Grandpa Jim - FBOFW
Karina
Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at his
birthday party. April was looking at him with great concern as he was
leaning back in his chair wishing for peace and quiet.
Eva
Default User
Sure, but (wait for it) we won't find out until Elly's next letter.
Brian
--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)
Len-L
April's wondering if she put enough arsenic in the tea.
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Leo Breebaart
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> > Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at
> > his birthday party. April was looking at him with great
> > concern as he was leaning back in his chair wishing for peace
> > and quiet.
>
> Sure, but (wait for it) we won't find out until Elly's next
> letter.
I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters" jokes
here in racs.
Having a group in-joke is fine, but over the last few months it's
become unbelievably tedious to have just about *every* article in
every thread about any comic here responded to with another
iteration of "yuck yuck, it's in the letters, hur hur".
Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
--
Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org>
JC Dill
>Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
You are not the only one who feels that way.
jc
--
"The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot of different horses without having to own that many."
~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA
racs...@gmail.com
Leo Breebaart wrote:
> I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
> moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters" jokes
> here in racs.
>
> Having a group in-joke is fine, but over the last few months it's
> become unbelievably tedious to have just about *every* article in
> every thread about any comic here responded to with another
> iteration of "yuck yuck, it's in the letters, hur hur".
I'm sick of the "evil April" jokes because I think they're completely
unwarranted. That's an in-joke that could use a rest.
And I hated the native-culture segment, but it hasn't been repeated and
maybe the passive-voice jokes could be sidelined.
However, picking on an artist for repeated "sins" against good
storytelling is valid criticism -- particularly when it's an ongoing
matter that could be changed without seriously changing the flavor or
direction of a strip.
I'm a huge Lynn Johnston fan. I have several of her collections, I've
interviewed her, I respect what she has done for cartooning and how she
has helped young cartoonists. I also respect her creative decision to
follow the kids when they left the home, rather than turn it into a
strip about an empty-nested couple -- despite the number of threads
this has forced her to try to follow in what is a very limited format.
I also recognize that she's trying to draw all those threads together
so she can wrap up what has been a historically significant strip as
she retires.
All that said, there are two criticisms I would level at FBOFW:
1. The first she probably can't do much about, and that is my suspicion
that the farther she departs from reflecting on the events of her
real-life family and into portraying what has become a fictional
family, the more her sentimental side overwhelms her
critical/commentary side. I don't know that there's much to be done
about this, however, so it's the type of criticism you make and then
move on. EXCEPT that, because strips are essentially works-in-progress,
she could make adjustments. I'm sorry, for example, that Dee and Mike's
earlier marital issues have been glossed over into a kind of Hallmark
card happiness. And I don't think Mike's job track is entirely
plausible, though it's not impossible. Those things could be nudged if
Lynn decided to nudge them, so it's not like ripping on an author whose
book is published and on the shelf.
2. The letters thing is a cheat and does not work, and that is an
on-going process that could be adjusted or stopped at any time. If she
can't tell it in the strip, it doesn't happen. Bottom line. She could,
for example, focus the strip more narrowly on, say, life at the
Patterson home and Elizabeth's romance, and essentially cut Mike and
Dee's family out, having them appear at Thanksgiving as tangential
characters whose lives have essentially settled into an adult pattern.
April's life as a rock star could be scaled back. But attempting to
patch holes in the storyline with these letters is not just cheating
the readers, but (for that reason) it bad story telling.
Anyway, if we're not supposed to make jokes about holes in the
storyline being filled by the letters, we'll also need to stop making
jokes about:
Word balloons in Mark Trail that appear to be coming from animals.
Greg Evans repeatedly hitting the reset button on Luann
Garfield squashing spiders
Aaron McGruder cruising on celebrity.
Improbable events and unconvincing characters in Mary Worth.
Cathy crying "ACK!" and being a general nebbish.
It's part of the critical process.
Mike Peterson
Glens Falls NY
I.E.Z.
"pete...@SPAMnelliebly.org" <racs...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143895261....@z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>>
> 2. The letters thing is a cheat and does not work, and that is an
> on-going process that could be adjusted or stopped at any time. If she
> can't tell it in the strip, it doesn't happen. Bottom line. She could,
> for example, focus the strip more narrowly on, say, life at the
> Patterson home and Elizabeth's romance, and essentially cut Mike and
> Dee's family out, having them appear at Thanksgiving as tangential
> characters whose lives have essentially settled into an adult pattern.
> April's life as a rock star could be scaled back. But attempting to
> patch holes in the storyline with these letters is not just cheating
> the readers, but (for that reason) it bad story telling.
For me, the main thing about the letters is that until a couple of months
ago, I didn't even know they existed! I've read the strip for years,
mostly for the annoyance factor. Until recently, when I happened upon
several forums related to the strip, I thought I was the only one who loved
to "tsk" at this family. I was initially baffled by the references to
"letters." Personally, I'm looking forward to the resolution of
Granthony/Liz/Paul - if there is one.
Iris
Sherwood Harrington
[...]
> Anyway, if we're not supposed to make jokes about holes in the
> storyline being filled by the letters, we'll also need to stop making
> jokes about:
> Word balloons in Mark Trail that appear to be coming from animals.
> Greg Evans repeatedly hitting the reset button on Luann
> Garfield squashing spiders
> Aaron McGruder cruising on celebrity.
> Improbable events and unconvincing characters in Mary Worth.
> Cathy crying "ACK!" and being a general nebbish.
And the dogpile of misfortune that is Funky Winkerbean.
--
Sherwood Harrington
Boulder Creek, California
Jim Strain
Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <vr6s22lt33b662l9g...@4ax.com>,
> Len-L <l...@davlin.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 22:53:41 -0500, Karina <f...@cafekarina.org> wrote:
> >
> >>Spoiler Space
> >>
.
.
>>
> >>
> >>Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at his
> >>birthday party. April was looking at him with great concern as he was
> >>leaning back in his chair wishing for peace and quiet.
> >
> >April's wondering if she put enough arsenic in the tea.
> >
>
> Another Yellow Fever victim..
>
>
> Ted
There, there, Teddy! ;-)
Jennifer
common in-joke to blame her for the death of Farley, but as I said on
another message board, she was just a careless little kid...shouldn't
the bulk of the blame go to the *adults* who should have been watching
a four-year-old?
Carl Fink
> On 1 Apr 2006 08:18:21 GMT, Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org> wrote:
>
>>Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
>
> You are not the only one who feels that way.
Indeed not.
And to Mr. Peterson: I dont think we mind critizing the overuse of letters
as alternative to actual storytelling. We just mind the hackneyed jokes
about it that replace actual discussion.
--
Carl Fink ca...@fink.to
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your
government when it deserves it."
- Mark Twain
Belphoebe
Yes, I agree--I generally find the "April killed Farley" jokes unfunny.
--
Belphoebe
JC Dill
wrote:
>And to Mr. Peterson: I dont think we mind critizing the overuse of letters
>as alternative to actual storytelling. We just mind the hackneyed jokes
>about it that replace actual discussion.
Exactly.
Heather Fieldhouse
> Yes, I agree--I generally find the "April killed Farley" jokes unfunny.
I think it's all in the delivery. I have laughed out loud at "it's in
the letters" jokes and at least snickered at "April killed Farley"
jokes. On the other hand, if they're not especially imaginative, I just
roll my eyes and hit the spacebar ("next" in my newsreader). The latter
variety are probably more common than the former, but I would not
advocate an outright ban on such jokes. I don't suppose there's some
way we can call for a moratorium on just the tedious ones?
Heather
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Carl Fink <ca...@dm.net> wrote:
>
>
>On 2006-04-01, JC Dill <jcd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 1 Apr 2006 08:18:21 GMT, Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org> wrote:
>>
>>>Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
>>
>> You are not the only one who feels that way.
>
>Indeed not.
>
>And to Mr. Peterson: I dont think we mind critizing the overuse of letters
>as alternative to actual storytelling. We just mind the hackneyed jokes
>about it that replace actual discussion.
>--
>Carl Fink ca...@fink.to
I, however, generally enjoy them, fwiw.
Ted
Default User
> I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
> moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters" jokes
> here in racs.
I hope it won't hurt your feelings too much if I ignore your suggestion.
Tamex
wrote:
>Karina wrote:
>
>> Spoiler Space
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>> Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at his
>> birthday party. April was looking at him with great concern as he was
>> leaning back in his chair wishing for peace and quiet.
>
>Sure, but (wait for it) we won't find out until Elly's next letter.
"You may have noticed that Grandpa Jim didn't write a letter this
month..."
--
Tamex
No matter how much Jell-o you put in the pool, you still can't walk on water.
**remove Tricky Dick to reply by e-mail**
Dann
couldn't just let news:bunnyhugger-E2E032.16501201042006
@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com on 01 Apr 2006 go.
> I don't suppose there's some
> way we can call for a moratorium on just the tedious ones?
And now you want me to quit posting altogether???
--
Regards,
Dann deto...@hotmail.com
Blogging at: http://www.modempool.com/nucleardann/blogspace/blog.htm
It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it. -
Robert E. Lee
ronniecat
(Tamex) promised to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth but instead wrote:
>On 1 Apr 2006 06:08:00 GMT, "Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Karina wrote:
>>
>>> Spoiler Space
>>>
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>>> Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at his
>>> birthday party. April was looking at him with great concern as he was
>>> leaning back in his chair wishing for peace and quiet.
>>
>>Sure, but (wait for it) we won't find out until Elly's next letter.
>
>"You may have noticed that Grandpa Jim didn't write a letter this
>month..."
"Dear Friends,
I've just come in from the garden, where the chattering chipmunks
scolded me as I pruned the rose bushes in preparation for spring. How
I love spring's arrival after a long winter! The first green buds were
appearing on the trees in the cemetary where we buried Dad last
Monday. Then, with all the hustle and bustle of starting spring
cleaning, April's school bake sale, evicting Iris and putting Dad's
condo on the market, Liz's wedding, both dogs' vet appointments, and
the birth of the quints (that minx Dee and her fertility drugs!), this
is the first opportunity I've had to really stop and at least prepare
to smell the roses."
ronnie
--
"The very deaf, as I am, hear the most astounding things all
'round them, which have not, in fact, been said." - Henry Green
<<remove mycollar to respond by email>>
www.hearingloss.blogspot.com - a blog about deafness
ronniecat
tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth but instead
wrote:
>> > [Spoiler Space for recent FBOFW speculation]
>I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
>moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters" jokes
>here in racs.
>
>Having a group in-joke is fine, but over the last few months it's
>become unbelievably tedious to have just about *every* article in
>every thread about any comic here responded to with another
>iteration of "yuck yuck, it's in the letters, hur hur".
>
>Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
Well, I don't - as evidenced by the fact that I posted such a joke
literally seconds before I read this post :/
Don't I feel like a dork.
Sherwood Harrington
[Letters jokes are eeevul.]
> Well, I don't - as evidenced by the fact that I posted such a joke
> literally seconds before I read this post :/
> Don't I feel like a dork.
Yeah, but your post was a lot funnier than these gripes have been.
JC Dill
<sherw...@SPAMrahul.net> wrote:
>ronniecat <ronn...@mycollar.ronniecat.com> wrote:
>
>[Letters jokes are eeevul.]
>
>> Well, I don't - as evidenced by the fact that I posted such a joke
>> literally seconds before I read this post :/
>
>> Don't I feel like a dork.
>
>Yeah, but your post was a lot funnier than these gripes have been.
There's a big difference between a funny satire like ronniecat just
posted, and the stupid one-liner "jokes" that we will "read about it
in the letters". I'm for the former, and very tired of the later.
Default User
> There's a big difference between a funny satire like ronniecat just
> posted, and the stupid one-liner "jokes" that we will "read about it
> in the letters". I'm for the former, and very tired of the later.
And I'm tired of people whining about the jokes, but watcha gonna do?
Rob Wynne
>> Another Yellow Fever victim..
>
>There, there, Teddy! ;-)
>
Of all the roles I got to play during my five years of theatre, Jonathan
Brewster was my favourite. (Followed only slightly by Count Youskavitch
in Neil Simon's "Fools"). :)
-R
--
Rob Wynne / The Autographed Cat / d...@america.net
http://www.autographedcat.com/ / http://autographedcat.livejournal.com/
Gafilk 2007: Jan 5-7, 2007 -- Atlanta, GA -- http://www.gafilk.org/
Rob Wynne
>Karina wrote:
>
>> Spoiler Space
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>> Anybody else think that Grandpa Jim is gonna by the farm at his
>> birthday party. April was looking at him with great concern as he was
>> leaning back in his chair wishing for peace and quiet.
>
>Sure, but (wait for it) we won't find out until Elly's next letter.
>
A life was ended.
A party was ruined.
Amazing Grace was played.....on a *harmonica*!
-R, in-jokes! getcher hot buttered in-jokes...
Leo Breebaart
> Leo Breebaart wrote:
>
> > I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
> > moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters"
> > jokes here in racs.
> >
> > Having a group in-joke is fine, but over the last few months
> > it's become unbelievably tedious to have just about *every*
> > article in every thread about any comic here responded to
> > with another iteration of "yuck yuck, it's in the letters,
> > hur hur".
Well, from the general tone of the reactions to this I can
certainly see that my criticism went over *really* well. Eeps.
's Okay of course. If most (<wave>s to JC Dill) other rac'ers
here are not bothered by, or even enjoy the easy one-liners than
it's simply up to me to shut up and deal with it, which I will
(the dealing-with-it, at least, and I'll try my best on the
shutting up).
> [...]
>
> Anyway, if we're not supposed to make jokes about holes in the
> storyline being filled by the letters, we'll also need to stop
> making jokes about:
I think it's a bit of a straw man to claim I was talking about
any and all attempts at humour/parody/satire on the group. I was
very deliberately singling out one specific strain which I --
still -- think has recently been over-used to the point where
*even funny individual entries* (sorry ronniecat) kinda get lost
in the sea of "score an easy point" mediocrity.
I can assure you that your "we'll also need to stop"
extrapolation is not supported by anything I feel, is certainly
not what I would desire, and at least to *me* does not follow
from anything I wrote.
> It's part of the critical process.
Hmmm. As I said, and as I honestly meant, I have no intrinsic
problem with in-jokes or running gags, be they in comics or in
newsgroups about comics. The Funny trumps everything, and rather
ironically I think I actually have a greater tolerance for
repetition and variations-on-a-theme than many other people here
(judging by how quickly and reliably comics will get criticised
on racs for *any* story-line or themed sequence that goes on for
more than a couple of days).
But surely running gags and endless variations *can* become
tedious, and *can* start giving the impression that the author is
just being lazy and going for the easy option? I don't see what
difference it makes if the author in question creates comics or
if they participate on a newsgroup. With respect to what I was
complaining about, "It's part of the critical process" seems a
rejoinder so generic and sweeping as to be practically
meaningless, just as "It's part of the artistic process" would be
with respect to e.g. a very specific complaint about the Luann
reset button. Or the FBOFW letters.
(See? I told you the shutting up would be difficult.)
--
Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org>
Belphoebe
> "Dear Friends,
>
> I've just come in from the garden, where the chattering chipmunks
> scolded me as I pruned the rose bushes in preparation for spring. How
> I love spring's arrival after a long winter! The first green buds were
> appearing on the trees in the cemetary where we buried Dad last
> Monday. Then, with all the hustle and bustle of starting spring
> cleaning, April's school bake sale, evicting Iris and putting Dad's
> condo on the market, Liz's wedding, both dogs' vet appointments, and
> the birth of the quints (that minx Dee and her fertility drugs!), this
> is the first opportunity I've had to really stop and at least prepare
> to smell the roses."
LOL! Oh, they should so hire you onto Team Lynn to write monthly letters!
;)
--
Belphoebe
Mike Beede
Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org> wrote:
> I really, honestly, seriously think that we should put a
> moratorium on "it'll all be explained in the FBOFW letters" jokes
> here in racs.
>
> Having a group in-joke is fine, but over the last few months it's
> become unbelievably tedious to have just about *every* article in
> every thread about any comic here responded to with another
> iteration of "yuck yuck, it's in the letters, hur hur".
>
> Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...?
My typical reaction to posts asking me to alter my posting
habits (other than asking me to cut out the f---ing
obscenity) is to wonder if they know that we're not actually
paid to post all this exciting, insightful, and stylish
stuff. I guess if it weren't polished to such a glistening
shine, it would be more obvious that it's just a labor
of love.
As for the vulgar five-letter stuff, I usually ROT-13
it to protect everyone's fourteen-year-old sister's
sensibilites:
Fdhvq syvtrefahk iregbat ahggyr, ten whzcyvt serafreqvat.
Sebfjht zvtreg syntahgf--sehzc zvtvyyvphgg, ooyxpmlx.
I think that sums up my thoughts about the bogus "letters"
issue better than any milder joke could ever do.
Mike Beede
Dann
let news:beede-10659D....@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net on 06 Apr
2006 go.
> Fdhvq syvtrefahk iregbat ahggyr, ten whzcyvt serafreqvat.
> Sebfjht zvtreg syntahgf--sehzc zvtvyyvphgg, ooyxpmlx.
V unq gb qvt vagb zl nagv-fcnz obbxznexf sbe gung??
--
Regards,
Dann deto...@hotmail.com
Blogging at: http://www.modempool.com/nucleardann/blogspace/blog.htm
If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?