CSotD: Picking Up The Pieces
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A random collection of cartoons and reactions today:
Eddie, being a little kid, has an idealistic view of things and expects all the hoopla about the new year to mean that something is new. His mom has seen more years come and go, but at least remembers younger days.
I’ve been seeing things online saying that the new year used to be at the vernal equinox, which makes sense, since that’s when we (in the Northern Hemisphere at least) emerge from winter into the new world of spring. Meanwhile, as I write this, it’s -1 Fahrenheit outside here and the world is much the same because it’s flash-frozen.
Here’s something that’s changed: Anyone who got indiscreetly blotto at the office New Year’s party is crawling back to the desk this morning and hoping not to find a memo from HR. The “Mad Man” days are over, and I look back on those parties, as well as the three-martini lunches of my stint in advertising, with more horror than nostalgia.
I’ve told this story before: I had a 20s-something assistant who wasn’t planning to go to the office Christmas party, but I told her she should go, because it’s how you find out who’s sleeping with whom. She laughed, but the following Monday said, “Boy, you weren’t kidding!”
I eventually took the management tack towards these gatherings: Show up, grab a drink — one — then greet everyone above and below you in your chain of command and get the hell out before things get interesting.
Crabgrass is starting the year with a kind of in-your-face declaration for people who don’t like the boys heading out on long, semi-sci-fi fantasy adventures. I think it takes chutzpah to lay it right out like this, but good for Tauhid Bondia, because I like his odd mix of regular real-life kid gags and odd treks into black holes.
DD Degg just noted the 30th anniversary of the ending of Calvin and Hobbes, and I miss it, but, then again, I think both C&H and the Far Side ended at the right time, because they were each getting to the point where you could anticipate the gags. When unpredictability is central to your appeal, it’s better to close things down than to start making the donuts.
Different strokes, of course. For those who prefer a type of consistent humor, Caroline Cash unveils her new take on Nancy by riffing on a familiar favorite.
Nancy has a minimalist approach in which the twists are subtle: Cash doesn’t put three rocks in the background, but offers changing facial expressions in each panel that add a subtext to the well-known Peanuts gag.
I’ve added the strip to my daily feed because I want to see where she’s taking it, and one strip isn’t going to tell me that.
And I am a man who truly appreciates dumb jokes, as long as they’re not predictably dumb. Cleverly dumb takes a deft touch.
Juxtaposition of Changing Times
Rip Haywire tosses in a random observation, which is that since everyone now carries a phone, pay phones have lost their necessity and are disappearing. This is a noir-spoof, and so a commentary on all the ways technology has changed detective stories: You lose a lot of “heading into danger” suspense when someone can just call the potential victim’s cell phone.
Meanwhile, Hilburn goes the opposite direction, since (as I’ve observed before) kids making snowmen can’t root around the coal chute for parts. You have to be pretty old to remember when Frosty actually had two eyes made out of coal.
And speaking of cell phones — and repeating my earlier statement about liking dumb jokes — here’s a salute to our growing vanity, and it’s particularly relevant today because if you didn’t know what black-eyed peas look like, your social media feed will provide dozens of pictures, food pictures being just another type of selfie.
It occurred to me the other day that I wouldn’t want someone to stand two feet away talking into my face, which doesn’t seem like much of an insight except that it explains why I hate selfie-videos in which people fill the screen of their cameras to deliver a rant. How’s about you step back a little?
This Pooch Cafe gets a laugh, but even mixes can be analyzed by what has gone into them, and it’s important to distinguish between the results of innate tendencies and the results of poor training.
Poncho is right about the two he specifies, and Boomer is right that it’s handy to know these things. Some are harmless: Poodles, for instance, rarely get into group games. They’re not unfriendly with other dogs; they just don’t get it.
But if you have a golden retriever, it will leap into water. No, not every single one, but the great majority, and if you don’t want a wet dog, pick something else. And huskies are runners. If you get a husky, get a long leash.
Also, just as you should never ask the barber if you need a haircut, you should be wary of asking a breeder about the dogs they’re selling. Whether you purchase or adopt, do some independent homework.
And we’ve got a different kind of new puppy as Gene and Mary Lou have had a daughter and, A&J fans suggest, Arlo and Janis have suddenly completed their move to the new digs near the kids. It’s both a jolt and a jump, given the amount of time they’ve spent planning the move.
Who says the new year hasn’t brought about any noticeable changes?
I usually identify with Arlo, but I certainly sympathize with Bub on this one. Fortunately, I remember when my mother was the age I am now and a nickel fell off the counter. She looked down and said that, since it wasn’t a quarter, it would just have to stay there a while.
So I’m okay.
A little urban humor in a rural setting. We do have condos here in the hinterlands, and they have HOAs, but that’s a city lifestyle in a country setting.
None for me, thanks.
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