We like our Comment section to be a place not only for serious opinion, but for generous helpings of humor. That’s why we regularly feature the jokes of topical comic Argus Hamilton and the work of syndicated cartoonists John Spencer, Mike Peters and Jim Sizemore.
Now, we’re throwing two more cartoon features into the mix: “Friends of Ernest” and “Offline.”
“Friends of Ernest” is a comic strip authored by Meg Biddle and Al Shugart.
If Shugart’s name sounds familiar, it should. He’s the same guy who helped to invent the disk drive and co-founded Seagate Technology. Currently, among other pursuits, he chairs Irvine-based Shugart Technology Inc., a maker of software for testing data-storage servers.
He’s also a guy who has been ousted from two of his companies, who spent $1.5 million this spring unsuccessfully promoting a state proposition to put “none of the above” on candidate ballots, and who in 1996 tried running his dog, Ernest, for Congress. It’s that same Ernest who is the inspiration for the comic strip.
Shugart credits Biddle, the artist, with having about 80% of the ideas. Biddle, a self-described ’60s flower child, says she runs everything by Shugart. She says their collaboration brings out the best of her political liberalism and of his business sense and political independence.
Biddle notes that she voted for Gore while Shugart voted for Bush. Shugart adds,”We won’t know if Meg and I canceled each other until at least six recounts. I did vote for Bush, but it was a single-issue vote, estate taxes. Otherwise, I would have chosen None of the Above, or multiple dimples.”
Let’s begin “Friends of Ernest” with the latest strip and an introduction to the main characters. Smile!
, Rick Reiff
