Being Jim Davis

In today's Garfield,  Jim Davis teters on the verge of introducing formal teleological elements to the strip, perhaps in the consideration of turning it into some kind of narrative, then backs off from that. We argue about whether or not the depicted events take place in the bathroom. Today's strip

In this Very Exciting Episode, our Skype call drops in the middle of the podcast! But when we come back, are we the same podcasters? Or, like Captain Kirk going through the transporter, does the disruption of continuity actually portend a far more sinister reality beneath the congenial veneer? Is the very act of podcasting in truth akin to committing suicide and being replaced by soulless doppelgä...

Heraclitus’s “table fragments” raise puzzles about identity and persistence: under what conditions does a side table persist through time as one and the same object? If the world contains things which endure, and retain their identity in spite of undergoing alteration, then somehow those things must persist through changes. Heraclitus wonders whether one can view the same side table twice precisel...

Garfield asks a hypophoric question and we talk about Jay Ward. It's the late 1970s, and this is Being Jim Davis. Today's strip

Listener, please conjure in your mind your own personal conception of the platonic ideal of a Garfield  strip. Really think about the nature of that strip: How many panels does it have? Does it contain references to dieting? What is the ontological quality of the discourse between its various players? Is there a perplexing denouement in which one or more characters breaks the fourth wall...

Today's topics include the dull drudgery of life and the minimum defining characteristics of eye contact. Then we get into a wholly unnecessary argument over whether this strip constitutes a logical progression from the previous one, which was more or less the same exact joke. For those among you who are not excited by the bleak prospect of an entire week's worth of strips organized around th...

In today's strip, Jon Arbuckle puts Garfield on a diet, a funny enough one-off gag that will never probably never be referenced again. We also discuss floor-sitting, #where'slyman?, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, #panel2, cat jowls, and Jon Arbuckle's lost years as a member of the Weather Underground. Today's strip  

In today's episode, Jon brags that he's "seen cats use the litter box before." Okay, Mr. Big-City-Sophistication, we get it: you're worldly and cosmopolitan. You don't have to rub it in our goddamned faces by "casually" dropping the fact that you own at least one trivet. Oh, and today's strip was actually pretty good -- a welcome relief after yesterday's, which was a real dog's breakfast. Today's...

In today's episode, a week that had opened so promisingly, and then soured with Thursday's disappointing installment, finally becomes what -- let's face it -- we all knew that it would: yet another unbearable slog through -- what shall we call it? -- the, imagination(?) of Jim Davis. No, "imagination" is definitely not the right word for this one. Today's strip  

Not much to say about this one, but hey, you've already listened to 66 of these things. Why stop now? Today's strip : 

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...

  <img class="thumb-image" alt=" A day for obscure references" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/5802b3a22e69cf75b49d3638/1476572229165/" data-image-dimensions="366x239" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="5802b3a22e69cf75b49d3638" data-type="image" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a2...

  <img class="thumb-image" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/5802ac45c534a52fce013951/1476570185811/" data-image-dimensions="798x802" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="5802ac45c534a52fce013951" data-type="image" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/5802ac45c534a52fce013951/14765701...

  <img class="thumb-image" alt="Will anyone get this reference by the time the episode actually posts? Hey, your guess is as good as mine." data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/580299f5e6f2e133b15eca67/1476569463702/" data-image-dimensions="381x376" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="580299f5e6f2e133b15eca67" data-type...

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...

  <img class="thumb-image" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/580285355016e16aeae3d3c3/1476560184527/" data-image-dimensions="220x196" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="580285355016e16aeae3d3c3" data-type="image" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/580285355016e16aeae3d3c3/14765601...

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 sta...

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 :