Wait a minute! Sean Finnery is a knight? And he has a goatee? You know, he starting to remind me of Sean Connery, the Oscar winning actor from - wait a minute - Scotland. What a strange coincidence. Speaking of knights, it was brilliant of them to film this documentary in the pitch black of the night. It's the next best thing to sleeping there.
I stumbled across these Mary Worth strips from over ten years ago. It appears that perhaps as early as 1998 Toby and Ian had discovered their computer ineptness.
Don't forget to enjoy your FREE Secret Messages.
Am I the only one who thinks this strip is much, much better in black and white? Of course not; I'm sure Joe Giella agrees.
14 comments:
Isn't it nice that Ian has been working out since that first computer encounter?
Oh man, I am loving Ian's extreme finger-pointing in that last strip. Especially since he seems to think his accusations alone are going to get the computer to admit it's error.
Oh Karen Moy, how you continue to toy with us!
This story has been careering along at breakneck speed when suddenly it slams on the brakes just as we are becoming ever more anxious to find out what the results of Toby's ill-fated e-commerce will be.
Ms Moy manipulates us with all the skill that Mary brings to bear on her fellow Charterstone residents.
There is not one iota of doubt in my mind that Ian is one of those tiresome wretches who witters on fondly about his homeland but as soon as he sets foot in it does nothing but carp and criticise. All of a sudden the crime, murder and suicide rates, the poverty, poor diet and ill health and bad weather will all be flaws rather than attractions.
Unless I am very much mistaken, monochrome Toby is wearing a classic ZAF LadyPolo.
maconmemad Yes, Ian has lost weight hasn't he? What a pity he didn't lose some of the attitude while he was about it.
shandyowl: Ms. Moy is not toying with us. She's performing a great service for the demographic for which this dramatic graphic novel is written--the 60+ crowd. Snarkers like us are ancillary to her purpose. ethel mertz said it best yesterday--we can expect 4-6 weeks of exposition before the whole "identity theft" angle is revealed. (Thanks, ethel.) At worst, Ms. Moy will continue to drill the phrase "identity theft" over and over into the dialog as part of the instruction process. [Takes me back to Intro French--"Je revien..." and "Repetez, s'il vous palit!"]
Yes, Ian has been working out since the first computer--just look at him! [Oh, Man, must we? I thought that was Toby's thing to do.] That should give hope to all of us who are 50+--See? It can be done! You, too, can exercise and lose weight! As to his not losing his attitude--You ban take the boy out of Scotland, but you can't take Scotland out of the boy, I suppose!
Sadly, Toby has lost her "Morticia Addams" look over the years. *Sigh!* (Nice that she was modeling the ZAF line years ago, though.)
Who told Ian computers were "infallible"? I think he has mixed up "computers" and "the teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church." A common enough mistake.
The best part of those old strips is definitely the email address printed at the bottom of the frame: "TELLMARY@aol.com." Yes, the Camerons have trouble with their electronic mail, but Mary Worth has it figured out, and she wants to hear from you! Although has anyone ever actually "told" Mary anything? I think a more appropriate address would be something like "ComplimentMary." Or "ConsultMary."
Egad, do you think that's still an active account? I mean, if anyone's still using AOL, it would be Mary Worth...
spike Please allow me to respectfully and gently correct you: taking the Scotland out of the boy is precisely how Ian has lost so much weight. I am sure that his brisk dog-walking has contributed but the pounds would have started melting away once he left Scotland and the national diet of deep fried pizza, deep fried pies, deep fried mars bars etc. all served with heaps of chips.
The only way to stay thin with a menu like that is to become one of Scotland's many gaunt heroin addicts.
I would dearly, dearly love for Ian and Toby to visit Scotland. The Mary Worth version would surely be an absolute treasure trove of full highland dress, bagpipes, ginger hair and cries of "Och aye the noo!"
mollie: I don't know if tellmary@aol.com is still active but it was John Saunder's email address while he was alive. He was actually interested in hearing from fans and had it printed on every strip back in the day.
shandyowl: I accept your statements about the Scots diet, as I'm sure you have first-hand observation experience. (My experiences in Britain have been limited to passing through Heathrow on my way to or from the Continent.) I must diplomatically respond that Ian moved from one society that subsists on fried foods [as you would have it] to another where fried foods are consumed even more so, nay, worshipped. Please bear in mind that the United States has sucessfully exported concepts like McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken abroad so well that obesity is now a health concern in places like India and China.
Ian may have moved to California, which likes to put its well-toned best foot forward, but I can assure you that Californians are just as susceptible to obesity (and heroin addiction) as any other US inhabitant.
You'll have to excuse me--there's an extra-large, four-cheese, pepperoni, mushroom, onion deep-dish pizza calling my name from down the block, and it's almost the end of the luch hour in my part of the world. [If I'm lucky, they'll have Bass on tap as well!]
oh man, how do you come across such gems?! If only Mary Worth was like Peanuts or Garfield and every strip ever was available in book format. I would add every volume to my home library in a HEARTBEAT!
I love how much Ian's belly spreads in the office chair he's crammed himself into. And of course the vigorous pointing. He has to get his exercise somewhere.
You'll all be pleased to know that I've been fighting phishing. I got a _questionable_ email the other day that claimed my paypal account had been suspended. Toby flashed before my eyes! I went to paypal directly and forwarded the email to their security team. Today I got this:
Dear Emily ___,
Thanks for taking an active role by reporting suspicious-looking emails.
The email you forwarded to us is a phishing email, and our security team is working to disable it.
...............
I'm so proud! This one's for you Toby!
I love this strip, and I LOVE this blog. It's added an extra dimension of enjoyment to my daily reading. Last weekend I even went back and read the whole thing from the beginning (yes, really). And to think you didn't used to post every day! Thanks for your hard work in keeping this up ...
Thanks Pandagrandma for "getting" the G I Joe reference yesterday!
I think it looks like Ian has maybe gone through some anger management therapy as well as a weight lose program since the first computer encounters. Man! What anger... looks like he might punch a hole through the cathode ray tube! He seems so much more calm, but then, maybe the storm is about to blow in when the other shoe falls and he has to hear The Mary's tisk tisks
At this point I've got to believe Ms Moy knows who her audience is (us!).
Och aye, Wanders, and aren't ye the braw laddie! Thousands of thanks to you for generating such interest and daily delight on behalf of what has always been one of my favorite comics, one that heretofore seemed to get no respect! And I do wonder about Moy and Giella's take on the strip and the likes of us. Are they snarking and sputtering into their shandygaffs, or are they True Believers? Will we ever know? Thank you for all the lovely secret messages and for everything. You deserve to be nominated for a blog award. (Anyone know how to do this?)
I love the old strips. Apparently they were drawn in the era before Charterstone interiors began leaping about willy-nilly and nonsensically shape-shifting from panel to panel.
I mean, just look at that bookcase -- it stayed in almost the same place for four whole strips! Nowadays we're lucky if Mary's front door doesn't leap between opposite walls between two panels in the same strip!
And has this particular email story line been going on in the background for ten years? I mean, I know this strip drags plots out, but come on!
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