Pie
Cidu Bill on Dec 21st 2009
Morris Keesan: Clearly, Janis swears a lot while she’s baking, but what is it that would have gone wrong while trimming the edges of a pie? I bake pies a lot, and this is not a phase of pie baking that’s particularly prone to mishaps.
Filed in Arlo and Janis, Bill Bickel, Jimmy Johnson, comic strips, comics, humor | 21 responses so far
Cornbread Dec 21st 2009 at 06:16 pm 1
Well, she is holding it a little precariously in one hand, looking distracted with her eyes closed - maybe she dropped it? And Arlo, being Arlo, doesn’t mind eating pie that’s been on the floor, so he’s unperturbed?
Daniel J. Drazen Dec 21st 2009 at 06:16 pm 2
It’s just that pies are reputed to be really tricky to make. That’s why the full phrase is “East as EATING pie!” And no, I don’t mean that in the Arlo sense, ya pervs!
Jim in Phx Dec 21st 2009 at 06:19 pm 3
My first thought too was that she dropped it and let the expletives fly.
buzz Dec 21st 2009 at 06:56 pm 4
How sharp is the knife? Maybe she knicked her finger while trimming her pie.
Lord-z Dec 21st 2009 at 07:03 pm 5
Yeah, I figured that she cut herself. That is no way to hold something while you are wielding a knife. Though I am not sure why she would go right back to singing.
TasmanSea Dec 21st 2009 at 07:25 pm 6
Arlo looks happy at the end, so he can’t be thinking that whatever caused the swearing also resulted in the pie being completely ruined on the floor. Although I agree it does look like the way she’s holding it could well end in the whole thing on the floor.
DPWally Dec 21st 2009 at 07:32 pm 7
I think TasmanSea is on the right track.
The joke, whatever it is, resembles “[beep beep] that’s the smoke alarm, dinner’s ready”.
If anyone knows where to by a smoke alarm that says “AH,☼§&!@§☼?Ǿ!!!”, please let me know
Dave Van Domelen Dec 21st 2009 at 07:34 pm 8
The second panel is significantly after the first in timing, so there’s no reason to expect the swear-ful moment happened during the trimming.
Jeff S. Dec 21st 2009 at 09:52 pm 9
My guess is she burned herself putting the pie in the oven. This would explain why Arlo isn’t concerned in the last panel AND why Janis went back to singing… the pie isn’t ruined. Plus, this could also explain #8 DVD’s timing issue.
bigdogrocks Dec 21st 2009 at 09:53 pm 10
Also, notice that Arlo doesn’t realize she is cooking until he hears the expletives. In panel 3, he is more interested in the TV and is ignoring the pleasant tones from the kitchen.
Morris Keesan Dec 21st 2009 at 10:51 pm 11
Clearly, the sequence of singing/swearing/singing is what tips Arlo off to the fact that Janis is baking, but when you’ve gotten as far as trimming the edges of the crust, you’re past all of the tricky bits (mostly making the crust, and getting the top crust in place; pie crusts can be very sensitive to atmospheric conditions). What is it that would happen consistently here, that wouldn’t make the pie inedible.
All I can think of is that Janis just realized that she forgot an ingredient in the filling, or forgot to preheat her oven, or else she cut herself while poking vent holes in the top crust. It doesn’t seem to me that any of those is likely to be the sort of thing which would happen often enough to condition Arlo’s response.
Mark in Boston Dec 22nd 2009 at 12:00 am 12
The swearing comes when tearing the crust to pieces picking it up off the board. Maybe that happened when she put the top crust on, after trimming the bottom crust.
Suzii Dec 22nd 2009 at 05:04 am 13
Seriously? You trim your bottom crusts before placing the top crust? I always crimp them together and then trim.
Julie Dec 22nd 2009 at 08:20 am 14
I trim my bottom crust before putting the top one on. I guess it never occurred to me to both at once. So, I assumed Janis had a problem with the top crust, which is where I have the most trouble making pie.
GP Dec 22nd 2009 at 08:55 am 15
I’m pretty sure she burned herself putting it in the oven.
Ian Osmond Dec 22nd 2009 at 11:27 am 16
I’ve managed to screw up pies while trimming the edges. Basically, my knife somehow got . . . stuck. I don’t know what happened, but the entire top crust ripped and a chunk of it pulled off.
The Bad Seed Dec 22nd 2009 at 11:33 am 17
I figured she was just anal-retentive and was cursing having scalped a portion of the crust unevenly. But a true anal-retentive (speaking from experience) would never be free-handing both the pie and the knife, so that can’t be it. And we certainly wouldn’t go back to whistling so fast, that’s for sure.
Sam O'Vartea Dec 22nd 2009 at 04:24 pm 18
The beauty of the medium is that the off-panel action does not need to be determined. The joke is simply that Arlo knows that Janis’s baking is accompanied by humming punctuated with occasional swearing. It’s a mild joke, but offers further proof that Jimmy Johnson has my house bugged.
Lord Jubjub Dec 22nd 2009 at 06:29 pm 19
Sam, I think you have it. Arlo knows Janis is baking because of the alternating swears and tunes
buzz Dec 22nd 2009 at 09:32 pm 20
Duh, we’re missing the obvious.
Janis is singing from 2 Live Crew’s repertoire.
Jeff in Ann Arbor Dec 24th 2009 at 08:27 am 21
Sam has it dead on.