Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 04, 2023

And the hamster was very relieved.

The same MacArthur who was Duke’s assistant?

Y’know, I think it’s “snorkel”. Not too common for Trudeau to make a typo.

I thought it called for gerbils, not hamsters!!!

I am in some wise reminded that an early suggestion of a name for what ultimately became “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” was “A Horse, A Spoon, and a Basin”.

I really don’t want to know what the hamster was for …

Does anyone remember what year this set of strips ran in? Tried a quick googling and didn’t find it.

I don’t get the reference.

South Park once had a hamster, but I don’t get the other two references.

What the he11 is that cynic even talking about??

This reminds of a story involving a hamster, cardboard tube and a match!

Oh yeah, same MacArthur that was Duke’s liaison when he was ambassador.

Hamster? Please tell me this is just a reference to that Hamster Dance from 90’s.

“Napkin and wine glass?” Is this a Jewish wedding?

(No kidding. At the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom traditionally breaks a wine glass by stepping on it to symbolize the loss of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. To prevent glass shards from scattering, the glass is usually wrapped in a napkin.)

Sorry, I missed a lot of this decade (in more ways than one!) – are they talking about MacArthur who used to work with Duke?

I’ve been seeing a lot of cars with snorkels on them in various places lately. Particularly in Fiji, of all places. Seems a little wasteful to me. I mean if the car is really needing its snorkel, the driver is underwater.

I mean, you were expecting them to be able to source a hamster-sized snorkel on this short notice?!

.

(They already had a hamster-sized bicycle, but without the snorkel the effect is ruined.)

And may the spirits of Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester be with them

“Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“I think so, Brain, but where are we going to find a snorkle, a hamster, and a bicycle at this hour?”

Loses the Surrealist motif, though. :)

I went on a whitewater raft trip once where half the group was affluent SF gays, my goodness it was a hoot. Their obsession with the niceties or Glamping had the rest of us in stiches, the table cloths and napkins had to match…..

Bicycle?

A customer is a customer.

snorkel