After my brother and I became good fishermen, we realized that our father was not a great fly caster, but he was accurate and stylish and wore a glove on his casting hand. As he buttoned his glove in preparation to giving us a lesson, he would say, “It is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o’clock.”
Ah! My hubby grew up in Montana. His Dad’s physician had to cool himself down in a river one day after fly fishing to help himself have more time to deal with a snake bite.
I think that the twelve and two references are talking about the back cast and the forward cast when fly fishing, so I support the idea that it’s a reference to “A River Runs Through It”
The first few years of syndication, Frazz was not huge. That’s the way it tends to go with show business, unless you’re already known for something else or extremely well marketed or extremely lucky, or come combination. Today, Frazz is a modest success. That is NOT the way it tends to go. The way syndication tends to go is away. Getting syndicated is long odds. Staying syndicated is even longer odds. So whether I needed to or not (I needed to), I chose not to give up my day job for the first couple of years. That was a lot of work, a lot of stress and not much spare time. It certainly wasn’t conducive to training at any kind of competitive level for endurance sports, but it did require some measures to preserve sanity. One of the alternatives I pondered was maybe I could fly-fish.
Fly fishing was inherently beautiful and peaceful and promised to take me away, physically and mentally … and occasionally, without demanding me constantly. I don’t know if any of that was true, because I didn’t end up taking up fly fishing. And truth be told, I wouldn’t have taken it up for those reasons. I would have taken it up because I read “A River Runs Through It,” by Norman MacLean.
In addition to being a splendid book, “A River Runs Through It” was also made into a wonderful movie. And that movie’s marquee poster was, hands down, the most stunning,jaw-droppingly gorgeous photo of, well, just about anything that I’ve seen. You’re familiar with it, right? If you’ve seen it, you remember it. A lone angler stands on a rock mid-river, floating arcs of line in the biggest, loosest, most disciplined cloud against a lush bank of foliage cast through with rays of light, as if God Himself is trying to keep up.
The cast is poetry, but its own kind. It looks free-form, but you know it has a strict meter. Cue the elder MacLean’s metronome. It is … serpentine. How serpentine? It’s a movie poster, and it didn’t make me see the movie. It made me read the book. Then I had to see the movie. It doesn’t go straight where it’s going. It gets there, but it takes its own elegant path. “A River Runs Through It” is prose about poetry, written in monofilament.
eromlig over 5 years ago
Ahh, of course! “A River Runs Through It.” Good job, Jef!
GreasyOldTam over 5 years ago
Never mind that. What is Frazz supposed to be?
igor1882 over 5 years ago
Wikipedia gives the quote as “closer to ten than two,” but it’s been a while since I’ve read the book for myself.
Shargad over 5 years ago
Closer to ten than two
Meg: All Seriousness Aside over 5 years ago
Pretty obscure, IMO
ksu71 over 5 years ago
After my brother and I became good fishermen, we realized that our father was not a great fly caster, but he was accurate and stylish and wore a glove on his casting hand. As he buttoned his glove in preparation to giving us a lesson, he would say, “It is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o’clock.”
RussHeim over 5 years ago
Norman Maclean also wrote an excellent book called “Young Men and Fire” about the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949.
rlaker22j over 5 years ago
Duh really!
bill.ashton over 5 years ago
I have it! Norman Maclean in “A River Runs Through It.”
melbrodhead over 5 years ago
Looking back at yesterdays comic, did anyone notice Jane is playing Cat’s Cradle with the fishing line?
LeonStauffer over 5 years ago
Wait, did Caulfield pick this costume just to have an excuse to leave early?
57-Don over 5 years ago
Nice work Caulfield, one of my favorite books!
junkforsarah77 over 5 years ago
Is Frazz dressed as Woody Woodpecker?
SukieCrandall Premium Member over 5 years ago
Ah! My hubby grew up in Montana. His Dad’s physician had to cool himself down in a river one day after fly fishing to help himself have more time to deal with a snake bite.
Pipe Tobacco Premium Member over 5 years ago
Ha! First time I ever guessed who Caufield was correctly on my first try (yesterday). That is pretty damn amazing for me. :)
For me, fly fishing is wonderful, and my pipe has always been a perfect accoutrement for the activity for me. :)
22Wu33/es Premium Member over 5 years ago
Frazz is a penguin
Russell Bedford over 5 years ago
Caulfield and Frazz are quoting from a book which has a title much like my old man bladder…
oakie817 over 5 years ago
I told everyone today, my costume is so much scarier than yours…they said you’re not in a costume…I replied oh yes I am…i’m dressed as a telemarketer
bradatwellbird over 5 years ago
I think that the twelve and two references are talking about the back cast and the forward cast when fly fishing, so I support the idea that it’s a reference to “A River Runs Through It”
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
Frazz15 hrs ·
The first few years of syndication, Frazz was not huge. That’s the way it tends to go with show business, unless you’re already known for something else or extremely well marketed or extremely lucky, or come combination. Today, Frazz is a modest success. That is NOT the way it tends to go. The way syndication tends to go is away. Getting syndicated is long odds. Staying syndicated is even longer odds. So whether I needed to or not (I needed to), I chose not to give up my day job for the first couple of years. That was a lot of work, a lot of stress and not much spare time. It certainly wasn’t conducive to training at any kind of competitive level for endurance sports, but it did require some measures to preserve sanity. One of the alternatives I pondered was maybe I could fly-fish.
Fly fishing was inherently beautiful and peaceful and promised to take me away, physically and mentally … and occasionally, without demanding me constantly. I don’t know if any of that was true, because I didn’t end up taking up fly fishing. And truth be told, I wouldn’t have taken it up for those reasons. I would have taken it up because I read “A River Runs Through It,” by Norman MacLean.
In addition to being a splendid book, “A River Runs Through It” was also made into a wonderful movie. And that movie’s marquee poster was, hands down, the most stunning,jaw-droppingly gorgeous photo of, well, just about anything that I’ve seen. You’re familiar with it, right? If you’ve seen it, you remember it. A lone angler stands on a rock mid-river, floating arcs of line in the biggest, loosest, most disciplined cloud against a lush bank of foliage cast through with rays of light, as if God Himself is trying to keep up.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
The cast is poetry, but its own kind. It looks free-form, but you know it has a strict meter. Cue the elder MacLean’s metronome. It is … serpentine. How serpentine? It’s a movie poster, and it didn’t make me see the movie. It made me read the book. Then I had to see the movie. It doesn’t go straight where it’s going. It gets there, but it takes its own elegant path. “A River Runs Through It” is prose about poetry, written in monofilament.
dwane.scoty1 over 5 years ago
Frazz is costumed as a Sdork, which is in character for him!
Jon Premium Member over 5 years ago
I figured it was either “A River Runs Through It” or “Trout Fishing in America”.
destryrides over 5 years ago
“A River Runs Through It”