by CIDU Bill

The Sultan Gets Swatted [OT]

Kilby writes: I have no idea where Bill found this image, but he saved it in a miscellaneous draft back in 2019, and I figured that it would be appropriate to post it on the 100th anniversary of the event:

ruth

Bill was a dedicated baseball fan; he later said that he would have been interested in seeing an amateur game during his visit to Berlin in 2017, but in retrospect it would have been very difficult to find one (then or now).

P.S. In recent baseball news, The Daily Cartoonist posted a nice (if slightly repetitive) collection of cartoons commemorating the death of Willie Mays.

by zbicyclist

It’s the 4th of July!

[2024-07-04 note: This post was originally from last year, 2023, but now bumped up as a republish. One or two strips added to the post proper as of the 2024 republish. Previous comments are retained, and current readers are encouraged to continue the comments thread!]

July 4th is zbicyclist’s wife’s birthday. She had to age a few years before she realized the fireworks weren’t for her.

But that’s not all of the story: On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams also died. His last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime friend and rival: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before. At 90, Adams was the longest-lived U.S. president until Ronald Reagan surpassed him in 2001. (and now Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924) Source: Wikipedia.

[This Mutts strip added for 2024. It was just too sweet to resist.]

[This Peanuts is from 1964]

by EditorM

Human tools

Okay, what does this collection of sort-of-household objects represent? What is their connection to the inset cartoon panel at the bottom, and what’s the joke?

I had a clearly incorrect idea to begin with, that these are the functions which have been supplanted by use of a phone, and thus an indication of how severely she is restricted until her phone is operational again. But no; there really can’t be a hammer-and-saw app that actually cuts wood or pounds nails.

And while we’re looking at it, how accurate is Bub’s memory-definition?

POSSIBLE SPOILER.
In the GoComics comments, there is a pretty plausible suggestion for one of our questions: The objects are things that go on working, without needing an update. IMO imperfect but pretty good — as explaining the selection, even if not the joke.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – June 29th, 2024

And I still maintain that the ugly Internet phenomenon of “trolling” started being called that from a metaphor on the fishing practice (dragging a baited hook behind a quiet small boat), and not the Scandinavian bridge-dwelling threateners.

Are we done with Bizarro for this post? Never say so!

I was preparing to protest that the expression is traditionally “strait and narrow” — which would be preferable despite its redundancy. The pattern of redundancy in rhetorical pairs remains hale and hearty, though some may wish it null and void.

But no! The useful sources recognize only “straight and narrow”, with just a nod to the echoes of “strait”. Here’s Etymonline f’ristance [in entry for straight (adj.2) = “conventional,” especially “heterosexual,” 1941]:

probably suggested by the stock phrase straight and narrow path or way, “course of conventional morality and law-abiding behavior” (by 1842), which is based on a misreading of Matthew vii.14 (where the gate is actually strait); another influence seems to be strait-laced.

No, let’s not get started on straight-jacket!

Et tu, Jeremy?

by zbicyclist

60 Years Ago in The New Yorker

This one’s not a mystery. It’s just a reminder that being replaced by machines, especially computers, is not new at all. And not unrealistic at all.

What’s the hat got to do with it? The hat is the punch line; otherwise it’s just two thugs.

Mirages? I note in passing that styles in swimsuits haven’t changed all that much in 60 years. This song is just a handful of years earlier.

by zbicyclist

Celibate Good Times, Come On!

Usual John sends this one in.

Celibacy and chastity are often confused. Celibacy means not getting married, although it is often extended to not having sex. Chastity means not having sex, or not having sex outside of marriage.

Regardless of definitional issues, this doesn’t seem to make sense. IIRC, Maude and Jake are long term partners in B.C.’s world. And who’s getting redeemed?