Big Top by Rob Harrell for December 11, 2010

TODAYS BREAKFAST MENU:

Top Sirloin Steak (Cooked any way you want it) Barbecue Ribs (Trust me you will need a napkin) Fish N’ Chips meal Bacon & Eggs (eggs made the way you want them) Sausage, biscuits and gravy Pancakes, or Belgium Waffles (covered in rich maple Syrup, with toast on the side) Shrimp and Fries Combo Meal Oven Fresh Pizza (Any topping) Chicken, steak, or beef burritos covered in Enchilada sauce and cheese (Comes with a side of refried beans and rice) Fried potatoes with onion and bell peppers in it. (Good stuff) Burgers to order - Turkey Burger, Double Delux Cheese burger, Mushroom Swiss burger, Angus burger, Smoked bacon cheddar burger, Tofu veggie Burger (All burgers come with a side order of Fries, onion rings, chicken tenders or spicy buffalo wings Hot dogs or corn dogs QUICK MEAL FIXES: Poptarts, toaster Strudels, granola bars,cereal bars (For those on the go) Winchell’s warm and fresh donuts Salad bar is open Kitty’s breakfast meal all ready for him Lucky’s leftovers Beverages: Doc’s World Famous Nuclear Coffee Starbright’s Divine Cocoa Mocha (Courtesy of Chris Alan & Johanan Rakkav) My Big Sister’s Berry Delicious Breakfast Smoothies bmonks cup of cheap mocha mint Regular coffee, with creamer on request Chardonnay, Zinfandel, or Merlot sparkling wine (perfect for any occasion) Fountain Drinks or Ice Cream Floats American premium or Imported Beers Assorted Fruit Drinks or Teas Plain Milk or Chocolate Milk Ice Water V8 Vegetable juice Pepsi, Cherry Pepsi, Cocoa Cola, Mountain Dew, 7up in a can etc. Special Dessert: Double Dutch chocolate cake, cheese cake

Back to the drawing board Dusty. Please do try again.

Good Morning, Little Sister Great menu.

I think I’ll have fish & chips with a side of sausage, biscuits & gravy.

Here you go Grog :-) Enjoy the meal.

Animals that can talk…. that’s us!

isn’t that the truth WoodEye, my West Coast Brother. :-)

Thanks, Little Sister. Yum!

Good Morning, WoodEye!

Good Morning, Li’l Sister, Grog & Woodeye

Fantastic menu, Li’l Sister!

Li’l Sister, may I please have a Mushroom Swiss burger, fries and a Pepsi?

Good Morning, ♠Lonewolf♠

Here you go Big Brother :-) I hope you like it.

Dusty’s song sounds sort of like the song in “State Fair”….!!!!

Good morning, Everyone…..

What a terrific menu, Little Sister….. whoa!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d like to have some napkins along with those world famous ribs, and a glass of merlot, please!!!! Yum!!!!

Thank you, Li’l Sister.

Good Morning, Montana Lady!

Here you go Montana Lady. :-) I hope you enjoy the meal.

Good Morning, Montana Lady

Good night everyone. :-)

Good Night, Li’l Sister

Turn out the lights, the party’s over (Don Meredith voice).

Good night, Grog, Lonewolf, LittleSister, WoodEye and all who are to come……

I’m hitting the sack as well…..:))))

Good Night, Montana Lady.

Dandy Don…………………may he rest in peace!

There seems to be a lot of PETA jokes in GoComics lately. Has PETA been making the news in any major way?

Hi Doctor Toon!

“Fish” = “sea kittens”? Oy. As PDQ Bach once put it, “Please, let’s go have some Kentucky Fried Tuna of the Land.”

As Ron White put it. “I didn’t get to the top of the food chain to eat carrots.”

Good Morning TRIBEANDALL! and Christmas Grog!

PETA is a PITA. As the grandson of a farmer, both veggies and meat, I know his animals were treated well. You can’t make it if your livestock dies. Sometimes the vet got the call before the doctor. And you’re right Doc, PETA’s message may be good but the wackjobs that get the press diminishes them in the general public’s eye. Rant completed… Have a great day toontour then more WOW

Pooph

Hello all here I won’t be on too long reviewing book tests. I guess you all heard Brenda S creator is quiting the strip. Our own local paper doesn’t carry the strip. And with studies I don’t have time for it. Our temps are dropping to 34 degrees and blustery.

Good Morning, Johanan, Doctor Toon and…

Runs with Nog!!!

Good Morning, Kab

Time to start getting the errands done.

BBL

Good morning, Everyone,

Like, Grog, I’ve got a ton of errands to do. But, I just love to read what everyone else is doing.

Went to the neighborhood party last night…..what a great time everyone had! Was all wound up, so didn’t get to sleep until way after 1:00. So, I am hitting the floor running this a.m.

See all y’all later in the day.

P & L

Good morning, Tribeandall!

Good Morning, Doc, Runs with Nog, Grog, Kab & Montana Lady.

Good morning Lonewolf

Good morning, Little Sister. I’ll just sit in the corner and watch the people go by, if you don’t mind. And if it’s not too late for the breakfast menu, may I please have a small order of pancakes, a glass of orange juice, and some mint tea?

Good Morning, Saskfan. Good to see you here.

Good morning, Lonewolf. Thanks; it’s nice to be somewhere where comments are appreciated.

I understand completely, Saskfan.

≡≡ P O P ! ≡≡ ♪ Good Morning TRIBE! ♪

Hello to all those here!

So perky, Sojourner? It *is* morning, you know…

And where did you find those musical notes and triple horizontal lines, please? The notes might be useful elsewhere, if I can reproduce them.

Saskfan - I got them from the program “Character Map” (I am using Windows but I assume Mac has a similar thing). It allows you to copy and paste characters with higher ASCII numbers than your keyboard allows you to type. I put what I type with them in a file and I paste them into comments. That’s how ♠Lonewolf♠ has the spades in his name.

Good Morning, Sojo.

Saskfan, you can also do it by pressing the alt key and the numbers 14 and 13. One at a time of course. Hold the alt while pressing the number 1, then number 2. Make sure your number lock is on. ♫=14 ♪=13

Good Morning Sojo, Saskfan,(good to meet you) Lonewolf, and all Lonewolf Hope you liked the play of Boozer a little better in the win.

♠=alt 6 ♣=alt 5 ♦=alt 4 ♥=alt 3

:^)

Saskfan - Sorry but it sometimes takes me a while to reply. Sometimes I am doing other things on my computer and just check comments every once and a while. If the answer is longer it takes me awhile to type it.

Good Morning, HopeandJoy. Yes, Boozer is coming along nicely, but D-Rose is turning into a dominating player, ala Bryant, etc.

My notes come from Garamond (I think that is the name)on the Character map.

Well, I need to get ready for pool league. I had planned on staying home today, but the players are texting me left and right to show up to at least play my match and leave early if I want.

Yes the character maps are good to use as well. It’s quicker for me knowing what the numbers are for the different characters. Degree symbol ° = alt 248. If you play with all the different numbers, it becomes a lot of fun to see all the different ones available.

Thanks ♠Lonewolf♠ - That’s one way I forgot. That is one way of quickly adding characters if you know the number. Since I started using the character map it allows me to see the possible characters without having to know the numbers to enter. Most I’ll never use but to me it’s fun to see whats there without looking it up in a book (in the days of DOS). :-)

There is a lot I can learn!

Thanks, Lonewolf, Sojourner MacBook here, with no keypad on the side. Thus, given the key differences betwixt Mac and PC, we get: £=option 3 ¢=option 4 ∞=option 5 §=option 6

CTRL with any number gives a “Ya done it wrong, dork!” beep. Command key and the number row does nothing.

Oh well, I tried. Thanks again!

Good to meet you too, HopeandJoy. Are you two people, or just one person spreading both sentiments? :-)

That is the truth, Lonewolf (Rose) In the past, hasn’t he been a little inconsistent….Lights out and then not so much?

Saskfan I am one person who believes hope and joy needs to be in our lives whether good times or bad…but it’s tough sometimes. *: ) I am a female. I don’t know a lot about technical things but have fun anyway.

Off for a while now to pay closer attention to my basketball game.

Yes, HopeandJoy, but this is only his third year and he is only 22yrs old. Lots’ of expectations here in Chicago.

Saskfan, I don’t know much about Mac. I’ve done all my building and upgrading work with Windows since back in the DOS days.

Lonewolf I know it is tough on Rose just like it was/is on Leng. Rose is a keeper for sure. Good luck with your game.

Good morning everyone :-)

It may rain It may snow it may be cloudy and the wind may blow.

Just remember that despite all of that, the sun still shines on.

Good Morning, Li’l Sister

I am off to pool. Catch y’all later.

Have a freat day everyone!

P&L

Saskfan So good to see you again. It’s never to late to order from the breakfast menu.

Good luck and have fun Big Brother.

Hello Little Sister!

♠Lonewolf♠ - Have fun!

Saskfan - Have been checking Wikipedia but have no answer for you on entering other characters but no luck so far. Next week I may be able to ask some who use Macs for ideas but may not find anything. I used Macs a few years at work in the graphic arts but only needed to input certain charters and don’t remember anything about it now.

Almost forgot, I’m getting hungry so I’ll grab some fish n’ chips! :-)

I’ve important things to do. See you all later.

Enjoy your day Little Sister!

The Sojourner: No worries, thanks. My Beloved Wyfe may know the codes; she’s been using Macs since 19- er, since she was even younger than she is now. The character maps are much harder to find, though, than they were with the old operating systems. We still use an LCIII with System 7.5.3 occasionally. If it weren’t for the speed increase, and the memory needs, She’d still be using it exclusively for PageMaker stuff. But time marches on. As do paprika, sage, and cumin.

Hi, Cute Li’l Sister! I hope you’re having a good day, and that it’s NOT snowing where you are. That would be a Bad Thing.

A pleasure to meet you, Ms. HopeandJoy. I hope you have lots of both.

bleeep, it’s snowing hard again here in Darkest Saskatchewan. And I have to run out to the local deli for lunch meats. Shall I bring back some Wensleydale cheese for anyone?

Saskfan Go here and see if this helps with entering special characters.

Saskfan - Cheese sounds great!

Aha! Thanks, Sojourner. Actually, I’m still on OS 10.4.11, and it’s easier to go to the top menu bar, and click on the keyboard flag; the character palette is in that menu. From ♬♮ to Ω. :)

What I learn for GoComic fans!!!!

Saskfan…….nice to meet you. I’d like to try some of these characters. Do you need a special program to use them, or just on a regular keyboard?

Rain, Rain Go Away! Rain, Rain Go Away! Rain, Rain Go Find Hope! Rain, Rain Go Find Joy!

She did say she needed some right? Or at least that they didn’t have any in about three weeks? What is an Areal Flood Watch? Is it supposed to wait for the official start of the floodwatch to begin flooding?

Hello Montana Lady - Are you using a Mac Or PC?

Hello LuvH8!

¶ ® § © Æ º ¾ ¿ Æ ƺ ɸ ʥ ˂ ͏ Ξ ϡ Ѡ ش ۞ ‰ ₵ ⅞ ↔ ≥ ≠ √ █ ▒ □▲♯☻ﺝ  etc.

Sojo! Oh My Gosh!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Hello Sojo, I can’t believe you said that.

   Welcome Saskfan!

LuvH8- Wait until I get MAD!

No, thank you. Gee Willikers! I am not sure I could take it!

Montana Lady: Hello, and it’s nice to meet you too. You were travelling recently, if my lurking memory doesn’t deceive me; I trust you arrived home in the proper number of pieces?

I’m using a Mac, and there’s a character palette in the menu bar that helps find those special characters. It’s in the same drop-down menu as the keyboard choices, and it’s under the little flag that shows what keyboard I’m using.

Oh, I give up. There’s a photo of my keyboard menu here.

I’ll work on uploading images another time.

Well, the link worked, at least. If I click on the American flag, there’s a whole menu of goodies, including the short (or long!) list of different keyboard layouts I want to see there. I could chose Canadian (English, or French in either CSA or Microsoft variants), Dvorak, Cyrillic, Japanese Kanji, Inukitut, Spanish, Slovak, Turkish, and dozens more if I want.

Some of the special characters can be seen at this link.

Luvh8 Thanks for the snowmen! Or do we have to be Politically Correct and call them snowbeings?

Saskfan - Those are more than what I have access to I think, at least without having to get more fonts. All might not work in the comments though, it may not support all fonts. You can go to a previous day and practice comments and then deleat them to see what works. Hopefully most will so you can be creative! That’s also a good way to pratice other things you may want to try.

I’ve used previous days and comics with no comments in the past. And without intending to cause PC/Mac disputes, those symbols and more come standard on the Mac. And yes, those should all work here without any hassle at all.

ヤ ᠿ ꓂ અ ㄞ ð ✰ ♘ ♛ ⚇

Yup, they’ll work.

You folks do realize you’ve created a monster, I hope…

☺

Not worse than sone! :-)

I’ve found one character on the keyboard that if you use it you can’t post the comment, Some if not all wingdings or zdingbats won’t let the comment post either. :-(

In honor of the season.

A VISIT TO THE MALL (With apologies to Clement Moore)

‘Twas two weeks before Christmas and all ‘round the mall, Six million cars were parked wall to wall. For what seemed like hours I drove round and round Until at last a parking space I found. I sat and I waited with blinker light blinking, While all around me bright lights were winking. Then, out of nowhere there came an encroacher, The horrible, infamous parking space poacher! He swung right around me as if I weren’t there And pulled into the space with nary a care. He stepped out of his car with a wave and a grin Leaving me to continue a quest without end.

I finally made it to the hustle and bustle, But the stores were so crowded I couldn’t move a muscle. I paused for a moment to pull out my list It was all written down so none would be missed. To toy store, to bookstore and sporting goods, too. Buy cookies and candies and clothing so new. See reindeer and elves and good old Saint Nick, See parents and children, they all run so quick! The charges are mounting, like drifts in the snow, My list seems quite endless. Where does it all go? Now the presents are bought, but the battle’s not won, The search for a perfect tree has begun.

That tree is too short, this one’s too tall, Another has no middle branches at all. When the tree’s been selected and I lug it on home, I realize it’s shaped like a humpbacked old gnome. When the lights are all lit and the popcorn is strung And all the ornaments and stockings are hung, I sit in the glow of the twinkling light Thinking back on a long ago, far away night. I think of the child who was born long ago And I’m thankful for cards and lights and snow. Then, I realize Santa probably was right So, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.”

Hello Saucy - LOL

Saucy, that was a clever and terrifying story! I don’t think I will be able to go shopping til March.

Saskfan, they look like snowmen to me. After a certain point being politically correct reminds me of why I don’t like politics.

Sojo……. who are these monsters you speak of?

Saucy, that was a clever and terrifying story! I don’t think I will be able to go shopping til March.

Saskfan, they look like snowmen to me. After a certain point being politically correct reminds me of why I don’t like politics.

LuvH8 - If you don’t deleat the question I think your refering to the names of some fonts. :-)

Good evening, Tribeandall

Good Evening ♠Lonewolf♠ - How was pool?

My team won and i didn’t need to get my stick dirty! WooHoo!

Saucy1121: That’s very good!

Stan Rogers did a song called At Last I’m Ready for Christmas. It was on one of his live albums.

wensleydale cheese for me….yummmm

Good evening Lonewolf (hope you saved the day)* Sojo, LuvH8, Saskfan, Saucy* (poet type)

I meant, Sojo,LuvH8, Saskfan, Saucy

There now, you don’t look anemic. Sorry about the R-A-I-N out west! Would you rather have snow, LuvH8?

Trying to decide weather to venture out in the cold and wind to see our local university’s basketball game….don’t really want to go….but….(sigh) Glad your team won, Lonewolf

Hello HopeandJoy! - Sorry I missed saying hi earlier.

Hi, Saucy, HopeandJoy & Saskfan!

Good evening, Lonewolf & HopeandJoy. I’m not a pool player; I’d probably hit the wrong balls and get the equivalent of an “own goal.”

Precipitation!!!

Long may you rain, LuvH8. :)

Hi, LuvH8!

Hi Big Brother and Big Sister. :-)

In the game of pool I’ve heard that if you hit the white cue ball into the pocket then it is called a scratch. Is that true.

Good Evening, Tribeandall

Welcome to the Tribe, Saskfan!!!

Little Sister, I haven’t played pool in years, but yes that’s what they would call it or anything else when you don’t make your shot.

Good Evening Grog! - Hope you’ve had a good day.

GreetingsTRIBE.

Just a quick pass to say HI to everyone.

Welcome to the tribe Saskfan. We’re nuts but lots of fun.

I have to go now but will try to be back later.

Sojourner, I did my shopping and prepared for the upcoming week off…..with the exception of the fresh veggies I’ll want for my meal preparations. In the afternoon I followed tradition and watched the Army/Navy game.

Right now, I’m watching a Hillbilly/Petticoat Junction Christmas collection. After that: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

I hope your day was good.

Hi & bye, serena

Hi and Bye serenasakitty!

Grog - I’ve had a good day. Watched most of the Army/Navy game, as my dad was in the Navy I’m glad of the result. Right now I’m watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on ABC.

I go for Navy too. It’s been a good nine years or so. I think their last loss to Army was 10 years ago.

Hello Serenasakitty & Grog: It’s nice to make your acquaintanceses. Thank you for your warm welcomes.

If you’re all nuts, please come to my house; we have squirrels in our yard and half a metre of accumulated snow.

I’ll pass on the snow, Saskfan. I saw plenty when I grew up in Montreal.

Houston is expecting a cold front to pass through tonight, but I expect it will still be considerably warmer than any point in Saskatchewan. Spent some time in Edmonton before moving to Texas. I’m sure you get -40C weather in Saskatchewan too, Saskfan. I sure don’t miss it.

Hello everybody. :-)

Hi, Little Sister. What’s shakin’?

I love Hillbilly humor

It is good.

We were close to -40 last month,Grog. Climate change; gotta love it. Even though we’re more southerly than Edmonton, it’s still white and cold. Wouldn’t trade places with you, though. Houston looks waaaay too big for me.

On to Whoville.

Saskfan, there are smaller towns in Texas if that’s your cup of tea….and if you’d still like a taste of winter. There’s Dallas and especially the panhandle (Amarillo)

What shaking!

Not much I was busy with visiting some family members that I don’t get to see very often.

That’s good, Little Sister

I love Horton Hears A Who I can’t believe that the Wickersham Brothers scared the poop out of me when I was just a kid.

Didn’t say I like winter, Grog. I just don’t want to live anywhere big. I don’t need to own a car here; I walk to work, to buy groceries, and can take a bus when I need one. We use taxis once every couple or so months, and rent a car 3 times a year for out-of-town trips.

On the other hand, I don’t think I’d be much happier if I could earn a living somewhere where there’s no winter. I think that constant warmth would be boring. Wouldn’t mind being able to test the theory, though. :)

I’m in Regina, by the way; population near 190 000, but the are of the city is half that of Amarillo; 46 sq. miles or so.

Saskfan, I’ve never been to Saskatchewan. I’m almost ashamed to say that I’ve been to more States than I have Provinces…..but then those states have either been warmer in the winter or heavenly in the summer.

Grog: It’s easy to visit more states than provinces; there’re 5 times more of ‘em! I think we travelled through 8 or 9 states when I was 12 years old. We were visiting Montreal and my parents decided to return via a route south of the Great Lakes. All I remember of that part of it is somehow driving over Chicago, and camping near Piles Peak and being able to see the north end of the Mississippi River system.

Meanwhile I’ve only been in 6 provinces myself. I’ve never gotten to the Maritimes.

Hmmmm. So much for sitting in the corner, drinking tea and people-watching! That was my plan today, you know.

Thanks for all the welcomes and the chat, folks, but I have a few things to do around the house, then it’ll be time to climb the wooden mountain for the night.

Cheers to all, and good night from me.

Saskfan, including the one I lived in, 3.

Scatch that - I lived in Quebec and Alberta. Visited Ontario a lot on business and pleasure.

Good Night Saskfan.

Good night, Saskfan

I can honestly say that I do not miss the Loony or the Tooney (replacements for the one and 2 dollar bill).

Hello Tribe I’m still alive. Spam appears to be drying up now (hearty cheers from the crew) and I’m back from the office Christmas party. It was simple but nice.

Looks like it’s been a quietly enjoyable day at the Big Top. I brought a trolley of the deserts we had at the party, chocolate cups filled with pudding, very, very dense miniature cupcakes, something like cookies (cooked in a baking pan and cut into skinny rectangles) and fudge. Enjoy

Hi, Quaby. Good to see you.

I’m sure our resident chocoholics will love the deposit.

Hello Quaby! - That will make a good bedtime snack. Thank you!

Well, time for me to call it a night. A big day and night in foo-ball coming up tomorrow…..and I want to be in peak form.

Gunite, Tribandalll

Good Night Grog

Time for my zzzzzz’s.

♪ P&L ♪ ≡≡ POOF! ≡≡