Museum Piece

We have a saying here at the studio: Another Saturday, another blog entry. As usual, we've come to share our latest comics, along with informative notes, a pipe-related image, and a musical selection (which may or may not relate to anything we discuss.)

As I type this post, I'm several days into a moderate case of insomnia, which I hadn't experienced in a while. It could simply be a delayed adjustment to the change to Standard Time last weekend. Of course, the world offers us all an abundance of reasons to lie awake at night, so I can at least assume I'm not alone in this.

Fortunately, connecting with Bizarro's readers through various comment forums, this blog, and my newsletter is always therapeutic, so I'm already starting to feel better. In fact, I'm rather excited to show you this week's opening photo.

Most of the pipe pics I see are men in stiff professorial poses, so when I came across this dynamic shot of Carla Bley, I knew I had to share it here.

Jazz musician Carla Bley in 1979  
© Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS

My research has turned up quotes from several musicians mentioning that she is (or was) a pipe smoker. Bley is a prolific and wildly creative composer, organist, pianist, and bandleader. Her most recent album was released in 2020, at age 84. I've enjoyed much of her music over the years, and I think I'll start exploring some of the records I've missed.

It's not easy to follow a stunning picture like the one above, so we'll try to make it up in quantity, as we review six new Bizarro panels.

More than a few people told me that they'd welcome this variation on an old favorite. I hereby grant the Girl Scouts permission to run with the idea, as long as they send me a carton of the cookies.

 

If Sasquatch were being completely honest, he'd admit that he's an eight extra wide.

 

 

He cranky, but has something of a valid point. Few patients ask their therapist to make them a cocktail during a session.

 

I'd definitely be intimidated by a five-foot tall chicken. Or a robin, for that matter.

 

Friday's real estate panel was a direct riff on a comic I did a week earlier. It was also the most intimidating to draw. When I wrote this gag, I offered it Dan Piraro for a Sunday Bizarro page, figuring it would work well in the larger format. He must have sensed my lack of confidence in my ablility to draw it, and encouraged me to do it as a daily. I sweated over this one, and I hope it works, despite my loosey-goosey version of perspective. Thanks to Dan for the tough-love editing.

 

PS: Shaving is tricky when using a funhouse mirror. 

PPS: Not shown is the "Guess Your Weight" scale.

As I've mentioned in the past, we like to keep Halloween in our hearts throughout the year. I reasoned that the Great Pumpkin probably decomposes after the holiday, and one of its seeds becomes the GP for the subsequent year. It nicely mirrors other popular belief systems.

 

That's it for the week in Bizarro. Be sure to mosey over to Señor Piraro's blog to see what he's created for the Sunday funnies, and to read his comments on these comics and other matters of interest. 

 

See you next Saturday.

Spotted in the Wild

My friend Cathy B. shared this photo she took at The Kazoo Museum in Beaufort, SC.

Bizarro is now officially recognized as part of kazoo history. Look, Ma, I'm in a museum!

Thanks for the photo, Cathy.

Bonus Track

Zoot and the Roots: "I Ate the Little Red Rooster"
Red Rhino Records (UK) single, 1983

NOTE: Some YouTube videos are unavailable outside the US.
On some mobile devices, you must view the web version
of this blog to see the video link and preview image.

This selection is a callback to Thursday's "Bantam and Robin" gag. There are literally hundreds of chicken songs I could have chosen in its place. Back in the early 1990s, a cartoonist friend compiled at least four 90-minute cassette tapes of chicken songs, in a truly obsessive labor of love.

 

This one was scanned and digitized from my own collection. The 45 has a place of honor in my special carrying case of "bulletproof" records.

---

The blog and newsletter are always free,
but gratuities are welcomed.