The Baffled King Composing Hallelujah

Link to today’s strip.

Okay…I’m going to take a wild stab here and guess that the “state of the ark” thing is supposed to be a joke about…Noah?  (Oooo, too bad last year’s film wasn’t a huge blockbuster–that would’ve helped, right?  Oooo, those year-long waits.)   As, I’m guessing again, the prior DJ’s equipment was commonly used in Biblical times–not at all conducive to repainting those  funky (oops) seventies vibes.  And all those lyrics about cubits!  No wonder the Reunion Committee ladies want something more contemporary (it’s a well known fact that, before building the ark, Noah was well known for hosting some serious raves, but that was, like, aeons ago.  You can read all about it in your Bibles.)

–Uh…huh.   Even I can’t find that premise easy to sustain, and I find it hard to believe anyone, Tom Batiuk included, would write that down and say There.  There’s the next strip.  Granted, he has given us many, many inexplicable punchlines over the years, but I seem to recall they kind of related to the subject at hand.  This one, not so much.  Unless the last DJ decided to forgo the turntables in favor of pottery shards, this is rather dim.

One thing, though–the fervor with which poor Barry is assailed makes me think that, yes, the high school does hold a reunion every year–and it’s the only thing going on in these folks’ lives.  They just go through their sad days, waiting for the magical date to show up, the reminder of when they were happy and the future was rosy.  And all they want is a decent DJ to help the illusion along.  And suddenly…I don’t think these reunion enthusiasts are idiots any longer.  I find them kind of sad, now, people longing after a happiness they’ll never have, fluttering along like a butterfly at the end of its lifespan, desperate not to die for a while longer.

Have I bummed you out?  If so, it’s good practice.  I’ve seen tomorrow, and tomorrow isn’t pretty.

Mary Sue, Meet Marty Stu

Link to today’s strip.

I don’t suppose it could be said often, or loudly, enough:  THERE’S NO NEED FOR CONTACTS–YOU SEE THESE PEOPLE EVERYDAY.

And, once again, despite all his whining and complaining and moaning about having to be on the reunion committee, someone else has done Les’ job for him.  Will that stop the whining, complaining and moaning long enough for Les to offer a simple “Thank you”?  Of course not.  Les doesn’t thank anyone.  Hmph, if anything, they should be thanking him.  Here they are, bathing in his presence and all they can do is give him grief for not being a shallow teenager.  How he suffers!

By my count, Les has done exactly nothing to help prepare for the reunion.   Perhaps that makes him wiser than the others in a real-world sense, but it still makes me want to slap him.  Of course, that’s natural to feel anytime Les shows up.

And, with Les “leading” the committee, the Coming Reunion is certain to become a Lesfest.    Hey, remember Lesfest ’12?  Totally awesome.  I got completely blitzed on nachos, man, and they had the widescreen TV wheeled in.  Woo-hoo!  Good times, man.

As the Cuckoo is in June

Link to today’s strip.

Monday’s strip was not available for preview.  Will Tom Batiuk pick up any of the storylines he’s left lying around, or will he launch a new plot to abandon?  No matter what it is, I think Captain Cab called it a couple of days ago when he said it will involve people hauling things from one place to another.

Well, we’ll find out together later tonight.   And if it has people assembling sheet metal together, we can say for sure that it’ll be riveting!  Ha ha, I can make puns just as bad as Tom Batiuk.

A Load of Bull

Link to today’s strip when it appears.

I ask you–how could I resist a post title like that?  Tom Batiuk must be a faithful reader here, and decided he was going to lob an easy pitch right over the plate.

I had no idea that Bull’s fantasy was to be a news reader, just as it came as a surprise that Ann Fairgood wanted to be a writer.   I also had no idea how far he’d go to realize that fantasy (barring actually applying for the job).  I mean, that looks damned dangerous the way he’s sitting in the back of the truck.  Note that the desk is not secured in any way, so that if the truck goes into a curve Bull risks having his thighs crushed.

I also think yesterday’s answer has to be “joking.”  There’s no way a second desk would fit inside that pickup truck.  Heck, the desk itself barely fits.  Sure seems like Les picked the most qualified person to oversee this task.  (Okay, to be fair there’s probably a second truck, or some other vehicle since we saw three students and two teachers yesterday, and we’re missing at least one of each.  However, being fair is no fun.)

Dad Will Love A Shoelace Dispenser!

Link to today’s strip, when it appears.

Saturday’s strip was not available for preview…

–which, when you think about it, must be an awful lot like what it’s like for Tom Batiuk, actual writer and drawer of the strip, over the past couple of years.  Let’s listen in!*

“Okay, I need a strip to end the week.  Where was I with these stories?  Oh, again…ugh! Open, file, browse…uh…NO NO NO.   Digging out the spreadsheet is too much work–why can’t new technology work the way I want it to?–the hell with it–I’ll wing it!  So…let’s do a comic book tribute!  Oh wait–it’s Saturday, not Sunday…  Hm.  How about…(pause)…someone waxes nostalgic about how things were better back in the 80’s?   I could have…uh…Funky…yeah, he’ll work–be all peeved that Sony’s mini-disc never really caught on.  Or maybe laserdiscs?  Yeah–I could have Funky holding one delicately by the edges and saying how great it was that you could ‘hold a real movie in your hands’ and it’s, like, Back to the Future, or Sinbad of the Seven Seas, or Stallone in Cobra.  Yeah, yeah, this is great.  Only…maybe too great.  I could probably get a week out of this.  A week?  C’mon, Tom, who’re you kidding?  Two weeks!  Yeah!  Lemme get out the ol’ sketchpad, and–

“–oh crap.  I still have to do this damn Saturday thing.  Damn it.  Just when I’m on a roll, too!  Oh, ah, let’s see, Bull tells student athletes, the ones he hates, to go get a few desks.  And he says ‘You might consider this a desk job!‘  Yeah, that’s good.  Or maybe something about ‘This is as close as you’ll get to TV coverage’?  Oh, that’s good, too–man, I sense another week coming up!   –no, no no!  I gotta get this done.  Okay.  Okay.  Everything is calm.  Mental coin toss.  Going with the ‘desk job’ thing.  Yes…[draws some stuff] another day’s work…worked out.  Time to warm up the VHS, the popcorn maker, and delve!”

*THE MANAGEMENT RESPONDS.  The preceding paragraphs are done in the spirit of satire, and do not reflect the views or thoughts of Tom Batiuk, the employees of Batom, Inc, the employees of Bantom, Inc, or anyone else real or imagined, including buildings and landmarks.  All rights and ownership are possessed by the copyright owners; any suggestion otherwise is the product of a deranged mind and authorities have been alerted.  All trademarks are the property of their respective companies.    People who were total jerks have been fired.  If this post contained actual content, you would have been instructed by the government to seek shelter in the designated areas now appearing on your television screen.  Authorities urge private citizens to stay inside their homes behind locked doors. Do not venture outside for any reason until the nature of this crisis has been determined, and until we can advise what course of action to take. Keep listening to radio and TV for special instructions as this crisis develops further.  This is not a test.