Cartoon Saturday

It's been an awful week ...

An individual massacred nearly 30 people, including 20 children between the ages of five and ten, at an elementary school in Connecticut*; international basket case North Korea took a major step toward resolving the malnourishment of its population by launching a satellite into orbit; in Oregon, an individual shot and killed two people and seriously wounded a third during a murderous rampage in a shopping mall**; 22 children were injured, some seriously, in a Chinese primary school by a man wielding a knife***; and US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice withdrew herself from consideration for the position of Secretary of State because of intense Republican opposition to the possibility of her nomination.

I think that the Christmas spirit for this year will probably need to come from a bottle. Let's get to the cartoons right away ... if there was ever a week we needed them, this is it.

There's been a great deal of debate here in Northern Virginia about what sort of winter we can expect, and the opinions of the meteorological prognosticators are mixed ... some predict a bad winter of cold temperatures and heavy snow, while others predict a more mild winter with little snow. Who knows? But for those wanting snow (yes, Marilyn, I'm talking to you), how about a collection of cartoons about snowmen? Here we go ...

This cartoon was provided by my nephew Ed ...

I've heard the same thing, but I think he may be approaching it the wrong way ...

Gives a whole new twist to the term frigid, doesn't it? ...

Even snowmen can suffer from the occasional social faux pas ...

Some people just won't be missed ...

I thought this one was pretty clever ...

CSI: North Pole? ...

Frosty goes to the optometrist ...

This one provides a clever twist on the snowman stereotype ...

And finally for today, it's very important to select the right gift for the right person ...

And that's it for today's edition of Cartoon Saturday. Later this morning Agnes and I will put on our body armor and head to the mall to finish our Christmas shopping for the grandchildren, and I plan to make my molasses-brushed, sausage-stuffed acorn squash for supper. Just another pre-holiday weekend in the realm of Bilbo.

And speaking of the realm of Bilbo, Peter Jackson's first film of his trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit opened yesterday. Most of the reviews have been pretty yucky, but what do reviewers know? I'll be putting on my body armor and heading to the theater as soon as the crowds die down. We Bilbos have to stick together, after all.

Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* I will refrain from saying anything about the need for a serious discussion of gun control, because there is no chance in hell of having a serious discussion of gun control.

** See above.

*** This story will no doubt be cited as evidence proving that people can kill other people without using guns. Where I come from, this is called stupid.