When we were reading Hamlet junior year, the professor asked why there was the gravedigger scene, and we all dutifully responded about easing the tension, to which he said, “Shakespeare had a clown in his troupe and had to write something for him.” I don’t know if I accept that, but for either reason, here’s […]
Creative spelling, as seen in this Moderately Confused (AMS), is an editor’s nightmare, but one that fortunately has morphed out of control in tune with the technical revolution. I used to run honor role listings in the paper, and, for a while, I’d come across some ridiculous version of a common name and call the […]
This Reality Check (AMS) raises an interesting question: Do you have to be a guitar player to get the joke? My feeling is that you only need a very basic understanding of music to get a chuckle, because the G-Clef tells you it’s about music and you should know there are majors and minors that […]
Scott Hilburn wins the Fortuitous Timing Award, though if he’d run today’s Argyle Sweater (AMS) 24 hours earlier, he might be up for a Pulitzer. Yes, it’s a different form of airline chaos, but given his lead time, I think he did pretty well. Besides, the types of chaos that ensued appear to have been […]
There being no nearby Ren Faire, I had missed the uproar over elephant rides until I saw Sunday’s Brevity (AMS). Up until then, my main issue with Renaissance Festivals was that turkey legs were an anachronism and poxy drabs an annoyance. But it didn’t occur to me that elephant rides were cruel, since working elephants […]
I like Zits (KFS) more when they focus on Jeremy and his friends rather than Jeremy and his parents. Jeremy is a slacker, but he seems to represent all kids in the parental strips while he’s more of a Maynard G. Krebs comic figure alongside his more together pals. This week features a teens-and-jobs story […]
Most schools are out by now, though Big Nate (AMS) had me searching my memory for how the year’s end went in middle school. In high school, the last week or so was finals and you only showed up if you had one, most of which were NYS Regents exams and were scheduled by Albany. […]
(Thank you, Clifford Berryman) Pearls Before Swine (AMS) makes an excellent point, though there’s more to it. If you go back half a century, the evening network news was half an hour, but so was the local news and there was another half hour before bedtime, for a total of 90 minutes. Drop back a […]
Frazz (AMS) starts us off with a head-scratcher. I think the observation is right, but it comes from a direction I hadn’t explored, so it set me back a bit. There are those who object to fans using “we” at all, but that’s nonsense. Why bother having uniforms or selling gear if you don’t want […]
A little political humor on a day I don’t intend to be political at all. As I’ve said before, however, the news is so absurd that it’s hard to satirize, and I appreciate Ruben Bolling for being able to do it simply by treating Donald Trump as a six-year-old, at which point his behavior becomes […]
Zits (KFS) made me smile Sunday. Note that it’s not a slam on the Nutcracker itself, and I like classic ballet. But the guys agree that the same ballet every Christmas gets stale, even as a tradition. My smile came because I’m retired and no longer have the yearly discussion of whether we will send […]
Zits (KFS) is starting a story arc that could mark a shift in the comic, with Jeremy and presumably his friends beginning the college search. The strip has a glacial pace, but that’s better than no pace at all, and, over the years, we’ve seen the kids get drivers licenses and cars and even a […]
As Constant Readers know, I do politics on some days and humor on others, but I’m often conflicted by in which category I should put Tom the Dancing Bug (AMS). Ruben Bolling’s talent for satire may not make me laugh aloud but it often prompts a grim smile. This one prompts a grim smile in […]
A personal chuckle from The Other Coast (Creators), because he’s right that dog owners are more observant of the scoop laws than other users seem to be of the littering laws. There are, of course, times when a dog poops while the owner is engaged in conversation and doesn’t notice, though when there’s a group, […]
I hope this is good news and not just a temporary storyline, but over at Zits (KFS), Jeremy has got a decent job that he’s good at and seems enthusiastic about, working at a hi-tech start-up, and, as we see today, he’s become thoughtful. Assuming it is an actual shift, it’s a welcome one. The […]