Greetings from the Cosmos!

What better way to wish someone a Happy Birthday or a Thank You than with a greeting from that galaxy-sailing herald of the world devourer Galactus, The Silver Surfer ??

You can do so here.

Happy Birthday! (2/16/05)

In this man's career he was seen in over 80 films (though in mostly uncredited roles) and may be best known as Dr. Jud Bellamin in The Mole People . Ah, who am I kidding, he'll always be known only as Ward Cleaver.

So here's a Happy Birthday to the ultimate father...
HUGH BEAUMONT!!!

Daddy Cleaver would have been 96 today.

He can't possibly be enjoying this.

Tonight during a commercial break on The Simpsons was an ad for an upcoming Boat Show. Along with the usual rubbish they have at these shows, new models, new equipment, etc... was a film clip for a special guest, Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel.

Now I can see them booking some novel acts for these big sale shows, but come on, what's the deal with a water skiing squirrel? Did some marketing genius sit around one day and think "Yeah, I bet squirrels would love to water ski! Let's grab one of these nut gathering rodents, strap him on a pair of tiny skis and drag him around on a lake behind a speed boat. Squirrels were made for the water!"

What's next, Floppy the Parasailing Frog? Stewie the Sky Diving Skunk? Otto the Orgasming Octopus? (no wait a minute... I think that last one is a title of a movie. )


Sorry 'bout that.

Well, how do you expect her to battle evil like that?

Gotta love those old DC covers.

Away go the pounds - Part 1

Among the goals I set for myself in '05, one is to lose a lot of the weight I've put on in the last year.
Due mostly to the long hours I was putting in at work (which dominoed to not working out and eating late) I ballooned from under 220lb. to *gulp* over 260lb.!!

Now no stupid diet (eating no carbs or eating all carbs or eating no fiber or eating all fiber glass or etc...)
is gonna do it. You got to excercise!! You can't (and shouldn't) avoid it.

So I started on Monday, January 3rd, and have worked out every day. (with the exception of the three days I had the flu). On Jan. 3rd I weighed in at 258lb. As of last night I'm at 243lb (and have even had to add an extra hole to the belt- which is always good).

Of course since it's the winter months, most of my workouts have been at the gym. Gold's Gym to be exact. Luckily it's not too packed and the weights, bikes and treadmills are pretty plentiful. Here's what I can't get though...

... there are 6 to 8 handicap parking spots right at the front of the building. I have no problem with that, though I don't expect to see too many wheelchair weightlifters at Gold's.
-But- every day that I go there, the parking spots are full - of non-handicap tagged cars. Now, of all the places in the world, why the hell would people working out at Gold's, park in at the close, handicap spots. Why? They can't walk an extra 5-6 feet to get to the gym where they'll be working out at anyway???!!!!

Reason #235 of why people are idiots.

Happy Birthday! (2/15/05)

He could have gone through life known as the Life In Hell cartoonist and done quite well, but instead he created an odd over-bite laden family of five, for shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show
and the rest they say....is history.


A yellow hued Happy Birthday to .....
MATT GROENING!

The father of Fry, Homer, Leela, Bart, Bender, Apu, etc... is 51 today.

A Happy Valentine's Day to all!!

And what's more appropriate on this day, to express one's love for another, then with a greeting from a hot-headed, adamantium welding clawed mutant!!!

*snikt* *snikt*

The Big Book of British Smiles

Instead of eating lunch today I had to drive over to my Dentist and have my semi-annual teeth cleaning.
All-in-all the experience isn't too bad. Somehow I've been able to avoid any problems with my teeth (and gums) so the twice a year cleaning is a small price to pay from avoiding a "painful" visit.

The only discomfort I have at these cleaning visits, is... the chair. No, It's not that the chair I sit in while having my teeth scraped, flossed and polished, itself is the problem, it's what it faces.

Smack-dab in the wall I face are plastered with picture after picture of horrible teeth!!!! Actual photos of rotted, gapped, infested, green hued teeth!!!! I'm actually glad that I missed lunch today, or it may have ended up spewed on this wall of rotted enamel!!

Happy Birthday! (2/14/05)

He was one of the most famous, most beloved American entertainer of the 20th Century.
Majorly successful in radio, popular in the movies and eventually star on television he was not only a favorite of the public but with his fellow entertainers.

Strum up the violin, Happy Birthday .....
JACK BENNY!

Jack would have been 111 today.

My favorite drawing of Charlie Brown

I love this picture of "Good ol' Charlie Brown". It's on the side of the slipcase for Volumes 1&2 of The Complete Peanuts
(well worth the money, BTW. Volume 3 comes out this spring.) After a fairly quiet weekend it just seemed like a good thing to post.

I've been struggling with an art style that I'll be using for Action Figure; The Life and Times of Richard Marzalak.

It'll be the artwork that I'll be using for the framing sequence. Not to get "too technical", but it's a non-paneled, pen & ink cross hatch style. No brushes or mechanical pens.

Hmmmm, I guess I did get a little technical.

Well, it's still not too late, I guess I could give it another shot.

I'll be posting artwork for issue #1 later in the week.

Happy Birthday! (2/13/05)

He was one fourth of the infamous TV quartet. He wasn't the cute one (Davy), the funny one (Micky) or the serious one (Mike). Nope, he was the ... well, ... for want of a better title, the Dopey Monkee of the Monkees. To me though, he'll always be the singer of "Your Auntie Grizelda".

Here's a "Head" of a Happy Birthday to.....
PETER TORK!

Let's hope he'll have a "Pleasant Valley Sunday" while celebrating his 63rd. year.

Why Playboy Magazine is like a Soap Opera.

There's a saying, (somewhere) that if you turn on a Soap Opera which you haven't watched for months, you'll have no problem following the story. Change doesn't occur often on the daytime Soaps.

Well, today in the mail, I received the March issue of Playboy. I had an offer for a years' worth subscription to Playboy for a $1 an issue and decided, what the hell. It had been at least 6 to 7 years since I had a subscription, let alone had picked up an issue, and I could always add another magazine to my monthly read.

After paging through today's issue while eating a bowl of Count Chocula for breakfast, I felt as if I had traveled back in time. This magazine has not changed One bit.
NOT ONE BIT.

Yes, of course there are the usual pictures of gorgeous women in various stages of dress (and undress) but I'm talking about the entire publication itself.

The layout of the magazine, the series of three pictorials (including the centerfold) the placement of the articles, the B&W Grapevine pictures and Potpourri merchandise in the back.

The reviews (movies, music, etc...) the Forum, the Playboy Advisor all where they've always been. The Interview has the same layout and obligatory three photos.
Even the cartoons (which fortunately are still funny) are using the same cartoonists!

Now don't get me wrong, Playboy is still.....well, Playboy, which is a good thing. This issue, for me as a Howard Stern Show listener, was especially interesting, since Jillian Grace (Miss March) was discovered after appearing on his show. (and I was "curious" to see how she turned out) But geez, even the poses in her pictorial are the same old-same old (bent over here-bent over there, dripping wet, etc....)

You would think that in this day in age with "soft core" magazines like FHM and Stuff and with the endless competition on the internet that the veteran, the grand daddy of them all would have made some adjustments, some differences in layouts, wouldn't they?

Well, in conclusion, as an artist and designer, I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of growth this magazine has developed. As a heterosexual man though........................
it's still alright. :)

Happy Birthday! (2/12/05)

He was one of the first mediocre pro athlete to make celebrity status, playing up his ineptness on the field, while color commentating Baseball games or sitting on the panel in a Game Show. But I'll always remember him as the substitute for Johnny Carson the night John Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared on the Tonight Show*.

A big "passed ball" Birthday shout to .....
JOE GARAGIOLA!

This former Pirate catcher is 79 today.


*- and yes, he actually was a guest host on the Tonight Show during the 1970's --- weird.

More "LOST" DVD info

While searching through the net over lunch today, I came across some more info on the upcoming DVD release of LOST Season One .

(thanks to Michael Ausiello from "Ask Ausiello" - TV Guide): The LOST Season 1 DVD is coming out in early September, and I predict it'll be the biggest TV DVD of the year. Lost cocreator Damon Lindelof tells me that they have an "amazing amount" of extras planned, including "awesome commentaries," deleted scenes between Locke and Hurley, Sawyer and Charlie and Locke and young Walt; footage of the Boeing 747 being cut up in the Mojave Desert and transported via barge to Hawaii; and a look at what went into making the original polar bear sequence. But here's the best part: Lindelof says he and J.J. Abrams are considering making an original mini-movie that "answers one of the questions we've been asked very frequently about the show but have made no attempt to answer so far. It has something to do with why the plane may have crashed." Like me, the exec thinks "the DVD is gonna sell really well with or without [the bonus material], but I wanna be sure the fans are rewarded for their $39.95 or whatever Disney is charging them for a show they've already seen." Only $39.95?!?!?! I'll take two!

We know there's been significant footage shot for the DVDs, including footage shot before the cameras began rolling on the pilot. Hopefully Buena Vista will put together a killer SEVEN disc set for the series, since six discs just won't cut it in our minds. They have the opportunity to put together a killer DVD set for one of the hottest shows this season.

Sounds good to me :)

Saw the film In Good Company a few weeks ago.

This one slipped past me a bit. I saw In Good Company just as I was coming down with the flu last month, so neglected to post this.

Synopsis: Dan Foreman is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Carter Duryea, is half his age--a business school prodigy who preaches corporate synergy. While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Carter cross-promotes the magazine with the cell phone division and Krispity Krunch, an indeterminate snack food under the same corporate umbrella. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters, Alex, age 18, and Jana, age 16, and is shocked when his wife tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Carter, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Carter's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Carter falls for, and begins an affair with, Dan's daughter Alex.

This is a film, that with a lesser capable cast, could easily fallen into a poor, predictable movie. Dennis Quaid (Dan Foreman) does a great job as the haggard middle-aged salesman while Topher Grace (Carter Duryea) once again shows that he's the That 70's Show actor who should be working in the movies. Scarlet Johansson brings her same skills that she did in films like Ghost World and Lost In Translation with the part as Dan's college headed daughter.

In Good Company also brings to light the growing problem we have with large companies gobbling up others, thus making many jobs redundant, and losing the personal touch. It's a too real situation that the film conveys very well.

The only problem that I had with In Good Company was when the Rupert Murdoch-esque character, Teddy K (played by Malcolm McDowell) shows up to give the "troops" a pep talk. While speaking and spewing out a lot of double talk a confrontation occurs that is a bit hard to swallow (in reality I believe that the character in question would have been sacked), but it's a small complaint and overall didn't hurt my enjoyment of the film.

I was especially satisfied with the resolution of the film. It could have gone off into a sickeningly sweet conclusion, but it doesn't - and that was the correct choice.

For a Jan/Feb film, the time of the year we usually get dumped on with some poor, poor films, In Good Company is a little gem that's worth getting out of the cold and into the theatre.

I give this film a "merger":

Happy Birthday! (2/11/05)

For most, her claim to fame is that of being the sister of the more famous Zsa Zsa and the less famous Magda, for others she was known as the "long time companion" of Merv Griffin, but to me she'll always be Lisa Douglas, wife of Oli-vah, on the great, Green Acres!

Let's make up a batch of Happy Birthday Hotcakes to .....
EVA GABOR!

The "good Gabor" would have been 84 today.

Daniel Clowes helps the ride home.

Whenever I go on trips, knowing that I'll be in a plane for 1+ hours I usually bring some books that sit on my "To Read" pile, next to the bed. Paperback collections that I've been meaning to read. So, on my flight back last night I caught up with Twentieth Century Eightball by Daniel Clowes.

I've been a fan of Clowes since his old Lloyd Llewellyn days. Twentieth Century Eightball is a collection of 1-3 page stories that really didn't fit in any of his past paperback collections. For the most part it's an enjoyable read.

Some highlights are "Art School Confidential" a nice breakdown of what you can expect if you attend an art school. It often hits too close to the truth.
"The Stroll" is a neat piece of storytelling with each panel of the authors' walk through the city from his point of view.
"Marooned on a desert island with the people on the Subway" has the author imagining what would happen if he were marooned on an island with just the people in his subway car. By just what they look like he breaks down how they would survive.
"Playful Obsession" is warped look at Clowes version of an old Harvey Comic.

My only real complaint with Twentieth Century Eightball is really through no fault of Clowes work, but since so much of his short pieces are really just angry tirades of his lot in life, when compiled here in a collection it can be a tad redundent.
They were great when spread out over 20 some issues of his comic, Eightball but when read one after the other in this book, you need to take a breath.

Twentieth Century Eightball is still a nice addition to your TPB collections, especially alongside other Clowes works like Ghost World and Caricature. If you'd like a copy, you can order it here at Amazon.

I do have to add this panel here though. I think that this is one of the funniest panels EVER in a comic book! It's hilarious on so many different levels!

Ya Wanna look like The Thing?

Some more toys/products are showing up, to tie-in with the Fantastic Four movie this summer (which as been pushed from a July 4th opening to a July 8th opening. Yeah, great move guys, does that show that they're afraid of opening up against War of the Worlds or are they afraid of their own film?)

So let's see, I can wear my Thing feet (picture of the feet can be seen elsewhere on this blog) along with my Thing mask and my Thing chest. Yeah, I'll look good standing in line for the film.

Or- if I'm not in a Thing-mood that day....



I can wear my Human Torch mask and Human Torch hands! (I wonder if that comes with a bottle of gasoline and a match?)
FLAME ON!!

Got back from Chicago last night.

And returned from my one day visit to our parent headquarters at Tootsie Roll Industries.

Most the day was spent meeting department heads of the various candy groups, putting faces to names (and e-mails). We're preparing to get work from the Tootsie, Charms, Blo Pops, Sugar Babies, Dots, etc... groups. Let the onslaught of projects begin!

Perhaps the highlight of the day came when we toured the plant. Housed in a building that dates back before WW2 and, size-wise, is as large as the Sears Tower, if you laid the Sears Tower on the ground. 'Course if you could actually lay the Sears Tower on the ground....

Anyhow we walked most the length of the plant taking in the chocolate and candy aromas and getting extreme close-up looks of how they make Dots, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops and more. Also got to see a lot of the unique robots they've created especially for their products (which is a reason why I couldn't bring in a camera to take some up close shots.)

-BUT- I was able to "create" a image of the most impressive sight we saw. During the process of making Tootsie Rolls, it comes out as 3 foot long logs weighing in at between 8 - 10 pounds! We were told that they at one time tried making a limited edition of a 3 ft. Tootsie Roll log. I'm not sure why the idea was squashed, whether it was the cost, a freshness issue or shipping problem.

Personally, I'm thinking that it could have been a nasty weapon. "Man knocked unconscious by Tootsie Roll" would have been an embarrassing headline.

Happy Birthday! (2/10/05)

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright..."

A "howling" Happy Birthday to the original tragic monster, the one and only Wolfman.....
LON CHANEY JR.!

The son of the "man with a thousand faces" would have been 100 today!

Toot-toot TOOTSIE, goodbye.

Well, I'm off. Leaving today for the main offices in Chicago of our parent company, Tootsie Roll Industries. For a crammed one-day meeting with all the high-ups to go over future products and stuff. And since we're heading to the main office, I'll have to be dressed --- corporately.

*shudder*

Why don't hot women have a sense of humor?

Or perhaps more to the point, why don't good looking women in health clubs have a sense of humor?

I go to the gym (Gold's Gym) about 5 days a week. Besides lifting weights I'll usually do about 30-45 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bike. (And no, I'm not telling you this to make you feel pathetically lazy, I just decided as of Jan 1 this year, to get my sorry ass body into shape. So far I've gone from 258lb to 246. Got a long ways to go though...)

Where was I?
Oh yeah... what really helps (me at least) on the treadmill and bike is that they have a row of 8 TV sets suspended from the ceiling in front of all the bikes, treadmills, etc... All you need is a pair of headphones and to tune in your radio on an FM number that corroisponds to the TV. This REALLY helps me in my workout.

Luckily the local FOX station has a good lineup during the time that I go to the gym. In a two hour block they run The Simpsons, Malcom in the Middle, The Simpsons again and ending with Seinfeld. When I get to the machines I usually have to tune one of the sets to the FOX station, since there are a couple sets that are running the same channel, after asking if anyone is watching the set, I'll tune one to my shows.

The other night I was doing a good 45 minute run. Of the eight sets, two had ESPN, one had ABC, one had CBS, one had NBC, two had CNN and one had The Simpsons (the one I had tuned in). A particularly hot looking women came over with the remote, and without asking anyone, began changing the channel of a set.

Did she choose one of the two ESPN sets? Nope.
Did she choose one of the two CNN sets? Nope.

She bee-lined right to the the set with "The funny cartoon" and began changing the channel to (and I'm not making this up- Lifetime!) I of course, let her know"Hey! I'm watching that!!!!" She looked surprised and said "Sorry, I didn't realize that anyone was watching that." and went over to one of the CNN sets to tune into the latest "woman being abused" flick on Lifetime.

So should I leap to any conclusions here?

Yeah. Hot women at gyms can't understand why anyone would bother watching any animated humor shows, since they don't have a sense of humor. And why don't they have a sense of humor? 'Cause they don't need to -- they're hot women!!!

God, I'm so open minded!!

Happy Birthday! (2/8/05)

There were the LP's "Mind over Matter", or "New Teeth" and even "Child of the Fifties".
He was one of the first Saturday Night Live hosts (the episode with the radioactive lobsters) He's appeared in movies as well, The Owl and the Pussycat, Hooper and Next Stop Wonderland, to name a few. But beyond all that, he was simply one of the funniest stand-up comedians---ever!

A big National Anthem Happy Birthday to .....
ROBERT KLEIN!

The man who could impersonate Isaac Newton is 63 today.

Catching' up with Lost.

I figured it out the other day, that of all the Network weekly TV shows, there are only 12 that I watch each week and for the most part if I miss an episode of ten of those shows I know that I can always catch it on a rerun. But for two of them, 24 and Lost, I know that if I miss a week's episode I could fall behind, because of the intricate nature of the story lines.

Throwing a monkey wrench in that, Wednesday night's is my volleyball night, so in order to watch Lost I'm at the mercy of my VCR. (yes that's right, I don't own TIVO)

Through the fall I was doing OK, taping on Wednesday and watching it on Thursday. Until the 10th episode ("Raised by Another") I either missed taping it, or taped over it by accident. Either way I didn't see it. So for the last few months I've still continued taping the show but had to keep away from any news (newspaper, magazine and internet) of the show until ABC deemed to rerun it. This Wednesday, they did.

So, this past weekend was a "Lost weekend" for me. (sorry about the pun, unless of course you've never heard about Ray Milland's Oscar winning performance in the alcoholic tragic film, Lost Weekend)

I sat through the last five episodes. Since it's been awhile that I've watched Lost, it was fun getting caught up in the story again. Unlike some complaints that I've read online, I really like the long, leisurely pace they're taking in revealing the secrets of the island.

The monster? The secret behind Danielle Rousseau and her group? The real reason why these certain people have survived? I can wait. Hey, with a lot of the crap the networks have been flinging at the viewing public over the years, I can appreciate a show that takes their time, allowing the story to unfold. The only danger I can see with this though, the longer they take, the more disappointed some viewers will be with the big reveal.

In a recent TV Guide article cocreator J.J. Abrams was quoted "Someone will definitely die by the end of the season." (of the 14 main characters)

So with about 9 more episodes to go, who'll it be?
Well, of the 14 main characters, my guess at who it won't be are Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Locke and Charlie. These six seem to be the most popular and central. Hurley's the comic relief, so he's safe and Claire with her (devil?) baby seem secure, so that leaves us six more.

I think Sun and Jin are safe. Having the non english speaking characters (well, with Sun for the most part) give a nice twist. Walt as the only child, and with (perhaps) some latent powers, will stay. Along with Walt then, I believe that his dad Michael's a sure bet to stick, so that narrows it down to these two.
Boone and Shannon.

Revealing that these siblings had a sexual relationship was daring (though having them as only step-siblings I thought was gutless) and having Boone now becoming Locke's sidekick has given his character some depth, so the character who I believe will die is..........

Boone! Sure, Shannon seems like the "logical" character to go, her knowledge of french and a starting(?) relationship with Sayid notwithstanding, but my gut tells me that Boone will be the one to die.

If I'm right, you heard it here first, if I'm wrong.......nevermind.

Finally, I just read some good news about Lost's upcoming DVD release. Looks to be this this September.

Saw the film Hotel Rwanda yesterday.

Yes, yesterday was the Super Bowl, America's "unofficial holiday", but it was possible to do other things beside watching 50 hours of pre-game crap, so I went to the movies and saw Hotel Rwanda.

The synopsis: Ten years ago, some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda; and in an era of high-speed communication and round-the-clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, almost 1 million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.

Hotel Rwanda is a riveting film. It put me in the mind of films like The Killing Fields or Schindlers List. True stories that follow a single man as he fights against odds to not only survive himself, but to also help others somehow make it through these unimaginable atrocities.

Don Cheadle (rightfully Oscar nominated) plays hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina who finds himself caught in the middle of the fight between the Tutsis rebels and Hutu militia. When the president is murdered after a UN peace treaty was signed all hell breaks out. As respected manager of the hotel that's housing the UN, Paul winds up taking in thousands of the Tutsis refugees despite the danger this brings to himself and his family.

As you watch this film you're anger about what occurred is torn between the two warring factions that care nothing for human life and the western world that ignored what was going on in Rwanda to the point that the UN pulled all non Africans out of the country, leaving the natives to fend (and die) for themselves.

Along with Cheadle's performance, there's an excellent understated role by Nick Nolte as Colonel Oliver of the UN forces. The UN won't allow him or his men to the ability to stop any of the violence. They, like the movie audience, can only sit and watch.

I did have one personal problem with the film, through no fault of theirs. The rebel group Tutsis is pronounced "Tootsie" and since I now work for Tootsie Roll, everytime they mentioned this group all I can think of are the Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops I have to work with daily. But I'm sure this doesn't happen with anyone else who sees this film.

Wow, another excellent film. I'm on a roll.

I give Hotel Rwanda a room service:

Happy Birthday! (2/7/05)

In his movie career he played in dozens and dozens of westerns and outside of the films he was a medal winning swimmer, but seriously, he'll always be known as the original Flash Gordon.

So let's blast off a Happy Birthday to .....
BUSTER CRABBE!

The only actor to have played Tarzan, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers would have been 97 today.

What, they couldn't afford costumes???

Well, unless you were in a cave or asleep, you probably saw at least a few minutes of tonight's Superbowl or at least the commercials.

Overall I thought the commercials were....meh.

So what about the Marvel/Visa ad:
Super Heroes always respond to the cry of a citizen in distress -- but they can take the night off in an ad for the Visa check card. In "Super Heroes," a woman cries for help after discovering someone has stolen her Visa check card. Marvel's Super Hero characters rush to her rescue but discover it's a false alarm: her Visa check card features security benefits that protect her from fraudulent charges. The Super Heroes then return to their work of assisting those who really need help. BBDO NY created the ad, which is running during the first half of the game. Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, and Thor are featured in the commercial, along with a surprise guest visit -- a latecomer to the rescue.

The ad was ok, but..........................

Where did they dig up those cheap-ass costumes?? You'd probably get a more representative looking versions of the heroes from the actors they hire to open local malls or car washes!

In case you missed it, or any of the ads, you can watch them all here at the ifilm site.

Happy Birthday! (2/6/05)

Sure, sure, everyone remembers him as Chief Zed from both Men In Black films or more recently as Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, but come on, he'll ALWAYS be Artie from The Larry Sanders Show!

Raise a glass of a "salty iguana" this Birthday for .....
RIP TORN!

The voice of Zeus is 74 today.

Happy Birthday! (2/5/05)

If you can't laugh at him as Nigel Tufnel from This is Spinal Tap, or as the blood hound owner Harlan Pepper in Best In Show, or especially as Corky St. Clair in Waiting for Guffman well, ...... then you're probably dead.

Let's turn the Birthday shout up to 11 for .....
CHRISTOPHER GUEST!

Alan Burrows is 57 today.

The new James Bond?

Well....maybe.

Rumors have been swirling about, of who will be the new James Bond. Since Pierce Brosnan has been officially fired, recent speculation that a couple Wolverines' could be the latest super spy. Both Hugh Jackman (the current big screen Wolverine) and Dougray Scott (the original choice for Wolvie) were first discussed. But recently, the odds on favorite has been Clive Owen (star of Croupier and most recently Closer).

What has been officially announced though, is the title for the 21st Bond feature.
Casino Royale.

Yep, Ian Fleming's first Bond book will be the latest film. As everyone knows, Casino Royale was originally made in 1967 by John Houston, as more of a spoof than a "true" Bond flick. It starred David Niven as James Bond with Peter Sellers and Woody Allen as various Bond relations.

So the latest film will be another remake. Hopefully it'll be better than that mess that was Never Say Never.

Thankfully, Thor won't look like this!

Looking at that picture of Thor (that's further down this page, in case you haven't seen it yet) from the upcoming Visa ad, I realized that we've come a long way recently with how Marvel characters have been depicted on the big and small screen.

Just look at these pics of the Thor costume that you could buy at Hollywood Costumes.





(you'd think they could have at least given him boots.)

Let's be thankful though, with the Visa ad, that at least they did better with the Thor than what they gave us on The Incredible Hulk Returns.

Happy Birthday! (2/4/05)

Let's see... "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Eighteen", "Dead Babies" "The Man With The Golden Gun", "Under My Wheels", "Only Women Bleed", "Billion Dollar Babies", and of course "Schools Out".

A big Happy Birthday to one of my favorite rock stars while growing up.....
ALICE COOPER!

Detroit's own Vincent Damon Furnier is 57 today.

John Vernon 1932-2005

I just heard today that actor/voice actor John Vernon passed away last Tuesday.
To millions he'll forever be known as Dean Wormer from the classic film Animal House, but to those of us growing up in the 70's and watching those Marvel Superheroes animated cartoons (that I mentioned a few days ago) he'll always be the voice for Iron Man and Sub-Mariner.

Most recently he was the voice of mob boss Rupert Thorne on the Animated Bat Man series. He had a great dramatic voice that lent itself well as heroes and villains on animated shows.

His many credits can be seen here

Across the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard...

... where the blooming Heavens roar!!

Well, maybe. This is Thor from this weekend's new Marvel-ized Visa ads premiering during the Superbowl.

What's all this hoo-ha over Million Dollar Baby?

One of the great things about going to a movie (or for that matter reading a novel, watching a TV show) is not knowing all the details of the film. To allow the story to unfold and take you somewhere that you may not have suspected.

Or what I'm really saying is "Don't tell people how a movie's going to end!!!"

Unfortunately, certain pin-heads like Michael Medved and Rush Limbaugh are doing just that.
These windbags who have no known talent, with the exception of getting their opinions in the face of the public, are going about pontificating on the "political agenda" about this film. And in doing so describing all the details in the film.

I guess the notion that fictional characters can't just act a certain way because, well that's how those characters would act. No, suddenly every action on the screen must have some super-secret political motivation behind it.

If you've seen Million Dollar Baby then I would suggest reading these excellent articles by Jim Emerson and Roger Ebert (but only if you've seen the film).

If you haven't yet seen the film and are thinking of seeing it, then I would suggest walking around with your hands over your ears shouting "I'm not listening" before bone brains like Medved and Limbaugh ruin it for you.

Here's a thought for all these groups that are up in arms, why not just let the public see the film and make up their own minds.

A truly lame gift.

It's that time of the year again. Having made it through Groundhog Day, the next holiday that will be thrusting itself in our face, is that lamest of all holiday's- Valentine's Day.

So of course as the day nears we'll be hit with "gift idea" commercials on TV and the radio, along with the overpriced crap that most men will be guilted into buying. The two most "popular gifts" that are currently being touted on the radio are Vermont Teddy Bears (nothing says "I Love You" then a teddy bear dressed in lingerie) and perhaps the biggest waste of money, Name A Star from the International Star Registry

OK, let me get this straight, for $54 I can name a star after someone. Throughout this never ending universe, among the millions and millions of stars, this one particular star will be named after your loved one.

Uh-huh.

And this is legit??? What's worse, someone would actually be impressed that you spent $54 so that some guy, some where, would pick out this particular dot in the vastness of space and name it only for you.

Ooookay.

I'm thinking of starting up a Name A Blade of Grass after someone. That's right, just send me $54 and I'll name a Blade of Grass from my front yard after your friends or loved ones. And what the hell, I'll do Name a Star one better, I'll actually send you the blade of grass!

Happy Birthday! (2/3/05)

Talk about survival.

In the 60's he tried to compete against Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, and lost.
-but- of all the Late night talk show hosts (Steve Allen, Carson and Jack Paar) he's the only one still alive.

He was the least successful member of The Rat Pack.
-but- of all the male Rat Pack members (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. & Peter Lawford) he's the only one still alive.

So, here's a "hanging in there" Happy Birthday to.....
JOEY BISHOP!

The laid back former talk show host is 87 today.

Incredipez

Made my bi-weekly stop over at Toys R' Us today. I can say I go there to see what new toy/candy related products are out there for my job (and that would be correct) but I also go there to see if there's any new stuff that I can buy for myself.

Not much out there right now, as we sit in the post-Christmas/pre-Summer time. Not even any good deals in the Clearance section (course with Toys R' Us their idea of a Clearance price isn't that much of a deal).

I did see this, a Mr. Incredible Pez dispenser. Pretty cool, and I of course had to buy one.

I wonder if they'll make dispensers for the whole family? Much like they did for The Simpsons.

Either way, you're always assured of that delicious Pez flavor!

Yum.

Add this to your daily Blog stop.

From time to time I'd like to let people know of some places to stop by while you're surfing the web. One such place is the daily Blog of Gary Sassaman's, Innocent Bystander.

Gary, a fellow former member of the Pittsburgh Comic Club, used to have a comic series called Innocent Bystander. It was a unique B&W series that covered various topics from stories of his youth to an issue devoted to the Marx Brothers.

When you check out his Blog, you can buy back issues of his series there.

It must be "Stansday" today.

Face Front True Believer! Do you need a fix of the maestro of the Marvel Age of comics? Well then, turn your TV set to CBS tonight for a double dose of Stan "the Man" Lee.

First, he'll be profiled on 60 Minutes
. (this could be a rerun of an earlier interview with an update)

Second, much later tonight on the fledgling The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson
, he'll be a guest.

Excelsior!!

Happy Birthday! (2/2/05)

To many he was the "dumb" brother of an infamous comedy duo from the 60's, to others he was part of the hippie crowd and hung around with John Lennon in the early 70's, while today he may be known only as the Yo-Yo Man.
(and if he is known only as the Yo-Yo Man- that would be pretty pathetic.)

A big folk-singing Happy Birthday to.....
TOMMY SMOTHERS!

The brother that mom didn't always like best is 68 today.

Cool DVD set cover.

I've never watched this show, Wonderfalls. Not one minute. It was another interesting sounding concept (A woman graduates from college and takes a job at a tourist gift shop. One day one of the inanimate objects on the top shelf starts to talk to her giving her directions in life) that FOX put on the air and just as quickly took off.

Maybe one day I'll rent it, just to check it out (though if you want to buy it, you can get it at Amazon).

I just wanted to post the cover. Gotta love a picture of a View Master.
Though, she is looking at it backwards.
(maybe that's why it was cancelled.)

When Captain America DOESN'T throw his mighty shield...

I had read on TVShowsonDVD last fall, about the release of the 1966 show The Marvel Superheroes: featuring the likes of Capt. America, The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and The Sub-Mariner using the extremely-limited animation that adapted directly from the comics using real panels and drawings as well as the dialogue from the books - by its studio Buena Vista, for DVD release. I was psyched that they were scheduled to release this in June.

I know that this series gets a lot of criticism, because of the poor animation, from the "modern day sophisticated viewer. To them I say "SCREW YOU!!!".



How can you not love these cartoons, with stories taken from Marvel (at their heights of creativity) and some great voices especially that of John Vernon (Dean Wormer from Animal House) as Iron Man, Sub Mariner & Major Glenn Talbot.

Unfortunately, I just found out this today. Buena Vista has taken the title off the schedule. It is not yet known if this will come out at a future date or not.

Now normally, news like this would make me rant and rave. When older shows are constantly not released while new crap, garbage like Saved by the Bell and Full House are given the DVD package treatment, it really pisses me off!

However, it looks like the change was made for strategic reasons.
OK.....
Buena Vista Home Entertainment instead will release a multi-disc box set of The Fantastic Four,
Sounds good...
instead to tie in with the July 1st theater debut of the new Fantastic Four.

Yes! This is the classic 1967 series, right?? The only decent animated FF series, correct???? The 1967 series that first introduced the FF to this six year old, and quickly made The Fantastic Four my all time favorite comic series and heroes, RIGHT??????

Nope. It's that crapfest 1994 version of The Fantastic Four.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUURGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday! (2/1/05)

Whether it was as King Amulf in his film Erik the Viking, or as Sir Bedevere in Monty Python and the Holy Grail or even Brian's mum in Monty Python's Life of Brian, but to me he'll always be the naked guy playing the organ on every episode of Monty Python.

So now for something completely different, Happy Birthday .....
TERRY JONES!

The vomiting Mr. Creosote is 63 today.