That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for July 22, 2024

Metabus attached his daughter Camillia to a spear and throws her across the river. He retrieved her safely. What wasn’t mentioned is the poor person who caught the spear.

Is this a new sport for this Olympics, Nude baby javelin chucking?

Uh, there’s gotta be a better way. USPS maybe?

You see, It can’t be mine. Look at the size of the manhood.

/// Their route blocked by the river’s expanse,

he attached his girl child to his lance.

Metabus checked his stance,

then heaved, taking the chance

that to yonder far shore she’d advance.

Already late for work, George barely had time to throw on a sheet, let alone get the baby to child care. But necessity is the mother of invention….

Steve. None of it ever gets old. Have fun

When the baby absolutely positively has to get to daycare on time.

Metabus hated changing the baby’s diapers. That was his wife’s job! Visiting her mother, she often lost track of time and neglected her maternal obligations. Well, he could easily hit his mother-in-law’s front door from here …

Is Peytavin a translation of Peyton?

Speaking to the tastes of the group, rather than more than briefly related to the painting, I found the following on the back of one of my great aunt Amy’s Lincoln clippings, from the June 21 Chicago Sunday Tribune. Missing 1-3 columns, apparently about an exhibit:

“… taken as their slogan Renoir’s aphorism: “Whether the nude woman is emerging from the sea and is named Venus or is getting out of bed and goes by the name of Mimi, nothing better can be invented.”

Blondes Are Buxom

Most of the figures are buxom blondes in boudoirs.

Fragonard, an 18th century master, shows a leering satyr surprising a sleeping Venus in the woods.

A contemporary, Jacques Charlier, portrays a sleeper hugging her pillow and entitled the painting, “The Agreeable Dream.”

Among the most luminous nudes are seven works of art by the great impressionist Renoir. One dating from 1914 is of his favorite model Gabrielle. Several others are of bathers.

Pablo Picasso is represented by half a dozen sad, lean, touching nudes. Perhaps the most moving is a “blue period” painting of a long boned, thoughtful couple, seated next to each other, with their gaunt fingers touching their faces. Another Picasso shows a pink hued young girl with brown tresses against a red background.

b>Evolution Is Clear

The evolution of French nude painting thru five centuries is clear from a comparison of meager Picassos with buxom goddesses of the 16th century Fontainbleau school. “A little Rome” they called Fontainbleau in the early 1500s.

Few of the works are known to Americans, for many come from the dusty cellars of overcrowded beaux-arts museums in the provinces and from private European collections. Only one canvas, an orange tinted standing nude with a distended stomach by Cezanne, belongs to an American. He is George Wildenstein from New York.

Female nudes have no monopoly among French painters. Both Delacroix and Gericault are represented by paintings of male athletes with bulging muscles, and Nicholas Poussin offers dozens of Cupids.

Dad babysitting: creative in the worst ways

Metabus did not let training for the Olympic javelin throwing event interfere with spending time with his daughter.

Support the head! Always support the head!

His pink nighty, strategically caught on the bannister; strategically placed about his loins….

Talk about throwin’ the baby out with the bath water!

Umm Apollo I’m not sure thats how marionettes work.

OK, I know how the story goes, but in actuality, as depicted above, this is going to be a “Hey Y’all, watch this!” moment that does not end well.

He successfully launched the javelin & it arrived on the other side of the river, but unfortunately, the child arrived in four segments.

No, no, no! You have to weigh it before you can ship it! :)

Metabus and Camilla: 

Paste (including the quote marks) 

"Category:1808 oil on canvas paintings in France" Wikimedia 

(syntax supported by the Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and Yandex search engines) in the browser address bar (or search for it using one of those search engines) and choose the first Category: found, and once there find the text string Metabus, and click its link for info and links that point to more info (perhaps best viewed by the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers, which can automatically translate most webpages if necessary) about this painting. 

Again, a larger strip image is also shown by merely clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #1667 (March 20, 2017) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment. I have added a comment there pointing to info about this artist I used to point to here. So far, only work by him used here (2 times total, including this repeat), the March 29, 2017, strip being its first use.

Early, unworkable attempt at “the living marionette”

Good luck with everything Steve. See you again soon

It says her name is “Hot Potato”. Pass it on.

/// Saving Camilla’s life was his goal,

but her traumatic trip took its toll.

During that fearful flight

the girl clutched the spear tight.

Now she dances each night on a pole.

/// The most superheroic of guys,

MetaMan streaked across Roman skies.

Underpants over tights

made him chafe during flights,

so he tucked his long cape ‘tween his thighs.

Glad to see they had double-sided tape in those days.