Friday, August 27, 2004

Time travel ethics


alleyoop2003050740825
Originally uploaded by mwthomas87.
It seems like there should be certain rules in place for time travelers so they are not constantly manipulating the time line intentionally or otherwise. Maybe a book of ethics or at least good manners are needed. One of the first rules should be to not continuously shock people from the past by zapping yourself away right under their noses.
The Alley Oop cartoonists seem to delight in doing this as they have had Oop zapped away to the amazement of two historical figures in recent days - famed wrestling coach Dan Gable (pictured here) and turn-of-the-century wrestler Frank Gotch earlier.
Oop took pains earlier to hide the fact that he is a time traveler by telling Gable he had read about something Gotch once said after slipping and making it sound as if he had talked to him recently (which he had). So why, if he is trying to shield Gable from the knowledge that he is talking to a time traveler, would he zap away in plain sight rather than waiting until Gable wasnâ??t looking? You know that Doc Wonmug is watching everything on a big view screen and can choose the moment when he wants to zap Alley away. So what gives?
Of course saying that Oop tries to hide his time travel status isnâ??t always true. Most recently he has zapped back to ancient Athens to visit the demoralized wrestler Milo while still wearing an Iowa University sweat shirt. Of course, Milo doesnâ??t seem to notice this oddity. He is too busy carrying a huge bull on his shoulders -something he had done for years to prepare for the Olympics. Now Oop is going to â??adiviseâ?? him that to win at wrestling he needs to get in shape and be in top physical condition. Yep.