Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for June 25, 2013
June 24, 2013
June 26, 2013
Transcript:
Goat: What are you doing, Rat? Rat: I've become a pro wrestler! My persona is that of the writer James Joyce. I'll engage the crowd through my sheer number of rich literary allusions! Admittedly, this may go over some people's heads.
Oh. Good. Lord! Will “James Joyce, the Wrestling Allusionist” be a Heel or a Face?(As if we didn’t know; this is Rat, after all.) James Joyce (the real one) had played so-called Gaelic football as a youth but was of what Harry Levin called “a delicate physique” and is not known for wrestling….
Don’t diss Pro Wrestling too much – I’ve come to view it as the western version of a Noh play. It’s not too dissimilar. It’s strictly structured, contains archetypal characters and can always be described as a morality play.
Now, NASCAR…. a Southern friend of mine loved it but even he told me it was basically “Rednecks on speed”…
Whack fo’ the dannoDance to yer partnerSweep the floor, yer cupboards shakeWasn’t it the truth I told yeLots of fun at Pastis’s wake!…which I hope will NOT happen for a long, LOOONG time!
I could never get past the third chapter of Finnegans Wake – (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!)
Rat, of all characters, should know better. Most people don’t really get the meaning of the H.L. Mencken quote, “No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The point Menken was making was that plenty of people have lost money overestimating the intelligence of the American public.
Reminds me of the one where Rat was ripping on a neighbor and got a trophy for winning the poetry slam. Then he said “I thought this was a city council meeting.” Later he lamented “And then they took my trophy away.”
Any mention of James Joyce makes me long to write a Sci Fi novel about the earth being invaded by James Joyce clones. The sole reason for this would be to have the line ‘Inside the city, the masses rejoiced, while nearby the Joyces’ remassed.
chireef almost 11 years ago
starting with rats head
firedome almost 11 years ago
yeah…about 100 percent of the folks who watch pro wrestling…
zero almost 11 years ago
Wait until you meet his wife. . ..
jazzmoose almost 11 years ago
Well, let’s hear it Rat!
Sisyphos almost 11 years ago
Oh. Good. Lord! Will “James Joyce, the Wrestling Allusionist” be a Heel or a Face?(As if we didn’t know; this is Rat, after all.) James Joyce (the real one) had played so-called Gaelic football as a youth but was of what Harry Levin called “a delicate physique” and is not known for wrestling….
michaelyukyuk almost 11 years ago
“Did someone mention head?”—-Joyce James
Rumpole1963 almost 11 years ago
“Portrait of a Middle-Aged Cartoonist” by Stephan Pastis. In bookstores . . . soon?
Estep_matt almost 11 years ago
This would totally make me start watching wrestling.
vwdualnomand almost 11 years ago
ulysses…they say it is a masterpiece, but it is so boring. or, is it only understood by irish and literature majors?
Gilbert almost 11 years ago
Nice singlet rat.
kd1sq Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Don’t diss Pro Wrestling too much – I’ve come to view it as the western version of a Noh play. It’s not too dissimilar. It’s strictly structured, contains archetypal characters and can always be described as a morality play.
Now, NASCAR…. a Southern friend of mine loved it but even he told me it was basically “Rednecks on speed”…
natureboyfig4 Premium Member almost 11 years ago
as will several steel chairs
By the way, Lanny Poffo and the WWF already did “The Genius.”
= :~) almost 11 years ago
What’s he talking about?
Carl Rennhack Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Whack fo’ the dannoDance to yer partnerSweep the floor, yer cupboards shakeWasn’t it the truth I told yeLots of fun at Pastis’s wake!…which I hope will NOT happen for a long, LOOONG time!
Morvash almost 11 years ago
I could never get past the third chapter of Finnegans Wake – (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!)
puddlesplatt almost 11 years ago
poor Mr. Bloom, of Bloom County
Alabama Al almost 11 years ago
Rat, of all characters, should know better. Most people don’t really get the meaning of the H.L. Mencken quote, “No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The point Menken was making was that plenty of people have lost money overestimating the intelligence of the American public.
dutchs almost 11 years ago
Reminds me of the one where Rat was ripping on a neighbor and got a trophy for winning the poetry slam. Then he said “I thought this was a city council meeting.” Later he lamented “And then they took my trophy away.”
Pat Murray almost 11 years ago
Rat needs the Iron Sheik to make him humble the old country way.
finale almost 11 years ago
“Ulysses (f*rted)” by Rat
The Real Zarth Arn almost 11 years ago
Three quarks for Muster Mark!
3pibgorn9 almost 11 years ago
Rat’s ringaround wrostles all combers.
veranna almost 11 years ago
I have worked in a place where “Aussie Rules” was theirdaily mission statement….
Sherlock Watson almost 11 years ago
If this doesn’t work out, maybe Rat could try being The Grappling Geek and intimidate his opponents with his mighty pocket protector.
AGED_ENGINEER Premium Member almost 11 years ago
I see some forging coming on.
Gokie5 almost 11 years ago
Admittedly, as some have implied, this may go over rat’s head.
Number Three almost 11 years ago
You’re right, Rat.
I like the costume though.
LOL xxx
Hieronymo almost 11 years ago
U.P.
Gokie5 almost 11 years ago
Oh, yeah, I was wondering whether this was Bloomsday. Nope, that, according to Google, was June 16th this year.Google it for details.
singlefemalelaywer almost 11 years ago
WAY over ……………………………………………..
ellisaana Premium Member almost 11 years ago
ROTFL!
Popeyesforearm almost 11 years ago
with Rat it’s an illiterate illusion
JR6019 almost 11 years ago
Groaner alert:
Any mention of James Joyce makes me long to write a Sci Fi novel about the earth being invaded by James Joyce clones. The sole reason for this would be to have the line ‘Inside the city, the masses rejoiced, while nearby the Joyces’ remassed.
You get why I like this strip?
knight1192a almost 11 years ago
It’ll go over Rat’s head. James Joyce seems far more appropriate to an intellectual like Goat than to an idiotic jerk like Rat.