Garfield minus Garfield is actually just what it sounds; it’s the old Garfield comic strip that we all know and love without the big orange cat.  You might not think that would work very well, but it does.  It’s really funny on a sad, lonely and pathetic level.

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.  (www.garfieldminusgarfield.net)

Without the presence of Garfield and other characters such as Odie the dog and Nermal the kitten, the strips “create a new, even lonelier atmosphere for Jon Arbuckle…Jon’s observations seem to teeter between existential crisis and deep despair.” (New York Times)

They will be publishing a full color Garfield minus Garfield book in October.  It is supposed to have the original comic side by side with the new catless version.  Should be pretty cool.  These crack me up.

]]> http://www.weblogyouread.com/garfield-minus-garfield/feed/ 7 http://www.weblogyouread.com/frecks-new-feet/ http://www.weblogyouread.com/frecks-new-feet/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:31:27 +0000 James http://www.weblogyouread.com/?p=28 Oh, memories.  Freck, you son of a bitch you.  I love to hate to love you.  Know what I mean?  I know Michael does, but does anyone else?  Well you should.  I, like many others, was a frequent visitor to http://www.cutoffmyfeet.com.  Why?  Because Paul Morgan, aka Freck, made a promise to me.  Don’t bother trying to go to the previously mentioned site as it has been inactive for some years now.  Thank God for the Web Archive.   I’ll let him explain this one.

On August 24, 1986, Paul Morgan’s life was forever changed.   He was in an accident which left him paralyzed.  Paul and several of his friends had been out boating that day.  They were on their way home, pulling the boat on a trailer behind the truck.  Paul fell out of the back of the truck and was run over by the boat trailer they were towing.  He spent 3 months in and out of hospitals.

Oh man, that sounds terrible.  Do go on…

Paul Morgan is a man who desperately wants to lead a normal life again.  When the accident first happened, the technology was not available for that to happen.  While the technology is now available for Paul to lead a better life, the financial burden would be much more than he could afford .

Since Paul is on Medicare/Medicaid, his insurance will not cover the amputation and new prosthetics because it is not deemed a necessary procedure.  Paul also receives medical disability and his Medicare plan does not even cover the cost of his catheter bag.  Paul doesn’t want to fight a no-win battle with the insurance and medical communities in the United States.

I hear you man.  Well, what are you going to do then?

Paul and his friend, Kevin Nicholson, came up with the idea to charge internet access and cut off Paul’s feet on the internet.

cut marks on foot?

What?  Why?  How?

A location has been secured to build the guillotine.  The building of the guillotine has started and the process will take a few days to several weeks… and if you are a member of Freck’s World you can watch him build the guillotine, step by step, via streaming video!

frecks guillotine

Oh, a guillotine.  Right.  That’s really fucked up Freck.

Needless to say, I loved this idea.  Michael and I, being roommates at the time, were definitely all for Paul Morgan slicing his own feet off.  We never paid our 19.95 to see it live, and I’m glad we didn’t.

Freck never went through with it.  I’m not really sure what he ended up doing about his feet, but I sure as hell don’t care.  You can see his site here now, not sure for how long though.  Enjoy while you can!

R.I.P. Frecks Feet

So, I’m watching TV with the wife. Everything is going just fine, I had a pretty good day at work and I have very little to complain about. The commercials start and I’m still doing well. Car ad, kitchen cleaner, weed killer, and I’m copasetic. Then comes the Toaster Strudel commercial. I watch it silently, in awe. When it’s over, I look over at my wife and say “You know what??” She looks at me politely. “Fuck Toaster Strudel!!”

Now, understand, this outburst was not directed at my lovely wife Sarah in any way. She just happened to be the only one present at my declaration to the world. And why the vulgarity you might ask? My reply would be that my vulgarity is nothing compared to Toaster Strudel’s cold and relentless attacks on the Pop Tart. I’m not really sure if there is a good comparison to how TS has dragged its breakfast pastry companion through the mud. We are talking about more than a decade of Pop Tart hate spreading.

Remember the commercial where the kid hid his Pop Tarts in his locker out of embarrassment. Its sad really, when you think about it. What kind of emotional turmoil are you going through that you would hide your breakfast. What about the one where the two kids are comparing the breakfast pastries their parents had purchased for them. The kid with the strudel says something like, “I know my parents love me because they bought me this sexy pastry”. Then Pop Tart kid says, “I hate my life. I like eating Pop Tarts and dirt”.

All I’m saying is that Toaster Strudel needs to lay off the Pop Tart bashing. Base their advertising on the good qualities of their own product. Maybe then, they won’t look like a bunch of assholes. And maybe they’ll sell a few more Strudels. Not to me, of course. I hate them.