Faster, Fred the Fish! Kill! Kill!
In today's For Better or For Worse, Elly Patterson has a timely intervention which prevents Fred the fish from being killed in the first week of his existence. After all, Lynn Johnston has to milk this fish for all he’s worth, before she brings in the Farley adoption reprints next month. We know from the strips done before, that Farley had quite a bit of stamina when it comes to young Michael, and he is a much better choice than poor Fred, for the type of rough play Michael likes.
I have to admit that a lot of the joy of looking at a fish is seeing them swim around the things in their environment, which makes those little fake trees and pebbles a good addition to an aquarium. This plain fish bowl is the height of dull. My kids had fish, but they did not keep their attention for very long in any particular day. Aside from watching them swim, my kids noticed if they had any personality characteristics and things like that.
Oddly enough, young Michael wishes his fish were faster. I can forgive Lynn Johnston this particular piece of writing, by saying Michael really wants his fish to do things that are more visually interesting. It will be interesting to see how Lynn Johnston will concentrate on the idea that Mike thinks his fish is boring. Most kids will realize it immediately and go off to play with something else. Young Michael, may wallow in 5-year-old fish owner angst for longer than that.
I have to admit that a lot of the joy of looking at a fish is seeing them swim around the things in their environment, which makes those little fake trees and pebbles a good addition to an aquarium. This plain fish bowl is the height of dull. My kids had fish, but they did not keep their attention for very long in any particular day. Aside from watching them swim, my kids noticed if they had any personality characteristics and things like that.
Oddly enough, young Michael wishes his fish were faster. I can forgive Lynn Johnston this particular piece of writing, by saying Michael really wants his fish to do things that are more visually interesting. It will be interesting to see how Lynn Johnston will concentrate on the idea that Mike thinks his fish is boring. Most kids will realize it immediately and go off to play with something else. Young Michael, may wallow in 5-year-old fish owner angst for longer than that.
posted by howard at 11:43 PM
12 Comments:
Okay, I hoped on Monday that this would be interesting and fun. But Tuesday, Wednesday, and now Thursday have bored me. She needs to stop beating certain simple ideas to death, and learn to MOVE ON. If she's trying to get her strip canceled out of thousands of newspapers, she's definitely going the right way with this.
qnjones,
If she's trying to get her strip canceled out of thousands of newspapers, she's definitely going the right way with this.
That may indeed be the plan. She might want to retire but the Syndicate won't let her so se's turned the strip into this boring mess. When it tanks, she can blame the EVIL Interweb and be lionized by fearful old people.
howard,
It will be interesting to see how Lynn Johnston will concentrate on the idea that Mike thinks his fish is boring. Most kids will realize it immediately and go off to play with something else. Young Michael, may wallow in 5-year-old fish owner angst for longer than that.
I have the sneaking suspicion we'll still be talking about Fred on 9/11. After all, Lynn spent a week on the mission-critical subject of "People who have been Touched By the Pattersaints give them free stuff for the wedding" so we're bound to waste a lot of time on "Mike's fish is boring".
qnjones,
She needs to stop beating certain simple ideas to death, and learn to MOVE ON. If she's trying to get her strip canceled out of thousands of newspapers, she's definitely going the right way with this.
You are talking about the wrong author when it comes to moving on. How many times did we see the Kelpfroths pounding their ceiling? How many times did we see Grandpa Jim complain about his health? As for canceling out of the newspapers, you may be right. I think there is a large segment of her fan base who liked watching what happened next to her characters as they aged, and the last year really tested them. This move will probably finish the job.
DreadedCandiru2,
She might want to retire but the Syndicate won't let her so se's turned the strip into this boring mess. When it tanks, she can blame the EVIL Interweb and be lionized by fearful old people.
As I recollect the Syndicate wanted straight reprints, or for her let someone else take over the strip with the modern Pattersons. Lynn has no one to blame for this mess other than herself. Originally I thought she might want to stay on, so she could keep her staff employed, but that certainly has not proved to be the case.
After all, Lynn spent a week on the mission-critical subject of "People who have been Touched By the Pattersaints give them free stuff for the wedding" so we're bound to waste a lot of time on "Mike's fish is boring".
I fear you may be right.
howard,
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune has given us a glimpse into the greasy interior of Rod's mind. As could be expected, he's not all that pleasant a guy.
Whoops, I posted this to the wrong entry. Trying again:
dreadedcandiru2: Interesting. The author shared a tidbit from when she talked to Rod in 2004:
"She's had a huge success," he said. "And as she said [earlier in the day], it really went to her head at first. She's very self-centered, actually, and very consumed with herself. And so we've had this constant struggle where, does she want to be the star, or does she want to be an ordinary person? And she herself struggles with that. ...
She also goofed by saying Rod left Lynn in 2006. Maybe she conflated Rod/Lynn with Thérèse/Anthony.
DreadedCandiru2,
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune has given us a glimpse into the greasy interior of Rod's mind. As could be expected, he's not all that pleasant a guy.
Thanks for the article reference. Rod certainly doesn’t seem to mind telling a reporter that his wife is self-centered, that’s for sure.
aprilp_katje,
"She's had a huge success," he said. "And as she said [earlier in the day], it really went to her head at first. She's very self-centered, actually, and very consumed with herself. And so we've had this constant struggle where, does she want to be the star, or does she want to be an ordinary person? And she herself struggles with that. ...
She also goofed by saying Rod left Lynn in 2006. Maybe she conflated Rod/Lynn with Thérèse/Anthony.
Or maybe she has some inside information. On the one hand, the Paul / Liz breakup was so similar to Lynn / Rod and that was in January, 2007 in the strip. On the other hand, Lynn’s staff member mysteriously disappeared on the FBorFW website right at the time Lynn said she found out about the affair in April, 2007.
As for Rod’s quote, I can easily see this as his take on the struggle between them as they moved from Lynn Lake to Corbeil. He refers to how her success went to her head at first, placing the time as before the move. In Lynn Lake, she would be an ordinary person. In Corbeil, she would be a star. Her reason for the move was her desire to be closer to modern society, whereas his take might be “She wants to move to a place where she can get her ego stroked.” Considering Lynn’s extremely unflattering view of Lynn Lake and even her recent slam of the place as being a hotbed of adultery, I can see a Lynn Johnston getting no ego strokes in Lynn Lake.
Or maybe she has some inside information.
I guess it's possible, but she's a Chicago Tribune reporter, no? That seems kind of--remote.
I don't think she had inside information... I think she is just a fan, which you can pick up on if you've had the opportunity to read any of her past articles. Why did she wait until now to share the info about Rod? I wonder if he realized he was being 'interviewed' or was just chatting. She doesn't make that clear.
Anonymous,
I don't think she had inside information... I think she is just a fan, which you can pick up on if you've had the opportunity to read any of her past articles.
I expect you are right about this one.
Why did she wait until now to share the info about Rod? I wonder if he realized he was being 'interviewed' or was just chatting. She doesn't make that clear.
It is difficult to tell about Rod Johnston, especially since the quote was taken from a time when he and Lynn were married. Maybe he forgot to say “off-the-record” or maybe the quote has been taken out of context. After all, I have read and seen enough interviews with Lynn Johnston now to know she has a tremendous ego. Even though it seems tactless for a husband to say that, he is not exactly lying about Lynn.
One of the old CBC interviews with Lynn Johnston from years ago, showed him as being generous enough to allow cameras into his dental practice, but he seemed to be shy and reserved around the camera. One thing I can say about him, is that he was regularly slammed in his wife’s comic strip from the beginning, and I can count only one interview she has had in the last year where she did not mention the divorce; but I have been witness to no public retaliation coming from Rod in the press. Off course, his cheating is a very public retaliation; but it does not go to talking about his wife to the press.
Post a Comment
<< Home