Speaking of comic strips that could be featured here just about every day, Frazz is one of the most consistently intelligent, funny and thought-provoking cartoons out there. Jef Mallett, who not only competes in triathlons but has written (and, of course, illustrated) a book about them, does sometimes hit on physical fitness more often than other themes, but he keeps it humorous and it's a topic we could all use a little nagging about anyway.
F'rinstance, today's cartoon. I'm at an age where I will confess to looking up my family tree rather than down at the scale to try to predict how long I'm likely to be around, but, in general, I don't much care for anecdotal evidence as a back-up to bad habits.
"My grandfather (smoked a pack a day/began each morning with six eggs/whatever) and he lived to be 95!" Yes, and he also split his own firewood every day, plowed behind a mule, walked any errand under three miles, pitched hay, mucked out stalls and didn't watch a whole lot of TV.
I can't claim a particularly healthy lifestyle, but I have cut the fastfood visits down to maybe one every 10 days or so. Oddly enough, however, the allure of this stuff is such that the puppy, who has only been with me for three months, already gets upset when we go to the ATM because it doesn't dispense french fries. It does not take a lot of experience or intelligence to figure out that, when you pull up to something and roll down your window, you should get a delicious treat.
McDonald's is beginning to offer healthier food, mind you, but you have to use the secret handshake and use the password before they'll actually serve it. And remember that, in the McUniverse, not only is "healthier" a pretty good distance from "healthy," but they make an effort to see that anything that threatens to actually be healthy becomes junk food instead, as this NYTimes article on McOatmeal demonstrates.
So Frazz is the wise one today, but I'm sure he'll get his tomorrow. What keeps the strip from becoming preachy is its consistent good humor and refusal to take even its title character seriously. Everyone at Bryson Elementary gets a turn to be skewered for logical inconsistency or hidden motives, which gives it a realistic feeling that makes the jokes resonate.
If only it came with french fries ...
Today's Arlo and Janis has a similar theme, but definitely in JJ's style.
Posted by: f | 02/24/2011 at 09:29 AM