Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for February 07, 2010

Ah, nothing like the ol’ Acme falling anvil to take your mind off of other things…

Marq Sick minds think alike

I saw “anvil” and I thought “ACME”

You didn’t think “Road Runner,” did you?

I wasn’t thinking Roadrunner until you mentioned it. I’d like not to think of it ever again. The Coyote should have had him for lunch at the end of the pilot episode.

im thinkin tom and jerry…

I know exactly what she’s talking about. I find it annoying, but thankfully I do not scream and collapse in anguish.

No, I said your eyes look “shifty.”

“Ahhhh… Idiots, explosives, and falling anvils. Now THAT’S entertainment!”

– Calvin

Anvils, I think, were more of a Warner Bros. trademark; Tom and Jerry were more limited to what might be commonly found in a suburban middle-class home. Knives… I’m remembering lots of knives.

Doc, have you ever read Ian Frazier’s “Coyote v. Acme”?

“The sequence of collisions resulted in systemic physical damage to Mr. Coyote, viz., flattening of the cranium, sideways displacement of the tongue, reduction of length of legs and upper body, and compression of vertebrae from base of tail to head. Repetition of blows along a vertical axis produced a series of regular horizontal folds in Mr. Coyote’s body tissues–a rare and painful condition which caused Mr. Coyote to expand upward and contract downward alternately as he walked, and to emit an off-key accordionlike wheezing with every step. The distracting and embarrassing nature of this symptom has been a major impediment to Mr. Coyote’s pursuit of a normal social life.

“As the Court is no doubt aware, Defendant has virtual monopoly of manufacture and sale of goods required by Mr. Coyote’s work. It is our contention that Defendant has used its market advantage to the detriment of the consumer of such specialized products as itching powder, giant kites, Burmese tiger traps, anvils, and two-hundred-foot-long rubber bands. Much as he has come to distrust Defendant’s products, Mr. Coyote has no other domestic source of supply to which to turn. One can only wonder what our trading partners in Western Europe and Japan would make of such a situation, where a giant company is allowed to victimize the consumer in the most reckless and wrongful manner over and over again.”

I read that story in an anthology. It was quite amusing.

Good story Fritzoid.

Hi Marg

This has bugged me for eons! What ARE they searching for? And where is it??? Thank you, Mr. Thompson!

“Coyote v. Acme” is classic. I think it originally appeard in The New Yorker or some other magazine, but I work for lawyers and I first read it in the form of an actual legal brief.

WHY do the do that? I’ve found that crazy myself!