May 1, 2014

Al Feldstein has passed. We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

NEW YORK (AP) — Before "The Daily Show," ''The Simpsons" or even "Saturday Night Live," Al Feldstein helped show America how to laugh at authority and giggle at popular culture.

Millions of young baby boomers looked forward to that day when the new issue of Mad magazine, which Feldstein ran for 28 years, arrived in the mail or on newsstands. Alone in their room, or huddled with friends, they looked for the latest of send-up of the president or of a television commercial. They savored the mystery of the fold-in, where a topical cartoon appeared with a question on top that was answered by collapsing the page and creating a new, and often, hilarious image.

Thanks in part to Feldstein, who died Tuesday at his home in Montana at age 88, comics were more than escapes into alternate worlds of superheroes and clean-cut children. They were a funhouse tour of current events and the latest crazes. Mad was breakthrough satire for the post-World War II era — the kind of magazine Holden Caulfield of "The Catcher In the Rye" might have read, or better, might have founded.

"Basically everyone who was young between 1955 and 1975 read Mad, and that's where your sense of humor came from," producer Bill Oakley of "The Simpsons" later explained.

Feldstein's reign at Mad, which began in 1956, was historic and unplanned. Publisher William M. Gaines had started Mad as a comic book four years earlier and converted it to a magazine to avoid the restrictions of the then-Comics Code and to persuade founding editor Harvey Kurtzman to stay on. But Kurtzman soon departed anyway and Gaines picked Feldstein as his replacement. Some Kurtzman admirers insisted that he had the sharper edge, but Feldstein guided Mad to mass success.

One of Feldstein's smartest moves was to build on a character used by Kurtzman. Feldstein turned the freckle-faced Alfred E. Neuman into an underground hero — a dimwitted everyman with a gap-toothed smile and the recurring stock phrase "What, Me Worry?" Neuman's character was used to skewer any and all, from Santa Claus to Darth Vader, and more recently in editorial cartoonists' parodies of President George W. Bush, notably a cover image The Nation that ran soon after Bush's election in 2000 and was captioned "Worry."

"The skeptical generation of kids it shaped in the 1950s is the same generation that, in the 1960s, opposed a war and didn't feel bad when the United States lost for the first time and in the 1970s helped turn out an Administration and didn't feel bad about that either," Tony Hiss and Jeff Lewis wrote of Mad in The New York Times in 1977.
Much more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/01/al-feldstein-dead-mad-magazine-obituary_n_5244595.html



To a life and a man that made a difference. Bravo!

May 1, 2014

Patron Tried to Ban Dr. Seuss’ ‘Hop on Pop’ From Toronto Library

A Canadian parent filed a complaint to the Toronto library last year, asking to ban Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book Hop on Pop because it “encourages children to use violence against their fathers.” The complaint was revealed this week when the Toronto Library released its Materials Review Committee report for 2013.

The person suggested that the library remove the book from the library’s collection and “issue an apology to fathers in the GTA and pay for damages resulting from the book.”

The committee rejected the complaint and retained the book in the children’s book finding that ”the book is a humorous and well-loved children’s book” and has maintained its popularity since it was published in 1963. The committee also pointed out that, “the children are actually told not to hop on pop.” (Via TIME).
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/canadian-parent-tried-to-ban-dr-seuss-hop-on-pop_b85284

April 13, 2014

Tater and Moonpie sitting quietly together(for once):

In Scat's bed.
(Tater is on the right getting ready to do something, anything)

April 13, 2014

Do lawd! This kid is in trouble:

@greenberg

Do not try this at home or anywhere for that matter.

April 13, 2014

44 years ago today a famous phrase was coined and

the most compelling reality show ever 'made' was set in motion.

The thought of them never coming back was sobering beyond comprehension.

April 12, 2014

I woke up in the middle of a road rally.

At 3am there was a kerfuffle on the bed. I could feel big feet, little feet, and hear hissing and 'chirps'. By the time I was awake enough to see what was going on, I saw Scat hauling butt down the hall with Tater in hot pursuit. Then I saw Tater reappear with Scat right behind her.

They roared around the bed for a couple of laps and then settled in neutral corners. They fell asleep but now I was wide awke. So was Moonpie. She is feelng a lot better, but I don't think track meets are her thing. She sleeps on my head.

Tater explores everything. She has two 'gears' that she uses. Wide open and stop. At times she roars directly to some predetermined spot. At others, she appears to take off with no destination in mind. She stops whenever the mood strikes. If it looks like an interesting place to be, she looks around briefly. If nothing catches her interest, zoooooooooom!

They know their names for all the good that does. At least I won't forget them.

April 11, 2014

Jesse Winchester has passed at 69.

A little backstory:

A favorite of mine:


Fair winds and following seas be with you Jesse.
You can rest now.

April 11, 2014

A bride and groom in Ireland got quite a surprise at their wedding:

I liked this because it broke up the staid ritual of weddings that can make them seem so joyless. I had some hesitation because I wondered if he took the focus from the marriage.
All in all, I decided that it made the occasion much more memorable and priceless.

April 9, 2014

"Oh frabjous day!"

Tater and Moonpie have been introduced to the laser pointer.
I don't think Tater's paws touch the carpet chasing it down the hall.

April 9, 2014

UMass basketball player Derrick Gordon first D1 player comes out as gay

@outsports:
UMass basketball player Derrick Gordon comes out as gay @flash2gordon
http://www.outsports.com/2014/4/9/5582758/derrick-gordon-comes-out-umass-basketball

Good on ya Derrick!
And so it continues. On and on and on........