peppermint patty needs help

just when it seemed the "man booker prize" shortlist had put us off literature permanently…

one of better recent publishing enterprises has been the release of the "complete peanuts" cartoons in sequential hardcover volumes. it's a toney production. so far 7 have been issued. that's the "good". the "bad" is each volume costs $60 something. well done, fantagraphic books. that price should scare most readers off.

the star, or scene-stealer, of the strip is marcie, who is inexplicably strange. and kooky. (i also like linus when he's philosophizing or quoting what he calls "scripture".)

another topping moment is peppermint patty's ad in the personals: "help wanted: attractive young lady can't remember history dates. doesn't understand fractions. call patricia reichardt at the number below." wonderful stuff.

wouldn't the world be a better place with the great pumpkin (dispensing his halloween justice)?

the greatest game show ever

game shows are universally dreadful. they are hosted by grinning pipsqueaks who ask dumb questions and offer tacky prizes. it's all carrot and no stick. idiocy isn't punished. that's why the game show featured on the chuck jones toon "the ducksters" (1950) is so good: it's entertainingly cruel, arbitrary and punitive.

here the host, daffy duck, interrogates the contestant, porky pig:

daffy duck: i will now play a passage from a famous opera, you must name the opera.
porky pig: but... but i'm weary.
daffy duck: listen carefully!
(plays a single note on the piano).
daffy duck: and there you have it! now, what's the opera?
porky pig: "c-cavalleria rusticana"?
daffy duck: audience?
audience: "rigoletto"!

genius.

finding a circuitous way around copyright

after lots of fiddling around with acrobat professional and quark and photoshop, it was running the humble mac "grab" utility through "iphoto" which allowed me to swipe this "new yorker" toon.

crime is hard work. but worth it.