The Far Side

In 1986 I attended UBC for the first time and for the first time read a newspaper other than the Quesnel Cariboo Observer. It was The Province which I know is a tabloid .. whatever! I read it was because the sports section was superior to the Vancouver Sun. Anyway in that newspaper I saw, for the first time, The Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson. I was instantly hooked. His nutty, twisted take on life struck a chord. The first cartoon I read was this one

God as a kid tries to make a chicken in his room

I lived in "res" (Okanagan House in Place Vanier) and as such shared a bathroom with 17 other guys. One day while using the urinal I realized how mindnumbingly boring that procedure is (staring at tile walls). I thought others might have been just as bored so I cut The Far Side out of the paper each day and taped it to the wall above the urinal. It was a smash hit and while I didn't command a great deal of respect this was enough to raise my rank among the second and third year students.

The Far Side ran from 1980 to 1995 after which Gary Larson went into retirement as he felt he was getting stale. I did not share this opinion. I miss it and if Gary is reading this I am sure that enough time has past that there are fresh ideas.

I think possibly the most famous of all his cartoons is this one


How can you not love it? If you don't then get an application to Midvale.