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Wednesday: I'm surprised that he hasn't already bought a set of clippers for home use.
(From Achewood. Click for criticism of Edvard Grieg.)
The thing is, even without having read Pat's weblog, this tells you pretty much everything you need to know about him.
Okay, the stuff about barbers probably sticks out a little. Pat's fur looks pretty much the same across every strip, no matter how cheap of a haircut he's gotten. And, really, it doesn't look that out of place for a cat. It's hard to understand at a passing glance what his issue with barbers might be without supplemental reading. The strip isn't actively dealing with the comedy of errors surrounding his lawsuit against Hair Have You Been?, so it might seem like a completely irrational prejudice.
Then again, perhaps it doesn't matter. His issues with barbers are, at their core, about completely irrational prejudice. Besides, Pat's a dick. We've established that.
The rest is a masterful piece of characterization. For all that Pat probably likes to see himself as a superior model of discernment and discipline, he's an arrogant, self-important mess. So's the back of his car. Other strips would spend a week on anecdotal evidence, dickish interactions, and belaboured points. Chris Onstad bundles it into a one-panel symbol. And a Nader evolution fish.
(I'm with Pat on the Grieg, though. Peer Gynt's appalling.)
Posted by Wednesday White at August 31, 2005 8:43 AM
Comments
Comment from: Michael Nehora posted at September 1, 2005 12:24 AM
"It is not a god-damned phone restaurant." Hee hee. That should be a real-life bumper sticker.
Comment from: TheNintenGenius posted at September 1, 2005 1:07 AM
Pat's just one of those characters I absolutely love to hate.
And as for what you said: I've never gotten around to reading the Achewood blogs, but I just figured that Pat had some sort of irrational hatred toward barbers. You know, like the irrational hatred he apparently has toward Mexicans. Or most anyone who isn't Pat for that matter.
Comment from: Zaq posted at September 1, 2005 3:03 AM
Try as I might, I cannot keep Pat and Nice Pete straight in my head. (Sure, the names are similar, but not to the extent that this confusion would be warranted.)... so needless to say, I was fairly confused until I clicked on some of the other links and saw Pat's picture.
Once I figured out who we were actually talking about, though, I agree fully; this is how it's done. Of course, the fact that he has bumper stickers at all says something (I personally, along with quite a few people I know and I suspect quite a few I don't know, refuse on principle to put bumper stickers, however witty, true, or relevant, on my car. Not that I'm passing judgment on any specific individuals for their bumper stickering ways, merely noting a possible correlation), and this is a perfect mix of 'em. And yeah, if I didn't have this personal anti-sticker worldview anyway,I would so want that Phone Restaurant one.
Comment from: J.(Channing)Wells posted at September 1, 2005 8:24 AM
Pat didn't used to be such a dickweed. He actually used to do useful things, like building a functional moon rocket. But right around the time he got his first hat during Hat Week, he's become totally insufferable, and now is the kind of guy who goes through the trouble of keeping a deranged serial killer on speed-dial just so he can whack people who piss him off.
Oh, and if my sources are correct, Grieg hated parts of Peer Gynt himself and bemoaned the fact that people celebrated it so.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at September 1, 2005 8:27 AM
I have to say, I hate barbers too. This is partly because of bad experiences from when I was little (you ever have bloody ears as a result of a haircut? I did). This is partly because I think it feels weird to have someone other than me touch my scalp. And part of it is because asking for a simple men's haircut (I usually say "businessman's haircut," but it's the same basic concept) and I have to sit through five minutes of hairstylist lingo to actually get what I want. And it still gets messed up 25% of the time.
Reading that blog, all the reasons for hating barbers seems not only logical, but concurrent with my own thoughts about the profession. Crack on him for other things, but hair cutters are evil, I say, and it's just the sign of a past bad experience or ten, not just individual persnickitiness.
Comment from: Kludge posted at September 1, 2005 8:50 AM
Nice Pete and Pat are almost opposites, in a way.
Pat is a model citizen gone wrong - he's got firm beliefs in lots of things that seem reasonable, but he's such a complete dick about them that you can't help but dislike him, even when he agrees with you. His Blog is entitled "A Journey Into Reason" - in fact, he has journeyed so far into Reason that he has emerged from the other side.
Nice Pete, on the other hand, is a sociopath, but a nice one. Pete seems to think nothing of killing someone, but appreciates that you should behave respectfully at anger management group. He observes social niceties while ignoring massive taboos.
On the bumper sticker front, I think the gold in this cartoon goes to "Honk if you love Jesus - and I'll back into you."
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at September 1, 2005 8:58 AM
Remember, Pat, Ray and Beef all used to dance together. They were very close in the neighborhood, once upon a time.
However, then Pat revealed that he is a dick.
Comment from: Brendan posted at September 1, 2005 9:04 AM
And the Nader fish has balls.
Comment from: HydrogenGuy posted at September 1, 2005 9:35 AM
But, dude, "In the Hall of the Mountain King"!
The rest of Peer Gynt is just chaff, but hey, look at the play he had to work with.
Comment from: Wistful Dreamer posted at September 1, 2005 10:28 AM
Then I guess I'm blessed by not knowing what it is.
I wonder if the author intended some connection between nader-loving, vocal-christian-hating Darwinians and being jerks. I hope not.
Comment from: J.(Channing)Wells posted at September 1, 2005 11:46 AM
Wistful Dreamer:
From my admittedly short experience, Onstad has rock-steady character voice. I don't think the fact that Pat (a) leans left and (b) is a dickweed is intended to be a statement about anyone or anything other than Pat himself. Not that I've talked to the man, mind.
Comment from: FortyTwo posted at September 1, 2005 6:30 PM
But...but the Holberg Suite! That alone should redeem Grieg!
Comment from: Zaq posted at September 1, 2005 6:53 PM
he's not necessarily complaining about ALL the compositions of Greig. Merely the stultifying ones.
Comment from: miyaa posted at September 1, 2005 11:37 PM
Harry Potter and the Difference Between Direct Current and Alternating Current.
To quote Daffy Duck, "It's shocking...
Comment from: J.(Channing)Wells posted at September 2, 2005 12:13 AM
Hate to say it, really I do, but that HP gag there is funnier than everything that's been going on for a week or so over at Sluggy, from where I'm sitting.
Comment from: Wednesday posted at September 2, 2005 12:19 AM
My god. You might possibly be suggesting that Sluggy is going through a period where the humour is mediocre and overextended. I assure you that such a thing never happens, and am appalled at the implicit assertion.
Goodness gracious me.
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