Thursday, May 20, 2010

Crash Talk






Bizarro is brought to you today by Cops on Break.

Lately I've been depending on my good friend and talented colleague, Wayno, to help me with cartoons. My schedule has been a mess lately, as I've mentioned here previously, and without some writing help I'd be a basket case. CHNW and I swapped houses with some friends in Maui a few weeks back (which had been planned before I knew just how busy my schedule was going to be), then my daughter got married in Texas*, then I had a stand-up gig and a business meeting in Los Angeles. All told, I was home for just three days of the past four weeks. Fun and exciting, but grueling. By far, the worst thing about syndicated cartooning is having to work 365 days a year for years on end – over 25 for me so far.

Here are a couple of Wayno's gags from the past week. I like the Starbucks one because I don't like Starbuck's coffee – it tastes like burnt grill scrapings to me – but I drink it when there is nothing else available. I fully recognize the insanity of drinking something you hate just because it is all you can find, but the need for a strong, hot drink in the morning trumps my tastebud's preferences. I also suspect that any company as large as Starbuck's can't be doing the planet any favors, but I could be wrong about that. When it comes to corporations, I say, "guilty until proven innocent."

This next joke is an obvious pun which may have even been done before but I like the angle and the visual. "Crash," as an expression meaning "to sleep," probably came from the hardcore drug culture reference to coming down hard from a high. It amuses me that even mainstream America has embraced this word to mean sleeping in general. A middle-aged fundamentalist preacher and his wife visiting Branson, Missouri would think nothing of saying "we were so tired we went back to our hotel and crashed."

That's not to say that middle-aged fundamentalist preachers aren't using hardcore drugs, of course, but you get the idea.

*This photo was taken by a super talented photographer you can find here.

4 comments:

shane said...

The trick to a great cup of coffee is the roast, not the brand. Espresso roast is a milder roast than French roast or most of the standard Starbucks fare - grind for your drip pot and enjoy. I have found most brands of the Espresso roast consistently make the best cup of coffee. Order an "Americano" - which is espresso watered down to be a 'normal' cup of Joe. Its also consistently a great cup of java. Even from the evil empire...

Prospero said...

I despise Starbucks coffee because of that bitter, burnt taste and will go without, rather than drink that swill.

patrick said...

I try to eat and drink "local" instead of at chains, so I rarely go to Starbucks. Their coffee tastes burnt to me, too. Last week, I (reluctantly) went to Starbucks and had a cup of their Pikes Place coffee, and it didn't have that burnt taste.

elviejo said...

Well, I doubt you're going to get much if any feedback about this particular cartoon. Even from a regular such as myself. It was such a pleasant surprise to see that headlight configuration on the right. Whoa, did he just happen to do that? Umm, there's the hood alignment, the windshield. Ah, the chevron. He does indeed know. Driving my car(s) around LA, also have a 2CV, it's almost harassment. Can't exit a parking lot without an inquiry. Loved Cits from the first time I saw one in a car show. Finally bought one (used) in 1965. Have only driven them (five) since then. Even loaned my present station wagon to Fox for a 5 minute scene (they painted it powder blue) in Dude, where's my car? The actor wasn't used to driving a manual (typical American!) and wore out my clutch cable, but they paid to have it repaired.
Never miss your cartoon in the LA Times. And, about a half dozen others. No disrespect to you of course.
Best,