
What does any of this have to do with Hanukkah?

What does any of this have to do with Hanukkah?







This is obviously a reference to the recent jewel theft at the Louvre, but in fact the Mona Lisa was the subject of a famous theft. From Wikipedia:
“The painting’s global fame and popularity partly stem from its 1911 theft by Vincenzo Peruggia, who attributed his actions to Italian patriotism—a belief it should belong to Italy. The theft and subsequent recovery in 1914 generated unprecedented publicity for an art theft, and led to the publication of many cultural depictions such as the 1915 opera Mona Lisa, two early 1930s films (The Theft of the Mona Lisa and Arsène Lupin), and the song “Mona Lisa” recorded by Nat King Cole—one of the most successful songs of the 1950s.”
I was lucky enough to visit the Louvre about 10 years ago with a friend from high school who was a professor of art at a midwestern university. On the way in, I asked him if we should get the audio tour. His response was something along the lines of “We don’t need no stinkin’ audio tour”. As we proceeded through the galleries I got educated painting by painting by my friend. There are, of course, many, many masterpieces in the Louvre. The only gallery that was really crowded – overcrowded, really – on that rainy January day was the gallery housing the Mona Lisa. We ducked in and out just to say we’d seen it.

Boise Ed sends this in: “I get how breaking up can make one feel insignificant, but why are they still sitting together five minutes later, and why is she still making small talk?”





Nice to see a comic with heart.

… and some non-CIDUs


The joke is clear, if hackneyed by now, but what would the kids tip? A 20% trick?
This execution of the same joke is a bit clearer, since it’s the kid asking for money.

Not so much a CIDU as “way too much work”. Post individual clue solutions in the comments. FYI, complete solution is here.


This one tripped me up, because I assumed a Pumpkin Spice Latte only had the spices used in pumpkin pie. This used to be true: introduced in 2003, Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte contained only the spices, and no pumpkin. That made sense. Who thinks steak sauce has steak in it? or shrimp sauce has shrimp in it? Or awlspice has an awl in it? But, in response to complaints, in 2015 they reformulated to add some pumpkin puree. That was really unnecessary, because a bit of pumpkin puree adds little taste. But this does mean Blazek’s joke actually works.
Not a CIDU, but definitely an Ewww.

Not a CIDU, either, but cute.

And one last nod to Peanuts:



And, finally, an OY

There’s this synchronicity, sent in by Nebulous:



Mitch4 sends these two in:



It’s in my building’s dumpster now, but once this meant the world to someone.


Dirk the Daring sends in this LOL (and Geezer alert):





Bob Kinney writes, “No clue what this all means”:

It does seem a bit…thin.
Boise Ed sends this in.

Flagging the third one as a comic fan’s OY, but need to do two earlier ones in the series as a setup:




Mitch4 sends this in:

And while we’re on the subject of Freud, Mitch4 also sends this:

Freud’s unconscious cravings had more to do with sex, if I recall correctly, but there are other unconscious cravings.
JMcAndrew sends this in: “Why does he have the giant poster of a fly to begin with? Is he going to start eating anything vaguely associated with fruit? This isn’t a comic I normally read.”

JMcAndrew sends a set of related cartoons:






The last two are obviously just different versions of the same joke from the same cartoonist, even if they’re 14 1/2 years apart. I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or not.
These all remind me of an axiom I was taught long ago as a relationship test: Have lunch at your prospective partner’s house and ask for mayonnaise. If they present Miracle Whip–especially if they aren’t even apologetic about it–RUN.
Miracle Whip is to mayonnaise as carob is to chocolate. As someone else once wrote, “Carob is not an acceptable substitute for chocolate. It is not an acceptable substitute for anything except, perhaps, brown shoe polish.”