Gil Gets His Dig(g)s In

One of our Central City protestors (the Tommie Smith/John Carlos descendant) gets a name and becomes as central to the plot as any Milford girl.  The “other item” Gil was shaking Skip down for must have been her name and digits. I leave it to the readership to discuss the propriety of what Skip and Gil have done. Suffice it to say it doesn’t leave a very good taste in my mouth.

I’m assuming Gil’s convo with, I’m assuming, Ryan will pick up tomorrow with, I’m assuming, what Gil said to Ms. Diggs after appreciating her “taking a stand” that wasn’t written here.  Odds are it will involve some gentle variation on “keep your ****in’ mouth shut.”

From the Pantheon of Mysterious Objects Dept.: Diagonally striped thing above and to the right of the GIL mug (or is it below and to the right? I can’t tell); backdrop of P3 (they’re standing outdoors, presumably; is it a huge backstop, more Prairie Style Windows, or what?).

Good News Is Trouble-Free

Well, the mystery of Skip Farrow wrapped up pretty quickly. Speaking of, Skip sure does have an interesting take on the situation. Since everybody except the Cane is graduating, there shouldn’t be any issues… And, since graduation should’ve happened about a month ago, we really should be in the clear.

Bonus points:

The ‘leader’ of the ‘protest’ is almost as tall as Skip.

I love the clock on the window in panel one.

Bonus questions:

What is on the back of that student’s shirt?

Why does Skip have to call Gil from a wall phone?

What is supposed to be displayed over the window in panel two? I’m thinking worst drawing of the solar system ever.

Detective Work?

What does Mimi’s question in Panel 1 mean? Is she asking if Gil can hold Ryan out of a game without letting anyone know that they know what the protest was all about? Ryan knows that Thorp knows but who else will know if Ryan doesn’t make the trip to Central? Shouldn’t Gil discuss that with Ryan and his parents? Gil should swing by again so they know what the heck he is doing. Ugh, this plot.

How long is Mimi’s right arm? Is Gil a little peeved at the hand on his shoulder? (Maybe he’s confused about who this lady with the long arm and the face like a clenched fist is. Panel 2: phew, it’s Mimi with a levitating lemonade. )

Okay, Skip Farrow is a totally new name here, as far as I know. Who is he and why does Gil need him to do detective work? Is he an actual detective or just a friend of Gil’s who enjoys wearing fake moustaches, hanging around hotel lobbies and peeking in windows?

Skip Farrow is the best name for a detective since Richie Brockelman.

 

Blooper Reel

Daftpunk can’t run her precious little hit piece on Ryan, so she quits the school paper.  Ryan gets rattled when Central girls troll him about an event that (according to his parents) wasn’t all that, so he loses his mojo and quits on the mound. Now the rest of the Milford baseball team quits all around him and the season goes down the crapper. Gil’s quit on his team too: relying on hope and working on his grilling technique, he could give two shits about the rest of the season. Yo Gil, out here in the real world, winners eat steaks, losers eat franks and beans. (By the way, what the hell is Gil wearing on his wrist? Is he talking to Dick Tracy on that thing? Maybe he’s talking with that talking baseball with EES in P1. And what the complete hell is with his hand with integrated spatula?)

Even the color monkeys phoned it in on this one: they didn’t color the Jefferson player or whatever it is Mimi’s got in that pitcher (and don’t tell me it’s straight Everclear). I’m beginning to get the idea that the Whigrub brain trust has run out of ideas on how to wrap this arc up; not saying they’ve quit on it yet, but it’s starting to feel that way.

I’ve been on the road all day to Bakst country and just arrived only a few minutes ago.  I almost quit on this post for today, so I hope you’ll forgive me for its brusque nature.

 

The Full Story

Panel two is nearly the full Milford… Prairie style windows? Check. Freak hands? Check. Chunky Bracelets? Check. The rare bare midriff? Check. If only Dafne was registering her dismay with a case of EES, we’d have perfection.

Bonus pat myself on the back: I have continued to avoid the temptation to make a Risky Business joke based on Ms. Rizk’s name…

Maybe, But Does Ryan Have a Super Bowl Ring?

Today’s big highlight is getting to watch Papa Van Auken morph from Dabney Coleman into Carl Brutananadilewski. Holy crap where did his eyelids go? Between Pop’s chest slap and summoned rage and Mom’s agitated temple rubbing, the Van Aukens are starting to pile it on in defense of their son. Granted the Valley is full of gossips with nothing better to do than play telephone and potentially ruin some kid’s life, but dad’s overreacting a bit himself. It’s not like Alyssa and Ryan got married or anything.

is Gil gonna buy their version of the “Ryan hit Alyssa” story? Will he wait to get straight from the ‘Cane’s mouth? Or is a road trip to Central City to meet Alyssa in order? Those don’t often work out well for Milfordians…

Van Auken? More Like MacGuffin

For the record:

Last time the strip featured a player in uniform: May 16 (well, practice uniforms)

Last time the strip featured a player in uniform in action: May 13

Last time the strip featured a player in uniform in action that was not celebrating something that already happened but was not depicted: May 6

Ms. Rizk’s hair going from blonde to light auburn (in the same Seattle PI version of the strip) is the most action we’ve seen since.

I’ve sat here for the last half hour trying to suss out whether Dafuq’s pursuit of the “Van Auken hit a girl” lead is a MacGuffin or a red herring (if the latter, today’s post title would have been “Red Ruffing? More Like Red Herring”) or neither, or if it’s Ms. Rizk that’s trying to turn it into one . Suffice it to say that, despite Rizk’s efforts to nip it in the bud Dafunk will still pursue the lead until a Coach Thorp (Mimi most likely this time) nips it for good.

I’ve put too much thought into this post for it to make as little sense as it does. Off to work…

Change my pitch up

The big question on all of our minds today: Can the names of juvenile offenders be published in a newspaper? The big answer: Typically, yes, but it depends.

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that reporters’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights outweigh a state’s interests in protections relating to the rehabilitation of juveniles. This means that if a reporter lawfully obtains the names of juveniles involved in crimes, the reporter may publish the names of the juveniles.

In many states, juveniles involved in juvenile proceedings are protected by laws modeled after the Model Juvenile Court Act. If the person in question falls within the definition of a juvenile, court records and law enforcement records involving the juvenile will not be made available to reporters, with some exceptions. If the juvenile is tried as an adult, certain items can be printed and disclosed to the public. Additionally, information collected by newspapers and individuals that includes information released by the courts or the police is not considered criminal history record information and is not treated as protected information. On the other hand, reporters are not allowed access to juvenile court records, or law enforcement records, with narrow exceptions.

Okay, enough of that; I’m not here to turn TWIM into some kind of law journal.  I’m not sure if Rubin’s dark change-up (and we’ve seen a series of them over the past year or so) is a feint to throw us snarkers off the scent, a Batiuk-style ploy to land a Reuben Award, or a veiled cry for help.  Young men hitting young women is certainly nothing to snark about.  Thank goodness we can still snark about close talkers, bizarre perspective, giant earrings, and tiny hotel pens held in giant freak hands.