November 11, 1918

This is the Greatest Twitter Thread of My Lifetime.

This strip is reprinted in "You've Done It Again, Charlie Brown," (Fawcett Books, 1970). It has blown my mind. I don't believe that I'd ever seen it before, it feels different from a Schulz strip, and peers at the deeper Peanuts Universe around a corner. May I ramble? Thank you. pic.twitter.com/jW3dtb8fyk

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

To begin with, this first panel only works because of the years previously invested in the Lucy/Schroeder dynamic. The payoff to that investment is a seismic shift in its topography. The import of this panel is a catastrophic upheaval of the strip's status quo... pic.twitter.com/wDvIz0Xv45

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

...a status quo in which Lucy is more heavily invested than ever previously revealed.  I don't know that we've ever seen Lucy approaching Schroeder's house before, but observe -- she smiles! She is anticipating this moment! Lucy -- fussbudget, crab, football tormentor -- is happy pic.twitter.com/WkeCc0MynL

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Lucy endures a living hell in the Peanuts Universe, she's the only non-neurotic five year-old on the block. She can't divorce herself from the inner circle of psychological torment because she's related to one of the worst offenders. Her attempts to liberate her pals are rebuffed

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Lucy's psychiatric booth, her repeated badgering of her brother, theft of his blanket, the football gag with Charlie Brown -- I maintain that Lucy is trying to normalize the behavior of her messed-up comrades, because they're making her miserable. But look how happy she is above

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Considering how relentlessly confrontational Lucy is with her other pals, you might have wondered if her banter with Schroeder was just part of her general apparent antagonism. It clearly isn't. In what other situation would Lucy walk away from an insult rather than fight? pic.twitter.com/QmB4lNU0Hi

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Lucy walks, defeated, into the street and is solaced by Snoopy, who performs the dog's duty of immediate empathy.

Lucy and Snoopy have an antagonistic relationship, owing in no small part to Snoopy's immunity to correction. And yet, they immediately bond over ... misery pic.twitter.com/b5jkSxx0G3

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Snoopy offers a solution. I read it as "I'll fuck her up for you, if you want!" He might also be instructing Lucy in the art of fucking people up. Either way, the implied animation between these two panels is relatively un-Schulz-like and delightful. I feel amped up looking at it pic.twitter.com/smNKqfIa8P

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Lucy ponders the instruction and proceeds back to Schroeder's, with grim determination on her face and soupbones clenched by her side. But this is supposed to be Lucy's DEFAULT state. She's always ready for a fight -- or so we're informed.... pic.twitter.com/pypSSKlNlS

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

My larger point about Lucy's character -- and I think this is supported through the strip, perhaps unintentionally -- is that she isn't crabby, miserable and confrontational by default. Circumstances have made Lucy this way, circumstances and the indulgent buffoonery of her peers

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Anyway. Meet Charles Schulz's best-drawn panel. Nothing is stationary, except the piano, to determine the anchor point of the image. The shadows increase as they move towards startled Frieda, encouraged by Schroeder's sudden cringe. Lucy looks insane, and flung into the panel. pic.twitter.com/fk1aH0kMZA

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

He changes the camera view for the denouement, steps down the emotional intensity. Schroeder has fallen into this stupefied gander -- he probably should have known this was going to happen. He'll have to write a letter to Frieda's family, and return any teeth or hair left behind. pic.twitter.com/ACcuo6CLCa

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

And the intensity is completely relaxed for the resolution, which is an atypically triumphant punchline in a strip which mastered the "HOW I HATE HIM!" school of comedy.

There are vastly more "Peanuts"-y Peanuts strips than this one, which is why I think I find so much to enjoy pic.twitter.com/PVeMatVdsM

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Retrace the emotional and dynamic arc of this WORDLESS STRIP (dang, I forgot to mention that!), examine the distinctive motions and relationships introduced herein, and dig Lucy's deeper emotional realness. I may be reacting only to its previously unread-ed-ness, but I love this.

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Retrace the emotional and dynamic arc of this WORDLESS STRIP (dang, I forgot to mention that!), examine the distinctive motions and relationships introduced herein, and dig Lucy's deeper emotional realness. I may be reacting only to its previously unread-ed-ness, but I love this.

— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018

Thoughts. I Have Them.

I'm fairly shocked that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia hasn’t done a straight-up parody of Rocky. Charlie as Rocky, Frank as Mickey and the Waitress as Adrian. 

Thanksgiving Covers Everybody!!!

The folks over at Eater are asking which food magazine has the best Thanksgiving cover this year.

Me? I vote for the Southern Living one, I like the way the dishes look like they're cascading down.

Memory Lane du Jour.

I once had a woman say "I want you to fuck me like an animal." I was shocked. "Oh my god," I said, "you heard about that??!?!!?"

#ThrowbackThursday #2010

From the comments section many, many years ago.

RIP Willie McCovey

Questons. I Have Them.

Okay to just peel off the wonderfully burnt cheese on top of baked ziti at a buffet to eat? Asking for me.

State du Moi.

Me, 5 weeks ago: “Dammit that’s it, I’m finally getting a microwave so I can easily steam bags of vegetables and be much healthier. Enough eating pure crap!”

What I’ve cooked in it to date: popcorn.

Thoughts. I Have Them.

After watching and loving A League of Their Own for years I suddenly wonder why we were always ok with Marla Hooch ditching the team mid-season to marry a guy she met after her season had already started. 

State du Moi.

I own 4 belts and don't fucking like any of them.

Something You Should Know About Me.

I saw Andy Pettitte pitch at Yankee Stadium in three different decades.

Happy Halloween!

Xmastime Halloween moments thru the years!

Tragedy: girl in office everyone ignored  :(
Comedy: Count Jackula!
Classic: my "razor in an apple" riff!
On the run: the night my gang of street tuffs robbed a bodega
Winner: Poptop wins costume contest dressed as...me!
10 years ago: a Fort Greene Halloween!
Now I'm sad they're growing up: more of my Brooklyn Gang!
Review: Young Larroca's spine-tingling movie debut, Monster!

"This fucking blows - let's bounce, fellas!"

Uber du Jour

Don't even wanna know what happens if you don't give this fucker 5 stars.

Thoughts. I Have Them.

If racists wanna somehow make Jefferson Davis likable to non-racists maybe they should get it out there that the college he attended was called "Transylvania University."

Ideas. I Have Them.

Go around the office at 5pm today saying, "dammit, I spent all day thinking it was Sunday."

State du Moi.

If Young Me knew how little interest Old Me has in eating these he'd be very, very disappointed.

OFAH du Jour

Anyone who's read this blog for more than 10 minutes knows I'm totally obsessed with Only Fools and Horses. I discovered it in January 2015 and have posted about it oh, maybe 10,000 times. My first one came a few weeks into my fandom, HERE.

BUT.

Today I stumbled into a reference to it in a post of mine...IN 2011!!

I guess this post was my announcing I wanted to go to London by my 40th birthday, as it's a pictograph of all things great about London. "I wonder..." I thought as I squinted real hard at it and YEP!! there it is, Del Boy's famous three-wheeled van! :)

Too Many Birthday Plates

In 1996 I was living in Oxford, Mississippi. For a Mississippi town it was fairly progressive, but by any normal comparison was still pretty pumped to be white.

One day for my lunch hour I went to a restaurant in the local mall, Legends. Walking thru the restaurant to the back I passed a long table covered with birthday plates and balloons and other birthday paraphernalia. In the center was a black man with (presumably) his son. They were both beaming, excited about the birthday party to come. I was pumped for the kid myself, and continued walking to my booth in the back.

After eating a sensible meal of vegetables, super-foods and superduper-foods, I was walking back thru the restaurant to leave when I saw the table. I saw the father. And the kid.

And nobody else.

Nobody had come to the kid's damn birthday party.

I'll never forget their heartbroken faces. I barely made it out and into my car before some waterworks came out of my salty eyes. And yes, him being black and in Mississippi made it even worse.

20+ years later, it's happened again. To a white kid, but still heartbreaking.

Ugh.

I went home that day and wrote a song, Too Many Birthday Plates. It went on to become a show staple, I'm pretty sure my band played it every we did from 1999-2012. One day The Barber and I were sitting around 100 Metro and decided to cut a demo of it, which is below. Yes, our fretwork changed the way rock guitar was played. Yes, we challenged how someone could be transformed by music.

But I can still see that kid and his dad. And I can still feel it.

Thoughts. I Have Them.

Why do couples go on a honeymoon at the absolute greatest moment of their marriage - shouldn’t they save it for a few years later when their marriage really needs a boost? 🤔

Oh Great.

Now everyone at work knows I buy my dress shirts at Costco.

Yup.

Still a Good Question.

Announcement du Jour

This bag of microwave popcorn may officially declared to be well-popped.

Weekend, VI

Having three kids under 8 years old at a table that features a lazy Susan is basically a race to see who’s gonna get violently hauled off to a time-out first.