Comic for Friday, May 11th, 2007

Posted: 7:18 am, Friday, May 11th

Because we are wild and crazy, 2.0 and I were puttering around the etymology dictionary online yesterday, and evidently the word "coddle," meaning to treat tenderly, first appeared in Jane Austen's Emma in 1815. Which I did not know, and I mention here because CK really like Jane Austen. (Yes, we were trying to find the etymology of the name Emma, and 'coddle' and 'smarten' were the only results.)

Just saw Lost last night - holy shit!

I know Mallard Fillmore barely counts as a comic strip, but whenever I get down on myself for a sub-par strip or botched execution or just having gone with a joke that only *I* find funny, I'm going to look at the strip discussed here on Duck and Cover. Because that just makes no flipping sense. I think Bruce Tinsley just doesn't know what the words he's talking about actually mean.

Pheeee-nomenal article from the Voice on how incredibly fucking slimy Rudy Giuliani is, specifically in his Human Goiteriness. Turns out Rudy has never paid - in all likelihood - for those primo seats he has on top of the dugout. The best part is that this whole article/investigation seems to have stemmed from the fact that he's such a dimwit asshole that he's been wearing his Goat Fucker World Series rings on the campaign fund-raising trail. That's right - Giuliani has a World Series ring (four, in fact), and Ted Williams never did. It's enough to make you doubt karma.

Oh, another thing about the Goat Fuckers - Deadspin had a great take on their insistence on playing fucking God Bless America every single game. I really hate that song and refuse to stand/doff my cap/stop talking for God Bless America. It is not our national anthem, as much as the Christian Right wishes it was. If Steinbrenner really wanted to prove how patriotic he was, you know what he should play?

YOOOOOOO, JOE!

Of course, the best version is from GI Joe: The Movie, with that wild "co-BRAAAAA!" yell in the background.

And, given the way the Goat Fuckers are playing this year, maybe this is actually the most fitting song for them.  

I'm getting silly, aren't I? Alright, one last big honkin' momma of 80s cartoon intros. I was about to say that no cartoon has ever had as earnestly sung of a theme song as MASK, but then came that Defenders of the Earth intro. I have no recollection of that show whatsoever, but, wow, guy.. It's just a cartoon. Calm down.

Alright. Have a good weekend, team.

bullfrog

Clay Forrester -- Friday, May 11 2007, 10:36 am

I don't think the problem is with "God Bless America" as a song, it's with playing two patriotic songs in the first place. It only proves that playing the national anthem at the beginning of the game is meaningless, and you need to tack on another song during the seventh inning stretch. If we have another confligration, are they going to play "Stars And Stripes Forever" when the game ends? For chrissakes, it's a friggin baseball game.

It's just Steinbrenner trying to one-up everybody else, in baseball.

As for it as a song, itself, I just feel as if its proliferation post-9/11 was.. dangerous? Dangerous, I guess.

Although I do like the lyric "stand beside her/ and guide her." That's not bad.

Once in a while is okay... maybe on weekends when families are there... but yeah, it loses it's "chill factor" after a while (I know, I used a Simmons-ism)

Btw - good to see Ron using a wood bat. Nothing worse than hearing a "ping".

And in the anal retentive department... do you match Jen's glasses color to the background? I have NO IDEA why, but I noticed today's are green and they were purple in the bar scenes. (Wow, I have waay too much time on my hands...)

Isn't it Maya in the green glasses?

Apparently I'm not anal retentive enough... good call.

I guess the purple hair should have been my clue too... I swear, I'm a big fan. (sorry, Bullfrog!)

Need more coffee.

S'ok, Whitey, because Secretary punted on the name, too - it's MaRa. Mara's glasses are green, Jen's purple. I suppose if I updated the cast page to include the new additions, we wouldn't have this confusion, but.

I actually use an aluminum bat in my softball league, but primarily because I don't feel confident in being the Guy That Shows Up With His Own Bat. I hit for a really high average, but I've got doubles power at best, and the Guy That Shows Up With His Own Bat should really give those outfielders a work-out, I think.

You know, that Defenders of the Earth guy sounds a little like Jack Black. Was he satirizing the cheesiness of '80s rock enthusiasm at the very time it was occurring?

I'm ashamed to have gotten Mara's name wrong. I apologize, Bullfrog. I must have been more focused on work or something (!)

This fully explains the lyrics to the Defenders of the Earth - the second-to-last paragraph of 'the Evidence' on this page claims that the lyrics were penned by Stan Lee himself. In which case, the vocalist is singing with just the right amount of bombast.

http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/defendersearthvol1.php

I just want to know, what the freaking deal about "Cotton Eye Joe" being played in the 7th or 8th inning. It has to be right up there with the Cubs' "Take me out to the Ballgame" croaking from celebrities who very rarely can sing well when drunk and that damn Rally Monkey.