Grand Slam Sunday

The Orlando Sentinel knocked one out of the park with page three of today's funnies:

"Opus" and his anxiety closet is always vividly amusing, but today's edition carried a self-referential pot-shot (pun intended) that was cleverly and wickedly done. Though I don't normally subscribe to schadenfreude, Breathed's rendering of a sickly-white, pixie-ish Michael Jackson flying his standard "V" for victory was funny enough, but to lump him in with the "Pop-Culture Has-Beens From The '80s" (which included an unseen Bono and an ill-included Mick Jagger) was sheer genius. (I love how Darth Vader's helmet flies off as he retreats in a huff)

Now here's where the Comic Analyst in me comes screaming out from the depths. Considering that the violently suggestive final panel represents Bill The Cat's realization that Opus is, by nature of his publishing history, guilty by association and indeed one of the "Pop-Culture Has-Beens From The '80s", does that mean that Bill could very well turn the gun on himself, echoing certain journalistic practices of late? Was that a run-on sentence? Do I care? Non. I just really wanted to see Bono as drawn by Berke.

Call it one of those little things, but I dig how "Get Fuzzy" cartoonist Darby Conley sometimes renders Bucky as a diminished figure in the background as he delivers his lines. Always hanging around the edges of the frame, it somehow accents his acerbic take on the world. Not to mention that it also accents the fact that he is a very short and physically non-threatening cat.

I don't give "Dilbert" enough credit. It takes some kind of twisted brilliance (or obsession) to accurately portray the kind of day-to-day, textbook-ready, indignities that workers are meant to suffer at the hands of those in charge. Of course, take the dialogue out of the office and put it in the bedroom, exhange a few verbs and nouns -- voila! -- it's your current relationship, ever notice that?

Now, how many times have you driven down the street, seen those stickers of Calvin pissing on everything from Dodge logos to Republican elephants, and thought "man, I'll bet Bill Watterson is fit to be tied."? Leave it to "Pearls Before Swine" to not only illustrate that instance, but take it a step further and suggest that maybe, just maybe, we're going to see lots of stickers in the backs of truck windows featuring Pig doing something equally as noxious? Will Pastis like this development (or is it already happening somewhere?) or is he indeed attempting to encourage it in order to publicize the strip? Wouldn't that be like playing a concert and encouraging people to bootleg the recording? Does that mean that you can come back thirty years later like Metallica and condemn this kind of behavior?

Saw the coolest shirt yesterday at Disney's Polynesian Resort. It was Hawai'ian style, bright colors, with Jessica Rabbit taking up about half of the design as she stands holding a longboard emblazoned with her hubby Roger. The back is a reverse angle, which given her beach attire, is just as fetching as the front. A female friend said something to the effect of "nice coconuts." At $42, it's anti-cheap. I've already petitioned Santa.