Arnold Zwicky's Blog

Today’s Zippy starts at Frog Rock, where the roads diverge:

  (#1)

There are numerous Frog Rocks in the U.S. (and around the world) — natural rock formations that resemble a frog in one way or another — but the ones I’ve found images of don’t look at all like the one in the Zippy, which is quite subtle in its frogginess. (A great many of the real-life Frog Rocks have been garishly painted to flaunt their ranidity.)

In any case, two cultural references: to Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and to a quote from a film starring John Garfield:

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 as the first poem in the collection Mountain Interval.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both … / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference. (Wikipedia link)

On Garfield:

John Garfield (March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) [born Jacob Julius Garfinkle] was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theater. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner Bros.’ stars. (Wikipedia link)

and on the movie that’s almost surely the source of the quotation “Every decision is a mistake”:

Body and Soul is a 1947 American film noir directed by Robert Rossen, and features John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere and William Conrad. The film, written by Abraham Polonsky, is considered the first great film about boxing; it’s also a cautionary tale about the lure of money — and how it can derail even a strong common man in his pursuit of success.

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices. (Wikipedia link)

  (#2)

I haven’t found the quotation on-line, but I’m really sure this has to be the source.

This entry was posted on February 8, 2017 at 5:27 am and is filed under Linguistics in the comics, Movies and tv, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.