Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 14, 2015

Eating a chili pepper takes you to a mean trip to the toilet.

LOL, es muy picante!!! Maybe Luis conveniently “slipped” him the pepper as a way of driving home an object lesson. And not a boring old one, either, but a real spicy object lesson….

…Well, that’s as much as Greg is ever going to admit that Gunther officially loved Rosa. Really, truly loved her.

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Taste Buds” (♫)“Calling For 15 Inches Of Scoville”“You Mad, Habanero?”“Moruga…Jamaica…. Ooh, I Wanna Take Ya…” (♫)“A Sneak Pic-ante”“Goin’ To Carolina Reaper In My Mind” (♫)“It Never Rains In Southern Caliente” (♫)“Love Is Like Oxygen… And Water…..” (♫)“Some Like It Not Hot” (♫)“Infer-no Cakewalk” or“Drinking Water Like It’s Your Job”

We always called them Mexican pickles, I love them. If they are hot going in, they will be hotter coming out.

“So… am I the weak side?”“Yeah, pretty much.”

Fa*t sparks and set fire to the rug, Gunth! Eat ice cream for dessert, so in the morning you can cheer it on — Come on, ice cream!!!

Mocha Jalapeno Turkish Espresso Frappe Chai Latte, Extra Foam and Chilles…….

Trying too hard to sound wise?

Gunth is about to grab Luis’ cerveza right out of his hand.

Done in by a pepper? No, no this can’t be the high adventure I was waiting for.

Do not underestimate the power of the spicy side of The Force!

This ain’t gonna be good….

So we didn’t have an encounter with aliens on the road who messed up Gunther’s brain. It must happen to him after he lands in the hospital, in extreme agony from eating that pepper…

There is the weak side, the dumb side and eating that pepper might be the suicide.

Now we know where Gunther’s facial stubble comes from.It shot out of his face after eating that pepper.(And before you get started, black coffee won’t help.)

Heatwave, “Too Hot To Handle” Kool and the Gang, “Too Hot”Nick Gilder, “Hot Child In The City”Glenn Frey, “The Heat Is On”Pat Benatar, “Fire And Ice”

Dave’s Ghost Pepper Sauce. My personal favorite hot sauce.

Yes….this looks like it could lead to the transformation….and yes, I think it is Cerveza. (IamJayBluE- Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is one step away from ketchup.)

That’s the McPepper, sold only at McDonalds in Peru. It’s not an actual pepper, just made up of pepper parts, fillers and artificial colors and flavors.

You think eating them is bad, in collegeI worked in a restaurant that specialized in D*mn Hot Spicy Food (That was how it read on the menu). You had to sign a waiver before you could be served.

New guy in the kitchen forgot to wear gloves while cutting up peppers, he then went to the restroom and forgot to wash his hands first. Found him curled up and crying on the floor with burn spots on his privates. He ended up in the E.R.

Another guy there never used gloves and ended up having one of his thumbs turn green from bare contact with the peppers we used. He eventually lost the thumb. Year after I left the place was shut down by lawsuits.

I’ve experienced my share of HOT peppers over the years and the Pepperoncini that Papa Johns Pizza delivers is so HOT, I avoid eating there.

Who knows?Perhaps Gunther might actually enjoy it!

Seat of the moment?

Hey, it’s like a PG version of a Breaking Bad scene with Mike and Jesse

Love the signs in the restroom to wash your hands before you go to the bathroom!

Gunthers problem is he sees the failure of the relationship as his fault. He looks at himself and see’s only short-comings. Rosa was a girl with tunnel vision. She saw one goal and was going to do whatever was necessary to achieve it. Gunther was not a part of her plan and therefore not necessary. His decision to leave was both strong and correct. No guy wants to play second fiddle to a girls desire to do menial labor.

Borrowing from The Simpsons?

That’s why I eat the peppers.

I did the same “macha” thing at a friend’s house in high school, but with an habanero pepper.*Made a woman out of me.

That pepper explains the beard.

So ashamed and bored of this story arc… as someone else suggested; lets just move on to Brad and Toni… or even go back to TJ and see what he’s doing… Evans has lost himself in stupidity here… Book-smarts does not equal common sense…Gunther definitely lacks one of those qualities… which is why he will always lose out even after winning a girl like Rosa out of sheer blind luck… then losing her to his insecurities and Oedipal complex.

If Evans is trying to save this story, he’s beat that horse into dust…

I disagree with you in regards to the eating timeframe and also the eating of a pepper…. I think Greg has done a great job with this week’s effort. I like the idea of a “sort-of” road trip with Luis and Gunther. Luis seems to be a really nice fellow, and he is being something of a “father-figure” for Gunther at the moment. I am enjoying this arc greatly.

If you eat Guatemalan Insanity Peppers, you may end up on a vision quest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Viaje_Misterioso_de_Nuestro_Jomer_%28The_Mysterious_Voyage_of_Homer%29

Here is the Comma I missed. ,

Yes Gunther was certainly the weaker of the two, however as it relates to their love for eachother I’d have to say Rosa was the weaker.

Thank goodness Luis is there to revive Gunther and cart his half-dead carcass to the airport….

Now we know what put those whiskers on Gunthy’s manly jaw. . .

Dave:

Wow! Very impressive! Thank you for showing it to me!

With any luck, Evans will steal the Simpsons magic pepper story line…

I disagree with the notion that there is so extreme urgency in the timeframe… so much so that they cannot stop for a timely meal. I interpret yesterday more akin the idea that there is a time frame to get to the airport, but that Luis said it is doable. He and/or Gunther were hungry, and BRIEFLY stopped for a quick meal. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I guess I am disagreeing with you in your assertion that Greg has either a) created a rip in the fabric of space and time (I am of course exaggerating a bit), or b) he has ruined the story arc by having profound timeline errors. I am saying that I think yesterday and today do flow adequately together.

Luis has only to worry about getting Gunther to the airport counter by 6 o’clock. wherever they stop for food and bathroom breaks or putting gasoline is irrelevant as long as Luis feels secured he can get to the airport before 6 o’clock, something will happen that trounces the planned arrival at the airport by 6 o’clock

It is a six hour trip and Luis, who has driven it many times presumably, says there is plenty of time. Then he says he will drive faster. Then think about this in terms of the Sheriff’s hint.

Yes. Preferably go or at least keep it to yourself, 2013.

I think Gunther is about to REALLY experience Peru and Luis is the father figure never had. I sense a tequila binge coming. Luis is going to give Gunther his cuervos.

How it actually sounded:http://www.gocomics.com/comic/explore/1103726/2

Actually, the red Peruvian pepper is known as Rocoto. And they call beer “chelas”.

I don’t like that they did this to Gunther….makes him just seem like he can’t grow and move on…and the fact that he is upset about his mom dating is just ugh.

Methinks this is when he starts growing hair on his face…

“Eating a long lunch and assuming that nothing will go wrong is a horrible idea, but that’s what you get with Luis and his fortune cookie wisdom.”.So now we’re down on the Chinese, too?We don’t like anybody do we?.Luis stopped to eat. He ate to regain his strength while resting. Maybe it’s a long lunch. Maybe it’s a short lunch. But we figure Luis is too feeble minded to know how much time he needs or how to make the trip he makes weekly?.It’s a wonder Gunther survived the trip with everything stacked up against him.

“Today, beer is considered good and healthy in moderation.”.And the immoderate are considered stinking drunks and losers.

“That drink won’t help him one bit.”.True. Milk would be a better aid.

“Gunther does not randomly pick up peppers and eat them without thinking. It’s lazy writing if Gunther has to become a completely different person to eat your plot device. It needs to be plausible, like he eats it on accident.”.Gunther is derided if he does the same old thing day after day.Gunther is derided if he does anything different, since that is out of character.Gunther if derided if he goes on an adventure.Gunther is derided if he decides he has had enough adventure..Poor Gunther.

@Chuck374“No guy wants to play second fiddle to a girls desire to do menial labor.”.Much depends on what she is laboring on..In truth, Rosa said she was learning much. Therefore, her goal was not to do menial labor but rather to learn. I don’t know what she believes she is learning, but then she can tell what gaps exist in her education better than I can..It is reasonable to assume when she has learned whatever it is she needs to know that she will use that newfound knowledge to continue her course through life — quite possibly through a more formal education in nuclear physics or robotics or genetic engineering.

“Fortune cookies were invented in Japan, actually. Way to offend the Chinese/Japanese though with your lack of knowledge! You’ve been doing a great job of offending people of all cultures lately.”.Plumb hateful.Invented by Japanese here in America. Racists like Rooseveldt put the Japanese in concentrantion camps during WW2. The practice was taken up by Chinese Americans.

“He drives a van, that is basically resting.”.Mountainous roadsUnknown hazards around every cornerLots of curves, you bet and even more when you get to theWhere was I?Oh yeah talking about someone who is a human, needs periods of rest, food, toilet time, refueling.Things any human should understand.

Now we’ll find out if Gunther has grown some cojones, or if he’s capsicum immune.(Otherwise, I envision a Benny Hill type scene involving the destruction of a beverage cart, scooting around on the floor like a dog, and a cactus and scorpion for good measure.)

“You admit lots of hazards, but then also say this is a leisurely drive”.Except that I didn’t. I didn’t call it leisurely or hurried.Somebody else compared driving along twisting dirt mountain roads to resting.Driving is too serious to be taken lightly. Too easy to kill kids darting out onto the road, too many beasties in the world to not be worthy of primary attention..“and they should be unconcerned about the time.”.Rushing to your death or the death of others should be avoided by caring humans.. " Luis can make the drive without needing to stop at a restaurant, he can stretch and get something quick to eat/drink when they stop for gas.".Everybody loves backseat drivers, telling them how to do what they themselves aren’t doing and possibly can’t do.

“Here, you can read and learn who to properly credit.”.So, naturally, I clicked on the link and read their claim despite having already read competing claims and read,

“To be clear, their traditions of fortunes are a bit weird, but American standards. Hougyokudo puts bits of poetry into their cookies, not really fortunes.”.Interesting article.Interesting concept that a thing which doesn’t look like a fortune cookie, doesn’t taste like a fortune cookie, doesn’t contain a fortune….. IS A FORTUNE COOKIE .This makes perfect sense when one considers who says it here.

“One poster in particular there ranted about her appearance on Facebook.”.Some people rant?shockingjust shockingI hope NSA is paying attention.

And here I thought most of the comments here were for our entertainment…

Beer actually started life in today’s Middle East. There is evidence of beer production at digs of old Philistine cities (I worked on Tel Ashdod back in 1968 and 1969 and saw it firsthand).-Beer production was important because water was polluted and they didn’t have the technology to clean it. Ironically, they used heated water to produce beer, and heating the water did clean it up, but it took awhile for connections to be made…

Never bother me. The hotter, the better. Habaneros? No sweat. Those little red ones from Viet Nam? Now, we’re starting to warm up. .But that hides the other subtler flavors.

Luis appears to be drinking one of these:Described as a Bud Lite American style beer, and popular for that reason.Personally, the last Peruvian beer I liked was CUSQUEÑA MALTA, a sweet stout.I haven’t been able to find it lately, but I’m on the look out.

Tune in tomorrow and watch the Lima Fire Brigade putting out Gunter’s mouth. :)

I repeated your picture post because the neck label in mine looks more like the one depicted i the drawing.

Not a definitive list by any means:http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2014/08/sheknows-peppers.jpg

Okay, so does the chili pepper put hair on his face?

" facts seem to be optional for some people.". Finally a true statement.

“I said a guy who drives for a living can probably drive equal or longer than someone who doesn’t. I have faith in Luis. Apparently you don’t. Interesting.”.“Drive like a bat out of Hell!! I have faith in you!!”“Sorry, amigo, I believe I need to rest a bit.”“What’s wrong with you!?!? Are you lazy or stupid?!?”(Sits and mumbles to himself something about these people and stupid slackers )

“At any rate, you should go edit the Wikipedia article on Fortune cookies to reflect your views on them, since you believe your viewpoint to be true.”.Which might make some sense were it not for the fact that my buddy, Wiki, includes those alternative claims and qualifiers..One can claim a cookie is the ancestor of all cookies if one can get a clean DNA sample. One can claim Ford’s Model T is really an earlyTesla.One can look silly.One can REALLY get hung up on fortune cookies to switch from other things one wrote.(One can even wear out “one”.)

Donna Summer had a #1 song during 1979 called “Hot Stuff.” Maybe Gunther can’t get the girl, but he becomes a big fan on Hot Peppers that when you go to the bathroom, it feels like your anus is going to rip in two!

Gunther needs to be in his comfort zone with a proper, understanding friend…..male or female. He can’t win trying to be what he is not because people will always make fun of him, even cartoon strip readers. He is the Bill Gates in a world of Tony Romos and Terry Bradshaws.

As it is now, this story arc ends as it began – with Gunther trying to prove he’s something that he’s not. I hope there’s more to Gunther’s (apparent) physical transformation than just a lack of opportunity to shave….

BTW the beer bottle appears to combine elements of Cristal and Cusquena.

No, I’m going to have to say that Rosa is the weak side. A relationship can’t happen between two unequal parties. His always giving and her always demanding it was doomed to fail.

BrdshttI planted a host of peppers from seed provided by my ex-housemate from a garden that is maintained by the school where she teaches. They pretty much included everything on the chart except he ghost peppers.However, for whatever reason, only the jalapenos, and bell peppers reached maturity. Now,my long-lived tabasco bushes provided a bumper crop this year and quite a number of those went to the bird feeders where they are immensely popular with the cardinals, et al,and which serve to deter the squirrels from raiding said feeders.

@Meh~thodology Brdshtt“Now,my long-lived tabasco bushes provided a bumper crop this year and quite a number of those went to the bird feeders where they are immensely popular with the cardinals, et al,and which serve to deter the squirrels from raiding said feeders.”.I knew a man who planted a bunch of assorted pepper plants along beside his house where others plant flowers. The colors were red, yellow, green, purple and I don’t know what all. It was extremely pretty..I asked him about the peppers themselves. He told me he never ate them, they were just for looks. .Did he mind if I got a few? “No problem, take all you want.”.I made the mistake of putting some in my breast pocket. The pain which followed shortly after was most unpleasant. Good thing they never directly touched my skin..Best enjoyed from a distance.

Wow! The mountain driver is having a beer.

Gunther’s about to see the coyote.

Yeah, but I’m not talking eyes, nose or mouth. I’m talking skin on my otherwise hairy chest.(Just those two bare spots)Skin separated by cloth.Sweaty cloth.Sweat with essence of pain absorbed and transmitted not unlike convection even though it was mass transport.

There’s more interesting things to try in Peru than the chili peppers

I live in the southern part of Houston, Texas.Our most recent “freeze” a week ago didn’t even harden water in my area. Still, I keep my bushes in large pots that I move indoors when ever there’s a threat.In the spring; I prune out any dead wood and fertilize with Jobe’s Plant Food Spikes, and that’s about it.

Ha ha, you said it, I didn’t!-(No matter how “true” it is….)

Typical dumb-male thing to do.