There are no asterisks in spring

But you kind of expect that level of ignorance from somebody who lives somewhere that there is no Major League Baseball.

You get an asterisk after the end of the season when there's something noteworthy about a new record like a longer season or a postitive test for steroids or something like that.

Speaking of record-breaking baseball performances, true trivia: Mark McGwire's dad used to be my dentist.

Be a glutton for punishment: Read the strip

Joe's hair has grown out

...but his eyes remain closed. Having spent about fifteen minutes at Joe Biden's photo gallery trying to find a picture I could use in yesterday's post, I can appreciate how hard it is to find a picture of the guy were he isn't either facing away from the camera, out of focus, badly lit, or any combination of the above.

As for the "joke," yes, I know about the time delays and all that, but everyone else has managed to get their Ana Nicole and Brittney jokes in on time (and funnier) I suppose we should just be thankful that these came in 2007 and not 2027.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Times has dropped Marmaduke to return La Cucaracha to the comics pages. Franklin Avenue is pushing for a return of Candorville, and while I agree that it's a good strip, I fear that the Faustian bargain that would allow it to reappear on the comics pages might also result in Get Fuzzy being dropped for the return of Mallard Fillmore.

Be a glutton for punishment: Read the strip

It's name recognition week

And to prove his point that nobody knows who Joe Biden is, Bruce Tinsley draws a generic white guy (with his eyes closed, of course) to illustrate his strip.

Come on, Bruce, we've got a guy who creates material for satirists. That's storybook, man.

Be a glutton for punishment: Read the strip

1 down, 400 to go

Today, as part of Tribune Company mandatory cost reductions, the L.A. Times had a ritualitistic blood letting on the comics pages resulting in the dropping of several comic strips, including Mallard Fillmore (as a matter of balance Candorville, which is sometimes funny also disappeared along with La Cucaracha, which was rarely funny and had an eye-melting visual style which I won't miss). Doonesbury and Prickly City remain, as does, inexplicably, Rex Morgan M.D.

As for today's strip, name recognition of Clinton? Of course people remember Clinton. The republicans have been trying to blame everything that's gone wrong for the last six years on him. Curse him for abandoning the search for Osama bin Laden to embroil us in an endless quagmire in Iraq.

Be a glutton for punishment: Read the strip

Postings to resume shortly

It's nice to know you guys miss me. I should be back tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest.