The bizarre encounter of Pearls Before Swine and Hi and Lois has blown my mind. I disagree with the Comics Curmudgeon, though, as I would say it's slightly more likely as not that this was planned. Pearls Before Swine often singles out old "classic" strips (too often, I'd say; it tends to lose it's impact with repetition, though I always do respond in a Pavlovian manner regardless), and I could see whoever does Hi and Lois these days reaching a mutually-amicable agreement with Pastis, after running into him at the weekly cartoonist bowling league or something, lest he come up with his own hi-larious (see what I did there?) parody, perhaps casting Lois in an inappropriately sexual light.

The Unshelved Book Club last week featured Sharp Teeth, the first time a text of recent origins was featured which I had already read. Made me feel all hip and ahead-of-the-curve. I recommend it, even if the ending was rather anti-climactic.

Reading of "Luann" musical this Monday in Carlsbad. I thought of attending, until I saw it was way up in Carlsbad. Just don't care enough about the comic, one way or the other, to cancel my plans and make the drive. I would drive into the gaping maw of Hell for "Get Fuzzy" or "Mary Worth" musicals, for different reasons, but "Luann" doesn't really fire up the passions.

Samples from the musical soundtrack CD are available from CD Baby, which suggest the musical is far more epically craptacular than the perfectly serviceable comic strip. Just listen to "Aaron Hill," and picture Michael Hitchcock's character from Waiting for Guffman quietly weeping in the audience: