Reject du jour: for the birds
(image: carolita johnson)
I’ve tried to force this one upon The New Yorker long enough. Of course this is one of those cartoons that I have personally chortled over many a time. Maybe they figure that’s pay enough for me. My friend Crawford is always reproaching me for laughing at my own jokes (like he doesn’t do the same! ha! double-ha!), and since he doesn’t appreciate my sense of humor, I see no harm in enjoying a little mirth on my own. He, after all, doesn’t have to pay for it, like The New Yorker does. (When they feel like buying a cartoon, that is!)
This one’s for all you birds and bird-watchers out there. Yes, I know, they’re not really anatomically correct mockingbirds, but they are mocking, and they’re birds!
August 4th, 2006 at 12:52 am
Reject du jour: for the birds
nice..
August 5th, 2006 at 5:20 am
I always laugh at my own jokes too. I think it’s because I have exactly the same sense of humour as me.
But I have to confess to being completely baffled by the above cartoon. I know that the act of explaining a joke always kills it, but please… could someone explain it to me?
(Feeling stupid)
August 8th, 2006 at 12:42 am
Ahem. Well, the birds are mocking the two humans who are bird-watching them, the woman has just said, “ooh look jerry, a pair of mockingbirds,” and the mockingbird has just imitated her!
August 8th, 2006 at 7:41 am
I feel really stupid now! This is one case where the act of explaining the joke didn’t kill it – I laughed when I saw it was the birds doing the talking and not the woman.
Why didn’t I get it the first time? Is it because the caption is closer to the humans than to the birds? Or is it just because I’m dumb? I suspect the latter.
August 8th, 2006 at 9:15 am
No, please! you’re not dumb!
It’s just one of those cartoons where you have to look again. Is that bad? Or is that good? I think it’s just that maybe adults need a little “where’s waldo” every now and then!
(I did make a big effort to make the bird look like he was talking, and keep the humans’ mouths shut. Maybe not enough?)