Where's the Funny?

I'm not a newspaper guy, but the break room in my office has a St. Louis Post, so I occasionally skim over it at some point during the day.

I had an epiphany this week as I was looking over the Funny Pages. They're not funny. As I read through the comics (Ziggy, For Better or Worse, Family Circus, etc.), I was amazed at the lack of humor.

Zero laughs above the fold.

Things got a little better with Dilbert lower on the page, but I've determined that the laughs per comic strip metric is not good -- at least for me.

It sure seems that comics were comical when I was a kid. The Far Side comes to mind. But maybe that's it. Garfield wasn't really funny, and Peanuts seemed to get less funny each year.

Maybe it's me. Perhaps I'm just not a "comic strip guy." There are definitely things I laugh at (Stephen Colbert, The Office, Saturday Night Live, dirty limericks), but this just wasn't it.

In the Moment

I had an absolutely great Columbia weekend, and have had a tough time attempting to put it into words. I thought maybe a quick event log would help me share my thoughts. Advanced apologies for the ramblings...

Saturday 8:00 - Haircut with Blake at Tiger Barber
Blake had a deep conversation with his barber about Halloween, and we got to have a race to the finish. Blake finished his cut first and earned extra pennies for bubble gum. Big props to Tiger Barber on 9th Street.

Saturday 10:00 - Marko at the House
My brother came in from Denver this weekend to watch the Mizzou game and catch up with friends. He hung out with us for a couple hours in the morning. The kiddos loved tackling him and showing off their Lego Star Wars skills (they are quite good). Good to see the little brother again.

Saturday 12:00 - Living Canvas
I got my first tattoo (pics coming once healing is complete) and had a great time with my wife and Laurie and Erick Creach, all of whom added ink to their exterior. Surprise visit by the VanDykes topped off the afternoon, as did valuable discussion of the parlor's choice of artwork in the waiting room. (My personal favorite: Inappropriate Blue Frog)

Saturday 4:00 - Tin Can Bar & Grill
Had a mediocre dinner and great discussion with aforementioned group. They serve beer in cans and a WIDE variety of food (wings, pot roast, chicken fried steak, and probably stir fry if you ask). I'd suggest a more focused menu.

Saturday 6:00 - 30 degrees at Faurot Field
Walked from downtown to the game. It was a blast...and freezing. Drunk guys nearby added to the game's entertainment value. Hearing the "Z-O-U" from 35,000 people on the other half of the stadium still gives me goosebumps every time. Loved it.

Saturday 8:00 - 72 degrees at Home
We wimped out at halftime and finished the game in the comfort of our living room. We weren't alone, as evidenced by the TV shots of the crowd in the second half. Hot chocolate, cookies, and warmth made it a great decision.

Sunday 3:00 - Hollywood Theater Birthday Party

To top off the weekend, Madilyn celebrated her 8th birthday party at the theater. She invited a few other girls, chaperoned by two strapping gents (Blake and me, both newly haircutted). After cake eating and present opening in the party room (yep, they have one - it's awesome), we enjoyed High School Musical 3 on the big screen. Huge props to Hollywood Theater for taking care of screaming girls running amok in their establishment all afternoon. Highly recommended for your next b-day party.


Not to give away the HSM3 plot, but Troy and Gabriella have some minor relational conflict that turns out OK in the end. Insert funny guys and lots of music and dancing, and you get a nice close to the gang's career at East High.
(Note: Yes, I know High School Musical. I have a 2nd grade girl in the house. And of the range of things she could be asking me to participate in, this one is a pretty easy give.)


So there you have it. A full Columbia-themed weekend with family and friends. Good times, good friends, good memories.

The Speeches

All in all, Election Night was pretty uneventful in terms of "who's gonna win" drama. That never seemed to be in doubt.

What I wasn't prepared for were two of the best speeches I've heard in a long time. McCain was incredible, and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering where this John McCain was hiding for the last six months. He's a true patriot in every sense of the word, and I hope he's able to do exactly what he wants to do the rest of his life.

Obama set the course for the near-future, inspiring as he has for so many months, and leading me to become more interested in the process than I had ever been. I'm excited to see what happens over the next 4-8 years.

Palin Live

OK, so I'm probably one of a handful of Missourians who attended both the Obama Rally and Palin Rally in the span of five days.

This rally was similar to last Thursday, though smaller and more sunny. It sill included typical opponent-bashing by the underlings, with a special "I can't believe he said that but I guess it's OK because he's so old" speech by Kit Bond. I've always been a general fan of Sen. Bond, but I could envision a number of Republican higher-ups cringing a few times during today's ramblings.

Then Palin showed up to the usual fanfare, and she announced the next special guest (I guess she wasn't the headliner, after all): Hank Williams, Jr. It was my first Jr. experience, and it was kinda fun.

Hank sang the national anthem (pretty good) and a rewritten McCain/Palin version of Family Tradition (absolutely awful).

Then M.C. Palin got back to the podium and gave her typical speech. Not bad, but similar to everything we've heard so far. I wasn't close enough to know if there was a wink at the end.

The basic message of the day was Palin's governance of Alaska is the trump card for Executive Experience and McCain is the only man in the U.S. who has ever really faught for our country.

Again, it wasn't bad, but it did come off as a "let's rally the base, and do it quickly, as we're about to lose" kind of rally.

It was fun to experience both this close to the election, and I did get a warm fuzzy feeling (start the band here) that we live in a country where people can get very excited about how they feel government should work, and that we all get to cast our vote to see who gets to try it their way for a few years. Overall, I think it's a pretty good system.