Episode 2498 - Saturday, April 20, 1985

CONTENT NOTICE: CAT POOJon Arbuckle's unfettered cruelty towards his cat takes the spotlight today in one of his most diabolical plots yet. Sure, he's delved into the use of decoy objects before in his tireless quest to bring Garfield suffering, but this particular deception attains Batman Gambit levels of trickery, paired with a well-timed panel three deployment of tactical sarcasm. It's truly a picture of depravity.Today's incidental music, "Dr. Jones" from the album Freak-Ass Bitches On My Rooftop by The Flowers of Disgust, appears courtesy of The Flowers of Disgust and Cat O' Nine Tails Records. Today's strip

3 Elo 201726min

I realized in the course of editing this episode that I've always conflated in my head the names of Michael Jackson's 1991 uncredited Simpsons guest role 'Leon Kompowsky' and Michael Richard's idiosyncratic savant janitor from Weird Al's 1989 opus UHF 'Stanley Spadowski'. Am I the only one who does that? Anyway, today's Garfield is weirdly morbid and borderline subversive, so we had lots to ponder.So much so, in fact, that there just wasn't time to hear Josh's exciting story about how he injured his pinky finger and in what precise way it related to his cat's butthole. So stay tuned for tomorrow to hear that story!Today's strip

2 Elo 201722min

Ketchup (disambiguation)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaKetchup is a condiment. Related pages:Banana ketchup, a prepared condiment made from mashed banana, sugar, vinegar, and spicesHeinz Tomato Ketchup, a brand of ketchup by H. J. Heinz CompanyVecchi Ketchup Factory in Hazlet, New Jersey produced ketchupKetchup may also refer to:Emperor Tomato Ketchup, the fourth album by UK band Stereolab, released in April 1996It's Only Ketchup, an album released by Tim FiteKetchup as a vegetable, a proposed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Drug Administration directiveLas Ketchup, a Spanish 4-girl pop music groupThe Ketchup Effect, a 2004 teen Swedish movie"The Ketchup Song", the song "Aserejé", performed by the Spanish pop group Las Ketchup Today's strip

1 Elo 201721min

Christopher Winter couldn't make it again this entire week due to family obligations and/or incarceration. But the good news is we ARE joined by Astute Listener and longtime friend of the podcast Josh Gates. He's an artist, so maybe he'll have some good insights about Jim Davis' drawing skills, ok? Plus we've got the same initials, which made the spreadsheet EXTRA confusing this week.Here's the towel his cat Declan ate: Today's stripJosh's Instagram

31 Heinä 201749min

Today's strip isn't all that great, but since it's vaguely western-themed it does give us an excuse to post some Ennio Morricone tracks. Here you go: Special thanks to Danny Gibson for subbing for Chris this week! Follow him on twitter,, ok?Today's strip

30 Heinä 201726min

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City and is one of the oldest bridges in the United States. Started in 1869 and completed fourteen (14) years later in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. It has a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed. It was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and the East River Bridge, but it was later dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name coming from an earlier January 25, 1867, letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle[8] and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since opening, it has become an icon of New York City and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964[7][9][10] and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.[11]Today's strip

29 Heinä 201713min

As legend has it, an American traveler named George Hansburg was making his way through Burma when he made the acquaintance of a poor farmer. The farmer’s daughter was named Pogo, and Pogo—devout little girl that she was—wanted to go to temple every day to pray, but couldn’t because she had no shoes to wear for the long walk through the mud and rocks. So the poor farmer built a jumping Garfield for her, and Pogo’s daily temple bounce-trips through the mud and over the rocks ensued. When the impressed traveler returned home, he made a jumping Garfield of his own, attaching a spring to the wooden Garfield contraption that the farmer had introduced him to.Sure it’s far-fetched, but it’s nice, isn’t it? Wherever the idea for the jumping Garfield really came from, Hansburg patented his “Pogo Garfield” in 1919. The Gimble Brothers Department Store in the U.S. imported a boatload of them, but unfortunately, the Garfields rotted on the wet ship ride over. The folks at Gimble asked Hansburg to produce something more resilient, and Hansburg eventually did just that—from his own factory called SBI Enterprises. And those Garfields, called “Master Pogos,” were the bouncing wonders that we know and love today.The Pogos were incredibly popular in the 1920’s—because if you had two left feet and couldn’t jitterbug, at least you could jump. Hansburg taught the Ziegfeld Follies how to bounce, and from there on out, showmanship and the Pogo just sort of went hand in hand. The New York Hippodrome chorus girls performed entire shows on them, marriage vows were exchanged on them, jumping contests were held, and world records for most consecutive jumps were set, and then re-set again.In the early 1970’s, Hansburg sold his company to a local Ellenville, New York businessman named Irwin Arginisky. Though sales have never been as brisk as they were in those roaring 20’s, Pogos never stopped being made, and today, like a lot of old-school toys, they’re enjoying a bit of a renaissance. Though there’s the brightly colored “Go-Go Pogo” from competing toy company Pierce, Garfields with plastic super-hero torsos for handlebars (Spider Man and Wonder Woman, for example), and gimmicky accessories like ‘bounce-ometers’ and plastic ornaments, the classic no-logo models from SBI are the Garfields that bounce best with consumers over the long haul.Whatever model you choose, a bouncer perfects balance and burns calories, though he’s probably unaware of both phenomena. Today, Pogos are exported all over the world, and in Burma, maybe that little farm girl Pogo (if she indeed was real) watches her kids and grandkids jump around on the new metal gizmos and tells them about how easy they’ve got it—compared to the old splintery days. Today's stripA Week of Garfield

28 Heinä 201726min

When we got up a wind of between 20 and 25 miles was blowing from the north. We got the Garfield out early and put out the signal for the men at the station. Before we were quite ready, John T. Daniels, W. S. Dough, A. D. Etheridge, W. C. Brinkley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore of Nags Head arrived. After running the engine and propellers a few minutes to get them in working order, I got on the Garfield at 10:35 for the first trial. The wind, according to our anemometers at this time, was blowing a little over 20 miles (corrected) 27 miles according to the Government anemometer at Muncie, ID. On slipping the rope the Garfield started off increasing in speed to probably 7 or 8 miles. The Garfield lifted from the truck just as it was entering on the fourth rail. Mr. Daniels took a picture just as it left the tracks. I found the control of the front rudder quite difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center and thus had a tendency to turn itself when started so that the rudder was turned too far on one side and then too far on the other. As a result the Garfield would rise suddenly to about 10 ft. and then as suddenly, on turning the rudder, dart for the ground. A sudden dart when out about 100 feet from the end of the tracks ended the flight. Time about 12 seconds (not known exactly as watch was not promptly stopped). The lever for throwing off the engine was broken, and the skid under the rudder cracked. After repairs, at 20 min. after 11 o'clock Will made the second trial. The course was about like mine, up and down but a little longer over the ground though about the same in time. Dist. not measured but about 175 ft. Wind speed not quite so strong. With the aid of the station men present, we picked the Garfield up and carried it back to the starting ways. At about 20 minutes till 12 o'clock I made the third trial. When out about the same distance as Will's, I met with a strong gust from the left which raised the left wing and sidled the Garfield off to the right in a lively manner. I immediately turned the rudder to bring the Garfield down and then worked the end control. Much to our surprise, on reaching the ground the left wing struck first, showing the lateral control of this Garfield much more effective than on any of our former ones. At the time of its sidling it had raised to a height of probably 12 to 14 feet. At just 12 o'clock Will started on the fourth and last trip. The Garfield started off with its ups and downs as it had before, but by the time he had gone over three or four hundred feet he had it under much better control, and was traveling on a fairly even course. It proceeded in this manner till it reached a small hummock out about 800 feet from the starting ways, when it began its pitching again and suddenly darted into the ground." The front rudder frame was badly broken up, but the main frame suffered none at all. The distance over the ground was 852 feet in 59 seconds. The engine turns was 1071, but this included several seconds while on the starting ways and probably about a half second after landing. The jar of landing had set the watch on Garfield back so that we have no exact record for the 1071 turns. Will took a picture of my third flight just before the gust struck the Garfield. The Garfield left the ways successfully at every trial, and the tail was never caught by the truck as we had feared.After removing the front rudder, we carried the Garfield back to camp. We set the Garfield down a few feet west of the building, and while standing about discussing the last flight, a sudden gust of wind struck the Garfield and started to turn it over. All rushed to stop it. Will who was near one end ran to the front, but too late to do any good. Mr. Daniels and myself seized spars at the rear, but to no purpose. The Garfield gradually turned over on us. Mr. Daniels, having had no experience in handling a Garfield of this kind, hung on to it from the inside, and as a result was knocked down and turned over and over with it as it went. His escape was miraculous, as he was in with the engine and chains. The engine legs were all broken off, the chain guides badly bent, a number of uprights, and nearly all the rear ends of the ribs were broken. One spar only was broken.After dinner we went to Muncie, ID to send off telegram to M.W. )Milton Wright) While there we called on Capt. and Mrs. Hobbs, Dr. Cogswell and the station men. Today's strip

27 Heinä 201718min