“Did you do or did you don’t easily come up with “It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” ?” Yeah, but I am a geezer. As is every single person here apparently. I thought we figured that out a long time ago.
In related versions, it is a semi-famous quotation. Attributed to Mark Twain, or earlier Voltaire.
And yes, it is good to hear it strikes you as fairly true-to-life! I expect in the original context(s) whiile it was meant to have the air of “paradox” it was also supposed to strike readers with recognition.
This past summer, I was crafting a letter to include with the check for my niece’s HS graduation. I have some decent stationery, with 6×8 sheets. I wanted the message to fit on one sheet, front only. That took some work and practice to craft a message that would fit nicely and say what I wanted.
re
Shrug: I object! How can they attribute the quote to Pascal. Looking it over, there’s not a single word of overlap:
“Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.”
It does take effort to stay calm. Related to this is something I read once about drug addicts. It is said that addicts keep using illegal drugs because they have a lack of will power. But the fact is that it takes a lot of will power to spend half your day looking for someone to buy the drugs from.
I guess this shows how my mind goes. I knew that birds and planes are known for dropping waste products in flight; but I couldn’t figure out why the Big Blue Boy Scout would be a suspect.
I like the nesting dolls one as well, but I am concerned. They’re not wearing their masks now, clearly, and they’re not social distancing. Seems to me they’re just asking for trouble.
“It’s a bird …” is certainly a geezer reference. The star of the last TV show to use that line died before I was born, and I’m old enough to retire from certain jobs.
Are you just playing with us, Woozy? The quotation attributed to Mark Twain or Voltaire [should have said Pascal] was the bit about I wrote a long one because I didn’t have the time to write a short one. And several commenters gave examples of how we still experience this.
Comics I Don't Understand 
The Maryoshkas and the Superman made me happy. The others … no thanks.
Hey, no “Hax column” note on the Nick & Zuzu this time?
LikeLike
I particularly like the Superman one… I wonder if anyone else has thought of it since “bird-plane-superman” became a thing (apparently 69 years ago – https://www.shmoop.com/quotes/look-up-in-the-sky-bird-plane-superman.html )
LikeLike
I agree with deety. I guess one’s lol is another’s meh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is the superman one a geezer reference?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woozy, that’s in a way up to you to say. Did you do or did you don’t easily come up with “It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Well, I get this is supposed to be a little silly, but it does take me longer to write a short letter than a long one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Did you do or did you don’t easily come up with “It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” ?” Yeah, but I am a geezer. As is every single person here apparently. I thought we figured that out a long time ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” thing doesn’t mention model aircraft.
That said, at seven and a half feet, the one in the lineup is most impressive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In related versions, it is a semi-famous quotation. Attributed to Mark Twain, or earlier Voltaire.
And yes, it is good to hear it strikes you as fairly true-to-life! I expect in the original context(s) whiile it was meant to have the air of “paradox” it was also supposed to strike readers with recognition.
LikeLike
This past summer, I was crafting a letter to include with the check for my niece’s HS graduation. I have some decent stationery, with 6×8 sheets. I wanted the message to fit on one sheet, front only. That took some work and practice to craft a message that would fit nicely and say what I wanted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“In related versions, it is a semi-famous quotation. Attributed to Mark Twain, or earlier Voltaire.:
But incorrectly so; it’s actually by Pascal:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/
LikeLike
Shrug: I object! How can they attribute the quote to Pascal. Looking it over, there’s not a single word of overlap:
“Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Shrug. I also looked it up a week or so ago, and was misremembering Pascal as Voltaire.
LikeLike
re
Shrug: I object! How can they attribute the quote to Pascal. Looking it over, there’s not a single word of overlap:
“Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.”
D’oh. Don’t know — it’s all Greek to me.
(But I notice that several letters overlap…)
LikeLike
I didn’t see that at first, I thought that she saw something flying, and she’s trying to identify.
LikeLike
It does take effort to stay calm. Related to this is something I read once about drug addicts. It is said that addicts keep using illegal drugs because they have a lack of will power. But the fact is that it takes a lot of will power to spend half your day looking for someone to buy the drugs from.
LikeLike
I guess this shows how my mind goes. I knew that birds and planes are known for dropping waste products in flight; but I couldn’t figure out why the Big Blue Boy Scout would be a suspect.
LikeLike
Mark in Boston: it takes willpower to keep smoking: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/13
LikeLike
The Superman quote goes all the way back to 1940, from the radio series, and the Fleischer cartoons shortly thereafter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Superman_(radio_series)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Man #1: Look, Up in the sky.
Kid: It’s a bird.
Man #2: It’s a plane.
Woman: It’s a frog.
Man #3: A frog?!?
Ahhh, fond childhood memories!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the nesting dolls one as well, but I am concerned. They’re not wearing their masks now, clearly, and they’re not social distancing. Seems to me they’re just asking for trouble.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“It’s a bird …” is certainly a geezer reference. The star of the last TV show to use that line died before I was born, and I’m old enough to retire from certain jobs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“In related versions, it is a semi-famous quotation. Attributed to Mark Twain, or earlier Voltaire.”
“Its a bird; its a plane; its Superman” is attributed to Mark Twain?
“I didn’t see that at first, I thought that she saw something flying, and she’s trying to identify.”
You didn’t see what at first? That is what she is doing.
LikeLike
Are you just playing with us, Woozy? The quotation attributed to Mark Twain or Voltaire [should have said Pascal] was the bit about I wrote a long one because I didn’t have the time to write a short one. And several commenters gave examples of how we still experience this.
LikeLike
“Are you just playing with us, Woozy? ”
Yes. I am playing with you.
But you must admit, you talking about “it” without reference after a few jokes about the superman tagline made the juxtaposition pretty funny.
LikeLike
Was it Pierre de Fermat who said: “I wrote you a truly remarkable letter which this margin is too small to contain.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I wrote you a truly remarkable letter which this margin is too small to contain.”
Yes, that was Pascal’s buddy Fermat.
The letter was finally delivered in 1994.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why the dynamite on the phone in the Superman spoof?
LikeLike
Stuart: It’s one of Piraro’s “Secret Symbols”: https://www.bizarro.com/secret-symbols/
LikeLiked by 1 person