A junior engineer working for a small engineering firm in Cocoa Beach. The firm focuses mostly on NASA projects.
Neil is Jean’s best friend. When Jean was turned into a genie, Neil became Jeanie’s master.
When I made my own guesses while chatting with CD, I only managed Star Trek and a vague guess at Munsters due to “Herman” and the talk of stakes making me think of vampires.
Considering the rest are TV shows, it’s more likely the Star Trek Original Series than the movies. Spock does use that line during the TV series as well, even if it is more famously used in Wrath of Khan.
And I also only guessed the latter two. I’ve watched every Gilligan’s Island episode, but that quote didn’t quite ring a bell when I read it. Oh well.
Well, congratulation to Makaira for guessing all four of the show that Natalie/Neil was watching in this section. On the Get Smart, I can even tell you which episode that it was that she was watching even. Maxwell look out in the harbor and see Garbage skoal or ship in the harbor and there wasn’t any seagulls around it and he got kind of suspicious as to it true intention, but, he knew it wasn’t for the purpose of carrying Garbage. Maxwell Smart does one of his hair brain stunt, like usual and he goes over there by himself and of course without any back up. Of course he get caught by people hiding under the fake Garbage trick. That when Maxwell goes through that routine of people coming to rescuing him that we read in the first window where Natalie is watching TV.
If you watched the original broadcasts, you were at a disadvantage because you only got a few dozen episodes in a year. I grew up in the ’70s, so was inundated with reruns of all three series (as well as IDoJ and Bewitched). Every day of the week, and sometimes multiple episodes in one day. I saw most episodes probably 5-10 times as a kid.
The Munsters one I wasn’t sure of because I was unfamiliar with the stake/vampire reference as a child. So the joke didn’t make sense then and didn’t stick with me. But I vaguely recalled an episode where Grandpa complained about Herman pounding.
Some of the best shows did come out in the 60s. I guessed them all except Gilligan’s Island, though. The only thing from that series I remember is the TV movie where they were rescued
The Gilligan’s Island episode- the “sticks and stones” quote is from the episode “And Then There Were None” where the Castaways vanish one by one, and Gilligan becomes convinced he has become a Jekyll and Mr Hyde type and has “done away” with them all. He has a bad dream in which he (as Dr Gilligan) is on trial for murder and transforms whenever anyone mentions food. In the dream, as Dr Gilligan, he speaks the words “Sticks and stones may break my bones… but please, don’t throw sticks or stones… please, please, don’t throw sticks or stones.”
Unless you actually watched the entire series as it was first broadcast, or got the boxed set, there may be stuff that you couldn’t remember. The reruns of the original Star Trek when it went into syndication were notoriously edited and re-edited to make room for more commercials, and I would be surprised to find any show before the Eighties and VCRs revived the market for these old programs. Hey, some idiot at NASA recorded over the tapes of the first moon landing, and the BBC recorded over entire seasons of Dr. Who.
Bra size by what standard? I’ve done some research into the theory and practice of breast support engineering, and I’ve discovered that there isn’t any universal standard for cup sizing. Cup size is supposed to be based on volume, but it’s actually calculated using a formula or table based on the difference between the the distances around the chest measured at the maximum protrusion of the breasts and just under the breasts. But different countries use different tables and formulas, and there are further differences between different manufacturers.
I think it’s time to establish a universal standard based on the decibel level of the sigh of relief of the bra user after taking the bra off at the end of the working day.
Sadly enough for half of the human race, bodies vary so much in size and shape that there just ISN’T any simple way to solve this problem. Two people with, ostensibly, the same measurements, can wind up fitting into completely different sizes. Guys are a little less complicated to fit, (men’s clothes are more loosely fitting) but even there, two guys with the same chest measurement can need different sizes of clothing for different body shapes.
So there really isn’t any other way, you just HAVE to experiment each time to find what fits and what doesn’t. Bras, because of their construction, are particularly problematical. Natalie’s going to need some knowledgable help.
Well, the obvious solution is to computerize the clothing manufacturing process, instead of having low-wage foreign workers make them manually. So you can place an order with your specific measurements. and the computer will make clothes custom-fit for you.
Dell pioneered this process in the 1990s, with you placing an order for a custom computer online and them assembling the pieces you requested before shipping it to you. I’m surprised it hasn’t yet spread to other industries.
Mind you, Tom, 80% of women today wear the wrong bra size. And almost all of those wear too small a size. So that sigh of relief is usually from a woman who is feeling better after getting compressed all day.
Yep, and if Natalie actually thinks of going with Rodge, Rodge just might spot Agent Anderson in time to hide Natalie. Or comically fail to hide Natalie. But does Natalie even remember that Rodge told her about the agent looking for her? I’m fairly sure that memories of what she did with Rodge, thoughts of what she’d like to do with Rodge, and Belle–remember Belle? Neil has actually had sex with Belle.
Besides, Rodge is probably at work and Natalie can’t stand to wait in the apartment any more.
It look like Neil or Natalie is getting board and she been watching TV 3 or 4 hours too. So that means the Neil has been Natalie for maybe one day or possibly two days and now the interest in bra for support interest for her beast to take the pressure off.
Well, that answers THAT question. I figured that Natalie would have retained a few clothes by now, but apparently Jeannie made them disappear each time. Ouch.
She should have Amazon overnight her a couple of things. That would at least tide her over. Neil’s an engineer; he should be able to use a tape measure well enough to at least guess at sizing.
I wonder who Natalie will run into while she’s bra-shopping. And how is she going to pay for a bra if she doesn’t have the cash? Her cards and ID are all for Neil unless Jean magicked them before she left.
There are really only two female characters to choose from for the shopping encounter: Ms. Eden, and Belle. I’d bet on Ms. Eden. She lives literally next door and is not one of Jean’s girlfriends. Who else is Natalie going to ask for advice? Her mom?
Come to think of it, there is a third choice for an encounter: Agent Anderson. Natalie hasn’t actually met Agent Ann Anderson yet…
As for payment: You actually can use a credit or debit card with someone else’s name on it. Most salespeople don’t even look, as long as the transaction goes through. And even if they did check, it’s still legal; Natalie would just need to offer a reasonable explanation. (It’s my boyfriend’s/father’s/etc.)
My father often handed me his credit card to go buy something, when I was a teenager. No one ever questioned why there was a man’s name on it. I just signed my own name. As long as you have permission, it’s fine.
Confirmed. I had to use my father’s cards on a few occasions—honest purposes, purchases for him—and, so long as you could convince them you’re you, they were okay. (And some were gas purchases from the pump, so they never looked anyway.)
Still, there are places that check. Vintage Stock policy is to check if the transaction goes over $100. I swear it took at least 15 minutes before they were secure enough that it was really me and really my card, but they were nice enough about it and even gave me a $5-off coupon for the trouble. I used it my next visit. ^_^
The time after that, I had them split the purchase into two transactions to avoid the fuss altogether.
The only thing to check on a credit card is if it is signed. Doesn’t matter who signs the card. If you read the back of the card it says to the seller: only accept this card if it is signed. It doesn’t say who has to have signed it. But if it isn’t signed, the card issuer, in theory, doesn’t have to honor the card.
IOW, the signature on the back is not for identification. It’s only purpose is to create a valid CONTRACT. Any rigamarole involving checking the signatures match is the seller violating the contract.
The signature is the merchant’s protection against a chargeback. If the customer tells the credit card company they didn’t make that purchase, the credit card company will freeze the funds. The merchant then has to prove that the customer did in fact make the purchase. The easiest way is to send the credit card company a copy of the signature on the receipt. If it looks like a match for the one the credit card company has on file (why they require your signature when you apply for a card), then they decide the case in the merchant’s favor and release the funds. Otherwise, it becomes a chargeback and the merchant eats the loss.
So yes the merchant is supposed to verify that the signature on the receipt matches the signature on the card. But fraud in person is rare enough that many of them don’t bother. (For signature-free purchases like online and gas pump purchases, the merchant has to use info that only the cardholder should know. Like their zip code or phone number. That’s why gas pumps ask you to enter your zip code. Not because they’re trying to collect marketing data on you, but as a simple way to prevent people who find a dropped credit card from using it to purchase gas.)
I really really hate that zipcode / phone number thing when visiting that states because it IS collecting data on you despite the protestations otherwise. The rest of the word uses PIN numbers and GASP the chip, with RFID for purchases under the merchants threshold amount.
Also of note it is technically breaking the credit card TOS to collect such data when making a purchase.
Annonymouse – PIN numbers are usually used for DEBIT transactions, while ZIP code is used for CREDIT transactions, and it’s not so much information gathering as confirming your billing address – a security measure in case the card is stolen. Dunno about the phone number, but probably the same idea by a different bank/card company.
Natalie went to Las Vegas to learn more about engineering. Rodge went to drink and try to get laid. Jean is the one who gambles (and not just with money.)
Maybe hkmaly is thinking of the times Jean blinked Natalie to the strip club, she could probably make a fair amount of cash there. Although that wasn’t the last time Neil was Natalie, I think that was when she blinked Natalie to NY to tempt Rodge (disguised as Jean).
I can’t help but wonder about Natalie’s state of mind. She’s more concerned about getting Jeannie to poof into existence some Natalie clothes and not having Jeannie changing her back to Neil. Although I suppose she could just be wanting to be prepared for when this happens again in the future. Maybe Neil needs to think about moving to a larger apartment. After all, a girl needs a lot of space for all of her clothes. It would also make it easier to explain to people who don’t know what’s truly going on by saying his sister Natalie either visits a lot or now lives there as well.
Of course I still don’t think Jeannie changed Neil into Natalie, but if she did, she didn’t do it consciously.
> she could just be wanting to be prepared for when this happens again in the future
That was my interpretation. Neil has accepted that he’ll be Natalie again in the future, and wants to be prepared, since she’s been so uncomfortable this time.
Couldn’t Jeanie just enchant Neil’s regular clothes so they automatically become Natalie’s clothes whenever he is transformed?
That way there isn’t any extra work involved for Natalie except for special occasions (like the dress Natalie wore during business trip with Rodge, which wasn’t magically created by Jeanie).
I was searching the CMX forums (910cmx.com) for El Goonish Shive and I stumbled into a topic I created for the CMX forum for I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle. It’s called “I Dream of Technicolor” and I created it on April 23rd. And forgot about it, until now.
I’ve only gotten one reply on that topic. But it’s from C.D. Rudd. C.D. left a lot of mystery in his reply, of course. Still, what he did say got my attention.
I now think that Ms. Eden is going to play a very important role in this arc. Whatever that role is, it will be built on what was left unsaid and unshown in Technicolor
If, I Dream of Jeannie, had been on the TV schedule would Natalie watch it or not? Would it be a reminder of her gender situation?
Natalie’s extended time as a woman reminds me of a comedy from the sixties. Goodbye Charlie, starred Debbie Reynolds as a man who wakes up in another body, a very beautiful young blonde woman. Her reactions to being a blonde bombshell are comedy. Confused when visiting a beauty parlor for the first time, asks for the “works” and gets a surprise. Buying clothing, lingerie, beauty products, how to act and other lady things, her personality changes.
Natalie situation is similar to Jean’s early experiences, without magic powers, she’ll have a harder time.
Did Jean continue watching IDOJ after becoming Jeannie? Jean and/or Neil binge watch every episode on the I Dream of Jeannie DVD set for clues?
So I’m guessing these were the other shows you wanted to crossover/parody stories for, but just couldn’t find the time?
And suddenly I’m thinking of how ludicrously awesome it would be if this comic did a crossover-parody of Star Trek. Something similar tot he episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday” perhaps.
Also, I love those eyes in the second and third panel. Very pretty.
Yes, Star Trek would be a funny cross over, but, doing Get Smart cross over would be funny too. With Maxwell Smart to out stupid Jeanie all the time and see who wins, I can be the most stupid one here contest.
What about a Star Trek the Next Generation crossover. Jean, a magical super powered being has an encounter with the super powerful omnipotent being, “Q”. That would be interesting to see!
This should be an interesting shopping trip. Natalie doesn’t know her size and being a guy inside she isn’t likely to ask for help, so I assume it will come down to guessing.
I think the only boobs pre-Natalie Neil could of touched were his mom’s, and only if he wasn’t a bottle baby. And the only post-Natalie boobs were Natalie’s. And while I’m guessing Natalie has put a considerable amount of time exploring her mammary anatomy, she has no experience to compare it with.
Some wit once said that the problem with breast-feeding male infants was that they grew to men on an eternal search for breasts bigger than their heads.
Neil did have sex with Belle (when he was substituting for male Jean).
As for babies who grow into men who desire huge breasts on women, I had always thought it was because they were denied access to mother’s breasts (i.e. were bottle fed), and thus were subconsciously trying to compensate and get that which was denied to them as babies.
By George, you’re right. Still, I don’t think Neil had sizing Belle’s bra in mind. And it’s plain that Belle just is not as well-endowed (or burdened) as Jean or Natalie, so if Natalie is looking for a bra like Belle’s, she’s going to get the wrong size.
Am I the only one not getting what’s “Natalie’s” problem here ?
She is just laying there…watching TV. What does she “can’t stand anymore” ?
Watching that show ? Being alone ? Being inside ?
What those things have anything to do with not wearing a bra and wanting to buy one ?
In the first frame, you might interpret Natalie’s expression as looking at her boobs with annoyance. In the second frame she’s trying to rest her boobs on her arms and in the third frame trying to rest her boobs on the couch before angrily jumping up in the fourth frame.
Oh..ok but….how is “buying a bra” solve any of this ?
She’ll still feel their weight even with wearing a bra. That doesn’t change anything. And it won’t change the feeling of having big boobs either too.
If she’s that “aware” of her new asset and “curious” about them and their feeling, what she need now is some personnal (sexy) time exploring her body (in her bedroom or under the shower for example). Not buying a new bra. That’s…natural!
Has for getting use to it, there nothing that can solve this except times….just times.
checkit1414 I assume that your a guy. This looks like a question, that we guys would ask. Because, we guys don’t have to deal with breast like girl do. Except for when we see it on like girls and then we don’t think about why they put Bra on and why that an important part of there daily activities.
A Bra hold a women assets in place so they don’t flop around, they will also drupe or sage if she doesn’t have a Bra on. A women breast will bounce around, if a women does a lot of strenuous activities. She can hurt herself if she doesn’t have sufficient support for her breast. A women with excessively big breast will usually suffer from back problem, because, of the weight of her breast. What a Bra does for a women is to add extra support for where she need it the most. Although she still has big breast and the weight doesn’t change, it suppose to make them more manageable for her, so I am told.
But, I think I got the jest of why Natalie going out to get a Bra, because, she need at least one Bra for support.
2) shift the support of her boobs from the front of her chest (which I assume is Natalie’s main source of discomfort) to her shoulders
3) and, speculating here, containing her boobs closer to her center of gravity will make it easier to maneuver
As far as being curious about her body, Neil has already spent many hours as Natalie. Initially when Lord Guano shackled her around the neck, when she “dated” Rodge over a period of days (weeks?) and when she went to the convention in Vegas with Rodge.
Neil seems, in my opinion at least, almost indifferent to being Natalie. More ticked-off at Jean for changing him than actually being Natalie. Unlike Jean who is royally po’ed at spending his life as a female. Perhaps part of that is knowing he can be changed back, unlike Jean.
You know, the last time Natalie spent a lot of time home watching TV was waiting for Jean to return home after Natalie returned home from Las Vegas.
Which brings to mind what might be a hole in the plot, or at least some unanswered questions. How do Jean and Natalie fly on commercial aircraft? Everyone has to present ID to fly since Homeland Security took over, and I believe that ID is checked with a database. Fiddling with government databases is well within Jean’s powers, since Rouyaa changed the NASA budget (for a little while) back in 1969. But unless Jean remembered to erase the record of Natalie’s flight to (and perhaps back from) Las Vegas, that would have left a trail for Agent Anderson to follow, a trail further confirming that Natalie traveled with Rodge. I think Agent Anderson is very interested in Rodge Heeney now.
But getting back to the thought that I had when I began this post, back after Natalie got back from Las Vegas, however she got back, she was watching at least one soap opera. She doesn’t seem to watching anything like that now. Could it be that soap operas make her think of…Rodge?
Or maybe Jean subconsciously put a “don’t pay attention to my identity” enchantment on Natalie. You can get onto a plane easily enough without any sort of electronic record (assuming the plane’s not full), as long as you trick the humans into not trying to look you up in the system. Just walk right past security as they fail to check your boarding pass, and walk right past the boarding crew as they fail to scan your ticket, and BAM, you’re on a plane without there being any record that you even entered the airport.
Obviously, we ostensibly train security and boarding crews not to do this. But we all know how reliable the TSA actually is…
The get smart punchline wouldn’t have been “2 cops in a rowboat”, it would have been something far less impressive than that, something deliberately completely nonthreatening, not merely something LESS threatening. It would have been maybe “How about a boyscout and a seeing eye dog in a rowboat?” That’s the template it ALWAYS followed. This is why that show was so bad, if you’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen them all, and there were precisely 3 jokes in the whole series. The other 2 being “Missed me by THAT much” and “And, LOVING it”. It’s hard to believe it was made by Mel Brooks who also made The Producers. Even spaceballs was clever by comparison.
Only two jokes in the whole series? Get Smart was a catchphrase making *machine* in its day (right up there with Laugh-In, except that Get Smart had to contend with fitting them into an actual storyline as well. Off the top of my head, I remember (in addition to “would you believe”, “missed it by that much” and “and loving it”):
I asked you not to tell me that.
Sorry about that, Chief.
The old [thing] in the [thing] trick. (often followed by):
That’s the second time I’ve fallen for it this week.
“Did you get that?” “All but the part after ‘now listen carefully'”
I hope I wasn’t out of line with that crack about [thing].
“Of course, the [thing]! Naturally it’s the [thing]! What else could it be except the [thing]! Just one thing…” “Yes?” “What’s the [thing]?”
From what I recall (mind you, it’s been 30+ years since I really watched Get Smart), the earlier seasons were more serious about the comedy, really playing off the secret agent stuff. It was the later seasons where the show devolved into a series of running gags. Like Brooks and the writers ran out of jokes to make.
And I agree with the above. Some of the jokes sound stale because they’ve been repeated countless times in other shows since then. But from what I can tell, many of them originated with the show.
True, Brooks and Henry never created a TV series together after Get Smart, but separately, Brooks did “When Things Were Rotten” (an early run at the Robin Hood spoof that would resurface later as the movie “Men in Tights”) and Henry created “Captain Nice” and “Quark” (both of which I’ve got box set DVDs for).
Looks like someone is going to uncover what it means to shop as a woman. Natalie… prepare yourself… your going to be out shopping for more then just a bra hunny. I give it the whole daywhen she gets back home…
Your probably right about that. Go out to get the Bra she really does need and then see other things that she would like to have or maybe there was a sale just for today so get it now. Then when she get back, I didn’t want all this stuff, but, now she got it. Yes, we can see it coming!
The thing[s] that bother me about this is that Nat’s boobs aren’t bobbling around as she shifts position.
“Those stupid bras” aren’t for support; Natalie wants one with style and maybe not all that much coverage. She wants to look good once the “Natalie clothes” come OFF.
She wants lingerie, not underwear. And she wants it bad.
There have it Guys! Another Guy expert on the subject of ladies boobs and whether Bras are actually necessary or not.
I give up, on trying to explain why Bras are necessary and what there purpose is. Natalie has huge double D or E cup size breast hanging out there and she needs something to hold her breast in place. If Natalie had small A cup size breast then it wouldn’t be necessary for her to have a Bra and she could get along fairly well with out a bra.
Even a “B” or arguably a “C” can make do without a bra. Infact, in those cases medical science has stated in the last few years that bras are actually detrimental to health, as the user fails to develop back and chest muscles. However, once you hit “D”, the reverse is certainly true. Large chest sizes cause back strain without the support of a bra.
Still, I wouldn’t think Neil would have been Natified long enough for back strain to occur. Usually, it takes a few days without support for you to start feeling it.
Larry, I’m guessing you’re a guy, being a guy expert. Glad you’ve given up on that.
Look at the art. For all Natalie’s shifting around, her boobs don’t wobble much at all. (They do jiggle a bit as she walks out the door.) They look pretty constrained to me. (As well as looking pretty.)
And read her words: “One of those stupid bras”. Not just “I need to get a bra” or even “I need to get a stupid bra”. (Granted, though, if she’s already wearing a bra, where did it come from?)
Won’t hurt my feelings too much if I’m wrong, but this one strip suggests, as I said, lingerie not underwear. Please notice that “underwear” implies needing a bra purely for support, so I did indeed acknowledge that.
@ Ran-san: maybe it’s just uncomfortable to have them shifting around without support? I know we don’t see a lot of movement, but that doesn’t mean Natalie isn’t feeling it. Alternatively, she might be sensitive and want an extra layer of protection. Or possibly, given that she hasn’t grown up having breasts, she finds it uncomfortable to have them hanging off of her. No back strain, just general discomfort that she wants to curb.
@Rock: I’m reading her shifting about as the result of her discomfort (be it emotional or physical). For one thing, she’s bored. For another, she’s A GIRL now. For another, as a girl, she’s had a rather disturbing emotional jolt, her attraction to Roger. Could be wrong, of course.
I just don’t think it’s her unsupported breasts that are uncomfortable as she shifts around Reverse of cause and effect.
I have to say, it is really nice to see Neil / Natalie just having slice-of-life issues, rather than going through a freakout due to the latest unsolicited sex change, or living in dread over the enhanced libido-thing, or actually worrying about that jerk Jean.
Ran-san “mental reprogramming” This is precisely what I was referring to in my original post. I have the feeling that “Natalie” has become the dominant personality right now. Neil still knows and wants to be himself, but is subconsciously thinking like a woman right now and when he isn’t actively forcing his behavior to be a certain way, Natalie takes over.
I’m expecting Natalie to go wild on this shopping trip and buy a whole bunch more clothes, from normal skirts and blouses to sexy lingerie. And shoes, lots of shoes.
And, not at all by the way, that other women are not as suspicious of her in that context as they would be of Neil. (Although these days that difference is not as sharp as it once was. )
“Get Smart” apparently. “Aaaand… Loving it!”
1. Get Smart.
2. Gilligan’s Island.
3. Munsters?
4. Star Trek II, though I believe they reused that line in later movies.
Wow, right on all counts!
When I made my own guesses while chatting with CD, I only managed Star Trek and a vague guess at Munsters due to “Herman” and the talk of stakes making me think of vampires.
Considering the rest are TV shows, it’s more likely the Star Trek Original Series than the movies. Spock does use that line during the TV series as well, even if it is more famously used in Wrath of Khan.
And I also only guessed the latter two. I’ve watched every Gilligan’s Island episode, but that quote didn’t quite ring a bell when I read it. Oh well.
Yes, and I feel so old knowing I remembered all those lines from the original broadcasts.
Well, congratulation to Makaira for guessing all four of the show that Natalie/Neil was watching in this section. On the Get Smart, I can even tell you which episode that it was that she was watching even. Maxwell look out in the harbor and see Garbage skoal or ship in the harbor and there wasn’t any seagulls around it and he got kind of suspicious as to it true intention, but, he knew it wasn’t for the purpose of carrying Garbage. Maxwell Smart does one of his hair brain stunt, like usual and he goes over there by himself and of course without any back up. Of course he get caught by people hiding under the fake Garbage trick. That when Maxwell goes through that routine of people coming to rescuing him that we read in the first window where Natalie is watching TV.
If you watched the original broadcasts, you were at a disadvantage because you only got a few dozen episodes in a year. I grew up in the ’70s, so was inundated with reruns of all three series (as well as IDoJ and Bewitched). Every day of the week, and sometimes multiple episodes in one day. I saw most episodes probably 5-10 times as a kid.
The Munsters one I wasn’t sure of because I was unfamiliar with the stake/vampire reference as a child. So the joke didn’t make sense then and didn’t stick with me. But I vaguely recalled an episode where Grandpa complained about Herman pounding.
Some of the best shows did come out in the 60s. I guessed them all except Gilligan’s Island, though. The only thing from that series I remember is the TV movie where they were rescued
The Gilligan’s Island episode- the “sticks and stones” quote is from the episode “And Then There Were None” where the Castaways vanish one by one, and Gilligan becomes convinced he has become a Jekyll and Mr Hyde type and has “done away” with them all. He has a bad dream in which he (as Dr Gilligan) is on trial for murder and transforms whenever anyone mentions food. In the dream, as Dr Gilligan, he speaks the words “Sticks and stones may break my bones… but please, don’t throw sticks or stones… please, please, don’t throw sticks or stones.”
Unless you actually watched the entire series as it was first broadcast, or got the boxed set, there may be stuff that you couldn’t remember. The reruns of the original Star Trek when it went into syndication were notoriously edited and re-edited to make room for more commercials, and I would be surprised to find any show before the Eighties and VCRs revived the market for these old programs. Hey, some idiot at NASA recorded over the tapes of the first moon landing, and the BBC recorded over entire seasons of Dr. Who.
This looks like its going to get interesting….
So I guess we will finally learn what Natalie’s size is in the next comic? And hopefully another encounter with Rodge will happen. ^^
No smaller than a double D by Jean’s standards, I imagine.
Bra size by what standard? I’ve done some research into the theory and practice of breast support engineering, and I’ve discovered that there isn’t any universal standard for cup sizing. Cup size is supposed to be based on volume, but it’s actually calculated using a formula or table based on the difference between the the distances around the chest measured at the maximum protrusion of the breasts and just under the breasts. But different countries use different tables and formulas, and there are further differences between different manufacturers.
I think it’s time to establish a universal standard based on the decibel level of the sigh of relief of the bra user after taking the bra off at the end of the working day.
Tom Sewell – Whoa, duuuuude. That’s some heavy thinking man.
Sadly enough for half of the human race, bodies vary so much in size and shape that there just ISN’T any simple way to solve this problem. Two people with, ostensibly, the same measurements, can wind up fitting into completely different sizes. Guys are a little less complicated to fit, (men’s clothes are more loosely fitting) but even there, two guys with the same chest measurement can need different sizes of clothing for different body shapes.
So there really isn’t any other way, you just HAVE to experiment each time to find what fits and what doesn’t. Bras, because of their construction, are particularly problematical. Natalie’s going to need some knowledgable help.
Well, the obvious solution is to computerize the clothing manufacturing process, instead of having low-wage foreign workers make them manually. So you can place an order with your specific measurements. and the computer will make clothes custom-fit for you.
Dell pioneered this process in the 1990s, with you placing an order for a custom computer online and them assembling the pieces you requested before shipping it to you. I’m surprised it hasn’t yet spread to other industries.
Not surprised due to cost when the competition is pretty much slave labor in Bangladesh or china.
Mind you, Tom, 80% of women today wear the wrong bra size. And almost all of those wear too small a size. So that sigh of relief is usually from a woman who is feeling better after getting compressed all day.
I guess it will be an encounter with Agent Anderson. Rodge have seen her looking for Nat.
Yep, and if Natalie actually thinks of going with Rodge, Rodge just might spot Agent Anderson in time to hide Natalie. Or comically fail to hide Natalie. But does Natalie even remember that Rodge told her about the agent looking for her? I’m fairly sure that memories of what she did with Rodge, thoughts of what she’d like to do with Rodge, and Belle–remember Belle? Neil has actually had sex with Belle.
Besides, Rodge is probably at work and Natalie can’t stand to wait in the apartment any more.
It look like Neil or Natalie is getting board and she been watching TV 3 or 4 hours too. So that means the Neil has been Natalie for maybe one day or possibly two days and now the interest in bra for support interest for her beast to take the pressure off.
The curse of large breast. Every female runner worth there salt knows this fact
Well, that answers THAT question. I figured that Natalie would have retained a few clothes by now, but apparently Jeannie made them disappear each time. Ouch.
She should have Amazon overnight her a couple of things. That would at least tide her over. Neil’s an engineer; he should be able to use a tape measure well enough to at least guess at sizing.
I wonder who Natalie will run into while she’s bra-shopping. And how is she going to pay for a bra if she doesn’t have the cash? Her cards and ID are all for Neil unless Jean magicked them before she left.
There are really only two female characters to choose from for the shopping encounter: Ms. Eden, and Belle. I’d bet on Ms. Eden. She lives literally next door and is not one of Jean’s girlfriends. Who else is Natalie going to ask for advice? Her mom?
Come to think of it, there is a third choice for an encounter: Agent Anderson. Natalie hasn’t actually met Agent Ann Anderson yet…
As for payment: You actually can use a credit or debit card with someone else’s name on it. Most salespeople don’t even look, as long as the transaction goes through. And even if they did check, it’s still legal; Natalie would just need to offer a reasonable explanation. (It’s my boyfriend’s/father’s/etc.)
My father often handed me his credit card to go buy something, when I was a teenager. No one ever questioned why there was a man’s name on it. I just signed my own name. As long as you have permission, it’s fine.
Confirmed. I had to use my father’s cards on a few occasions—honest purposes, purchases for him—and, so long as you could convince them you’re you, they were okay. (And some were gas purchases from the pump, so they never looked anyway.)
Mine says PAYROLL CARD at the bottom.
Still, there are places that check. Vintage Stock policy is to check if the transaction goes over $100. I swear it took at least 15 minutes before they were secure enough that it was really me and really my card, but they were nice enough about it and even gave me a $5-off coupon for the trouble. I used it my next visit. ^_^
The time after that, I had them split the purchase into two transactions to avoid the fuss altogether.
The only thing to check on a credit card is if it is signed. Doesn’t matter who signs the card. If you read the back of the card it says to the seller: only accept this card if it is signed. It doesn’t say who has to have signed it. But if it isn’t signed, the card issuer, in theory, doesn’t have to honor the card.
IOW, the signature on the back is not for identification. It’s only purpose is to create a valid CONTRACT. Any rigamarole involving checking the signatures match is the seller violating the contract.
The signature is the merchant’s protection against a chargeback. If the customer tells the credit card company they didn’t make that purchase, the credit card company will freeze the funds. The merchant then has to prove that the customer did in fact make the purchase. The easiest way is to send the credit card company a copy of the signature on the receipt. If it looks like a match for the one the credit card company has on file (why they require your signature when you apply for a card), then they decide the case in the merchant’s favor and release the funds. Otherwise, it becomes a chargeback and the merchant eats the loss.
So yes the merchant is supposed to verify that the signature on the receipt matches the signature on the card. But fraud in person is rare enough that many of them don’t bother. (For signature-free purchases like online and gas pump purchases, the merchant has to use info that only the cardholder should know. Like their zip code or phone number. That’s why gas pumps ask you to enter your zip code. Not because they’re trying to collect marketing data on you, but as a simple way to prevent people who find a dropped credit card from using it to purchase gas.)
I really really hate that zipcode / phone number thing when visiting that states because it IS collecting data on you despite the protestations otherwise. The rest of the word uses PIN numbers and GASP the chip, with RFID for purchases under the merchants threshold amount.
Also of note it is technically breaking the credit card TOS to collect such data when making a purchase.
Annonymouse – PIN numbers are usually used for DEBIT transactions, while ZIP code is used for CREDIT transactions, and it’s not so much information gathering as confirming your billing address – a security measure in case the card is stolen. Dunno about the phone number, but probably the same idea by a different bank/card company.
Maybe she DOES have the cash? Possibly even BECAUSE of last time where she was Natalie.
Natalie went to Las Vegas to learn more about engineering. Rodge went to drink and try to get laid. Jean is the one who gambles (and not just with money.)
Maybe hkmaly is thinking of the times Jean blinked Natalie to the strip club, she could probably make a fair amount of cash there. Although that wasn’t the last time Neil was Natalie, I think that was when she blinked Natalie to NY to tempt Rodge (disguised as Jean).
I sometimes wonder if Natalie took pole dancing lessons. It could be profitable, and it’s pretty good exercise. He gets so little as Neil.
She doesn’t need her ID to use an ATM. I assume there is money in the bank.
Unfortunately, neither fitness nor even body mass seems to be conserved in a Neil/Natalie transformation.
Now that is what I call one hell of a shared universe movie.
I can’t help but wonder about Natalie’s state of mind. She’s more concerned about getting Jeannie to poof into existence some Natalie clothes and not having Jeannie changing her back to Neil. Although I suppose she could just be wanting to be prepared for when this happens again in the future. Maybe Neil needs to think about moving to a larger apartment. After all, a girl needs a lot of space for all of her clothes. It would also make it easier to explain to people who don’t know what’s truly going on by saying his sister Natalie either visits a lot or now lives there as well.
Of course I still don’t think Jeannie changed Neil into Natalie, but if she did, she didn’t do it consciously.
> she could just be wanting to be prepared for when this happens again in the future
That was my interpretation. Neil has accepted that he’ll be Natalie again in the future, and wants to be prepared, since she’s been so uncomfortable this time.
Couldn’t Jeanie just enchant Neil’s regular clothes so they automatically become Natalie’s clothes whenever he is transformed?
That way there isn’t any extra work involved for Natalie except for special occasions (like the dress Natalie wore during business trip with Rodge, which wasn’t magically created by Jeanie).
@SageM: That would require forethought on Jeannie’s part.
You’re more likely to win the lottery. Three times in a row. Without buying a ticket.
That’d be a fun solution. And at this point, Neil might even agree to let Jean do it.
It also could have something to do with Neil/Natalie’s recent mental reprogramming.
something weird happened to his brain this time. Kissing rodge was not a fluke.
And I think it’s synchronous with what’s happening to Jeanie, although I don’t know that the comic frames could be line up next to each other.
I said that years ago.
His brain is bathed in female hormones.
There has to be a biochemical/psychological effect.
I was searching the CMX forums (910cmx.com) for El Goonish Shive and I stumbled into a topic I created for the CMX forum for I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle. It’s called “I Dream of Technicolor” and I created it on April 23rd. And forgot about it, until now.
I’ve only gotten one reply on that topic. But it’s from C.D. Rudd. C.D. left a lot of mystery in his reply, of course. Still, what he did say got my attention.
I now think that Ms. Eden is going to play a very important role in this arc. Whatever that role is, it will be built on what was left unsaid and unshown in Technicolor
For the sake of IDOJB rookies who haven’t read I Dream of Technicolor yet, I’m going to put my plot theory in the I Dream of Technicolor topic in the 910CMX forum because spoilers.
There’s even stuff in that thread that I didn’t know!
Mostly because I ask CD not to tell me stuff. heh
Tom… Are you by chance, a writer? Just curious.
Professionally, no. Check out fanfiction.net and look for Sailor Moon’s American Dream and The Milk of Demon Kindness.
If, I Dream of Jeannie, had been on the TV schedule would Natalie watch it or not? Would it be a reminder of her gender situation?
Natalie’s extended time as a woman reminds me of a comedy from the sixties. Goodbye Charlie, starred Debbie Reynolds as a man who wakes up in another body, a very beautiful young blonde woman. Her reactions to being a blonde bombshell are comedy. Confused when visiting a beauty parlor for the first time, asks for the “works” and gets a surprise. Buying clothing, lingerie, beauty products, how to act and other lady things, her personality changes.
Natalie situation is similar to Jean’s early experiences, without magic powers, she’ll have a harder time.
Did Jean continue watching IDOJ after becoming Jeannie? Jean and/or Neil binge watch every episode on the I Dream of Jeannie DVD set for clues?
Yes, of course they did. Maybe before they went back to 1969; certainly after they got back.
” a man who wakes up in another body, a very beautiful young blonde woman. ”
[editor’s disease kicks in]
“A man who wakes up in Debbie Reynolds’ body”.
i seem to remember trying to watch this, but the early scenes were so agonizingly misandrist I couldn’t finish.
“FASTER! Faster you stupid robots!”
I’ve wondered if Natalie’s “bimboness” is triggered by any male within sight or if it’s specifically triggered by Rodge. I guess we’ll find out.
I think she may have broken out of whatever effect was making her act so differently around Rodge. It seemed to end before Rodge actually left.
But I dunno. I’d certainly find it amusing if she finds herself going gaga for other guys, too. 🙂
Ah. Bay’s Disease.
I got the impression that she snapped out of it seconds after Rodge was out of her sight. I assume that Rodge sprinted out the door and down the hall!
So I’m guessing these were the other shows you wanted to crossover/parody stories for, but just couldn’t find the time?
And suddenly I’m thinking of how ludicrously awesome it would be if this comic did a crossover-parody of Star Trek. Something similar tot he episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday” perhaps.
Also, I love those eyes in the second and third panel. Very pretty.
Yes, Star Trek would be a funny cross over, but, doing Get Smart cross over would be funny too. With Maxwell Smart to out stupid Jeanie all the time and see who wins, I can be the most stupid one here contest.
What about a Star Trek the Next Generation crossover. Jean, a magical super powered being has an encounter with the super powerful omnipotent being, “Q”. That would be interesting to see!
Hehe… motion lines.
This should be an interesting shopping trip. Natalie doesn’t know her size and being a guy inside she isn’t likely to ask for help, so I assume it will come down to guessing.
I think the only boobs pre-Natalie Neil could of touched were his mom’s, and only if he wasn’t a bottle baby. And the only post-Natalie boobs were Natalie’s. And while I’m guessing Natalie has put a considerable amount of time exploring her mammary anatomy, she has no experience to compare it with.
Some wit once said that the problem with breast-feeding male infants was that they grew to men on an eternal search for breasts bigger than their heads.
Neil did have sex with Belle (when he was substituting for male Jean).
As for babies who grow into men who desire huge breasts on women, I had always thought it was because they were denied access to mother’s breasts (i.e. were bottle fed), and thus were subconsciously trying to compensate and get that which was denied to them as babies.
By George, you’re right. Still, I don’t think Neil had sizing Belle’s bra in mind. And it’s plain that Belle just is not as well-endowed (or burdened) as Jean or Natalie, so if Natalie is looking for a bra like Belle’s, she’s going to get the wrong size.
Am I the only one not getting what’s “Natalie’s” problem here ?
She is just laying there…watching TV. What does she “can’t stand anymore” ?
Watching that show ? Being alone ? Being inside ?
What those things have anything to do with not wearing a bra and wanting to buy one ?
She’s got large breasts and without any bra support, she’s feeling the weight. She’s constantly aware of them plus she’s not used it.
In the first frame, you might interpret Natalie’s expression as looking at her boobs with annoyance. In the second frame she’s trying to rest her boobs on her arms and in the third frame trying to rest her boobs on the couch before angrily jumping up in the fourth frame.
Oh..ok but….how is “buying a bra” solve any of this ?
She’ll still feel their weight even with wearing a bra. That doesn’t change anything. And it won’t change the feeling of having big boobs either too.
If she’s that “aware” of her new asset and “curious” about them and their feeling, what she need now is some personnal (sexy) time exploring her body (in her bedroom or under the shower for example). Not buying a new bra. That’s…natural!
Has for getting use to it, there nothing that can solve this except times….just times.
checkit1414 I assume that your a guy. This looks like a question, that we guys would ask. Because, we guys don’t have to deal with breast like girl do. Except for when we see it on like girls and then we don’t think about why they put Bra on and why that an important part of there daily activities.
A Bra hold a women assets in place so they don’t flop around, they will also drupe or sage if she doesn’t have a Bra on. A women breast will bounce around, if a women does a lot of strenuous activities. She can hurt herself if she doesn’t have sufficient support for her breast. A women with excessively big breast will usually suffer from back problem, because, of the weight of her breast. What a Bra does for a women is to add extra support for where she need it the most. Although she still has big breast and the weight doesn’t change, it suppose to make them more manageable for her, so I am told.
But, I think I got the jest of why Natalie going out to get a Bra, because, she need at least one Bra for support.
To elaborate on Larry’s reply, a bra will:
1) keep her boobs from bouncing around
2) shift the support of her boobs from the front of her chest (which I assume is Natalie’s main source of discomfort) to her shoulders
3) and, speculating here, containing her boobs closer to her center of gravity will make it easier to maneuver
As far as being curious about her body, Neil has already spent many hours as Natalie. Initially when Lord Guano shackled her around the neck, when she “dated” Rodge over a period of days (weeks?) and when she went to the convention in Vegas with Rodge.
Neil seems, in my opinion at least, almost indifferent to being Natalie. More ticked-off at Jean for changing him than actually being Natalie. Unlike Jean who is royally po’ed at spending his life as a female. Perhaps part of that is knowing he can be changed back, unlike Jean.
You know, the last time Natalie spent a lot of time home watching TV was waiting for Jean to return home after Natalie returned home from Las Vegas.
Which brings to mind what might be a hole in the plot, or at least some unanswered questions. How do Jean and Natalie fly on commercial aircraft? Everyone has to present ID to fly since Homeland Security took over, and I believe that ID is checked with a database. Fiddling with government databases is well within Jean’s powers, since Rouyaa changed the NASA budget (for a little while) back in 1969. But unless Jean remembered to erase the record of Natalie’s flight to (and perhaps back from) Las Vegas, that would have left a trail for Agent Anderson to follow, a trail further confirming that Natalie traveled with Rodge. I think Agent Anderson is very interested in Rodge Heeney now.
But getting back to the thought that I had when I began this post, back after Natalie got back from Las Vegas, however she got back, she was watching at least one soap opera. She doesn’t seem to watching anything like that now. Could it be that soap operas make her think of…Rodge?
Could be a plot hole.
Or maybe Jean subconsciously put a “don’t pay attention to my identity” enchantment on Natalie. You can get onto a plane easily enough without any sort of electronic record (assuming the plane’s not full), as long as you trick the humans into not trying to look you up in the system. Just walk right past security as they fail to check your boarding pass, and walk right past the boarding crew as they fail to scan your ticket, and BAM, you’re on a plane without there being any record that you even entered the airport.
Obviously, we ostensibly train security and boarding crews not to do this. But we all know how reliable the TSA actually is…
The get smart punchline wouldn’t have been “2 cops in a rowboat”, it would have been something far less impressive than that, something deliberately completely nonthreatening, not merely something LESS threatening. It would have been maybe “How about a boyscout and a seeing eye dog in a rowboat?” That’s the template it ALWAYS followed. This is why that show was so bad, if you’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen them all, and there were precisely 3 jokes in the whole series. The other 2 being “Missed me by THAT much” and “And, LOVING it”. It’s hard to believe it was made by Mel Brooks who also made The Producers. Even spaceballs was clever by comparison.
IIRC, the third line after “two cops in a rowboat” was “A school of angry flounder”.
Only two jokes in the whole series? Get Smart was a catchphrase making *machine* in its day (right up there with Laugh-In, except that Get Smart had to contend with fitting them into an actual storyline as well. Off the top of my head, I remember (in addition to “would you believe”, “missed it by that much” and “and loving it”):
I asked you not to tell me that.
Sorry about that, Chief.
The old [thing] in the [thing] trick. (often followed by):
That’s the second time I’ve fallen for it this week.
“Did you get that?” “All but the part after ‘now listen carefully'”
I hope I wasn’t out of line with that crack about [thing].
“Of course, the [thing]! Naturally it’s the [thing]! What else could it be except the [thing]! Just one thing…” “Yes?” “What’s the [thing]?”
From what I recall (mind you, it’s been 30+ years since I really watched Get Smart), the earlier seasons were more serious about the comedy, really playing off the secret agent stuff. It was the later seasons where the show devolved into a series of running gags. Like Brooks and the writers ran out of jokes to make.
And I agree with the above. Some of the jokes sound stale because they’ve been repeated countless times in other shows since then. But from what I can tell, many of them originated with the show.
As far as I know, this was the only series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. It was golden. The movie and the attempted reboot, no.
And does no one remember Hymie the robot? Or the Cone of Silence?
True, Brooks and Henry never created a TV series together after Get Smart, but separately, Brooks did “When Things Were Rotten” (an early run at the Robin Hood spoof that would resurface later as the movie “Men in Tights”) and Henry created “Captain Nice” and “Quark” (both of which I’ve got box set DVDs for).
Looks like someone is going to uncover what it means to shop as a woman. Natalie… prepare yourself… your going to be out shopping for more then just a bra hunny. I give it the whole daywhen she gets back home…
Your probably right about that. Go out to get the Bra she really does need and then see other things that she would like to have or maybe there was a sale just for today so get it now. Then when she get back, I didn’t want all this stuff, but, now she got it. Yes, we can see it coming!
Shopping in Cocoa Beach would be Cathy Guisewite’s worst nightmare: It’s always swimsuit season.
ACK!!!!!!!
Sticks and Stones may break my bones,… but only words have ever hurt me.
The thing[s] that bother me about this is that Nat’s boobs aren’t bobbling around as she shifts position.
“Those stupid bras” aren’t for support; Natalie wants one with style and maybe not all that much coverage. She wants to look good once the “Natalie clothes” come OFF.
She wants lingerie, not underwear. And she wants it bad.
There have it Guys! Another Guy expert on the subject of ladies boobs and whether Bras are actually necessary or not.
I give up, on trying to explain why Bras are necessary and what there purpose is. Natalie has huge double D or E cup size breast hanging out there and she needs something to hold her breast in place. If Natalie had small A cup size breast then it wouldn’t be necessary for her to have a Bra and she could get along fairly well with out a bra.
Even a “B” or arguably a “C” can make do without a bra. Infact, in those cases medical science has stated in the last few years that bras are actually detrimental to health, as the user fails to develop back and chest muscles. However, once you hit “D”, the reverse is certainly true. Large chest sizes cause back strain without the support of a bra.
Still, I wouldn’t think Neil would have been Natified long enough for back strain to occur. Usually, it takes a few days without support for you to start feeling it.
Larry, I’m guessing you’re a guy, being a guy expert. Glad you’ve given up on that.
Look at the art. For all Natalie’s shifting around, her boobs don’t wobble much at all. (They do jiggle a bit as she walks out the door.) They look pretty constrained to me. (As well as looking pretty.)
And read her words: “One of those stupid bras”. Not just “I need to get a bra” or even “I need to get a stupid bra”. (Granted, though, if she’s already wearing a bra, where did it come from?)
Won’t hurt my feelings too much if I’m wrong, but this one strip suggests, as I said, lingerie not underwear. Please notice that “underwear” implies needing a bra purely for support, so I did indeed acknowledge that.
@ Ran-san: maybe it’s just uncomfortable to have them shifting around without support? I know we don’t see a lot of movement, but that doesn’t mean Natalie isn’t feeling it. Alternatively, she might be sensitive and want an extra layer of protection. Or possibly, given that she hasn’t grown up having breasts, she finds it uncomfortable to have them hanging off of her. No back strain, just general discomfort that she wants to curb.
@Rock: I’m reading her shifting about as the result of her discomfort (be it emotional or physical). For one thing, she’s bored. For another, she’s A GIRL now. For another, as a girl, she’s had a rather disturbing emotional jolt, her attraction to Roger. Could be wrong, of course.
I just don’t think it’s her unsupported breasts that are uncomfortable as she shifts around Reverse of cause and effect.
It could be both physical and emotional. *shrug*
I have to say, it is really nice to see Neil / Natalie just having slice-of-life issues, rather than going through a freakout due to the latest unsolicited sex change, or living in dread over the enhanced libido-thing, or actually worrying about that jerk Jean.
Hear, hear!
Ran-san “mental reprogramming” This is precisely what I was referring to in my original post. I have the feeling that “Natalie” has become the dominant personality right now. Neil still knows and wants to be himself, but is subconsciously thinking like a woman right now and when he isn’t actively forcing his behavior to be a certain way, Natalie takes over.
I’m expecting Natalie to go wild on this shopping trip and buy a whole bunch more clothes, from normal skirts and blouses to sexy lingerie. And shoes, lots of shoes.
It’s not just the software, her mind, though; there’s also the hardware her software runs on. Not just the brain, but the body.
And then there’s the biological purpose behind all that.
I’d love to watch Natalie discover that she’s enchanted by babies and small children.
And, not at all by the way, that other women are not as suspicious of her in that context as they would be of Neil. (Although these days that difference is not as sharp as it once was. )