Saturday, December 18, 2021

Left-Handed Compliment

'Tis the week before Christmas, and we've been busy making cartoons for next March, while dealing with a small deluge of those unexpected obstacles and difficulties that periodically enter everyone's lives. We're all okay here, but this post might end up briefer than usual. Of course, I'm just getting started, so who knows?

This week's pipe pic is a dramatic portrait of the great Art Carney.


Carney (1918-2003) was a brilliant comedic actor, probably best known for his long-running portrayal of sewer worker Ed Norton on various incarnations of Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners TV series. 
 
A favorite moment in one Honeymooners episode had Norton mentioning that it was payday, and some of the workers were gambling with dice, followed by the immortal line "You might call it a floating crap game." 
Historical Note: "Floating crap game" was a slang expression of the era describing illegal gambling that moved from place to place in order to avoid discovery by the authorities.
Carney also made several records singing in character as Ed Norton. They're all enjoyable and recommended to connoisseurs of unusual music.

Now, let's take a look at what floated out of our studio over the past six days.


We eased into the week with an avian pun.
 
This scenario is cruel, even for The Reaper. It's a reference to the familiar quote, "[I]n this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." It's usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who did indeed use it in a letter in 1789, though a version also appeared in literature as early as 1716.
 

Wednesday's panel illustrates an unintended consequence of the demise of print, although being smacked with an iPad is no picnic, either.
 
 
Before composing the full-scale musical, Andrew Lloyd Weber presented this bagatelle.
 
This is actually part of a larger cognitive study to determine why it takes three citizens of this city to identify its most prominent resident.
 

I was rather pleased to have written an autocorrect gag that wasn't already done by my colleague Mark Parisi, who frequently builds jokes around everyone's technological nemesis in his award-winning comic, Off the Mark.

That's the latest from Bizarro Studios North. For a lengthier (and probably more entertaining) recap of these panels, visit Dan Piraro's blog, where you can also see his latest Bizarro Sunday page. His panoramic art on Sundays is always stunning.

Front Runner

Although 2021 isn't quite over, we have a strong contender for the first annual Know-It-All of the Year award, based on an email responding to this cartoon from last Friday.

The note is reproduced in full below, with the writer's name and city removed. We assure you that this is authentic.

In your cartoon of Dec. 10, 2021, which appeared in [local paper], I'd like to point out that most all string instruments (violins, guitars, banjos, etc.) are played with the LEFT hand on what is called the fingerboard, (the long, slender piece of wood that the strings rest on) and the right hand does the strumming. Probably only a musician would notice that the parrot/eagle should have had the neck of the guitar pointed to the right side of the cartoon, so his LEFT wing would be pressing the fingerboard and the right wing would have done the strumming.

I've played in college and community orchestras since 1968. While I play oboe (not a string instrument), I did teach elementary strings and band over my 30-year career. Just wanted to let you know, if you venture into future musical cartoons.

We at Bizarro Studios stand up to acknowledge and salute the correspondent's snotty blend of indignation and condescension. We'd like to give special mention mention to their wholesale erasure of Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Dick Dale, Elliot Easton, Tony Iommi, Slim Whitman, Albert King, Dave Wakeling, and all other southpaw guitarists and bass players.

Perhaps the writer taught music at a Catholic school, where left-handed students' sinister tendencies were beaten out of them with those long slender pieces of wood used to measure things.

Bonus Track

Dr. Isaiah Ross
"Feel So Good"

Dr. Ross (1925-1993) was an American blues musician and one-man band, who played harmonica, drums, and (left-handed) guitar, in addition to singing. His 1954 recording of "The Boogie Disease" on Sun Records includes the memorable lyric, "I may get better, but I'll never get well."



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

30 comments:

  1. I thought everyone knew that ALL parrots are left-handed!

    And I am not sure how anyone could possibly think that might be an eagle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reminding us about parrots being left-handed. You’re correct, everybody should know that!

      Delete
  2. Thank you for possibly the most amusing blog post of the year. My heart is warmed. Happy new year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy, thank you kindly for your thoughtful comment. You’ve made my day. Happy New Year to you & yours!

      Delete
  3. And two posts to Arnold Zwicky's mostly-linguistic blog are devoted to analysis of Bizarro comics from this week!

    https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/12/17/eye-charts/

    and

    https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/12/16/a-collective-cry/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would like to point out, indignantly and with some considerable condescension, that the so-called "cameraman" in the Dr. Ross "film" could not manage to keep the left edge of the backdrop out of the frame. I know that, for me, it was all I could pay attention to. I'm sure Dr. Ross was an adequate "blues musician", but I will never know, as I am unwilling to watch such an ill-produced piece of film a second time. I hope that, next year, the Know-It-All of the Year judges will keep me in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  5. In Frank Loesser's brilliant musical comedy "Guys and Dolls" the main character, Nathan Detroit, runs a floating crap game in New York. At one point there is no private place to convene so Nathan has them assemble in a New York City sewer. At the conclusion of the scene (number) the dice are rolled, the group watch closely and then all exclaim "CRAP!".

    ReplyDelete
  6. If you'd like to go another step in your reply - I found https://www.parrotwebsite.com/are-parrots-left-or-right-handed/ !?


    Thanks for doing Bizarro

    ReplyDelete
  7. Know-it-all-of-the-year? Ahhh.., the shallongj! In the spirit of competition for such a prize I will point out that the strings of the neck of a guitar do Not rest on said neck unless your style of playing is rather radically unique.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I noticed that too. Thanks for adding your comment!

      Delete
    2. No, they rest on the frets! Lovely to one-up the know-it-all!

      Delete
  8. Loved the Bonus Track of Dr. Ross.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He’s a musical treasure, for sure!

      Delete
  9. Thank you for your tribute to Art Carney who I LOVED as a kid. It was from him being on The Honeymooners that I learned to write SWAK at the end of a letter to a friend.
    My mom said to me, "Aw, that's sweet--Sealed with a kiss?"
    "No!" I replied, surprised. "Sewer Workers Are Kings!"
    How could she not know THAT?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perfect! How could anyone not love Art Carney?

      Delete
    2. Mothers can be so obtuse...I speak as a mother myself...

      Delete
  10. The Little Rascals reference is a nice touch.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This article says that most parrots are left "handed".
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-parrots-hands-idUSTRE71277420110203

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s some fascinating research! Thanks for the link!

      Delete
  12. I must say, Wayno, you and Diego make this old lady very happy every day. I look forward to your posts and cartoons so much. Sadly, for some reason I cannot fathom, I can no longer get peyote cowboy episodes on my iPad. I must wait for the book it seems. I cannot get it in my mailbox. The link shows but no feed when I go to episodes. I wrote to Diego and he tried to helpnas he sees that it opens but it wont work for me. Well, just thanks for all. Jillie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your kind comment, Julie. We appreciate wonderful readers like you.

      Delete
  13. Don't forget that Kermit the Frog plays the banjo as a lefty!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s right! Thanks for the reminder!

      Delete
  14. But....but.......but......parrots don't have HANDS.

    Have a wonderful, wonder full holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  15. In the Metropolis eye chart, marvelous integration of a secret symbol; I almost missed it (on the chart itself).

    ReplyDelete
  16. I agree that the "Know it all of the year award" should go to whoever wrote that email. I laughed so hard when I read it. Especially when he claimed to be a musician and music teacher... This kind of reminds me of Dan getting comments about giving out medical advice on getting a colonoscopy. Who goes to his favorite cartoonist to get medical direction about a colonoscopy?? Too funny. Thanks for everything.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "If you venture into future cartoons....."
    I say, "Let 'er rip!!". With left-handed, right-handed and ambidextrous musicians aplenty!
    The left-side-critical dude must be an absolute HOOT at parties.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous12:17 PM

    "Yes, Wilma, that artist IS high-strung, but he is, rawther, such a hoot"!

    ReplyDelete