Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for December 04, 2013

It’s Viola!

Well, at least she isn’t playing something (as Petey “Potterpoop” was concerned about) loud like an 1812 Overture cannon.

I realize it’s a comic strip, and even in the strip this is an elementary school band, but for the record, clarinets don’t generally go next to the percussion section. They go up front. We tuba players hung with the drums.

Nice hat, Alice.

that kid is going to have serious back problems…what in Hell does he carry in that backpack?

There she is again! Viola’s xylophone may not be too upsetting to Petey, but her propinquity alone may unnerve our sensitive eight-year-old hero.

Despite her 4 mallets, Viola’s certanly a beginner. She’s standing on the wrong side of the instrument…

She has a certain vibe about her…

Voila!

Viola’s instrument looks like a marimba, which is a certain type of xylophone.

As a former oboe player, I can say with confidence that oboes usually sit up front, not in the back, but do recall sitting right in front of the trumpets a lot.

Kids today do not have lockers in many schools, so they end up carrying much more around with them. Some schools can afford to buy a second set of books for home use, but not all of them.

I played the radio . . . but I couldn’t keep it in tune.

It’s always nice to have a “bully” that you can’t smack.

Oh, dear, they sat him next to the concussion section.