Every Day a Celebration
Today’s For Better or For Worse strip is not too bad. The final panel sentiment is a realistic one for someone turning 87.
Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem many of the For Better or For Worse strips do: Elimination of a realistic plot for the sake of a joke. By having just John and Elly there visiting and Elly bringing over food to eat, Lynn is trying to give us the impression that it is just a visit, so we can be surprised later on to learn that this is Jim’s birthday. Of course, this set up causes problems. You have to ignore the fact that April would want to come to a birthday celebration of her favourite grandparent and since she lives with John and Elly, she would come. But if April were there, in addition to John and Elly, it would give away that this is anything but a standard visit; therefore she can’t be there, even though she should.
As for me it was a busy day today and a good day for a celebration. My daughter qualified in a Regional Qualifier chess tournament to participate in the Arizona state chess tournament at the end of next month (my son qualified in an earlier tournament). Then she played her first softball game in the girls 10 and under, got on base 2 times, stole 2 bases, and actually scored a run. Her team lost, but she had a great time.
As for me, this week has been filled with preparation for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus’ performance of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony. We had our first performance tonight (and another one tomorrow), and I was uncertain how the audience would react to what is essentially a movie soundtrack performed with projected illustrations from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy on a screen behind the choir. They loved it, and clapped for a long time at the end.
Finally, my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has had an excellent day for its men’s and women’s basketball teams; each of them beating Louisville to advance to the next round of play. Sorry, Louisville. Not really.
Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem many of the For Better or For Worse strips do: Elimination of a realistic plot for the sake of a joke. By having just John and Elly there visiting and Elly bringing over food to eat, Lynn is trying to give us the impression that it is just a visit, so we can be surprised later on to learn that this is Jim’s birthday. Of course, this set up causes problems. You have to ignore the fact that April would want to come to a birthday celebration of her favourite grandparent and since she lives with John and Elly, she would come. But if April were there, in addition to John and Elly, it would give away that this is anything but a standard visit; therefore she can’t be there, even though she should.
As for me it was a busy day today and a good day for a celebration. My daughter qualified in a Regional Qualifier chess tournament to participate in the Arizona state chess tournament at the end of next month (my son qualified in an earlier tournament). Then she played her first softball game in the girls 10 and under, got on base 2 times, stole 2 bases, and actually scored a run. Her team lost, but she had a great time.
As for me, this week has been filled with preparation for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus’ performance of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony. We had our first performance tonight (and another one tomorrow), and I was uncertain how the audience would react to what is essentially a movie soundtrack performed with projected illustrations from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy on a screen behind the choir. They loved it, and clapped for a long time at the end.
Finally, my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has had an excellent day for its men’s and women’s basketball teams; each of them beating Louisville to advance to the next round of play. Sorry, Louisville. Not really.
posted by howard at 1:12 AM
9 Comments:
Sadly, Lynn's putting logic aside for the sake of a punchline has become so common, it takes an especially blatant example like this to remind me of it. It, like the uneven artwork, is a hallmark of what I call the Declining Years of the strip. That, and the conversion of the Pattersons into a family of Mary Sues when they used to actually deal with the consequences of their bad actions.
howtheduck, we ARB-ers know that April and Jeremy already shared Jim's birthday with him--on the actual day. John and Elly are celebrating it separately because they are lame and belated. ;)
Howard,
You manage to keep so many balls in the air at one time. Remarkable, indeed.
So, let’s drink to another great birthday celebration! Who cares if Elly is ignoring her father and John is not saying a word to anyone. We should be thankful that Jim is not have a third stroke as Elly walks thorough the door carrying the meal she prepared. It’s also heartwarming to see that Jim has an easy to grip curved fork. (It would be even better if he were the one holding it.)
But the best part - John is visiting. Finally. It's a big cake, so maybe this evening the grandchildren will show up for the free food!
Anon NYC
It cracks me up how Elly always shows up with food that is either greasy, or a ton of red meat. Old people rarely eat much of either. I know my grandparents couldn't handle those things by the time they were in their late 80s. And certainly not giant hunks of cake, either.
The strip is realistic in that it takes a special occasion to get Elly and John to visit.
DreadedCandiru2
I think you have summarized the final years of For Better or For Worse pretty well. I would only add the tendency to want to create strips intended for clipping and putting on refrigerators, as today's strip would certainly qualify.
aprilp_katje,
howtheduck, we ARB-ers know that April and Jeremy already shared Jim's birthday with him--on the actual day.
On April's Real Blog, we have the advantage of being reminded about birthdays by Lynn's webmaster Stephanie. Sunday strips rarely line up exactly with birthdays, but in the past Lynn has at least chosen the Sunday closest to the birthday. I think she has a self-enforced hybrid reprint schedule in her head that prevented her from switching this Sunday with last Sunday's hybrid strip.
Anon NYC,
But the best part - John is visiting. Finally. It's a big cake, so maybe this evening the grandchildren will show up for the free food!
True. It has been a long time since John, even a mute John, has been shown visiting Jim. It is nice that he has been included this time.
qnjones,
It cracks me up how Elly always shows up with food that is either greasy, or a ton of red meat.
Yes, and if you look at the food Iris introduced to the table, it's a big old salad bowl. Of course, I don't see any salad on Jim's plate, but at least Iris is trying to do something a little healthier.
qnjones:
It cracks me up how Elly always shows up with food that is either greasy, or a ton of red meat.
It's as if Lynn doesn't want to listen to all the people who tell her that her nasty, grease-laden casseroles, red meat and cake are gonna do a number on Jim and Iris's digestive tract. This is a woman who thinks that safety precautions of any sort are unwelcome interference in her life.
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