Saint James Infirmary 359: Orientation.

[jmundt29]

I figured this lecture was Fall of '86.  Their senior year.

Also, he's teaching Intro courses.  Unless Pat & Miel took a very Animal House or Van Wilder approach to college, they'd have been unlikely to enroll in one of his courses.

[GodWilling]

Entire cast of SJI, in chorus: "I don't even own a TV!"

Sadly this means they won't recognize Jakob from his stint in Lazy Town.

[OctaviaMoon]

Entire cast of SJI, in chorus: "I don't even own a TV!"

Sadly this means they won't recognize Jakob from his stint in Lazy Town.

*Titter*

[Daphne]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-6RmCvCaEQ, 01:58.

[Daphne]

Unless Pat & Miel took a very Animal House or Van Wilder approach to college, they'd have been unlikely to enroll in one of his courses.

Breadth requirement.

[jmundt29]

Sorry, that exchange totally missed me, particularly the clip.*shrugs*

[Daphne]

Man, doesn't anyone read the title text for these things anymore?

[jmundt29]

Orientation?  And it's relevant to Superior Duck because Daffy has none?   It's late here.

ETA--Yes, Jakob's '80s self does look like an aged version of Robbie Rotten (at least that I get with a couple clicks of investigation).

[kmorea]

Jakob's narrating now?  From where?  To whom?  How reliably?

Why do you think it's Jakob narrating? Just because he has the only speaking part in #359?

#357 ends with Jakob's brother about spill the beans about him. And #358 ends with his lawyer Ezra, Jacqui's ex, about to do the same. I think it's much more likely that one of them is 'talking' here as the narrator. Most likely it's the latter, that Ezra is the narrator. If Johannes had been teaching at Wilmot at the same time as his brother, I think he would have mentioned it when he said Jakob taught there.

Assuming the narrator is Ezra, perhaps that's where he first meet Jakob? When they were both teaching at Wilmot?

[jmundt29]

Wait, WHAT?!

The speaking part in 359 IS narration.   Jakob's narrating this portion about his own life either to someone or for his own twisted memoirs.  But to whom, and how reliably?  "I did such and such," and the illustration is Jakob doing that.  Last name of the dark-haired, going gray prof. is Kuppler.  Johannes (the only other Kuppler brother that we know of) is blond!!  If Ezra Cantor taught a couple semesters of engineering at Wilmot under the name "Kuppler," then he has more serious problems than I originally thought.  Plus, his face is lined differently than the flashback prof.

Which is why "trouble with narrators" is an excellent pop-up text.

Note, pop-up text is not visible on, say, smartphones.   So, if someone is away from his or her computer for any reason when viewing the comic, the wit or the song lyrics will just never appear.  Sorry.

ETA--Oh, and I didn't assume Fall '86, or divine it because I have spectacular instincts.  It's right there on the board behind Jakob's head.

Double ETA--Obviously, I'm not focusing well.  I keep messing up character names.  More after a rest.

[kmorea]

Wait, WHAT?!

The speaking part in 359 IS narration.   Jakob's narrating this portion about his own life either to someone or for his own twisted memoirs.

The only thing we know Jakob 'says' in that 359 is "hello" The rest is in narration boxes, and could be someone else talking about their time teaching EE @ Wilmot. The last thing Ezra says in 358 is 'tell me what you need to know' (talking about Jakob). And a lot of IP lawyers start as tech people before they sell their souls. :-)

I just read 358 and 359 consecutively, and the narration seemed like Ezra's intro to telling his how I met Jacob story. Maybe I'm just crazy? :-)

[GodWilling]

I got the "narrators" thing from the pop-up text, and the source from googling. (Looking at the clip I'm amazed anyone figured out what Daffy Duck said let alone made note of it. Obviously I don't watch enough kids' TV...) I have to say I was thinking it was Johannes speaking; Ezra didn't occur to me. Although, in the circumstances, I'm surprised either of them would mention "the obvious appeal of the student body."

If it's Ezra talking about meeting Jakob for the first time then presumably that means Ezra's two semesters overlapped with Jakob being at Wilmot. But of course then all this page tells us about timing is that Jakob was there in late '86. Jakob might have been there from 1980 to 2011 for all we know. The person talking was only there for two semesters, but actually we don't know when those were.

But if we assume that Ezra was there lecturing on electrical engineering in late '86... Well, if Ezra is Miriam's father then that happened in early '89. And the assumption has been that he met Jacqui in his capacity as a New York entertainment lawyer, rather than as the guy who fixed her mandolin tuner.

I'm not saying that tells us anything; I'm just trying to piece together the timing of the thing.

[elenchos]

80s Jakob doesn't look as though he's definitely 38 or older.
I don't see any gray in his hair; I see blue "highlights" that maybe show us how dark black his hair was then.

[jmundt29]

Blue to sky-blue/white which always trips me up. To me, either it's a punk afficianado obsessed with Cookie Monster (or possibly Ally Sheedy), or it's someone with hair that looks to be prematurely graying.  I'm not good with that particular cue.

Yes, Pearl and Jacqui have a little blue in the raven of their hair, but this is extreme, and it has tripped me up with them too.

With regard to the narration--this has to be Jakob telling this story at the moment.  He's telling the story, and we're seeing an illustration of his time there (which may or may not partially contradict what he's saying).

For the sake of argument, why would a music major or an art major need "Intro to Electrical Engineering" as a survey requirement during their senior year? 

ETA--The title doesn't point to or elucidate the pop-up text, which is what I missed and what our fearless author was pointing back at with the Loony Toons clip.

Double ETA--Yes, a lot of IP lawyers start out as or go back to teaching to soothe their consciences or get away from the grind.  However, they typically teach law at law schools, not electrical engineering.  Plus, '86 would have been smack in the middle of Ezra's young turk wild child phase.  He represented bands, and typically attended the concerts of the bands he represented with backstage access.  That's how he and Jacqui met.  It's how Pearl exists!!  He took a break from the '80s rock scene to teach electrical engineering, a subject in which he has no known background?  Really?  Even if he were aware of project Happy College, if his clients included hair bands, he wouldn't have had to go searching for interesting opportunities.  It was just "around" and with his privileged access to the bands and the money he could throw around, he could have had probably as much fun as he wanted on the road.  So, he doesn't need the money or the fun.  He doesn't have a background in this subject matter.  He'd end up in that classroom...how, exactly?

[GodWilling]

For the sake of argument, why would a music major or an art major need "Intro to Electrical Engineering" as a survey requirement during their senior year? 

You've already asked this and Daphne said, "Breadth requirement."