Ol’ George #36: Mo’ Kitty Blues

 

Ol’ George #36: Mo’ Kitty Blues

Notes on #36:

1. There have been only two occasions when a fake beer is advertised on the walls of Kelly’s Bar and they have both been bird-themed. Is this Irma’s (the emu bartender/bar manager) way to support her own species? How could I use that for a future strip, I wondered….and I thought about the great scene in Spike Lee’s classic 1988 film “Do The Right Thing “ and it just wrote itself. Well, Spike wrote it…

2. Barn Owl Bitter is fictitious, but there is a Barn Owl brewpub in British Columbia. There is a Kiwi lager in New Zealand, or was. Emu (Export & Bitter) is real. . The Brouwerij’Tij of the Netherlands is completely real. Why is a Dutch brewery using an African bird for its logo? Why not? (And what of Carlsberg Elephant?) 

3. George is playing the part of Buggin’ Out from the film, originally played by Giancarlo Esposito. Irma performs the role of Sal, first played by Danny Aiello. 

4. In panel two, we see Hello Kitty, who truly doesn’t belong, because according to Sanrio lore, she is an 8-year old human girl living in England, who pretends to be a cat? Whatever….

And the image of R. Crumb’s Fritz the Cat is taken from the 1964 story “Fritz Bugs Out”. (Buggin’ Out?)

5. George’s companions in panel three are there to illustrate the different ways that cats can wear hats. The  Cat in the Hat sits his squarely in the middle of his head, leaving his ears alone. Top Cat (the star of a 1961 Hanna Barberra cartoon ) has actual slots in his hat, allowing for his ears to poke through. And George plops his hat on his head, flattening his ears, and doesn’t give a shit. 

6. Is Irma gonna smack George on the head with that baseball bat, as Sal almost did to Buggin’ Out? There’s no John Turturro there to stop her…let’s imagine another panel where, oh, I don’t know, Chester steps in…

7. I don’t know if the Cat in the Hat will appear again, so I’ll use this opportunity to drop this lore bomb. Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s grandfather was the co-owner of a brewery in Springfield, Massachusetts.  It was called Kulmbach & Geisel, but the locals called it “Come Back and Guzzle.” You’re welcome!!