Sometimes the answers are right in front of you… Follow the squirrels, they seem to know what they’re doing. Poco has *not* been replaced by a squirrel… I’ve just been in a squirrel mood lately. Poco will return.
There are two great Zoos in Chicagoland: Lincoln Park and Brookfield. I took the synonyms of “brook” and “field” and came up with Meadowcreek. Clever little shit sometimes, aren’t I? I felt I should come up with a different name then just using the actual zoo names. Besides, some of the employees are being depicted as less then nice people, so making up a name sounded like a good way to avoid cease and desist letters too.
The Hollies cranked out a lot of AM hits in the 60s and into the 70s, charting with “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” as the group was finally breaking up. Lead singer Allan Clarke went on to do some great vocal work for the Alan Parson’s Project. Today’s pop tune is mainly about a guy who marries some chick he meets at a bus stop who essentially takes his umbrella (and eventually all his cash after they wed and then divorced… but I’m reading a lot into the lyrics).
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Love the early Hollies stuff. ‘Bus Stop’ was written for them by a very young Graham Gouldman (later of 10cc) and judging by his later lyrics you could well be right…
LOL! You’re probably right! It’s funny but I remember more about the 60s then I do the 70s… wonder how that is?
🙂
Really, the squirrel should have been a duck, or a goose, now shouldn’t it? Chelveston was a mainstay with Ray Raynor and Garfield goose anchored Garfield and Friends all through the ’70’s. Lester Fisher always brought and animal in on the Ray Raynor show. I forget which zoo he was from, but it was always cool to see Mr. Fisher and Ray chattin’ up an animal…I’m jus’ sayin’…
HUGE bonus points to ANYONE who remembers Ray Rayner. Ate breakfast with him for years. Loved him as Oliver O’Oliver on Bozo too. He did that Dick Tracy thing in the afternoons too. That guy was busy over at WGN. I think they ate Chelveston after the last episode…
🙂
For all the time I spent out in the Yoosay, you’d think I’d have heard of these people/characters/shows, but no. Or is it a Chicago thing?
Nope, entirely local personalities, except for the Bozo the Clown Show which was done all over the country by local Bozos. But the Chicago Bozo was the most famous one and the others sucked by comparison. Google Bob Bell Bozo and you’ll see what I’m talking about. The Chicago Bozo voice was the basis for Krusty the Klown on the Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer and Krusty) grew up in Chicago and loved Bob Bell’s Bozo. Small world…
🙂
Yep, if you didn’t live in Chicago in the 60s and 70s, you’d have no idea what the heck it is we’re talking about.
Heh, fair enough. It’s also worth noting that we never had a telly. Not that I probably would have watched it if we did! 🙂
I didn’t realized Lorraine was around in…ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.!
Hey, a Harryhausen-version of the fire-breathing lizard would be awesome.
Well, if you remember, Bud was contacted by a “Doc Brown” type from 1957 with his time traveling TV set. That may come back someday and Lorraine could very well end up, well, needing to get Back to the Future.
😛
your squirrel faces remind me of the “happy” grinch.
Well, from the number of comments, I’d say my readers are not into cute squirrels either… Man, poor Jeff. The lead guitarist too… (leads always score well with the chicks… but not bassists… damn).
Yeah, the Grinch was a cool looking character. Loved the way Chuck Jones brought him to life.
“(leads always score well with the chicks… but not bassists… damn).”
I guess nobody ever told Bill Wyman about that 😛
Nice pinup Byron!
Huh. In the late eighties I was doing the same thing as this guy in your strip. ‘Cept I was hitch-hiking to and from work in a more rural setting, walking miles, waiting for the bus and walking when I got tired of waiting. Somehow I managed to stay employed most of the time, but transport was always an issue.
Not like that anymore. I’m always amazed when I get in my paid for late model truck and drive to my teaching job.
Jeff’s so poor, he can’t even pay attention…
Nice one.
Jeff gets a job at the zoo, hijinks ensue. This could go on for a year or three… Do I “smell” an animal rescue arc coming along, tied in with his alter ego ..? 😉
I actually lived in Chicago in 1977, just a mile or so from the Arlington Race Track. Used to bicycle all over that area for several summers as a young padewan. Can’t remember the exact year without googling it up, but we got whammered by about 7 feet of snow in a single, fast storm once. Started on a Friday and by Sunday the skies were blue and the temp plunged to something like -35/-40°F with a windchill of ~-115-ish°F. Stood at the bus stop in that on Monday morning (~-135-ish°F windchill overnight/that morning) and had a ‘normal’ school day. Try to imagine that happening in today’s world. That was the same storm that continued East and buried Buffalo, NY in something like 10 or 12 more feet of snow after it was done with us and had crossed Lakes Michigan & Erie.
Actually, what I remember most was the incredible sledding that week, and building snow forts, then pouring water on them and turning them into solid walls of ice. Happened to be doing a bit of shoveling that week & had lots of supply … 😀
Bus Stop, by the way, was also a really awesome local band in the Raleigh-Chapel Hill are of North Carolina in the early 1990’s. Really progressive grooves and some fantastic original music, sort of a ska-ish, jazzy punk mix. Still have a few of their CDs around somewhere.
Late-to-the-Party – Sorry I missed out on the 1 million BC Lorraine art thread! RL getting intense as the winter closes in right now … but, dang! That some hawtness to keep you warm!
It looks like his back’s against the writing on the wall. 😀