Kudos to "Argyle Sweater" comic strip artist Scott Hilburn for digging deep for the groanworthy pun, adding Honey where no Honey was needed, and realizing no strip is complete without a Vin Scully reference (although who would be talking to Vin on-air?).
Also, it appears the Reds, Nats and/or Angels have a right-handed-hitting dog on their team. Denard Spaniel?
Earlier at SoSG: Ron Cey Makes the Funnies Page
Thanks to Mary Beth for the find:
Earlier Drabble-related content at SoSG: Something Feels Different Today...
I was driving in Hollywood last week when I saw Snoopy lying on the road.
That is, the toy pictured above had been tossed on the street in front of a garbage can. Now I'm not generally a fan of picking crap off the street. But I am a fan of (1) Peanuts, (2) toys, and (3) free stuff.
Even from my car, I recognized this version of Snoopy as his 60's/70's incarnation, making it a vintage toy. I doubled back and rescued the dog.
Upon closer inspection, Snoopy was in remarkably good shape. No dings or dents, and the paint job was mostly intact. Imprinted on the bottom of his left foot was: © 1958, 66 UNITED FEATURE SYND and the logo of the manufacturer (either "KTC" or "KTE").
I could only find one online reference to this particular toy; an toy store says it's from 1969 and is charging $45 for theirs.
But there's no way my new favorite toy is ending up on eBay. It found me for a reason, and it's staying with me.
Up next: The restoration effort begins!
The Dodgers are suffering their annual swoon, and Dodger fans have been searching for the cause of this year's collapse. Injuries are certainly a factor, as have been inconsistent performances on both sides of the plate. A new manager learning the team hasn't helped. But when SoSG Sax e-mailed me this article, I finally understood why the Dodgers are playing as if it's the end of the world.
Because it is the end of the world—for Elly and John Patterson. For their kids Michael, Lizard Breath and April. And yes, even for Farley and Edgar. "For Better or For Worse" is ending (although creator Lynn Johnston will repurpose old strips*) and clearly the Dodgers see no point in continuing in a world without fresh FBoFW strips.
While we Dodger fans can feel our team's pain, we would be well-served to heed the final words of FBoFW's final weekday strip. And if we can't learn from the immortal wisdom of Grandmother Iris, then truly we deserve second place.
Or worse.
*Hmmm, anything to do with her impending divorce?
Earlier: Elizabeth Patterson Puts the Smackdown on Mtigwaki Paul
"Stay tuned for my Drabble retrospective!"
—Orel, January 19, 2007
Something feels different today. The feeling started when I woke up naturally instead of having my warm cocoon of sleep shattered by the alarm clock. As I got up, I noticed the sky wasn't as bright as it could be. And my coffee tasted a little more bitter than usual.
Then I remembered: The Dodgers' 2007 season is sinking into the abyss.
But that didn't account entirely for the change. After all, the Dodgers still have a mathematical chance (in hell, but still). More importantly, the future is bright, with a full year of Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley and James Loney—we love James Loney!—on tap.
No, there was something more to this change. And when I opened the newspaper and inadvertently—inadvertently, I tells ya!—chuckled at today's "Drabble" strip, I knew why the world would never be the same:
This, my friends, is news. Hard news. Anyone with a passing familiarity with comic strips knows that "Drabble" is a bedrock of unfunniness. Makes "Rex Morgan, M.D." look like a laugh riot. You get Norman being turned down by Wendy—again!—or Wally the wiener dog running in place making SKATTLE SKATTLE SKATTLE sounds—the unfunniest onomatopoeia in the world.
The unfunniness of "Drabble" gets to the point where you go, Why am I reading this? It's like panning for gold in the Sahara. But it's too late. You realize reading "Drabble" (and "For Better or For Worse," for that matter) has become an unbreakable habit. And the cycle of destruction continues.
But "men plan and the gods laugh"...and sure enough the unthinkable happens:
Maybe we shouldn't count the Dodgers out just yet.
MTIGWAKI, Northern Ontario — Earlier today Elizabeth Patterson delivered a verbal bitch-slapping to potential paramour Paul, who apparently had misrepresented his availability when Patterson found him shacking up with another woman.
"Even though it didn't work out for us, I want you to know that if you ever need a friend..." Elizabeth started, the ellipsis playing on Paul's expectations of a reconciliation.
But it was not to be. "There are some great people here in Mtigwaki," Elizabeth finished, delivering the coup de grâce and turning her back on Paul, both literally and figuratively.
Although his expression was not visible, Paul was undoubtedly crushed by Elizabeth's rejection. The bitter cold of the Canadian winter only served to reinforce his emotional isolation.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth continued her triumphant march away from Paul's residence, secure in the knowledge that some dude with a helicopter totally digs her.
