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Like the Summer Olympics, the soccer World Cup and the presidential election, Friday's date - Feb. 29 - occurs just once every four years. And for at least one unsuspecting guy living in New York City, it's going to be a helluva day to remember. His girlfriend - let's call her Miss X - is taking advantage of an ancient leap year custom by bucking tradition and asking him to marry her.

ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau (Feb. 1) - He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate in front of him containing an ancient recipe. Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the steaming fish to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl. "I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her." In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue...

ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau (AP) -- He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate in front of him containing an ancient recipe. Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the steaming fish to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl. "I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her." In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue water...

Bruce Tinsley, creator of the conservative comic strip Mallard Fillmore, remembers feeling stunned when the fan letter showed up in February 1998. After all, his strip— featuring a right-leaning TV newsman or, more accurately, newsduck—was still in its relative infancy. Yet here was George Herbert Walker Bush declaring that he and Barbara turned to Mallard, “sage duck that he is,” first thing every morning. Even more gratifying, the former president thanked Tinsley for taking on “that horrible Doonesbury” and its creator, liberal icon Garry Trudeau, “a guy that tore me up in a vicious, personal way strip after strip.” By...

For some reason, the recent discussion of John Kerry's war record reminded me of this ditty from the musical L'il Abner (I particularly like the part about: "Jubilation T. Cornpone, the pants blown off his seat!"): JUBILATION T. CORNPONE Lil' Abner : The Musical (1956) (Gene De Paul / Johnny Mercer) Stubby Kaye - 1956 When we fought the Yankees and annihilation was near, Who was there to lead the charge that took us safe to the rear? Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone; Old "Toot your own horn - pone." Jubilation T. Cornpone, a man who knew no fear!...

In the 1960s, his target was often student protest against the Vietnam War: in the strip, college youths were all members of S.W.I.N.E., “Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything.” Touring college campuses as a speaker, Capp seemingly delighted at the outrage he provoked among the students in his audience. But he was roundly criticized by his traditional constituency of liberals for the unyielding rigor of his attacks on the New Left. It was assumed that Capp had defected and gone over to the Right.  But Capp’s objective as a satirist remained constant:  the fanaticism of the New Left was no...

I When I endeavor to look back into the past, a vision, a dim vision, obstructed by dark clouds comes back to me. I am in a garden, a beautiful garden where there are sweet-smelling roses and grape arbors with their luscious fruit hanging temptingly. There are apple trees in the garden, apple trees overladen with myriads of red fruit, and the grass is green. There is Happiness in that garden. For ten happy years I dwelt in this garden, unconcious of the evils outside its gates, kept busy with study and recreation. I had companions in this garden, other...

Have you ever heard of the Shmoo? You can be forgiven your ignorance on this subject since the Shmoo made its brief appearance in the newspaper comics pages over fifty years ago. The Shmoo was the creation of cartoonist Al Capp in his popular Li'l Abner strip. With much fanfare Capp introduced the Shmoo in August 1948 and for the rest of the year the world went Shmoo crazy. This creature inspired hundreds of Shmoo clubs all over North America as well as the "Society for the Advancement of the Shmoo." There were dozens of Shmoo products including Shmoo...