Comics Critically Critiqued

Ever wonder why Nancy was still being carried by the newspaper when it seemed so out of touch with reality not to mention humor? Why has For Better or For Worse become so annoying? And what the heck is a "Foob" anyways? Why does Mark Trail only speak in exclamation points and question marks? What is Funky Winkerbean's obsession with cancer in practically every story arc?

Well, there is a blog for you. The Comics Curmudgeon is a very professional blog dedicated to answering these questions and many others. The site author is very funny with his snarky commentary. But even more entertaining are the outside comment makers. Sometimes there is a trail of 200+ comments.

It can be difficult to follow along as most commenters write in short hand: MW=Mary Worth, GT=Gil Thorpe, DtM=Dennis the Menace, etc. It took me a while to figure all that out. Plus, they frequently comment on comics that I don't read or that aren't carried in the local paper (e.g. Apartment 3G, Archie, They Do It Every Time). But on the whole it's a very clever read.

Gun Shopping

A woman goes into a sporting goods store to buy a shotgun.

"It's for my husband," she tells the clerk.

"Did he tell you what gauge to get?" asked the clerk.

"Are you kidding?" she says. "He doesn't even know that I'm going to shoot him!"

I'd Buy a Ticket to This Game

Move Over Paris and Britney

There's a new uber-skank in town. Lindsay Lohan has been arrested for DUI. Again. Following a car chase. Driving on a suspended license. Found in possession of more cocaine. Hopefully, she'll finally go to jail before she gets behind the wheel again and possibly kills someone.

Nah. She's just misunderstood. We can't possible grasp the pressure she must be under - what with all the money, fame and privilege.

See her mugshot here.

Mmmmm, Shave Ice

It ain't Kopp's Frozen Custard but it's a pretty darn close second. Hawaiian shave ice is similar to a snow cone (like frozen custard is similar to ice cream) but the subtle differences make it a far superior treat. Some times they'll put a scoop of vanilla ice cream at the bottom of the cup and the flavored ice merges with it to create a delicous and tasty goulash.

The shave ice at Baldwin's in Honolulu and on Maui at Jo Jo's were good but the shop on the north side of O'ahu in Laie was the best. The texture and consistency of the ice was perfect and the flavor and ice cream were the best. And the servings were as big as my head. Funny that I can't remember the name of the place and we drove across the island twice to go there.

I enjoyed pina colada, cream soda and vanilla. Kerry went for mango, mango and more mango. You could get up to three flavors per serving.

Yum.

Cruisin'

After, a few relaxing days on O'ahu, we're off on the cruise. We're renting a minivan on each of the islands. It'll be a great way to see as much as possible.

We've heard some complaints that Norwegian Cruise Lines has all-American crews who don't kiss as much butt as foreign-based crews. I think that was overblown. The complainer are probably annoying people who like to have the serfs at their beck and call.

Aloha

Well, we're off to Hawai'i for two weeks. A few days in Waikiki to visit family and buzz around and then onto a 7 day cruise on the Pride of America. We'll hit Hilo on the Big Island (Hawai'i) and then Maui for 2 days and to Kona the Big Island again. Then to Kaua'i for two days.

Lots of sightseeing. Lots of food. Kerry's never been to Hawai'i before.

After the cruise we have 4 more days on Oahu. So, we'll see the U.S.S. Arizona memorial and the U.S.S. Missouri. Hopefully, we'll get to the beach and do some snorkeling or something.

I Beg Your Pardon

Yep, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's 30 month jail time sentence. So what? Presidents grant pardons and commutations all the time. It's just that this instance has reeked of partisan politics from the outset. Other presidential pardons have excused some of the scummiest of the scummy. Drug-dealers. Murderers (commuting death sentences to life without parole). Tax evaders (Anyone Remember Marc Rich?).

For anyone to claim that the commutation of Libby's sentence turns American jurisprudence on its head is ridiculous. It's par for the course. President Bush just didn't wait to do it on his way out of office.

For more on presidential pardons and commutations granted by President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, click here.

For Sale: Castle Bran

I previously noted that the Romanian government had returned Castle Bran, known as "Dracula's Castle", to the Romanian royal family. Now the royal family has placed the castle on the auction block.

Expected to fetch as much as $135 million dollars (who knows how many Romanian lei that would be), the Romanian government is said to get preferred status to purchase the castle if it can match the best offer of a private buyer. Good luck with that.

Hopefully, whoever buys the castle will treat it with the respect such a historical structure deserves. Even if it wasn't really Dracula's castle and had no real ties to vampiric lore, it's a testament to the longevity of the Transylvanian culture.

Footsies

With a Hawaii trip looming and many sandals to be worn, I decided that I didn't want to scare small children with the twisted, callused messes that are my feet. I usually just chop the toenails down and that's that but professional care was needed.

So, I got a pedicure. Started out with a soaking. Then the attendant used snips to trim the cuticle. She then started trimming the dead skin around my little toes. She kept cutting and cutting and looking more frustrated. Eventually, she asked, "Are you sure that doesn't hurt?" As if she figured she had cut so much tissue away that she couldn't believe she hadn' hit bone.

She then got out the shaver started shaving layer after layer of dead skin off my heels and the soles of my feet. As I watched, dead skin was flying everywhere.

She then gave me a calf and foot massage and we were done. I overtipped a bit but given the nastiness she had to work with, I thought she earned it.