Saturday, October 09, 2021

Smoking the Bear

Your cartoonist has had a happily productive week, buoyed by gorgeous early autumn weather, and nourished by the bounty available at the farmers' market. I also got a lot of drawing done on Monday when Facebook and Instagram disappeared for several hours.

As always, music contributed to my work environment, and a highlight of this week was the latest episode of Mike Michalik's podcast, Auralcheology. The title may be tricky to pronounce, but the series is entertaining and informative. Each hour-long episode features selections from the history of recorded music, along with fascinating bits of biography on each performer. I always learn something new, and am often introduced to music I hadn't encountered before. If you have an interest in forgotten or obscure music, I recommend Auralcheology. Tell Mike Wayno sent you!

This week's pipe pic is a Yogi Bear bubble pipe, probably from the 1960s.


I was a childhood fan of the cartoon show, as evidenced by this photo of me with one of my brothers wearing giant Yogi heads, which were mail order premiums from some Kellogg's cereal.
 

The photo reminds me that Halloween is fast approaching, and we've got at least one spooky gag among this week's Bizarro cartoons. Enjoy the recap, and don't be frightened by any specters that turn up.
 

Monday's gag compelled a couple of online experts to tell me that dogs are color blind, and that Scottie wouldn't know the color of her house, without considering that she probably heard it being described as green.

These particular critics were willing to accept a talking thimble, but not a dog who knows the color of its house.

A rarely-seen reverse haunting. The Amalgamated Apparitions Union is currently reviewing a grievance filed against the kid.


Real estate can be a brutal business, particularly in a town where buildings are made out of its citizens. These prospective buyers are balancing the bargain price against their guilt feelings.
 

Where would cartoonists be without the therapist's couch? I mean, as a device for comical situations, of course.
 

Friday's panel contains a medical breakthrough, and the highest Secret Symbol count of any gag this week.

I was pleased with the portmanteau caption, which combines two medical terms. If any of you are considering marketing a product like this, I can tell you that the name is not currently trademarked. (The search feature of United States Patent and Trademark Office site is one of my most frequent time wasters.)


This panel ends a three-week gap since our last clown gag. I'm secure in the knowledge that the well of clown-based jokes hasn't run dry yet.

That's the latest from Bizarro Studios North. Thanks for dropping by, and special gratitude to all who've sent comments, suggested pipe pics, and dropped some coins in the virtual tip jar. I encourage you to visit Dan Piraro's blog, where my partner-in-comics shares his newest Sunday Bizarro page, offers commentary on my recent dailies, and speaks about whatever else is on his inquisitive and perceptive mind.

I also invite you to subscribe to my newsletter. In each mailing, I share an exclusive peek at a Bizarro comic that's currently on my drawing board, and include a link to my newest blog post.


Bonus Track

Got A Match?
Frank Gallop
ABC-Paramount Records, 1958

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.

In the spirit of Auralcheology, I'm sharing an obscure item scanned and digitized from my archives. Frank Gallop (1900-1988) was a radio and TV personality, who mainly worked as an announcer. He recorded Got A Match? in 1958, but didn't return to the studio as a singer until eight years later, when he cut The Ballad of Irving, a parody of Bonanza star Lorne Greene's hit record, Ringo. Gallop's Irving was played regularly on Doctor Demento's radio show, but in my opinion Irving is no match for Match.

Got A Match? is a fine example of a quirky musical subgenre, which I suppose could be called "one liners." The most familiar is probably The Champs' Tequila. In my college days, a classmate told me about a strange record he heard at a relative's home. He couldn't remember the melody or title exactly, and he rendered the line as, "Hey, buddy, got a match?" Based on his vague description, I knew I had to hear it, and years later, when I found a copy of the single, I wasn't disappointed.

In time, I discovered three other recordings of the tune, performed by Lou Stein, Russ Conway, and The Daddy-O's. All were released in 1958, and all are fun, but Frank's version is the clear winner.



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14 comments:

  1. Thank you for the kid in you guiding your hand as your brought back memories this week of Monopoly, Clue, and Candyland! And yes, dogs do see a variety of muted human colors, they have their own spectrum cones. Your Scottie was correct in his house color, he wouldn't know the red hotel. Thanks for the weekly chuckles.

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    1. Thank you for the kind and thoughtful comment. Connecting with Bizarro readers is a nice perk of my job.

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  2. Wow! I had one of those Yogi Bear pipes when I was a kid! I hadn't thought about it in ages, so seeing your photo kind of blew my mind!

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    1. I never saw one of those in person, I just stumbled across the photo online, but I do love the look of that thing!

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  3. LOVE the Yogi Bear Outfits!!
    Why is it that I have a non-stop grin on my face as I read and expand to study these AMAZING cartoons that you share with us each week!?! ��

    By the way, in the vein of the season and the poltergeist theme (and as I don't want to mention Poultrygeist Phenomena) I saw a Help Wanted ad by a moving company. They wanted to hire out-of-work Poltergeists as they were looking for entities that has experience moving furniture. I am sure they are offering great death benefits, too!

    Thanks for moving me to laughter!
    Cheers,
    Bud

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  4. Great comics! I’m curious, is the word Almagated correct? Should it be Amalgamated?

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    1. Thanks for catching that spelling error! I’ve corrected it.

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  5. "Got A Match?" reminds me of of Ross Bagdasarian's flip side to the the Chipmunks "The Chipmunk Song" 45 called "That's Almost Good". Ross listens to a jazzy tune and then interrupts with his enthusiasm "Say! That's almost good!" My sister and I loved this and would often interrupt mom and dad's music listening pleasure with our snide 'almost good' comments.

    Oh, and I loved Hanna-Barbera cartoons, too. So much so that I had a Quikdraw McGraw lunchbox, AND a Huckleberry Hound bubble pipe. I don't think the instructions pointed out how you were to blow, not suck once the pipe was filled. (No kid reads anything! Just give me the toy!). Once I got past lunch tasting like soap, I soon mastered the thing, except I remember all the bubbles sort of dribbling out and down and getting so heavy they all splattered to the pavement.

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    1. Oh, yes! “Almost Good” is a favorite. Ross Bagdasarian recorded quite a few great novelty tunes under various names.

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  6. Thank you for introducing me to the word "portmanteau." I had not idea what this meant. "Panacebo" has got a real ring to it. I expect some politician or newscaster to use that word any day now. Thanks for all your great art and mind expanding humor.

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    1. My pleasure. And thank you for the kind remarks!

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  7. ease do not hit me. Here is Irving by Frank Gallop

    https://youtu.be/CD8EtvWW8nw

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    1. Frank Gallop is always welcome here.

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