Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for September 26, 2013

An indirect breach of the fourth wall?

I recently read a complaint that NYC no longer has any good bagel places. Someone explained that bagels are traditionally dipped in a lye solution to create the chewy crust and help in the browning. But since lye is caustic, OSHA required these places to add emergency eye baths and showers. The stores found it easier to just make a doughier, paler bagel. The law of unintended consequences. (If you have trouble understanding what this has to do with the cartoon,… well, just think about it.)

Last week they were focusing on Gene, his wife, and their garden. What happened to that story?

OSHA-approved cartoon sight gag?

Our sense of humor is slipping…..

Put it in the street, they’ll paint over it…

Too many lawyers, anymore, for even a good old fashioned cartoon gag!

This is great. One of the classic examples of why Arlo and Janis is a truly amazing strip. Thanks.

OSHA-compliant prat-fall.

Funny: Man walking toward banana peel, gets closer and closer, steps on banana peel, slips and falls.

Funnier: Man walking toward banana peel, gets closer and closer, sees banana peel, steps over banana peel, falls in open manhole.

I haven’t seen a banana peel joke for years! But, I do remember them.

The first man (and second human) to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive later died after slipping on an orange peel!

pschearer -

Bagels are suppose to be boiled before baking. A true bagel will have the toppings on both sides because of this. I have never heard of dipping it in a lye solution. Soft pretzels, on the other hand, are dipped in same if they are made cheaply and improperly.