Hank Hill is a Plugger

And I cannot stand him.

Dale, however, is awesome.

And I would love to live with Bill (as a platonic roommate) and introduce him to the world of Bollywood and cheer him up.

Bobby is also awesome.

Peggy is at times.

But Hank is a major Plugger - he doesn't like new technology, especially computers, and the old way is always best. He also believes in rigid gender roles, hurting his son again and again.

He's also right repeatedly. The episode I just saw involved MySpace (a couple years too late) and he thought it would lead to disaster... and it did.

Another Hi and Lois Plugger Sighting

The comic:

I last sent a hand-written letter in 2006. It was sent with a check in gratitude to a friend who sent me a big box full of MAD magazines from the '70s and '80s along with the books.

And there is a thrill in getting mail in the mailbox... though you learn quickly that most will be bills and junkmail.

Comics where the characters don't age are so... weird when they talk about technology. I can't pinpoint why.

Though they don't age in Foxtrot and it works. I think it's because Bill Amend actually knows things about technology and pop culture.

This is just another way of saying "the old ways are best." I do want to send more mail to save the post office and mail on Saturday - I mean, Netflix may jack up their prices if there's no USPS anymore.

But a letter is touching - and so is a card. It's a sign you spent some money in addition to the thought. Though the best is a short note in a big box from Grandma that has candy and old family pictures and peppers that mom and her brother will fight over...

Anyway, this is non-soap opera comic without a joke or punchline. Or is it that we think progress is good, but it really isn't? I think most women, non-white Americans, GLBTQ people, people with disabilities, poor people, and on and on might disagree. Some old things are nice, but for the most part, we're always moving forward and it usually has good results. (I can't imagine my life a generation ago - no internet, shoddy psychiatric care, and college without the internet?! I saw the registration scene in "Back to School" and was quite shocked.)

Oh, I do have a point. Letters have their place. So does e-mail. So does texting. It's not a zero sum game, you can use all - nothing is stopping you.

The attitude I get from this comic and most Pluggers related to technology is that one (the older) is better - period. And the new ways are bad - period.

Text messages are awesome - one morning, I got a text from my mom (because I wake up after she's at school - and the reception for texts is better than that for calls in a lot of places) saying I was smart. It really made me happy. Of course, most days her texts "just" said that she loved me.

Plugger cookie sighting!

Would you eat a cookie made by a Plugger? Didn't think so.

The comic:


That is the kind of joke I expect from Pluggers.

Also, freaky - two girl scout cookie jokes that suck from two sucky comics on the same day?

Plugger sighting out of Florida, courtesy of the TeeVee.

"I believe getting your hands dirty is the best way to keep your head clean." Classic pluggerism.

Of course, the one before is a bit against what we've seen, but I'm sure they'd say something like "the view from your porch beats the view from your sofa."

Being Pluggers, the sofa is on the porch.

There is another one, and it is worse though only a bit harder to find. (I found this one, I'm done.) The same guy lets us know he believes that baseball caps should not be worn backwards. (Edgy!) And the view from something beats the view from a psychiatrist's couch. I think. Something about how real Pluggers don't need shrinks and wear their baseball caps properly.

I actually am not a big fan of orange juice.

I heard a Plugger whining on the radio today!

Er, singing.

I had a doctor appointment at 8:30 this morning in the city, and there was black ice on some of the roads, so all the driving was insane, so we had to listen to the radio. Mom's the driver, Mom still likes country music, we listened to country music.

Luckily, I stopped the Toby Keith song in its tracks, but still caught this by Jason Michael Carrol, called "Where I'm From." It's just whiny as hell, and the bit I heard reminded me of Pluggers.

On a three hour flight from Memphis to LA
I was silently celebrating my first class upgrade
Laughing at my jeans and my boots
Beside those high dollar shoes and Armani suits

I turned it down and was like "But the whole California culture is laidback, everyone wears jeans, who gives a damn about blue jeans?"

That's what I heard.

Now I'm looking at the rest of the lyrics.

I did not know Pluggers had recording contracts.

I said I'm from the front pew of a wooden church
The courthouse clock still don't work
Where a man's word means everything
Where moms and dads were high school flames
Gave their children grandmothers maiden names
It may not sound like much
But its where I'm from

...

Where the quarterback dates the homecoming queen
The trucks are ford and tractors green
And amazing Grace is what we sing
There's a county fair every fall
Your friends are there every time you call
Yeah It may not sound like much but it's
Where I'm from

I used to love country music, and it was stuff like this that drove me away. I could not handle the sap, the feeling of persecution and being the best of the best that went hand in hand.

It's like, you may look down on me, but I'm better than you, because my way of life is simpler. Why is simpler better? BECAUSE IT IS. City folks ask too many questions.

Rainy day Plugger sighting

Today's Bizarro!



Notice they, at least, look like real chickens.

Accidental - but still bad - Plugger sighting.

Okay, for a various number of reasons (laziness dressed up as "sleepiness"), I elected to not read my book, get online, or stick with the familiar (HGTV). It's a not a show I particularly like or hate, it's just blah. But after the Plugger sighting, it's my friend.

I'm referring to CMT and Craig Morgan's song "International Harvester." I came across it halfway through, or something, and saw that the band was singing in front of the Orpheum. "Hey!" said my sleepy, hungry brain. "There's an Orpheum in Memphis. Maybe we'll see more Memphis landmarks. Hi, Memphis!"

I don't think it was Memphis.

I can't (and don't really want) find a copy of this video at youtube that I can embed in my innocent blog. So I won't!

Here's a link!

And some of the most Pluggerific lyrics:



I’m the son of a 3rd generation farmer
I’ve been married 10 years to the farmer’s daughter
I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver
Hoggin’ up the road on my p-p-p-p-plower
Chug a lug a luggin’ 5 miles an hour
On my International Harvester

Three miles of cars layin’ on their horns
Fallin’ on deaf ears of corn
Lined up behind me like a big parade
Of late to work road raged jerks
Shoutin’ obscene words flippin’ me the bird

Well you may be on a state paved road
But that blacktop runs through my payload
Excuse me for tryin’ to do my job
But this year ain’t been no bumper crop
If you don’t like the way I’m a drivin’
Get back on the interstate
Otherwise sit tight and be nice
And quit yer honkin’ at me that way

Cause I’m a son of a 3rd generation farmer
I’ve been married 10 years to a farmer’s daughter
I got 2 boys in the county 4-H
I’m a lifetime sponsor of the F.F.A.
Hay! That’s what I make
I make a lotta hay for a little pay
But I’m proud to say
I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver
Hoggin’ up the road on my a p-p-p-plower
Chug a lug a lugin’ 5 miles an hour
On my International Harvester

Well I know you got your own deadlines
But cussin’ me ain’t savin’ no time hoss
This big-wheeled wide load ain’t goin’ any faster
So just smile and wave and tip your hat
To the man up on the tractor


Cause I’m a son of a 3rd generation farmer
I’ve been married 10 years to a farmer’s daughter
I got two boys in the county 4-H
I’m a lifetime sponsor of the F.F.A.
Hay! That’s what I make
I make a lot of hay for a little pay
But I’m proud to say
I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver
Hoggin’ up the road on my p-p-p-plower
Chug a lug a lugin’ 5 miles an hour
On my International Harvester

I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver
Hoggin’ up the road on my p-p-p-plower
Chug a lug a lugin’ 5 miles an hour
On my International Harvester

Okay, it's the whole song.

I know videos rarely reflect the song the whole time, but the parts where he's with his band, singing, are just so far removed from the lyrics.

They're in a city (I don't care if it's Nashville, it's a CITY with A THEATER), in the streets, on formal-looking rugs. With tassels and such.

They couldn't have filmed it at a farm or in a cornfield?

Of course, the guy (if he wrote the song) escaped the farm life and is a singer now.

So it's even more annoying. I mean, I don't mind singers singing about other professions in the first person, it gives the fans something to relate to. But when it comes to this song, it just makes him look like a poser of the worst kind. A Plugger.

What sent my remote flying was what came up next - Toby Keith.

Well, I saw him, it could have been a Dixie Chicks song for all I know, but I was gone, and back in sweet, sweet Bollywood's embrace.

Plugger sighting!

Today's Momma:



He's not a Plugger - he has dreams and goals.

A Plugger sighting of sorts!

Here's the comic: (The link won't last forever.)



Josh covered this yesterday, but I swear I thought of it the second I saw it! I was just too lazy to bother.

I'm not sure if it counts as a Plugger sighting - it's too easy, since Brookins is involved with both.

If you can't see it, in the top panels, the pink(!) bird says that there is a crow out there with no feet.

She's a bird.

Everyone in this strip is a bird.

They frequently do things like this. They've eaten birds! (Not all of those involve animals eating and/or owning other animals, but I'm too lazy right now to look through all of them. Later.)

I noticed this because of my renewed activity here, brought on by a request in a comment. Thanks, anonymous!

I'm going with my tag "animals owning pets" because it's the easiest way to describe the horror. Though I guess pets should be changed to animals.

Can anyone think of a better tag for things like this?

Plugger Sighting!

Hi and Lois (of Hi & Lois fame) are Pluggers!


Their children are too ashamed to comment at the moment.