23 November 2006
Meta-Post: Posting
Thanksgiving and another trip coming up, so the next two weeks will be hit or miss again. Have a great holiday everyone.
21 November 2006
Ye Olde Donut Hole Employee
See it here.
Today's Dinette Set appears to be no more than a disconnected mish-mash of themes.
Visually, the panel clearly deals with issues of obesity, from the protagonists (whose mere presence is an obesity reference), to the donut-shop setting, to the non-gender-specific, but obese, worker bee.
Textually, of course, issues of cleanliness predominate, with sweatshirt and dialog working together in this direction.
Finally, the purpose of the background people, so often a symbol of the hostile world lurking just outside Burl's highly-controlled circle of family, friends, and assorted hangers-on, is somewhat vague.
The fact that these backrgouond people are all white, rather than the standard shadowy-black color, of course, suggests that perhaps we should approach them with the opposite interpretation as we might under normal circumstances. In other words, perhaps they are meant to be the better angels of our nature or of society; good-natured spirits with our best interests at heart.
Working backwards from there, the artists seems to be suggesting that the Donut shop employee is not leaving the wax paper in the sack in as an unconscious custom, but rather in a subtle, yet deliberate attempt to cut down on Joy and Burl's caloric intake.
And suddenly, this disconnected mish-mash of themes coalesces around the single, hopeful image of a passive-aggressive, but well-intentioned, gesture.
Ye Olde Marginalia Shoppe
Today's Dinette Set appears to be no more than a disconnected mish-mash of themes.
Visually, the panel clearly deals with issues of obesity, from the protagonists (whose mere presence is an obesity reference), to the donut-shop setting, to the non-gender-specific, but obese, worker bee.
Textually, of course, issues of cleanliness predominate, with sweatshirt and dialog working together in this direction.
Finally, the purpose of the background people, so often a symbol of the hostile world lurking just outside Burl's highly-controlled circle of family, friends, and assorted hangers-on, is somewhat vague.
The fact that these backrgouond people are all white, rather than the standard shadowy-black color, of course, suggests that perhaps we should approach them with the opposite interpretation as we might under normal circumstances. In other words, perhaps they are meant to be the better angels of our nature or of society; good-natured spirits with our best interests at heart.
Working backwards from there, the artists seems to be suggesting that the Donut shop employee is not leaving the wax paper in the sack in as an unconscious custom, but rather in a subtle, yet deliberate attempt to cut down on Joy and Burl's caloric intake.
And suddenly, this disconnected mish-mash of themes coalesces around the single, hopeful image of a passive-aggressive, but well-intentioned, gesture.
Ye Olde Marginalia Shoppe
- I believe this panel sets the mark for overuse of the phrase "Ye Olde Donut Hole", with 4 appearances in a 400x400 pixel space.
- The angle at which Pat's plump arm is drawn makes it appear as if it is growing out of her hip.
20 November 2006
Thinking Outside the Box
See it here.
The Dinette Set has a grand tradition of conceptual legerdemain in which the artist deftly pushes the reader's attention in one direction, tantalizing them with the lure of easy interpretation, while leaving the meatier explanations along the path less traveled. It is the equivalent of an Easter egg left for the devoted reader who is able to recognize the signs and follow that less traveled route.
Today's panel is just such a moment. The less careful reader will see naught but a fat joke. But, for those who understand The Dinette Set's sophisticated artistic vocabulary, the abundence of obesity symbolism is only the first indication that perhaps there is more here than meets the eye.
Note the careful juxtaposition within Burl's dialog of a moment of almost incomprehensible lack of perception (he hadn't noticed the bowls were smaller?) and a moment of utterly brilliant problem solving. Rather than overfilling his bowl with a mountain of ice cream or making two trips, Burl solves the problem of his personal Gordian Knot by simply walking 10 feet to grab the desired-sized bowl.
How is it possible for two moments of such diametrical opposition to live together in the same sentence and within the same person? Burl's shirt holds the final piece of the puzzle, hinting that things, such as a man's height, are not always what they seem. The entire panel, therefore, crystallizes into a coherent metaphor for Burl as idiot savant, rather than the boorish narcissist that he merely appears to be.
Soft-serve with free marginalia toppings:
The Dinette Set has a grand tradition of conceptual legerdemain in which the artist deftly pushes the reader's attention in one direction, tantalizing them with the lure of easy interpretation, while leaving the meatier explanations along the path less traveled. It is the equivalent of an Easter egg left for the devoted reader who is able to recognize the signs and follow that less traveled route.
Today's panel is just such a moment. The less careful reader will see naught but a fat joke. But, for those who understand The Dinette Set's sophisticated artistic vocabulary, the abundence of obesity symbolism is only the first indication that perhaps there is more here than meets the eye.
Note the careful juxtaposition within Burl's dialog of a moment of almost incomprehensible lack of perception (he hadn't noticed the bowls were smaller?) and a moment of utterly brilliant problem solving. Rather than overfilling his bowl with a mountain of ice cream or making two trips, Burl solves the problem of his personal Gordian Knot by simply walking 10 feet to grab the desired-sized bowl.
How is it possible for two moments of such diametrical opposition to live together in the same sentence and within the same person? Burl's shirt holds the final piece of the puzzle, hinting that things, such as a man's height, are not always what they seem. The entire panel, therefore, crystallizes into a coherent metaphor for Burl as idiot savant, rather than the boorish narcissist that he merely appears to be.
Soft-serve with free marginalia toppings:
- Do you think Joy's shirt deliberately leaves off the last 3 letters of "carnival" in order to make a meat-eating joke?
- I've gone cross-eyed trying to decipher the name on the soup kettle in the background. Anyone got sharper eyes than me?
19 November 2006
Time is on my side?
See it here.
The point of today's panel escapes me, unless it is the rather obvious joke that Burl, Joy, Dale, and Marlene are fish out of water on a college campus (something that, really, goes without saying).
Either that or the artist is making the point that there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that Burl won't do strictly because it is free (per his sweatshirt) and he feels he is getting something for nothing.
I wish I could find some deeper revelation in the fact that, for Joy, the passing of fifteen minutes seems like nothing at all. Truth be told, I'd imagine fifteen minutes in Burl's presence would seem like an eternity, so rather than finding deeper meaning, I'm mostly just confused.
Despite the lack of meaningful insight, I feel the need to mention today's panel because think it's important to point out that, grammatically, "the faculty lounge" does not match the pronoun "who."
Over-educated marginalia:
The point of today's panel escapes me, unless it is the rather obvious joke that Burl, Joy, Dale, and Marlene are fish out of water on a college campus (something that, really, goes without saying).
Either that or the artist is making the point that there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that Burl won't do strictly because it is free (per his sweatshirt) and he feels he is getting something for nothing.
I wish I could find some deeper revelation in the fact that, for Joy, the passing of fifteen minutes seems like nothing at all. Truth be told, I'd imagine fifteen minutes in Burl's presence would seem like an eternity, so rather than finding deeper meaning, I'm mostly just confused.
Despite the lack of meaningful insight, I feel the need to mention today's panel because think it's important to point out that, grammatically, "the faculty lounge" does not match the pronoun "who."
Over-educated marginalia:
- Apparently all tour guides/docents in The Dinette Set are conceived of as goateed beatniks. Not that this fact comes as a surprise.
- What is up with the white shirt/black collar combo? Seems to be all the rage on campus.
- Not only is the phrasing badly stilted in Dale's dialog, but it ends with an interrobang (?!) Always a sure sign of sophomoric writing.
16 November 2006
Signs and Symbols
See it here.
Without taking the time to verify this, I think this may be the first time in The Dinette Set that neither Burl nor Joy speak. In fact, only one recognizable character speaks, and that is Ma. And, based on her dialog, we are supposed to believe that Ma owns a car, contrary to the mass of visual evidence showing Ma being transported everywhere she goes.
Clearly, then, the artist is telling us that the dialog is the least important aspect of today's panel which, rather obviously, concerns itself with the semiotics of class.
Class struggle is a common theme in The Dinette Set, and usually it is dealt with fairly overtly. That said, class commentary often creeps into the background of The Dinette Set and this panel aims to establish some of the more common semiotic vocabulary of class.
To wit:
Without taking the time to verify this, I think this may be the first time in The Dinette Set that neither Burl nor Joy speak. In fact, only one recognizable character speaks, and that is Ma. And, based on her dialog, we are supposed to believe that Ma owns a car, contrary to the mass of visual evidence showing Ma being transported everywhere she goes.
Clearly, then, the artist is telling us that the dialog is the least important aspect of today's panel which, rather obviously, concerns itself with the semiotics of class.
Class struggle is a common theme in The Dinette Set, and usually it is dealt with fairly overtly. That said, class commentary often creeps into the background of The Dinette Set and this panel aims to establish some of the more common semiotic vocabulary of class.
To wit:
- Rich people wear well-tailored jackets; poor people wear ratty T-shirts.
- Rich people own clothes decorated with a single tasteful crest over the breast; poor people own clothes with busy patterns of dots, flowers, stripes, and assorted squiggles.
- Rich people are noticeably svelte; poor people are noticeably plump.
- Rich people drive cars with automated features; poor people drive cars with batteries that last only one hour.
- They may be poor, but they all drive gas-guzzling monster cars.
- Is the guy in the CAT cap actually wearing a shirt with French on it?
15 November 2006
The Persistence of Mail
See it here.
A surrealist experiment to liberate the mind of the reader from mundane reality in today's Dinette Set.
Narratively, the reader is challenged by the surreal set-up of today's panel, in which we are asked to believe that the post office's box has become crammed with letters and packages on an utterly insignificant day. Were this 15 April, Mother's Day, or even a date in December with obvious Christmas overtones, the set up might be excused as mere hyperbole. But on 15 November, the notion is simply surreal.
Visually, the reader is challenged by a bumper sticker which, viewed from one's rear-view mirror, will command the driver to "back off" from a car that is behind them. Even the license plate gets into the act, with its plaintive and probing question: RU 4 RL?
In the final brilliant touch, syntax and imagination combine to create an aura of surrealism encompassing the entire world in which the panel is set. Perhaps no phrase in all of English written expression has even been more syntactically surreal than "across the Interstate on the other side of town." And yet, that level of syntactic surrealism is matched by the imaginative surrealism of a town with only two mailboxes, positioned on diametrically opposite sides of town.
To what end is all this surrealist expression deployed? That is not clear, however the completely non-surreal signs littering the panel, which lay out the rules and regulations of an orderly society, and the rather prominent displays of nationalism suggest that the artist is reacting against the restrictions of false rationality, such as social convention, over the instinctual urges of the human mind.
In short, The Dinette Set is advocating for anarchy!
This is not a marginalia:
A surrealist experiment to liberate the mind of the reader from mundane reality in today's Dinette Set.
Narratively, the reader is challenged by the surreal set-up of today's panel, in which we are asked to believe that the post office's box has become crammed with letters and packages on an utterly insignificant day. Were this 15 April, Mother's Day, or even a date in December with obvious Christmas overtones, the set up might be excused as mere hyperbole. But on 15 November, the notion is simply surreal.
Visually, the reader is challenged by a bumper sticker which, viewed from one's rear-view mirror, will command the driver to "back off" from a car that is behind them. Even the license plate gets into the act, with its plaintive and probing question: RU 4 RL?
In the final brilliant touch, syntax and imagination combine to create an aura of surrealism encompassing the entire world in which the panel is set. Perhaps no phrase in all of English written expression has even been more syntactically surreal than "across the Interstate on the other side of town." And yet, that level of syntactic surrealism is matched by the imaginative surrealism of a town with only two mailboxes, positioned on diametrically opposite sides of town.
To what end is all this surrealist expression deployed? That is not clear, however the completely non-surreal signs littering the panel, which lay out the rules and regulations of an orderly society, and the rather prominent displays of nationalism suggest that the artist is reacting against the restrictions of false rationality, such as social convention, over the instinctual urges of the human mind.
In short, The Dinette Set is advocating for anarchy!
This is not a marginalia:
- That appears to be Karl Rove going into the post office.
- Meanwhile, barely visible, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew appears to be coming out!
14 November 2006
Crustwood: The Next Generation
See it here.
It's always a little hard to understand the artist's intent when couples like the one in the background appear, so forcefully do narrative and visual elements work against each other.
One the one hand, we are clearly meant to be uneasy about the over-educated and over-spending East Coast intellectual parents, flaunting their Yale education and their wealth with a Boden sweatshirt and an imported Baby Bägo. They aim to make every other parent in the room feel less important through the sheer audacity of teaching their child manners and the alphabet (via the high chair).
On the other hand, next to Burl and his dysfunctional family unit, it's hard not to feel a glimmer of hope for the upcoming generation of Crustwood's youth, given that Patty's chances for happiness and success were thwarted through an accident of birth. Of course, leaving this mouth-breathing community would probably be the best option for both Patty and baby Tommy, but that may be too much to ask.
On yet another hand, given Patty's unnatural devotion to her parents and the fact that Burl's fathering has made her incapable of a fulfilling long-term relationship with a man, the reader can be more hopeful that the Penny's DNA will disappear from the gene pool before it has a chance to pollute another generation. Which is a relief, because Burl's influence meant it was just as likely that Patty could have ended up with 6 kids from 3 divorces before she was 30.
Then again, it looks like the over-educated wife is wearing brass knuckles on her right hand and is getting ready to punch Tommy if he does not say "thank you."
So, all-in-all, I don't know what to think.
Send in the marginalia:
It's always a little hard to understand the artist's intent when couples like the one in the background appear, so forcefully do narrative and visual elements work against each other.
One the one hand, we are clearly meant to be uneasy about the over-educated and over-spending East Coast intellectual parents, flaunting their Yale education and their wealth with a Boden sweatshirt and an imported Baby Bägo. They aim to make every other parent in the room feel less important through the sheer audacity of teaching their child manners and the alphabet (via the high chair).
On the other hand, next to Burl and his dysfunctional family unit, it's hard not to feel a glimmer of hope for the upcoming generation of Crustwood's youth, given that Patty's chances for happiness and success were thwarted through an accident of birth. Of course, leaving this mouth-breathing community would probably be the best option for both Patty and baby Tommy, but that may be too much to ask.
On yet another hand, given Patty's unnatural devotion to her parents and the fact that Burl's fathering has made her incapable of a fulfilling long-term relationship with a man, the reader can be more hopeful that the Penny's DNA will disappear from the gene pool before it has a chance to pollute another generation. Which is a relief, because Burl's influence meant it was just as likely that Patty could have ended up with 6 kids from 3 divorces before she was 30.
Then again, it looks like the over-educated wife is wearing brass knuckles on her right hand and is getting ready to punch Tommy if he does not say "thank you."
So, all-in-all, I don't know what to think.
Send in the marginalia:
- It took me a while to pick the baby out of the mess of squiggles in the background table. While searching, I thought it looked like the husband had a tiny, shrivelled right hand (holding the balloon) to go with his wife's clubbed right hand.
- I'm sure it has always been this bad, but recently the punctuation in this comic is starting to really bug me. Like the poorly-placed apostrophe in husband's and the odd question mark/ellipses combo.
- Is it just me or is that a scary damn clown?
13 November 2006
The Invisible Hand
See it here.
"If you build it, they will buy it" seems to be the message of today's Dinette Set. How else to explain the manner in which an innocent conversation about overseas manufacturing and economies of scale morphs into an impulse buy?
Joy and Verla, the erudite economists, wrestle with how the manufacturer of the Whatcha-Mu-Callim is able to take advantage of economies of scale while avoiding diseconomies of scale, thus creating artificial demand by dint of sheer volume and visibility at the point-of-purchase.
The excessive abundance of the Whatcha-Mu-Callim is mirrored, syntactically, by an excess of punctuation in the dialog, which features:
The Wealth of Marginalia:
"If you build it, they will buy it" seems to be the message of today's Dinette Set. How else to explain the manner in which an innocent conversation about overseas manufacturing and economies of scale morphs into an impulse buy?
Joy and Verla, the erudite economists, wrestle with how the manufacturer of the Whatcha-Mu-Callim is able to take advantage of economies of scale while avoiding diseconomies of scale, thus creating artificial demand by dint of sheer volume and visibility at the point-of-purchase.
The excessive abundance of the Whatcha-Mu-Callim is mirrored, syntactically, by an excess of punctuation in the dialog, which features:
- 3 exclamation points
- An extraneous comma ("want one, too, for the holidays")
- The extremely rare exclamation point/ellipses combination.
The Wealth of Marginalia:
- Whatcha-Mu-Callims? Why use not the more standard (and phonetically-correct) Whatch-Ma-Callems?
- What is it with the fake schnozz fascination? E-R-O-X's comment is as just as apropos now: "Who buys previously opened novelty-nose glasses?"
11 November 2006
Sadie Hawkins Hell
See it here.
The Dinette Set has a fascination with Sadie Hawkins dances as a device, although it's usually in the background. I suppose that thought is that the battle of the sexes theme that often permeates the strip is given ironic expression in the role-reversal of a Sadie Hawkins dance. Either that or it provides a chance to give Verla and Jerry's dysfunctional relationship center stage.
For my part, I usually just find it quaint that there is still a corner of the world, apart from high school, where the tradition of the Sadie Hawkins dance appears to exist, assuming that The Dinette Set is a reflection of the world in which its artist lives.
After today's panel, however, I will never be able to rid my psyche of the hellish mixture of Sadie Hawkins and Salem witch trial imagery to which we are subjected today.
The Marginalia Maleficarum:
The Dinette Set has a fascination with Sadie Hawkins dances as a device, although it's usually in the background. I suppose that thought is that the battle of the sexes theme that often permeates the strip is given ironic expression in the role-reversal of a Sadie Hawkins dance. Either that or it provides a chance to give Verla and Jerry's dysfunctional relationship center stage.
For my part, I usually just find it quaint that there is still a corner of the world, apart from high school, where the tradition of the Sadie Hawkins dance appears to exist, assuming that The Dinette Set is a reflection of the world in which its artist lives.
After today's panel, however, I will never be able to rid my psyche of the hellish mixture of Sadie Hawkins and Salem witch trial imagery to which we are subjected today.
The Marginalia Maleficarum:
- There are! Six exclamation points! In just! Three dialog! Boxes!!
- The screen door pants get snuck into the background.
- Satan, or a beatnick, appears to be wearing a "Mae, Go Home" shirt. I don't get the reference.
- I think one of the bachelors in the background, whose pate is all that is visible behind Jerry's toupee, has hair plugs.
09 November 2006
Word Problems
See it here.
The reader of today's panel is clearly supposed to be lulled into identifying with Patty. After all, Burl and Joy's cheapness knows no bounds, and their intelligence is none too legendary.
But the peculiar phrasing of the dialog, clearly conjuring images of high school algebra word problems, should give the reader pause.
Can we make a value judgment based on the information at hand? Or are we allowing our internal biases to overwhelm our critical faculties?
In fact, for anyone sniggering at Burl and Joy, it is the latter.
We do not know how many gallons of milk Burl and Joy are capable of consuming. We do not know the distance between Crustwood and Chadsworth. We do not know how many miles per gallon Burl's car gets.
Without this critical information, we cannot calculate whether this trip is economically viable or not. And any judgement we make is the product of our prejudices.
So, for those of you who fell for the artist's clever ruse...shame on you!
Two trains leave marginalia station...
The reader of today's panel is clearly supposed to be lulled into identifying with Patty. After all, Burl and Joy's cheapness knows no bounds, and their intelligence is none too legendary.
But the peculiar phrasing of the dialog, clearly conjuring images of high school algebra word problems, should give the reader pause.
Can we make a value judgment based on the information at hand? Or are we allowing our internal biases to overwhelm our critical faculties?
In fact, for anyone sniggering at Burl and Joy, it is the latter.
We do not know how many gallons of milk Burl and Joy are capable of consuming. We do not know the distance between Crustwood and Chadsworth. We do not know how many miles per gallon Burl's car gets.
Without this critical information, we cannot calculate whether this trip is economically viable or not. And any judgement we make is the product of our prejudices.
So, for those of you who fell for the artist's clever ruse...shame on you!
Two trains leave marginalia station...
- Look out pinball! The pants are back.
- The bottom of Burl's door is either a painted decoration or some sort of mirror reflecting the background. The only thing I am certain it is not is a drawing of a set of three-dimensional objects.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
