Salem-News.com Benny And Sid articles Page 6

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #49

The forty-ninth installment of Reverend Benny & Mister Sid's At Your Service, Salem's original cartoon series.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Summer is here. That's great news. I love the look of lush trees, the feel of the heat of the sun, that sense of freedom that summer brings to school children.

I'm old enough that the sights, sounds and smells of summer trigger memories of when I was a kid with a tantalizing clarity. Sometimes during the transition between spring and summer I feel as if I can just peek under the thin veneer of reality and see what the world really is.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #48

We've got to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. Buy American, folks. Support the American Worker.

(Salem) - I've got 150,000 miles on my car. I drive more than I'd like to because of my job. but I get 38 miles to the gallon unless I've got the air on.

Not bad. But I'd give it all up in a second if I had a decent electric bicycle. Maybe I'm just one of those guys who is attracted to quirky ideas and designs.

I've got to drive too far each day for that to be a practical option, but still it strikes me as ideal.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #47

There's the age old problem of the Artist being misunderstood.

(Salem) - When Devo first hit the scene in 1970's their outrageous elevator shoes were meant to be a satire of rock.

Devo's first lesson in the reality of pop culture was their over-the-top presentation was taken as the latest trend and (briefly) elevator shoes became the fashion. Devo's later choice of flower pots for signature head gear, however, was never mistaken for anything other than anti-hip. They were through being cool.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #46

I'm not trying to dodge a bullet here. Yeah, the strip is about global warming. Yeah, I take a poke at the few wooden heads who still deny it doesn't exist all evidence to the contrary. But to be honest, I won't get any pleasure out of proving them wrong. I wish they were right.

(Salem) - People believe the strangest things. A gnat flies in front of a security camera and somebody gets excited and claims it's a ghost.

Not that ghosts might not be real--I've had some likely supernatural experiences myself, but come on, guys--an insect is an insect.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #45

When I first learned about global warming we were warned that the poles would be melted in fifty years. The latest verdict?

(Salem) - Mick Jagger in all his arrogant wisdom advises us that we can't always get what we want, but (he adds) we just might find that we get what we need.

I do hope he is right. We want to endure the recession, but we need to create a new society which measures success in some other way than profit.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #44

Here's the latest edition in Salem's original cartoon series, found only on Salem-News.com.

(Salem) - If I write something about what a crime torture is, I get all sorts of people who can tell me why they believe torture is a reasonable thing.

If I write words about how Ron Paul is a great archeologist and the discoverer of the lost city of Atlantis at the bottom of Lake Michigan (soon to be revealed in its full splendor as global warming turns the once great lake into a mud flat), I hear the cry of "Foul!"

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #43

The latest edition of Salem, Oregon's original cartoon series.

(Salem) - During the 2000 election Chris Tucker noted the resemblance of Al Gore to actor Christopher Reeve who played Superman in four movies made during the late 70's and 80's.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #42

The banks, Detroit, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Disneyland don't make up America. It's how America responds to challenge which gives it its substance. Ask the Vets.

(Salem) - Oh, the big news is the public's dismay over the torture policies of the Bush administration.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #41

As always stay clear of pirate infested waters, carry your towel with you, and heed the friendly words "Don't Panic."

(Salem) - Well boys, if I were you and I were laid off and walking the streets of Salem or Portland, I wouldn't hang around here. Oh, I know: "There's no place like home," but when you get laid off it's time for adventure.

No kidding when I was in my 20's I got laid off from U. S. Steel in Gary, Indiana. Two of my buddies and I packed up our bikes, bought tickets for the Greyhound and headed out west.

Reverend Benny & Mister Sid`s At Your Service #40

We've all got that deer-in-the-headlights, future shock gaze in our eyes and that 21st century slackness of the jaw which conveys the message: Hey, could we just slow down for a nano-second?

(Salem) - As the Great Sage and Perfect Master of the Universe Daffy Duck once said, "You never know where you're going till you get there."

That's certainly been my personal mantra for the last twenty years. Heck, when I went to my 5-year high school class reunion many of my classmates were talking about how they were going to retire by the age 40.