Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for July 31, 2023

XX, XY.

Yes, there is a big difference between men and women!

I don’t understand what Gene and Arlo are talking about? Is this something to do with American sports?

Different worlds barely touching each other, but what a touch!!

This one is classic !

Gene is just giving him an opening to talk about last night’s home run derby.

Arlo and Janis each have their own ideas about relaxation.

I really enjoyed the pounding…of the surf

sounds like there was romance but no Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka

…and exactly where they belong. GO BREWCREW!

And just wait until hurricane season.

The “cards” are the Cardinals. The Pirates are the Pittsburg Pirates. Both baseball teams.

Baseball is the sweet science. So much goes on under the surface and is strategic and psychological. For instance, the style and timing of a pitcher can determine whether he is easier to steal a base on. Some batters simply have a hard time hitting against certain pitchers while others can mess with the pitcher’s mind. Where is the next pitch coming from, curve, slider, breaking ball, fast ball? Even though the game has been sped up, I liked the old way just to see the mind jobs that were played.

I never thought about it as a midwesterner, but there are fewer teams in the south and many southern states with no baseball teams. I would have thought Arlo a Braves fan, but I can see how St. Louis would be a viable choice for someone from Mississippi.

From “City Slickers”:

Bonnie Rayburn : [listening to the guys talk baseball] Ugh, baseball.

Phil Berquist : So, what do you and your friends talk about out there?

Bonnie Rayburn : Well, real life. Relationships. Are they working? Are they not? Who’s she seeing? Is that working?

Ed Furillo : No contest. We win.

Bonnie Rayburn : Why?

Ed Furillo : Honey, if that were as interesting as baseball, they’d have cards for it and sell it with gum.

They want Janis and Arlo to buy the condo.

Had no idea Arlo was a fellow Cardinals fan!

If the cartoonist lives in Mississippi and is of an age, it comes down to two things, a regional state pride that makes rooting for Atlanta or Houston teams unpalatable…..secondly Radio and early TV broadcasting habits. The Cardinals dominated Radio across the South for years before cable tv (only two tv channels in most of Mississippi in the 60’s when I lived there). While every Afternoon Cardinal game played in Barber shops, mechanic’s garages, hardware stores all across the South. Early TV Broadcast rules also “blacked out” most regional games, but the Cardinals and oddly enough the Cubs could be seen all over the South. Go Arlo.

Not nearly as bad as the Rockies, though. They’re in Rock Bottom, yuck yuck.

Baseball and thanks Jimmy for reminding me of the Pirates futility even in a daily comic

There’s also a different, unsettling point to this strip. I can’t imagine that a father-in-law would ever say anything to his son-in-law that would even remotely hint about about the father-in-law’s sex life.

If JJ is correct (and the comments above seem to indicate that he is), a mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law have no difficulty doing that.

Is that truly the case? I’ve been married for 48 years, and I still don’t know much about the secret world of women.

So, what was the surprise that Mary Lou mentioned over the phone???

I love how Jimmy has drawn Janice in the 2nd panel — her eyes are wonderfully expressive, matching her speech. Masterfully done!

Go Pittsburgh!

At least my Braves are playing well.

I don’t know what Johnson’s lead time is on this strip, but the Cards and Pirates are still at the bottom of their division.

There was a time before baseball expansion in the 1960’s when the radio signal for St Louis covered much of the South and the Cardinals were popular over a wide portion of the midwest and south. Also, there were not any teams beyond Kansas City.

Baseball

One of the reasons (among many) that husband and I get along -

Back when dating and in the early years of our marriage we would get together at the house of a couple we went to college with and other friends from same. I noticed one evening that husband was in the kitchen with the wives and I was in the living room with the husbands.

We are each odd in our way and it meshes together.