Arlo & Janis touches off a low-level rant, because I care more about this phenomenon on radio than I do on TV, possibly because I don’t watch a lot of TV.I appreciate that, in the Olden Days segment, he had the woman come in from the next room, because, if you were right there, phones […]
I wasn’t planning to revisit the topic of civility so quickly, but here we are and I like Joe Heller’s commentary for a number of reasons, the first one being that the owner of the Red Hen is its owner, not its caretaker. So there’s a contrast right there.Another is that Heller distinguishes between denying […]
Having appropriately devoted yesterday to the passing of Mort Walker, here are a few Sunday cartoons I might otherwise have run, starting with this hail-and-farewell from Piranha Club.Bud Grace is his early 70s, so I don’t begrudge him the retirement, but I’m certainly going to miss the strip, which appears to be petering out in […]
Zits taps the increasingly ridiculous world of “therapy animals.”I’m so old I can remember when, on an email listserv, the quite serious topic of safely transporting dogs on airplanes came up, and someone jokingly suggested donning dark glasses and pretending your pet was a Seeing Eye Dog so he could ride in the cabin.The response […]
A few quick laffs before I get into rant mode. I love Dog Eat Doug, though I suppose it’s a dog-lover niche cartoon coupled with a baby-lover niche cartoon, but those are more alcoves than niches. Or something. Pretty large niches, anyway. In any case, today’s hit me because, while our dog-walking friends at the park […]
The best part about that classic Geico commercial — aside from the number of times the camel says my name — is that, however annoying he may be, the people trying to ignore him are apparently locked into work they don’t enjoy. It’s not like he’s distracting them from something they want to be doing. Which means I […]
It’s April 15, which means little on weekends and less on Patriots Day, but taxes and Easter are sharing the comics pages today and you still can’t do better on the subject of taxes than this Shoe from 1979.An opinion that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I’m a writer of opinions. And […]
So my question, Tank, is where “at the end of the day” came from in the first place?That is, I first heard it on BBC and I’m blaming them because they’ve been undermining our grasp of language for quite awhile now, particularly the prepositions.Things are suddenly “different to” rather than “different from,” and “based off […]
Friend-of-the Blog Brian Fies has created a on reflection heroism, on one hero in particular, and on one anti-hero in particular. It is short and worth your time: Go read it.As it happens, I just included this bit of Lou Grantly wisdom for the young writers I direct in the job that pays my rent: Editor’s Note: […]
Greg Cravens provides the best analysis of the Batman v Superman dust-up in today’s Buckets.I have nothing to add except that sometimes “I don’t get it” is an insightful response, and, in this case, we grandpas need to stick together on accounta we’re right.I’ll also add that today was full of comics that I really liked […]
Today’s Non Sequitur really touches off my ADD, starting with — well, starting with a sudden association too Andy Rooneyish to bother with, but then going to something more relevant, the last place I had a major birdfeeding thing going on.The large kitchen window over the sink looked out over the back yard, where there was […]
Frazz is my favorite educational comic: I didn’t know that “boutonnière” is French for the buttonhole you stick your boutonniere in.And that link taught me all sorts of other things I didn’t know, including that jackets not only used to have real buttonholes there (which I did know) but that there was a loop behind […]
Wyatt brings a touch of reality to kids’ “What if I were a superhero?” fantasy.There are many ways being a superhero doesn’t work in real life, ranging from the now-iconic moment in the 1978 Superman movie where Clark realizes there aren’t any phone booths anymore to Larry Niven’s classic discussion of his sex life, “Man of Steel, […]
One of the small frustrations I face on this blog is trying to figure out when to point out a promising arc, and Piranha Club is one of a handful of strips that repeatedly triggers it by having “suck you in” pacing, such that you don’t realize how good a story arc is until you’re […]
Marla’s right. It’s a holiday and we should all be closed.Well, what we really should be doing is having Thanksgiving dinner Matt Wuerker style.*sigh*But having worked alternate holidays in the newsroom, I’m still of the opinion that the show must go on, so what I’m going to do is give you the comics and let […]