9 Chickweed Rage

047: I Specifically Made Plans For Hamburgers

After NOT making good on our promise to cover the courtship of Polly and Lolly last episode, we get around to it this time and boy do we ever regret it! Since we began this podcast, we have never made a clear distinction between Polly and Lolly. We did this because primarily Brooke Mac-El-Dee seems to believe they are perfectly interchangeable. Why draw two women as independent characters? But that's maybe being unfair to him. I mean, it's not like any of the characters are that much different from any other characters anyway. We try our best to keep it straight to help ourselves and our listeners along, but guys we have to tell you: It was fucking impossible to do so. Alistair is engaged to one of them but then is "in love" with the other. The one he's engaged to maybe doesn't even kiss him, or maybe by "kiss" Mac-El-Dee means fucking. Who knows! Alistair plays a concert with the one he's NOT engaged to and makes out with her on stage, while the one he's engaged to is in the audience with her parents, who (in their brief appearance in this run) don't seem concerned about what a fucking gross asshole Alistair is being. Now, which one is which in the above passage? Like we said, it was fucking impossible to keep straight and it ultimately doesn't matter because Alistair just ends up marrying the one he was engaged to after she suggests maybe they should kiss. Or some bullshit like that. It's fucking awful. THE CHICKWEED STRIPS WE DISCUSS THIS EPISODE: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DWTDvPClV7y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==]. We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3mhuik4k2us2y]. THIS SELF-PALPATING EPISODE INCLUDES: * Kristi Noem * Daylight Savings * Beetlejuice * Dooneese from SNL [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrmzY7O_ETo] * Turtleneck Town * Mertz pants * Pearl Jam * The Ben Franklin * Ruth Buzzi * Bart vs. Australia joke [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq0XNILIYTw] TALK TO US! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social]. And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage [https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/].

046: Etaoin Shrdlu, Baby!

When given the simple task of doing a listener request, Brooke decides instead to go rogue. So instead of us talking about Alistair and his indifference about which twin he fucks or marries (but which would he kill?), we end up in the world of the Peels, Arthur and Nan-Lin. It's been ten episodes since we last saw them, and it took us a while to figure out exactly who we were dealing with this episode. Once we caught up, we discovered that -- of course! -- Arthur was drawn very differently from when we saw him last. Not a surprise! Anyway, these two people who (hilariously?) share the same last name, fall in love after accidentally (?) touching their tongues together. Brooke and Jeff absolutely lose their fucking minds over the creative choice to put the thoughts in a thought bubble backwards. But things only get worse from there when we finally remember that we've seen these two characters before. And after the briefest amount of research, we discover that -- of course -- Arthur looks NOTHING like the Arthur we met before. Nothing. Barely resembles the same character. Nan-Lin jumps his bones, because that's the only way courtship works in this fucking comic strip. And then we go down the same path we've been down before with the romantic couple talking ENDLESSLY about whether or not what was happening was actually real or somehow just a fantasy. It's insufferable, naturally. Arthur plays his "Reverie," the magical piece of music he wrote that sends listeners into fits of uncontrollable fucking. Nan-Lin recognizes it. And then she doesn't recognize it at all. Because that makes perfect sense. And then, upon hearing it, she drops to the floor and begins masturbating. No, seriously. For like four straight strips. As Arthur puts it, she "palpates herself." Even after he stops playing. Amazing that this run did not kill us. THE CHICKWEED STRIPS WE DISCUSS THIS EPISODE: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DSQfncnkwr6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==]. We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3m7xymjotrk2p]. THIS SELF-PALPATING EPISODE INCLUDES: * Listener requests * Happy Holidays * Tongues * Bugs Bunny * Turtlenecks * More Tongues * Etaoin Shrdlu * Hot Type * Sweat towel * Mongo like Sheriff Bart * Thrown glasses * Dutch angles * Calisthenics * Masturbation * McEldowney Ellipses * Thorax * Date rape drugs * Semi-colon * The 9th Chickweed Lane Circle of Hell * The Pants of Palpation * Breakfast of Champions * Asterisk = asshole TALK TO US! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social]. And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage [https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/].

045: I'll Supply The Other Finger

So our journey this episode takes us to a recital, where Amos and Edda get a less than glowing review from a critic. They are SO BAD at taking any amount of criticism that they go onstage the next night to flip the critic off. Oh wait! Yeah. In this world, Amos and Edda have a multi-night engagement AND the critic comes to EVERY performance AND writes about every performance. Just like in real life! So Amos flips off the audience (as a way of showing the audience that he disapproves of the critic's take) and Edda joins him. Then there's a reaction to THAT reaction, which also rubs Amos and Edda the wrong way. Because why wouldn't they be anything but, as they admit, childish, vindictive and ridiculous? There's a brief Sunday strip sidebar about how a bunch of scientists ask Amos to ask Edda how she keeps her boobs in her dress. I wish we were kidding about this, but no, this is REALLY what the Sunday strip is about. Then we return to the critic storyline where the critic shows up for a THIRD STRAIGHT performance to explain himself to Edda. She takes it well, and by that I mean she threatens to make him strip naked and dance in front of the audience. But only for the first 100 attendees. Yeah. It made zero sense to us either. Good times! THE CHICKWEED STRIPS WE DISCUSS THIS EPISODE: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DPK8LbakWnP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==]. We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3lzwzyr7wn227]. THIS CHILDISH, VINDICTIVE AND RIDICULOUS EPISODE INCLUDES: * Breakfast at a hotel * Freaky Friday * Going to the doctor * Half-marathons & marathons * The dangers of the omelette bar * GU packets * Couches * The kids in Weapons [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_(2025_film)] * Orangutans * Leif Garrett * Tiger Beat Magazine * Shooting rude gestures * Fred Mertz pants * "Puttin' on the Ritz" [https://youtu.be/ab7NyKw0VYQ?si=Mnusgn0_Lz0WQdIr] * Kash Patel sitting on a chair [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6QW23JlIgM] * Seinfeld * Juggs magazine * Janet Jackson * The Thing from Fantastic Four * Rush TALK TO US! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social]. And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage [https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/].

044: All Mandibles Glaring!

For this episode, we spend basically all of our time in the water, a Mac-El-Dee classic! But we begin with Edda staring at her reflection in a mirror, because of COURSE that's what she's doing. Edda provides multiple opportunities for the Brooke-ster to draw crazy teeth, for reasons that are completely unclear. Turns out, she's trying out various monster faces to look sexier for Amos -- like that would make any fucking difference with him. Amos points out that she has spinach in her teeth (which she somehow missed while staring at her mouth in the mirror) and Edda is despondent from shame. He makes up for it by calling her "the sweetest girl in all the world." Edda and Amos kiss in front of Polly and Lolly who hope that Amos "doesn't pick up her cold sore." Yep. That's a normal phrase: "pick up a cold sore." Edda then grabs Amos's legs underwater causing him to scream "like a little girl," which she then shames him for over the course of several strips. Proving, naturally, that she is indeed "the sweetest girl in all the world." Later, when Polly and Lolly are older, they again have a conversation with Edda about being sexy, which is a totally normal conversation moms have with their daughters literally all the time. Lolly makes out with Alistair at the beach, climbing up him and sliding her feet into his swimsuit to remove it. Yes, you read that right. And then she locks toes with him. Because: ROMANCE! The world is on fire but romance is still alive on Chickweed Lane! Hooray! THE CHICKWEED STRIPS WE DISCUSS THIS EPISODE: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DNgVzuzPgv7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link]. We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3lwoxklgzmc2y]. THIS STRANGELY VEGAN EPISODE INCLUDES: * Peeps vs. Peeps * Defending Your Life * YouTube * Rosetta Stone * Jeff's Crazy Mom * Oberammergau * Garmisch-Partenkirchen * The Passion Play * Munich * Marienplatz * Hofbräuhaus * I said "Angry Orange" but I meant "Annoying Orange [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5UKQggXTc]" * High School Swimsuits * Vegans * Cold sores * Seth Meyers * Crimepot * The Wilhelm Scream [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JK-gRELI0] * Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE0KLwfbM-0] TALK TO US! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social]. And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage [https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/].

043: I Hear You'll Do Anything for a Box of Mild Duds

So sorry we've been away for so long. If it's any consolation, these strips punish us quite handily for our laziness. Boy do they ever! The white hot romance of Juliette and Elliott is explored a little this time around. Seems that Juliette loses her shit for Milk Duds. She makes it sound like it's a sexual thing, because isn't everything sexual in this godforsaken strip? But by the time we actually witness it, it's just Elliott with a cereal box-sized container of Milk Duds on his lap and Juliette sitting next to him with what appears to be 100 duds in each cheek. Certainly all of this came about so ol' Mac-El-Dee could have Elliott talk about how Juliette likes to have a "mouthful of caramel balls." Otis weaponizes the information by tempting Juliette with Milk Duds and getting her to sing a dirty version of an old TV theme -- one she makes up for him. Don't think too hard about what appears to be a teenager prostituting his girlfriend's mom. It's actually just silly and fun and definitely NOT WEIRD AT ALL. We also see one of the most poorly drawn examples of the Edda-in-a-leotard-in-front-of-a-mirror trope that the old pervert loves so much. And to finish it off, Otis reveals to Edda that he literally has no idea what a sunset is. None. Seriously. THE CHICKWEED STRIPS WE DISCUSS THIS EPISODE: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DMoy3kuRrdp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==]. We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3luypqio4r22q]. THIS SENSUAL PHANTASMAGORIA OF AN EPISODE INCLUDES: * Nuts vs. Seeds * GoComics is not free * Diet Coke * Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park * Brooke's imaginary horse * Brooke's non-imaginary mom * Charlie Brown's shirt * Milk Duds * Junior Mints * How to Train Your Dragon * Chuck E. Cheese * Gilligan’s Island * The Forbidden Dance * Peanut Butter M&M’s * Milk Duds * Whoppers * Mickey Rourke in Diner * Dutch angle TALK TO US! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social]. And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage [https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/].