Heh heh. Jeff just called Mary Worth a Luddite. She is afraid of technology. Because Jeff spends a lot of time reading, he knows that the Luddites were a group of early 19th century workers who went around destroying machines they perceived to be taking away their jobs. They took their name from their folkloric hero, Ned Ludd,who apparently was an idiot who smashed a weaving machine because he preferred using his needles. Mary Worth, like Ned Ludd, is too stupid to see the benefits of Jeff's new Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology
and tomorrow she will smash Jeff's portable reading device to pieces over his highly educated head.In other (slow death) news: The Central Illinois Post-Gazette has announced it will no longer print Mary Worth. In their classifieds section. Boy, talk about being tossed off the garbage scow. Not fit for the classifieds? You may want to post a comment on their blog and let them know that they have no sense of humor at the Post Gazette. I mean, how could a comic strip that just spent an entire week discussing differing opinions about the Kindle not be genius funny?
Today's Full Strip
I'd like to argue on Mary's behalf! Personally, the idea of a Kindle is not exactly appealing. I mean, there's nothing wrong if YOU want one, Jeff, but stop pressuring poor Mary into using yours! Some of us just prefer the feel of paper and the smell of musty pages and ink; I know I do.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, did we just see a bit of passive-aggressive behavior coming from Dr. Jeff??? Could it be that he's been harboring these ill feelings towards Mary all these years, and he can no longer hold back the flood of emotions? This might still be good, if only they'd run with this one!!
ReplyDeleteJeff should wait awhile before he proposes to Mary again.
ReplyDeleteIf they're devoting this much time to rehashing the book/Kindle argument, they must be really intent on not showing us the tawdry underbelly (as it were) of the honeymoon escapades.
ReplyDeleteWhich I highly appreciate.
I think I prefer Wilbur and Kurt, skipping gaily through the woods to the book vs. Kindle yawnfest/clash.
ReplyDeleteMary should lead a Kindle-burning mob of white-haired ladies through town. Now that would be exciting!
...Well, not really.
"You, sir, are the luddiot."
ReplyDeleteI hope someone explains to Karen how funny the strip has become. Otherwise, I'm afraid she will never know.
ReplyDeleteActually, this is a pretty common divide among seniors. At one point, I was really concerned that my father's embrace of the Internet, coupled with my mother's total resistance, might bring an end to 55 years of wedded bliss.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's probably time for a Mary and Jeff break-up/make-up storyline. It's been a couple of years, I think.
Let the name-calling begin! It's going to be a slippery slope now and Jeff had better grab his citizen cane on the way down!
ReplyDeleteHow can Jeff possibilly consider remaining in a relationship with a Luddite.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Jeff will end up becoming a late-in-life hipster, now that he's embracing technology? Maybe he'll start hanging around Moonbucks, nursing a latte while reading artsy books on his Kindle... Growing out his hair & beard, Beatnik style. Wearing Birkenstocks, retro rock band t-shirts & skinny jeans, acting all Emo... It could happen!
ReplyDeleteIsn’t this, after all, the Worthiverse, where time and space are of a different dimension? Cars and faces morph from one panel to the next; windows appear and disappear; trees turn into lightposts; furniture moves about at will, and clothing changes while the person is wearing it. Why does anyone here need a Kindle or any such backward “technology”--don’t they simply read by osmosis?
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the chosen panel this morning I read it too fast, and thought Jeff was saying "Shut yourself! Your Luddite self!" to Mary! Which he kinda WAS saying...
ReplyDeleteLove the "Slow Death" label this morning, Wanders. Which is of course what we are all experiencing. Hey, it's Mary's world, we're all just dying of boredom in it.
And thanks for the "comment of the day" nomination, trixietrudy - I felt honored!
Let the name calling begin.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps Jeff is calling Mary a Luddite because she drooled over Allen Ludden, the host of Password, for many years, dreaming that he would one day whisper that special password into her ear.
Does that make Betty White a Luddite, too?
I agree that it's time for A) a storyline featuring Mary as the main character for a change, and B) a breakup between Mary and Jeff. After all, we've had two romances in a row, buzzy feelings and all. On with the discord!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my 91-year-old father just got an iPad. If he can embrace technology, Mary certainly can!
Has anyone considered that maybe Mary doesn't like electronic portable reading devices because their plastic cases give off noxious smoke at the book burnings?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Mary is probably missing the efficiency in that she could simultaneously burn several raunchy books (think 'Huckleberry Finn', 'The Catcher in the Rye', 'Elmo Goes to the Doctor') at the same time.
Projected storyline -
ReplyDelete1. Mary and Jeff break up.
2. Adrian defends Daddy, Scott defends Mary. Discord between the newlyweds ensures.
3. Mary and Jeff, distraught with guilt for causing Trouble in Paradise, reconcile and agree that each can enjoy literature in their chosen way.
4. Adrian and Scott reconcile, following the elders' good example.
5(A). All's well that ends well. OR.....
5(B). Jill cusses them out, because she has couples' counseling experience.
Either way, a trip to the Bum Boat will likely be involved.
Talk about your newfangled technologies! Today's Google ad on Mary Worth and Me was for Kindle! How do they DO that?
ReplyDeletemy bookcase is totaly full i could surely use a kindle and will get one soon seeing how i dont think the price will go any lower . but this story is crazy . like what hair dye is dr jeff using because he looks 20 years younger then mary and only weird guys want woman 20 years older . oops forgot jeff is weird
ReplyDeleteIsn't this the Maryverse where shapes shift and colors change? So, you wouldn't need a Kindle. You just need one book and it would morph into what ever story you want.
ReplyDeleteJeff is going to become a huge technophile. He'll be out getting an iPod, an iPad, an iPhone, etc. (This strip brought to you by Apple.)
ReplyDeleteMary has a computer?! Mary has a cell phone?! Ok, it's a Commodore 64 and a Jitterbug, but wow!
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, does this mean the reel-to-reel hi-fi from Scott's hospital stay is in danger of being upgraded to an ipod (or to take smaller steps, a boombox)?
Jeff, remember that this is the woman who stated "There are always wants, but rarely needs." Now why don't you pick an arguement about something more important, like the correct way to hang a roll of toilet paper?
ReplyDeleteMary certainly picks and chooses her preferences in technology. For one thing, her left implant has shifted all the way to her collarbone.
ReplyDeleteThis is getting scary! I just received an e-mail from my library system, offering hands-on introduction on how to use e-reader devices in case I "got one for Christmas and don't know what to do with it." Should I reply back that I'm a Luddite and don't appreciate such demon devices? Or should I go with Jeff's camp and embrace this new technology? After all, I would no longer need to carry my heavy, heavy books everywhere I go. I'm so confused!
ReplyDeleteThis story line may be lame, but as long as it keeps us out of Scott & Adrian's hotel room, I'm totally fine with it.
ReplyDelete@Shmoopie - I'm beginning to think these so-called "e-reader" devices are designed to suck out our souls, or maybe beam radar beams into our brains for mind control!
ReplyDeleteSadly, Jeff has already succumbed, but if she can resist, it's not to late for Mary and her gray books!!
It appears your library is embracing this eeeevil plot, too! Whatever you do, beware of your local "FRIENDS" of the library group, LOL!
Re: Sunday 1/30 strip. Well now Mary and Jeff are being all mature. No name calling. I feel foolish thinking this would be a "break-up" storyline.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I suspect that Moy is trying to see just how boring the strip can get before she loses her last two dozen readers. I almost think she's boring herself to tears and hopes to lose the faithful few so she can hang it up.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat one, birdie@6.51p.
ReplyDeleteYou may have indeed uncovered the reason for this really lame story line. (If anything in the Worthiverse can be termed a "storyline"...)
Darn, I wanted to see Mary and Jeff's relationship go to the brink of disaster ... and back, of course, since this is the WORTHiverse, Anything but this product placement nightmare. A girl can dream, can't she?
ReplyDeleteMonday AM: Props to tuffenuf, who totally called the newest twist in the storyline, with "I think I prefer Wilbur and Kurt, skipping gaily through the woods to the book vs. Kindle yawnfest/clash."
ReplyDeleteCareful what you wish for, Worthy peeps!