Rocks, unnoticed

Some Plymouth Rocks

Cole Porter, 1934, in the song “Anything Goes”:

Times have changed,
And we’ve often rewound the clock
Since the Puritans got a shock
When they landed on Plymouth Rock.
If today
Any shock they should try to stem,
’Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock
Plymouth Rock would land on them.

Malcolm X, March 29, 1964:

“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us.”

The resemblance popped into my head when I was putting water on to boil this morning. Coincidence, or no? The Internets now tell me that other people have wondered about it, though without thinking of the phrase “some Plymouth Rocks.”

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“Triptych! Trilogy! Troika!”

[Click for a larger view.]

Today’s Zippy, “Inside Baseball,” is all about some rocks.

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More than some rocks

[Nancy, September 16, 1950. Click for larger rocks.]

It’s not always some.

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[Yesterday’s Nancy is also today’s Nancy.]

“Some rocks,” some boid

[Nancy, June 21, 1950. Click for a larger view.]

In today’s yesterday’s Nancy, Sluggo has proposed that he and Nancy wade in th’ lake. Nancy thinks the water may be too deep. “Don’t be silly,” says Sluggo. “Look at dat li’l boid.” Indeed there is a boid standing in the water. Or there was.

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[“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some grades

[Nancy, May 22, 1950. Click for a larger view.]

In today’s yesterday’s Nancy, Nancy has offered cheerful news: she got an A in history. But Aunt Fritzi wants to know about “the general result.”

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Some rocks in our heads

From The New York Times (gift link): “Virginia Fifth Grader Is Celebrated for Spotting Textbook’s Error.” Liam Squires noticed that igneous rock and sedimentary rock were out of place in a diagram of the rock cycle. The publisher acknowledged the mistake. The Times quotes Serena Porter, Liam’s teacher:

“We’re all human, and whether it’s an adult or a child, we all make mistakes,” Ms. Porter said. “You don’t want to roll around pointing out everyone’s little mistakes, but you should be proud that you caught something like this.”

Liam received buttons, sticker, and a handwritten letter from the publisher.

Here, from the the University of California Museum of Paleontology, is an explanation of the rock cycle. This post is for my children, who knew, and, I trust, still know their igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

“Fritzi Ritz is my co-pilot!”

Zippy loves Nancy.

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[Still awaiting Griffith’s Some Rocks: The Ernie Bushmiller Story.]

Rocks and debris

[Beetle Bailey, July 31, 2022. Click for a larger view.]

Ernie Bushmiller would know how to tidy up this landscape. Just “some rocks,” please.

[Strange to see “debris” in the news and in today’s Beetle Bailey.]

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is a rerun (with updates) from 2012 while Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, is on vacation. The puzzle is by Anna Stiga (“Stan Again”) the pseudonym that signals an easier Stumper, but I found this one tough. Just two clues feel dated: 42-A, three letters, “GM news of 2010” and 60-A, five letters, “Dockers’ cousins.” The clue that broke open the puzzle for me: 45-A, seven letters, “Prime time for oysters.”

Some other clue-and-answer pairs of note:

6-A, nine letters, “Conclusive procedures.” SYLLOGISMS won’t fit.

6-D, seven letters, “Carrying mail.” Nicely misleading.

8-D, seven letters, “Of volcanic origin.” My daughter learned the three kinds of rocks in grade school. This one I remember. Some rocks!

13-D, six letters, “Greek bread spread.” But I think the Middle East might have something to say about it.

18-A, nine letters, “Longfellow lover.” Now there’s an out-of-the-way name.

34-A, six letters, “Pulitzer winner for The Good War.” It’s good to find his name in a puzzle.

46-D, six letters, “Refusal of assistance.” I like the terseness.

58-A, five letters, “‘Bow down, archangels, in your dim _____’: Yeats.” Good to see his name too.

My favorite from this puzzle: 19-A, nine letters, “It may be underfoot.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Spelling fail

[Beetle Bailey, June 11, 2022. Click for a larger view.]

In the words of another comic strip, “Good grief!”

[Beetle Bailey, June 11, 2022. My correction. Click for a larger view.]

I can think of two possible explanations other than a plain old mistake on the assembly line. Perhaps the strip’s makers feared that the correct spelling would look wrong to their readers. Or perhaps the mistake belongs to Sarge. “O solo mee-o”?

A few other troubling Beetle Bailey posts
Bathrooms : Fingers : Ketchup : Pillow : Razors : “Some rocks” : Squirrels : Toilet bowls

Mutts rocks

[Mutts, April 24, 2022.]

In today’s Mutts, words from the Dalai Lama. And “some rocks.”

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Some unusual “some rocks”

[Nancy, June 20, 1949. Click for a larger view.]

Today’s yesterday’s Nancy has some unusual “some rocks.”

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“Some rocks”

[Click for bigger rocks.]

There they were, where two roads meet, or diverge, depending on which way your feet are going. They are large rocks, aspiring to grow still bigger.

Imagine if Robert Frost had been out walking: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / When all at once I saw some rocks.” Then we would have “The Roads Not Taken,” the poet (already with Wordsworth on his mind) having been stopped in his tracks by the sudden stony sight.

Frost’s “For Once, Then, Something” refers to “a pebble of quartz” at the bottom of a well. I think “For Once, Then, Some Rocks” would be a much more satisfying poem.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

See also today’s Zippy.

[I’m not touching “Mending Wall” — too many rocks.]

One of some

[Nancy, January 10, 1955. Click for larger rocks.]

In “today’s” Nancy, Herman owes Sluggo a dollar, so Sluggo is being solicitous about his friend’s well-being. I like it that even “that big rock” is one of some.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Domestic comedy

“Do you want tomatoes?”

“Yes, please.”

“How many?”

“Some?”

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[“Some,” as in rocks. They were grape tomatoes.]

Clip art and rocks

[“Ee-Yew!” Zippy, June 29, 2021. Click for a larger view.]

“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some Family Circus rocks

As Billy runs with a mazy motion to bring Jeffy and PJ the news that lunch is ready, he touches upon “some rocks.”

[The Family Circus, June 13, 2021. Click for a larger view.]

Coincidence, or homage? I vote for homage.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

A Family Circus note: did you know that Bil Keane and Bill Griffith collaborated on a number of strips in which Zippy enters the world of The Family Circus ?

Four panels, “some rocks”

[A first panel. Bliss, October 23, 2020.]

Thanks to George Bodmer, who draws Oscar’s Portrait, for passing on yesterday’s Bliss.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

“Just one rock”

[“Rock of Ages.” Zippy, September 28, 2020.]

In today’s Zippy, a rock has been teetering to get Zippy’s attention: “When it comes to rocks, all you think about is three!” Yes.

I just looked up “upon this rock I will build my church” and found that I had typed “upon some rocks.” Honest. “Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages. “This rock,” by the way, is Matthew 16:18.

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“What’s he doing?!”

[“Three Strikes.” Zippy, September 10, 2020. Click for larger rocks.]

The rocks have assumed their positions. But what’s up with Zippy? Click to read today’s strip and find out.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some stamps

[Nancy, October 17, 1950. Click for larger stamps.]

The teacher has suggested that the children take up hobbies. Nancy has chosen philately. Sluggo is training Reggie’s pony.

“Some,” as in “rocks,” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some votes

[“No Contest.” Zippy, July 13, 2020.]

Which is it better to be, Bogie or Sluggo? In today’s Zippy, Zippy and Griffy try both. In this final panel, the votes are in. Notice “some rocks” yonder in the Bushmiller landscape.

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Some trees

Charlotte Brontë, Shirley (1849).

Also from Charlotte Brontë
A word : Three words : Jane Eyre, descriptivist : Bumps on the head : “In all quarters of the sky” : Small things

[“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some Mutts

[Mutts, May 31, 2020.]

In today’s Mutts, “some rocks.” “Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

Bushes, rocks, puffs

[Nancy, August 11, 1950.]

“Some” of each. And everyone knows that you need more than “some trees” to make a forest.

I am calling those little clouds foot puffs. If you turn around quickly enough when you’re walking, you can see “some puffs” behind your own feet.

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[“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some rocks, prehistoric

A science project, in today’s Far Side reruns. “Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

“Some nice rocks”

[Beetle Bailey, April 3, 2020.]

Oops — one short.

“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Brad Wilber, was surprisingly easy, aside from the southeast corner. But man oh man that southeast corner. It had arcana: 60-D, three letters, “Onetime North Island herbivore.” It had a tricky spelling: 48-D, six letters, “Trifling.” It had general weirdness: 59-A, eight letters, “Verdict of disapproval”; 64-A, six letters, “Creatively turbulent.” And it had a clue that reminded me of what must be my considerable distance from current trends in entertaining (62-A, eight letters, “Cutlery carrier”). I’m glad that those clues were not the whole puzzle.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

11-D, seven letters, “Boston Public Library muralist.” Because Boston.

16-A, eight letters, “Fashion effect aka ‘manscara.’” Not that I use the stuff.

25-D, seven letters, “108 Odyssey fellows.” I always like seeing Homer in a crossword. The 108 is an extra treat. And that is the number, which a reader can work out by adding numbers as Telemachus gives them in book 16.

36-A, four letters, “‘A nightingale who sits in darkness,’ per Shelley.” I like to think that my late friend Rob Zseleczky is pleased whenever Shelley turns up in a crossword.

46-A, five letters, “Many a paperweight.” Mine are rocks and tile trim.

And another one of the clue-and-answer pairs that baffle me until I begin typing them out: 58-D, three letters, “Fellow from Wheeling.”

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.

Some boulders

George Bodmer pointed me to New Zealand’s Moeraki Boulders. Granted, there are more than three. But they are some — “remarkable, striking” — boulders.


[“A cluster of highly spherical boulders.” New Zealand. 2006. Photograph from Wikipedia. Click for larger boulders.]

“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

Thanks, George.

Some madeleines

[“À la recherche du temps Sluggo.” Zippy, January 7, 2020.]

In today’s Zippy, Zippy is out for a walk when he happens upon three rocks. He thinks he might be in the wrong comic strip. And thus this final panel. I think of the rocks in today’s strip as madeleines, recalling comics past.

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A school of somes

[Nancy, March 29, 1950. Click for a larger view.]

Today’s yesterday’s Nancy is a some-fest. Let ’s look:

First panel: some rocks, some more rocks, some trees.

Second panel: some fence posts.

Third panel: some tires, some trailer windows, some curved lines (above the mop).

The strip itself: some Nancys in some panels.

What is the collective name for somes? It’s school, which I just made up. Here is another school of somes, this one found in east-central Illinois.

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[“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some Christmas

[“He’s Checking It Thrice.” Zippy , December 25, 2019.]

Today’s Zippy is devoted to list-making. With a guest star.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some “some rocks”

For a Nancy fan, this remarkable site might be something like Four Corners. It’s some rocks, some rocks, some rocks, all the way down the parking lot. Google Maps will confirm:


[Click for a larger view.]

“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some Gorey rocks

[Edward Gorey, “The Stones.” 4 3/4″ × 2 1/2″. A card from The Fantod Pack (Portland, OR: Pomegranate, 2007). Border added.]

Re: fantod : George Bodmer mentioned Edward Gorey’s Fantod Press and Fantod Pack. Which made me remember that I have the pack, or at least the 2007 reproduction of the 1995 Gotham Book Mart publication. The Fantod Pack consists of twenty cards and a tiny book explaining the use of the deck and the meanings attached to each card, as “interpreted by Madame Groeda Weyrd.” For “The Stones”: March, loss of teeth, a forged letter, paralysis, false arrest, falling sickness, evil communications, estrangement, a sudden affliction, anemia, strife, distasteful duty, and misconstruction.

Photographing this card was difficult: the card is slightly warped and printed off-center; its surface is glossy. The photographer’s equipment and ability are sharply limited. What matters, as my mom and dad would point out, is that I did the best I could. I picked this card from the deck for obvious reasons.

Thanks, George, for thinking of the Gorey connection.

*

Department of Wow!: George Bodmer appears in Mark Dery’s recent biography of Gorey, Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey (New York: Little, Brown, 2018). He’s on page 202, commenting on Gorey’s alphabet books.

More rocks

[Nancy, April 1, 2019. Click for a much larger view.]

Today’s Nancy, by Olivia Jaimes, has 1. truth (the “some rocks” trope), 2. fantasy (an origin story and squelched experimentation), 3. an image that has become a meme, and 45. rocks. Count ’em.

But what I like most about today’s strip is the care with which Jaimes has created a faux-Bushmiller panel. Notice the off-white background.

Here’s a 1961 Bushmiller panel with eight rocks.

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No rocks

[Mark Trail, March 19, 2019.]

Doc Davis, Cherry Davis Trail’s father, Mark Trail’s father-in-law, is telling a between-Mark-Trail-adventures story. I believe it’s what they call an interpolated tale. Or is it interminable?

Doc, if you were hoping to find some rocks, you’re in the wrong comic strip.



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Some rock

Fresca, l’astronave, sent me this book. Thank you, Fresca!


[Roger Bradfield, Hello, Rock. Racine, WI: Western Publishing, 1965.]

Dig the interlock. Dig the rock.

Inside, two more rocks: “Are all these other rocks your friends? Is this one your mother? Is this one your father?” 1 + 1 + 1 = some. You’ll have to take my word for it: I don’t want to destroy the binding for the sake of a photo.

[“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some molecular biology

[Zippy, December 8, 2018.]

Zerbina and Zippy must share a magnifying glass.

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“Some apples”

Elaine and I are fortunate to live about seventeen miles from an orchard. Store-bought apples and peaches cannot compare to apples and peaches from the orchard — especially because we buy apples and peaches only from the orchard and have no basis for comparison. Yesterday the orchard had an Applefest, with cider, apple crisp, and thirty-four varieties of apples to taste. George Washington’s favorite: the Newtown Pippin. The orchardist’s favorite: Etter’s Gold. I especially liked the Calville Blanc d’hiver, a French apple grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Uncooked, the apple already tasted like pie. My favorite was the crisp, fragrant Ambrosia, though I am disappointed to know that it has much less history behind it, as it dates from the 1990s.

When we traipsed through the orchard, I was on the lookout for “some apples.” And I found them, arranged by nature’s hand.



“Some,” as in “some rocks,” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

*

12:57 p.m.: Wait a minute — was Ambrosia my favorite? The ones we now have at home seem bland by comparison to whatever I liked best at the orchard.

Some rock

[Nancy, November 7, 1954. Click for a larger rock.]

That’s some rock.

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Déjà rocks

 
[Zippy, May 6, 2013, July 26, 2018.]

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Meditation rock

[Zippy, July 13, 2018.]

One rock, two rocks, three — but what is stage four? You’ll have to click through to find out.

I’m pretty sure Zippy’s practice is not what Allen Ginsberg had in mind.

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Some Tuscan rocks

Stefan Hagemann sent along a photograph of some noble Tuscan rocks, with permission to post it here. So here it, and they, are. Thank you, Stefan.

“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some SuihoEn rocks

[As seen in SuihoEn, Van Nuys, California.]

SuihoEn, “garden of water and fragrance,” also known as the Japanese Garden, is a beautiful landscape created next to a water reclamation plant. From the SuihoEn website: “The garden’s purpose was to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water in what is generally agreed to be a delicate environment.” The fish seem to like reclaimed water just fine.

Alas, I was unable to photograph the garden’s Tortoise Island in a way that clearly suggested “some rocks.” But I did spot this group of three elsewhere in the garden, and I didn’t need to stray from the walking path to get a photograph. “Some rocks” is a minor Orange Crate Art preoccupation.

How to read Nancy and Zippy

[Zippy, April 5, 2018.]

Today’s Zippy has a Bushmillerized Zippy and Griffy discussing Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden’s How to Read “Nancy”: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels. Bill Griffith has already written a guide to his comic strip: today’s strip includes a URL that goes to a six-strip primer on how to read Zippy.

Notice the lower right corner of this panel, where the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fuses the material and temporal dimensions of the narrative space. Some rocks! Some date!

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Zippy rocks

[Zippy, January 31, 2018.]

I see “some rocks.” Click!

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[“Some rocks” are an abiding preoccupation in these pages. See this post for an explanation.]

Recently updated

Some rocks Now with an origin story.

Speak, rock

[Zippy, September 21, 2017.]

Three (“some”) rocks, but only no. 2 is talking.

Venn diagram
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A three-headed beast

[Zippy, August 10, 2017.]

God encounters the three-headed beast of parody, satire, and ridicule, as found in the lost book of Walter Lantz, Carl Anderson, and Marjorie Henderson Buell. The perfect touch here would have been no speech-balloon pointer for Henry, who never speaks (though he does in the 1935 short Betty Boop with Henry, the Funniest Living American).

Yes, those look like “some rocks” in the background.

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Please imagine the links in the form of a Venn diagram.

[Why “Marge”? That was her pen name.]

Some somes

[Nancy, July 24, 1950. Click for a larger view.]

A trifecta of somes: rocks, snowballs, pumpkins. We really are living in The Garden of Nancye.

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[You can read Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy six days a week at GoComics. “Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.]

Some seventeenth-century prose

Sir Thomas Browne’s The Garden of Cyrus (1658) reads the natural world as a network of fives, quincuxes, and decussations, or crossings. I began to think of a companion work:

That Bushmiller hath declared the figure three as equall to somme is not without probability of conjecture.

Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Nancye, or Some Rocks, naturally, artificially, mystically considered (n.d.).

A related post
Some rocks

Some rocks, some clouds

[Nancy, June 3, 1950.]

“Some rocks” is an abiding preoccupation of these pages.

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Some more “some rocks”