CSotD: Thank God It’s Friday Follies

This Man Overboard is as close to political as I plan to get today, but I’m willing to stand by it.

I like the idea that the bigot doesn’t think he’s a bigot, because we’re seeing a lot of that as people nail down their opinions and solidify whatever confirms what they thought before anything had even happened.

People who cling to authority will cling and people who hate authority will hate and nobody thinks they’re prejudiced, but …

… but then they whack you with whatever they carry to justify their “fair-mindedness.”

Enough.

 

Skip the politics and enjoy this

Juxtaposition of the Day

(Willie ‘n Ethel)

 

(Speed Bump – Creators)

Both cartoons were, obviously, written well before our most recent crisis, but I think that second Willie n’ Ethel panel could be inscribed a lot of places, because, intentionally or not, it’s the working motto of those other people but certainly not me and probably not you, either, if we’re friends.

But it sure sounds like those other people.

The joke in Speed Bump is that nobody is ever that out front about it. I’ve sat in department head meetings where numbers were being accepted or rejected based not on statistical credibility but on how they fit the predetermined narrative, which brings us back to the old truth that people believe what they want to believe, whether it makes sense or not.

To be fair, it’s rare for them to actually gin up fake numbers, though I’ve seen that happen and I’ve seen people get away with it.

 

What I haven’t seen is anyone exhibiting the frank honesty in this Rico Schacherl cartoon. It would sure be a pleasant relief, and you could package it with that Willie n’ Ethel motto, because one or the other would fit a lot of situations.

 

But let’s just relax and slow down and smell the apple blossoms.

Between the apple over the face and the pipe that isn’t a pipe, cartoonists have a lot of fondness for taking off Magritte, but Maria Scrivan’s simple, colorful style makes this Half Full (AMS) work better than most other parodies.

Which is to say that I think it’s very silly but that doesn’t mean I didn’t snicker. And then snicker again at the shirt.

 

Didn’t snicker at this Arlo & Janis (AMS), though.

I’ve loved Janis for years, but she’s wrong. Bush jackets are handy, attractive and comfortable and if women had more pockets they wouldn’t have to carry purses.

The pantomime format makes it hard to know if Arlo was looking for approval, though I suppose he’d have a less blank expression on his face if he weren’t seeking her input. Maybe my problem is with him.

Either man up or start buying Garanimals, dude.

My crabby attitude might be the weather. We’ve just switched seasons here and there’s a conflict between comfortable summer clothing and being able to carry your phone, your wallet, your car keys, a couple of poop bags and a sufficient quantity of doggie cookies.

Which train of thought diverts in this direction:

 

The Other Coast (Creators) often shows actual knowledge of animals, and this strip capitalizes on our stereotype of the bald eagle as a strong, mighty predator and the conflicting reality that — like many predators — they’re mostly scroungers.

A friend from the Adirondacks posted some photos of bald eagles flocked in trees and I asked him if he’d been to Homer, Alaska, where most such pictures are taken. No, he answered, he’d shot it at the place in the woods where the highway department dumps road kill.

As for fishing, the park where we walk our dogs is a stretch along the Connecticut River, and we see eagles all the time, most likely picking off exhausted fish below the power dam, which means they don’t smell of gasoline, but neither do they put up much of a fight.

 

This year, we’re adding some entertainment, as an osprey couple have been trying to put a nest on a power pole at the riverside. It’s not the widest platform, and there seem to be as many sticks on the ground underneath as remain up there, but they are persisting and we’re looking forward to watching them raise a family.

Of course, there could be some drama: Robbing osprey of their catch is yet another way our bold national symbol keeps itself fed. (No political parallels intended.)

 

Still on the topic of being bold and aggressive, this week’s distractions have kept me from noting a quite worthwhile story arc in Between Friends (KFS) which begins here.

We met Savreen not so long ago, and she provides a young, vibrant counterpoint to an increasingly burned-out Susan. That can be invigorating, but it can also be challenging. Savreen is ambitious, not in an “All About Eve” way of undercutting Susan, but perhaps even more challenging, since she sets an example.

“Why wouldn’t you?” indeed, and the sad thing is, Susan has an answer to the question. Maeve isn’t buying it, either.

 

Meanwhile, speaking of young, assertive women, this Tank McNamara (AMS) got a particular laugh from me in part because my elder son is 6’4″ and, when people ask him if he plays basketball, responds, “No. Do you play miniature golf?”

 

It also made me wonder if Bill Hinds had been inspired by news that former collegiate basketball/volleyball star and current sports reporter Maria Taylor has been promoted to the Monday Night Football roster. The average height of an NFL player is 6’2″ so Taylor will be able to literally go eye-to-eye with her fellow panelists.

And, BTW, that thing about “Men of quality are not threatened by women of equality” applies to height and athletic ability, too.

 

Whatever inspired Hinds, I’m sure this xkcd gag was inspired by reports that, as Voyager 1 gets farther and farther from the Earth, and its technology becomes more and more out of date, communication becomes more difficult.

And kudos to Randall Munroe for getting this up and online before NPR reported on the phenomenon.

I’d add a Star Trek: The Movie reference, but then someone would feel compelled to point out that Voyager 1 was not featured in that movie.

No, it wasn’t.

But bickering tomorrow.

Comedy tonight.