tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308040792024-03-23T10:42:22.131-07:00Blather 'Bout BurlBecause stuff like this should not go without comment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-42180638262988376012007-11-26T00:27:00.000-08:002007-11-25T22:33:23.815-08:00Out of ReachI know I am starting to become repetitive about The Dinette Set, but seriously...These people are far to stupid to have a functioning autonomic nervous system.I guess I need to add today's "effort" to the growing list of panels in which Burl and Joy display preternatural stupidity about relatively simple concepts involving mathematics, linguistics, time, and (now) proximity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-64251889137723955112007-11-19T00:33:00.000-08:002007-11-18T23:36:44.855-08:00Thanksgiving SicknessIn today's Dinette Set an unbelievable amount of dialog is used to make the joke, to use that term loosely, that some people call into work sick when (gasp) they are not in fact sick. If we were to assume this was worth any words at all, an assumption I will not grant, surely it could be done with much fewer than this?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-69896881318811042882007-11-16T08:32:00.000-08:002007-11-16T08:39:51.786-08:00Shuttle Bus from HellToday's Dinette Set doesn't make much sense, if you ask me, and since you bothered to come here, I'll assume you are asking me, if only in some small way.I simply cannot make anything of the fact that Carnegie Mall has shuttle busses.I don't know if these ladies are at Carnegie Mall or another mall.I don't know where Burl and Joy are.Mostly, however I don't understand how anyone leaving the mall Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-43777796093022625182007-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:002007-11-15T12:45:03.088-08:00Feed the ArtistToday's Dinette Set could be about anything, anything at all. It doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day it's just about a gigantic plug for Dinette Set merchandise.I feel compelled to note that Bill Watterson, the creator of the greatest comic strip ever, was never willing to sully his creation by merchandising it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-40303794402155674922007-11-14T00:12:00.000-08:002007-11-13T22:20:16.002-08:00Feed the WorldToday's Dinette Set, features people unclear on the concept on the textual and meta-textual level. That Burl does not understand should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. That the artist tortures the English language in a desperate attempt to make this joke fit into the setup also should come as a surprise to no one.Not that it's not annoying as hell and totally unecessary. Assuming the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-70073770229248590852007-11-06T20:43:00.000-08:002007-11-06T20:45:53.203-08:00Blood for OilToday's Dinette Set is a lesson in parochial slang. Apparently in some area of the world people refer to paintings as "oils." I am reasonably certain they retain the right to vote despite this fact, which is certainly disturbing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-63341426980702025542007-11-05T00:10:00.000-08:002007-11-04T23:14:31.350-08:00Emergency ServicesI have to keep this short today, because I'm off to dial 911. No, not in anticipation of a bloody car-on-Rascal accident. Repeated reading of The Dinette Set, and the attendant forehead smacking, has resulted in fairly severe cranial damage.At any rate, all I will say about this particular vignette is that you can file it under "Conversations no human being has ever had; set in an Escheresque Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-28278464592520641742007-11-01T09:14:00.001-07:002007-11-01T09:33:45.919-07:00Not to Mention that Septuagenarian SmellIf you are feeling guilty about finding today's Dinette Set kind of funny, don't beat yourself up. One thing the Dinette Set gets right on occasion is Burl's hostility towards Ma.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-74600834608380538332007-10-31T00:10:00.000-07:002007-10-30T22:13:19.097-07:00Porch Light TrilogyIn today's Dinette Set, I couldn't care less about Burl's hatred of Halloween and of trick-or-treaters. I am, however, absolutely baffled by the ovals of light surrounding Dale and Timmy, not to mention Timmy's costume itself.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-82337350327762834192007-10-30T07:51:00.000-07:002007-10-30T08:03:05.684-07:00Spooky ChemlawnToday's Dinette Set completes a thematic trifecta in which Burl and Joy demonstrate preternatural stupidity about things mathematical, lingual, and (now) temporal. I would love to convince myself this was deliberate, but I suspect the artist is actually simply running out of ideas in more dramatic fashion than previously suspected.On the other hand, one revealing detail in today's panel stands Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-71725491498478824042007-10-29T00:12:00.000-07:002007-10-28T23:36:47.407-07:00Shut Up Just About Covers ItToday's Dinette Set is the verbal equivalent of Friday's mathematical Dinette Set.Despite attempts to prove the contrary, I remain confident saying that misunderstandings of simple concepts, like commonly-understood phrases or mathematics, are not funny (whether they are a result of willful idiocy or a stupidity so profound as to defy description makes no difference).Each Dinette Set which plumbsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-595245489096419182007-10-26T00:37:00.000-07:002007-10-25T22:42:06.168-07:00Seven PumpkinsToday's Dinette Set is another in a series of desperate attempts to prove that poor math skills are fertile ground for humor. The net effect, predictably, is to prove the exact opposite.And yet Burl's "No!" still manages to be the strangest part of the panel.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-82237581725813017842007-10-24T00:19:00.000-07:002007-10-23T23:24:20.152-07:00Call to ComplainEvery Dinette Set should include a number you can use to call in and complain.Or to ask questions, like: Why does Burl's bumper sticker say "Drive only carries 100's" instead of "Driver"? Similarly, does the use of "100's" instead of "100s" represent a subtle joke or the fact that you don't understand the use of apostrophes?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-59686298298885946892007-10-23T09:17:00.000-07:002007-10-23T09:24:53.457-07:00Art ContestToday's Dinette Set is as confusing as they get. If I may attempt to summarize the narrative sequence of events we are requested to follow:Apparently, a magazine had an "art" contest to trace Binky the Deer, who looks suspiciously like Bambi.Apparently Burl, for reasons passing understanding, entered this contest, not to mention the fact that this implies Burl was reading (or looking at) a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-36198115981419249302007-10-22T00:34:00.000-07:002007-10-22T00:37:52.089-07:00A Cry for HelpToday's Dinette Set is a desperate cry for help from the artist, who is apparently besieged by SPAM.OK, here's the secret...stop putting your email address into every form you come across on the Internet.If that doesn't work, get a new email address.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-87164590666554662142007-10-12T00:35:00.000-07:002007-10-11T22:37:47.879-07:00Every so often...In today's Dinette Set, I actually smiled a little bit. Burl's comment was snide and wildly inappropriate. Of course, intimating violence against animals isn't a good recipe for humor. But at least it showed a willingness to go too far for a change.Of course, the remainder, especially the incomprehensible marginalia, is dreadful.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-66872707614387752892007-10-11T00:52:00.000-07:002007-10-10T23:05:36.735-07:00Busting OutI refuse to even begin to speculate as to what is "barely in" anywhere in today's Dinette Set. Rather, I would like to draw your attention to the following rather stunning use of, for lack of a better term, language:Verla: I can't believe she's your age, Ma.Ma: I know!...And she's actually 6 months younger.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-28575754754034533792007-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:002007-10-09T22:08:51.601-07:00Monkeys and TypewritersI'd like to think today's Dinette Set is a strange reference to the opening scene in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead in which the question of what happens to probability in the absence of natural forces (e.g., in a fictional setting) is explored.More likely it's just the author mistakenly believing humor can be mined from poor math skills.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-45284824309501819472007-10-09T00:19:00.000-07:002007-10-08T23:24:02.936-07:00Party PoopersThe marginalia in today's Dinette Set, specifically the reference to buying Burl a size small party hat, caused me to really closely examine the appearance and topology of Burl's head for the first time since I started the blog over a year ago.As such, I am now questioning how I've spent the last year of my life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-10361244263229944902007-10-08T00:37:00.000-07:002007-10-07T22:42:45.915-07:00Emphasis TheirsIn today's Dinette Set, Patty's overreaction to the word "only" makes no sense."The storm only killed three people" implies exactly what Burl thinks, that it could have been worse."The storm only managed to kill three people" just sounds disappointing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-76179302928008774542007-10-05T00:02:00.000-07:002007-10-05T13:16:36.505-07:00CrackpotWhen first reading today's Dinette Set, I thought random man said "three buck for the crackpot" and Burl refused out of his latent tenderness towards Joy.And then I realized the man said "crockpot" and Burl refused out of less-than-believable idiocy.I think the version I just imagined is better.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-59637153157253313272007-10-04T00:45:00.000-07:002007-10-03T22:48:33.850-07:00Know thyselfBurl, despite all his faults, at least demonstrates a rudimentary sense of self-awareness in today's Dinette Set. Of course, this certainly raises the question of how, exactly, he found himself entered in a weightlifting contest. Which makes for one of the least likely backdrops for a Dinette Set.And yet the mass of dark zombies still manages to heighten the weirdness.-DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-13258062864460576522007-10-03T00:05:00.000-07:002007-10-02T22:10:50.612-07:00TV DinnersIn today's Dinette Set, Burl doesn't appear to understand the difference between cooking and warming something up in the microwave.Interestingly, however, if the dialog is read literally Burl may not be wrong. After all, isn't it more than likely that the somethin' Van saw on TV was a commercial for a microwave dinner?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-73423725090235312812007-10-02T09:16:00.000-07:002007-10-02T09:21:11.191-07:00ERRORIn today's Dinette Set, once again the reader is forced to wonder how people this stupid have a functioning autonomic nervous system.And yet, I'm mostly just fascinated by a TV set or cable company that broadcasts the message "ERROR" when something is wrong.And disheartened by yet another "It must be x:00 somewhere" gag.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30804079.post-21898609989615403362007-10-01T00:19:00.000-07:002007-09-30T23:24:23.910-07:00I've FallenIn today's Dinette Set, the artist once again demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding the difference between humorous commentary on aging and cruelly mocking deranged elderly people for the mere fact that they are rapidly approaching death.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1