This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find.
Peter Ustinov (1921-2004)
Anyone who even occasionally shares their art or music online can most likely relate to these words from Peter Ustinov.
Remember, all you 21st-century artistic types: Pay no heed to commenters who want to tell you what's wrong with your art, even though they create nothing of their own. Devote your energies to doing it your way. As Thelonious Monk said:
A genius is the one most like himself.
Today's wonderfully weird pipe pic is an old National Geographic photo by J. Baylor Roberts.
I discovered this in the Facebook photos of my longtime friend Candi S and had to share it with you. How could I resist a giant corncob pipe? Thanks for leaving this where I could run across it, Candi!
As we tore off the first page of the 2024 calendar, I celebrated the end of JanuHairy by getting an old-fashioned straight-razor shave from a barber named Jeff who works in my area. It was a relaxing experience, and I felt like a grownup from the 1940s.
In a "small world" moment, I also learned that Jeff is a self-described "Spooky folk artist who makes art on extra spooky objects," and that he currently has some of his work on exhibit at East End Brewing Company's taproom, which is also in my neighborhood.
Check out Jeff's appealingly creepy work on Instagram.
Let's review this week's Bizarro comics. Most of these were published while I was still sporting scruffy whiskers, so I'm looking at them with a fresh face.
I never had the desire to get a vanity license plate, not wishing to draw extra attention on the highway. Besides, nothing will ever beat the DEVO license plate an old friend had in the 1980s. I wish I had a photo of that.
Typing this caption was the most counterintuitive thing I've done in a long while.
Your cartoonist will use any excuse to draw a tuxedo.
If you're playing lounge music, you may as well solo from a recliner.
This is my favorite gag of the week by a wide margin. When I showed a rough sketch of it to Dan Piraro in December, he didn't get it at first and was writing to tell me that. Suddenly, he remembered the one thing most people know about Dante, and the joke hit him. That made me very happy.
What's wrong with immortal kids these days?
I hope you enjoyed this batch of pictorial drollery. More of the same will await you a week from now.
Bonus Track
Louis Armstrong: "We Have All the Time in the World"
From the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Late in Armstrong's career, he recorded this Bond theme, written by John Barry (music) and Hal David (lyrics). He was too ill to play trumpet, and it's rumored that Herb Alpert played on this recording.
Plenty More Bizarro Stuff
If you like what we do, and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
I remember a few things about Dante, and yet none of them have clicked with your cartoon. Could I be on the virgil of understanding? I checked the comments on your Facebook and Instagram pages, and found only other tortured souls. I am descending into a fiorenzy. Should I abandon all hope, or will you guide me to the inner circle?
Nekoninda, let's see... Think of Dante's most famous work. (Incidentally one of the few things I know about him.) Now imagine how its title might be rendered for readers of textspeak. "Vernacronym" is a little-known portmanteau built on the words "vernacular" and "acronym" to serve as a name for things like "OMG" in text messaging.
As I replied to one of my correspondents, maybe the gag wasn't as clever as I thought it was!
Thank you, Wayno. Your hints helped me. I was descending to deeply into suffering. And thinking about the contents of the book, rather than the title. (Maybe you are showing the complete text of the Reboot version.)
I’ve never been forced into reading Dante in school. I don’t know how many people would read him otherwise. The only quote that I know of, ironically from Star Trek, is, “It’s better to rule in Hell, then serve in Heaven”.
That is unmistakably Herb Alpert on trumpet. No question about it, unless someone did a very deliberate and accurate imitation. If Louis could have played, it would have had a very different feel. I think Herb’s style is a good fit for the overall sound here, though.
And the pipe pic is hilarious. Nice capture. Can you make out what it says in the caption? It is too blurry when I zoom in on my iPad.
Instead of zooming in, if you click on the pipe pic, a higher resolution version will open in a new window, with a legible caption, not to mention a better look at the photo!
I remember a few things about Dante, and yet none of them have clicked with your cartoon. Could I be on the virgil of understanding? I checked the comments on your Facebook and Instagram pages, and found only other tortured souls. I am descending into a fiorenzy. Should I abandon all hope, or will you guide me to the inner circle?
ReplyDeleteNekoninda, let's see... Think of Dante's most famous work. (Incidentally one of the few things I know about him.) Now imagine how its title might be rendered for readers of textspeak. "Vernacronym" is a little-known portmanteau built on the words "vernacular" and "acronym" to serve as a name for things like "OMG" in text messaging.
ReplyDeleteAs I replied to one of my correspondents, maybe the gag wasn't as clever as I thought it was!
Thank you, Wayno. Your hints helped me. I was descending to deeply into suffering. And thinking about the contents of the book, rather than the title. (Maybe you are showing the complete text of the Reboot version.)
DeleteI'm happy to help readers with inquiring minds!
DeleteI was stumped too and had to do a search for "Dante's most famous work" which gave me the lightbulb moment.
ReplyDeleteJimbro, I admire your initiative!
DeleteI also had to google it. Wayno you have a heavenly sense of humor...
DeleteI’ve never been forced into reading Dante in school. I don’t know how many people would read him otherwise. The only quote that I know of, ironically from Star Trek, is, “It’s better to rule in Hell, then serve in Heaven”.
ReplyDeleteThat is unmistakably Herb Alpert on trumpet. No question about it, unless someone did a very deliberate and accurate imitation. If Louis could have played, it would have had a very different feel. I think Herb’s style is a good fit for the overall sound here, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd the pipe pic is hilarious. Nice capture. Can you make out what it says in the caption? It is too blurry when I zoom in on my iPad.
Agreed, Alpert did a fine job.
DeleteInstead of zooming in, if you click on the pipe pic, a higher resolution version will open in a new window, with a legible caption, not to mention a better look at the photo!