Friday, April 17, 2009

Caught in the Comics

Today's Wonder of the World is...the Comics!

Flickr photo by MsBlueSky
Hooray for comic strips! In tough times like these, who couldn't use an extra smile or two from the funny papers?
Me, that's who!
You sweet people and your kind blog birthday wishes have made my mouth almost ache from smiling so much! Thanks, friends!
If you haven't already left a comment here, hop on over and enter the drawings. I'll pull two names around 8pm (Eastern) Sunday night and will announce the winners Monday morning.

Now, back to regular programming...
Comic strips!
You know why I have comics on the brain? Because I walked in the office last night and saw Todd at the computer, staring at this...

It's Tanner the Slobber Dog! Comic-ized!
Todd decided to put off dealing with my Honey-Do list and do something more fun instead. The bottles for his homemade scuppernong wine needed labels and mere words wouldn't suffice. Happy Dog Winery needed a good picture.
"How'd you do that?" I asked.
"I'll show you," he said, and did something very, very, very bad. He introduced me to Befunky.com.

People, I'm warning you. This is the most marvelous time sucker I've seen in a long time.
I've had WAY TOO MUCH FUN changing my whole family into cartoon characters.
See what I mean?
You bop on over to befunky.com, upload a photo, like this one for example...

of cute little three year old Sam.
Press a button labeled cartoonizer (or Worholizer or Inkify or any of the others)
and Voila!

So fun!

I've always liked comics, haven't you?
I'd sit up in my tree house and read them when I should have been cleaning my room.

Flickr photo by skipgoforth

They even taught me social skills.

Flickr photo by flintstoner80

Good grief, I learned a lot from comic strips...

Flickr photo by Conservative22
that a dog is man's best friend, to never trust a girl named Lucy, especially if she's holding a football, and that it's what's inside that counts--even with Christmas trees.

Comic strips can teach powerful lessons, but I also like them for their looks.

Photo by italiacraft.etsy.com
Find this here, at Etsy.
The vivid colors colors make me happy, and I can't get enough of POW! BAM! ZAP!

Hey! That reminds me of this French video with Jodie Foster that you absolutely MUST SEE, in which she and Claude Francois sit in a swing and sing Serge Gainsbourg's "Comic Strip." The first time I saw her on a French talk show, she blew me away with her perfect French!
If you're wondering about the lyrics, they're here, in French. She's inviting Claude to come into her comic strip with her, and all those sound effects are the pow! bam! whiz!
It could be the weirdest video you've seen lately!

You know an even more famous French comic strip?
It's the Bayeux Tapestry.

Flickr photo by carrielongcroft
Do you know about it? It's a 230 foot long piece of cloth embroidered with the story of the 1066 Norman invasion of England. So there's a little bit of history for you.
Now on to other highbrow things...
Like the Katzenjammer kids!

Flickr photo by evalichtenberger
Those naughty kids get in so much trouble.
Do you know them?
I bet you know Blondie and Dagwood...

Flickr photo by Cherish Hellfire
Sorry! I mean Lorenzo and Pepita!

We've got oodles of Tintin books at our house. Are you familiar with the boy?

Tintin was Ben's favorite bande dessinee in France. (Sorry, French accent police. Send me the bill.) We even made a special trip to visit Marlinspike Hall...

Better known as Chateau de Cheverny.
Here's some Tintin trivia for you...
What 80's British pop group was named for the two bumbling detectives in Tintin?

The Thompson twins!
Ben doesn't read Tintin much anymore. He's moved over to The Far Side.

Flickr photo by anglomac
I love it too!
So what's your favorite comic strip? Baby Blues? Sally Forth? For Better or For Worse?
How about Zits or Calvin & Hobbes? Others?
This lady would like to know!

Have a wonder-full Friday, y'all and a fabulous weekend!
And don't forget to hop over to Wednesday's post and put your name in the hat!
Love, Becky
PS. Enjoy a little bit of the Archies before you go!


20 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, I loved the Thompson Twins in the 80's! LOL! What an 80's flashback that brings up to my mind.
I used to get the Sunday paper JUST for the comics, LOL! Laughter IS the best medicine!

Thanks for the link to that cartoonizer! I may have to try that! :)

a Tonggu Momma said...

This may be an unpopular question, but when did the comics get so un-funny? I used to love reading them. Now? Not so much.

Thanks for the link!

lotusgirl said...

I'm with Tonggu Momma. Comics used to be really funny. Now not so often.

I love the Jodie Foster video! Wow her pronunciation is perfect. I'd love to see one of those interviews and hear her talking. She actually sounded more French than Claude. Hehe!

judy in ky said...

For me, Peanuts will always be a sentimental favorite. I have an idea... why don't you do a post on tree houses? (You mentioned sitting up in one and I've always wanted one.)
When I first looked at the jar being added "just to make things interesting" I thought it said "Texas".

Donna said...

What a FUN post sweetie!! A walk down memory lane! Thanks!
I've Also got a giveaway going on! Hop on over!hughugs

Adrienne said...

For some reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw this was pressing Silly Putty onto the Sunday comics and then stretching them out!
I'm with Tonggu Momma, too. There are only a couple I like now.

Suzie said...

I used to read Asterix and Obelix and Tintin when I was a kids I loved them.

Unknown said...

Ooh, wow, I can't wait to try to cartoonize some family and friends. Thanks for sharing the info.

Susan said...

I've read everything from Baby Huey to Archie and Veronica to Calvin and Hobbs. I love the look of the "funny papers" and always wanted to wrap birthday gifts in them. Great post (as usual). Take care. Susan

Kelly H-Y said...

Befunky.com ... what a riot!!! When I was younger I remember loving ... let's see ... was it "Blondie"? I think that's it. In the more recent past, I loved Dilbert!

Attic Clutter said...

Hi Becky
Oh I hope you have fun in the sun(:) Love the post especially slobber dog ...LOL
hugs, Patty

EllenP said...

We are big Tintin fans over here. Calvin and Hobbes is another favorite. And for anyone who was a kid in the '70s, you have to love Peanuts. Who didn't anxiously await the holidays just to see the Peanuts specials on tv?.

Unknown said...

OMGoodness! I totally wasted some time over there at that cartoonizer site! I even blogged about it today, LOL!

Unknown said...

Ah, these comic pictures bring back such fond memories. I used to love comics. I would buy a ton of the Snoopy ones, as well as Archie and For Better or Worse. And, the other one, Family Circus or something?

BTW, Gosh, what is it with the French and their comics??? We have a ton here.

Chris Tregenza said...

Are you aware they are making a Tintin film?

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Chris, I didn't know that! I'm off to Google it!

Anonymous said...

What fun!

CREEKSIDEMOM said...

The Archies! I loved them as a kid. I think my current favorite comic is Zits, maybe b/c we live it everyday! LOL
Jill

Sara's Sweet Surprise said...

Humor cures all my ails. Ever since I hit menopause, I've had to rely on it continually!

Sweet wishes,
Sara

Unknown said...

Man, do I love comics! It started off in childhood with Little Lulu, Richie Rich, Archie, Donald Duck....Now I love online comics too! Thanks for sharing!