POOL PARTY! With flirting! But the dress code has certainly decayed to a new low. I mean, is that man wearing an actual swimming suit? But don't worry, Toby. You don't have to keep Ian under wraps because Ian can't fit under wraps!After consulting with the condo board, the winner of our Not-A-Real-Contest, and the reader whose day was most Mary-like, is Megan! But gosh, it was a tough decision. Mary Worth has really influenced so many of us in so many ways. We really are wonderful people, and when I read about your weekend, my faith in our species is restored.
Megan, send me an email at maryworthandme@gmail.com with your Jukebox request. All requests are subject to Condo Board approval, so you may want to listen to the jukebox for a few hours to see what kinds of things they like. (For new readers, the jukebox is located in the right column, down just a bit.)
It's almost too much of a comic throwaway, to show Wilbur belly-up to the buffet table. But gosh darn it if it isn't good to see him! And what kind of fantasy world is Toby living in, thinking that bombshell-in-yellow Nola Wolvenson ("son of wolves"?) would even give the pompous Professor Chinbeard a second glance?
ReplyDeleteCheck out the guy in the yellow suit in the background of panel one. What's he doing with his arms? Exercise, martial arts, demonstrating the length of pieces of wood he used to build his new deck (with condo board approval, I hope) ... so many possibilities. And who wears a yellow suit to a pool party? Especially since that other guy appears to be wearing his Fruit O' the Looms in public.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I love the background people in today's strip!
Wilbur! Found food! Yes!!1!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of the endless variety of beige rectangles that represent food objects at the pool party.
And congratulations, meg, although I'm sure you've already congratulated yourself, as you should!
And seriously, Nola? Who names their kids after a city abbreviation?
ReplyDeleteDakota, I can see.
And Austin, sure.
But isn't this like naming your kid "NYC?"
Wanders, thank goodness you track all the Worthiverse characters so meticulously. I vaguely remembered Delilah (hey, is that Tom Jones singing in the background?), but I had forgotten her husband, Lawrence. It sure looks like Nola has NOT forgotten him, tee hee hee!
ReplyDeleteSo many great touches in today's strip - Joe Giella has come through for all of us! Is Mary eating a kelkie? (She made them herself, you know!)
wv: ingly, which describes both yellow get-ups in today's strip.
Most of the pool parties that I have been to have an actual pool somewhere within view. I wonder if Nola Wolvenson is married to the guy in the yellow suit. They do seem to be made for each other, at least apparel-wise.
ReplyDeleteCourtesy of an error by the Dayton Daily News, I got a preview of a strip later this week, which they published by mistake last week. If anyone is worried that this plot will move too quickly...don't.
CHARTERSTONE POOL PARTY!
ReplyDeleteProof positive that good things come to those who wait.
Toby should probably see an orthopedic surgeon. I don't think it's normal for your arm to dislocate like it's doing in panel one.
Wilbur certainly is a breath of fresh air - finally! We get to see him in action once again!
ReplyDeleteAnd how, exactly, is Nola's conversing with poor Delilah's husband considered flirting? I guess at the Charterstone pool party one is only allowed to converse with other people's spouses in the presence of a chaperone.
jmernl @ 9:05 AM, I don't think the Dayton Daily News erred in printing the Nola strips prematurely. The paper's Features Editor was so sick of the preening Mary and the insufferable Smith Family, he/she took drastic action.
ReplyDeleteThe background guy is actually wearing a yellow HAZMAT suit, and waving his arms to make sure guests stay out of the Charterstone pool.
ReplyDeleteheydave@8:22-
ReplyDeleteI, meg, am not Megan, the lucky winner. I will leave the smug self-congratulatory celebrating to Megan, who is most like Mary.
Having said that, I must compliment myself on my forthright honesty in immediately correcting the false impression that I had won the non-contest.
I hope the story centers around Lawrence and Delilah. As I remember, Delilah was a Mary Worthlike expert at passive-agression. She's the most interesting story possibility.
ReplyDeleteBut Toby is delusional if she thinks Nola (or Austen or NYC or any other city/woman) would be attracted to Ian.
Nola=aloN (alone) Wolvenson = wolf = on the prowl.
ReplyDeleteGood to see that Charterstone has kept up its tradition of the annual "Come in Your Ugliest Clothing" Contest.
ReplyDeleteI think that PeeWee Herman in a yellow suit is too well-coordinated to win, and the guy in his tighty-grayies is a little embarrassing to take a really good look at.
Wilbur should win "Best Repeat" for his amoeba smock, and Nola could take the "Walks Like a Woman, Talks like a Man" prize.
I'm still waiting for Ian to appear in his caftan, which might win the "Ugliest Overall, and Over All, and Under Wraps" award. Good times...
(Man with a beard in his gray sweats looks like that photo Mary has on her side table.)
wv:panti (what to wear under a caftan, Ian, you're not in the Highlands now.)
Charlie, brilliant word-sleuthing Nola's name!
ReplyDelete@meg, I was flirting with you! Albeit in a noncommittal, where IS the pool wya.
ReplyDeleteNot at all like the lustful gaze of Wilbur, looking at his own salmon/kelkie serving as if he's going to disrobe before eating it.
Charlie - you are brilliant. Fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteIs this shades of Aldo Kelrast all over again?
Uh, I just realized (that I'm hungry and want some squares of my won): is Nola's surname intended to denote for someone sort of coyote like? Wow, these pool parties are gettin' outta hand!
ReplyDeleteMary called the cops on the thieving hippies but didn't get much out of that. Then she called the cops on the kidnapper and became a hero (in her mind anyway). I think Mary will soon be shaking Toby screaming "We need to do something!" and then calling the cops on Nola. If it worked once it's worth another try.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Toby's repulsive shoulder goiter, I find Wilbur's swollen forearm disturbing as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Mary had any leftover kelkies to bring to the party, after watching Emily scarf them down last week.
Yellow-suit-man is holding a very flat cream pie, and is about to deliver it to the face of the woman in blue.
There is a LOT of flirting going on here!
ReplyDeleteNola with Lawrence
Yellow-suit with Blue Dress
Tighty-Whitey with the palm tree
Wilbur with his waistline.
Methinks that Toby is a bit jealous, being stuck with Mary, rather than being hit upon.
Guy in background between Mr. Yellow Suit and Nola looks like a crash-test dummy. (This is my third post today - Charterstone Pool Parties excite me so.)
ReplyDelete@Mary--I think the guy you're referring to in the background is Liberace sporting a Century 21 Realty suit. Nothing but the best in entertainment for Charterstone. it will be years before we get to his passing in the Worthiverse.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'm still in awe at "Hey There" Deliah's Chiquita Banana jumpsuit.
The way 'Emmy' was pounding down those kelkies, and with Wilbur bellied up to the buffet table, we'd better hope Mary brought back Jesus' bottomless bread basket from her trip to the holy land.
(yes, it has been that kind of day thus far....)
And @ Elaine: the fact that you can say "Wilbur certainly is a breath of fresh air" (and be correct) really speaks to the state of the Worthiverse lately. It's like escaping the Costa Concordia only to find yourself in shark infested waters, liable to be eaten.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess that brings us back to Wilbur too.
It's about time for a pool party! I mean, it's almost February, but this is Santa Royale. This is the Worthiverse, where logic never applies and the kelk flows like fine wine.
ReplyDeleteOh, Toby, it's been so long. She must have been so tired from being righteous over Mary after losing her purse that she had to have a lay down for, what, six months? Welcome back, Toby!
There's something odd in the background of the second panel, to the left of the guy in the grey shirt and khaki shorts (maybe he's trying to blend in with the buffet food). Is it a disembodied arm and part of a lower leg? Is Toby's arm tumor spreading and taking over the pool party?
ReplyDeleteAnd is that Dr. Drew in the tasteful checked blue jacket?
So many potential storylines in this strip alone...how sad that most likely none of them will be developed, and we'll end up with another week or two of platitudes about Chinbeard and flirting.
--Beagle Vet, still from Goleta
Toby is going to put GPS devices on all of Ian's stuff, and set up a bunch of hidden cameras too. Maybe Toby can convince Mary to follow Ian around as well. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteJust realized who Va-Va-Voom Nola reminded me of - 40s screen siren Jane Russell! For those unfamiliar with her "look," check her out here: http://tinyurl.com/7mjj4cp The pool party just got interesting... (Not for long, I'm afraid, as Beagle Vet points out.)
ReplyDeleteToday I'm picturing one of those factory safety signs: MARY WORTH: PLATITUDE FREE FOR -1- DAYS.
Toby apparently doesn't realized that Chinbeard has already married well above his station. I'm a little concerned though that she thinks she needs to keep him 'under wraps'--does she really think that people are fawning over him.
ReplyDeleteIs that Freddy Mercury in the short shorts by Toby's shoulder (the non-tumor/goiter shoulder) in panel 1?
my third post in 1 day too...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Toby is worried because SHE was the "other woman" who stole Professor Chinbeard by shamelessly flirting with him at a previous pool party. She knows all too well where this kind of behavior can lead....
I really hope Nola doesn't end up stealing someone's identity. We've been through online fraud and stolen credit cards - time for Moy to complete the credit trifecta.
ReplyDeleteThough speaking of Moy - if you're out there reading, I'd love to see Mary go to the pen for torrenting. Just a thought.
Woe to Nola, if she sets her sights on Dr. Jeff! Mary will destroy her, then roll up the sleeves of her medium length sweater, put on a pot of tea, and make some seafood scampi, all without so much as breaking a nail!
ReplyDeleteThis is also an interesting hair strip. Toby has a new 'do, and this is the best of Wilbur's combover that we've seen in some time.
ReplyDeleteWV: Catatia. Something Mary serves at pool parties. Not sure what, but something.
mrvy @ 8:25 PM - Yes, Toby does have shorter hair, but we'll see how long it lasts...
ReplyDeleteLet's remember our proper preposition placement, Mary! Correctly, we say, "He worships the ground on which you walk." Also, we say, "On your shoulder there is growing an extra hand."
ReplyDelete@ Punky......oh my gosh!!!! It is Jane Russell!!!!
ReplyDeleteJane...er, I mean Nola, will ask the partygoers if they want to see her specially made bra. Then all heck is going to break lose!