News Archive for: Nov 21, 2001 to Nov 28, 2001
Thank God it's Wednesday on a short work week here in the U.S. of A. where we're all thankful that there's a Day of Thanksgiving. Personally I plan to spend the holiday in the traditional fashion, so rather than eating turkey, I'm going to find a Native American (F.K.A. an Indian) to swindle out of some real estate.
No, forget it- I like turkey too much. Last year I didn't get any time off, as I was working in London, England, and had to settle for the sorriest turkey sandwich I'd ever seen (Pret A Manger, I forgive you). This year will be more elaborate, as I visit some friends and maybe even have some stuffing with the white meat and gravy.
Tonight, however, I will drown my sorrows in water and studiously avoid creating the comic that I've been promising for so long. To you, my faithful, uh... however many of you are still left- I'm no longer sure- To you, I apologize and wish it to be known that I'm not dead. I'm just resting my eyes.
God bless, Allah be praised, and don't let Muhammad smack you on the way out.
Alert reader David Holm clears up the confusion I expressed in an earlier news post over George Bush's declaration of Thanksgiving Day as a Day of Thanksgiving. Seems that this is as regular a tradition as the holiday itself. David says:
Ever since George Washington was president, the president has issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring the specific day for that year's National Day of Thanksgiving. The only "duh!" moment here is on your part for attempting to make fun of President Bush for doing what every president before him has done.This is what happens when I get my information from the internet! On the other hand (fickle as it is), the internet has now seen fit to supply me with this information:
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it. There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving. It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.That should clear up everything! Thanks to David Holm for pointing this out in the first place and proving that Grant Morrison was right when he says, "the great thing about the internet is its levelling effect; online all opinions are equally worthless."
Jason Alderman pointed out this comic to me. I like it.
Man, that Google works fast! No sooner do I change my quote than people searching for those very same specific lines from Hamlet can find Zwol! What's really perplexing, though, and offsets the highbrow nature of Shakespeare fans, is that AOL's search puts Zwol in the top 100 when people (who should be ashamed of themselves!) start looking for free sex thumbnails. But I guess that's just AOL's level of accuracy for you.
I tried to get a real comic done, but started getting sleepy so simply posted what you see here today instead. Didn't expect this to prompt discussion in the forum, but it did. Sound off! What do you think? Is it a comic or not?
P.S. New something tomorrow!