"The Moonstone", mentioned in my last blog but one and one of my favourite books, has a central plot point involving the length of time paint takes to dry. So does my favourite cartoon, ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks (the episode "Safety Third"). I always say the later seasons are the best, with the snappy dialogue and perfect characterisation that I love so much, but this is one of many first-season episodes which stand up alongside any of the rest of the series. There's a wonderful conversation between our heroes of the type I've had (in the role of Simon) many times before. Some people just don't want to do sums themselves...
Don't touch it! The paint won't be dry for fifteen hours!
Oh, man! That's like ten at night!
Alvin, if it's two in the afternoon now, what time will it be in fifteen hours?
Erm, 12:30? No, 11:15! 6:35!
Stop guessing!
Just tell me!
Figure it out!
Tuesday!
T-Tuesday? What?!
I thought it was a trick question.
I know! I know! Eight o'clock!
You're not even trying!
Okay... think out of the box...
No, no! Think IN the box! Right in the centre of the box!
Is that a clue?
Five in the morning! It's five in the morning!
And this scene is followed by the greatest ever example of Simon's habit of talking in his sleep. "I've had enough with all these egotistical unicorns! I've had it up to here!" Alvin, sneaking out to steal the car at five in the morning, promises to take care of the unicorns, and Simon responds "Rub peanuts in their faces."
See, this is why I love Simon so much. Perhaps it's a little hard to explain.
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[Footnote, which you might say is reading WAY too much into this, but I disagree - like I said, the series is very consistent about characterisation and things like the level of mathematical capability of the three brothers, so I can say the following paragraph with supreme confidence. Your mileage (in Alvin's super-car) may vary.]
No, Alvin and Theodore aren’t that stupid. Alvin is trying to drive Simon mad, as usual. But underlying this is a genuine worry on his part that he might get it wrong if he really does try to figure it out – his initial “ten at night” was very probably a genuine off-hand miscalculation, coupled with not realising how late in the day it’s got (they’ve been working on the car for a long time). It put him on the defensive, and he starts being silly (“Is that a clue?” is brilliant. Poor Simon). Meanwhile, Theodore, with his usual way of taking everything literally, assumes that if Alvin is struggling with the problem, it must be a trick question, and starts overthinking it. Just like I do whenever details of Chipmunk conversation get flowing around my head.
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