If I could sum up my general disappointment with the internet: architecture threads turn into political threads. Political threads never turn into architecture threads. At least architecture threads allow for a certain amount of humanity; you never see anyone get hysterical and cat people out of the tribe because someone mounts a qualified defense of modernism.   

The TV has informed me that a particular cereal contains one of “your favorite ‘Bee Movie’ characters.” I don’t have any. I don’t think anybody has any. I don’t think I ever will. I think I will go to my grave with a sense of general indifference towards “Bee Movie” characters. I’ve been watching the Seinfeld promos interspersed in the hour-long “Office” episodes, and while they are amusing and certainly build awareness of “Bee Movie,” they have done nothing to increase my desire to see the film and embrace a particular character who either reflects my self-image,  or manifests a trait I find attractive in others, and can enjoy from a distance, knowing I will not experience any personal repercussions that might follow from adopting the trait.

I don’t even know what the cereal was.

The TV program (G)Nat is watching, “My Gym Partner is a Monkey,” uses the background music for “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” How very strange. I use the term “watching” loosely, since she’s actually deep into some Pokemon machinations on her Nintendo. Yes, it’s a night of decompression, following a busy day: lots of school, an injection, dinner with Daddy, piano, spelling test prep. Now she is assuming the vegetative state, and that’s fine. I wish I could, but the duties are heaped in tottering stacks, and my wife is at an Event for the night. I’ve gone from one thing to the other, all the while hearing the creaks of the wood as the piled-up obligations strain against the closet door. Why, I’m so busy I will not be able to install Leopard the very first day it’s released. That’s a first.

Oh, who am I kidding. I'll be up at 3 AM tweaking preferences.

Anyway, it’s been one of those days where I find myself speed-eating the seed corn, and had no time at night to do a thing – except write tomorrow’s Buzz.mn opening, which is essentially what I would have written here. I know I've slacked off on this site this week. Tonight was a good example; could have written more, but the fingers just said NO and the brain seconded the motion. So let’s fill up the space with some more Jerry on the Job, rescued this week from the ailing Strib microfiche machine.

I reprint these because they reveal a new aspect of the Givney Flip: in 1921, he occasionally made a sound as he was pummeled or upended. He did not go quietly into that good night, or that good rolltop desk. The first example is quite stark:

No motion lines. He’s just down. A steam whistle issues his final rejoinder. Take that last panel, isolate it, put it in a time capsule, show it to someone in 100 years, ask them to reconstruct the previous panels. I wonder what you’d get.

Another example, this time with added vigor (and note how the rug changes every day):

The 180-spin upended neck-snapping kip is standard for Mr. Givney, but he is plagued by a thunderstorm thought-balloon: "buzz buzz says the bee." As with the previous strip above, the lines indicate not speech or thought but something else, something symbolic of his mental state.

Hey, where’s my advanced degree in Jazz Age Comic-Strip Semiotics?

Is the bee to which he refers one of my favorite characters?

No Diner today – it’s done, but it's a Halloween Diner, with thrills & chills etc., and I don’t believe in releasing holiday-themed specials in advance of the event. I’m just old-fashioned that way. It’ll be up Tuesday, Halloween Eve. Meanwhile:

My latest review is up at smartflix.com.