The "out of order" machine is part of a jukebox system. Used to have those at each table. You had tabs on little metal pages; the pages were inside glass, you would use the tabs to flip through them. And then you had buttons along each side of the whole apparatus. Put your money in a slot in the top, push the button next to the song you wanted, and the jukebox across the room would play it for you.
Gods, I'm so Oooooold, to know stuff like that.
The out-of-order jukebox is another little detail, and it is so very right in the context of the story that I know it was deliberate. But does it mean the same thing to Mulefoot as it does to me? If I were an English major-- but I'm not; I'm just a poor benighted sod with education in the sciences.
To me it's a stark little note that makes the point that there is no theme music to Tony Ray's war, or to what comes after. He sure as hell isn't any John Wayne, and there's no orchestral music swelling in the background, and wherever he's riding off into it isn't Happily Ever After or even the sunset. Except for that sunset that we all face, in the end.
I just knew Pomander was out there somewhere, but I didn't know if he was in this story or not. I didn't see him in the first panel of the story, and I'm still not sure I can. But most people can, it seems.
I'm surprised nobody got killed. Yet. And I also wonder just what medical help Tony Ray can get from the Army. That's assuming he intends to ask, which I personally would doubt.
I have to think Tony Ray doesn't know about Pomander. That makes me worry for Tony Ray, a bit. But that boar is one tough S.O.B. Strikes me that he is more random, and more able to deal with random, while Pomander for all his insanity is more of a planner. We'll see which approach is deadlier before this is all through, I'd guess.
Login
FAQ
Search
