CSotD: Good timing, bad timing, you know we’ve had our share
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Ben Jennings scores.
This is one of those pieces where the only real response is, “Good for you,” because there are plenty of paintings that depict crowds but this is the right one.
Here’s the original, not that you haven’t seen it but I wanted a second look to see how crowded the scene really was and thought you might, too.
My own guestimate is that the groups are a proper six feet apart, but that the people in them are quite close within their groups, which is interesting because one of the places I interact with people is at the dog park.
Problem there being that, while we don’t bunch up too much, the dogs do, and they also come over to greet their favorite humans, which is probably uncool, given that they not only get petted by a series of people but are likely carrying — on their fur if not in their systems — whatever their own humans might be carrying.
I suppose we all have to make our own decisions about what level of exposure we can deal with, versus what level of isolation.
We’ve got 13 confirmed cases in New Hampshire, which is a small state but not so small that I’m terribly worried, though one of the cases visited the DMV in Manchester and I’m glad I didn’t.
But all that pondering simply indicates how brilliant Jennings’ choice was, since that sunny afternoon at a public park is exactly the sort of thing people are torn over.
By contrast, not only are Caillebotte’s people well spaced, one from another, but I doubt they’d be out in the rain if they didn’t absolutely have to be.
And surely by their own time, the virus will no longer be novel and these people will have developed natural immunities.
Except that fellow in the red shirt, of course.
Meanwhile, as Jeff Danziger depicts it, Dear Leader appears to have finally caught on, though you’ll note by the date of issue that this was before his response signaled that he seems more concerned about the impact on the stock market than on the people who may die from the disease.
As said before, I think we all know Trump is, personally, bereft of any sort of empathy, much less compassion. However, you’d think a person so much in the public eye would have learned to fake it, at least in response to the pushback from the paper towel incident, if not as part of the overall conjob.
Which brings us to our
Juxtaposition of the Day
Speaking of faking sincerity in furtherance of a con, Fox News has suspended Trish Regan for a jaw-dropping broadcast in which she directly accused Dear Leader’s enemies of concocting fraudulent fear of the virus in order to impeach him yet again.
However, the network has put such a procession of Lords Haw-Haw and Tokyo Roses on the air that it’s almost unfair to Regan that she is off the air for having crossed a line none of us knew was even there.
Still, if the network has dropped its lockstep loyalty, that’s a good thing. The question is whether it’s too late, given that the Deplorables are already convinced that the whole thing is a libtard plot.
Timing is everything, alas
Lead times are interesting things, and while some strips are including references to the virus, others are clunking badly with ill-timed gags.
I suppose you could argue that the fellow in today’s In the Bleachers is doubly gullible, given that there aren’t any tournaments being played and so the tickets are an obvious trick.
But it’s hard to imagine that Loretta Lockhorn is complimenting Leroy for his wise decision to avoid an obvious contamination source in favor of safer, local cuisine.
If anyone had caught it, it would be easy enough to fix the timing problem by changing the caption to “having a pizza delivered.”
However, a lot of cartoonists work far enough in advance that they’re not aware of potential gaffes in their work by the time the news changes things.
And, despite where the blame falls, the local editor won’t catch it and alert the syndicate, because the local editor never looks at the comics page beyond a quick glance as the rest of the paper is getting a final look.
The backshop might catch it, though they’re often assembling things quickly enough that they only pull the strips in by a computer formula and check to make sure there are no blank boxes on the page.
And the comics page at an increasing number of papers is laid out in India or the Philippines, not only electronically and well in advance but by people whose command of the language, never mind its nuances, may be pretty limited.
The Literary Corner
Today’s Pickles sent me off to Project Gutenberg for a search, because I’ve read “War and Peace” a half dozen times and didn’t recognize the quote.
However, it’s in there, and I’d only quibble about where Earl is holding the book, because if he’s halfway through, he hasn’t reached the point where Kutuzov makes the comment.
I would add that, if you can get through a thick “beach book,” you can get through “War and Peace,” which is simply historical fiction and not nearly as hard a slog as people seem to think.
And, by the way, Boris and Natasha are only an item in the opening pages, at which point she’s just a kid with a crush and he has not yet been revealed as a social-climbing … (What’s the Russian word for “dipshit”?)
Not that this is the only classic to have been universally misjudged.
By contrast (ahem):
I like Reality Check, but this is the second “wherefore” flub I’ve seen in the last 10 days and, given that we all studied the play in junior high, that’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more.
Here’s your mnemonic, in the form of a redundant title:
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