Being Jim Davis

This isn't strictly on-topic, but you know what? A lot of disco is actually really great! I mean, sure, the Bee-Gees were pretty lame, but check out Evelyn "Champagne" King.Or, hey, what about this classic number?And you know who's actually under-rated? Early Michael Jackson, that's who!Eh? Anyway, today's strip references disco.

Today's episode features references to Odysseus and Saint Augustine, a mild disagreement about Zen Buddhism, exploration of the nature of evil, genuine non-sarcastic appreciation of Jim Davis' craftsmanship, and a second appearance of the popular new catchphrase "licking our own assholes". What more could you ask for?Today's strip: 

The humor in today's strip results from a cognitive impasse, a momentary epistemological difficulty, in which the subject perceives that Social Being itself suddenly appears no longer to be real in any factual or normative sense. When this occurs material reality, which is always factually true, is the only percept remaining in the mind at such a moment of comic perception.Look, did I just paste all that directly from Wikipedia's "Theories of humor" page? Yes. Yes, I did. But what of it?Today's strip: 

   A day for obscure references   Were you hoping for still more cat-on-dog violence? Then you came to the right place, because Jim Davis has officially decided that is the future of Garfield. Join us as we ponder the ramifications of this unsettling trend while still finding time to complain about Jim Davis' drawing skills, bemoan the tired strip-mining of outmoded cultural apothegms, and lament the general paw-city (get it?!?) of humor in this comic.Today's strip

    Lyman devotees will be relieved to learn in today's installment that the OBVIOUSLY-A-HUMAN-FEMUR Garfield has been utilizing as a weapon for the past two days thankfully does not derive from the mutilated corpse of the mustachioed miscreant. Hey, pretty good alliteration there, huh? I also strongly considered 'chartreuse charlatan', but I think the first one is stronger. Anyway, this comic strip isn't very good.Today's strip

  Will anyone get this reference by the time the episode actually posts? Hey, your guess is as good as mine.   A chilling vision presents itself in today's installment of Garfield, a vision of a nightmarish world in which clothing changes color from moment to moment, and also I think Lyman was quite likely murdered? Seems the most plausible explanation for where that OBVIOUSLY HUMAN FEMUR came from.Today's strip

Blah blah blah something something Garfield, something something fourth wall, blurry eyes face, disappearing furniture, weird shadows, ok?Today's strip

In today's action-packed issue of Being Jim Davis, a broad range of important topics fall under the serpentine tendrils of your erudite hosts, including temporal anomalies, Lyman's bizarre substance abuse history, whether or not Jon Arbuckle is intended to represent actress Andie MacDowell, and I don't know; I guess the Oxford comma? Look, I don't get paid to write these things, ok? Today's strip

    In the (largely unsuccessful) effort to avoid the harsh realities in this comic strip with regard to the difficult issue of corporal punishment, the boys get into a lengthy argument as to the proper term for the color of Lyman's shirt (for the record, it's definitely chartreuse).Today's strip

Today on our program, we have the first in a series of comics focused on the ever-popular subject of cartoon violence. It's funny because they're not real people, right? Sure, I guess that's the case. Unfortunately this is by far the best of the series inasmuch as it does contain at least a vestigial attempt at an actual punchline, in the form of a play on the ambiguity often inherent in standard spoken English syntax with respect to subject/object reference. Exciting stuff!Although we don't discuss it on the podcast (in favor of riffing on esoteric philosophical concepts such as qualia and propositional logic), I have to wonder how this strip would translate into other languages, with different rules of grammar and so forth. Perhaps we can put on flag on this as the first Garfield strip specifically designed as a monument to the English language? Meh, probably not.Today's stripHow to pet a cat

Hey, are you guys sick of Odie yet? Honestly, we're kind of sick of Odie. We miss Jon!Today's strip:

Sometimes Garfield is a dog. Sometimes Lyman shows up at Jon Arbuckle's door with a mongoose. These are just established facts. Midway through today's episode, it finally dawns on Chris just how many Garfield strips he still has to podcast on. Please, Mr. Davis, please, stop the madness!Today's strip:

Did you know Garfield was the "spokescat" for something called the "International Information System Security Certification Consortium"? If so, you have little reason to listen to today's episode. Though we do talk for a while about the possibility that a "dog holocaust" occurred sometime between 1978 and today. Who's to say?Today's strip:

Honestly, just whatever, okay? It's fine. But I really do like the phrase "Odie's intelligence and tongue." It was worth it for that.Today's strip:

Honestly, not a great strip today, but we do reference Grand Funk Railroad, Ludwig Wittgenstein, pop art, Saint Sebastian, prog rock, Medieval iconography, basically anything to avoid talking about the actual strip, which, again, not that great.Today's strip:

Big fuckin' day, listeners. Big. Fuckin'. Day. You thought the introduction of Lyman would change things? Admit it, that's what you thought. "I totally think the introduction of Lyman will change things." Those were your precise thoughts. Well, frankly, valued listener, you were an idiot to think that. A total and complete buffoon. Because today, listener, things will really change for Garfield. And not just because of some itinerant mustache weirdo.Big fuckin' day indeed.Today's strip:

Hey regular listener, did it bother you a little bit yesterday when we talked about Garfield's butthole? It seemed crass and excessive, right? Well, today we double down with an extended discussion of Garfield's feces. Also, hilarity ensues with the addition of our new hit character, "Russian Garfield."Oh, and Lyman makes his first appearance. Remember Lyman?Today's strip:Russian Garfield:

    Is Panel Seven the Panel Two of Sunday??? YOU DECIDE. Anyway, this is a Garfield strip, and we're gonna talk about it. I should probably let you know right now that In this episode we spend FAR too much time talking about Garfield's butt hole.Today's strip

Fair warning: Today's episode of Being Jim Davis is unusually light on traditional English syntax. Anyway, once we recover from how lame this Garfield strip is, we explore its relationship to the strip from July 4th, 1978 (which also featured fish-based humor), and return once again to the evergreen issue of just why Jon allows Garfield on the table in the first place. Is this our best episode ever? I'll never tell.Today's strip

    A promising setup leads absolutely nowhere interesting in this forty-seventh episode spectacular. In lieu of anything noteworthy we get into a discussion of whether anyone actually uses the word 'sandbox' to refer to that thing that our cats poop in. Today's stripHumorously snide blog post about how terrible Ziggy is