the day before to let us know.
But they generally wanted us to come up with the story ourselves, in-depth, and also the next day, and, it happened often enough that our editor had a canned speech pretty much ready, which was more or less based on Rat's attitude towards the whole thing.
Of course, today we don't need to deal with the MSM to get these important messages out, and so Facebook is full of Dread Disease Days, which you are expected to share and like and repost unless you are a heartless wretch who simply doesn't care.
Which lets me off the hook.
Commemmorative days that don't have to do with dread diseases sometimes honor inventors you never heard of, or Tesla, who has at least three days dedicated to him every week.
I don't think they deserve their own days, but I do find some of their stories fascinating and Andy Warner is coming out with a collection of those stories. Johanna Carlson Draper has a good look at the book.
I'm always leery of obscure inventor stories because they tend to be, well, heavily folkloric. But I'm going to trust Draper's recommendation and Warner's track record and assume that we will be getting the straight scoop on these odd little improvements to the world and the people what made them happen.
So go read what she's got to say and decide for yourself, but I find it interesting enough to take a chance.
Especially since Warner seems pretty clear on that "folkloric" factor.
Finally, as I noted the other day, Francesco Marciuliano has taken over writing duties on Judge Parker and it appears that there is going to be some substantial trimming going on before we get down to telling new stories.
If this is going where it seems to be going, it seems a bit harsh but sometimes you just need to yank off the Band-Aid and move forward.
And here's where the short posting becomes deceptive, because Ces has a long explanation of where Judge Parker is today and some strong hints about where he's taking it. You can also find some thoughts there about Sally Forth, which he continues to write.
It's a good look inside the process, and, while I was aware of all the who's who he goes over, hearing it from his point of view offered some hints.
And today's strip certainly doesn't make it seem that anyone will be getting off lightly.
Funny Story, if you have a twisted sense of humor: A guy was talking on NFL Network last night about the year he spent serving as "The Turk" for a team, the Turk being the fellow who delivers the bad news in the preseason, telling players they are being cut.
He said he hated the job to begin with, but managed to make it worse than it had to be: He told of one time when he came down to a meeting of offensive linemen and pulled one out, asking him to come along. You must understand that everyone knew who the Turk was and why he might ask you to come along.
In this case, however, he got partway up the stairs and realized he'd pulled out the wrong guy. He had to, first of all, resuscitate the poor kid, and then go back and get the one who was indeed being given the ticket home.
Presumably Ces won't make that mistake.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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