2002-12-28 | 3:21 p.m.

for the local art show, corduroy licorice drew a blank. he specialized in illustrating ammunition.

***

my dad is a news junkie, so this holiday visit unfolded with cnn as a constant background soundtrack.

as a result, my dad and i traded a few snl "weekend update" type quips during the various headline reports. he started it with this one (i'm not sure if it was an original or secondhand):

"did you hear that there's a side effect to the smallpox vaccine? voting democrat."

then it was my turn with trent lott:

"this scandal is going to be a black mark on his record."

and my dad's comeback to colin powell's statement that iraq was in a "material breach":

"now madonna's going to have to rerecord her song."

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