Perspicuity

Caption: "Gunfight at the Bach Chorale"

Credit for the idea of this cartoon goes to the wonderful cartoonist James Cennamo.

We were sitting at the Someday Café. James was offering me lots of ideas for my book, and he suggested this cartoon. I didn't want to do it at first because I didn't think it fit my cartooning style. I finally decided to make a go of it. Glad I did.

Thanks, James!

Left to Right: Edward Kennedy, John Edwards, John Kerry

References - None (yet)
Merchandise

Merchandise

"Chuck E.’s in Love" is a song by Ricky Lee Jones.

After careful analysis of the lyrics, I have concluded that this is a love song about the American architect and designer, Charles Eames (1907-78), as told by his wife, Ray.

As evidence, I present you with the following:

First, in 1941, Mr. Eames won the Museum of Modern Art’s Organic Design Competition for his molded plywood chairs. These chairs were not manufactured due to the difficulty in shaping plywood, but this is precisely what inspires Ray (I speculate) to begin the song: "How come he don’t come and p.i.p. with me down at the meter no more?" Here, p.i.p. clearly stands for "produce in plywood."

The Mayan civilization flourished in Middle America between A.D. 250 and 900. It turns out that there is no record of any Mayans enjoying the song "You’re Sixteen." This goes for the Johnny Burnette version as well as the Ringo Starr version. Incidentally, the song was written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman - the same brothers who wrote a myriad of songs for Disney movies, including "Mary Poppins."

And the Mayans were still not impressed.

References

I love words. For most of my life I have loved knowing the subtle distinctions between the meanings of different words; knowing unusual words; finding out where words come from.

I remember years ago getting quite excited when I heard that Elton John also loved words. I was half listening to the radio when I heard him sing "... and I guess that's why they call it the blues." Cool! I had often wondered how the blues got its name.

Sure, the color blue evokes emotion, but is this merely a result of cultural conditioning? Or is it something that is innate? And even if it is in us, wouldn't someone still have been the first to have observed it? Now, thanks to Mr. John these questions would finally have an answer. All I had to do was wait to hear the song again.