Feet First 2013-02-15

[Julie]

So when does Mommy turn to Wheee?

Well, I've been saying "Wheee" for a couple days now. And I'll definitely say it again with today's page...

WHEEEEEEE!!!

[as363]

And as I mentioned yesterday - still hearing "Tah ra ra BOOM deay"

[Dave]

Oh, dear.

It looks as if the cart in which our ladies were just launched upwards, went further and landed harder than we might have expected.

I guess you did use enough dynamite there, Butch... er, I mean Pablo.

[DilyV]

Oh, dear.

It looks as if the cart in which our ladies were just launched upwards, went further and landed harder than we might have expected.

I guess you did use enough dynamite there, Butch... er, I mean Pablo.

I've been avoiding that very line to keep the punjar from falling on my head!!!!

[bmonk]

Oh, dear.

It looks as if the cart in which our ladies were just launched upwards, went further and landed harder than we might have expected.

I guess you did use enough dynamite there, Butch... er, I mean Pablo.

I've been avoiding that very line to keep the punjar from falling on my head!!!!

As in a recent commercial?
Drops a large safe into the pun jar from a great height, just in case.

[Dave]

I've been avoiding that very line to keep the punjar from falling on my head!!!!

Been there, done that, got the scars

After the Great Flintlock Incident a year or so ago, I was ordered to donate my entire self to the Pun Jar, and then seal the lid on top afterwards. There were some disagreements as to whether I would be allowed air-holes.

[Fairportfan]

Speaking of Wile E. Coyote, my absolute favourite Wile E. Moment is near the end of the Looney Tunes Back in Action movie - which is a LOT better than its reviews and reputation would suggest, when, as a henchman of the villain, he is driving a speeding train that is supposed to run over Timothy Dalton tied to the tracks...

Instead, it scoops up a huge load of dynamite, TNT, etc., all with lit fuses.

He looks. He sighs. He leans on the cab window sill and holds up a little sign: "They don't pay me enough."

[Fairportfan]

Oh, dear.

It looks as if the cart in which our ladies were just launched upwards, went further and landed harder than we might have expected.

I guess you did use enough dynamite there, Butch... er, I mean Pablo.

I've been avoiding that very line to keep the punjar from falling on my head!!!!

Or the similar one from the original Italian Job: "You were just supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

[Graybeard]

Those formations look like Canyonlands National Park. That probably puts them in Utah part of the four corners. This was the first step. There have to be more with each one reducing their speed. The luck of the Gods, or Paul, is riding with them. So when does Mommy turn to Wheee?

They are truly on their own now. Out in the back country in street clothes and not prepared to the environment at all. If someone doesn't help them they will be dead of thirst in three days. So who is going to show up to help them?

To the (probably limited) extent that this represents anywhere in the real world, it's Arches National Park rather than Canyonlands. Compare this picture (which btw doesn't do justice to Double Arch, I have a better one hanging in our living room, it's an incredibly easy thing to take an utterly gorgeous photo of). Most likely the panels in the comic are just intended to give a Southwestern vibe without representing anywhere specific -- although Pablo does do his research.

[kingklash]

This being the Dreaded Friday Cliffhanger, I'd wager that this isn't even the merest inkling of a portion of a hint of a heads-up of the beginning of the actual "Adventure."

[DilyV]

Speaking of Wile E. Coyote, my absolute favourite Wile E. Moment is near the end of the Looney Tunes Back in Action movie - which is a LOT better than its reviews and reputation would suggest, when, as a henchman of the villain, he is driving a speeding train that is supposed to run over Timothy Dalton tied to the tracks...

Instead, it scoops up a huge load of dynamite, TNT, etc., all with lit fuses.

He looks. He sighs. He leans on the cab window sill and holds up a little sign: "They don't pay me enough."

My favorite Roadrunner cartoon is the one where the coyote has the flying dynamite sticks... too funny!!!

When I was in the army we got our hands on some hoffman cartridges... The hoffman device is a multi tubed launcher that straps onto the barrel of an M1 tank that fires a cartridge that creates the smoke to simulate a real round being fired for training. These things are equal to about a quarter stick of dynamite. The connectors are stackable... so when the XO got them, he asks how do we set these off? I pulled out the field phone, which pushes about three volts when you crank it. I figured, it's gotta work. He stacked and buried six of them and ran the wires back to the field phone. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!" *crankcrankcrank* BOOMF!!!!!! Ermagerd... Dirt flew like 50 feet in the air and when the dust settled, there was a crater in the ground about six feet in diameter and about three feet deep!!! God, I miss being in the Army!

[Jabberwonky]

I"m hoping for something like this...

But I'm completely tickled by the thought of Wiley's flying dynamite being attracted to cell phones...

[TheDOCTOR]

This is definetly a Wyle E. Coyote / Calvin and Hobbes / Rocky and Bullwinkle moment.
BTW, Didn't I hear that one of those archs had COLLAPSED and was discovered by Park Rangers about a year or so ago? ......Great, now I can't get that Rocky/Bullwinkle tune out of my head.

[zachariah]

Those formations look like Canyonlands National Park. That probably puts them in Utah part of the four corners. This was the first step. There have to be more with each one reducing their speed. The luck of the Gods, or Paul, is riding with them. So when does Mommy turn to Wheee?

They are truly on their own now. Out in the back country in street clothes and not prepared to the environment at all. If someone doesn't help them they will be dead of thirst in three days. So who is going to show up to help them?

To the (probably limited) extent that this represents anywhere in the real world, it's Arches National Park rather than Canyonlands. Compare this picture (which btw doesn't do justice to Double Arch, I have a better one hanging in our living room, it's an incredibly easy thing to take an utterly gorgeous photo of). Most likely the panels in the comic are just intended to give a Southwestern vibe without representing anywhere specific -- although Pablo does do his research.

Close enough. There are similar formations in both parks. The Arches are just much better know. The point being they are in the Utah area most likely. As you head south you get into monument area instead of the arches formations. I just wonder why the tunnel exits where it did. Who was determined enough to dig it into the side of a mountain at that location. Just getting there would be a huge job and the logistics a nightmare. There is no sign of a road or trail leading to it either. Prospectors very, very seldom check out locations like that for tunnels.

[Graybeard]

This is definetly a Wyle E. Coyote / Calvin and Hobbes / Rocky and Bullwinkle moment.
BTW, Didn't I hear that one of those archs had COLLAPSED and was discovered by Park Rangers about a year or so ago? ......Great, now I can't get that Rocky/Bullwinkle tune out of my head.

You're probably thinking of Wall Arch, formerly 12th largest in the park, which collapsed in 2008. This kind of thing happens at Arches all the time; about 40 known arches have collapsed since 1971, for roughly one a year, including one of my favorites there, delicate little Rabbit Trap Arch. Wall was notable only because it was so large. Landscape Arch, largest in the park and, by some reckonings (measurement methods are controversial), the world, is getting rickety enough that it could go any time -- large pieces have fallen off it in the last few years. They're being created by erosion at about the same rate, with one starting to appear recently that's nearly as long as Landscape. Arches are very transient things.

[Fairportfan]

Consider the Old Man of the Mountain.

(Before-and-after composite photo):

[davids4250]

To the (probably limited) extent that this represents anywhere in the real world, it's Arches National Park rather than Canyonlands. Compare this picture (which btw doesn't do justice to Double Arch, I have a better one hanging in our living room, it's an incredibly easy thing to take an utterly gorgeous photo of). Most likely the panels in the comic are just intended to give a Southwestern vibe without representing anywhere specific -- although Pablo does do his research.

I was thinking Arches too. Remember, Astili did not say the Library exit took the to Mesa Verde, just that it was the closest exit.

[sheik]

I just wonder why the tunnel exits where it did. Who was determined enough to dig it into the side of a mountain at that location. Just getting there would be a huge job and the logistics a nightmare. There is no sign of a road or trail leading to it either. Prospectors very, very seldom check out locations like that for tunnels.

The only justification for the tunnel and how it ends is that it was dug for ventilation, and the spoil was dumped somewhere much further downhill.
This could be justified if the mine was particularly deep and/or noxious, with the tunnel acting as a chimney and connected to an overhead duct that runs to the mine face.
At first I thought there couldn't be a justification for such an operation until I remembered my uncle Chad admitted to being part of a high-grading gang on federal land in that part of the country during the Depression.

[Graybeard]

I was thinking Arches too. Remember, Astili did not say the Library exit took the to Mesa Verde, just that it was the closest exit.

There's no doubt that the first two panels are showing scenery in Arches; you can just about overlay the Wikimedia shot of Double Arch on them, including the background, and double arches aren't that common. However, I suspect the scenery was just intended to convey Southwestern landscape, rather than anywhere specific. We'll find out soon enough.

Incidentally, if this spot really was Arches, getting shot out of that pillar behind Double Arch wouldn't land them on a nice ski-jump mesa to get launched on to the presumably more important landing spot. It would simply deposit them in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by very surprised tourists.

[Lee M]

Oh, dear.

It looks as if the cart in which our ladies were just launched upwards, went further and landed harder than we might have expected.

I guess you did use enough dynamite there, Butch... er, I mean Pablo.

You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!