Sunday, December 22, 2024

Did They Also Send a Newsletter About Their 2024?

Brutus is sitting in a bar sipping on a beer. Another man sitting on the other side introduces himself. "I'm an author. What's your line?" "Tea cozies. An author, eh? Novels?" "Indeed! I'm working on a delightfully folksie thing called Huckleberry Finn!" Brutus realizes what the man just said. "Ever hear of a man called Mark Twain?" "You know, it's strange you should say that...Folks asked me the same thing after I wrote Tom Sawyer."
July 27, 1986
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn entered the public domain in 1961(? I'm seeing conflicting dates and I don't care enough to investigate further) so if they are reimaginings, then they are fair game and kudos to nameless author here for getting his money. And if they are just word-for-word copies of the originals then that's really on the publisher, isn't it?

What I don't like is this guy writing Huckleberry Finn in the 1980s. Is he still using n-word Jim? That ain't cool.

Gladys comes into the room holding a Christmas card. Brutus and Wilberforce are sitting in front of the Christmas tree. "Guess what came in the mail?" she asks. "The Berwalds sent us a Christmas card!" "What's that?" asks Wilberforce. Gladys explains "It's a wonderful Christmas tradition that many people used to do back in the last century. Friends would mail cards to each other that had a holiday-themed picture on the front and inside they wrote Merry Christmas. Unfortunately a lot of people stopped sending them because it had become very costly and time consuming." "Do you understand?" Brutus asks. "I think so..." Wilberforce begins "Hey. Let's start our own tradition: We'll text all of our friends a picture of our tree and wish them a Merry Christmas!"
I find it hard to believe that Wilberforce doesn't know what a Christmas card is. I'm also a little upset at Gladys' use of "back in the last century". But the last century was 24 years ago. I've spent more years in the 21st Century than I did the 20th. Now I hate this strip even more.

The Berwalds get another mention.





In case you missed it, I have an expanded post on Joseph Bartleson and his family of Tecumseh, Kansas, with the lovely obituary for 11-year-old Sylvia Bartleston included. If you would like to support me or this website, you can buy me a cup of coffee on Ko-fi.
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