Top Ten Comic Strips from Sunday May 31st "Washington Post".....We Like Lio Again!

Greetings to our blog readers in Serbia, Argentina and Australia.........

It took us like 3.5 hours to find the images above, so let's get straight to the list...

Well, first, we should add that Cheech and Chong (top)  are in reference to this week's "Lio" comic strip in which the title character kills a weed who is smoking weed, we imagine this might be a reason why the comic strip can not be found in newspapers in South Carolina and West Virginia.

The Danish import "WuMo" has a fat man blowing up dolls who look like him and other tourists at a beach, which is why we chose to go with an image of a potentially Cute Annoying Young Couple wind-surfing in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Lastly, we go with an image of rhinos as an homage to this week's "Mark Trail" even though the strip did not make our top ten:

1) Lio

2) WuMo

3) The Argyle Sweater (featured pizza cops at the scene of the crime!)....

4) Foxtrot

5) Baldo

6) Sherman's Lagoon

7) Speed Bump

8) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

9) Knight Life

10) Frazz

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.denverpost.com/comics

http://www.gocomics.com/lio

http://www.gocomics.com/wumo

http://www.gocomics.com/baldo

The Rabbitt Ears Quiz (3 of 12) How Much for That H.R. Pufnstuf Lunch Box

Witchiepoo, the villain from the Sid and Marty Kroftt cult tv classic "H.R. Pufnstuf," is the image you should be seeing if everything is going according to plan.

The children's tv show made its debut on Sept. 6, 1969, and it lasted until NBC decided to abruptly can the production after 17 episodes in August of 1972. Today, one can presumably watch the show for free on hulu.com; well, hopefully, we haven't misguided anyone.

There are many unqiue things about this show which could easily make this entry as long as a chapter in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."

For starters, the show had the proverbial fairy tale/"Wizard of Oz" plot of good versus evil, and the adventures revolved around a shipwrecked youngster named Jimmy, played by the late Jack Wild (1952-2006). While on the isle, Jack ran into Mayor H.R. Pufnstuf. Tragically enough, both Wild and Lennie Winrid (1935-2006) who was the voice of H.R. Pufnstuf (along with Scrappy Doo and Bigmouth on "The Smurfs") died in the same year.

The show also featured unique supporting characters, including Freddy the Flute, Dr. Blinky (the owl) and Judy the Frog.

Now, for the dirt....yes, the show has been accused of making many drug references to marijuana, and the matter was profiled in a 2003 issue of "Cannibis Culture." Both Sid and Marty Krofft, who created the show, are still alive. Marty has denied any efforts to link his children's show to a Cheech and Chong movie. But, of the many instances that the journal cited were: 1) the fact that H.F. Pufnstuf is a green figure with red hair. 2) the term 'black bart' which is code for marijuana is mentioned in one episode, and 3) Witchipoo's laughing gas. Oh, there are also magic mushrooms (we believe) in one episode.

"H.R. Pufnstuf" is also unique because it was both the defendant in a lawsuit against it (not for pot) and a plantiff in a suit the producers brought forth.

Paul Simon succesfully sued the producers on the grounds that the theme song, which contains lyrics that some find suggestive towards marijuana, was too much like his popular song "59th Street Bridge (Feeling Groovy)."

Conversely, the producers in turn successfully sued McD's because Mayor McCheese looked a bit too much like H.R. Pufnstuf.

But, our question today pertains to the worth of the show's limited edition lunch boxes, which are worth an astonishing amount of money, epsecially if it comes with the thermos!

On e-bay, we noticed that the following dollar amount was going out for the box, is the answer?:

A) $225

B) $275

C) $325

D) $375

SIDEBAR: In case, you were wondering, the answer to last week's Bonus Road Trip between Cincinnati and Boulder, Colo., is B) 19 hours.

We're Back on the Air- I Hope....

For the last three weeks, there have been many-a-snafus with my mom's personal home computer, and I have summoned to Milton, West Virginia*, to help assist her with it for more or less the last three weekends in a row. It looks they might perhaps very well be fixed. But, like the possibility of yesterday's federal government shutdown (which thankfully didn't go through) anything bad can happen even if you are optomistic as Cheech and Chong when they are high!

So, tonight I could sit back and watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" which airs on most PBS stations around the nation at 7:00 p.m., including North Carolina Public Television (unctv.org), Blue Ridge PBS in Roanoke, Va., (blueridgepbs.org) and Oklahoma Public Television, which syndicates the show.

(*-my mom does not actually reside in Milton, West Virginia).

Lawrence Welk (1903-1992) was born in Strasburg, N.Dak., which is not to be confused with Strasburg, Va., a little town some 75 miles south of Washington, DC, that we mention a lot on this blog.

While researching this entry, we found that American honky tonk singer Danni Leigh, who is my age (we're both a year older than Scooby Doo), resides in Strasburg, Va. On April 22 and 23, Leigh returns to her home state to perform at The Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Tex.

Wikipedia described Welk, whose originally ran from 1955 to 1982, as 'a musician, accordionist, bandleader and tv impresario.'

It should also be pointed out that all the people who watch Lawrence Welk's show tonight in places like Mount Airy, NC, can stay tuned to the British comedy series "As Time Goes By" afterwards. We can't imagine that the college students in Chapel Hill will be watching either of these shows, but then again I listen to Mozart and Metallica!

Things We Learned on Twitter Tonight- Pot Arrests in Colorado

According to the Twitter site DenverNews (from an article originally published in "The Denver Post") six men and a woman were busted in Fountain, Colo., on felony marijuana charges today.

Police arrested the suspects, ages 18-23, after finding more than $150,000 worth of marijuana in a motor-home.

The suspects told the fuzz (Fountain Police Dept.) that trying to refine the pot into hash at the time of their arrest.

As for Cheech and Chong, the American poster-boys for cannabis, the '70s comedy duo are going to be performing in Tulsa, Houston and San Antonio next week.

SIDEBAR: Speaking of another highly addictive substance (coffee), Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks will be speaking at Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., on Monday at 7:00 at dupont Chapel.

PSA- Just Say No

We thought we'd reprise the 1980s "Just Say No" campaign implemented by former First Lady Nancy Reagan with an image of her. But, even though we hold her in higher regard than her husband, we thought it would be funnier to use an image of Cheech and Chong who were marijuana culture icons in the late '70s.

Though none of us smoke pot here at The Daily Vampire headquarters in Bethesda, Md., (ok, we actually live about six hours from suburban Maryland), we are intrigued to learn that they are actually on tour.

In fact, you can see them perform together at The Mirage in Las Vegas on the weekend of May 21 and May 22. Alas, I think I have a Tea Party rally to sabotage in Martinsburg, W.Va., that weekend.