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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in The FOOBiverse!'s LiveJournal:

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    Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
    3:48 pm
    [aprilp_katje]
    Rejected Strips
     On the Facebook page, there is a link to a page on rejected strips:

    In 1979, Lynn began to draw For Better or For Worse. Some of her earliest strips didn't make it to publication for a variety of reasons. We thought you'd like to see some of these rejected drawings, so we've collected them here!
    2:01 pm
    [megan_koumori]
    Upgraded
     You're traveling to another dimension (But only until you get all that adventure out of your system. Then it's back to your hometown.) Another dimension not only of flapping and honking, but of SNORF CHEW CHOMP GLUGG GLUGG GLUPPP!!! A journey into a boring, suburban town whose boundaries are only that of its author's limited 1950s point of view.

    ( Your next stop, The Foob Zone!Collapse )
    1:46 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Wednesday, 22 May 2013
     For some reason or other, the demand at the yard sale exceeds supply; Elly's reaction is to not close up early like a normal person but to raid the house for 'junk' to sell. Since Elly thinks that anything that she doesn't like is junk, she tries to steamroll John into selling the ultra-ugly checked pants he's wearing.

    (Strip Number 4431, Original Publication Date, 23 May 1984)

    Panel 1: Monique tells Elly that they are running out of stuff and still have another hour before they close.

    Panel 2: Elly runs into the house to find more stuff to sell.

    Panel 3: As Elizabeth clutches her toy Bunny to protect it from the claw machine Elly has turned into, John asks her what she means by telling him to take off his pants.

    Summary: This seems a lot like something out of a sitcom; that's because in my experience, people who run out of things to sell at one of these things close up shop when the last item is sold.
    Monday, May 20th, 2013
    2:15 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Tuesday, 21 May 2013
     As the sale continues, we see Elly baffled by two more generally known phenomena that she's never heard of or anticipated. First off, she's thrown for a loop by the existence of garage sale enthusiasts and second, she's baffled when one rates her sale as inferior owing to the lack of refreshments.

    (Strip Number 615, Original Publication Date, 22 May 1984)

    Panel 1: Now that the sale has started, we see Elly think that she's upselling a customer by giving her more than her two dollars' worth.

    Panel 2: As a woman in her fifties wearing a babushka looks something over, Elly asks Monique where all of these people she doesn't recognize have come from.

    Panel 3: The lady in the headscarf speaks in a stagey Eastern European accent when she says that she goes to eff'ry yard sale in city. She then giffs Elly the 6 outa 10 for dis von.

    Panel 4: Her reason: No refreshments.

    Summary: One thing that you'll notice that isn't Lynn's bias towards Ethnic types showing through is that we're at the EASTGATE Library yard sale. This means that we can expect a Lynnsight about how it took a while for her to decide on the town's name.
    Sunday, May 19th, 2013
    1:51 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Monday, 20 May 2013
     We start the sale proper with Mike telling Gordon that he has no idea when the great big sale will start because Elly and the other librarians are still buying stuff from one another.

    (Strip Number 4430, Original Publication Date, 21 May 1984)

    Panel 1: Having noticed that there's a bunch of grey stuff displayed on tables in front of the Pattermanse, Gordon asks Mike what's happening. Mike tells him that his mom's having a yard sale.

    Panel 2: He then tells Gordo that the people she works with have brought all their grey stuff over to the Pattermanse.

    Panel 3: When Gordon asks when they're going to start selling all of this grey stuff, Mike says that he doesn't know.

    Panel 4: As he watches Elly about to pay Monique for some grey stuff, Mike tells Gord that they're still buying junk from each other.

    Summary: While this is typical yard sale behaviour, I think that it's somewhat telling that the Coloring Wizard was told to colour everything being sold grey. It tells us that we're not supposed to think that the grey stuff is worth keeping....just like all of Ruth's 'grey' stuff.
    Saturday, May 18th, 2013
    12:10 am
    [megan_koumori]
    Cheap Weenie Casserole
     Out of curiosity, what exactly constitutes a "cheap weenie casserole"? I make beanie weenies for my sisters once in a while when I babysit (And I'll post the recipe I use below) but I'm wondering what everyone else here is thinking when we use the phrase to mock Elly's cooking.

    ( Read more...Collapse )
    1:54 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Sunday, 19 May 2013
     By now, most of you know that it's the long holiday weekend up here in the Great Wiped-out North; Lynn chose to celebrate the day with this example of people being baffled and angered at Lizzie for being a four-year old. Enjoy.

    (Strip Number 6132, Original Publication Date, 20 May 1984)

    Panel 1: We find ourselves watching Mike, Lawrence and Lizzie in the back seat of the car; since this is the eighties and since Lynn thinks that booster seats are a racket, Lizzie isn't very well secured and thus able to try to shove Mike and Lawrence aside to get enough room.

    Panel 2: Since he can't tolerate the sound of kids being kids, John grouses about it being a beautiful day for a Sunday drive.

    Panel 3: For some reason, Lizzie is now between Mike and Lawrence. Said reason seems to be that she needs to shriek about how Nizzie wanna sit by car window, Mommy!!!!

    Panel 4: We switch to an exterior shot of the hoverwagon so as to see the beautiful scenery that no one can enjoy because Mike and Lizzie are squabbling over who gets to sit by the car window.

    Panel 5: Michael tries to remind Elly that Lizzie sat by the window last time which makes it his turn.

    Panel 6: A frustrated Elly says "Oh, Michael - for the sake of peace - let her sit by the window" because she responds not to 'right and wrong' but to who shouts the loudest.

    Panel 7: Lizzie smiles a nasty, triumphant little smile as she manages to get her way.

    Panel 8: Her triumph is short-lived because having got the window seat, she promptly falls asleep.

    Summary: The annoying thing is not the fact that we're in for (drum-roll) another episode of the Little Lynnie Show. The annoying thing is that we're going to get "My parents had me in the front seat and I never flew out of the windshield so all this booster seat nonsense is just a plot to make me spend money on nothing so can we not focus on that and instead complain about how my parents always favored Alan?"
    Thursday, May 16th, 2013
    5:55 pm
    [babsbybend]
    Re. Freshly Squeezed

    From gocomics:

    About Freshly Squeezed

    Liz and Sam have it all: a happy marriage, a precocious preteen son named Nate, and a house that's just the right size for the three of them. Then, Liz's parents move in. Grandpa Irv is a kindly but occasionally grumpy Korean War vet who loves watching TV, bickering over politics, and spoiling his grandson. His wife Sarah is equally strong-willed, whether urging Irv to diet, questioning her daughter's parenting choices, or finding surprising success as an advice blogger.

    With an estimated 50+ million Americans living in such families as of today, Freshly Squeezed is a refreshing look at newfound family togetherness after the economic collapse. Can three generations of one family share their lives, their feelings, their dwindling fortunes and a bathroom — and keep their sense of humor in the process? Pay a visit to the Freshly Squeezed family to find out! Freshly Squeezed is the brainchild of Ed Stein, an award-winning political cartoonist. He created the local comic strip, Denver Square, for the Denver Rocky Mountain News for 12 years. He lived the Freshly Squeezed life first-hand when his kids were little and his 80-year-old father moved to Denver.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------

    It's the Elly update, only here she's called "Liz" and  she's married to  "Sam" and she has only one son, and she's still a martyr who makes everyone's life miserable.  I'd hate to be Ed Stein's wife, if this is based on true life, and people think that she's that way, like John:Rod.

    Friday, May 17th, 2013
    2:01 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Saturday, 18 May 2013
     We end the week with Elly wondering out loud why everything she wants to get rid of is a treasure only to have John declare something that she wants to keep a piece of old junk.

    (Strip Number 614, Original Publication Date, 19 May 1984)

    Panel 1: Elly expresses her angered confusion about her family's resistance to helping her out with the yard sale by asking why things (like the rag doll Lizzie is holding) suddenly become too precious to part with the second that she decides to sell them.

    Panel 2: Elly then makes an angry remark about the fact that the house is just littered with junk that nobody uses.

    Panel 3: John tries getting into the spirit of things by offering to throw away a hideous clock.

    Panel 4: Her response is to yell "Are you kidding? My MOTHER gave me that!!!"

    Summary: The premise of this one is that the only person whose belongings are not too precious to part with are Elly's; since her family loves chaos and hates her, they get to keep their crap while she's supposed to smile and watch them erase every trace of her identity.
    Thursday, May 16th, 2013
    11:58 am
    [aprilp_katje]
    The Back-Door Doorbell
     Anyone remember the arc where Edgar was ringing the doorbell to be let back in when he was out in the backyard? See strip ID #s 2749, 2750, 2751, 2752, 2753, 2762, 2955, and 5822. Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that the Pattersons have a doorbell at the back door? And that Connie uses it?

    Edit: Okay, based on responses here, a back-door doorbell isn't so unusual. It still strikes me as odd that Connie rings it. I know she's next door, but don't most people just ring at the front door, even if they are neighbors who are also friends?
    1:43 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Friday, 17 May 2013
     Today's strip is part of a comic triple because it's John's turn to declare a piece of old crap he can't use a beloved treasure.

    (Strip Number 4429, Original Publication Date, 18 May 1984)

    Panel 1: As our story continues, Elly tells John that the odd assortment of objects that she has collected are things that the family no longer uses.

    Panel 2: Upon noticing that Elly wants to sell his beloved old duffel coat, John tells her that she can't possibly be thinking of selling it.

    Panel 3: He then tells her that he never wears it because he is waiting for the style to come back.

    Panel 4: An incredulous Elly says that she doesn't think he will live long enough for that to happen.

    Summary: While the notes will be about something else, the underlying theme is that the Pattersons have a hard time letting go of things they don't need.
    Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
    5:42 pm
    [babsbybend]
    Anyone else notice?
     The Happy Mother's Day pic is still up at fbofw.   Elly looks like she's from Peanuts, or trying to.
    Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
    2:38 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Thursday, 16 May 2013
     In today's strip, Lynn reminds us that the family's "selfishness" always stands in the way of Elly's hopes and dreams by having Mike not want her to sell something he doesn't use any more. Another person would probably depict the commonplace phenomenon of people being reluctant to part with crap they don't need as being symptomatic of misplaced sentimentality. Not Lynn. I'll explain why not Lynn in the summary.

    (Strip Number 613, Original Publication Date, 17 May 1984)

    Panel 1: We start off with Michael asking Elly why she's busy poking around inside the Magic Crawlspace Of Destiny.

    Panel 2: Instead of explaining why her head is on backward, she tells him that she's looking for things to put in the yard sale. As she does so, she pulls out a round grey object with small red balls hanging off of it. Said object is described in the catalog as perhaps being an infant's toy.

    Panel 3: He gets quite vehement when telling her that she cannot sell the mystery artifact because it's his very favorite thing in the whole world.

    Panel 4: He then looks at it up close and tells her that he doesn't have a clue what it is. As expected, we have gobsmackage.

    Summary: Remember how howtheduck reminded us of that Lynnsight about the ugly carving that Ruth ended up selling? My guess is that we're in for the family wanting to keep their old junk while getting rid of Elly's because they're selfish and want to erase her from history or whatever. This gets annoying because we're dealing with a woman who regularly rummages through his room looking for stuff she can arbitrarily toss out.
    Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
    2:11 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Wednesday, 15 May 2014
     When John complains about how the librarians are taking advantage of Elly by getting her to agree to hold their yard sale on the Pattermanse's front lawn, Elly explains that she had to because they got her drunk. Yeah. No exploitation there, gang.

    (Strip Number 4428, Original Publication Date, 16 May 1984)

    Panel 1: When Elly returns home with the news that the Library will be having a yard sale in their front lawn, John asks her why she agreed to that.

    Panel 2: She tells him that she felt they expected her to say yes.

    Panel 3: When John says that he thinks that they took her for granted, Elly tells him that this is not exactly the case.

    Panel 4: She smiles a drunken smile and explains that they took her to the pub!

    Summary: Not only is this stupid because it implies that anyone who can get Elly good and liquored up can get her to get behind anything, it's stupid because today's Lynnsight will be all about how this is the only way that Lynn could tell the story of selling off her and Rod's (mostly Rod's) old junk before moving to Corbeil.
    Monday, May 13th, 2013
    9:25 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Coffee Time equals negligence.
    An interesting point came up when discussing the horrible display of passive-aggressive maundering, learned helplessness and fatuous refusal to accept responsibility that was the Mother's Day 1984/2013 strip. The interesting point is that save for some very rare occasions, the children are Not Allowed to make their presences felt when grown-ups are discussing important things like how children are baffling little strangers real human beings cannot relate to.

    The reason that I mention this is that while Elly and her best friend in the whole wide room talk about how mild suburban prosperity and a life without anything real to fear is a horror too bleak to comtemplate, the children are allowed to race around damaging both property and themselves. At one point, one of them almost died after "toppling" into a river. That being said, Elly is always astonished by the result of her stupid negligence. This sort of thing, this "Oh, look. A small child is running around unsupervised in a home made into a death trap because I can never seem to understand that she doesn't think like me. I don't see the harm in THAT!!!" vibe I get is why I linked to all those super-frightening British PSAs last year. I'd like to thank the person who reminded me of this for pointing out what really bothers me about Elly: the fact that the contents of her skull are what that boy in Apaches drowned in.
    2:20 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Tuesday, 14 May 2013
     We begin the arc proper with Elly getting all gobsmacked because the other librarians think that holding a jumble sale in front of the Pattermanse will class the joint up for once.

    (Strip Number: 4427 Original Publication Date: 15 May 1984)

    Panel 1: We fast-forward to see where Elly went. It would seem that there's a staff meeting at the library because Susan is asking them to vote on a motion to have their annual fund raiser be a yard sale. The motion is carried with all hands voting yes.

    Panel 2: One of the staffers says that it is far too demeaning to sell second hand junk in front of the library.

    Panel 3: Her solution is to sell junk in front of Elly's house instead; Elly is astonished that everyone agrees because she doesn't understand a simple fact.

    Summary: The simple fact that Elly doesn't realize is that everyone else in town expects to see junk in front of the Pattermanse because everyone aside from Connie and Annie calls Elly white trash. Also, we can probably expect a Lynnsight in which Lynn says that she had no choice but to tell the story of her moving away sale this gratuitously stupid way.
    Saturday, May 11th, 2013
    6:51 pm
    [babsbybend]
    Stephen King and I weigh in on becoming a musician
     Re playing by ear vs. learning.

    Stephen King, in his autobiography, "On Writing," told of how his son would practice his musical instrument every day, as he was told to, and at the end of his assigned time, put the instrument away in its case and went and did something else.  Even though he played well and progressed in his lessons, King knew that his son was not a musician, because he didn't play for the fun of it, he didn't play unless it was the designated practice time.

    I relied on sheet music, because I wasn't familiar with a lot of songs. We had one radio station in my little town, and the selection was eccentric, and my mom's records, while I enjoyed listening to them from time to time, I didn't enjoy them enough to listen to them long enough to have the songs stuck in my head.  I taught myself a few television theme songs, while my dad wanted me to play the Bird from "Peter and the Wolf."  Which I was vaguely familiar with, but not enough.

    There was nothing stopping Mike from playing by ear.  All he had to do, like countless others before him, was to take his horn and go play it, on his own.  At his age, the lessons' main points would be to teach him how to finger notes.  He could have learned how to play instead of blat, but he didn't want to learn.  Like a lot of other kids, he thought that it would come naturally, and he wouldn't have to work at it.  And his parents expected the same.

    I knew that once I could read music, I could play any sheet music, and for a while, my parents bought me easy to read Christmas song books, and sheet music of their favorite songs for me to play, and the music book for my favorite record (Simon and Garfunkle's Greatest Hits).  I saw no such encouragement from the martyred Patterson parents.  As for me, after decades of not playing, I've taken up the electronic keyboard, and am now trying to get back to where I left off.  I got the Christmas song book back, but--alas!--the S & G book got lost in a move and hasn't been seen since.

    Current Mood: thoughtful
    6:38 pm
    [kefkaownsall]
    Simple solutions to Patterson problems
     Just write a problem and a solution
    Elly spends too long cooking. Crockpot recipies. seriously put meatballs in for 2 hours good
    Sunday, May 12th, 2013
    1:32 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Monday, 13 May 2013
     We begin the "Library fundraiser at the Pattermanse" arc with a slam against Rod/John's ability to follow a simple recipe. If there are any thoughts, they'll be about how deliberately helpless men are and how that makes more work for WE MOMS.

    (Strip Number 4426, Original Publication Date, 14 May 1984)

    Panel 1: We find Elly getting ready to go out; she tells John that she'll be late so he'll be alone with the kids for dinner.

    Panel 2: She tells him that dinner is mostly ready. All he needs to do is heat the casserole and vegetables and maybe even make a salad.

    Panel 3: As she leaves it, John reassures her that he'll do just fine with dinner.

    Panel 4: An elated Michael tells Lizzie "Oh, boy! We get to eat out!!"

    Summary: Har-de-har, Lynn. We get it. Menfolks is bad with cookin' because they wanna make more work for their pooooooooor put-upon wives.
    Saturday, May 11th, 2013
    2:30 am
    [dreadedcandiru2]
    Sunday, 12 May 2013
     Lynn chooses to celebrate Mothers' Day by having Elly, Connie and Annie complain about the crap that they have to endure; this means that we can expect a Lynnsight in which it's decreed that only WE MOMS can ever understand the thankless task of being a mother or know the pain that comes from the sure knowledge that WE MOMS will only be thanked for our tireless efforts at our memorial services.

    (Strip Number 7159, Original Publication Date, 13 May 1984)

    Panel 1: We find Elly, Connie, and Anne having coffee and discussing the difficulties of being wives and mothers. Anne leads off by telling Connie that Steve had promised to pull his weight as regards dealing with the children at night and does so in his fashion.

    Panel 2: Steve's contribution is to get up on one elbow and nudge her so that she can attend to the baby.

    Panel 3: Annie talks about how every day, it's the same thing in that her children fight over the stupidest things; Elly wonders if they have to wait until the kids are grown before they get along. (That sounds about right because after they're twenty, Mike is no longer Liz's primary caregiver.)

    Panel 4: Connie says that she doesn't mind laundry but hates ironing; Elly counters with a statement about how if God had wanted her to iron, he wouldn't have invented permanent press.

    Panel 5: We switch to an external shot as Elly complains bitterly about the irony of how no one praises her for her gore-may cooking but if she heats chili from a can, she's the next Julia Child; Connie and Annie agree that that bites.

    Panel 6: Connie then discusses a crude comment Ted made about how he's baffled that she doesn't look anything like the girl in a commercial when she gets up. Elly and Annie both agree that that's grounds for murder.

    Panel 7: Connie and Elly talk about the desirability of having an apartment of their own where they don't have to pick up after unappreciative men and children.

    Panel 8: More conversation in much the same vein is indicated by unsound effects.

    Panel 9: Elly smiles and thought-bubbles that everyone needs a support group.

    Summary: I think it's fairly safe to say that we're in for a master-work of mommy-jacking this time out. We could even have her comment about how her children are only now finally realizing what their mother (i.e. Ruth) did for them. Also, where are the children? I remember one time about eighteen years ago where this question became really, really important and want an answer that isn't "You got me" from the brains trust we see here.
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