Frazz by Jef Mallett for September 20, 2012

Well, it DOES waste trees, besides…very very very old trees….OK, not trees as we think of them now…but their tiny predecessors….squished into oil a long time ago….and in a very limited amount.

Canoe. Tyler. Too.

Can someone explain that pun to a poor foreigner pummelling her brain in vain?

Ew, coffee in a foam cup just tastes horrible.

Paper towels are made of wood.

Not only does the spill require paper towels to clean up, her desk has a stack of student papers on it; the bottom ones will get wet/ruined when the coffee spill reaches them.

Not sure why people are bringing up Tippycanoe, because it has nothing to do with today’s strip. And you’re confusing people further down trying to make a connection where there is none. It’s already been explained, and I seriously can’t see why you would jump to the conclusion that this has to do with something 130 years old, when it’s it’s so mindnumbingly obvious the wood is in the paper towel.

A) She can put a lid on her drink to prevent spills.B) You can use an absorbent rag (e.g. ShamWow) to clean it up if you don’t want to use paper towels.

I think Varnes is taking off from “tippy”.Trees are also lost to wells in forest areas.

Maybe she needs a Tommy Tippy cup!

@RussHeim: I got it, thanks. And Grooaan! That’s a terrible pun.

Nothing ruins a joke (even a bad pun) like having to explain it. Okay, first off all, it’s Tippecanoe, and no, it has nothing to do with today’s strip. But “tippy” is not a commonly used word, and to some minds (mine and varnes, at minimum) the pun just suggests itself. The Tippecanoe reference is solely for the enjoyment(?) of the pun itself. (There is a kid’s festival here called “Whirligig”; while describing it to a friend I, for some reason spoonerized it and called it “Girly Wig”. She immediately replied, “Oh, a merkin”. I loved that she came up with the pun, she loved that I got it (and no, I’m not going to define it for you if you don’t know it. Oh wait, is that me gloating about being smarter than someone else? No, but I’m sure someone is capable of reading it the way.)