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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Popeye, the Sailor Man BOOP! BOOP! (FF)


"Popeye, look! That ship capsized in the harbor with everyone aboard!"

 "Well, blow me down, Olive!"

 "Popeye, can you yank the anchor chain and pull the ship to shore?"

 "Of course I can, Olive.  Because ...

 I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man BOOP! BOOP!

 I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man BOOP! BOOP!

 "But, Popeye, you didn't eat your spinach!"

 "Oh, that was just product placement, Olive. I gots paid plenty by the Spinach Growers of America for that."

 "Then, Popeye, where does the strength come from?"

 "I thought you wouldda guessed by now, Olive."

 "Popeye! You're a stoner?"

 "I Yam What I Yam and That's All What I Yam!  And don't Bogart that pipe, Olive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With this annoying little entry in the weekly Friday Fictioneers' Sweepstakes based on the picture prompt above, I'm counting on most people remembering Popeye the Sailor Man (BOOP! BOOP!). He hasn't been on TV in any of his three incarnations (One black & white, two in color, & one in which the character of "Bluto" is oddly named "Brutus") in many a year.

If you don't remember Popeye, Olive, and the rest, never fear. The other Friday Fictioneers are ready to blow you down with their takes on the picture prompt, most of which in no way include product placement by the Spinach Growers of America. 

But I hope you like the Popeye piece. And I will gladly pay you Friday for a nice comment today.  

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52 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 3, 2015 at 5:29 PM

    Didn't expect a Popeye story ....Wonder what fuels Popeye.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 3, 2015 at 5:35 PM

      I think that's been asked and answered in this post! Well fueled, he is.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJune 3, 2015 at 9:42 PM

    Love it. Loved Popeye as a kid and to find it was just product placement is too funny for words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 1:26 AM

      Thanks, Irene. It really got crazy in the last series of Popeye cartoons when they had him eating spinach souffle in four star restaurants before punching out Bluto (or Brutus).

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJune 3, 2015 at 11:51 PM

    What an ingenious take, Perry. Of course, Popeye can handle this chain. No problemo! I'm going to eat some spinach now. Nice one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 1:28 AM

      Oh, Popeye can handle the chain no sweat, but now we know why he kept talking about the origins of chains, and how they make chains, and how much he loves chains, and why we should love chains ..

      Delete
  4. AnonymousJune 4, 2015 at 12:44 AM

    Once I saw a lady who looked exactly like Olive at a restaurant in Niagara - had her picture too! Guess Popeye was from a generation past!

    ~ Horus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 1:30 AM

      I take it the lady who looked like Olive Oyl wasn't exactly with George Clooney. Unless it really was ....

      Delete
  5. dralimanJune 4, 2015 at 3:28 AM

    Hee, very funny! I always suspected...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:40 PM

      And you were right. You just can't smoke spinach.

      Delete
  6. AnonymousJune 4, 2015 at 4:49 AM

    :) Good one

    ReplyDelete
  7. DawnJune 4, 2015 at 6:22 AM

    Oh my now all the stoners are going to start claiming incredible strength. Of course they'd have to get off the couch to prove it :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:42 PM

      Maybe if we get 20 or so of them together, they could lift the couch. Though I'm not sure why they would bother or even give a crap.

      Delete
  8. Rochelle Wisoff-FieldsJune 4, 2015 at 6:33 AM

    Dear Perry,

    I'll eats me spinach, thank you. I do remember Popeye, Olive, Brutus, Swee'Pea. Sigh.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:44 PM

      I though you might remember it, Rochelle. But I doubt there's any truth whatsoever to the rumor you did the original artwork!

      Delete
  9. Carrie RubinJune 4, 2015 at 8:21 AM

    I used to LOVE Popeye. My brother and I were glued to the TV when it was on. (Or its reruns. I don't think I'm so old that I was around for the originals. Then again, I don't really want to find out...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:48 PM

      No, I don't think you were. In the mid-50's features and cartoons that had been shown in the movies suddenly starting cropping up on television --- Popeye, The Three Stooges, Flash Gordon, the Little Rascals, Warner Brothers cartoons, and much more. Kids of that era almost defined themselves by this stuff. I never left the house until I was 17.

      Delete
  10. AnonymousJune 4, 2015 at 10:52 AM

    He's still a chemical dependent, regardless what's in his pipe. Spinach might earn him less jail time, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:50 PM

      You ever taste that stuff? Eating spinach is more incomprehensible than smoking dope. Doubt they'd let him loose without extensive observation.

      Delete
  11. RussellJune 4, 2015 at 12:36 PM

    They have a big Spinach Festival in Alma, Arkansas every year. Popeye always shows (a paid endorsement, of course). I don't know if they have a Miss Olive Oyl contest or not. As Robin Williams once said while playing Popeye, "sounds like some kind of lubricant to me."

    I heard Whimpy moved to Havertown and now bums Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches instead of hamburgers. By the way, that bowler hat looks nice on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:52 PM

      The only problem is that guys keep throwing bowling balls at my head. They say it's an accident, but too many lousy bowlers seem to be getting strikes between my ears. As for the Spinach Festival, please cover it for me, okay, Russell?l .

      Delete
    2. RussellJune 4, 2015 at 5:35 PM

      Will do, Perry. And if I run into any of those hot Olive Oyl contestants with a figure like a broom handle, I'll be sure and give them your contact information.

      Delete
  12. AliciaJune 4, 2015 at 1:28 PM

    Popeye! One of my favorite fellows. Always new there was something besides tobacco in that pipe.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJune 4, 2015 at 2:30 PM

    Too funny! I admire your ability to make that picture into such a delightful tale of a pot-smoking Popeye! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 2:53 PM

      Stick around. I'll have Queen Elizabeth smoking dope.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 5, 2015 at 11:46 AM

      Queen Elizabeth smokes dope?
      God save the Queen!

      Delete
  14. brudbergJune 4, 2015 at 4:18 PM

    Who would have guessed... btw is this a product placement from Colorado?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 4:25 PM

      How'd you know, Bjorn? I finally got through to them!

      Delete
  15. AnonymousJune 4, 2015 at 5:41 PM

    I guess this is a case of you can put it in your pipe and smoke it, too.
    Oh, if the the originators of Popeye could just read this now, they'd be turning over in their spinach- covered watery graves. I'm sure.

    Nyuck. Nyuck.. Nyuck, Gulp.

    Randy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 4, 2015 at 10:19 PM

      And they'd be laughing just like Curly Howard too, apparently! Thanks, Randy.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 5, 2015 at 11:49 AM

      Popeye didn't laugh like that?
      Then - do your Popeye impression of laughing...
      Wait. Let me take another hit on my pipe first.

      Delete
    3. Perry BlockJune 6, 2015 at 12:46 PM

      I'll wait til you're one toke over the line, sweet Randy...

      Delete
  16. Gah LearnerJune 4, 2015 at 8:23 PM

    There go all my illusions. I always thought spinach made you strong. Now I'll have to try this other, uh, vegetable instead?

    ReplyDelete
  17. margireneJune 5, 2015 at 5:12 AM

    I'm a Popeye fan too! We're coming out of the woodwork in response to your wonderful story. And now a memory: I had a teacher once who taught us the Popeye song in Latin. As a high school teacher myself, I shared the joy with several classes of 12 year olds. It was as much a delight to them as it was to me. Here it is:

    Popoculus nauta sum
    Popoculus nauta sum.
    Pugnabo ad finem
    Cum edero spinem
    Popoculus nauta sum.
    Boop boop.

    Did you enjoy that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 5, 2015 at 6:10 AM

      I liked it very much. And as to the universality of Popeye, it's great to see the "Boop! Boop!"is the same in any language! Thanks!

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 5, 2015 at 11:52 AM

      You're just into boops, Betty Block, aren't you!

      Delete
    3. Perry BlockJune 5, 2015 at 4:16 PM

      Yes, I'm into big BOOPs, the bigger the better! BOOOPPP!

      Delete
  18. Jan BrownJune 5, 2015 at 1:02 PM

    So that's what was in his pipe 😀 Explains a lot....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 5, 2015 at 4:17 PM

      I always thought it was Wimpy. He was always hungry and he never had any money. Faked me out, they did.

      Delete
  19. BobiJoJune 6, 2015 at 12:35 PM

    BobiJo said...
    I thought I wrote a comment here - but I guess it went up in smoke!
    OMG to think I was eating spinach all these years for nuttin'...
    Very great imaginative idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 6, 2015 at 12:44 PM

      I thought you did too, but maybe my memories went up in smoke as well. BTW, my son is in Israel now as part of a Birthright trip and he's staying on another week. Hope spinach is his only homage to Popeye there.

      Delete
  20. AnonymousJune 7, 2015 at 7:40 AM

    A hilarious take on the prompt, Perry. Well done :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. liz youngJune 8, 2015 at 12:08 PM

    Gods! That took me back to when my kids were little.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 8, 2015 at 11:16 PM

      Wait a minute! That took me back to when I was little. What's going on here?

      Delete
  22. P.S. JoshiJune 9, 2015 at 9:12 AM

    You can't beat those old cartoons. Many characters got beaten in them. The wonder is, kids could watch that violence and not be as violent as they are today. Popeye not only smoked the stuff in his pipe, he sucked it up and ate it. I don't advise doing that with the potted variety. I didn't like spinach until I tried eating it raw in a salad. I thought the stuff in the cans was terrible. :D --- Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Perry BlockJune 9, 2015 at 6:49 PM

      I think that the violence in the old cartoons and shorts like the Three Stooges was so exaggerated and obviously false that kids didn't take them seriously. Today's blood -stained movies are another thing. I never had spinach in a can but I'm sure it wasn't pleasant.

      Delete
  23. SubrotoJune 9, 2015 at 9:25 AM

    I think I started eating spinach as a kid because of Popeye. Boop! Boop!
    Great product placement there Perry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perry BlockJune 9, 2015 at 6:51 PM

      Thanks. Unfortunately Popeye got paid for it, not me.

      Delete