Thanks to Rob S. for this one by Tom Falco. That “Summer at Home” title is the cartoonist’s title for it, and goes with his inflation-leads-to-staycation topical message.
But the real interest the panel holds for us is the way the picture is based on an ad campaign from a ways back. Can you remember the brand that used that picture, and a slogan (in the form of a question) associated with that brand and this ad campaign … or a competitor’s?
Rob shares that he indeed thought of the competitor first, as did the cartoonist according to his blog entry. See the Tomversation blog for Falco’s discussion of this, including the original windswept photo from the ads.
Sure, there’s a fix just calling out to us! Change the thought balloon to “Can I come up with the atomic symbol for Sodium?” and the bottom caption to “Na, he can’t.”
Other improvements from y’all?
And on this train of thought, for those with trigonometric inclinations, “Can he remember the sixth of the basic circular functions?” and the answer “No, of ____ __ ___ “.
This Breaking Cat News comes from Andréa as a problem of the physics. “Won’t the eggs fall out if they’re in the holder like this? I’ve not dyed eggs for YEARS, but I distinctly remember putting the egg in the holder small end DOWN . . .”
Here’s a new sub-category. It’s not LOL material, there is no joke to be understood, and it’s not a comic flop either. It’s just something you gotta see!
Okay, the joke here isn’t that far away from easy understanding — it’s that she’s at home, not in a hotel lobby or restaurant waiting area, yet her remark is appropriate only to the latter kind of situations. But the furnishings are not that different from what a public place might have. So how is the casual reader to know this is her home (the regular reader might be expected to recognize the furnishings and decor).
A “quickie CIDU” because it is entirely opaque while misinterpreting the artwork; then becomes a clear and simple joke the instant you re-interpret the artwork.
I think we’ve argued this point before: If a question is posed which is not answered within the comic itself, and is not clearly discernible after thinking about it, can we say “Well there isn’t meant to be an answer, but that’s part of why it’s meant to be funny”? On this one I just don’t get it.
Oh but wait! This was the 4-19 panel so of course it was a 4-20 joke. Ermmm.
Well this one might be called a second-take CIDU. I thought I had gotten it, or enough for a chuckle, when originally reading it – the guy hanging on the wall is a (baseball) catcher, and is the ideal one for the husband/fan-guy, so is his “dream” catcher. But the offstage wife takes that phrasing to mean a “dreamcatcher” wall hanging, whose proper placement she issues a reminder about. I didn’t give any significance to the nickname “Pudge” which the husband bestows on the catcher.
But then now Mark M sends it in and notes some complicating factors: I’m thinking if you’re not a MLB fan AND a geezer, this comic will be confusing. I’m both and it’s still confusing. Pudge was a nickname for Carlton Fisk, who played as a catcher some 50 years ago. A very good player, so “dream catcher” is a great pun. Maybe this belongs as an Oy or LOL. But the CIDU part is the response in Spanish. Fisk was born in the U.S. and had no Latino connections that I’m aware of. And then there’s maybe even more to this if we start to worry about him saying “This is how it works” which may go on only some readings.
(P.S. A few days later, he got down from that wall, and the husband caught him rifling in their liquor cabinet, and strewn about him were several bottles of this family’s favorite kind of American distilled grain whiskey. Which made him the catcher in the rye.)
… and always thought it was “da doo run run run” . This comes from Philip, who says “Why this song? And why men’s apparel? Is there something obvious I’m not seeing?”
If you have a fave performance of this song, please feel free to share! Here’s a good one, h/t to a commenter rugeirn on the GoComics site:
From the Theodicy Dept.The (still) “new” Nancy strip is many different things, to different people, from time to time. But here it seems to score a pretty direct LOL!
And in the “Nothing new under the Sun?” Department:
Hey Geezers, remember when U.S. foreign policy tensions were focused on Russia and China?
There’s hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain …
Comics I Don't Understand 